Pardofelis was really enjoying the comfort of stretching her body in the mild, warm breeze. This wasn't a foul-smelling garbage dump, nor a cold, wind-swept alley, but a rooftop bathed in sunlight.
There was no surveillance, she judged, and leaped down with the wind, landing silently on the ground, just like a cat.
"So, what's next?"
Once a person relaxes, they tend to overthink, and Pardo's leisure time was spent either sunbathing, daydreaming, or often doing both at once.
For some reason, Pardo thought of the photos of the boy in the bedroom. There were photos from all ages, but none of him as a young adult, with an empty photo frame sitting forlornly to one side.
An empty photo frame... Ah, that's right!
Something clicked in Pardo's mind, and she vaulted over the wall in one breath and hurried away.
She ran back to her former dwelling. To call it a dwelling was perhaps generous; it was just one of her many resting spots, with several similar safe houses scattered across Dusk Street. She would switch where she slept every few days.
Pardo had a habit of hiding things—burying them or tucking them into crevices. Whether stolen or found, anything she considered valuable and couldn't sell, she would keep secret.
"Found it, whew..." She pulled out a yellowed piece of paper from a small box, a smile spreading across her innocent face, her eyes sparkling brightly.
It was her wanted poster, and it had her picture on it.
Pardo had never had her picture taken. She only occasionally glimpsed people she thought were rich young masters or wealthy folks taking selfies. She found the technology that could instantly freeze a person in a moment to be immensely fascinating.
It was as if one's age and appearance were sealed in that split second when the shutter clicked and the flash went off, keeping worries and hunger at bay.
This picture was taken of her accidentally, and once she saw it, this wanted poster became her only photograph.
She had always wanted to put the photo in a frame, but various reasons had always prevented her from doing so.
"He won't refuse, right? I've looked after him for so long, he should at least give me something in return, right? Wait... maybe he isn't the person in the picture, after all. Hmm, never mind, never mind."
Pardo grinned. She was eager to show Lin her picture; showing off was ingrained in her nature—she was just following her instinct.
She hoped he would be clear-headed when she returned... At least they could discuss what to have for dinner, right?
With a joyful mood, Pardo rushed back. Seeing the wall, she leaped up, expertly climbed over, and then walked to the door, pushing it open unceremoniously.
"I'm back!" she shouted excitedly, not caring if Lin was incoherent and couldn't hear her.
"..."
However, the room was silent. The light was off, and it was pitch black.
Pardo shivered.
The house had suddenly become much colder.
"That's weird, did he roll his wheelchair somewhere else again?" Pardo tilted her head, switched on the light, and didn't see Lin's figure.
Suddenly, a tightness gripped her chest, as if she had anticipated something about to happen, as if Lin... had vanished from this world.
"No way... Where could he run off to..." Pardo gave a dry laugh and started following the route to look for traces of Lin. She was convinced Lin had to be somewhere in the house; maybe he had fallen in some corner again, waiting for her to help him up.
Pardo was panicking. She didn't realize that the reason she had always wanted to send Lin to a sanatorium but put it off with various "excuses" was because, having grown up without company, she hadn't noticed her own unusual attachment, even if the person was a psychiatric patient who hadn't spoken more than ten sentences to her in over a month.
After searching the entire house, she didn't find Lin. Instead, she found a note and a key on the dining table.
[Pardofelis, thank you for your care. Please forgive my unannounced departure. I have a very important matter to attend to, which is why I'm leaving today. Perhaps I won't return here again. I'm leaving the key; you can use this residence as you wish. — Lin]
The handwriting was fluid and elegant.
The words were brief, and Pardo, though still struggling with reading, understood from them that Lin had left.
He had left without saying goodbye.
He had left nothing behind but this key.
"B-but, wasn't he unable to walk, and always having hallucinations?" Pardo stammered, frantically messing up her hair. She paced around the room. "Why... did he have to leave?"
A sense of loneliness slowly filled her entire being.
A person leaned against the window, listening to Pardo's frantic footsteps in the room, and shook her head: "Just leaving a key... that's too impersonal, Lin."
She had written the note. Lin had left only the key and departed, a decision so resolute it bordered on coldness.
He didn't want Pardo to get involved in anything related to Honkai.
"Meow~"
As she pondered where to go next, she heard a soft, furry meow by her feet. She looked down and saw a tabby cat rubbing against her ankle.
"What's wrong, little kitty~" She squatted down with a smile, stroking the cat's head. The soft fur was quite soothing to her.
"Meow~"
"Clink."
The tabby cat opened its mouth and spat out a key, which clattered onto the floor. She froze for a moment, then picked it up.
"This is..."
Lin rolled up his sleeve and bit the cuff, exposing his ugly left arm, which was filled with purple stripes. The abnormal muscle swelling and veins made it look somewhat deformed. Even without any added decorations, it could serve as a scary prop for a test of courage.
There were six doses of reagent in the bag, the same number of medicines Mobius had given him originally, but this time, both the dosage and the concentration of the liquid were superior.
The huge syringe held an unnaturally flowing, bright green fluid, as viscous as honey, making it hard to imagine it was a drug that could be injected into the human body.
The needle was also much thicker, but fortunately, he didn't need to look for a vein; the veins were prominent in the cramping muscle gaps, easily visible.
He took out one dose of reagent, plunged the needle into a vein, and the syringe automatically pushed the drug into the blood vessel.
The bright green substance slowly disappeared from the syringe.
"..."
Excruciating pain began to spread from his arm to his entire body, like fire racing through his blood vessels. An eerie bright green surged into his pupils, and a heavy hammer fiercely pounded his head.
"Hoo... Hoo... Hoo..." Lin's breathing became heavy, and his heart rate turned rapid and pounding, as if it was trying to burst out of his chest.
Every cell was burning. Something was violently battling inside his body, and the aftermath of that war could tear his body apart at any moment.
After half an hour of muscle spasms and convulsions, the terrible pain finally subsided. Lin lifted his arm; its size had returned to normal, and the purple stripes had also faded slightly.
Expelling the confused consciousness from his mind, Lin began his journey back.