Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Morning had just arrived.
In the bustling region of midtown Avalon, the apartment district, a few pedestrians going to work in the morning walked along the streets. The bakery had opened for the day. The awnings, as well as the tables and chairs outside, had been set up, and a sign advertising half-priced set meals and coffee was hung outside.
A carriage quietly stopped at the door of the six-story apartment. Several men in black uniform climbed up and down the stairs, carrying boxes of luggage down, and put them in the trailer. Their movements were consistent, but their uniform had no logo on it. Also, unlike trained soldiers, they didn’t look burly. Although they were thin, they carried the heavy luggage effortlessly. Whenever someone looked their way, they would look back, as if they could sense the gaze, sizing the people around them up with a cold look in their eyes.
In the carriage, the man named Richard opened the curtains and looked at a window on the fifth floor. “Is our guest done packing up?”
The assistant outside the carriage shook his head. “There’s still a bit left. The good sir refused our help, and it seems that he resents it quite a bit.”
“It’s the same,” Richard said calmly. “After studying hard for five years, just before graduation, he was given a notice to pack his luggage up in two days and be escorted out of the country. Surely, anyone would feel upset. Plus, no one is at fault for such a predicament, who can he blame?”
The assistant said nothing. He just sighed and looked down at his pocket watch to tell the time.
“Don’t look at it, just wait.” Richard leaned back on the seat of the carriage. “At least leave him some time to say goodbye.”
…
On the fifth floor, the room was already empty.
Although it was one of the best apartments in midtown Avalon, the interior was still simple, and there wasn’t much furniture of bigger size, to the extent that only a few chairs and a bed were left after all the luggage had been taken away.
A huge easel was also among the things left. The unfinished painting on it was still covered with a damp cloth, and many completed portraits were put at a corner. Unfortunately, the Royal Hounds were rather rough when carrying the luggage, and many paintings had fallen onto the ground, stained with dust.
And their creator couldn’t be bothered about them anymore.
“Thaler, aren’t you bringing these along?” the girl who lived next door said. She came to Avalon to study just like him. Having been classmates for four years, she came to help him move out.
“Forget it, I can’t bring them along, just leave them here.” The thin young man cast a final look at the products of his hard work and withdrew his gaze. “If I get a chance, I’ll come back and pack them up.” Thaler lifted the last suitcase, got up, and looked at the girl next to him, forcing out a smile.
“Time to leave?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Thaler nodded, wanting to say something, but no words came out.
“It’s a pity, you are just one year short of finishing your studies.” The girl smiled, a complicated look on her face. She reached out and hugged him gently. “I won’t be sending you off then.”
“Mhmm.” Thaler nodded, looked at her one last time, and walked towards the door. But after walking to the door, he turned back and opened the suitcase. He took out a wrapped painting and handed it to her. “This is for you.”
It was a portrait that looked just like her.
“I always wanted to give it to you.” Thaler smiled regretfully. “If I don’t give you now, I’ll have no chance to do so.” Having said so, he lifted the suitcase and left, as if he was running away from something.
Only the girl was left standing in the room, looking at the emptiness.
It wasn’t until the carriage started moving that Thaler heard the shouts from behind him. He poked his head out of the window of the carriage and saw the girl shouting at him from the window on the fifth floor.
But Thaler could not make out what she was saying.
The carriage didn’t stop, and as the driver whipped the horse, the carriage gradually went further and further away from the apartment, until it turned onto Queen’s Road, and he couldn’t see where she was anymore. She had been swallowed up by the city.
Thaler sat back in the carriage, collapsing on the seat, his eyes somewhat red.
“I’m sorry.” Richard handed him a handkerchief. “I know that the decision is cruel to you, but I hope you can understand that you going back to Asgard is the best for everyone.”
Thaler said nothing, nor did he look up at Richard.
“If you really miss her, come back here after the war.” Richard took back the handkerchief that was ignored, and said calmly, “Waiting is always pleasant as compared to separating, isn’t it?”
After a silence, Thaler looked up, took a deep breath, and shook his head. “No, I probably won’t come back.”
“That’s a pity.” Richard said calmly, “When the war is over, I do welcome people like you to visit Avalon, be it for traveling or studying. Avalon is a good place, I’ve grown up here since I was young. Sometimes it throws a fit, making it difficult for outsiders to like it, but in the end, I believe that outsiders will all find their own place here.”
Thaler shook his head, his expression complicated. He didn’t look like an Asgardian, as he was neither burly nor boorish. His face was handsome, and he was very different from his father and several brothers.
He was feeble and quiet.
He seemed like he couldn’t even kill a mouse.
Having been in Avalon for a few years, no one knew that he was the son of the patriarch of the Fire River Clan, and he never told anyone about his hometown.
“After returning to Asgard, will you set foot on the battlefield?” Richard asked.
“Only father’s successor is qualified to go on the battlefield, and it will never be my turn. I have been considered a lost cause from the moment I left Asgard.” Thaler said coldly, “In Asgard, glorious deaths are never for weaklings like me.”
“There’s nothing bad about being able to survive.” Richard shook his head. “Be it victory or defeat, war is always cruel. I also hope that it will not come, but now it seems that it is merely wild wishes.”
Thaler said no more.
He closed his eyes.
It wasn’t long before the carriage slowed down, as they had neared the port.
One could vaguely see the bustling port. Compared to the orderliness in the past, everything had sped up by a lot. Ships entered the harbor constantly, and ships were leaving as well. For the well-informed, word had it that war was nearing, and many people who had no business in it were reluctant to stay here.
Just within sight, a huge passenger ship was leaving amid horn blasts. It even had the logo of the Asgard Marine Company on it.
“It seems that your family has given up on you. The Asgardian Embassy didn’t even know about you when evacuating nationals.” Richard sighed and patted Thaler’s shoulder. “Sorry that we have to send you back. Please believe me when I say that it is the best solution — We have notified Asga–”
Boom! Before he even finished speaking, a roar burst forth. It sounded right outside the window of the carriage.
The next moment, countless pieces of iron burst out of the broken cargo box, and a forlorn whistling tore one’s eardrums apart. The iron pieces scraped against each other in midair until they became red, tearing the air apart and smashing the carriage into pieces. They pierced through the steel plates in the middle layer of the walls and flew into the carriage.
The force applied to the pieces of iron wasn’t enough for them to penetrate the other wall and exit the carriage, and they bounced back upon hitting the steel plates. In the violent shaking, they continued bouncing around the carriage.
Then, a fire engulfed everything.
After staring stunned for a short moment, countless people screamed and fled in all directions.
“God’s wrath! Did you see it? It is God’s wrath!” Behind the cargo box, a pale-faced musician laughed wildly, playing a movement, madly attacking everything around him. “Go to hell! You cowards! Traitors! Go to hell! Asgard must pay the price for everything they have done to me! Hahahahaha…” Five minutes later, the mad musician was shot dead on the spot, and a proof of identity belonging to a royal musician was found on him.
As the guard looked on with a ghastly pale face, the burning carriage shattered, and Richard, who had almost been burnt, climbed out from the inside difficultly, holding on tightly to the blood-stained young man.
“Help!” He hoarsely shouted, “Help! Doctor! Where is the doctor!”
Hoarse coughs sounded, beside him, the young man who was missing half of his body opened his eyes with difficulty. “Don’t waste your time.”
His broken face had a complicated look. “I can’t be saved.”
Richard was stunned and looked down at him in a shock. In a flash, he suddenly understood. “You’ve known all along?”
“I have already told you, glorious deaths are never for the weak.” Thaler difficultly forced out a smile on his burnt face, and it was full of self-mockery. “The weak… can only die in shame, creating… value for the strong…” Thaler coughed violently, blood foam rising from the throat, blocking his respiratory pathway.
As if he had understood that death had come, he no longer struggled. He simply propped his body up with his broken arms, turned back with difficulty, and gazed at the city behind him.
It was as if he could see the little window.
Someone was waiting for him there.
I’m sorry.
He closed his eyes and his breathing ceased.
…
20 minutes later, Ye Qingxuan was awakened by mad knocking on the door. He climbed up from his desk and saw Richard sitting in a wheelchair, with bandages on him.
“I messed up.” Richard’s expression was bitter. “The fourth heir to the Fire River Clan of Asgard has just been assassinated at the port.”
“Who is the assassin?” Ye Qingxuan asked.
“A royal musician,” Richard replied hoarsely. “It was a premeditated assassination. He already knew that he would die. Boss, we are in trouble.”
Ye Qingxuan took a deep breath, closed his eyes, opened them again, and exhaled the anger from his lungs. “Noted.” He patted Richard’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault, it’s already fortunate that you can come back. Go and see the chorale doctor first.”
Five minutes later, the harsh ringtone from the emergency communication of the Privy Council rang from the desk. “Get me on the line with the Prince, now!”
“You may speak, I am listening.” Behind the desk, Ye Qingxuan smoked a cigarette, his expression dark.
“Two minutes ago, the Asgardians claimed that the only heir of the Fire River Clan had been murdered in a despicable assassination attempt in our country, and Asgard officially declared war on Anglo!”
“Noted.” Ye Qingxuan lowered his eyes and extinguished the cigarette. “Please inform Her Majesty to hold an emergency meeting in court, gather all the members of the Privy Council, inform everyone to make the necessary preparations.”
He put on his coat and buckled the last button. “War is coming.”
Outside the window, the morning sun rose from the sea, illuminating the dark clouds slowly spreading from the distance.
The world was quiet.
