I work as a sorcerer in the US, and my side hustle is building Gundams.

Lynn didn't return to Fountain Square until almost evening.

They were supposed to arrive in the afternoon.

But they encountered Jessica, who was working as a prostitute, on the street.

Lynn stopped and chatted with her for a while, asking about Britney's current situation.

Jessica, however, told Lynn with an envious and longing expression that Britney, that old green tea, had actually run into one of her old lovers from her youth, who was now divorced and single.

So, a couple of days ago, she was picked up by someone in a Mercedes.

"Sigh, thinking back on my youth, it was really a mistake. How could I have been so shallow, only liking handsome and roguish guys?"

Jessica grumbled to Lynn and Mike as she puffed on a cigarette.

"If I had known a few rich people when I was young, I wouldn't be in such a sorry state now, working as a streetwalker in my fifties..."

Her tone was as resentful as if a king with 300 concubines had favored the other 299, leaving him with only one resentful concubine whom he would never touch.

"Forget about that bitch. By the way, Lynn, do you have any left of your potion? I happen to have a few friends who recently suffered from side effects and poisoning due to trying too many drugs, and they're feeling like they're living a life worse than death..."

……

So when Lynn returned to the fountain square, it was already evening.

As soon as he returned, he saw a group of people gathered in front of a tent, and they all seemed to be very sad.

"What's wrong? Isn't this Lily's tent?"

When they set off, Jack asked Mike to buy him a hot dog from a deli on the street on his way back. The two were about to deliver it to him when they suddenly noticed that Jack was also standing in front of Lily's tent, looking into the tent and whispering something to comfort her.

The two walked over, and Lynn looked up to see Lily, with her full head of white hair and withered, thin figure, holding a woman about the same age as her in her arms. Her eyes were red, and she had obviously been crying.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Lynn asked Jack, who was standing to the side, curiously.

At that moment, Lily heard that familiar voice, numbly turned her head, and looked at him with an almost empty gaze.

"..."

She opened her mouth and moved it, but no sound came out.

"What are you talking about? Who is he? Why are you crying?"

At this moment, everyone's eyes were on Lynn, who was completely baffled. He simply stepped inside and squatted down next to Lily.

"If only you had come back sooner."

Lily held tightly to the ordinary woman on the street, whose back view and clothes clearly indicated she didn't belong there, and spoke in a hoarse, intermittent voice.

"Jennifer, she was fired from the hospital after a medical accident during a surgery she was in charge of..."

She gently stroked Jennifer's golden hair with her claw-like hands, as if she were caressing a sleeping baby, so tenderly and affectionately.

"She is a single mother with a son who is just in eighth grade..."

Lily's voice was intermittent, as if she had just experienced the most painful crying, so soft that Lynn could hardly hear it.

"She lost her job, couldn't afford the expensive property taxes and insurance, so she had to sell her house in Kirkland and move to a small house in South Seattle, hoping to stay there and find a decent job..."

"But... she couldn't bear to part with the East District Preparatory School where her son was studying, so she didn't inform the school of her change of address and continued to let her son study there. She also insisted on driving dozens of kilometers every day to take her son, Thuram, to and from his original school..."

Lily turned her gaze back to the almost lifeless corpse in her arms, looking at it with pity and pain as it closed its eyes completely.

"As a result, poor little Thuram was discovered to have moved from Kirkland to the 'degenerate' South Seattle neighborhood, and they began to relentlessly taunt and bully him, often leaving him covered in bruises. When she confronted them, the school directly sued her for 'address fraud,' costing her $3 in a lawsuit she was certain to lose. Her son was expelled, and the little bit of money she had painstakingly saved by selling her nice house to buy a house in the South Seattle was completely depleted..."

At this point, Lily's eyes were completely glazed over, her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Finally, she could no longer hold back her pain and hugged Jennifer, bursting into tears again.

"A little after 2 p.m., Jennifer brought two rattlesnakes here. She heard you were buying venomous snakes and wanted to sell some to you to raise some money for her son Thuram's tuition at a school in the South District. But she accidentally got bitten while catching the snakes..."

Jack, who was standing nearby, couldn't bear to watch any longer and, with a choked voice, helped Lily finish her unfinished story.

Lily kept comforting her, telling her that she was just out running errands and would be back soon, but…

"She ultimately couldn't hold on. She passed away a little over an hour ago. In her last moments, she was still calling out the name of her son, Thuram..."

"..."

Lynn listened to them silently, without saying a word.

At this moment, he truly didn't know what to say.

Apologize? If I had known, I should have come back sooner, then Jennifer wouldn't have died?

It's all my fault. If I had known, I would have left a few bottles of antidote in the camp so you could take them whenever you need them.

Or is it not my fault? How was I supposed to know this would happen? Why didn't you call me to let me know?

……

It's all meaningless now.

"well……"

He lowered his head and let out a long sigh. For the first time since transmigrating, he felt a sense of bewilderment and helplessness that bordered on despair.

"May God bless her, this poor yet admirable mother..."

Several of his fellow members from the fountain gang nearby began to make the sign of the cross.

"My beloved Lord, please forgive and accept the soul of this great mother. May she serve you with a noble spirit and be forever free from suffering..."

Even Mike, who was standing next to him, was praying to his Lord Satan with a serious expression.

"Ugh, this damned world, this damned America..."

Lynn felt his eyes suddenly become very wet, and a hot tear slid down his left eye.

Then tears streamed down her right eye, the two pooling at the tip of her chin to form a large, murky droplet, which then fell with a "plop" onto the dirty square floor, splashing into a sparkling water droplet.