Chapter 449: Fool
Chapter 449: Chapter 449: Fool
Nina Jacobs didn’t listen in on Arcadia White and General Hughes’s conversation.
All she knew was that the next day, General Hughes told her they likely wouldn’t be leaving Whittaker Town so soon.
The general avoided her gaze as he spoke, but Nina Jacobs pretended not to notice.
The couple, however, seemed to have reconciled.
In the large courtyard, Julia Hughes held her father’s hand with her left and her mother’s with her right, saying good morning to everyone there one by one.
"You must be Nina Jacobs. Come and have some breakfast, no need to stand on ceremony."
The woman from the previous day, the one with her hair in a bun, said with a beaming smile.
Nina Jacobs heard people calling her Mrs. White.
Several tables were set for breakfast in the main courtyard, and Nina Jacobs saw Thane Trevor and a few others already seated at one of them.
"No, thank you. We’ve already eaten."
Nina Jacobs refused outright.
The atmosphere seemed to fall silent for a couple of seconds before General Hughes explained,
"The Shadow Legion always carries its own rations. Perhaps Nina Jacobs is just used to it."
"Oh, I see."
The woman with the bun seemed a little surprised that someone would refuse a free breakfast.
Breakfast was quickly served in the courtyard, and it had to be said, the spread looked incredibly lavish.
But since the two of them had already eaten their fill in the cabin before coming out, Nina Jacobs simply took Wayne Warner and walked out the gate.
General Hughes had said they could wander around, but they were restricted to the confines of the town.
Outside, a pair of puppets, one dressed in blue and the other in pink, passed by. They moved almost silently, and Nina Jacobs noticed their feet were wrapped in thick felt.
Then, wherever Nina Jacobs went, the two puppets followed.
An occasional glint of light flashed from within their hollow, wooden eye sockets.
Nina Jacobs knew they must be some sort of surveillance cameras.
Just as she’d suspected. Everyone’s every move here was being monitored by these puppets, with no exception even at night.
Wayne Warner was also looking around curiously when someone suddenly charged toward Nina Jacobs from behind a house.
Wayne Warner simply stepped forward to block him, and the man was sent stumbling to the ground.
"SOB SOB SOB..."
Amid the loud sobs of a grown man, Nina Jacobs saw that he was wearing extremely baggy clothes.
His eyes were unfocused. He was crying from the physical pain, and drool trickled from the corner of his mouth.
He didn’t look at all like a normal person.
This reminded Nina Jacobs of what Arcadia White had said the day before.
"Didn’t I tell you not to run around?"
A harsh shout came from the direction the man had just appeared from.
Nina Jacobs noticed that the man flinched visibly upon hearing the voice.
"Nnngh... Nnngh..."
The man struggled, trying to hide behind Nina Jacobs, but he was quickly seized by the scruff of his neck by the short, stout man who had just spoken.
"Han Lewis! Can’t you just behave? You just have to run around, don’t you!"
The short, stout man drove a fist into the man’s stomach, clearly using a great deal of force.
"SOB SOB SOB..."
As the man instinctively curled into a ball on the ground, the short, stout man, still not satisfied, gave him another kick for good measure.
"Julian Sutton, what are you doing?"
A sharp rebuke came from behind. It was Arcadia White, General Hughes, and their group.
"Mrs. White, this one suddenly started getting agitated a few days ago. Ever since, he’s been running off and won’t listen. I just wanted to teach him a lesson."
The short, stout man replied.
"That’s still no way to treat him. You can go on back. After all, he’s helped us a great deal in the past."
Arcadia White said with a sigh as she walked over.
"This is Han Lewis. He’s from Whittaker Town, but something happened to him a while back, and he suddenly lost his wits. We felt sorry for him, so we’ve been looking after him. I think he’s taken quite a liking to you."
Arcadia White said to Nina Jacobs.
"You must be joking, Mrs. White. I don’t know him at all."
Nina Jacobs quietly watched Mrs. White put on her act.
’If she hadn’t overheard their plans earlier with her Five Senses Enhancement, she would have had no idea what game Mrs. White was playing.’
"Nina Jacobs, since you’re not busy these next few days, why don’t you help look after Han Lewis? I still have some matters to attend to here."
General Hughes added.
’So the couple is teaming up on me?’
A cold look flashed in Nina Jacobs’s eyes, but she didn’t refuse. "Very well. Since it’s an order from General Hughes, I will do my duty."
General Hughes gave Nina Jacobs an uneasy glance, then nodded.
"It’s good you agreed. That Julian Sutton was too harsh just now. Until we find a suitable person to look after Han Lewis, we’ll have to rely on you."
Arcadia White said with a satisfied smile.
After the two had gone, Nina Jacobs frowned at Han Lewis, still curled up on the ground, then turned and walked away without looking back.
’Arcadia White had only told her to *watch* Han Lewis, not to be responsible for whether he lived or died.’
To her surprise, however, Han Lewis got up and followed her.
Nina Jacobs stopped walking, and he stopped too. He was drooling. "Heh heh... heh heh heh..."
"..."
Thinking of Arcadia White’s scheme from the night before made Nina Jacobs even more irritated.
"You’d better stay away from me,"
Nina Jacobs said, her tone sharp.
She continued walking, but after a few steps, she noticed something strange.
Han Lewis had actually stopped.
’He can understand people?’
Nina Jacobs turned to look at him.
"Heh heh heh."
Han Lewis’s expression was vacant, his eyes darting about uncontrollably.
He still looked like a simpleton.
Nina Jacobs shook her head at the sight.
’With Han Lewis in tow, she could investigate anywhere in Whittaker Town she wanted.’
Whittaker Town was very small. Nina Jacobs reached its edge after walking for little more than ten minutes.
The buildings on both sides were all low-slung wooden houses; there were no structures that looked like warehouses.
Nina Jacobs couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.
On the way back, just as Nina Jacobs was passing an empty lot strewn with bags of cement and stacks of bricks, Julia Hughes suddenly rushed out, laughing boisterously.
"There’s a little fool at home, and now there’s a big fool out here."
She was holding a rope, and at the other end was a boy around her age.
The boy had a crooked mouth and slanted eyes, a clear sign of a congenital defect. He was different from Han Lewis.
"Who is he?" Nina Jacobs asked curiously.
Apparently, the town was safe enough that Julia Hughes didn’t need anyone to accompany her when she played outside.
"He’s my older cousin, but he’s a fool, too," Julia Hughes said gleefully.
"Brock White, bark like a dog! You hear me?!"
She kicked the boy repeatedly with her little leather shoes, but the boy slapped her back across the face.
Seeing Julia Hughes fall to the ground and burst into tears, Nina Jacobs felt a wave of exasperation and turned to leave.
However, she was startled to find that several puppets had suddenly gathered, blocking their path.
A moment later, a crowd of people came running over.
"Brock White hit me! Daddy, beat Brock up for me!"
Julia Hughes sobbed.
"How could that child, Brock, hit someone again?" someone in the crowd said in a scolding tone.
Cradling his daughter, General Hughes glared at Brock White with displeasure.
"Th-that can’t be right... Brock wouldn’t hit someone for no reason."
A middle-aged man in glasses stammered out a defense.
"He did hit me! Brock White is just a fool!"
Julia Hughes’s face was flushed from crying, and she looked utterly aggrieved.
"I seem to recall someone saying that if Brock White hit anyone again, he’d be subject to family discipline, correct?"
From within the crowd, Arcadia White’s casual remark immediately sent the middle-aged man into a panic.
"It’s normal for children to squabble. Brock is still just a kid, and besides, he really wouldn’t hit someone for no reason," the man frantically argued.
"Miss Jacobs saw it too! If you don’t believe me, ask her!"
Julia Hughes said, pointing at Nina Jacobs.