"He definitely couldn't have stayed at home, or I would have known," Gerard said, "but he loves Shana, if he really came back, he wouldn't just ignore her."
"... Are you sure?" Bai Wei said. "Miss Shana is clearly mentally disturbed, doesn't that mean he hasn't come back?"
"He might have been forced to stay hidden, making it impossible for him to appear before Shana," Gerard pushed open Shana's room door, "but he surely couldn't help but do something."
The room was a mess, cluttered with all sorts of things, not at all like the room of an adult woman.
And most of these piled items were "junk," quite similar to those stacked on Gerard's workbench, obviously belonging to Helmo.
In the middle of this junk was a bed placed on the floor.
This arrangement seemed as if the room's owner could only sleep surrounded by this cluster of junk.
Gerard then began rummaging through the pile of junk like an old man collecting scraps.
Bai Wei still found Gerard's approach rather peculiar, and he lazily said, "Honestly, I don't think you'll find anything useful here, and don't you think it's a bit..."
"Found it." Gerard suddenly interrupted.
He watched as Gerard, with his slightly trembling hands, dug out an item from the pile of junk that looked relatively new.
A white mechanical music box.
"What is this?" Bai Wei asked.
"'Lyra's Melody.'" Gerard opened the music box, and a melodious tune instantly flowed from the small box, and as the melody played, he softly began, "This is something Shana always wanted, Helmo mentioned it to us many times."
"No, because originally it was just a concept music box, not yet actually produced, and the production date started on..." Gerard turned the music box over, and the production date was engraved—Year 241.
"Couldn't she have bought it herself?" Bai Wei asked.
"No way," Gerard said sternly, "because by that time she was already married to a Rebel, and by the rules, she had no way to get the new creations of Lyra."
"Your Lyra's rules are quite heartless," Bai Wei squinted at Gerard, "so in your view, Helmo bought this music box?"
"Besides him, I can't think of anyone else," Gerard said, "after that year, everyone was distancing themselves from everything associated with the Night Star, no one would help her."
"So, he actually came back?"
"That's the only possibility I can think of." Gerard's expression became complicated, and for a moment he did not know whether to feel happy or some other emotion, but he knew what he had to do and after a brief moment of confusion, he steadied himself, "I need to find him, I need to know what has happened to him."
"You've been rummaging through so much junk, can't you just find a photograph of him?" Bai Wei asked.
Gerard shook his head and said, "Photos of Rebels are a great disgrace to the Lyra, they are absolutely to be destroyed."
So it was that he had kept a few photos, which Bai Wei had also seen, but Bai Wei could not remember who was who.
"Then, is this Helmo the one with the sideburns, blonde hair, and rather small eyes?" Bai Wei asked.
"Well..." Gerard subconsciously wanted to answer, but quickly sensed something was amiss, "Why are you asking this?"
"Because I saw a man matching that description secretly watching us from the house across the street," Bai Wei casually said, "and moreover, he's been watching for quite a while, under our arrangement, I should tell you."
Gerard froze for a moment, realizing what Bai Wei was implying, and suddenly stood up, rushing out of the room.