A retired magician raises a bucket daily

"I'm going back to America."

The weather in London was not very good, it was raining continuously, and the breeze carried a scent of moist grass pouring in from the half-opened window.

The man covered by the piles of documents and books on the table raised his head, tidied up the papers on the table, and said, "Is this the result of your deliberation?"

The young man sitting on the sofa in front smiled, and put the silver teaspoon on the white porcelain bowl, "Don't be so indifferent, Weber, this may be the last time I stay in the UK, next time I want to see me, I have to buy a plane ticket gone."

El-Melloi II snorted, stood up from the desk, and walked to the sofa, "Smartphones are not for you to display."

As he said that, the man took off his black-rimmed glasses, rubbed his frowning brows, his expression was not very happy, "You know this is called running away, right?"

"Well, but it's useful."

"Reed," El-Melloi II's expression became more serious. There were two fine lines between his brows because of years of frowning, "They will always find you."

"I know," Reed held the white porcelain cup, and the translucent black tea was swaying in the cup. He lowered his eyelids, his expression was dark and unclear, and he was silent for a while, as if his eyes were covered by the hot steam of the black tea. He blinked After blinking, he opened his mouth and said, "But staying here is too tiring."

"Tired?" El-Melloi II didn't expect that he would hear such words from Reed, which should be regarded as showing weakness. From the time he knew this person, Reed seemed to be a very good person who could handle everything. Perfect genius.

"My rock is about to break, Webber, and before that I thought... a little rest, even if only for a few days, would be good."

Weber froze suddenly, the sudden sadness gripped his chest, making him froze as if he had turned into a statue.

Of course he understood what the stone meant—the ruby ​​called the 'Sage's Stone' that was placed on his friend's chest.

His throat tightened, his voice was dry and unfamiliar, as if it came from another world, and Weber heard himself asking, "How long?"

"Three years...it's a knockoff after all, it's lasted long enough."

Reed looked up and smiled at Weber again. His smile was very bewildering, and he looked very cute, like the students Weber was leading. It was almost impossible to tell that the two men who were sitting on the sofa facing each other were the same students. "Don't show such an expression, Weber, do you know that the frown lines on your brows are so--long?"

"...Is there no other way?" Weber selectively ignored the second half of his words, and the state of frowning had a tendency to develop semi-permanently.

Reed sighed with a smile, and said half-jokingly, "Then I can only wish on the Holy Grail and give me a normal human body."

Weber fell into deep thought, and his eyes drifted to the photo frame on his desktop, as if he was really thinking about the feasibility of 'making a wish to the Holy Grail'.

"Okay, it's time for me to go. You're too far away here. If I don't go, I won't be able to catch the plane." Reed stood up, put on his windbreaker jacket, and then smiled a little embarrassedly, and walked forward. Give your best friend of many years a hug.

"How...how?"

"Don't feel sorry for me, Webb," Reed said with a sigh. "I'm very content."

A girl wearing a black hood stood at the door, and when she saw Reed coming out, she asked, "Are you leaving, Mr. Reed?"

"Well, I have to catch a plane."

"Then, I wish you a smooth journey." The girl bent down and bowed.

Reed waved his hands, turned around, and went downstairs to leave.The back hem of the beige windbreaker raised an arc in the air, waving away the cold light fragrance around.Gray raised his head and looked at the back of the man leaving, inexplicably feeling a little sad.

Gray blinked, perhaps because the corridor was too quiet and empty, and the figure from the back looked extraordinarily lonely.

She exhaled, and gently pushed open the door of the room, "Master?"

The black-haired magician was sitting slumped on the sofa, with his hands on his forehead, his eyes downcast, and he didn't know if he was in a daze or what.Unresponsively, he raised his head in search of the sound, and stared blankly at Gray for a while.The girl in the hood was at a loss for a while, walked over lightly, and put away the empty teacup on the coffee table.

"...I'm going to visit the Clock Tower." The man suddenly said, stood up from the sofa, picked up the coat hanging on the hanger, and rubbed his face casually to wake up.

"Ah, okay!" Gray hurriedly put the cups and saucers in the sink, and followed him out.

The plane was delayed for a long time because of the rain, and it was already late when Reed got on the plane and left London.He made do with a not-so-delicious in-flight meal, listened to half a movie with headphones on, and fell asleep in a daze.

The narrator in the movie is still talking, only getting more and more distant.His dreams are always messy, as if all his experiences from childhood to adulthood are broken up and mixed together, without beginning or end.

He dreamed of the days when he lived in the United States when he was a child, dreamed of the dark sky, the wet season, and dreamed that he was sent to study in England, and dreamed of some messy people and things.

The man who was his father by blood was sitting in front of the window, and the sun shone in through the window behind him, dazzlingly bright, and the person hidden in the halo said to him in a deep voice: You must inherit the glory of the family.

The scene changed, and it came to a pale bed again. The woman lying on the bed held him with her thin and withered hands and said: You want to live, Reed, live.

The man in a white coat pushed the data report in front of him, and said softly: A conservative estimate, up to two years.

.........

Reed got off the plane in New York, and it was still very early, around [-]:[-] in the morning. He had previously considered the possibility of the plane being delayed, so he bought a ticket to Gotham in the afternoon.He was going to eat something to pad his stomach first.

New York is still being rebuilt, and workers are tinkering in dilapidated buildings, and there are still many steel buildings under construction in a city full of tall buildings.

Reed read in the newspaper that aliens invaded New York two months ago, wreaked havoc in the city, and was finally defeated by a team of superheroes called the "Avengers" - of course this time again on the clock The tower set off a frenzy, and all the students were discussing these things. When Reed was a substitute, students asked questions such as "the relationship between alien technology, modern technology and modern magic", "Norse mythology is related to the Norse gods. There are spiritual belief factors", the last time they were so crazy was the Superman incident three years ago.

He was obsessed with exploring the root of magic, and he also saw the legendary heroic spirits responding to the call in history, and learned of the existence of more races in the hidden corner of the world, and even himself was more or less related to "heterogeneous" No reason.But until recent years, other creatures from the universe appeared, they showed unparalleled power, they started to destroy and also tried to save, they tried to create a new world and changed the old world.Looking at the sporadic twinkling stars in the night, Reed suddenly realized that the times had really changed.

When he was a child, the bedtime story was just about the brave man who overcomes obstacles and defeated the dragon. Now the children's bedtime story is about the Justice League who saved the world, and another Avenger who saved the world.

But even though he was severely traumatized, the city was still busy, and the passers-by were in a hurry and indifferent. He stood there as if he was out of tune with this world.He has taken astronomy as an elective, and the lecturer in the first class told them: "The stars have their own trajectories, or explode, or collapse, or regenerate. Human beings are like stars. Every step is a 'cause', and it must be Will bear a 'fruit'."

Reed stood on the sidewalk and waited for the traffic light. The noise of people and the sound of motor vehicle engines came together. He followed the crowd, dragged a small suitcase, and stepped into another torrent.