RE - Chapter 304: Rediscovering Forgotten Memories, But First, We Have to Clean Up (Patreon)

No personal matters during a mission.

Krauser kept that thought in mind and temporarily pushed his suspicions aside.

He picked up his phone and looked at Leon’s message saying everything was fine. His thumb hovered over the screen for a long moment before he finally replied with a simple, “Copy.”

After that, the plane landed safely.

“A miracle, isn’t it?”

Those were Alan’s first words after stepping off the plane.

Naturally, Leon rolled his eyes at him.

“You’re the vehicle killer. Your whole family are vehicle killers.”

“Right back at you.”

Watching the familiar exchange, Krauser could at least say the two of them were doing remarkably well. Years of constant fighting clearly hadn’t broken their spirits.

But seriously, stop screwing around during a mission.

Without hesitation, he smacked both of them on the back of the head.

“Get to work!”

“Yes, sir!” they answered in unison.

Krauser watched as the two of them and the covert security detail escorted Ashley out of the airport, then turned toward the airport’s administrative offices.

As the person in charge of the operation, he needed to coordinate with the Chinese authorities.

Outside the airport, Alan and Leon were riding in the same car as Ashley, serving as her personal bodyguards.

Under Alan’s reluctant stare, Leon calmly settled into the driver’s seat. He glanced at Alan sitting rigidly in the passenger seat and even managed to make fun of himself.

“Relax. Even if I really have that debuff you keep talking about, there’s no way it still works in China, right?”

“Why wouldn’t it? Last time we entered Chinese territorial waters, the submarine blew up.”

Leon started the engine and replied in a steady voice.

“Then get ready to jump. I’m driving this car.”

Alan laughed. After trading a few jokes with Leon, he finally turned toward Ashley in the back seat and got down to business.

“Krauser said you’d tell us where we’re going.”

Ashley, wedged between the two wolves, nodded. She pulled out her phone, typed in an address, showed it to them for a few seconds, then immediately deleted it.

Alan and Leon memorized the address, and they set off.

They left the airport, got onto the highway, and after a long drive eventually reached a town.

“Didn’t expect your dad to leave you property in China.”

Leon glanced into the rearview mirror, switched on the right turn signal, and drove through the entrance of a residential complex.

The security guard at the gate merely glanced at the car before letting them through.

Ashley looked both curious and somewhat uncomfortable.

“It wasn’t my dad’s. It belonged to my mom.”

Alan was surprised and almost asked about it, but stopped himself.

Leon did the same. As he searched for a parking space, he quietly watched Ashley’s expression.

Both he and Alan knew this was deeply personal.

Ashley wasn’t oblivious. When neither of them continued asking questions, she understood exactly what they were thinking.

“Don’t worry about it. I was really young when my mother died, so I barely remember her.

“My dad doesn’t talk about her much either. I think he feels guilty about it... so...”

“You’re really okay telling us this?”

Ashley stroked one of the wolves’ heads, lightly biting her lower lip before nodding.

“I thought I’d be able to handle coming here pretty easily, but now that we’ve actually arrived, I’m getting kind of nervous... I mean, if you don’t mind... could you come with me and meet my mom, in a way?”

It was late summer, around August or September. Sparrows chirped from the branches outside the window, while street vendors had already opened their stalls, their calls drifting into the car.

“Of course,” Alan and Leon replied together.

The moment the three of them and the two wolves got out of the car, they drew the attention of the residents.

There was really no helping it. Those two “big dogs” looked genuinely intimidating.

A group of old men playing chess beneath a locust tree caught sight of them and silently shifted their chessboard a little farther away.

“Wait. Did you just move one of my pieces?!”

“You’re losing because you’re worse at the game. Don’t start accusing people.”

“You old cripple! Even if you moved it, I’ll still checkmate you!”

Alan glanced at the lively chess match under the tree, then at the elderly residents taking their morning walks around the complex, before following Leon and Ashley upstairs.

“My mother passed away when I was two. Back then, my dad was serving as a consul at the U.S. Embassy in China.

“After that, he kept thinking about resigning, but in the end, he decided to stay in politics.

“...We returned to the United States after that and never came back.”

Ashley took a key from her bag and handed it to Alan, then deliberately stepped back several paces.

Alan inserted the key into the lock. After exchanging a glance with Leon, he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

“Cough, cough... Yeah, no need to check. Nobody’s been in here.”

Alan quickly backed out again as dust rained down from above the doorway, raising the back of his hand over his nose.

Leon inspected the place from the side and, after confirming no one was inside, entered and opened the doors and windows as quickly as possible.

Snowy and Shadow sneezed several times. Only after the dust finally settled did they calm down.

“Cough, cough... Are you sure your dad told you to stay here?”

“Uh... yes.”

Leon couldn’t resist commenting.

“Looks like being bodyguards also means doubling as cleaners.”

“Sorry. I’ll help too.”

“Sure. Here, put this on.”

Alan pulled several face masks out of his bag, handed one to each of them, then put one on himself.

Rolling up his sleeves, he surveyed the dust-covered room.

“All right. Time to clean.”

...

“Wow, how long has it been since anyone cleaned this place?”

“We just moved back in. It’s been sitting empty, so the dust piled up.”

Alan smiled as he explained to a curious elderly resident passing by.

“Must be terribly musty in there. Keep the windows open these next few days, or you’ll end up itching all over.”

“Got it. Thanks. Take care.”

“...Alan, quick! Help me!”

Alan turned around and saw Ashley struggling toward him with a heavy box in her arms, panting from the effort.

He hurried over, took the box from her, and carried it outside.

“What the hell is in this thing? It’s heavy.”

“Looks like books and stuff. They’re all moldy, so I brought them out.”

“Ugh... Once we finish cleaning, check whether there’s anything worth keeping. If not, we can throw it away.”

Alan walked back inside, looked at the floor that was finally no longer covered in a layer of gray dust, and stretched.

“Honestly, your dad made a pretty good call sending you here. There’s no way anyone would think to look for you in a place like this.”

“It’s just a little too dirty.”

As soon as Ashley finished speaking, Leon mysteriously poked his head out from deeper inside the apartment.

“Guess what I found?”

“You’re supposed to be cleaning. Have you been treasure hunting instead?”

Alan walked over curiously and raised an eyebrow at what Leon was holding.

“Oh. That’s pretty cute.”

“What is it? A photo?”

Alan took the picture, examined it, then handed it to Ashley.

“It’s you when you were little. Really little.”

Ashley accepted the photo and stared at the baby being held in a woman’s arms, blinking in surprise.

“Huh?! I’ve never seen this picture before.”

“Excellent. Leon, let’s go. There have to be more.”

“No problem. There’s a whole stack.”

Ashley immediately stuffed the photo into her pocket and tried to stop them.

“Wait! Photos like these are private!”

“What’s the big deal? You were adorable. Why can’t we see them?”

“No. Give them to me first, and I’ll decide which ones you’re allowed to see.”

Alan smiled and leaned down toward her slightly flushed face.

“Then how about we look through them together?”