Damian returned to his hotel room on the tram after leaving the hospital, his face looking gloomy.
Once he arrived, he started frantically searching through his luggage.
The room, which had been neatly organized in his absence, was filled with items from his bag.
After searching carefully for some time and failing to find what he was looking for, Damian punched the ground.
"damn it…".
He muttered a curse under his breath.
“What a fool I am.
How could...there be nothing left...?
If I had known this would happen...!”
Damian took out a carefully folded piece of paper with a torn corner from his pants pocket.
He sat down on the bed, opened the paper, and stared at it intensely, as if he might burn it.
“It seems to match...”
While looking at Liliana's elegant handwriting on the paper, Damian narrowed his eyes.
“Her handwriting is the same as that of Mrs.
Lintray...”
Damian sighed deeply and lowered his head.
“I stupidly burned all the letters, so I can't compare the handwriting...” (These slippers, my son 🩴)
Damian searched his luggage again, hoping to find at least one of Lentrae's letters.
But his past was very delicate.
He really used all of Lentray's letters as fuel without any hesitation.
"Damn you, you idiot.
You should have died when that bomb went off."
Damian began to berate himself, the more he thought about it, the less he understood his previous actions.
Only one letter.
No, not even one line!
If he had just one sentence written by Lintray, things wouldn't be like this!
No matter how many letters were exchanged, it was normal for him not to notice his meticulous writing habits unless he paid close attention to the handwriting.
It was almost impossible to accurately remember someone's handwriting without consciously noticing it.
Damian tried to recall Lentrae's handwriting from his vague memories, but all he could remember was that it was generally circular in shape.
“This could just be a coincidence.
Coincidence...”
Damian lay on his back and thought.
Liliana's handwriting may have been similar to Lentrai's.
Maybe he was so busy that everything seemed connected to Lentray.
Liliana's personal information did not match Lintray's.
He told himself that there were too many inconsistencies to come to the conclusion that it was Lentray, but he frowned nonetheless.
“But there is still a lot of overlap.”
First the perfume, then the age, then the way she spoke, and now the handwriting.
"And the fact that she's in the hospital too..."
Could these five things be just a coincidence?
Damian's mind was torn between the possibility of coincidence and the suspicion that the five overlaps were too many to ignore.
He scratched his head, trying to clear his thoughts.
There was no point in suffering alone; He will not reach a result.
Looks like he needed to do some digging.
(Search for information)
***
"I'm sorry."
“We're not sure about hiring you...”
"It seems difficult."
“We reconsidered it, but it wouldn't work.”
Damien's spirit was broken after being rejected in several job interviews again today.
He was used to rejection after facing it so many times, but that didn't mean it wasn't painful.
“I need to earn money to buy a prosthetic arm, but I can't earn money without a prosthetic arm.
The absurdity of this world must be eliminated...”
Damian muttered expletives as he headed towards the estate agency.
His current temporary hotel accommodation was expensive.
He wasn't going to live in a hotel forever, so he had to find a place to stay.
But there was a problem.
Since he has not found a job yet, he has not decided where he will settle.
However, he at least wanted to talk to a real estate agent, so he made an appointment...
Damian's lips twitched slightly as he looked at the list of properties the agent had selected.
“I've carefully prepared this list so that it only includes the best options.
It's been a bit difficult to find good single-occupancy units within a 30-minute tram ride from the city centre, but there aren't many places that offer as many options as we do.”
“Hmm...Are these prices correct?”
Damian looked at the numbers the agent had written on the paper with trembling eyes without controlling himself.
“Why did the price of housing double in just two years?”
"Yes!
Very reasonable prices, right?
But I can assure you that the condition of the houses is excellent!"
'Affordable?' Are they affordable?'
Although Damien grew up in an orphanage and lived in a boarding school before immediately joining the army, he was not so ignorant as to be ignorant of real estate prices.
Before joining the army, he researched housing prices in Nishio because he needed to live independently.
But the properties the agent was now showing him were obscenely expensive compared to what he remembered.
Of course, it was normal for prices to rise for well-maintained homes located close to the city center, but even so, this increase was exaggerated.
"Okay, okay.
Can we discuss the details while we look at the houses?"
The agent stood up, and Damian quickly shook his head.
“Ah, wait a minute!
I think it would be better if I find a job first before looking elsewhere.”
“Ah...is that true?”
“Yes, I don't know what kind of job I'll have yet, and also... what kind of house I can afford depends on my income, so once I make a more specific plan...”
Damian smiled sheepishly and then stopped talking.
The customer, who had been friendly until now, sat back down with an indifferent expression.
“I see so.
I understand your position.
But you won't find properties like this anywhere else.
Wouldn't it be a shame to pass up the opportunity while you're hesitant?”
“That's true, but I'll call you back.”
After the agent read Damien's somber face and understood his plight, he gave up trying to persuade him further and just smacked his lips.
Damian once again shuddered at the absurdity of the world.
***
"Damian, why do you always look so gloomy when we meet?
So, what are you planning today?
The prosthetic arm?
Looking for a job?"
Liliana squatted in front of Damian, who was sitting on a chair, her face at eye level with him, and she moved her head curiously.
I wondered what misfortune had befallen this young man who always seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.
His already sad face looked even darker with dark brown bangs that overshadowed his eyes.
"Housing prices."
"Yes...".
Liliana let out a short sigh.
“Yes, I heard that housing prices in Nishio are ridiculously high.
I've only lived in the east, so I don't know much about the situation there...”
"Not only is it high; it's doubled since the last time I checked."
"What?!
This much?"
Liliana was surprised, frowned and thought for a moment before speaking.
"Damian, you don't have to live in Nishio, right?
Even the countryside in the east, where I live, is a decent place to live.
How about you move to the countryside as well?"
“I wouldn't mind moving to another area, but there are fewer job opportunities in the countryside than in the city.
Do you think I'll be able to find a place that will hire me?”
"I think so.
There are fewer jobs, but the population is smaller, so there are always vacancies, as far as I know."
“Liliana, as you know, I have one arm, so my job options are limited.
I apply for office jobs, but many of them require a college degree...”
Liliana cracked her fingers as she listened.
"Oh, that's right!
University!"