This was the first time the Wraith had seen Carlil's wrath.

He stood in the darkness, uneasy at the scene in front of him. Not because of the killing that was about to be born, but because of Carlil's mood.

"How many?"

Carlil asked aggressively, his tone cold like never before. It barely sounded like Carlil Lohals anymore, but someone else.

A stranger.

He pinched the neck of a man in a blood-stained apron and lifted him to his feet. The latter's left hand, which began to disappear from the elbow part, was constantly dripping blood.

A shudder was spreading across this face.

This person's fear is the same as that of everyone else. The ghost could tell it from his face, but he couldn't see Carlil's face. He didn't know how Carlil was feeling right now.

After all, Carlil had his back to him.

He stood under the light source in the basement of the butcher's shop, covered in blood.

"A hundred... Twenty... Three......" The man replied angrily.

"One hundred and twenty-three? How much did it cost? ”

“......”

He can't answer you, Carlil. The ghost thought. You're going to strangle him to death.

Carlil let go of his hand in the next second, sending the man to the ground.

"No money, my lord, no money!"

The man who was about to be strangled said on his knees, his voice shattered and full of fear, but still no match for the miner named Hakan.

The ghost didn't want to remember his face, but that face and the voice had been in front of the ghost since they left.

"So, it's an exchange – you're going to send them half of it when you're done with the work, isn't it?" Carlil asked calmly.

"Yes, yes, it has been sent! My lord, which gang are you from? Balil? Eternal night, my lord, take whatever you like! Don't kill me, please! ”

Carlil smiled.

He lifted the man and pressed his head to the only table in the butcher's basement. The table was made of iron, and its surface had an eerie dark red rust.

Carlil pressed him, then broke his collarbone.

Sharp screams were accompanied by tears and snot. The ghost watched all this silently, and in a trance of just half a second, he glimpsed Carlil's true emotions at the moment.

Carlil was smiling – but the real Kalil, the man behind the smile......

He was furious. The ghost thought.

"I don't want anything." Carlil said. "Listen, remember my words - I don't want anything, you understand?"

"Understood! Got it! ”

"Good." Carlil said calmly, then twisted the man's neck. He fell limply at Carlil's feet, no more sound.

"One hundred and twenty-three."

A voice rang out in the basement.

It passed through iron tables, butcher knives, a dozen or so slimy buckets for storing entrails, and a few long objects wrapped in black cloth bags that hung from the ceiling—and finally, it reached the darkness.

It reached the wraith's ear.

One hundred and twenty-three.

He listened silently, and was ready to know what Carlil would say next.

"I'm sorry." Carlil said. "I'm out of control, I'm sorry, Ghost."

“...... Why do you always have to apologize? ”

"Because I made a mistake."

"But—"

"—because that's not what I'm supposed to do, Spirit."

Standing still, Carlil said. "I told you that you shouldn't mix personal emotions at work, and I'm taking the lead in violating that now."

He paused for a few seconds, then spoke.

"All the while, I've been telling you what's right and what's wrong. I didn't realize it was condescending, and I'm only realizing it now. That's the second thing I want to apologize for. ”

The ghost came out of the darkness, he wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to interrupt.

Compelled to listen, he continued to listen.

"And ...... And this thing. Carlil said in a deep voice. I found that I couldn't resist the urge to do it, and that was the third thing I wanted to apologize for. ”

"Of course, I actually have to apologize to them. I was once driven to a path of self-destruction by a supposedly high morality, in which I forgot a lot of things. These people deserve a better ending, and their deaths will be counted on my head. ”

“...... You've been a miner before, how long have you been there, Carlil? The ghost asked dryly.

"Three years." Carlil replied calmly. "At that time, I wasn't on that path. I wanted to see if I could light a fire, so I went among them. ”

"I didn't find the soil where the fire burned. They are already numb, like ice cubes, and they only think about melting or continuing to freeze, and never want to burn. In fact, a sane person should not try to make the ice burn. ”

“...... So, do you know them? ”

"Yes, I've been in that pit for three years, and I'll go back every now and then after I'm gone. That's how I met you. ”

Carlil turned his head, and there was a complex presence on his pale face that the ghost could not comprehend at all.

"Don't be like me." He whispered. "Don't just chase the fire and forget what's in front of you."

“...... I don't understand. ”

The ghost said confusedly. "I really don't understand, Carlile. You... Your countdown is gone, and you say that the flame has been lit, and you say that the solution will gradually emerge on its own...... But you're ...... now."

But why are you still so sad now?

"Is it because I want a knife?"

He lowered his head, then raised it again, and asked cautiously, "I don't want it, is it okay?" ”

Carlil stared at him calmly.

He didn't answer, he didn't react, he just stared. Then, he said, "No, it's not about your knife. ”

He laughed, and the ghost's eyes widened slowly, realizing that the familiar Karil was back.

"Okay." He laughs. "Well, alas, the ghost."

He sighed.

"Thank you." Carlil said sincerely. "Thank you."

-----------------

The death of a butcher shop owner is nothing in Quintus. In Xiachao, people die every day, so why can't he be a butcher shopkeeper?

Carlil knew they wouldn't care.

The Great Purge is coming. Even if someone wants to care, they will let themselves forget everything at this juncture.

He sighed and sat on the edge of the shelter as usual, eating the ointment. The Wraith went on patrol, much more aggressively than ever. He was already very conscious of doing this on weekdays, but today he was even more enthusiastic.

Carlil knew why, and he had some small pieces of evidence to piece together. Like his loss of control, like Hakan's face, like the look on the ghost's face when he says he doesn't want the knife.

...... He will always remember these things.

But...... What he wanted to know more now was how the other nobles in the upper nest would react?

This is very important, and this point is related to everything that follows.

Grimacing, Carlil swallowed the balm and began to think about something else.

That Prometheus said that he would take the ghost with him, or rather, that he would arrive in Nostramo with Conrad Coetze's brothers.

Carlil didn't know when they would come, but he knew one thing well.

That Prometheus wouldn't be an ordinary person.

The evidence is as follows.

First, his memories, and what he showed to Carlil in his memories.

Second, the power of the ghosts.

A one-and-a-half-year-old baby, capable of tearing apart armored vehicles with a wave of his hand, can easily flicker and move in the dark at a speed that is absolutely imperceptible to ordinary people, and heals itself at an astonishing rate - all visible wounds can be healed.

This is not the definition of a baby, in fact, if Carlil were to throw everything away and have one word for a ghost, he would choose the word 'weapon'.

And that Prometheus called himself the father of the ghost.

What father would make his son a weapon? What kind of father can make his son such a weapon?

...... However, herein lies the problem.

If that Prometheus simply used the ghost as a weapon, why did he put that knowledge in the ghost's brain? And that natural sense of justice, all of which is suspicious.

Again, Prometheus......

Fire Stealers.

Carlil squinted and stopped eating, his thoughts becoming slow and deliberate. He realized that the reaction of the things behind the curtain at the time was not like lying.

It's funny, a fire stealer. A firestealer feared by what is behind the Veil, a firestealer who can talk to me in the air, and even resurrect me and even change me.

Prometheus ...... Fire stealers, gods who rebel against the gods.

God......

Never mind.

There was no point in thinking about it, not knowing when he would come.

Let's focus on what's in front of you, Carlile, like eating your food and going for a trip to the nest...... Then go and observe how the workers who had stopped to look at the corpses of the nobles were doing......

The flame needs to be cared for.

And then, and then......

He sighed slowly.

There is always then.

It's always a habit to plan everything before acting, but the plan never catches up with the change. You were going to put the miners on the other side of the city, but you killed the nest before you could do that......

Now, they're dead, Karil Lohals.

It's your responsibility.

Admit it, you're not one who likes to stick to a plan. You were going to blow up the nest and die, but the ghost changed your mind. You lit the fire, but you don't know how to make it burn louder and brighter......

Carlil smiled wryly and lowered his head.

"Really...... On paper, it is shallow. He muttered to himself.

Plans don't always keep up with change.

With this in mind, he slowly stood up and decided to save the rest of the paste for a few hours later.

It can't be broken anyway.

Five minutes later, he left the shelter and went to the upper nest.

And after eight hours, he had an urge to tattoo the phrase that plans never keep up with change. As for the plate of nutritional paste left behind, he should never have a chance to eat it again.