Chapter 1428 - 15: Gathering

Eve stepped down from the carriage, raising her head. Under the dim sky, snowflakes drifted everywhere. The snow wasn’t heavy, but it was enough to bring extreme cold to Old Dunling, plunging this restless city into iron-gray desolation.

Among the monotone colors, bundles of firelight rose, like flickering flowers. These were bonfires hastily built by people using oil drums and some discarded wood. Everyone gathered around for warmth and, after a short break, swung their shovels again, working to clear the snow before it could bury the roads.

The clanging of iron continued, playing a metallic symphony on the cold, lonely streets.

Eve exhaled a breath of white air. The cold wind made her wrap her coat tighter. In her memory, it was the first time seeing Old Dunling like this. Ahead, the Stuart family’s estate was right in front of her. Unlike its previous solitude, this time it seemed much livelier.

Many people could be seen moving quickly within the courtyard, and firelight flickered behind every window.

This place had become the temporary office for the Purification Mechanism, and Eve was invited here to attend a banquet... In fact, even now, she still didn’t know what kind of banquet it was.

No, she wasn’t even sure if it was a banquet. After all, with Oscar involved in the matter, nothing would surprise Eve, no matter what strange things that odd old fellow might do.

Eve paused on the street for a few seconds, not entering immediately, and stamped out a small snow pit beneath her.

"Ah... the Nation-Builder?"

Eve muttered softly.

Perhaps it was some strange sense of competitiveness or the idea of contention. Initially, she didn’t feel much because both she and Selyu would inherit the title of Duke, just at different times.

But now Selyu had become the Nation-Builder, meaning in some way, she had become Eve’s superior. It was an odd sensation she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

Eve didn’t dwell on it for long, having always been carefree. She stomped her feet, shook off the snow on her, and just when she was about to cross the street to knock on the estate’s door, she noticed a pale figure on the opposite side of the street who had been waiting for some time.

"Why are you waiting here?"

Eve quickly walked over, patting the snow off Selyu. This girl always had a faint presence. On a snowy day like this, she was truly hard to notice if you weren’t paying attention.

"To meet you all."

Selyu replied sparingly.

"You really are..."

Eve chuckled awkwardly. Though she had known Selyu for a long time, she always found her presence a bit peculiar.

She was like a delicate porcelain doll, with all her emotions and thoughts hidden behind a mask. If you tried to peer into her eyes, you might end up being scrutinized instead, laid bare under her gaze.

Eve knew Selyu wouldn’t actually do this, but she sometimes tried hard to avoid eye contact with her. Maybe that’s how friendships are—a bit of intimacy but also a certain distance, allowing secrets to remain hidden in corners of shadows.

"Are the others here yet?"

Eve stood next to Selyu, neither of them entering.

"Almost... short by two people."

Selyu counted on her fingers a few times, perhaps feeling her intelligence had waned after days of labor, even finding basic arithmetic a bit challenging.

"Two more? Who are they?"

Eve asked curiously. She was delayed by something on her way here and thought she’d be the last one to arrive. As it turned out, there were still others slower than her.

"It’s..."

Selyu was about to say the names of those two fellows when the neighing of a horse on the street interrupted them.

A carriage came wobbling out from the snowy fog, the horses exhaling hot white breath, their iron hooves leaving deep imprints on the snow.

The coachman kept whipping the reins, his voice giving commands. He seemed extremely irritable, racing against time.

Eve was a bit dazed, and then a name surged in her memory. She didn’t understand why he came to mind suddenly, perhaps because every time he appeared, it would be in such a ridiculous and awkward manner.

The carriage stopped, and sounds of quarrel emerged from within, the people inside possibly even fighting, causing the carriage to shake continuously.

"So you never check the mailbox?"

A voice shouted angrily.

"The thing is, the Purification Mechanism doesn’t need letters for communication. I put on clothes and open the door, and I’m at my workstation. What’s the point of this thing?"

Another voice retorted.

"Then you should at least check my mailbox! Eating and drinking at my place, you should do some work, right?"

"Who knew anyone would send you mail? And anyhow, postal stuff is usually just death notices, isn’t it? Besides, I’ve been the one chopping all the wood these past days!"

The argument continued, and the old caretaker relaxed the reins, stepping down from the carriage. With a grim expression, he addressed Selyu.

"There was some incident, and these two completely forgot."

Selyu nodded, then said.

"As expected."

In her eyes, Lorenzo was a reliable person. Of course, this reliability was limited to matters concerning demons. For anything else, he seemed like he was in power-saving mode, doing everything with a hint of stupidity.

The old caretaker tugged open the carriage door, and two figures tumbled out while grappling, rolling into the snow on the ground. A few seconds later, their pitiful screams echoed.