Book 5: Chapter 16


    Your Sorry. My beloved, the celebration starts today. Do you want toe out and see it? Luna entered my room and ced a te of fruit on the table. I ced the map in my hand down and replied, There are people outside right now, right? Luna, tell me the process of the event.


    If its too crowded, itll be difficult for the Shadow Squad to work. Even if they are the Shadow Squad, its very hard to know what every single person is doing in such a crowd.


    Most plots are carried out when things get rowdy, so the more crowded it is, the easier it will be for them to pull something off.


    Yeah, there are a lot of people. But what can we do? They all came to participate in the celebration. Umm, they are on a tour right now They go from the temple to the paddy. They are going to prepare a massive scarecrow there, and then throw the sacrificial items next to the scarecrow. Once that is done, the carnival can begin. The scarecrow will be lit up when night falls, and then they continue celebrating under the fire until sunrise. That is about it.


    I nodded.


    The so-called sacrificial scarecrow is just burnt up to fertilise the soil I bet. It looks like the event has some meaning to it. This is a small-scale sh-and-burn farming method, isnt it?


    I stood up and looked at the rowdy crowd outside. I asked, Where is that merchant group?


    The merchant group has already sold all of their fruits and has joined the crowd to head to the temple.


    Luna looked at me and said with a smile, You are worrying too much about that merchant group, are you not, Your Highness? It looks like it is not their problem. Maybe you do not have to worry about these things anymore, my beloved.


    Yeah? However I stood up, grabbed Lunas hand and continued, Since we have to go to the temple, lets go together, Luna. I want to see the ce where you used to work and live too.


    Ah! Luna reacted surprised. She then smiled shyly and said, That was a long time ago. And I am no longer pure anymore. I would be defiling the temple if I went in there


    I cut Luna off and said, Thats nonsense. God wont hate his believers. Luna, what God cares about will never be your bodys purity, but your souls purity. Luna, youre still kind and gentle. I trust that God would be d to see you again if you dont suspect him.


    Luna looked at me. Sheughed softly and then walked up to me affectionately to wrap her arm around mine. She cheerfully said, Lets go then, my beloved. Bring Freya. I believe that it is as you said. Perhaps meeting you really was a blessing from God.


    It looks like God didnt abandon you then.


    Hehe.


    Lunaughed cheerfully. She hugged my arm tightly while Freya came in from outside panting as she said, There are so many people outside I almost almost couldnt make it back ah brother, are you and Miss Luna heading out?


    Uhm. Lets go and see the event.


    But we are humans!


    So what? Isnt the celebration about everything sharing the joy together? I smiled and grabbed hold of Freyas hand.


    Freya reacted surprise and then asked, Brother why does it feel like you and Miss Luna are getting more and more intimate? Could it be that you two have forgotten you are acting?


    Yes. But since were acting, we need to make it look realistic. I looked at Freya and quietly added, But dont tell anyone about this.


    That will depend on how you bribe me then. Freya chuckled softly and then picked up the pearl-ne by her chest. She smiled and continued, Let us go then. I am looking forward to the celebration here. A celebration should be this sort of cheerful atmosphere that spreads to everyone.


    I nodded and then the three of us headed out together.


    It really was bustling outside. The crowd was headed to the temple. All of them were dressed in clothes they usually didnt wear.


    I looked at the people around and stood still. I asked Luna, I feel like Ive seen a lot of these people in the pub. They should be vigers, right? Luna, why dont they work and instead go to the pub? Arent they miners? That includes your brother too.


    Maybe it is because the celebration wasing up and therefore everyone isx. Luna chuckled softly and continued, It would be too pitiful for my brother to be mining in the mines just days away from the celebration. My beloved, are you not too sensitive? I know that you are always paying attention to this, but you do not feel that everything is strange, do you?


    I hopelessly nodded. Luna was right. Nobody really wants to work before the holidays, let alone aborious job like mining. Its like how we didnt want to open a book before vacations. Heck, we even cut our morning run a little short. It looks like I am indeed a little too sensitive.


    Up till now, everything has been logically exined. Put another way, I can exin all of the points of suspicions Ive got. Further, all of the exnations leave no room for doubt. But why cant I shake off the feeling that the atmosphere carries an air that I cant help but question? Why am I not the least bit convinced when everything can be exined?


    Why do I feel that the atmosphere in the entire vige is strange?


    The grand celebration ceremony.


    The odd merchants.


    Thezy workers.


    The high-quality gold.


    What exactly happened?


    Luna has been extremely cheerful and rxed upon returning. It looks like she isnt seeing anything out of the ordinary. Could it be that the vige was like this, to begin with? Why doesnt Luna detect anything odd? No A better question would be, why cant I shake off the feeling that theres something odd?


    Brother, you must be feeling that something is very strange as well, right?


    Freya, who was next to me, gripped my hand tightly. She looked at the bustling crowd and calmly continued, Brother, do you feel that everything here has a logical exnation thereby making it abnormal? That is normal. Miss Luna might not sense it, but I can sense darkness.


    Whats wrong with you two? Why are you both so vignt? The vige is just as it was when I was living here. Luna looked at me and smiled bitterly. She continued, My beloved, are you two not too on-edge? Nothing is out of the ordinary here, yet you two keep suspecting things. I think this must be what you are both bothered about.


    No, I beg to differ.


    Freya looked at me and in a serious tone said, Brother, Miss Luna got taken away ten years ago. But she does not sense anything out of the ordinary upon her return now. Miss Luna has seen it too. All of her brothers mining tools are the exact same ones as they were in the past. However, you yourself said it, brother, the quantity of gold here did not decrease, and to the contrary, it increased. So while everything has remained the same as it has as ten years ago, the yield of gold has increased. That is the problem! How is it that they are able to produce more gold coins when everything in the vige has remained as it was ten years ago? This vige is suspicious precisely because everything has remained the same!


    I jerked my body violently and bumped into the person behind me. I turned around to apologise and then picked up my pace to return to the group.


    I looked at Freya with the sudden realisation and asked, Thats it. Thats it! Its weird precisely because Luna doesnt detect anything odd. Why? Why has their gold yield increased when nothing has changed?


    Freya nodded and went on, Further, this vige is linked to the trafficking case. A normal group of merchants came before the celebration. A normal celebration. A normal vige. There is definitely a problem when there are abnormal gold and an abnormal trade. Brother, I think that the gold and trafficking case are definitely linked. Also, if they are linked, then everyone in this vige no, everyone present is a suspect!


    You mean-!


    Thats right. Right now, we are in the criminals nest Everyone is our enemy. If a conflict breaks out we will be fighting against everyone present