The morning sun was just breaking over the horizon when the wagon wheels finally rattled to a halt against the paved road leading to the grand gates of Caria City. After the relentless, exhausting night in the sewers and on the road, the entire crew was fast asleep in the back, sprawled over the hay bales.
The driver turned around from his seat, letting out a weary breath. "We're here. End of the line, lady."
"Hey. Thanks," I said, hopping down from the cart.
I reached into my pouch, pulled out a few silver coins, and tossed them to him for his trouble. He caught them, nodded appreciatively, and turned his horses back toward the outer stables.
I turned to the wagon bed and began waking the crew up one by one, shaking James, Chris, and Keith by their shoulders, then nudging Patricia, Aisha, and Keane. They groaned and rubbed their eyes, slowly hauling themselves and their gear off the wooden boards, with Chris carefully carrying the crystallized Lukreia once again.
We walked up the wide, sunlit avenue toward the towering, pristine gates of Caria City. Unlike the ruined, smoke-filled chaos of Lulu City, everything here looked luscious, clean, and meticulously guarded by heavy-armored knights.
As we approached the main checkpoint, the head gatekeeper glanced up from his desk. His eyes widened slightly as he recognized my face, though his expression remained smooth and professional.
"Well, well... if it isn't the infamous bounty hunter," the gatekeeper remarked, leaning against his counter.
"It's nice meeting you again. I heard a rumor you have a son waiting for you back in town, Eirene."
"Well," I replied flatly, cutting short any personal small talk.
I reached into my cloak, pulling out my coin pouch along with our identification and status cards, laying them out on the counter to pay the required entry tolls for the entire group.
The guard tallied up the cards and the stack of coins, raising an eyebrow.
"That's quite a heavy toll... and quite a crowd you're bringing in. Why are all of you traveling together like this?"
"Strange and terrible things happened in Lulu City, the man standing right beside me is Chris, the governor of Lulu City." I said, my voice dropping into a firm, serious tone.
Chris stepped forward, adjusting his hold on Lukreia and nodding grimly.
"The city has fallen to a massive infection. We need an immediate audience with the authorities."
"Let's waste no time, we go straight to the Bureau." I said, stepping past the iron turnstile as the gatekeeper stamped our entry passes.
We walked through the central district toward the Luminous Knight Bureau Association building. I tucked my right arm deep inside my canvas cloak to hide the freshly severed stump. It felt pathetic for a renowned bounty hunter to walk around missing a limb… especially since losing an arm was becoming a bad habit. A year ago, I had lost my left arm during a job, but because I operated in secret back then, only a handful of people knew what I looked like beyond a few shadowy newspaper sketches. Once my left arm was fully restored, my name and face spread across Caria City, making me a recognizable figure to the locals. Now that I had lost my right hand, I wasn't about to give the gossiping crowds another headline.
Behind me, the group trailed along the cobblestone streets. A few of them, like Patricia and Keith, moved through the avenues with familiar ease, while Aisha, Chris, and Keane stared in awe at the bustling, pristine architecture of Caria City, completely overwhelmed by their first time here.
"Eirene, is the Bureau always this crowded?" Chris asked softly, holding Lukreia close to his chest to avoid bumping into passersby.
"Always, stay close and don't get separated." I replied flatly, keeping my eyes fixed straight ahead.
Along the sidewalks, dozens of pedestrians were gathered around newsstands, reading the latest morning papers with shocked expressions. Spotting a merchant leaning against a wooden crate with a freshly printed paper, I stepped up to him.
"Excuse me, kind sir, are you finished reading that?" I asked in my usual deadpan tone.
The merchant blinked at my crimson eye, quickly handing the paper over.
"Ah… yes, ma'am! Take it, no charge."
I unfolded the Caria Times - Tuesday Edition and scanned the front page headline:
ELICIA RETURNS TO SERVICE AT THE BUREAU FOLLOWING SISIPHON MAGIC ACADEMY SUMMER BREAK
Branch 1 Commander resumes active duty to oversee regional security operations.
Wait... Big Sister Elicia is here in Caria City?! my heart spiked.
Elicia possessed an absurdly overpowered form of holy healing magic… she was the exact reason my left arm had been restored a year ago without a single scar. When she wasn't serving on active duty for the LKBA, she acted as the Head Principal of the Sisiphon Magic Academy, the prestigious institution for high-tier magic scholars where Aisha studied her incendiary magic. Having her back as the Commander of Branch 1 meant our luck had finally turned.
If Big Sister is back at work... what about Big Brother Elias? I thought, flipping the page.
A small column noted that Elias was still on an extended hiatus, taking a family break outside the city perimeter. That was actually a massive relief… managing Elias's relentless, perfectionist energy on top of an impending biological crisis would have given me an absolute headache.
I turned to the second page, where bold red lettering dominated the columns:
WARNING: UNEXPLAINED OUTBREAK REPORTED IN LULU CITY
Citizens urged to report strange behavior, calcified skin growths, or aggressive behavior. Do not approach infected individuals under any circumstances.
"They already know," I muttered under my breath, folding the paper and stashing it into my cloak.
We pushed through the heavy wooden double doors of the Luminous Knight Bureau Association. Inside, the grand hall reeked heavily of cheap ale, roasted meat, and sweat. Even at this early hour of the morning, the hall was packed to the brim with rough-around-the-edges adventurers, bounty hunters, and mercenaries line up to claim bounties on slain beasts or boasting loudly about their latest hunts over overflowing mugs.
I paused near the high archway, glancing back at our ragtag group.
"Guys, stay back here for a moment, this is official business. The only ones coming up with me are Patricia, Catherine, and Chris. The rest of you wait in the lounge… and keep an eye on Lukreia." I instructed, keeping my voice low.
Chris held his crystallized daughter a little tighter against his shoulder, shaking his head.
"Wait, Eirene. I need to bring Lukreia with us. We have to show them the virus firsthand to prove how dangerous it is. I doubt the authorities here grasp the full scale of what happened in Lulu City."
I thought back to the headline on the front page of the Caria Times… the warnings were already spreading, even if the city didn't realize the horror heading their way.
"Fine," I said flatly. "Bring her along."
We waded through the boisterous crowd toward the main reception counter, where Sydney, the Bureau's head registrar, was organizing a stack of bounty slips. The moment her eyes landed on me, her face lit up with her usual radiant smile.
"Sydney, take us to Chief Anton immediately. It's urgent." I said in my unbothered, deadpan voice, leaning slightly against the wooden counter.
Sydney blinked, her smile faltering just a fraction as she took in my cold demeanor.
"Woah, what a gloomy expression! Bad morning, huh? Tired from playing full-time mom, Eirene? I heard your son… "
"Do I have to repeat myself?" I cut her off, my gaze fixing on her with absolute, unyielding coldness.
Sydney raised her hands in surrender.
"Alright, alright! Sheesh, no need to bite my head off. Follow me."
She stepped out from behind the counter and led us toward the private stairwell leading to the executive offices. The stairs were surprisingly long and sweeping, winding upward in a steep spiral of fresh, white marble that felt completely out of place compared to the older wood of the lower hall.
"Sydney, when did the Bureau renovate the stairwell?" I asked as our boots echoed off the stone,
"Ah, a few months back, some lunatic planted mana bombs all over their own torso and pulled off a suicide bombing right in the main foyer. Destroyed half the structural foundation and killed a dozen officers on impact. The upper council thinks it was orchestrated by demon cultists from the Triangulum continent, while others claim it was just a rogue lunatic with a vendetta against the LKBA. You probably missed the whole mess because you were busy babysitting your kid at home, right?" Sydney replied over her shoulder, her tone dropping into something slightly more somber.
I remained dead silent, my boots steadily rhythmically hitting the cold marble steps.
Step. Step. Step.
As we climbed the endless flight of stairs, my mind drifted to an old saying from Earth that I had read long ago: "Sometimes the road to 'heaven' feels like hell... But that pain? It's purposeful. Sometimes the road to 'hell' feels like heaven... But that pleasure? It's costly in the end."
Looking at the white marble under my boots… built over the ash, blood, and shattered bones of a horrific attack… I couldn't help but wonder about the soul who wore those mana bombs. Did that suicide bomber truly believe they were walking the painful, hellish road toward their own version of 'heaven'? Did they think their sacrifice served a greater, noble purpose, or were they simply intoxicated by the momentary, sweet pleasure of vengeance?
And what about the Bureau itself? They rebuilt these towering, heavenly halls with polished stone and grand staircases, enjoying the illusion of safety and prestige…
a fleeting heaven. But how costly would that comfort be in the end, now that a flesh-consuming, calcifying plague was pounding on the continent's doorstep? We climb higher and higher, seeking rescue and authority, yet every step up this pristine staircase felt like sinking deeper into an unavoidable hell.
"We're here," Sydney announced, stopping in front of a pair of reinforced oak doors lined with brass runes.
She knocked three times, pushed the door open, and stepped aside to let us in.