Skipping over the mini hurdles, we entered the last shop there, which didn't even have a sign to attract any ghosts that might have wandered there.
It would have looked just like someone's house if it weren't locked from the inside. I wondered how Sister Hin found a shop where even ghosts would hesitate to enter. Her adventurous spirit led us to quite a few strange places, though the regret lasted with only one of them.
The goods that were present in his shop had always stayed the same. If it was before, I'd have thought that the pawnshop must be his hereditary belonging but considering that he was likely to be the brother of the Mayor, that seemed hard to digest now.
Where then, did the goods in his shop come from if not from inheritance or customers? I didn't know that, nor was I there to know that.
As usual, Uncle Albert was reading a book, back straight, eyes not drifting anywhere as we entered.
The shop also had quite a few potions and perfumes, whose aroma wafted throughout the store. Why were they kept without a lid? Only Uncle Albert knew that.
If I started nitpicking every odd thing I saw in his place, then I could forget about going back home for the night.
He was an eccentric man anyway. Looking at him, I matched his face with the face of the Mayor that I had seen the day before and still found it strikingly similar.
I had a few methods to get on his nerves and make him talk, but I wasn't prepared to risk it. Instead, I needed to confirm my suspicions first, and therefore, asked in a natural tone,
"How have you been, Mr. Sullivan?"
Surprisingly, the simplest method that I had thought of worked! He slowly lowered his book in front of his hands, looked at me in the eyes, and said in a neutral tone,
"I'm not a Sullivan anymore."
He went back to his usual after giving me that mysterious sentence to figure out. I tried asking him what he meant by that but he didn't answer.
"Uncle, uncle, what does it mean?"
"Uncle, how can you just drop your surname?"
"Uncle… pleeeease, can you atleast elaborate?"
"Uncle, I will cry now, uwuu, ahem…"
Stiff like a rock, he didn't even flinch at my antics. I knew it was going to be tough to crack him but I was prepared to give it my all.
One thing was for sure though, he was definitely related to the mysterious and unfathomable Mayor that had told me to find or become a 'resourceful' Nobilis Class Hunter to help my only friend.