Mystery: Gray Walker

Chapter 58 Anaïs's Background

Green stood at the doorway, watching as the people carried out bags of garbage, broken wooden crates, and other items, piling them on the open ground.

Especially those in the office, the once smartly dressed employees all looked disheveled, muttering their dissatisfaction, but when they met Green's gaze, they quickly put on a forced smile.

Anaïs's figure was not conspicuous in the crowd. She rarely talked to anyone, just kept her head down and did her own thing, occasionally being assigned to help move some lighter boxes.

Suddenly, Green remembered something. The book "Twins" that he couldn't open.

He strode into the underground warehouse.

The air inside was still murky, but much better than before. An area of ​​about fifty or sixty square meters on the east side had been cleared, revealing the original stone slab floor.

Green breathed a sigh of relief, then pretended to inspect the old shelf and pulled the old book out of the shadows.

"Manager Henry has arranged for your office supplies, including new desks, chairs, filing cabinets, etc., to be delivered first thing tomorrow morning."

Julie's voice suddenly came from behind him.

Green turned around and saw Julie pointing in another direction, saying, "There's a small cubicle in the back, which used to be a tool shed or something. It's smaller, but more enclosed, and you can put personal belongings or important documents there."

Green walked over and looked at the small cubicle in the direction she pointed.

The door was rotten and dilapidated, and inside were some old tools, but after being tidied up, it was indeed a small space with good privacy.

I hadn't noticed this place before, probably because it was completely covered by too much clutter.

Time flies.

By 3 p.m., the entire underground warehouse had been completely renovated.

Julie turned on the old steam-assisted ventilation fan in the corner. With a low rumble, the huge blades began to spin, forcibly pumping in fresh outdoor air and quickly dispelling the stale smell that had accumulated for who knows how long.

"Thank you all for your hard work. The cleanup was very thorough," Green said with a smile.

Julie quickly waved her hand, "You're too kind, Mr. Morris. It's nothing more than what we should do. If there's nothing else, I'll arrange for everyone to go back to work now."

Green nodded.

The crowd dispersed, the footsteps and whispers fading into the distance. Soon, only he and Anaïs remained in the vast underground space.

Anaïs remained standing in the center of the newly cleared stone slab, her head bowed, her hands clasped awkwardly in front of her.

Green looked at her and sighed.

He walked over and moved the only old chair in the room in front of her.

"Go ahead and do it," Green said, then turned and sat down unceremoniously on the old wooden table next to him. "Don't stand there."

Anaïs hesitated for a moment, then slowly sat down, placing her hands on her knees.

"First, you must not tell anyone anything you see or hear here without my permission. Remember, anyone. That's the bottom line."

Anaïs raised her head and nodded emphatically. "Rest assured, I will not tell anything. I swear to the goddess of night."

"I believe you." Green looked directly into her eyes and saw sincerity.

"Secondly, I'm asking you to stay, not because I need a maid or a manager."

He paused. "I need eyes, ears, and someone who can carry out simple instructions. Someone needs to watch over this place while I'm away. Do you understand what that means?"

Anaïs's expression was somewhat bewildered, yet also tense after trying to understand.

"Does...does that mean I have to stay here?" she asked softly.

"That means you'll be dealing with some... unusual things."

Green didn't answer directly, but continued, "It might be boring, it might be strange, and it might be risky. You have the opportunity to refuse now. Once you stay, there's no going back."

He waited.

The roar of the ventilation fans filled the silence.

Anaïs's interlaced fingers tightened slightly, and she lowered her head again.

A few seconds later, she looked up again. "I...I have nowhere else to go, sir. I have no other choice. They...reject me, they laugh at me..."

She paused, her eyes reddening slightly. "I...I can't lose this job. I'll keep quiet. I'll do whatever you ask me to do."

Green looked at her. The fear was real, but so was the look of someone driven to desperation. For now, that was enough.

"very good."

He jumped off the table, clapped his hands, and said, "Well then, welcome, Anaïs. Your first character is..."

Green glanced around the empty warehouse, his gaze settling on the small cubicle.

"...Get yourself a place to rest. That little cubicle is yours. Make a list of any basic necessities you need. Remember, it's basic necessities."

Anaïs was stunned, seemingly not expecting this to be her first task.

She opened her mouth, then nodded again: "...Yes, sir."

“Now,” Green said, walking toward the door, “I’m going upstairs to take care of some things. You can familiarize yourself with this new… ‘office’.”

"Remember, Anaïs. Here, caution is more important than diligence. Don't touch what you shouldn't touch, and don't ask what you shouldn't ask. It will do you good."

"Mr. Morris!"

Green walked to the stairs, stopped, and turned back in confusion: "Hmm?"

"Excuse me...excuse me..." Anaïs seemed to struggle with what to say next, but finally mustered her courage and looked up sharply, asking, "Are you an Extraordinary?"

Green was taken aback at first, his body tensed instantly, and he looked at her sharply.

Discovered?

The thought had barely crossed his mind when he immediately recalled what had happened in Henry's office, and then he felt relieved. But... she actually knew the term "Extraordinary"?

This piqued Green's curiosity.

He slowly turned around, not answering immediately, but carefully examining Anaïs.

The girl felt uneasy under his gaze, her fingers gripping the hem of her skirt tightly, her eyes filled with not only nervousness but also a kind of... expectant anticipation.

Green hesitated for a moment, then asked, "You know about Extraordinary Beings?"

Anaïs felt even more uneasy under his gaze and lowered her head again. "I...I've heard my grandfather mention it."

grandfather?

Green caught the key word. He took a few steps back. "Lift your head up. Don't look down anymore. Then, explain in detail."

"Ah..." Anaïs suddenly raised her head, her cheeks flushed, "Uh... okay."

"My grandfather... he was a member of the Oberhafen Historical and Archaeological Society."

"A member of the Historical and Archaeological Society?!" Green exclaimed in surprise.

It's like someone brings you a pillow when you're sleepy...

Anaïs looked at Green with a puzzled expression, not understanding why he was reacting so strongly.

"It's alright, please continue."

"He...he had many books and many notebooks. When I was little, I often played in his study and listened to him tell some...strange stories."

She paused, seemingly considering her words, or perhaps trying to overcome some kind of obstacle.

He said the world is not as simple as it appears to us. Beneath the dust of history, behind ancient symbols, lies... another truth. He said some people can touch that truth and are endowed with extraordinary abilities by the gods; they are called "seer-seekers," "diviners," "hunters,"... or collectively... "extraordinary ones."

"Peeper"?

This was exactly the sequence name of the potion in his pocket. Was it just a coincidence?

"What else did he say?" Green pressed.

He said... the path to extraordinary things is fraught with danger. It has its own weight, and improper prying will bring disaster. He said... many so-called "mysterious phenomena" may just be the manifestation of "laws" or "concepts" that have not yet been understood, just like... just like mathematical laws, objective, but more secretive and more dangerous.

Anaïs tried to recall, her sentences were somewhat fragmented, but the core meaning gradually became clear.

Green became increasingly alarmed as he listened.

This is definitely not the kind of bedtime story an ordinary old man would tell his granddaughter. It's more like a...systematic, cautionary form of early childhood education.

"What was your grandfather's name? Where does he live now?" Green asked softly, feeling an urge to visit the old scholar.

"My grandfather's name was Elias Violet, and he... died many years ago. Things at home... gradually changed. My father went to the docks, and my mother's health has always been poor."

Her voice carried a deep sense of loss, not just a longing for her loved ones, but more like a sense of melancholy at the closure of a dazzling door.

Green remained silent for a moment.

He looked at the girl before him; beneath her timid exterior lay a silent library of extraordinary knowledge.

Anaïs herself may only have a vague understanding of this, like someone who has inherited the key to a huge fortune but doesn't know where the vault door is.

"Your grandfather was right," Green said slowly, breaking the silence.

"The path to extraordinary is indeed dangerous. More dangerous than you can imagine. It's not just about knowledge, it's about... a change, a burden, and perhaps even a curse."

He hesitated for a moment, then took a step forward, lowering his voice, "Annaïs Violet, can you tell which path I'm on?"

"......apprentice."