"I don't know, Your Excellency."
Melbel stood beside her, his gaze occasionally drifting upward, as if something up there had caught his attention.
"I hope everything goes smoothly..."
But what they didn't know was that, right above them in an ordinary little building, Lin Qiaoya, who had just returned to his office, was slumped over his desk with lifeless eyes.
A pool of blood spread out from under him.
Beside him, a figure in a black, skintight suit and a mask watched until he was completely dead before calmly turning to leave.
'Scholars... so clever. Such useful brains.'
'But sometimes, being too clever isn't a good thing, is it?'
...
...
When the bells of Krimms Cathedral tolled four times, most people within the Caster City State were already fast asleep.
Doors and windows were sealed shut, the rooms within lit by gas lamps or candles. Their faint glow pushed back against the crimson moonlight, warding off the encroaching corruption.
