Chapter 923: Schiller's Garden (Part 1) (Patreon)

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As the winter gradually settled in Gotham, the rain showed no signs of relenting. The gentle drizzle cascaded from the eaves, splashing upon the garden. Delicate garden plants had their leaves battered down, and supple branches bent to the ground, emitting a helpless lament.

Merkel donned a raincoat and grabbed an umbrella as he stepped outside. Schiller, who was sitting by the fireplace reading a book, raised his head and asked, "What's the matter? Where are you going?"

"Sir, the rain tonight is quite heavy, and the newly transplanted plants in the garden may not withstand it. I'm going to set up some shelter for them to survive this winter," replied Merkel.

Schiller shook his head with a hint of resignation. "Even without the rain, they probably wouldn't have survived this winter. Gotham isn't a city where your gardening skills can flourish. Those delicate European seedlings are only suited for noble gardens in Europe. In Gotham? This will be their graveyard."

Merkel sighed softly. "A month ago, when there was some sunlight, they were doing fine. But I never expected that in the past week, dark clouds haven't left this city."

"Even if we can't save them all, we should at least protect the few remaining ones. After all, how can Manor's garden be without flowers?"

Schiller shook his head in resignation but said nothing. Merkel grabbed his umbrella and went outside.

Through the French windows at the back of the living room, Schiller could see that as soon as Merkel stepped outside, a strong wind snapped the umbrella's ribs, and the force of the wind sent Merkel crashing into a tree, with tree roots tripping him when he tried to get up.

When Merkel finally got back up, he petulantly threw the broken umbrella aside and pulled the hood of his raincoat over his head. He then walked back, and Schiller chuckled, "Was that really necessary? Couldn't it wait until tomorrow morning? It's a typhoon night, you know."

With that, he closed his book, walked to the door, and glanced at the garden in the rear.

The situation there was indeed far from optimistic. Not only were the newly transplanted plants struggling, but even the roses and lush shrubs left by the previous Manor owner didn't look too good. They were swaying dangerously in the midst of the typhoon.

Schiller turned back and went to the coatroom next to the staircase, retrieving two umbrellas. He handed one to Merkel, who looked at him with puzzlement. Schiller shrugged and said, "We need to save the plants. Look at this weather. The Gotham gardeners will be busy tomorrow, but you can't expect the ladies of the Manor district to come out in this rainy night to save their gardens."

Schiller put on his raincoat and held his umbrella, stepping into the garden. The cold wind rustled his raincoat, but the umbrella remained sturdy, undeterred by the wind and rain.

Rodriguez Manor's garden was one of the larger ones in the Manor district. It was rumored that the previous owner had a passion for gardening. Schiller couldn't fathom how a true Gothamite developed such a hobby, but when he bought the Manor, he paid an extra third of the price for this beautiful large garden.

Schiller had little experience in cultivation, and after acquiring this large garden, he had briefly considered planting something. However, the result couldn't be described as a bountiful harvest; it was more like a never-ending fall.

But before Schiller started gardening, he had studied the subject extensively. However, once he began, he realized that nurturing a gardening hobby in Gotham was a bit extravagant. Most of the native plants here had undergone generations of natural selection to adapt to the harsh environment.

In Gotham, rain was equal for all life forms. Humans went crazy over it, animals turned ferocious, and for now, plants hadn't undergone any horrifying mutations, which was already a relief. Expecting them to be lush and vibrant was asking for too much.

After several failed attempts at transplanting new plants, Schiller gave up on tending to the garden. But later, Bat Cat and Pikachu damaged most of the Manor's buildings, forcing Schiller to move back to school for a while.

Houses could be repaired, and Schiller could even change the room layout to his liking, while also unifying the decoration style. However, the only regrettable aspect was the large garden. Many plants were injured when the buildings collapsed, and they couldn't survive a single winter.

Schiller's Manor was a typical English Manor building. Upon entering the front door, there was an enclosed courtyard overhead. To the left was the main hall, and to the right was the guest room.

The south side of the guest room had a row of tall, slender glass panels for natural light, while the north side featured a complete curved floor-to-ceiling window, which led to the garden. In other words, guests could see the garden as soon as they entered the guest room, and that was what initially attracted Schiller when he visited the house.

Pushing open the heavy door, sunlight streamed down from the courtyard, casting long, warm but not harsh rays as it filtered through the slightly taller, slender glass panels. Sitting on the sofa in the guest room, one could turn their head and immediately see the blooming garden.

Looking through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the view outside began with climbing roses on the pergola, followed by the tall and short reeds and a half-filled pond. Afterward, there were winding paths through the hedges, a large tree in the center of the courtyard, and the distant white gazebo.

The floor-to-ceiling window seemed like a picture frame, capturing the most beautiful scenery of the Manor's garden.

However, after the garden was damaged, the pergola used for climbing plants had collapsed. The shorter climbing plants survived, but the roses that had grown for many years had almost all perished. The bricks around the pond were broken, and the reeds were in disarray.

Fortunately, the distant gazebo and the large tree were unharmed, but without the foreground's embellishment, they appeared desolate.

When Merkel first arrived, his favorite aspect of the estate was the grand garden. He claimed to have learned gardening skills during his time at the butler college. So, while Schiller sat in the guest room reading the newspaper, he often saw Merkel wielding pruning shears, moving through the garden.

However, since the garden was severely damaged, Schiller had been preoccupied with the education of the school's children. He didn't have much time to return to the Manor for residence. After Merkel made a telephone call to him, he purchased a batch of gardening plants from Europe and planted them during the last transplanting season.

The results were foreseeable. After enduring the ravages of two seasons and the largest storm Gotham had seen in a decade, most of the transplanted plants hadn't even reached their flowering period before returning to the earth. Only a small fraction managed to barely survive, and their condition was deteriorating.

Standing amidst the raging storm, Schiller gazed at the few flower seedlings that were tied up with thin ropes to correct their growth. He sighed helplessly, feeling that these remaining plants probably wouldn't survive the night.

At that moment, Merkel approached carrying materials for the rain shelter. Schiller took a gardening shovel and two rain shelter supports from him and went to the other side of the garden, loosening the soil with the shovel and burying the supports.

After securing all four sides of the supports, he attached the rain shelter. Once it was hung on the supports, he wrapped it with a few rounds of rope and secured it. Then he walked to the other side and did the same.

"I feel like we're just wasting our time," Schiller said as he tied the rain shelter. "This is just satisfying our sympathy; it won't make any difference to these poor plants."

"What did you say?!" Merkel shouted from the other side of the garden. The wind and rain drowned out their voices, so they had to speak louder. While tying the rope, Schiller repeated, "I said I think this is entirely useless! We can't stand here every night. Sooner or later, they will die on a rainy night!"

"But we have to do something, don't we?!" Merkel tightened the collar of his raincoat, pulled his hat down further to shield his eyes from the rain, and then spoke loudly. "Last time, when Alfred came to pick up Aisha and saw the collapsed shelter, he must have had some thoughts about my butler college education!"

Schiller tied a knot in the rope and pushed it firmly onto the support, also shouting loudly, "I think he might have had some thoughts about me too because Aisha hasn't learned to call his name yet, but she has learned to call mine!"

"Oh, damn it!" Merkel stumbled for a moment, vigorously shook his hand, and Schiller glanced over and asked, "What's wrong? Do you need more rope?"

"No, it's not that. There's a wooden thorn on this damn support that pierced my palm. I may need to bandage it!" Merkel frowned, looking at his palm, wincing in pain.

Schiller was about to respond when a strong gust of wind hit. Merkel withdrew both of his hands, not holding onto the support. As a result, the shelter, which had already been erected, collapsed suddenly, falling onto the ground, much like the earlier incident with the umbrella.

Schiller let go of the rope, stepped back, and watched helplessly as the support and shelter fell onto the few unfortunate flower seedlings.

Afterward, he shook his head and said, "It seems I was too conservative. They probably won't even make it through the first half of the night."

Both of them returned to the Manor together. Merkel removed his raincoat and went upstairs to bandage his hand, while Schiller stood in front of the French windows. He watched the collapsed shelter being blown around by the strong wind, resembling a mosquito caught by a terrifying monster or perhaps... a bat.

In the first second of being hung, Batman didn't even realize why he was suspended mid-air. He had traversed this path countless times; there should have been no issues.

But soon, he realized that it wasn't him with the problem; it was Schiller's Manor. As he observed the Manor, which looked as if it had been ravaged by a giant monster, and made eye contact with Schiller, who stood calmly in front of the French windows, Batman was surprised to find that he actually let out a sigh of relief.

It wasn't for Schiller but for the possibility that some monster had attacked Schiller's Manor and himself.

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 924: Schiller's Garden (Part I)