The shop owner suppressed his emotions, took out a tie and an octagonal cap from the cabinet, and handed them over together. "Oh, by the way, sir, this is a small token of my appreciation. Why don't you try it on? Consider it a gift."
The tie and hat are both dark brown, slightly darker than the color of the hunting suit, and should coordinate with the coat. The tie is a common solid color, while the newsboy cap is a style often worn by newsboys on the street, also known as a newsboy cap, and is made of tweed.
The shop owner's extra gift was not hard to guess. If similar troubles were to arise again in the future, the shop owner would naturally hope to find someone who could handle it. Rather than asking around for help later, it was better to secure this connection now.
Isaac knew that refusing would likely lead to some back and forth, so he simply accepted it. "Thank you very much."
He took the tie, tied it, put on his hat, and adjusted the angle.
"This outfit suits you very well; you look like a respectable person who has lived in Vista for several years," the shop owner said, taking a closer look.
He fetched a paper bag, and Isaac folded his old clothes and put them inside before going downstairs.
Grayson heard footsteps, looked up, and his gaze lingered on Isaac for a moment. He probably hadn't expected Isaac to have changed his clothes so suddenly. Then he put the booklet back in his pocket, turned his head towards the door, and gestured for me to leave.
Leaving the clothing store, after taking a couple of steps, Grayson turned back to look at Isaac, carefully considering what to say, "Mr. Lessing, this outfit... suits you very well."
"It must have been hard work of you to give me such a compliment, Mr. Grayson..." Isaac smiled, thanked him, and carried the bag in one hand and his cane in the other.
On his way back, Isaac took the opportunity to observe the gentlemen on the street who were using canes, and tried to imitate their movements, placing his cane on the ground and taking steps forward in sync with their movements.
After walking only a few steps, he realized that for a normal person, the cane did not provide any support; on the contrary, it was quite cumbersome. He had to consciously adjust the swing of his arm to make it look more visually harmonious.
That's probably what gentlemanly conduct is all about.
At the intersection, Grayson stopped. "Mr. Lessing, I need to look around the area further and ask if any other shopkeepers have seen the person who returned the clothes. I'll leave here."
Isaac's first reaction was to go along; after all, more people meant more help and more opportunities to learn.
But then he remembered Grayson's unsociable nature, and that if he went along, it would only make the other person put in more effort, so he said, "Then I'll head back to the Joint Investigation Bureau."
Grayson breathed a sigh of relief, nodded to say goodbye, and turned to walk away, his steps a little lighter than before, clearly out of politeness that he had escorted Isaac all the way here.
Mr. Grayson really struggles with dealing with people... Isaac looked away.
He glanced at the paper bag in his hand, thinking he might as well go back first, put the things away, and then go to the Joint Investigation Bureau. It wasn't far anyway, and Carlo had given him the key to the agency.
With that in mind, he turned directly towards Red Maple Street.
Back at the office, Isaac opened the door. The living room was quiet, and the cushions in front of the fireplace were empty.
Fenri isn't here?
He remembered that Fenri was lying in front of the fireplace before he left, but now she was nowhere to be seen.
Isaac glanced around the living room. The storage room door was closed, as was the door to his own room, just as when he had left.
He walked to the top of the stairs and looked up. The second floor was Carlo's territory; he had never been up there, and Fenri probably wouldn't go up there without permission.
... Could it be that the boss took it away? Or did Fenri run away on her own?
Isaac frowned. There were many suspicious points about Fenri: the imposing aura he exuded upon his first appearance, the fact that he was beaten up and then willingly accepted as a dog, Vilka's statement that he was "a being from the Wilderness "...
Such a being, suddenly running off on its own, always makes one feel uneasy.
But he had no choice and no need to search the streets. After all, he hadn't learned any tracking or investigation techniques, and Fenri wasn't an ordinary dog, so it was hard for him to feel any worry.
Isaac suppressed his doubts, went into the guest room's washroom, put his old clothes in the laundry basket, turned on the tap to wash his face, took off his hat, brushed his flattened hair aside, and then turned to make sure that the holster under his arm wouldn't be visible.
He looked at himself in the mirror, thinking about what the shopkeeper had said about "aristocratic manners," and then he remembered that his aristocratic tutor at Palmer University had said that although he came from a commoner background, he was not rude and must have received some etiquette education.
The tutor spoke with an air of aristocratic superiority, as if praising a well-behaved servant, but one thing was true: Isaac did seem to have received an education in etiquette.
His adoptive father, Edward, never deliberately taught him these things; the old man himself was hardly known for his refined lifestyle. Yet, Isaac naturally internalized these manners and customs.
He hadn't thought about this much before, but now he realized it might be related to... his life before he lost his memory.
Isaac's memory is incomplete; in fact, he only has memories from the age of twelve onwards, while his memories before the age of twelve are a blank.
His earliest memory is of waking up at the age of twelve in a Palmer clinic, seeing a gray ceiling and an old man sitting beside him.
Later, the nurse told him that it was the old man he saw when he woke up, Professor Edward Lessing, who had found him unconscious from somewhere and brought him here.
As for his name, background, and why he fell into a coma, the doctors and nurses knew nothing. They examined his body and found no fatal injuries, and the cause of his memory loss was unclear.
After waking up, Isaac stayed at the clinic for a while and also met Edward, who came to visit him. When the doctor announced that he could be discharged, Edward came to pick him up and took him to the city hall, where he registered Isaac's name.
The old professor didn't explain why he was called Isaac either; in any case, he became Edward Lessing's adopted son, Isaac Lessing.
Edward was vague about Isaac's past and didn't mention it much, and Isaac wasn't particularly concerned about it either. For him, those lost years were neither something to explore nor something that would affect his current life.
Since he can't remember, it's probably not something he absolutely needs to remember. If Edward knows something but doesn't want to say it, there must be a reason. He will tell him when he's ready to speak.
Isaac had thought this way until Edward passed away. When Isaac was sorting through Edward's Relic, he wondered if the old man had left a letter in one of the drawers, detailing his past, or at least how he found Edward.
But he searched the entire study and found no information related to his past, as if even Edward himself was reluctant to discuss that history and preferred to take the secret to his grave.
Isaac didn't feel disappointed. Since that gap had already been there for ten years, it wouldn't matter if it remained there for a while longer...