[Comprehensive] Pass me the fire

Following the clues left by Dole, I quickly found the location of the man named Polnareff.This is a hut on the outskirts of Rome, with relatively open surroundings and a relatively remote location. All in all, it is a place suitable for seclusion.

I came outside the house and knocked on the door several times politely, but no one answered inside.But it was obvious that someone was still inside—the door of the house was not locked, and there was only a thin, wheel-run mark on the floor tiles in front of the door, extending from the door to the courtyard next to it.

This shows that the owner of this room is probably a disabled person who needs to use a wheelchair, and he is now on the other side of the door, quietly and vigilantly.

The rather crude lock on the door would have been easy to pinch if I wanted to, but I didn't.According to Doerr, his friend is a soldier with rich combat experience, so he is naturally very wary of strangers like me. It is best not to act rashly at such a time to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

"Mr. Polnareff, hello," I stood outside the door, hoping my voice could be sincere enough, "My name is Jean Corioni, and I am a student of Sword Emperor Dur. I found this place through the following clues, and I heard that you are Mr. Polnareff's friend."

I paused, and then said: "Do you know the news that Duer has been killed?"

The other side of the door remained silent, as if it had been silent for a century.Just when I thought that the other party was very indifferent to my intentions and didn't even want to ask, the door lock suddenly made a slight sound, and then the door of the house opened a gap carefully like the owner, like a hard clam shell He reluctantly opened his mouth.

"I've never heard of your name," a man's voice rang from behind the door, "put something that can prove your identity at the door, and you are not allowed to do any extra actions. Otherwise I won't guarantee your safety."

I nodded, expressing my approval of the other party's alertness: "This is natural."

I took out Dull's half-broken sword from the satchel and put it in the open door.Obviously no one took it, and I didn't see anything, but the broken sword I put in the crack of the door suddenly retracted, as if it was quickly taken over by an invisible hand.

I:"……"

interesting.

I took out some other things from the satchel with a blank face-Dur's ID card, real estate certificate, critical illness notice, Varian chief appointment letter (this thing was used by him as a table foot), college graduation certificate (He actually went to college), no passing high school transcripts...

The man behind the door: "... Enough is enough."

Hearing what he said, I regretfully withdrew the hand I put in my satchel and was about to take out Dole's messy love letter.It's a pity, I don't even know how these things were taken into the crack of the door, I obviously didn't see anything.

After a while, the clamshell-like door opened slightly, and at the same time, a voice came from behind the door: "Come in."

I walked into the house and saw a silver-haired man in a wheelchair.

His appearance is no different from what I guessed just now. I expected Polnareff to be a person with limited legs, but I didn't expect that he had completely lost his legs, and the part below the knees became pan. The silver metal glowed with cold light, and one eye was also blind.

Although the appearance looks very young, and the intact upper body also shows good posture and physical quality, but the whole person presents an inexplicably thin and sharp state.Since seeing me, his eyes have been fixed on me without moving, like a sword on my neck at any time.It showed that although he accepted who I was, he didn't fully trust me.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Contrary to his particularly thin and sharp appearance, Polnareff spoke to me in a very gentle voice——I just remembered that he was a Frenchman, and he treated ladies The attitude is not bad.Polnareff went on: "Please explain it to me in as much detail as possible."

According to his request, I stated what happened.In the end, I paused and added: "That being said, this is just my guess, and there is no substantive evidence that it is the hands of the [Enthusiasm] organization. I am here only to confirm to you Just a moment."

"No, you guessed right," said Polnareff in a heavy tone.

As I thought, Polnareff tracked down the [Passionate] organization a few years ago, and because of this, he was murdered by [Passionate] boss Diablo, lost both legs, an arm and an eye, lost He lost his combat ability and was blocked by the organization, so he could only live in seclusion in this place.But Polnareff didn't give up hope, and he kept waiting for someone who would try to defeat Diablo.

I asked, "So, how can I find that man named Diablo?"

Polnareff stared at me solemnly, and did not answer my question directly, but pointedly pierced through my implication: "Although what I say will hurt your self-esteem, Diablo is not something you can defeat. my enemy," he paused, raised his remaining good hand, and pointed to my side, "you can't see it at all, can you?"

I glanced in the direction he was pointing, and said very naturally, "Yes, I can't see...if you mean a stand-in."

"Wait, you know a stand-in?" Polnareff looked a little surprised.

"Just know it, someone mentioned it to me." I replied truthfully.

Giorno told me about the substitute, but I don't know much about it. In terms of cognition, I only stop at knowing the existence of a "substitute".It seems that Giorno has only just begun to understand, and he has not told me about the deeper knowledge. Soon, Mr. Polnareff gave me a brief introduction to the knowledge about substitutes.

To sum up, there are roughly two points. First, ordinary people cannot see doubles, and only people with double abilities can see each other's doubles. Second, only doubles can defeat doubles.

"I get it roughly," I said "Oh", and pointed at the golden arrow in Polnareff's hand, "So is that arrow related to the double? Probably to enhance the ability of the double." Something like that, the secret weapon used to defeat Diablo?"

Polnareff: "..."

Polnareff looked at me suspiciously that I had taken the script, and involuntarily grasped the golden arrow in his hand, and said, "Uh... yes."

I said blankly: "Please don't be so surprised, Mr. Polnareff, you are too nervous about this arrow. Since I just entered the door, you have seen this arrow eleven times, how much do you value it?" It has surpassed ordinary items. Only doubles can defeat doubles, but people like you can't defeat Diablo, presumably his double ability is beyond ordinary people. If you think about it this way, the role of this arrow is obvious .”

"This arrow can indeed arouse the power of a stand-in," Polnareff paused, "but I'm not sure whether it can defeat Diablo... I can only try."

"Can't Mr. Polnareff use this arrow himself?"

Polnareff shook his head: "The power of the substitute is related to my own mental power. After being seriously injured by Diablo, my mental power weakened, and I can't control the substitute as before. Can I control it? A stand-in inspired by powers that even I can't be sure of."

"So Mr. Polnareff wants to give this arrow to someone who wants to defeat Diablo and has a double?" thought for a while.

After a while, I clenched my right hand into a fist, knocked on my open left hand, and said "ah", "Then I understand."

"—Anyway," I said to the other side of the phone, "that's how it happened."

On the other side of the phone, Giorno's unusually calm voice sounded: "That is to say, you found a person who once fought against the boss of the organization, and that person said that he has a way to defeat the boss?"

"Yes, yes." I nodded, indicating that Giorno understood correctly.

"Leaving aside the credibility of the matter," Giorno said to me solemnly, "If the other party asks you to transfer money, there is no doubt that he is a liar, and you must keep this in mind."

I:"…………"

I was expressionless: "You have offended Mr. Polnareff, please apologize to him."

"There are too many enemies along the way, there is no harm in being more careful," Giorno said calmly, "So, what is the solution?"

I replied curtly, "It's an arrow."

Giorno was silent for a moment, and when he spoke again, his tone became a little strange: "... an arrow? Wait, is it a golden arrow?"

"Ah, yes..." I wondered why Giorno knew about the arrow, but I didn't ask him aloud, but asked him another question, "You will know when the time comes. You are now Where? I'll send you this arrow."

"I'm currently in Venice," Giorno replied, with a serious voice, "and I'm going to Sardinia next."

I said "Oh" and guessed: "Are you organizing a tour at public expense?"

Giorno seemed to be speechless for a moment: "..."

"It's to find out the true face of the boss," Giorno said slowly, perhaps because the matter was a bit complicated, he explained to me while organizing his thoughts, "The people in the team and I took over the task of escorting the boss's daughter, but now We have betrayed the boss, and the truth of the identity of the boss exists in Sardinia. So next, my team and I are going to that place."

"I see," I thought for a moment, "Then we'll meet in Sardinia, okay?"

There was no answer from the other side of the phone for a long time, as if the other party had suddenly fallen into a silence that was temporarily unable to speak.

"Giorno?" I had no choice but to call his name again.

"...No, there's no problem." Giorno finally spoke, but his voice stopped abruptly after he finished these words. He seemed to be thinking about something, and he neither spoke nor spoke. No intention of hanging up the phone.

After a while, Giorno suddenly asked: "Do you still remember that I wanted to invite you to be my companion?"

"It's not an invitation," I corrected him, "it's a request, and besides, you used a little trick."

Giorno: "...that's probably what happened. Do you remember?"

"Remember," I blinked, and I was keenly aware of a slight change in the other person's tone. I vaguely felt that he seemed to be different from before, "What's wrong?"

Giorno paused for a while, and continued to speak: "It's nothing, I just think that maybe it's the right thing not to involve you."

"...Sorry, I was thinking too much." Before I could speak, Giorno interrupted me first, and it was the first time I realized that his voice was so gentle: "See you in Sardinia, be careful on the road. "

"Also, the Emerald Coast of Sardinia is beautiful. Maybe we can meet there."