Chapter 70: Chapter 62: Welco to the Nocturnal City
[You are targeted by Jilman Elliott’s killing intent. Evaluation: You’d have to be blind not to see it. Reward:
2 Survival Points]
"..."
’How could I not see it, with a cannon that thick pointed at my head?’
Wei’en gave a wry smile. "Ms. Jilman, I just wanted to buy so materials to make a chanical Puppet..."
"I already said, you’re not welco here," Jilman interrupted. "Please leave."
Marco looked at her and began to speak slowly. "Jilman, I think you’ve forgotten who saved you back then, and who helped you get settled in Caster..."
BANG.
A gunshot rang out. The flintlock under the skull chandelier spat a serpent of fire, striking the ground in front of the two of them.
Jilman crossed her arms. "This is a matter between Wizards. It has nothing to do with anything else."
"Wizard?"
Marco sneered, "Just a High-Level Apprentice who failed to advance. You don’t really think you can keep
here with this junk, do you?"
’Advanced Wizard Apprentice?’
Wei’en glanced at the surrounding chanical weapons. ’The firepower in this shop alone is almost enough to match a reinforced platoon.’
Jilman was unmoved. "You can try," she said coolly.
Marco’s eyes darkened. "You really are..."
Wei’en pulled him back, shaking his head. "Forget it, Marco. Since Ms. Jilman won’t agree, let’s just go look sowhere else."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
Seeing him nod, Marco turned and walked out without another word. The red ponytail at the back of his head swung back and forth rhythmically.
Wei’en gave Jilman one last look and followed him out of the shop.
But what he didn’t know was—
Not long after they left, all the chanical weapons inside the shop fell, one after another.
As if sliced by a sharp blade, they all broke clean in two, their inner gears, components, and various crystal tubes scattering across the floor.
Jilman watched all this, biting her pretty lips. ’Still such a hot temper... What a loss.’
anwhile,
Marco walked a long way in silence before finally speaking up. "Sorry, we didn’t get what you wanted."
"It’s my fault," Wei’en said with a smile. "If I hadn’t admitted I was a Wizard Apprentice from the Ghost Soul School just now, we probably could have bought it without a problem."
’He’d really paid the price for being too honest this ti. But how could he have known that Wizards from other schools held such a deep grudge against the Ghost Soul School?’
’Oh well. Next ti he ran into a Wizard from another school, he’d know how to handle the conversation.’
’He’d just say he was a Wizard from the Spiritual Mystery School. Surely no one would give him trouble for that, right?’
"By the way, Marco, from your conversation with Jilman, it sounds like our logistics departnt helped her when she first ca to Caster?"
Marco nodded. "That was two years ago. At the ti, she’d been captured..."
It turned out Jilman had been abducted and then sold to soone in Caster.
She was a servant in the Basil District, forced into all sorts of hard labor, like making conveyor belts or using chanical vehicles to help load and unload rchant ships.
Later, the person who bought her was corrupted by the Red Moon and turned into an Aberration, and almost ate her.
It was Yegor and Marco who saved her.
After that, Jilman settled down here and opened a shop specializing in selling chanical equipnt.
"I see..."
"Enough about that. I know another place that has what you need."
Marco looked around, a grin spreading across his face. "It’s not far from here."
"Really?"
"Just follow ."
"Alright."
Wei’en had been ready to give up for the ti being. He never expected there was another option.
He had originally wanted to buy so semi-finished machinery and tools from Jilman, which would have greatly sped up the process of making his chanical Puppet.
But alas...
...
...
"New Calendar, August 12th, 1578. Following a joint investigation by the Caster City-State Council, the Judicial Court, the Secret Investigation Departnt, and the City Guard, and signed by Lord Governor Samir, the following announcent is now made:
At 11:00 AM today, in the area of 1-30 Dumitru District, an attack occurred, confird to have been carried out by the Eternal Life Association. The incident resulted in the deaths of 25 citizens of the city-state and left 78 injured..."
The "On Birds" from the Secret Investigation Departnt, responsible for public announcents, read the investigation report with expressions of grief and helplessness.
Facing reporters from various news agencies, large and small, they had to choose their words carefully to avoid any exploitable loopholes.
"...Finally, the Council has issued a directive to pursue the Eternal Life Association’s Thousand-faced Kreya, and will certainly give the city-state an answer. This concludes the announcent."
The mont his voice fell, the surrounding reporters surged forward, swarming them.
"Excuse , did the Dawn Church accidentally injure any citizens?"
"We need more details about the truth..."
"..."
If Wei’en had seen this, he probably would have been instantly reminded of the press conferences from his past life. The resemblance was uncanny.
And in a place hidden from the reporters’ view, two figures, one in red and one in white, stood high above, watching them in silence.
"My apologies, Ales. It seems I’ve caused you trouble again."
"Andrews, I should be thanking you for the rescue," Ales said, shaking his head. "I don’t suppose you could tell
who that Guardian Knight who took action was?"
"He ca over from Klande," Andrews said with a gentle smile. "He still needs to get used to the rules here in Caster."
Ales said noncommittally, "The light of the Dawn always seems to favor Klande."
"No, no, no, this ti is different..."
"Because of that Saintess Candidate?"
"You know?"
Ales’s gaze was fixed on the On Birds downstairs, who were being driven to distraction by the reporters. "The Council sent over the eting’s minutes first thing this morning."
"I’m sorry. You know I’m only doing this for the good of Caster..."
"Coming from a Lord Bishop such as yourself, those words are always so convincing."
Andrews heard the sarcasm in his words but showed no emotion, still smiling cheerfully as he said, "Or rather, this is the choice of the majority."
Ales turned his head to look at him. "I assu you didn’t co looking for
just to give
platitudes?"
"I need your help."
"Oh?"
"The Candidacy Saintess is my student. It will take too long for her to mature, so..."
"So," Ales finished his sentence, speaking faintly, "you want
to intervene and accelerate her growth?"
"Not just you. So people in the Secret Investigation Departnt as well."
"The terms?"
"I knew you would agree," Andrews said with sincere gratitude. "The Dawn will surely bless you, Ales."
"You must be getting senile. Otherwise, how could you not know that the people I hate most are you church believers... especially the Dawn!"
"But at least you still rember us growing up together in Bravo, coming to Shetland together, and all the hardships we went through, don’t you?"
Ales said no more. He lowered his head slightly, gazing calmly at the scene below. A flash of light glinted off his glasses, obscuring his eyes.
"Perhaps..."
...
...
"This is the place you were talking about?"
Wei’en stared, dumbfounded, at the scene before him. He simply couldn’t believe Marco had brought him here.
Marco, however, just lifted his chin and grinned smugly. "Welco to Nocturnal City, Wei’en."
PS: If I said there’s only one Chapter today, would I get beaten up?
PPS: I’m just kidding. There’s another Chapter coming out after 1 AM... I’m writing a bit slowly, sorry about that.
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