After listening to High Priest
Then, he half-closed his eyes as though sensing something, which made the
After four or five seconds, Klein extended his right hand and slowly grasped at the air before him.
A stone altar materialized from the void into reality, bearing three candles made of tallow and seven or eight kinds of spiritual materials.
Nim, a Sequence 4 demigod, stared in disbelief, seemingly unable to trust his own eyes.
He had previously seen Gehrman. Sparrow produce a cane and heal his companions, and had merely assumed the other party possessed spatial abilities or had received the favor of that "Mr. Fool"—but now, his judgment was completely overturned, because that altar, those candles, and those spiritual materials were all extremely familiar to him.
They were things he had used before!
He can actually produce the things I've used? Is this power that originates from history, from time itself? Nim recalled the remaining fragments of Moon City's texts and, combined with his own understanding of demigods, formed a preliminary hypothesis.
At that moment, Klein turned his head and looked at the High Priest, saying:
"You may begin."
Nim quietly drew a breath. Under the watchful eyes of Adar, Xin, Rus, and the others, he walked step by step up to the altar and erected a wall of spirituality.
After glancing at the symbols, sigils, and inscriptions engraved upon the altar and confirming that everything was in order, he began performing the ritual with extraordinary proficiency, following the procedure that had long been committed to memory.
At the final stage, he lowered his head and intoned in a low voice:
"Eternal and unchanging Mist;
"Barrier that solidifies time and space;
"Existence that encompasses all…"
Before the prayer had even finished, Klein had already directed his attention toward that expanse of ashen-grey fog, hoping to hear a voice emanating from its depths.
To that end, he dispersed the numerous monster puppets he was secretly controlling as they moved through the surrounding darkness, positioning one at regular intervals so as not to miss any suspicious trace.
But even when the ritual was complete, he had detected nothing out of the ordinary.
After waiting a while longer, Klein finally turned his gaze to Moon City's High Priest Nim and said flatly:
"Once more."
…………
After receiving permission, Audrey pushed open the door and stepped inside. Her father,
"Oh, darling, you don't look well?" Earl Hall cast his gaze toward the door.
Audrey didn't rely on acting this time—she forced a genuine, weary smile and said:
"The Poor Relief Fund has a serious shortfall in food supplies. I wanted to raise more donations, so I visited many nobles today, but they all told me they had no surplus grain to offer, even for payment in gold pounds."
As she spoke, those nobles had been sitting in their drawing rooms or in areas set aside for afternoon tea, with high-quality black tea and an array of exquisite pastries spread before them, occasionally asking Audrey to comment on the skill of their household pastry chef.
Their servants had rosy complexions and light footsteps, making almost no sound so as not to disturb their honored guest.
"With things as they are right now..." Earl Hall sighed upon hearing her words.
Audrey considered for a moment, then said earnestly:
"Father, I recall that we should still have quite a lot of food in the household. Could I buy some of it?"
"Audrey, you've already done far too much. There's no need to go further."
Earl Hall's expression, which had eased somewhat upon his daughter's arrival, slowly turned serious again:
"Audrey, the prerequisite of charity is that it doesn't affect the lives of yourself and your family. That is a principle I hope you will keep firmly in mind."
Audrey, dressed in a gown of gold and white, let her brows knit slightly before smoothing them out again. She said sincerely:
"Father, the food stockpiled in the house is enough for everyone in this residence to eat for an entire year, perhaps even longer. Besides, East Chester County still has plenty of grain as well."
Because Winter County had not yet fully fallen, the Fasac forces that had invaded through the Inner Sea region had not attacked East Chester County. Meanwhile, the Fasac, Intis, and Feynapotter fleets at sea were suppressed by several of Loen's ironclad squadrons, barely managing to hold their own and protect their maritime supply lines.
Earl Hall gazed at his daughter's emerald-green, jewel-like eyes for several seconds, then suddenly sighed with a smile:
"Audrey, you've truly grown up. You have your own ideas and a commendable degree of resolve.
"However, none of us knows how long this war will last or what the final outcome will be. We must set aside a great deal of food to prepare for all contingencies.
"I'm willing to give up two delicious dishes at every meal in order to help those in need, but I don't want our dining table to end up like what the newspapers describe of the middle class. That would cause us to lose entirely the dignity befitting our station as nobles—something every generation of our family has upheld.
"Do you understand what I'm saying? What I gave just now was a metaphor. The essence of the matter is that I place greater importance on the survival and future of our family, on our identity and status. Only when those are not jeopardised do I display my compassion and kindness.
"Audrey, what I'm saying may sound harsh, but you've grown up, and it's time you heard it. Everyone is selfish—it's merely a matter of degree. In my heart, the importance of the entire Hall family outweighs your mother and me, outweighs you, outweighs Hibbert and Alfred. Beyond that come faith and close friends, then acquaintances, and last of all, the people scattered throughout all of Backlund who need relief."