Me! Cleaner!.

Chapter 1167 A Hard-to-Find Hope

Having lost the guidance of "hope," one must be awakened by someone else... It doesn't seem to have a significant impact?

After exchanging a glance with the Golden Bull Director, Lyon asked:

"Besides this, are there any other side effects?"

"There shouldn't be any more... right?"

After thinking for a moment, the Pisces Director said somewhat uncertainly:

"If I had to put it in a way, it's because she's traversed through so many different dreams. Although her will is strong enough that she has never lost herself, she has indeed been significantly affected and is prone to blurring the lines between dreams and reality."

Can't distinguish between dreams and reality...?

After listening to Director Pisces's words, Leon frowned slightly, then turned to look at the young woman who had already woken up, and after considering his words, said:

“Miss Frederica, due to certain reasons, most of the [Ferrymen] to the Old Land are currently in disarray. Therefore, if you want to go to the Old Land in the near future, I'm afraid you can only rely on the [Dream Butterfly] to travel through the dream world. However…”

"Please let me go with you!"

Before Leon could finish speaking, she understood his meaning. The young woman, feeling slightly unsteady, stood up from the bedside. She first steadied herself by holding onto the bedside table, then looked up at Leon, her two clear black and white eyes unblinking as she said:

"Director Armando and Director Aries were in danger because they were trying to help us, so if there's anything I can do, please don't hesitate! Because this is what I deserve!"

"???"

"Um... she only learned to speak 'human' two months ago, so she's not very proficient at it yet."

Faced with the somewhat bewildered look on the Taurus director's face, Lyon's lips twitched involuntarily, and he then explained helplessly:
"What she meant to say was 'it is our duty,' but she probably hadn't learned that word and misunderstood 'crime' as a responsibility or something like that... Anyway, you don't need to worry about the exact words she said, just get the general idea of ​​the context."

"..."

Ok……

Looking at the "deserving" old-fashioned woman in front of him, the Taurus director opened his mouth but found himself at a loss for words, so he decisively shut his mouth and nodded vigorously at her.

"Then it's hard work for you."

"You're too kind, it's all I should do."

Realizing she had used the wrong word again, Frederica's cheeks flushed slightly. She quickly bowed halfway to Director Taurus and then cast a probing look at Lyon.

"This is Taurus, one of the twelve directors, and also the most skilled blacksmith among us humans at handling anomalies. The adjustments to [Dream Butterfly] and the arrangements for its accompanying anomalies will all be handled by Taurus."

Subconsciously ignoring the old man with whom he had a mentor-student relationship, Lyon briefly introduced the Taurus director, then turned to look at the Pisces director beside him.

"Excuse me……"

"Her chaotic mind has only just been sorted out, and she still needs to be adjusted again."

Just before Lyon could speak, the Pisces Director guessed what he was going to ask. He smiled behind his veil and then raised his hand to give an "OK" sign.

"It should take about three days. You can set off in three days."

Three days... that's not a long time. It'll give me some time to prepare and familiarize myself with how to use [Dream Butterfly].

After nodding to the Pisces director, Leon turned to the young woman and spoke first:

“Miss Frederica, please continue to rest and recuperate here. I will come to pick you up again in three days.”

"please wait a while!"

Seeing that Leon seemed about to leave, the young woman quickly reached out and grabbed his sleeve, pleading:

"Mr. Lyon, may I please find another place to recuperate?"

"?"

Seeing the young woman suddenly requesting to change locations, Leon and the Taurus director were slightly taken aback, and then their eyes turned to the Pisces director.

When we first arrived, we saw you sleeping soundly with her, drooling in your sleep. Now she's insisting on moving to another place. Did you do something to her...?

"No, no, no, that's not the reason!"

Seeing the Pisces chief's panicked expression, unable to defend himself, Frederica, noticing that Leon and the other man seemed to have misunderstood, quickly stepped in to explain:
“Miss Medea has done her best to help me. I don’t have any complaints about her. It’s just that after I learned about the existence of the real world from my grandfather, I was very interested in what it was like and curious about what it was like here.”

And...and I'm not sure if I'll be able to come back, so I don't really want to waste time resting. I hope to take this opportunity to go out and explore, and satisfy my curiosity...is that okay?

I see……

Seeing the young woman who agreed to help without hesitation, even though she thought she might not return, the Taurus director's gaze softened slightly, and he followed her gaze to Lyon.

"?"

Why are you looking at me like that? You don't want me to take her around, do you?
Upon receiving the probing gaze from the Taurus director, Lyon was slightly taken aback and instinctively intended to refuse the assignment. However, the Pisces director, who had just almost been made a scapegoat, suddenly spoke up:

"Actually, it's good to let her go out and see more of the world."

"???"

"Miss Frederica's biggest problem is that she has been exposed to too many nightmares filled with despair in a short period of time, which has caused her to waver in her insistence on hope."

After blinking his sleepy eyes, the Pisces Chief looked at Leon with a serious expression and said:

“If she could go out with you and see more of those hopeful scenes, it would definitely help her condition, and the effect might even be better than recuperating here.”

"Yeah!"

Upon hearing Director Pisces' words, the young woman's eyes lit up slightly, and she nodded repeatedly.
"I think so too! If I look more at the current situation, I might be able to recover!"
Moreover, back in the old world, Chief Armando had told us several times that Mr. Lyon was the hope of the Cleanup Bureau and even the entire present world. So, if possible, I also hope to have more contact with Mr. Lyon! Let's be close!

"..."

……

So you brought her here with me?

Watching the beautiful woman sitting on the old sofa in his office, unable to resist reaching out to poke the pile of wine bottles beside her, the bureau chief, whose hair had regained its red color, couldn't help but take a swig of wine, then complained with a look of disgust:
"I have plenty of alcohol here, as for Hope... how about Himawari Rum?"

"That definitely doesn't count... but I'm not looking for hope from you anyway."

After glancing back at Frederica, who was sitting upright on the sofa, Leon, sitting opposite the red-haired director, 'privately chatted' with a headache:

"I came to you to ask if you could help me find out if there's anyone in the bureau who's good at this, someone who can take her around to see things, or make something suitable for her to see... I really don't know what a hopeful scene is, and I really don't know how to take care of her."

A scene full of hope... Isn't that simple? The red-haired chief pondered for a moment upon hearing this, and immediately gave several examples.

"The tender shoots breaking through the soil after a harsh winter, the first ray of sunlight at dawn, the first cry of a newborn baby, the dandelion seeds carried far away by the wind...aren't these all acceptable?"

"Withered, fallen, old, young".

After relaying Frederica's comments about seeing similar scenes in the simplest language, Leon explained with a long face:

"Grass sprouts but withers, the sun rises but sets, and people are born but die sooner or later. Only a few of the fragile dandelions can survive; the vast majority will perish..."

In short, I've tried taking her to see almost everything I could think of that offered any hope over the past two days, but the more she sees, the more desperate she becomes. Right now, it's a miracle she hasn't developed any more psychological problems, let alone found any relief!

That's really troublesome...

After glancing at the young woman who was keeping Leon occupied, the red-haired chief pondered for a moment, then blinked and suggested:
"Why don't you just take her for a stroll around the old town? Let her see the places you used to live?"

"?"

"I think what she wanted to see wasn't some hopeful scene, but rather a person with hope in their eyes."

After trying to figure out Frederica's "thought process," the red-haired chief picked up the bottle, took a swig, and then said with a smile:
"Since you got involved with that Queen Veronica, the capital has slowly changed a lot. It is no longer the lifeless place it used to be. The most significant changes have been to the old soldier's alley and the old city where you used to live."

So I think instead of looking for some hopeful scene, you should take her for a walk around the old town of the capital, and see the people on the street whose eyes have become hopeful. Maybe that's what she needs.”

Hmm... it doesn't seem very reliable either.

After listening to the red-haired chief's suggestion, Leon frowned and thought for a moment, figuring that this method was unlikely to work. However, having exhausted all other ideas, he simply got up and walked back to "Lady Despair," intending to take her for one last try. However…

"She doesn't offer me any hope of seeing it either, does she?"

"what?"

Faced with Frederica's sudden question, Leon was taken aback for a moment, then asked in return, somewhat puzzled:

"Why do you ask?"

"Because she also carried the scent of despair... or rather, not exactly despair, but something less painful, yet utterly hopeless and utterly helpless..."

After organizing her thoughts slightly, Frederica explained:

"To give an example, it's like she's craving a really sweet candy, but someone has already peeled off the wrapper and put it in their mouth."

If she still wanted that piece of candy, she would have to snatch it from someone else's mouth, but she didn't want to or couldn't do that. So, although the candy she wanted was still there, there was no longer any hope between her and the candy…

"Go! Go! Go!"

Seemingly annoyed by the two uninvited visitors, the red-haired chief suddenly interrupted Frederica, then impatiently shooed them away:

"Forget about candy, hurry up and leave, I'm busy here!"

Strands of red hair swept Rittal and Frederica out of the office. Watching their disheveled figures leave, the red-haired chief couldn't help but snort, then tilted his head back and downed the spicy liquor in the bottle in one gulp.

All that talk about hoping or not hoping is nonsense... I can't suck candy out of someone's mouth, but if I ever really crave it, wouldn't I secretly stick out my tongue and lick it?

……

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting..."

Pushed along by a mass of blood behind her, she shoved her all the way to the entrance of the Virgin Police Station. Looking at the young woman beside her, Li Tang couldn't help but say with a headache:

"I've taken you to so many places these past two days, but none of them have worked. I'm really at my wit's end... Maybe you should find someone else!"

"No, no! Don't give up!"

Seeing that Leon seemed about to give up, Frederica became slightly anxious, then grabbed him and said with a stubborn look in her eyes:
"My intuition tells me that being with you will satisfy my wicked ambitions! You can't just abandon me like this!"

"I'm not giving up, I really have no other choice..."

Leon, already used to her habit of blurting out random lines at crucial moments and too lazy to even complain, said helplessly:

"I've already shown you pretty much everything I could, and we're scheduled to leave early tomorrow morning. I really... How about we do one last tour? If that's not possible, you should go back and rest earlier?"

"Row!"

"Then you must keep your word... this is the last time!"

With a "nothing to lose" mentality and a gloomy expression, Leon left the Virgin Precinct and, with Frederica, headed towards Veterans' Alley, where he and Anna used to live.

"Where is this?"

After walking behind Lyon for a while, looking at the increasingly new buildings along the roadside, the young woman couldn't help but ask curiously:

"The houses here look so new. Where is this? Is this the uptown area where rich people live?"

"No."

Squinting at the old soldiers' alley, which had undergone several rounds of renovations and was now completely transformed, Lyon said with a somewhat complicated expression:
"This is still the old city of the capital. Not far away are slums and prisons. It's only slightly better than the worst place. I used to live here."

Only slightly better than the worst?
After hearing Leon's words, Frederica blinked, then asked with some confusion:
"But this place looks...not bad?"

"That's because funds were allocated later to renovate the buildings, relocate the surrounding prisons and factories, fill in the stinking ditches caused by indiscriminate dumping, and incidentally requisition some housing and build a wide road behind it that can accommodate four horse-drawn carriages side by side."

After briefly explaining the reasons, Leon, whose mind was flooded with memories, said no more. Instead, he took a bewildered Frederica and wandered around Veterans' Alley and the old town.

After that, things did indeed turn out much as he had expected. Although the previously dirty and dilapidated streets had changed dramatically, for Frederica, who had never witnessed the unpleasant past of Veterans' Alley, the vibrant life displayed by these changes was far from enough to be called hope in her eyes.

"Alright, that's enough for now."

Seeing the young woman circling outside Veterans' Alley several times, still unwilling to leave, Leon shook his head and then urged her:

“We should go… Actually, it’s okay if we can’t find hope. I’ve been trying to familiarize myself with [Dream Butterfly] these past two days, and I feel like it should be able to resist most of the negative effects. So even if you’re not feeling well, it’s alright. I’ll take over when you can’t hold on.”

"All right……"

Upon hearing Leon's words, the young woman bit her lip in resentment. She even dragged Leon over the outer wall to visit the renovated old house of the Ryan family. In the end, she could only follow behind Leon, leaving Veterans' Lane with many backward glances.

But shortly after she was pulled away, a small, lighthouse-shaped mark appeared on the outer wall of the Lane house and began to rotate slightly, as if it were a real object.

Each time the small lighthouse at the top of the lighthouse mark rotates, numerous patterns resembling human eyeballs emerge from the "light," then leap and swarm along the walls towards the unsuspecting residents.

　Two-in-one, huh...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)