As Duncan watched Nina skip up the stairs, he felt a bit confused and scratched his head. "What is that kid smiling about?" Then he heard Mr. Morris's voice coming from the counter, "Honestly, you are quite different from what I expected, Mr. Duncan."
"Different?" Duncan raised an eyebrow. "What was your impression of me?"
While speaking, he stepped out from behind the counter to hang the "temporarily closed" sign on the door and moved a chair next to the counter. Since Mr. Morris was a visiting teacher and not just a regular guest, it would be rude to make him stand.
"Thank you," Morris said, nodding. After sitting down, he looked at Duncan with a gentle and refined smile. "I haven't met you before, but I've heard some things about Nina's family situation. Forgive my rudeness, but I've heard rumors that Nina has an uncle who drinks too much, gambles, and has a bad temper. She lives in a tough family environment, which has left her with almost no friends at school—other students are reluctant to interact with her."
Duncan was making coffee when he heard Morris's words. He paused for a moment, then slowly finished what he was doing. He brought two cups of coffee back to the counter and pushed one towards the old man. "I hope you don't mind that this is the best we have around here—it's just cheap stuff from the lower district."
He sat down across from the old man, both holding steaming cups of coffee. An old dagger lay between them, but clearly, neither was focused on it at the moment.
"To be honest... the rumors are true," Duncan said slowly. "I was sick for a while—well, it was a pretty serious illness. I had to rely on strong liquor to numb the pain when painkillers didn't work. It was a rough time, and unfortunately, that coincided with Nina's crucial teenage years. It seems the impact on her is worse than I thought."
Morris observed Duncan carefully and after a long moment, he spoke thoughtfully. "Is that so? But you don't seem like someone who just came out of a rough patch—you seem more like a gentleman who has always been positive and optimistic. Your wit and humor when talking to others don’t seem affected by alcohol."
As he spoke, he took a sip of his coffee, not commenting on its quality, just casually adding, "I think I have a good eye for people."
"Maybe I just adjusted my mindset quickly," Duncan replied with a smile, sounding very relaxed. He had to admit that the old man was quite perceptive, but he believed that no matter how sharp someone's gaze was, they couldn't see the secrets hidden within him, so he wasn't worried. "Nina is almost an adult now, and I’m her only guardian. I need to take on some responsibility."
"Regardless, this is good for the child," Morris said, looking deeply at Duncan. "She is at a critical stage in her studies. Many say that graduating from public high school only leads to factory jobs, but they often overlook one thing: knowledge itself is a valuable asset. It will show its worth one day in your life, often when you no longer have the chance to return to school."
The old man shook his head. "Unfortunately, most parents I've dealt with don’t agree with this—they focus on getting their kids to graduate and find a job as quickly as possible."
Duncan felt a sense of familiarity at this point. He often said similar things to his students or their parents when he was a teacher, but no one listened to him...
However, he quickly set aside that feeling of "meeting a fellow teacher" and thought about his current situation. He shook his head slightly. "Because this is the lower district, Mr. Morris—your views are indeed wise and far-sighted, but most people here really need to pay last month's bills quickly. You can't just say they lack vision because of that."
"That's true. Many people want to look further, but the walls of life always block our view," the old man sighed. "Sorry, after spending so long in books, I tend to overlook practical issues in life... You are a thoughtful person, and it seems my worries are unnecessary."
"Worries?" Duncan frowned. "Is something going on with Nina at school? Has her performance dropped?"
"Her grades have always been good, but recently... she has been somewhat distracted," Morris said carefully. "She zones out in class, sleeps during self-study, and gets distracted during lab sessions—last week in chemistry class, she even set the lab table on fire. This has never happened before... at least not with her."
At this point, the old man paused and added, "In the recent test, her grades didn't drop, but if this continues, it's hard to say what her graduation results will be—though the options after graduating from public high school are limited, working in a factory in the lower district is different from maintaining a steam core in a church in the upper district. As Nina's guardian, you should take this seriously."
"Nina has been zoning out in class lately?" Duncan frowned. "She hasn't mentioned anything like that to me..."
"Girls her age usually don’t share too much with you," Morris shook his head. "At first, I thought it might be because of something happening at home, or that her 'drinking uncle' did something recently that affected her at school, which is why I came for this home visit. But it seems... that's not the case."
Duncan didn't speak for a moment, just seriously recalled whether Nina had shown any unusual behavior in front of him these past few days. He thought about her daily routine, and after a few seconds, Morris asked, "You know her best. Has she shown any signs of something unusual? Like not sleeping well or being unwell?"
Duncan thought for a long time and could only shrug. "…I'm ashamed to say I can’t think of an answer."
He really couldn't think of one—just a week ago, he didn't even know Nina! How could he know what had changed with her recently?
Morris didn't seem surprised by Duncan's answer. It was likely because he had already lowered his expectations about "Nina's uncle" based on the rumors before coming, so he just said habitually, "You should pay more attention to her—especially for a girl her age, just providing material support isn't enough."
When Duncan heard this, an idea popped into his head: "Could she be in a relationship?"
To be honest, this thought was somewhat influenced by "Zhou Ming's" experience as a teacher...
However, Morris looked at him with a strange expression after hearing this. The old man gave Duncan a peculiar look. "That's an all-girls school..."
Duncan thought for a moment, looking serious. "An all-girls school could still work."
Morris's eyes widened slightly.
The old man, who was usually absorbed in academics, was quite shocked!
"Well, okay, I was just saying that off the cuff," Duncan realized that this topic might be a bit too much for the old man, so he quickly cleared his throat to break the awkwardness. "I'll have a good talk with Nina... She should be willing to talk to me."
"Ah... oh, of course," the old man finally reacted. He seemed to still be in some kind of shock, and his speech felt a bit slow. "From what I understand... Nina is a very honest and straightforward child. If you talk to her well, she shouldn't resist too much."
Duncan nodded. "Is there anything else? Has Nina shown any other odd behavior at school recently?"
"Aside from zoning out and being distracted, not really," the old man thought for a moment and shook his head. "I actually came mainly to discuss this matter and to understand her real family situation... By the way, speaking of this, Nina's parents died because of..."
"An accident eleven years ago," Duncan said. "The official record has this incident—the chemical plant leak in the Sixth District."
"I see," the old man sighed. "I remember that accident. My daughter and I were near the Cross District at the time. The chemical plant leak was quite loud, and the affected crowd even rushed to the edge of the upper district... The investigation afterward said that many cultists took advantage of the chaos that night, and they also damaged the chemical plant..."
Duncan felt a jolt and casually said, "Wasn't there a big fire in the lower district that night?"
"A fire? I don't remember any big fire," Morris frowned. "You must be mistaken."
"…Looks like I remembered wrong," Duncan pressed his forehead and smiled. "I really should stay away from alcohol."
(End of Chapter)