"Don't get excited just yet," Helen said with a smile. She glanced back at Li Yue, who only then realized that most of her killing intent had been blocked by Helen.
"The young lady hasn't seen much of the world; she still sympathizes with those pariahs," the man with glasses chuckled. His hands were hidden in black gloves as he reached up to adjust his gold-rimmed spectacles, concealing all his schemes behind a mask of hypocrisy.
"Don't mind her. I just sent her to the Outer Ring to play for a while; perhaps she made a few friends," Helen made a calming gesture and signaled the man to continue.
"According to the statistics, half of the largest coal mines in Yakutsk have already run dry." The man produced a statistical report. "And the production of the remaining mines is nowhere near what it used to be."
"Rather than staying, we should abandon this city before everything ends," the man smiled. "Take all the value left here and leave. Isn't the western continent still being developed? I've already sent people there to start establishing order."
"What do the rest of you think?" The man with a goatee looked around at the family heads seated at the table.
"Why must the next Yakutsk be in a frozen wasteland again?" the head of the Ein family remarked. He turned to exchange a look with his eldest son, who nodded with a smile. The old man looked quite pleased.
"So, you're planning to let the cold wave solve the 'surplus population' problem?" Helen smiled. She could feel Li Yue's presence behind her shifting from agitation to a chilling numbness.
Once emotions spin out of control, is the divinity starting to take effect? How terrifying.
"We can take the surviving labor with us. Anyone who can survive tens of degrees below zero is quite impressive; my family can offer them a position as a servant," the man with glasses laughed, his tone dripping with mockery.
"Don't you think it's bad luck to recruit someone who crawled out of a pile of corpses?" Li Yue's blood-red eyes fixed on the man. Her vertical pupils left him momentarily dazed with fear, preventing his sharp tongue from lashing back.
Helen's brow twitched. She felt like that remark had stung her as well.
"Child, surely you don't still wish to indulge in such naive compassion?" An old man puffing on a pipe exhaled a cloud of smoke. A girl beside him helped him take the pipe from his mouth. "This city has no future. Ten years ago, perhaps, but now... the great merchant ships no longer come."
"Either take them all, or leave none behind," Li Yue said flatly. "What meaning is there for someone who has lost everything to keep living?"
"Tsk, tsk. You changed your tune quickly. Now you're being cruel," the man with the goatee laughed. "Actually, those people still have their uses. Lord Rein needs healthy and strong experimental subjects."
"Experimental subjects?" Li Yue was stunned. Once again, she seemed to be the only one in the dark, while everyone else took it as common knowledge.
"Helen, you really haven't told her anything, have you? Are you raising a flower in a greenhouse?" the head of the Ein family frowned. His impression of this girl, who dared to show killing intent toward them, wasn't exactly bad, but it certainly wasn't good.
"I was just waiting for you all to tell her. If I said it myself, I'm afraid she'd end up hating me," Helen chuckled. Only now did Li Yue realize that the "official business" Helen spoke of was the ultimate manifestation of selfishness and disregard for life.
"Lord Rein hopes to find new creative inspiration by merging life and machinery. He is an omnipotent master who has reached an existence far beyond our understanding," the man with glasses said, his eyes filled with a touch of worship.
"When he does those things, he is as calm as the moment you strike with your blade. Of course, there's another reason—once one becomes a Great Mage, their humanity is largely eroded," Helen whispered to Li Yue. The voice echoed in Li Yue's mind; everyone else looked unbothered, seemingly hearing nothing.
"Though I have killed many, I have never laid a hand on the innocent," Li Yue sighed. "Am I being too hypocritical?"
She asked softly in her heart.
"People are just like that—a collection of contradictions. Everyone is a saint, and everyone is a hypocrite," Helen smiled. She had once been an orphanage director who saved children and built this new family with them, yet she had also ruthlessly eliminated anyone who stood in her way, regardless of their character.
And now, as an executioner, she sat with a group of other executioners, discussing how to slowly dismember the innocent of the entire city—including innocent children just like those she had once helped.
She rested her chin on her hand, looking toward the side of the table, lost in thought. Whatever it was, it wasn't repentance.
"Lord Reinhardt has tacitly agreed to our plans. However, he said he would linger here for a while longer. Such a humanitarian spirit—he must be attached to this city he has protected for so long."
The room fell silent for a moment. No one agreed, and no one argued. Li Yue watched him coldly.
How could someone whose humanity had begun to erode still feel nostalgia or attachment—such complex emotions?
Ah... they really are complex emotions... Aside from thinking of her occasionally, I don't seem to feel much other than loneliness and pain. Just what is it that's affecting me?
"Everyone, let's get back to enjoying the party. As for these official matters, we can discuss them further when Lord Reinhardt joins the meeting," the head of the Ein family said as he stood up, seemingly preparing to leave. "I haven't seen my daughter in a while. I'm going to check on her; I heard she's going to play the violin."
"You still have such refined tastes, old man," the man with glasses laughed. He stood and tipped his hat to Helen, also appearing ready to depart.
"Helen, there's one more small matter. Tell us about this successor of yours," the old man said, exhaling a long trail of smoke, his eyes glinting with a mix of caution and cunning.
"How can that be a small matter? That's family business, Mr. Niewan," Helen rose, seemingly unwilling to engage further. She turned and smiled at Li Yue. "The banquet and dancing are about to begin. You've finally come back; enjoy yourself."
"We are nothing more than bandits who have divided the stolen days and nights among ourselves..." Li Yue looked back. "What is there to enjoy?"
"Once you can do what they do with a clear conscience, you'll be able to enjoy it happily." Helen pursed her lips and smiled. She walked ahead, seemingly in a good mood.
What a lovely child. Could someone like this really come from the Royal Court? No, impossible.
Rate on N.U.
