Embers of Embers

Chapter 601 The Woman and the Desperado
As an ordinary person, Seleu was unable to join the dispute with the demons. When she became the Duke of Stuart, a new world slowly opened. The demons were far from the real enemy, and her identity as a duke was useless at this time. After getting up, she is still not qualified to participate in this decision.
Seleu needs to become stronger. She cannot inject secret blood into her body, and unlike Shrike and the others, she can easily control the Original Sin Armor. Not to mention that because of her original identity as a duke, she cannot participate in frontline battles like this.
She worried about this for a while, and it seemed that all she could do was wait and see the war begin, and stay at home and pray silently.
Until this day, she became a nation-builder.
This feeling is very good. With power and power in her hands, Seliu doesn't know yet what she will have to pay, but what she has now makes her feel that it is worth it.
"You just let him go like this? Don't you think about letting him stay a little longer?"
Oscar came over and leaned against the window with Seliu. Following her line of sight, he could see the figure staggering on the street.
"I really envy this guy. You became the builder of the country for him? You really don't know the blessings in the blessings."
Oscar's tone was sour. It's not like he never thought about using his talents to attract rich women when he was young. It's a pity that most rich women are only willing to maintain a relationship with him as friends.
"Is it because I'm not good-looking? I was much more handsome than him when I was young."
Seliu was too lazy to pay attention to this guy Oscar, and let this guy talk endlessly.
"However, Holmes, who is so witty, why does he appear to be stupid on this point?" Oscar said in confusion.
Seleu glanced at him and left the window, "Do you think Lorenzo is a very stupid person?"
"No."
"Then is he a smart man?" Seliu asked again.
"He is very smart, to be precise, he is a little crazy smart. He always comes up with some weird plans."
Oscar thought of the storm that hit Old Dunling. Such a big airship crashed, and all the sins were buried in the sea of ​​fire.
"Then do you think he won't be aware of this?" Seliu asked.
"You...you mean he's pretending to be stupid on purpose?" Oscar slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "This bastard already knew what was going on?"
After this analysis, Oscar felt like something exploded in his mind. Looking at Lorenzo's stupid actions at this moment, all he felt in his heart was admiration.
This estrangement, the mutual pull between relationships... Compared with Lorenzo, Oscar just felt that his life was in vain.
"Lorenzo is truly a genius."
This time, Oscar was convinced that pulling rich wives was a thing of knowledge, but it was a pity that he didn't understand this until it took so long.
Seliu looked at Oscar with a confused look on his face. Oscar slapped his thigh and started talking to himself. He didn't know what he was thinking, and then he suddenly said something.
She had heard about the quirks of some creators, but seeing Oscar like this with her own eyes, she couldn't help but sigh.
You... all those who write books are like this?
"Nothing, nothing, I just suddenly felt that I had never seen Lorenzo clearly before," Oscar said in surprise, "He is indeed a master."
Seliu didn't understand what he was praising, but her intuition told her that it wasn't a good thing.
"Can I understand his... indifference?"
Seliu walked aside and flipped through the documents brought by the old housekeeper. As a duke, she had a lot of matters to deal with every day, although most of them just required signatures.
"Think about it, Oscar, if you were a desperado, what would you do?"
Seleu continued the conversation from the previous topic.
"I don't know, I'm not a desperado, but if I were to write it, I would probably be constantly trying to survive and use all means to keep myself alive?" Oscar answered.
"So, as a desperate outlaw, will you choose to fall in love at the end of your life?" Seliu asked again.
"Of course, the carnival before death is so romantic!" Oscar has already fallen into anticipation, "I think I will die in the arms of my woman."
"Well, it's very poetic. It's a good ending to a story, but what happens next?"
Seliu flipped through the pages busily, lowering his head and not looking at Oscar.
"After?" Oscar thought for a moment, "The story is over, what's next?"
"Yes, of course there is no future for you. After all, you are dead," Seliu whispered, "but women are different."
“Her lover had just died in her arms, covered in blood, her enemies were nowhere to be found, and the laughter echoed endlessly.
Under the sunset, the desperado's story ended, and all the blood debts were repaid at the moment of his death, but the woman's story has just begun, isn't it? "
The joy in Oscar's heart disappeared. He looked at Seliu who was looking down at the pages. He didn't know what to say for a while. The silence lasted for a while, and Seliu asked again.
"Do you think a woman's story will be a beautiful story?"
Oscar thought for a moment and shook his head. He wasn't sure whether Seliu saw his response or not, he just heard Seliu say.
"So, Oscar, if I give you a chance to change, a chance to change everything, will you still choose to fall in love?"
This was a slightly poetic and romantic death, but it became cruel under Seliu's words. Suddenly Oscar felt that the desperado was so irresponsible, like a damn selfish ghost.
Without any hesitation, Oscar firmly rejected it.
"No, I will stay far away. It's best not to have anything to do with anyone. If possible... it would be nice to die alone in the wilderness."
After he finished speaking, as if he had realized something, Oscar froze in place for a long time.
"Oscar, a long time ago, I thought I was a mediocre person, but then I met other people, which made me realize that mediocrity is not a nature, but a self-choice."
Seleu babbled as she thought of another friend.
Sometimes Seleu envied Eve. She made her own choice and escaped from Arthur's birdcage. She was obviously a woman, but she was braver than the men. She rose and fell with a folding knife and killed monsters ferociously.
Seliu also wanted to make that choice, but her reason told her another answer.
"Everyone has their own suitable position. For example, you are only suitable for writing books, not killing monsters with Lorenzo."
"The same is true for me. I'm not suitable for going to the battlefield and colliding with monsters. Instead, I will drag others down...but that doesn't mean I'm powerless against anything.
Although I am a woman, I still have the ability to hold a sword. Even if I can't swing it, I can still thrust out a dagger. "
Seliu put down her pen, stretched herself, and took a break.
"Now let's switch roles. If you were that woman, what would you do now? Oscar, you are a writer, let your imagination run wild."
Seleu's body exudes an awe-inspiring sternness. It seems that she has begun to get used to her status as a country builder, and she can speak with confidence when calling people.
"I... I have a hard time imagining what it would be like to be a woman."
Oscar gave an inexplicable answer.
Seleu sighed helplessly. Oscar, like Lorenzo, would always say bad things when it came to serious issues to break the serious atmosphere.
"Then what will you do?" Oscar asked.
"It's very simple. I'm not as strong as the desperadoes, so I have to find other ways, such as running for mayor of the town, opening all weapons and medical treatment to the desperadoes, and giving him whatever he needs, until the enemy is defeated Kill them all."
Seleu clasped his hands together in front of him and said to Oscar with a smile.
"Without prey, a hunter is no longer a hunter; without enemies, there is no need for a desperado to continue his desperate journey."
……
"What do you think about Duke Stuart joining the Nation Builders?"
In the dark depths of the underground, Arthur asked Merlin beside him.
The existence of the Nation Builder has gradually spread among the high-level officials of the Purification Agency. Everyone first lamented that before the Nation Builder appeared, they all thought that the Purification Agency was the highest secret agency in the country, but in any case there was no such thing. I thought that there was an even bigger net covering all the countries.
That is the real center of power, the table that determines the direction of this huge community of destiny.
But now a new star has come to this table. She is so young, and no one knows how her arrival will change everything.
"On the sidelines, what else can I say?" Merlin was too lazy to pay attention to the changes among the top management. "As long as she is willing to provide research funds for the eternal pump, I will welcome the arrival of the newcomer."
"Then I guess you will like her very much. The Stuart family has started a series of negotiations with the purification agency. They don't have much ability, but they only have a lot of money and their business has gone to the Viking countries. In the days to come, you, the Ever-Moving Pump, will be extremely wealthy.”
Arthur picked up the file and looked through it briefly.
When Merlin heard this, he snatched the document away, his numb face showing a rare twitch.
"Where are the demands? If you are so generous, you must have a bunch of messy demands, right?"
Merlin was not overcome by ecstasy, but asked very calmly.
As a scientific researcher, he is very aware of the annoying aspects of these funders. These guys always think that they have the right to interfere in their research because they pay for it.
"There is no requirement. The Stuart family said that this will be a long-term investment. They don't care about the income issue in the short term, but if they have any requirements..."
Arthur leaned to the observation window and pointed at an iron box that was being dragged into the Perpetual Pump by a guide rail.
"Duke Stuart has a more personal request. She needs you to repair that thing. It's best to add something to make it stronger. If possible, she suggests melting holy silver into it and reconstructing it. Its armor and skeleton, as well as the development of all holy silver weapons, are given priority to be supplied to this thing, even experimental weapons."
He thought for a moment, then continued to Merlin.
"Rounding is considered experimental research, and I don't think it conflicts with your research direction."
"Indeed, the friendliness of this new financial owner is simply surprising." Merlin found it a bit unbelievable that even Queen Victoria would make some troublesome requests to them. He didn't expect that she would be like this, "But it's really like this. Really? There won’t be any additional conditions in the future, right?"
"Don't think about the future, old friend, we don't even have a future without solving these problems, let alone troubles from the future."
Arthur looked at the slowly falling iron box. He was not in a good mood, "What do you think of Lorenzo's plan?"
"Not bad. Rather than using sharp weapons, what we have to do is to ensure that more people can survive. The construction of the mechanical yard has begun. We will build the old Dunling into a fortress. Once it fails, I hope someone will be here. Survive disaster.”
Merlin let out a long sigh. There was no expression on his stiff face, and there would be no expression at all. His empty eyes stared at the iron box with Arthur.
"I just hate making such a decision. Before the war starts, I start thinking about what will happen after the defeat."
"The reality is cruel, we need such a plan." Arthur said.
"I know, Lorenzo also knows, so he came up with such a plan... I guess he is not very happy either."
The iron box fell to the ground, and the technicians surrounded it, dismantling and assembling the outer iron plates, trying to reveal the contents inside.
Merlin was observing this unknown gift. He didn't look at the documents Arthur brought very carefully, and was a little curious about what the Duke of Stuart had sent.
"Wait a minute, is this thing from the Perpetual Pump?"
Merlin noticed the number on the iron box.
"Yeah." Arthur said.
While the two were talking, a piercing alarm sounded, and the Geiger counter made a sharp chirp. The technicians retreated immediately, but it was too late.
The iron box has been opened, and the heavy iron plate has been smashed down hard. You can see silver-white metal between the layers. This is an iron box wrapped in holy silver.
All the iron plates erected around him collapsed, like an opened gift box, revealing the contents of the iron box. Amidst the flying dust, a rugged and ferocious figure appeared under the light.
"She asked me to repair this thing?"
Merlin looked at the ominous figure, feeling surprised.
"That's right, the first generation of original sin armor, code-named Black Angel, was almost completely destroyed during the operation of Lonely Sea."
Arthur also looked at the standing Black Angel. At this moment, most of its outer iron feathers had fallen off, and the remaining ones had been broken. The armor was pitted, and the skeleton was burnt gray and black, and it was still bent.
These are not fatal factors. What is really fatal is the completely out-of-control demon flesh and blood. In order to deal with the armor, the flesh and blood attached to it was completely removed, leaving only the remains of metal.
"So what if it's repaired? Who can control it?"
Merlin muttered to himself, but as soon as he finished speaking, the candidate appeared in his mind, and then he looked at Arthur.
Arthur guessed what Merlin was thinking, and he nodded accordingly.
"Yes, after Duke Stuart became the founder of the country, this is what I worried about."
There was a faint sound of ridicule in the ears, coming from Lorenzo's wild smile.
(End of this chapter)