The car stopped in front of Schiller's house. It was nearing evening, and the wind was growing stronger. The two of them braced themselves against it and rang the doorbell. But the person who answered was not the professor they knew. Though the two looked exactly alike, they could still tell the difference.
"Doctor, what are you doing here?"
Greed opened the door for them and said, "I came to spend Halloween with him. Come in."
They entered the house together. Alberto looked over the tasteful living room and found it far more richly decorated than he had expected. It was nothing like the dreary manor Schiller had lived in before.
Pride came in from the backyard, and the two of them immediately froze. He was wearing rain boots and carrying an axe.
"How are the neighbors?" Bruce asked.
"I went to chop firewood."
"I know. How's the firewood?"
"Thanks to you, it's doing fine." Pride brought in several more logs through the back door. Seeing that they were actual wood, both men breathed a sigh of relief.
"How did I forget? Everyone seems to be short on firewood lately. Even Ron came to borrow some from me, can you believe it? One blast of his X-ray could split an entire forest, yet he still came asking to borrow firewood."
"Clear-cutting a forest would bring astronomical fines. And he has to set a good example for his daughter, so of course he can't do that." Pride added the wood to the fireplace.
"Will it even burn like that?" Alberto asked curiously. The logs looked far too wet, even wetter than ordinary trees, with moisture beading across their surfaces.
"As long as the fire is hot enough, if you toss these in, they'll dry out quickly and then catch fire." Pride