Embers of Embers

Chapter 692 Compromise [Thanks to the leader of BirdZ]
"Ah... the snow is so heavy."
Lorenzo fell lazily on the sofa, wrapping himself very tightly, like a fat and plump caterpillar.
"It's so big...it's so big..."
The kestrel on the other side also made the same sound. The two sofas occupied both sides of the fireplace, greedily grabbing all the warmth together. Like hibernating bears, the two of them buried themselves in heavy blankets. Showed his head.
Squinting, there was a crackling sound in the fireplace, rising and falling steadily with the two people's breathing.
After heavy rains, Old Dunling ushered in a cold winter. The stagnant water that had not yet been cleaned solidified at low temperatures, forming a world of ice and snow on the streets of Old Dunling, like a city-state made of countless mirrors.
It's beautiful, but it's also terrible.
The smooth road made traffic very inconvenient. Before the aftermath of the heavy rain had been dealt with, another group of people took to the streets, laboriously cleaning the road and breaking the ice one by one.
The men worked in the wind and snow, waving shovels and shoveling the solid ice and snow. The women were busy throwing flammable objects into the fireplace to make the room temperature slightly cooler, while the children lay on their backs. By the window, looking at the rare heavy snow, I look forward to playing with my friends and building beautiful snowmen one after another.
"It would be better if there was some wine."
Kestrel's eyes were blurred, and the fireworks in the fireplace were reflected in them. He leaned very close, looking like he wanted to fall into the flames.
"This kind of material has long been gone."
Lorenzo's response came from the other side. His eyes narrowed, as if he was really asleep.
"Ah...it's a wartime situation after all."
Kestrel muttered.
With the conflict in the White Tide Strait and the heavy damage suffered by the old Dunling, the Platinum Palace announced this news not long ago, and Yin Erweg entered a wartime state.
Every city is in operation, and war machines are roaring, urging everyone's attention.
Old Dunling was directly taken over by the army. In order to survive this difficult winter, a large amount of materials were transferred from other cities to fill the vacancies in Old Dunling, and the homeless people were centralized.
Various large buildings, such as the Memorial Hall and Library, have now become temporary residences to accommodate these people. Everyone is united and hopes to survive this winter.
Sadness lingers on the old Dunling. The continuous heavy snowfall has kept the towering Dunling Tower covered with a layer of white. The same is true for the winding and extending cables. Heavy ice has solidified on them, and they are pressed. Bend, almost collapse...
"I hope Merlin won't die suddenly. He managed to survive the heavy rain, but he died suddenly here. It's ridiculous no matter how you think about it."
Kestrel reached out and touched the low table nearby, only to find half a glass of warm water. He raised his head and drank to lubricate his dry throat.
"Who knows, but he must be very busy right now."
Listening to Kestrel's words, Lorenzo thought about Merlin's current situation and wanted to laugh.
Merlin has been busy these days. This is an opponent that is even more difficult to deal with than the demon. If his will is not firm, Lorenzo even thinks that Merlin will resign directly.
Old Dunling is composed of several huge systems, which are superimposed and blended with each other, making Old Dunling as strong as a fortress. Over the long years in the past, it has indeed been as strong as it was originally designed, but all of this is Roger collapsed under the inhuman strength.
The collapse of one system will have a chain reaction, let alone the collapse of many systems at the same time.
The main body of the Furnace Pillar was not greatly affected, but the steam pipes that spread throughout the city were damaged in different ways. Heavy rain poured into the ground, and heavy snow hit them before they could be emptied. Now the underground world has become A sheet of ice and snow sealed countless corpses in darkness.
Transportation on the surface was also affected by the ice, and the Dunling Tower, which served as the aerial port for war airships, was also greatly damaged during the war. The entire Broken Dome was turned into ruins, and these war airships were unable to fly efficiently in the air. The supplies stayed at the airport in the countryside.
There are too many things like this in the old Dunling. Merlin has to face more troubles every day when he wakes up, not to mention that sometimes, new documents are distributed before Merlin sleeps. come over.
"Is it too late for me to resign now?"
In the desk filled with documents, Merlin asked Nicholas with a dead look on his face.
"Teacher, don't be like this..."
Nicholas smiled apologetically, comforting Merlin who was about to go into a rage.
"However, although this is bad, it may also be an opportunity."
After laughing, Nicholas thought of something and said seriously.
"Opportunity? What opportunity?"
Merlin looked into his student's eyes and could see that Nicholas was serious. He really had some grand and serious thoughts that he was ready to confide in him.
"Reform, comprehensive reform of the old Dunling system."
Nicholas dug through the heavy documents, just like digging Merlin out of a pile of papers. Finally, there was no longer any obstacle between him and Merlin.
“All the old systems are being hit to varying degrees now. Instead of laboriously repairing and maintaining them, why not use their remains to create a brand new one?”
Nicholas was so excited, he said to Merlin.
"Light up the future of the times with thunder."
Merlin did not respond. He fell silent. There was no emotion on his paralyzed face, and his eyes were empty and dark, but under Merlin's head, his thoughts were running rapidly.
"Yeah, what a good opportunity. Everything in the old era is dying. Instead of trying to save it, it's better to use its corpses for new life."
Hearing Merlin's answer, Nikolai's eyes brightened, every inch of his nerves were excited, and even his blood was agitated.
"So……"
"Feel sorry."
Merlin raised his head and interrupted Nicholas.
"Sorry, we can't do that, at least not yet."
"why!"
Nicholas raised his voice, not noticing his gaffe.
"The world is not as simple as we imagine. Too advanced technology will bring disaster."
Merlin didn't get angry, he just spoke calmly.
Nicholas's expression froze. He stared at Merlin blankly. His body froze for a long time before slowly relaxing. He staggered back and sat on a chair on the side.
"Yeah, I'm a little naive."
Nicholas whispered.
"Many things also depend on the times." Merlin said softly.
"So I feel very sad, teacher."
"what happened?"
"I have always felt that there is nothing special about me. Everything I can think of will be thought of by others. So in this long history, how many people like me have had such thoughts and regretted their lives? "
Merlin fell silent. He almost opened his mouth, but finally stopped. Even Merlin himself didn't know what to say. He seemed to be able to only stare at Nikolai's loneliness.
As a scholar, Merlin felt that he should be able to understand Nicholas, not to mention that he was still his student, but his emotions did not fluctuate too much, and this seemed to be the difference between him and Nicholas. With anger in his mouth, Merlin himself did not know when he had already compromised with this world.
"I guess...it's not that bad."
Merlin spoke, breaking the calm.
Nicholas raised his head slightly, with countless bloodshot eyes, he was a member of the Crop Perpetual Pump, and he has been assisting Merlin these days to deal with various diseases of Old Dunling.
"The root of all problems is the unspeakable, which has been hiding in the shadows, watching us."
Merlin felt ridiculous for what he was going to say next, like the crazy words of a mental patient, telling about the impossible future.
"But if...if we could kill it and banish the Unspeakable once and for all, there would be no such restrictions."
Nicholas' expression calmed down and he asked.
"You think we'll banish it outright?"
He shook his head. Although he knew all this not long ago, Nicholas had already felt the terror of this powerful enemy from the short narrative.
"Sounds hopeless."
"Then it's your fault, Nikolai," Merlin said with a smile in his voice, "You have to try, right?"
"What if? What if we really banish it? Then all of our dreams will come true."
A bitter smile slowly broke out on Nicholas' stiff face, he shook his head and asked.
"Then should I pray to Mr. Holmes now, hoping that this guy can really banish it?"
"I think you can bribe him. Praying is useless. He is a pastor himself. He knows very well what God is."
Merlin made strange jokes.
……
"Ah... sneeze!"
Lorenzo sneezed hard, rubbed his nose, and buried himself deeper.
"Have you caught a cold?" Kestrel asked, "Witchers can still catch a cold. I always thought that the word disease had nothing to do with you."
"Who knows."
Lorenzo was too lazy to think about this problem. In the warm environment, people's thoughts became much slower. He was like a melting snowman, gradually spreading out on the floor and then seeping into the ground...
"What about Watson?"
Lorenzo muttered under his breath.
He suddenly realized that he hadn't seen Watson for many days. In the past, she would talk to him when her consciousness flickered, but recently she was too silent.
Lorenzo is not worried about Watson. After the death of Roger and Edron, she is the closest to sublimation. There are few things in this world that can threaten her, except of course Lorenzo. A cunning teacher, Lawrence.
But even so, Lorenzo still felt that Watson could take good care of him. She was very powerful, far stronger than Lorenzo expected, not to mention that she still carried the [Final Echo] on her body.
This is a weapon for killing enemies and a sharp blade for self-destruction.
Watson's power makes many people uneasy, even Lorenzo. He is willing to believe Watson, but she has indeed been sublimated. No one knows whether she will follow the same path as Roger and be eroded and corrupted. .
She also understands this. Fighting against the darkness is destined to be intruded by it, so at the end of formulating the deus ex machina, Watson herself chose to become the sword bearer and let [Final Echo] protect her, and when she It will also save her from darkness when corrupted and corrupted.
in the manner of death.
This sounds cruel, but both Lorenzo and Watson accepted it easily. As demon hunters, they often deal with this kind of thing. In Watson's view, this is just another form of evil. It's just a bolt of silver.
Power needs to be controlled and restrained.
"Probably busy."
The thought came to Lorenzo's mind that Watson had fought for his rest. She replaced Lorenzo, using the [gap] to shuttle, deal with many things, and plan everything next.
Her busyness resulted in Lorenzo's vacation, leaving the guy and the kestrel to rot in the darkness.
Lorenzo thanked Watson for his busyness. Thanks to her, he could finally take a break after a long time. Lorenzo really liked this feeling of wasting time.
There were knocks on the door, Lorenzo turned his head and said to Kestrel.
"Go open the door."
Kestrel shook his head, gripped the blanket a little more, and shrunk himself into a ball.
"Hey! Don't play dead."
Lorenzo shouted a few more times, but Kestrel still didn't respond. After a few seconds of pause, a furry thigh stretched out from between the blankets and kicked Kestrel's sofa over. He felt as if he had been thrown out of his nest. The mouse was lying on the ground in a panic.
"Lorenzo you piece of shit!"
Kestrel cursed angrily and grabbed the blanket, but it was too late. The cold chill penetrated him and made him shiver.
The house was so cold that the water pipes in the kitchen had frozen, and the only warm place was by the fireplace. Letting Kestrel leave here was simply torture for him.
But there was nothing he could do. He had to lower his head under the eaves, not to mention that he couldn't beat Lorenzo. If he pissed him off, maybe this guy could really throw him out.
"Okay, okay! Here we come! Stop knocking!"
The kestrel shouted impatiently, opened the door, and the icy cold wind overflowed in, making the kestrel shiver.
"Ah? It's you, what's wrong?"
Kestrel said.
"Who?"
I remembered Lorenzo’s shout behind me.
"It's me, Mr. Holmes."
The old butler walked directly into the office and shouted to Lorenzo. Hearing this familiar voice, Lorenzo was a little surprised, "Why are you here?"
Asked by Lorenzo, the old housekeeper seemed even more surprised.
"I'll take you to the banquet."
"Huh? Banquet? Today?"
Lorenzo turned over and sat on the sofa, looking confused.
"Have you forgotten? I sent you an invitation."
When the old housekeeper saw Lorenzo like this, he was immediately furious.
"Invitation?"
Lorenzo was even more confused. At this moment, Kestrel put on his slippers and kicked the mailbox outside the door hard, opened the frost-covered iron plate, and took out the frozen letter.
"You mean this?"
Kestrel looked at Lorenzo and then at the old butler. Under the scrutiny of his eyes, he looked weak and helpless.
(End of this chapter)