"Mr. Pan, you've seemed to be in a good mood these past few days?"
Pan Long set down his book and smiled at Moran's curious question.
"I've been working on a study lately. I should have results soon," he said.
"A study?" Moran was puzzled. For the past few days, Pan Long had spent nearly every day reading at Moran Bookstore and had hardly gone out. When had he found time to do any research?
"Just a small study," Pan Long explained. "I can't tell you what it's about yet. I need to wait for the results."
Moran nodded and set her questions aside for now, though she looked forward to the results all the more.
As they spoke, a carriage pulled up outside the bookstore. Norman climbed down, paid the fare, and waited until the carriage had gone before entering. His usually calm face was full of excitement.
"Have you heard?" Even his voice rose a little. "Something huge has happened!"
"Another Lord died?" Mr. Ailo couldn't help asking.
He and Moran both looked at Pan Long.
Clearly, the moment someone mentioned a dead Lord, Pan Long came to mind.
Pan Long rubbed his nose. He felt his reputation had taken a bit of a beating.
He didn't mind being known as a specialist in slaughtering Lords. But if everyone assumed he had killed another one whenever something big happened, they were underestimating him.
The world was vast. Strange things happened all the time. Why would they think a few dead Lords counted as a major event?
How did that saying go?
One dead president was big news.
A second dead president wasn't.
A few Lords dying mysteriously in Britain might once have counted as a major event. But now that a pattern had emerged, however many more died,