Sitting in a public carriage, Esther slowly made her way to the docklands through the East End, she was not in a hurry, but after finding a slightly bustling street, she jumped out of the carriage and went into a café, bought a newspaper as usual, and flipped through it.

This time, she planned to go to the window to ask the price of ferry tickets in various places, and compare them horizontally, although it would definitely be indispensable if she only asked if she didn't buy it, but Esther wouldn't take it to heart.

It's not too early, and the atmosphere of the New Year's holiday makes Esther feel a little lazy, so she doesn't have much motivation to play to make money. She considered changing to another instrument, but because the harmonica was portable and it would take a lot of time to learn a new instrument, Esther gave up on expanding her business.

But when I go somewhere else, maybe I can learn something else, and the accordion feels good......

Ordering a hot cocoa and baked muffins, Esther spent lunch time watching the news that might be about the war. Dessie Bay isn't a dangerous border, and as a winter holiday destination, she's even seen two related travel advertisements recommending several local hotels.

The kingdom of Fenerport is also very peaceful, at least in the past few years, there seems to be no sign of war, and Rune's strong national power is on the table after all. In order to develop themselves, most countries choose to be superficially peaceful, and put their disputes on the sea or in the colonies of the southern continent, far from their own land.

Esther wasn't politically savvy, but at least she could see the general situation, and no one would break it anytime soon if it didn't change dramatically.

"Ann's birthday. That's good, but where else is it better......"

Esther pondered the question, looking forward to her trip out of Beckland, and of course, looking forward to spending the New Year with Klein. This afternoon, she plans to find a cheap grocery store, buy some red paper and quills, and write the word "Fu" herself to see the effect.

But if you really can't do it, let's honestly weave two peace knots, she's pretty good at that.

Thinking of this, Esther couldn't help but smile again, and she glanced out the window, just in time to see the black crow on the lamppost, and through the glass window, her black eyes met her.

Xiao Qi stared sideways at Esther, as if it was no different from other crow birds that observed human behavior, but there was always a humanized banter in its eyes.

Should I buy a bigger backpack then? It's good to stuff Xiao Qi directly into it, and it's quite conspicuous to always let it hide under the cloak. On New Year's Eve, he can also get to know Klein, and he can finally be honest with his fellow countrymen about some of his secrets.

I don't know if Klein will be taken aback, it's strange to be looking forward to it.

Esther's smile deepened, and she cut another pancake and put it to her mouth.

If it weren't for the fact that it would cause others to be strange, she would probably hum a song leisurely, and the gloomy sky would not have affected Esther's good mood for the future.

She was still thinking about whether to wait for the New Year to bring some potatoes and go to Klein's house to make mashed potato dumplings as a substitute for taro filling.

It's going to be fun, but it's not that important if it's good or not.

——

Esther's "spiritual intuition" was suddenly touched, and she looked up at the sky.

In the distance, a few red fireballs were rapidly magnifying, and although they were not here from a visual distance, they would also be smashed near Beckland.

Meteorites from the sky? Is this reasonable?

Esther's eyes widened gradually, she subconsciously ran two steps in the direction of the meteorite's fall, and when she realized that the landing point was quite far away, she immediately stopped this stupid behavior, but the restlessness in her heart was almost to the extreme.

Xiao Qi flew down from the top of the house and landed on Esther's shoulder: "Something is wrong, we better leave the East End quickly." ”

Instead of wasting time looking for a public carriage or a rental carriage, Esther trotted to the steam subway station three blocks away, the thrill of the meteorite sending chills down her back, and the chill did not dissipate as the meteorite left her sight.

Being on the ground didn't give Esther any sense of security, and her heartbeat grew faster and faster from the tension and running.

Xiao Qi was very trouble-free, its claws were firmly buckled on Esther's shoulder, and even lowered its body to reduce air resistance and prevent itself from falling: "Do you really have to stay in Beckland?" ”

"I know, I know the danger is getting more and more obvious, but I've made an appointment to spend the New Year together!"

Esther cursed in her heart very unwillingly, no matter who made trouble in the New Year, she cursed them!

If it weren't for the fact that Esther had been running, Xiao Qibao wouldn't have allowed to be harsh on her ears: "I really don't understand what you are still clinging to at such a time." ”

"I hate this kind of unexpected situation, too! You can't have a peaceful New Year's holiday—"

Esther's forward steps suddenly stopped, her body leaned forward suddenly, and the inertia shook the little seven on her shoulder, and the crow fluttered its wings and flew up, finally not falling directly to the ground.

"What's wrong!?"

Xiao Qi looked around the street vigilantly, but except for two homeless people hiding in boxes to avoid the wind, and a few ordinary passers-by who were hurrying, there was nothing abnormal.

"Didn't you hear? There is a sound. ”

Esther's body trembled, the sound familiar to her, and she panicked, she tried to cover her ears to amplify the sound clearly, but soon, she realized that it was just useless and moved her palm to her forehead.

The sound didn't come from hearing, it came from the depths of the mind.

Someone is praying.

The immature child's voice that has not yet reached the period of voice change, it is a teenage boy, calling in a different tone from the past, one after another, not as jumpy and energetic as usual, and there is no irritability when he is angry at "Hamel".

There was despair in his voice, he was crying, begging for help from his "harmonica elf" and from the "glossy female thief" in the news.

Esther didn't expect the rabbit's request for help to come so quickly, and it wasn't even something that could be solved at will by consuming the light points contained in those few hairs, she didn't understand what crisis the rabbit was encountering, but she could still sense the approximate location of the other party.

Because of this heartfelt prayer, an invisible connection tugged at Esther's perception and guided her in the direction of the victims.

It's the place she wants to keep away from along the way.

"Xiao Qi, let's go."

Esther threw down this sentence, and regardless of Xiao Qi's reaction, she rushed towards the street she had just walked through at a faster speed, which was the direction of the center of the East End.

The crow's eyes were dark, it hovered and flew into the sky, taking in the strange discoloration of the haze in the distance, the deep yellow like quicksand, constantly devouring the breath of all living beings, mixed with the darkness like a poisonous knife, cutting off the vitality that lingered.

"A plague of this magnitude...... Is it a witch? ”

Xiao Qi narrowed his eyes and flew down on the fence outside a window, staring at Esther's back. She ran resolutely in the direction of the thick fog, not knowing what kind of murky water she was stepping into.

"Idiot."

——

Minutes ago, deep in the East End.

"Hey, rabbit, look over there." Another young boy with messy black hair nudged his companion with his elbow.

The rabbit looked up in the direction he was pointing, and saw a gray-haired man hurrying down the street with a paper bag in his arms.

"Old Kohler? The paper bag seems to belong to the butcher's shop, and he's been doing well lately. The rabbit sat on a pile of broken planks with his arms crossed, and played with a few wires in his hands, twisting them into the shape of branches.

"Do you want to go ......" the black-haired boy gestured with two fingers up and made a "pinch" gesture, "He has money to buy meat, he must not mind sharing something with us?" ”

"I'm not interested in going to you yourself." Rabbits are listless and authentic.

The brunette boy punched the rabbit in annoyance: "What's wrong with you in the last two days?" It's a stinky face all day long, as if someone has messed with you. ”

"I'm in a bad mood, I want you to take care of it?"

"But we have to eat! The harmonica elves don't come every day, you should do some business with me, otherwise you won't even be able to eat in the New Year! ”

The rabbit punched the brunette boy back in the head and yelled in annoyance, "She's not coming!" ”

The black-haired boy rubbed the back of his head vigorously: "Hey! You're hitting too hard, aren't you!? ”

The rabbit hung his head and repeated again in a low voice: "She won't come." ”

The black-haired boy gradually lowered his hand: "That's why you're so ...... Phew, if she doesn't come, she won't come, and we haven't met her before, so don't we live like this! There is no difference! ”

Despite this, the black-haired boy's demeanor was much darker, and after shouting these two words, he coughed softly, and his throat seemed to itch from dryness.

The rabbit kicked the empty wine bottle next to him: "'Hamel' has a lot of secrets on her, I know she won't stay long, but I didn't expect her to leave so soon......"

The black-haired boy shook his head vigorously, cleared his throat again, and felt better before speaking: "We have told you several times, but you don't listen, and always pesters her." ”

"She's really kind, and I really like the tunes she plays, like magic, soothing." The rabbit gestured with his hand to play a harmonica.

The black-haired boy laughed dismissively, "Hahaha...... Ahem, do you still want her to take you away? This really doesn't look like you. ”

The rabbit raised his leg and kicked lightly behind the black-haired boy: "I'm not that stupid! ”

But what the rabbit didn't expect was that the black-haired boy fell directly under this foot, and the rabbit was stunned for a moment, then jumped up from the broken wooden board in a panic and rushed to the black-haired boy's side to help him up.

"Wait! What happened to you!? Jayne! Don't scare me! ”

The black-haired boy coughed violently, his face flushed rapidly, and the instinct to pant seemed to make him feel so painful that he couldn't say a word at all, but he pushed the rabbit's arm weakly, and coughed more and more violently.

The rabbit became even more anxious, and he tried to lift the brunette boy up from the ground, but his friend let out a sudden retch, and the carved flying spit was stained with blood.

The rabbit finally heard the faint words that were making a sound between the coughing of his friend's mouth:

"Run...... Ahem, ahem! Run......"

The rabbit looked up in horror.

Above them, the gloomy sky was stained with yellow and black, like a cobweb that stretched out, wantonly hunting the lives of its inhabitants.

(End of chapter)