In the lakeside city, within the Lord’s Castle—a building carved by countless fortunes—a strange change was quietly taking place.
At a certain moment, everyone in the castle froze in place, their faces completely expressionless. Even the insects among the flowers and plants did not escape, falling into a deathly stillness as if time had stopped.
If anyone had been awake at that moment, they would have felt a heavy, oppressive atmosphere. Though the sun was still shining brightly, it felt as if they had fallen into a deep, dark night.
But this bizarre transformation did not last long. After about seven seconds, the overwhelming pressure, as if an evil god had descended, melted away like snow under the summer sun. The chilling cold also faded from the castle, and everyone returned to the state they were in before the connection was severed.
People continued doing what they had been doing seven seconds ago. Though they felt something was off, they subconsciously dismissed it as an illusion and forgot about it.
Butterflies once again took flight from the flowers. A diligent maid was holding a watering can, spraying a fine mist to keep the plants from wilting under the sun.
In the main hall of the mansion, surrounded by many armored knights, the obese lord snapped back to reality. He looked around and saw Anthony lying on the ground.
The lord was startled and rushed over.
When he got close, he took a closer look. Anthony was staring wide-eyed, his face frozen in a terrified expression.
The lord trembled, reached out, and placed a hand near Anthony’s mouth to check. He found that his youngest son had no breath left!
“Ah!!!”
With his scream, the knights outside rushed in. The knight captain, who had been standing in the living room, was also stunned.
The fat lord collapsed to the ground, his round face tightly wrinkled, making it impossible to tell if he was crying or laughing.
“Assassin! There’s an assassin! Protect the lord!”
The knight captain reacted quickly and immediately ordered the lord to be lifted and taken into the inner part of the house.
As for Anthony…
Since he was already dead, he was no longer a person, so there was no need to worry about him, right?
After the lord was carried away, several people surrounded the house and began searching. Naturally, they found no trace of any assassin’s intrusion. The knight captain then said:
“This is poisoning or a curse. Quickly summon a magic user!”
After sending someone to fetch the mage, the knight captain suddenly realized someone was missing. But he only knew that someone was missing; he couldn’t remember who. It was as if his memory had actively erased that person, no matter how hard he tried.
Everyone else present also felt this strange sensation.
In another world—
An old mage in a grey robe, holding a black staff, was fleeing in a disheveled state through the empty streets of the lakeside city under the night sky. Behind him, countless shadows were chasing him.
Those phantom hands were trying to drag him back into that abyss of pain!
The old mage fought desperately against it, but his power was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot—a mortal attempting to resist a tide. The result was naturally being crushed to pieces.
When his magic power was exhausted, his heart was already filled with deep despair. He lay powerless on the ground, looking up at the sky. Then the old mage’s eyes widened in terror.
The entire sky was occupied by an enormous phantom. Its golden-red pupils, like two suns hanging in the sky, looked down without mercy upon this deep, dark world.
He died in the dream…
—
In the president’s office of the Lily of the Valley Chamber of Commerce building, Enya opened her eyes. In her vertical pupils was the reflection of another world.
When Enya blinked, her golden-red pupils returned to normal human eyes. She leaned back in her chair and waved her fan staff.
After absorbing the “demon” fragment, her eyes became the gate to the formless chaos dream world, allowing direct access to various dreams.
—
Lakeside City, Industrial District Ninth Street.
On a carriage, a black-haired maid and a black-cloaked person were looking through the window at the rather unusual scene outside.
“Lucia, is it here?”
Wendy asked in awkward human language, communicating with Lucia. She was now wearing a black cloak that hid her maid outfit underneath. She even tucked her long hair inside, pulled up the hood to cover her face, making it impossible to see her appearance.
This was Lucia’s request. Wendy hadn’t wanted to at first, but when Lucia brought up Enya, Wendy visibly softened and agreed almost without hesitation.
Lucia glanced at the person beside her… no, she should say, the elf.
Over these days of getting along, Lucia had learned more about elves. On the Southern Continent, there were many stories about elves, as well as descriptions from people who had traveled to the Northern Continent.
But those were very different from what Wendy showed. It was said that elves had long lifespans, so their attitude toward life was fundamentally different from humans. This was correct, but also very wrong.
Lucia realized that so-called perceptions were actually caused by differences in environment and lifestyle. For example, it’s hard for the poor to understand the rich, and even people’s understandings can differ greatly. This was definitely not caused by race.
Age also had an effect. It was easy for humans to have generation gaps due to age differences. However, Wendy was a young maiden among the forest elves, with much room for development.
Lucia treated Wendy as a person!
That sounded a bit strange…
What it meant was, well, Lucia and Wendy had become good friends.
The two were riding in the Chamber of Commerce’s private carriage to the factory that had problems. As soon as they arrived, they saw quite a sight. This factory, which produced slime gel extracts, was not only not running normally but was surrounded by a group of young male workers dressed in plain clothes.
At the same time, they were shouting loudly, demanding an explanation, or else they would go on strike.
Wendy wanted to get off the carriage, but Lucia stopped her, planning to first observe what was happening from inside.
“Look! Isn’t that the Chamber of Commerce’s carriage?”
A voice suddenly rang out from the crowd, attracting many people’s attention. They looked at the carriage that had appeared on the street and rushed over to surround it.
The carriage driver saw this and wanted to turn around immediately, but the horses were startled by the crowd rushing toward them and became hard to control. The driver could only watch helplessly as they were surrounded.
“Hey! Come out, you Chamber of Commerce people! Give us an explanation!”
“Come out now!”
The crowd was extremely agitated. Some even tried to climb up and grab the driver’s reins, while others started prying at the carriage door.
Just then, the factory gate suddenly opened, and a group of fully armed guards rushed out, trying to scare the crowd away with intimidation. But it didn’t work well; instead, it stirred up the people’s fighting spirit.
For a moment, it seemed like blood would be shed. Their momentum was stronger than the guards’. Both sides started pushing against each other across the shields, and many fell to the ground, getting trampled.
Inside the carriage, Lucia was also stunned by the scene. She had seen bloody battles before, but a scene of surging crowds shouting and screaming like this was rare. She was a bit afraid to step out of the carriage.
As Lucia panicked, a voice clearing its throat rang out.
“Cough, cough.”
Lucia turned to look. Wendy had closed her eyes, sitting upright on the seat with her hands folded over her ample chest, and then softly hummed a song.
[Ancient Fairy Language · Song of Verdure]
The rhythm was simple, and the voice wasn’t loud at all, unable to compete with the angry shouts outside. Yet it was extremely clear to hear, as if a melody was softly singing right next to the ear.
As Lucia listened, she felt her inner anxiety being soothed. The summer’s stuffiness turned into a refreshing coolness, as if bathing in the gentle, fresh wind of spring.
Huh?
She suddenly noticed that the sounds outside were gradually calming down.
This was…
Lucia looked at Wendy. At that moment, Wendy opened her eyes and looked back at the confused Lucia. She blinked her dark green eyes, also showing a hint of confusion.
Wendy asked curiously:
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing… Thank you, Wendy.”
Lucia shook her head and smiled. She took a deep breath.
Outside the carriage, the agitated emotions were calmed by a mysterious power and returned to tranquility. Everyone stopped what they were doing. The sound of the carriage door opening came, and almost all eyes turned toward the carriage.
The black-haired long maid stepped down, alone. Lucia had told Wendy not to reveal herself in front of so many people for now. Wendy thought about it and agreed.
Lucia, wearing a pair of black high-heeled leather shoes, walked toward the factory gate. With every step she took forward, someone made way for her. She reached the gate unimpeded, standing between the factory guards and the workers.
Then the person in charge of the gel factory, the manager, came out. He was a well-built, refined middle-aged man.
Lucia looked at him and said:
“The Chamber of Commerce sent me to resolve the factory issue.”
“I know you, Miss Lucia.”
The manager smiled and was about to invite Lucia inside to talk more slowly, but unexpectedly, Lucia turned around to face the workers.
Lucia swept her gaze over the workers, took a deep breath, and said:
“I was sent by the Chamber of Commerce president specifically to handle matters here. You can tell me your demands. Whether it’s surrounding the factory or going on strike, neither truly solves the problem. We need to talk face to face.”
These words weren’t particularly eloquent, nor were they great public relations. They could even be picked apart and used against her.
But combined with the girl’s gentle appearance, they didn’t come across as aggressive. Instead, they seemed like a sincere hope that the problem could be resolved.
The manager frowned after hearing that. He didn’t want to negotiate terms with these commoners at all; it was clearly their own fault!
He had originally given Lucia face because she was Gro’s confidant. But now it seemed she wasn’t leaning toward him, so the manager naturally wasn’t willing to support the girl.
Wendy had somehow appeared beside Lucia, startling the manager. After all, a mysterious grey-robed figure suddenly appearing out of nowhere could make anyone nervous.
At that moment, Wendy leaned close to Lucia’s ear and whispered:
“A few, people, ran away.”
“Mm, I know.”
Lucia narrowed her eyes slightly, then turned and glanced at the manager, saying:
“The president sent me here to solve the problem. Are you the problem?”
“Uh, no…”
“If not, then don’t cause unnecessary trouble for yourself. I will report exactly what happened here.”
The manager broke out in a cold sweat. All his previous disrespect vanished, and he respectfully invited Lucia into the factory to talk.
At Lucia’s request, three representatives were chosen from among the strikers to express their views as one of the parties involved. Lucia acted as an impartial third party.