Gun of Ashes

About ten minutes had passed after Abel got dressed, and Lorenzo, Bola, and Joey were sitting on the messy sofa while on the other side was Baron Abel.

As this baron awoke, it seemed this mansion slowly came to life as well. Several servants were cleaning the floor while Lorenzo leaned against the back of the chair, observing them from the corner of his eye.

Just as Bola had said, they were indeed exiled people of Gaulunaro. Lorenzo had spent some time in Gaulunaro, so he was somewhat familiar with the traits of Gaulunaro people.

The servants remained silent and seemed suppressed until Baron Abel suddenly spoke.

"So what brings you all here?"

Baron Abel looked at Lorenzo and the others with an unfriendly gaze, after all, his embarrassment just now was indeed quite a loss of face, not to mention his wariness of this group of uninvited guests.

"We are the investigation team from Suyalan Hall..."

Bola quickly said before Lorenzo could speak, slightly modifying the content of their previous conversation and ultimately blaming Suyalan Hall. It was unexpected how smoothly Bola, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, could lie.

But it was apparent that Baron Abel was not very willing to cooperate, and before they could say much, he impatiently waved his hand.

"It's got nothing to do with me, nothing to do with me. I haven't left the house for nearly half a month."

He denied everything Bola said. Bola himself didn't have any concrete evidence, which put him at a disadvantage in saying anything.

At this moment, Lorenzo suddenly spoke.

"Hughes is dead."

His unexpected words caused the atmosphere to suddenly freeze. Lorenzo had been observing Baron Abel's expression all along; he seemed so natural that it seemed Lorenzo's suspicions were wrong, making him appear to be an innocent man, yet this did not relax Lorenzo's vigilance and instead made him suspicious.

He was too natural, so Lorenzo was always waiting for a moment. He reported Hughes's death to observe Baron Abel's reaction.

In that instant, Baron Abel was stunned, then looked at Lorenzo with a confused look, as if he didn't understand what he was talking about.

At this moment, Lorenzo was also a bit stunned. Did he guess wrong?

"Gentlemen, although I seem incompetent to outsiders, at least I am still a noble. Haven't I suffered enough humiliation today?"

It seemed that Baron Abel was a bit angry now.

"I want to know about your employment of those exiled people."

Lorenzo asked again, and Baron Abel replied candidly.

"What's the matter? Employing them, so what?"

Seeing Abel's completely normal demeanor, Lorenzo felt the situation becoming helpless for the first time. He felt something was not right, and then he discovered the problem's root.

In the eyes of people like Abel, employing these exiled people was a very ordinary thing—a cheap wage, the weakest community. To him, it was what all nobles did, and he felt nothing wrong with it, just like cats eating fish and dogs eating meat. It had become a part of everyday life.

Everything seemed to be settled. Turning to look at those working exiled people, they seemed to feel nothing wrong either, keeping their heads down as they worked.

Lorenzo felt an indescribable nausea. Clearly, they were all human beings, but at this moment, they had spiritually evolved into different species.

Perhaps the anomaly he felt stemmed from this. Abel had done wrong, but he was utterly unaware of the error's existence. What impact did the death of an exiled person or a gang leader's death have on a high-standing noble? Even more so, what awareness would they have of a crisis?

Lorenzo reorganized his tone and asked once more.

"There have been many deaths among the exiled people you employed."

"That's quite normal because they need money, they work hard, or they try to please me, so death and injury are very typical."

Baron Abel said indifferently.

"I guess you're not very familiar with the market? Exiled people like these have at least several family members behind them, those who are unable to work, be it due to age or youth, all rely on their work to maintain a livelihood."

As Abel spoke, he laughed.

"Even if the job is tiring and dangerous, they will still be grateful to me because I gave them work, which allows their families to survive."

Lorenzo turned his head to look at the nearby exiled people, those dull faces nodded slightly, as if confirming everything.

This was a deadlock, an endlessly deteriorating cycle.

Lorenzo wanted to say something, but at this moment, the ever-silent Joey stopped him, speaking with utmost rationality.

"Mr. Holmes, what we need to focus on now is not the disadvantaged."

Though cold, it was the truth; the avenging demon was the primary target.

"So let me ask differently, Baron Abel, do you recognize these people?"

Saying this, Joey took out those lists of deceased. Abel glanced over them; some were familiar, some were not.

"I recognize these two people."

Baron Abel said while pointing at the file of the Ed couple, sounding somewhat surprised that they were dead.

"They were intermediaries responsible for contacting employers like us."

"Between you and the exiled people?"

"Yes."

At this point, the connections became apparent. Rowe and Doron managed the transport of the exiled people, Hughes oversaw overall coordination, while the Ed couple sought employers for these exiled people.

It seemed Lorenzo's previous speculations were correct; they were all connected through this transport, and the final question remained.

Who would be the demon's next target for revenge?

"I heard your wife passed away a few days ago?"

Lorenzo's eyes were sharp. Every wife of Abel's hadn't lived long, and all were exiled people, which couldn't help but raise suspicion.

"Yes."

"You don't seem sad?"

"Because I am about to have another wife... or maybe just a lover."

He said, lighting a cigarette with a look of utmost enjoyment.

"Did you kill her?"

"No, she committed suicide. Perhaps she couldn't get accustomed to life in Old Dunling."

Looking at Baron Abel's nonchalant attitude, Lorenzo's gaze grew colder, and as though sensing Lorenzo's shift, he said, with some mockery.

"She would be grateful to me because her family would get a large sum of money."

"She died because of you?"

"Some personal hobbies of mine that she perhaps couldn't accept."

Abel said, revealing the scars beneath his clothes, rows of wounds yet to heal, not fatal but quite painful.

He then chuckled softly.

"Are you here to deliver justice, or has Suyalan Hall established some new exiled people's protection association?"

"I'm just a small part; you should get to know those clinical trials, the participants are all exiled people, they never intended to survive because dying not only lessens their family's burden but also earns money."

Lorenzo said nothing, the room was filled with malice, unbearable malice.

"So there are many employers like you?"

"Of course, everyone has some odd little hobbies. We are willing to pay, and they are willing to trade their lives; it's all quite fair."

The conversation hit an impasse, and the whole case was at a standstill. According to what Baron Abel said, any noble trading with the exiled people could be the target of his revenge, possibly making his enemies the entire noble class of Old Dunling.

He found the target of the demon's revenge, yet this target was so massive that he had no power to protect it.