"How are you doing these days?" Anderson asked aloud as he moved his steps slightly, getting closer to the man holding the lantern.
"It's good," the guy perhaps named "Akers" replied with a smile, "life here is much more comfortable than at sea."
"I thought you wouldn't adapt to an easy life," Anderson said with a slightly weird look on his face, "You're not that guy from Okfa... oh——"
Anderson screamed in an exaggerated manner, covering the flesh on his lower ribs.
"You two are still like this." The man holding the lantern laughed and sighed.
Okfa ignored Anderson and just looked at the man holding the lantern with a slight smile on the surface.
"At least here you won't walk into a room and see a row of 'respectable' people sitting in old-fashioned chairs and whispering," the man holding a lantern answered Anderson's question seriously, "so I don't need to worry about anyone. The 'cool deeds' I committed tortured me..."
"Hey, which adventurer on the sea is not an unforgivable villain? I thought you had admitted this a long time ago!" Anderson said loudly in surprise.
"...At least it's really comfortable here...and I'm already old..." The man holding the lantern was silent for a moment after Anderson's words, and then said as if sighing, "...It's like a beautiful dream..."
Like a sweet dream... Agnes walked slowly behind them, chewing the man's words in her heart.
"Here we are." The man holding the lantern said suddenly, and Agnes looked up following his gaze.
This is the scene from Anderson's first drawing, an ancient city gate in the style of the late Quaternary Period. There is a watchtower with a spire on one side, and a roofless gate tower with only a lookout opening on the other side. In the dark night, only the faint traces of shadows on the city wall can be seen, with an obvious smell of decay.
"What's the name of this door?" Edwina asked aloud.
"What's the special name?" The man holding the lantern chuckled, "This is just an ordinary city gate."
Agnes held the wide-brimmed hat on her head with one hand, raised her head and looked up. Fragments of black appeared in her eyes, and the shadowy fire appeared in front of her eyes. The sharp spear pierced the thin but strong body, The scarlet blood slowly flowed down the dark gray city wall and was absorbed silently.
"I won't go in," the man holding the lantern looked up at the city gate for a long time and said loudly, "I can't leave the port too far tonight."
"Of course," Agnes said, reaching out and pushing the door open casually, "This is your responsibility."
The ethereal and non-stop orchestral music mixed with the pure and impurity-free singing came to Agnes's ears along the night wind at the next moment, and Agnes subconsciously cast her eyes in that direction.
"Did you hear that?" Agnes asked.
"I heard it too." Edwina nodded seriously.
Anderson and Okefa looked at each other and nodded at the same time.
"So are we." They both said almost at the same time.
Spasnerecki nodded when several people looked at him, without speaking, his expression looked a little ugly.
Agnes knew the reason for his change in expression. After all, hearing singing in the opera house was identified as a high-risk factor during the analysis not long ago.
"The sound of nature," said a voice next to me, "is like the hymn of angels, isn't it?"
Agnes turned her gaze to the source of the sound. It was a young man with gray hair, wearing a black and white dress and holding a red oak cane. He looked like a common man about to attend a banquet in the Northern Continent. gentleman.
"Long time no see, dear Okefa..." The young man showed an elegant smile most common in the upper class when several people turned their eyes to him, "And... I should go Anderson who feeds the sharks.”
Anderson was stunned for a moment, then an exaggerated smile appeared on his face.
"Dimmesdale, I've seen many people dressed like you..." Anderson's smile looked a bit unbeatable, especially when paired with his thoughtful movements.
"I remembered!" He suddenly clapped his hands, his expression suddenly clear, "At a banquet held by a count in Intis, this count especially liked to see young men dressed like this. After every banquet, at least one of them would get his investment. !”
What does he mean... Agnes couldn't help but glance at Anderson with a strange expression.
"At least you are the one who has been to this Earl's banquet now, Anderson," the smile on the face of the young man named "Dimmesdale" froze for a moment, and then he said, "And now I have gained wealth and wealth through my own efforts. respect."
He didn't wait for Anderson to speak again, and looked in the direction of the source of the music.
"This is the song of Ariadne Humbert," the young man introduced somewhat casually, but his expression was clearly and completely immersed in the ethereal song, with a strange excitement and obsession, " The most famous castrato in Navarre, I heard that he is the count’s lover.”
Castrati, Agnes has seen these people in historical documents. The time when they first appeared has been unable to be verified due to the loss of a large amount of data from the Age of Gods, but it is indeed seen in a small number of unearthed Quaternary historical documents. arrived at their presence. But their disappearance is certain - this is the credit of Emperor Russell.
Humans are capable of doing cruel things to their desires, whether it's more instinctive or seemingly for some noble purpose.
Young boys' voices are loud and clear, like the sound of nature, but when they reach the developmental stage, their voices will quickly deepen, and most of the time they will not be able to fill even the most common female roles. If these boys are castrated before they reach the age of development, they will have a wider vocal range than women. Coupled with extraordinary lung capacity, their singing voices are "unlike any woman, so clear and crisp." "Powerful and sweet", just as Teacher Conti once lamented to Agnes, these people are the sorrow of human history, but they are the treasures of music development.
"You are lucky," said the young man. "Tonight there is a celebration in the city of Navarre. Ariadne will sing his opera for the celebration at the Phoenix Opera House, and the count and countess will also appear there tonight. , to make a speech aimed at every citizen.”
A carriage that may belong to a nobleman passed by, its horse hooves making a clattering sound on the bluestone road, and it quickly passed by the poor people in ragged clothes squeezing together on both sides of the street.
Agnes turned her head and looked back. She didn't know when the ancient city gate was far away, almost disappearing into the gloomy night amid the bright lights and floating fragrance.
