"He still thinks he's lucky."

Tom leaned against the ship's side, looking at the calm sea, playing with the cannon model Jack gave him, he twisted the clockwork, and the tin soldier standing behind the cannon stuffed a bulging cannonball into the barrel, and then, As the clockwork triggered the buckle, the cannonball tied with a thin iron chain was ejected from the muzzle. He picked up the small iron ball and handed it back to the artilleryman, repeating this action endlessly.

"Of course it's good luck," Nelson shrugged. The two white waves drawn by the hull rolled in front of his eyes. He threw the oyster shell in his hand into the sea, and it swirled to draw several water floats. "That day Isn't it lucky for him that I can pass by? I don't have to tell him that I am on that ship, so that he will always think that I am a nuclear physicist, isn't it not bad? This is a beautiful misunderstanding."

"That's true."

Tom snapped his fingers thoughtfully, and the waiter standing on the deck trotted towards the two of them. He wiped the sweat from his face, straightened his sailor cap, and his cheeks were not sure whether it was from seasickness or exposure to the sun. Flung Hong: "Sir, do you need help?"

"Get me two glasses of ice water, will you?"

"Send it here?"

"That's right," Tom nodded, "By the way, are you an intern?"

"Yes, sir," the young man was a little nervous, stuttering, "Is there something wrong with me?"

"You're doing well," Nelson saw a familiar shadow on his body. He leaned against the guardrail and asked casually, "What's your name?"

"My name is Jack, sir."

Hearing the same familiar name, Nelson turned his head slowly, and exchanged glances with Tom. It was still the same familiar route, and the two embarked on a journey to Paris on another cruise ship with an unremarkable name. .

...

Compared with the tension during the war, the atmosphere in Paris today is particularly jubilant. Even though the war has passed for a long time, the people of Paris are still immersed in the joy of victory. Countless young men and women are playing in the streets arm in arm, carrying cheap But the delicate little goods, while laughing and cursing the Germans who brought them trauma, express their feelings affectionately to the people around them.

"It's really open." Although he has been to Paris more than once, this is the first time Tom has seen such a scene, and he can't help being a little shocked. "The enthusiasm of Parisians is well-deserved."

The two got off from the Polish seaport with a fixed route, and arrived in Paris by intermittent trains and locomotives with occasional transfers. Along the way, the color of the celebration became more and more intense, as if the Parisian New Year was scheduled for summer, but These distinctive decorations are not used for festivals. Large numbers of 1944 and some French words welcoming guests can be seen everywhere, mixed with languages ​​​​of various countries, decorating this place as if all nations are coming to Korea.

In addition to the French, there are also many tourists from foreign countries on the street, even more than the locals. The hotels and hotels that are hard to be filled on weekdays are full of people, and the streets are full of cars that are usually rare. Pedestrians have to walk in the middle of the road - but when the road traffic is good, many people choose to use the middle of the road as their red carpet.

"It happens that Paris is going to host the World Expo," Nelson explained to Tom, "so we chose to hold our World Expo behind it, so that there are more people and more lively."

"Really?" Tom squinted his eyes and looked at a passerby who was walking towards him. "No wonder I always feel that some people on the street have a strange smell."

Nelson followed his gaze and almost didn't laugh out loud. He saw an arrogant man walking swaggeringly under the escort of his entourage. He combed a head of judge-like flamboyant silver wool curly hair and wore puff sleeves. He wore a black and red striped dress, men's white high-leg socks inherited from the Napoleon era, a bright red cape, and even a pair of calfskin high-heeled shoes, just like Napoleon himself.

And those who looked like followers were also dressed in a variety of clothes, which made one of the men with an ugly expression and a normal suit look extraordinarily different.

They attracted the attention of many people on the street, but Parisians did not express much emotion about it, because in these days, they have long been used to seeing all kinds of strange people in strange clothes.

Nelson and Tom walked forward to meet him. When they passed by, Nelson lowered his voice and said, "Sir, Muggles in the twentieth century don't dress like this."

"Um?"

Napoleon turned his head, but the two had disappeared into the crowd. He looked at the attendant in a suit and asked in French with a strong accent, "Am I strange?"

"You are very handsome." The man in the suit wrinkled his face into a bitter gourd, looking extremely painful.

"It stands to reason that the World Expo will go through a short period of suspension. You know, destruction is far easier than reconstruction," Nelson and Tom walked on the refreshing street, and the oncoming Parisians greeted them warmly , Walking through a street, he had already high-fived with no less than ten people, Nelson rubbed his red palms, smiled and said to Tom, "You see, although most people think that the most severely injured in the war It is those countries that are occupied, especially the Far East that cannot be seen by Europeans, but the French always emphasize that they are the ones that suffer the most.”

"Why?" Tom looked around. Most of the buildings he saw when he came to Paris last time are still there, and they haven't suffered much damage. The scene here looks more than a star and a half better than London. How did you get hurt?"

"You have to know, they surrendered too fast," Nelson shrugged, and said in a low voice, "The German army still loves the property in the occupied area, but it is precisely because of this too fast surrender that the The French who failed to participate in the exhibition were too ridiculously infamous. I remember seeing a battle report in Krakow before. There are many rebellious guerrillas in France, but they don’t even know whose command they should listen to. This is a sad story."

"That's really sad." Tom looked at the people coming and going on the street with a different look, as if trying to find a capitulationist temperament in them, but failed quickly.

"So they desperately need a grand event to declare their hard-won victory," Nelson said while facing the street, looking at the festive banners hung up by the workers and those French-style decorations, "for war The loss is not too great, and even for France, which has received part of the German heritage, the World Expo, which other countries are unwilling to hold, has become the most suitable event. It happened that they held a World Expo in 1937. This thing is pretty handy.”

"All Nations..." Tom had some longing for the so-called "All Nations".

"There aren't that many," Nelson shook his head. "The UK has hosted it before. The venue for the first World Expo was called the Crystal Palace. It was a magnificent building. Unfortunately, it burned down a year before we were born... By the way , are you hungry? I saw there are snacks sold there."

Before Tom could answer, Nelson, who had become hungry during the bumpy journey, walked to the stalls on the street. The stalls were full of things that looked like finger biscuits and puffs, and Tom rubbed them He was also a little hungry. After arriving in Paris, the dry food brought from England immediately became a burden that took up too much space in the bag. The Lord talked.

"Sir, what is this?"

The bearded stall owner raised his eyelids to glance at Nelson, tilted his head, and asked, "foreigner?"

"We're from England," Nelson nodded, pointing to a few of them that looked creamy in color, "Please pack these up."

"British people? Then you have to taste it. You won't be able to eat such good food when you return to England." The stall owner's national self-confidence jumped up. He puffed up his chest and proudly introduced, "This It's a puff puff, we call it the Duchess' Pain, of course, the name is a bit of a bad name, and we've recently been debating whether to call it the 'Lightning Puff' because it's delicious enough to make you blow it like lightning It swallows quickly."

Although the stall owner may be telling the truth, Tom was annoyed by his pretentious attitude, raised his eyebrows and asked, "Is it really that fast?"

The stall owner nodded solemnly, grabbed a puff in front of him, swallowed it whole, and showed a satisfied smile. It could be seen that he had been looking for an excuse to eat one for a long time, but Tom's next sentence made him His smile froze on his face.

"It's really fast, I think it's faster than lightning," Tom said seriously, and the stall owner nodded with satisfaction, but he continued, "I think that compared to 'Lightning Puff', 'Lightning Puff' is The name might be more appropriate because it's as fast as—”

"Keep the change, please!"

Nelson covered Tom's mouth, settled the bill faster than a blitz, threw the banknotes on the trolley, and dragged Tom away from the block, leaving the stall owner stunned in place.

Walking around the corner, Tom puffed his cheeks and muttered, "If they had surrendered later, London wouldn't have been bombed like that... Don't tell me, it's delicious."

Looking at Tom, who was cleaning the puffs with lightning speed like a storm in front of him, Nelson smiled and said, "I have already found someone to book a room for us, which is enough to live until September. Do you want to live in Paris or in a hidden place?"

"Paris." Tom thought for a moment, then said, "I want to see what the World Expo will look like."

"The last World Expo was held in San Francisco, USA, and the theme was 'Building the World of Tomorrow'," Nelson continued like a competent tour guide, "The theme of this year's Expo in Paris was just right, called 'Towards the World of Tomorrow', coincidence What’s more, the Witcher World Expo has also set this theme.”

Tom rubbed his chin and didn't speak. He felt that this incident was more than a coincidence. Maybe Nelson, who pays attention to the sense of ritual, got in the way and moved his hands. Maybe the original theme of this World Expo was "Big Stuttering Puffs" also said indefinite.

While the two were talking, several wizards in strange costumes passed by them. Some of them were dressed like native Central Americans, some looked like they were about to get married or crowned, and a group of wizards passed by. The wizards with oriental faces were wearing robes with cloud patterns. They were all very eye-catching. Some of the oriental wizards had attended the meeting that dealt with the Second Salem incident. They had some impressions of Nelson and nodded at him with a smile.

"I haven't seen wizards in the East yet. I heard that they like to use swords. They may be warriors like Gryffindor." Tom analyzed blindly, trying to find a scabbard or something similar on the group of people. .

"Stereotype," Nelson shook his head, "Did you forget? When we came back, there was one on board. Their magic is indeed quite different from European wizards."

"Speaking of which, there are so many wizards gathered in Paris."

"It may be the most in history," Nelson nodded, "The chairman of the International Federation of Wizards will also be elected at this meeting. I originally thought that this matter would be difficult, but I didn't expect all aspects, including Grindelwald , all have appeals that can be realized with the help of it, so the intensity of publicity is unprecedented, and it has also received a lot of support. If the effect is good, it is expected to become a regular event. In addition to us, there will be other countries participating in the exhibition. Their magic stuff."

"Will you show those toys of yours?" asked Tom curiously.

"This time it's not a toy, it's something good enough to change our lives," Nelson raised his eyebrows, pretending to be closed, "The attempt in the British magic circle has achieved great success, I believe no one will refuse better life, and the two World Expos held at the same time will have the same climax, I can't wait to see this scene!"

"I know, that movie, right?"

"..."

"Why are not you talking?"

"I was thinking, if someone in Hogwarts died accidentally overseas, Dumbledore wouldn't pursue it, would he?"

"Haha, what are you talking about?" Tom handed the few snacks left in his hand to Nelson, "have some Blitz puffs."

...

"It's actually this hotel."

The familiar spiral staircase, the familiar attic room, the familiar pine-scented fireplace and the familiar sofa, Tom never thought that the room that Nelson ordered was the one that old Riddle used to live in, and he couldn't help but sigh again. A trick of fate.

"What's the matter?" Nelson directed the waiter to move the suitcase sent early into the room, turned his head and said, "This is the best one can order, are you allergic to pine branches?"

"Not at all." Tom opened the curtains and looked at the street under his feet. Not far from the Paris Opera House, he happened to be able to see the corner of the alley and the entrance of the hiding place. There is a long queue at the alley of the Asian Sculpture, is there someone running out of it happily, as if on a pilgrimage.

"What's going on there."

"Sir," the hotel manager introduced with a smile when he heard that the guests came up the stairs, "this is the most famous classic in Paris in recent years, and there is still some time before the opening of the World Expo. If you are interested, you can go there Walk around, the story of it is recorded on the wall of that street."

"Looking for... Pythia?" Tom turned his head, looked at Nelson who was acting stiffly, raised his eyebrows, and asked in disbelief.

"Have you heard of it, too?" said the manager, looking very proud, bowing slightly, "that is the gem of our French spirit."

Note: In real history, this World Expo does not exist, it has been suspended for more than ten years.

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