Free Web NovelChapter 291: The Whole Street Is Watching You
By the time the sun set, the old model car drove off the highway bridge.
The tiered city already lay within reach on the horizon. It looked distinct from Azura. If Azura resembled a single giant umbrella standing over the land, then this city looked as if it were still under construction. Several smaller "umbrellas" stood scattered across the landscape, giving the entire place a fragmented, pieced-together appearance.
Even more than the tiered structures, something else drew the outlanders' attention. When the car came to a stop at the edge of the city, Ashe could not help but ask, "Is it... really this foggy?"
Even at dusk, the entire city remained shrouded in a thick white mist. The warm yellow lights of the streets turned soft and ambiguous through the haze. The fog did not feel eerie. Instead, it acted like a blurred filter, lending the city a hazy, ethereal beauty.
Harvey sniffed the air and placed a Catnip cigarette between his lips, though he didn't light it.
Annan explained, "The fog is a local specialty of Vanmura. I wasn't used to it at first either. But we're only staying a few days, so just bear with it."
She gestured for everyone to get out of the car, then sent the antique vehicle to its rightful place, a nearby scrap station. There was no way they could continue using an old car inside the city. In a place where floating vehicles dominated the roads with high-speed efficiency, an old car felt like a jarring note in a classical symphony, so out of place it would practically invite the Red Hats to knock on their window and charge them with disrupting intercity traffic.
"Are we riding bicycles again?"
"No," Annan replied. "This time, automatic scooters."
Just like Azura, the outskirts here featured rental transport sheds. But while Azura emphasized the health benefits of cycling, Vanmura seemed to favor stylish, effortless fun. Soon, everyone was standing on scooters, gliding leisurely into the misty heart of the city.
Annan suddenly spoke up, "Oh, right, Ashe, put on your cloak. Without my permission, you are not allowed to take it off at any time unless you are bathing. Even when you meditate and enter the Virtual World, you must keep it on."
Ashe looked at her, confused. "Even in the safehouse? I know I need it to hide my identity. After all, I'm the only criminal being hunted by the Empire's Red Hats... but once we settle down, I shouldn't need to wear it all the time, right?"
Annan shook her head. "No. Did you forget your Demonic Coat? I thought about it carefully. Those two from the Good Moonlight Agency retreated too quickly last night. They couldn't have run because of you... So the only explanation is that they ran because of you."
Ashe sighed. "Miss, promise me you won't start talking in riddles like Iger."
Iger spoke in a low, somber voice, "When you don't understand, you call it a riddle. Perhaps the Gospel is right. Letting people remain in their ignorant illusions might be its own form of happiness."
Annan ignored the comment and clarified. "What I mean is, your Demonic Coat can intimidate anyone who sees you for the first time. The effect depends entirely on the gap in proficiency between your Mind Class discipline and your opponent's. That means both Two-Winged and even Three-Winged sorcerers could be affected by it.
"Your coat is a hidden trump card. You must not let anyone see your true face beneath that cloak. Save the reveal for a critical moment."
"Why does it sound like I'm some kind of fatal beauty who solves problems by taking off his clothes?" Ashe muttered. He pulled on the full-cover cloak, looking even more like a wanted man than before.
Lys, meanwhile, was riding her scooter happily. She had never used one before, but it clearly appealed more to her than a bicycle. She quickly got the hang of it, rushing ahead of the group as if they were on an outing.
As she zipped past two pedestrians, both suddenly turned their heads to watch her.
One was a dark-skinned human; the other, a green-skinned lizardman. They didn't seem to know each other, yet their gazes fixed on the white-haired girl at exactly the same time. Lys immediately lost her nerve and retreated to Ashe's side. But as their group passed, the two locals continued to stare.
There was no disgust, no joy, and no curiosity in their eyes. Instead, they looked at the group with the same flat expression a student might give an unfamiliar face walking into their classroom mid-lesson.
As they moved deeper into the city, the staring intensified.
Pedestrians stopped in their tracks. Customers in open-air cafés put down their cups. Passengers inside floating vehicles leaned out of windows to get a better look. The attention came from every angle, spanning the heights of the buildings to the streets below, making it unavoidable and impossible to ignore.
The six of them seemed to carry a strange, captivating presence. Wherever they went, they pulled every eye toward them. It wasn't just Ashe and Lys anymore; even Harvey and Iger began to feel uneasy. Walking down the street under that silent, collective gaze allowed dark thoughts to creep in. The stares felt heavy, like blocks of lead pressing down until it became hard to breathe. Even the air seemed to grow thin.
"Harvey, I'm sorry."
"Hm?"
Iger said softly, "You were right. The dead are indeed better than the living. At least the dead don't look at me like this."
Harvey hesitated for a moment. "Actually... corpses can look at you like this, too."
"What a pity. That's one less advantage for the dead. I won't study necromancy anymore."
Unlike the outlanders, Annan and Pankeye remained calm, completely unconcerned by the attention. When they arrived at a free metro station, Annan led them inside, guiding the group into a narrow carriage where they were forced to endure the scrutiny of every other passenger.
Lys shrank into Ashe's arms, hiding her face. Ashe felt like doing the same. He was so shaken he almost wanted to bury his own face in Annan's chest[1].
Ashe didn't dare look back into the carriage. Instead, he fixed his gaze on the warm sky outside the window, but the city's fog refused to lift. If anything, it grew thicker and more cloying. The setting sun and the rising full moon were locked in a silent struggle for the sky, appearing strangely intimate through the pale haze, like two figures wrestling beside a bed.
Vanmura's aerial logistics also seemed a step behind Azura's. If Azura's drone swarms resembled a crowded school canteen at noon, then Vanmura's looked like a restroom during a short break, sparse and scattered in twos and threes. It was hard to tell if local consumption had plummeted or if the people here simply had no taste for online shopping.
When the railcar slowed to a halt at a station, new passengers stepped inside. Immediately, Ashe and the others sensed a shift in the air.
Some of the locals, who had been subtly watching them, suddenly diverted their attention to the newcomers. Even without knowing the local customs, the meaning was clear. Those two were outsiders, just like them.
Sure enough, the two new passengers glanced at Annan's group and walked straight toward them. One was a burly beastman, the other a spindly goblin. Neither carried visible weapons, but most Gospel sorcerers favored firearm catalysts. The way their coats draped over their waists made it obvious they were following the current trends of concealment.
They stopped beside Annan's seat. "Purple Moth, the Lady sends her regards. I'm from the Good Moonlight Agency—"
"You've been active in Vanmura these past few days, haven't you?" Annan interrupted, her expression unreadable. "Do you like it here?"
The goblin replied with a thin smile, "Vanmura belongs to the Six Emblems. We aren't one of them, so how could we like a city with no exit? We were on a mission nearby in Ariando and were preparing to head back when we received the Lady's order to intercept you. Honestly, we didn't expect much. We thought we'd wait a few days and leave empty-handed. But luck is on our side. The Book of Gospel showed that the number of outsiders in Vanmura increased by five at this exact time. It matches your group perfectly."
Tracking the number of outsiders through the Book of Gospel?
Ashe and the others reached two conclusions instantly. Firstly, Vanmura rarely saw visitors. Secondly, the Good Moonlight Agency couldn't track them directly, so they were forced to use indirect data to trace their trail.
But... there were six of them. Why had the number of outsiders only increased by five?
"Are you sure luck is on your side?" Annan touched her amethyst earring and let out a cold, sharp laugh. "This is Vanmura, not Azura. Do you really have the nerve to make a move here?"
She didn't bother to lower her voice. At her words, the surrounding locals' gazes grew sharper and heavier, yet they remained in their seats, watching the outsiders' dispute with the silent indifference of people watching a play.
The goblin's smile widened as he summoned his Book of Gospel. "How would you know if you don't try?"
The railcar suddenly braked hard. The sheer inertia nearly threw the passengers from their seats. Ashe and the others, already on edge, steadied themselves instantly, ready to tear into the agency bastards.
"Don't move," Annan commanded.
With that single sentence, she froze the group's killing intent in place. Strangely, the beastman and the goblin didn't seize the opening to attack. Instead, they stood there with open, mocking postures, daring them to strike.
The railcar began to reverse, racing back toward the city's outskirts.
The other passengers adjusted their clothes and sat back down. No one complained about the sudden detour. Instead, they looked at Ashe's group like they were already corpses, viewing them with the cold indifference one might show cockroaches marked for death.
Iger suddenly asked, "Is striking first illegal?"
Pankeye explained, "In a public place, the Book of Gospel marks whoever attacks first as a criminal. It even notifies the Red Hats to make an arrest. Once a crime begins, everyone else gains unlimited rights to self-defense against the perpetrator. That's why it's crucial who makes the first move. Of course, this only applies in public. In private areas, the Book of Gospel might know what's happening, but it doesn't interfere. The Red Hats have to investigate those cases on their own."
This explained why the Book of Gospel hadn't reported the agency despite Annan's home being wrecked the previous night. It only enforced rules in public spaces; private conflicts fell outside its jurisdiction.
The two agents' plan was straightforward. They would seize control of the railcar, leave Vanmura, and head back to Azura. In this game of chicken, whoever made the first move would be the one at fault.
Ashe might be a wanted criminal, but Annan and the others were still lawful citizens. The Red Hats could only target Ashe. They had no cause to act against the others. If they were all in the same vehicle, for example, the Red Hats could at most stop the car and force Ashe out. They couldn't simply blast the entire group with an explosive spell. No matter how advanced the medical system was, they could not sacrifice innocent citizens. That was a line the Red Hats would never cross.
But if Annan's group gave them an excuse, those restraints would vanish. The Red Hats could kill them first and simply revive them later for interrogation.
The agency's plan ultimately hinged on whether Annan was willing to risk everything. If she refused to abandon her status as a lawful citizen, she would have no choice but to accept this "one-day trip to Azura."
Of course, they had another option: let Ashe, already a wanted man, deal with the two of them.
Setting aside whether he could even win, the moment Ashe revealed himself in public, the Empire's bounty would activate. Every Red Hat in the city would swarm the area to claim the reward. Moreover, it was unlikely Ashe could defeat two Two-Winged sorcerers unless his Demonic Coat triggered its special effect again. But they couldn't bet on that what-if.
The safest move was for Annan's group to suppress the two agents swiftly and escape immediately, but...
Iger watched Annan. He saw no sign of a plan on the young lady's beautiful face. If anything, she almost seemed to welcome the situation.
The fraudster gestured to the necromancer. Harvey raised a brow in silent understanding. If the young lady refused to act, they would force her hand. From the beginning, Iger and Harvey had never truly accepted Annan as their superior. In fact, they didn't want a superior at all. To them, the identity of a wanted criminal was far more familiar than any legal status. If they could drag Annan down into the same camp as them, they saw no reason to hesitate.
At that moment, the railcar crossed a street that marked a clear boundary. To the north lay Vanmura's core two-tiered city; to the south stretched a newly developing district.
Suddenly, Ashe and the others felt something within them being drained away. Their bodies felt hollow, their thoughts grew sluggish, and they found it difficult to muster any energy at all. The other passengers reacted even more severely. Like withered flowers, they slumped in their seats, lacking even the strength to keep staring at the outsiders.
The railcar braked hard again, not because it was forced to stop, but because the person at the controls had faltered.
Within just a few breaths, the beastman and the goblin turned deathly pale. Their limbs trembled uncontrollably. The beastman managed to stay upright, gasping for air, while the goblin collapsed to his knees, drool spilling from his mouth. Their heartbeats grew so frantic they seemed to echo through the entire carriage.
1. Is that really why he wants to do that? ☜
