【Zhou Jia】self-punisher.

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Canterlot is a businessman.

He occupies the most secluded corner of Diagonal Alley, and uses a little trick that is inhumane to make the door with the dark green curtain look even more inconspicuous.Every time a guest visits, the heavy copper bell will ring endlessly.If an unsuspecting guest wanders in by mistake, it will give him plenty of time to pack everything up.When guests actually walk through the door, all they see is an old guy with glasses snoring in an armchair.

He was proud of his ingenious camouflage.So it is conceivable how panicked Canterlot was when someone stood in front of him silently for the first time in more than 20 years.Fortunately, he is extremely tactful through experience in the world, and when he raised his head, there was already a smile on his face: "Welcome, first..."

"……pregnancy."

The Canterlot almost hit his toe.The visitor lightly caught the pipe in mid-air and returned it to his hand.When the other party took off his hat, Cantera realized that the visitor was not the man he remembered, but the eyes of the two were very similar.

"Long time no see, Mr. Canterlot."

"Yes... Long time no see. Sir, I heard that your father..."

"Yes, passed away."

Arjuna looked around at the display that was almost the same as in his impression, and finished the stumbling lines for him carelessly.He interrupted the other party's long and stammering polite words, the metal watch strap wrapped around his fingertips hung down, and the dangling surface at the bottom had automatically returned to its original shine.He stroked the engraved inscription on the edge of the pocket watch, and looked at the corner of the merchant's mouth from bottom to top.

"We don't intend to stay here too long, I just hope you can answer some doubts for us."

we?

It was only then that Cantera noticed that there was a fair-skinned young man walking with Arjuna.He didn't seem to notice their conversation at all, and he was happily squatting on one side and stroking Canterlot's tabby cat.It's unbelievable that a pet with a fierce nature will turn its belly out for him to caress... It takes a lot of effort for Cantera to withdraw his attention.

"Don't worry about him. He's just an insignificant person." Arjuna smiled slightly. "You haven't changed at all. You are still the same as I remember. I used to spend a good day with my father at your place. If you still keep It would help me a lot to have a little memory of that time.”

"I'm not sure what you're referring to." After a brief panic, Cantera regained his composure a little.He quietly looked at the other party with cowardly eyes, confirming that his accumulated experience over the years was enough to gain an advantage in this negotiation-like conversation. "Thank you for your concern, but I have reached the age where I should watch the sunset in the manor. I don't want to bring you unnecessary trouble..."

"Oh. Of course not." Arjuna's fingertips paused, and the pocket watch underneath suddenly hovered in mid-air.He put his wand lightly on the table, "I think you've heard of a very interesting thing called a Pensieve. All I need is a little sacrifice from you."

The young man is still proficient in using appropriate honorifics, and his tepid tone is nothing like his sharp-edged father.However, the non-aggressive tone made Canterlot's fingers tremble.He raised his head abruptly, "I should remind you that I have the right to refuse..."

"Are you sure you want to do this, Canterlot?"

The ending sound echoed in the narrow and dim shop for a long time.The phosphorescent lamp covered with dragon skin flickered a few times, reflecting the right hand holding the wand on the cobweb-covered wall.A wisp of light smoke condensed in mid-air and slowly fell into the empty bottle below.

"Thank you."

The young man put his hat back on and put his pocket watch back.The elf, who was standing behind his legs in fear, took a step forward, stretched out his hand and hugged the bottle tightly in his arms, and followed the little master to the door step by step.Karna put down the spotted cat in his hand, but instead of following Arjuna, he walked to the counter and asked the waiter in a fast food restaurant like he was in the Muggle world,

"how much is this?"

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If he had known that they were not compatible, Arjuna would never have bought this silly cat.

The spotted cat, which cost seven Galleons, was staring at the part of his pocket watch, ready to scratch it off at any moment.

"Is it really okay? Such an expensive Christmas gift." After stepping out of Diagon Alley, Karna seemed a little unbelievable that he would receive a gift.He had already put the spotted cat back after hearing the price, but Arjuna put the money on the counter ahead of time.More than a month has passed since they initially reached an agreement, and it is another festival that has no meaning at all to him.

What he didn't expect was that Arjuna also stayed.Thanks to the convenience of a long vacation, and the dispensation of a non-working Potions professor, they can go to Diagon Alley to "relax a little" at their leisure.Karna has never had any pets since he was a child, and his adoptive mother would keep sneezing when she encountered any furry creature, so when he got this palm-sized kitten, he looked like he had just won 1000 million color scroll.

"You can't touch this, Chirp."

Karna held the spotted cat's tiny paw, but he didn't realize that Arjuna's expression suddenly became weird.

"Chirp?"

"That's how it sounds." Karna explained, "By the way, I have a gift for you too."

In the open palm is a golden pocket watch with a slightly faded casing, but it can be vaguely seen that it was born expensively.It can be seen at a glance that it belongs to Surya, but it is not known whether it is a gift from him intentionally or left behind unintentionally.

"Your watch has already stopped." Karna's gaze fell on the strap hanging from his chest, "I just saw its hands overlapped all the time. If you don't mind, please accept this."

Surya's legacy?

Because the other party worshiped this pocket watch devoutly, the corners of Arjuna's mouth raised a slight mocking arc.He weighed the watch strap briefly, then stuffed it into his pocket. "I will cherish it well." The lizard that was occupied flexibly arched out, dragged the bottle in its pocket and fell straight down - was bitten by the eager Jiu Zhangkou.The arrogant spotted cat glanced at A Zhou, flicked its tail, and jumped up to the second floor lightly.

The nimble kitten nimbly shuttled through the crowd. After several times almost hitting the students who were walking in the opposite direction, Karna finally hugged it in front of the claustrophobic fourth-floor showroom.Unaware of his mistake at all, Chu licked his paw happily, and spat the bottle into Karna's hand affectionately.

"Merry Christmas, Karna."

Merlin, who had just closed the door, pinched the cat's cheeks, "And Mr. Cat. Are you here to find Professor Axe? He went to receive the investigation team with the principal, and he hasn't come back yet."

After the last unicorn death incident, the investigation team sent by the Ministry of Magic stayed here for more than a month, during which they politely stopped most of the school's public activities.Although the results of the investigation were not announced, they probably returned in vain.Shirama was so busy that Karna didn't have the chance to ask him about the diary again.

"Are you here to borrow the Pensieve?" Merlin glanced at the bottle in Karna's hand, "It's still forbidden for students. But it doesn't matter if it's Karna."

He took the initiative to open the door of the office next to the showroom, "Since the professor holding the ax is not here, it doesn't matter if you use it a little bit."

"Is that all right?"

This opportunity is very rare.Arjuna originally planned to enter the empty teacher's office to take the Pensieve on special days, such as dance nights.If Professor Merlin is willing to help, it will indeed save a lot of trouble.But the strange thing is that Arjuna didn't follow for some reason.He subconsciously glanced back at the empty stairs, thanked him and followed into the room.

"It's okay, don't stick to the rules too much, Mr. Karna." Merlin took the cat in his hand, "It's just some small things, do you want to try the biscuits I made later?"

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The cold air gradually warmed up as it fell, and the incoming light and human voice changed from unstable to clear.The first thing that came to my ears was a deep male voice, mixed with the complicated aristocratic language that few people use nowadays.

"You shouldn't have done this to him."

After the fog cleared, Karna found himself stepping in the corridor of a private mansion.The soft carpet in the room makes no sound even if you walk on it with bare feet.In the reception room on the left, two figures were communicating in a low voice but not peacefully.The visitor was easily recognized as Arjuna's father, a man named Indra.The owner of the house is a young man with long blond hair. From his angle, he can only see the back of the other party.

"Mistakes have been made, Indra. All I can do is minimize the disaster they will bring to this world."

"Sometimes you put a little too much faith in divination. I have never found any signs of bad luck in the tea stems."

"I think more trust should be given. The trajectory of the morning star tells me that Karna... this child should never have been born."

"Then why do you forcefully hang him with unicorn blood? Wouldn't it be more in line with your code of conduct to let him have no chance of being born?"

"So I'm correcting my mistake, without further ado... Indra, I can't do him any kindness. It's more cruel to him. Let's talk about something lighter... Or would you like some black tea?"

The sound of footsteps came from the room, and the young man opened the door and walked out, casting his gaze in the direction of Karna, his eyes were as blue as the lake water, "Oh, I thought you had already left."

"I forgot to take... take my box." Cantera stammered and walked out quickly.

The condensed mist condensed into a whirlpool and passed by, and when it condensed again, it was still in this room.But the house seemed to be a lot more empty.After Karna looked around, he found that the original decorative murals and porcelain were gone, and the inside of the house looked too simple—almost as if no one lived there.The light of the setting sun faintly enveloped the man sitting alone at the table.He didn't look old, but his whole body seemed to be tired and tired after decades of time.

"You're here." He lifted his chin and nodded towards the only spare chair in the room.

"Mr. Surya."

"Let's omit the extra greetings. Since you are wearing white flowers, you are going to his funeral."

"I thought I'd meet you there..."

"I don't have much time, I can't allocate these trivial things." The man handed him a pocket watch, "You remember it."

"Yes. It's the same thing I sold to that gentleman."

"Since you know its origin, please send it back to its original tomb."

"You know . . . know that I . . . "

"I'm not interested in your insignificant theft." The man named Surya rubbed the space between his brows lightly, "If you don't want to cause disaster, you must do what I tell you."

Canterlot bowed deeply, almost knocking his head on the corner of the table in front of him.This was originally a very ridiculous picture, but there was no smile on the handsome face of the blond man.The businessman who took the pocket watch walked out of the room backwards, and the light gradually dimmed, turning to the last scene carried by this thread of thought.

It was a night of torrential rain, and the grave had been dug to reveal fresh, putrid earth.With trembling hands, Cantera put the pocket watch back to the side of the dead man who had turned into dry bones, but was bitten deeply by Naga who stormed out from the darkness.After Kigan bit off Canterlot's pinky finger, it swallowed the pocket watch, its apricot eyes glowing like lamps in the night.

-TBC-