January 2, 1350.
Two days after the New Year, Hastur took Ariella out for a stroll again. They saw many novel things, especially a beast-taming performance from the Southern Continent. It was quite interesting, particularly when watching it together with Ariella.
Originally, Hastur planned to rest at home today. But Audrey sent him an invitation, saying that Earl Hall had agreed to let her visit the Dockyard, and that he should fulfill his promise to act as her guide.
To prevent any accidents, Hastur untied a paper crane from the window and placed it inside his inner coat pocket before heading out.
In Backlund, under Will's watchful gaze, nothing usually happened.
More than ten minutes later, Hastur arrived at the agreed meeting place with Audrey.
Soon, Audrey's carriage appeared in his sight. Hastur boarded it. Inside, there were only Audrey and Susie.
"Mr. Hastur, I'll trouble you to show me around the Dockyard today."
Audrey seemed to be in a very good mood. The smile on her face was not the formalized one from her coming-of-age ceremony.
"It's my honor." Hastur exchanged pleasantries, then looked at Susie and asked, "Susie, did you receive the New Year's gift I sent you?"
"Woof!" Susie barked once, then looked at Audrey and let out a sound that seemed almost mournful.
It meant that she had seen the delivered gift, but Audrey had intercepted it.
Audrey's cheeks grew slightly warm. "Mr. Hastur, Susie is just a dog. She really can't understand the works of Emperor Roselle."
"I understand." Hastur did not continue the topic. Susie could only lie at Audrey's feet, seemingly sulking.
The carriage drove along the main road, passing through Hillston Borough and Cherwood Borough, arriving at a Bridge.
Hastur had the carriage stop and led Audrey out to admire the scenery on both sides of the bridge.
"For the next stretch, it's better if we walk."
"Today you are the guide, Mr. Hastur. I'll follow any arrangement."
Audrey did not particularly enjoy sitting in the carriage all the time. Walking along the Bridge like this made her even happier. Even Susie shook herself and seemed much more spirited.
The two and one dog walked towards the Dockyard. It had only been three days since the New Year. Some ships sailing in the distance still had red ribbons wrapped around their masts, leaving traces of the festive atmosphere.
There were quite a few pedestrians on the road, especially many young couples strolling arm in arm along the bridge to admire the scenery.
Audrey's beauty drew many gazes. Some couples nearly ended up quarreling because of it.
But the closer they got to the Dockyard, the fewer couples remained on the road. People consciously turned away, having no intention of entering the Dockyard.
One young man even ran up to Audrey and told her that the Dockyard might still have remnants of the plague's influence and that she should not enter casually. Audrey politely declined his kindness and followed Hastur into the Dockyard.
The hellish scene she had imagined did not assault her senses. What entered her sight were silent workers laboring. Whenever ships docked, they stepped forward to move goods into warehouses or directly onto carts to be transported elsewhere.
Audrey blinked, feeling that nothing here seemed particularly wrong.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "Didn't the Kingdom advocate that workers should have seven days of holiday during the New Year?"
Hastur stopped and looked at the hardworking laborers with emotion. "Laws are ultimately dead things. They cannot truly benefit everyone. If they can get one or two days off during the New Year, that's already quite good."
"Why is that?"
"There are many ways to make workers give up their New Year holidays and come to work. As long as factory managers declare that those who don't come won't need to come next year either, or they directly increase wages during the New Year to three or four times the usual rate, many workers will willingly give up their holidays to return to work."
Thus, Audrey asked questions while following Hastur deeper into the Dockyard.
After passing the bustling docks, they were met with a vast silence.
There were few people moving on the streets, like a dying old man who had lost too much vitality.
The shops on both sides had begun to open, but about a third of them were still tightly shut.
When the shop owners saw Audrey and Hastur, they called out to promote their goods. Seeing that the two had no desire to purchase anything, their voices gradually faded.
Passing through the not-so-lively streets, they arrived at the residential area of the Dockyard, where most of its residents lived.
There were no corpses lying across the roads here. Yet almost every household had someone crying in grief, as well as bodies wrapped in straw mats that had not yet been cremated.
Before even going deeper, Audrey's body trembled slightly and she stopped. She did not need to look to know that the surroundings here was filled with sorrow and despair.
Mr. Fool had said that the Dockyard was the best breeding ground for the birth of an evil god.
Reality indeed seemed that way. In a place filled with such negative emotions, it was precisely the paradise evil gods longed for.
Suppressing the shock to her spirit, Audrey followed Hastur deeper into the residential area.
She saw a four- or five-year-old child leaning by a doorway. At an age when he should have been laughing and playing, his face instead bore the silence and loneliness of an old man, devoid of vitality.
She saw a family of five living inside a self-built, dilapidated shack. Three of them lay on a single bed, afflicted by disease and beyond cure. Only two children, around ten years old, busied themselves caring for them.
She also saw a lady who wanted to greet her with a smile, but in the end could only force out a bitter smile before suddenly bursting into tears and hurriedly running away.
...
Along the way, she saw many things. Her anticipation for this trip to the Dockyard gradually turned into silence.
When she witnessed such suffering occurring on the land of Backlund, her heart felt unbearably stifled, as if crushed by a heavy weight, making it difficult to breathe.
Subconsciously, she reached out and grabbed the corner of Hastur's coat. Hastur silently extended his arm, signaling that she could place her hand on it and borrow some of his strength.
Hastur chose a relatively short path, leading Audrey through the residential area back to the outer streets.
The truly hellish scenes lay even deeper within. Those who at least had houses to live in were already living so miserably. What of those who had no houses as shelter and no savings on their bodies? How wretched must their lives be?
This could be imagined. But for Audrey, what she had seen was already enough.
Why had Earl Hall agreed to let Audrey come to the Dockyard? He should have known the situation here.
Was it to let Audrey witness the real world after adulthood? So this time, Earl Hall did not let her personal maid follow her, but only allowed himself to be responsible for protecting her?
Earl Hall truly trusted him.
After a long silence, Audrey stopped, slightly raised her head to look at Hastur, and said in a trembling voice, "Mr. Hastur, I…"
"Innocence and naivety have never been faults. They are a kind of blessing. You don't need to feel guilty."
"But…"
"There aren't so many 'buts' in life. You are Audrey Hall, daughter of Earl Hall, the Pearl of Backlund, and also a kind and gentle Miss Audrey."
Hastur interrupted her repeatedly, because the tragic state of the Dockyard was not something Audrey needed to bear.
This was the crime committed by the Sequence 4 Despair, and also the result of the Loen Kingdom failing to remedy the situation in time.
"Mr. Hastur, thank you for your encouragement." Audrey forced a faint smile onto her face.
"Shall we head back?"
"I still want to see more. Mr. Hastur, would you be willing to accompany me?"
Hastur did not answer. Instead, he extended his right arm again. Audrey naturally placed her hand on it.
...
By the time they left the Dockyard, it was close to dusk. The remaining light of the sun was gradually being swallowed by the horizon of the sea.
The shimmering water surface ushered in its most beautiful moment.
Hastur and Audrey walked back along the Bridge they had entered. The usually silent Audrey, upon seeing the beautiful scenery of the distant sea, felt her heavy mood ease slightly. Even Susie cooperated by barking twice.
"How beautiful."
Audrey sincerely exclaimed. The evening breeze brushed against her, stirring her hair. Bathed in the glow of the sunset, she was as beautiful as a painting.
The gazes of several young men not far away were completely captivated, until they were slapped or kicked by their female companions before hurriedly averting their eyes and offering guilty explanations.
"It's time to go back… Susie, let's go."
Audrey led Susie toward the carriage. As they neared it, Hastur suddenly grabbed Audrey's wrist first, his gaze fixed on the coachman sitting on Earl Hall's carriage.
"Mr. Hastur, what's wrong?" Audrey also sensed something amiss.
"Woof!" Susie directly barked at the coachman.
Realizing that he had been exposed, the fake coachman tried to drive the carriage away.
Just as he turned the carriage around, Hastur had already caught up. Grabbing the base of the carriage with both hands, he exerted force to the right.
He actually overturned both the carriage and the horse pulling it. Such was the strength of a Barbarian.
Seeing the carriage topple, the coachman hurriedly scrambled up from the ground and tried to flee.
He was not fast. Soon, Hastur kicked him in the back, sending him sprawling forward.
When he tried to get up again, his neck was already pinned under Hastur's right foot.
Under the strength of a Barbarian, he could not rise at all, only slightly turn his head.
"Who sent you?"
"Heh, Baron Hastur Campbell, we've already noticed you. You are a Follower of the stars!"
"How come I didn't know that myself?"
As the words fell, Hastur exerted force with his foot and directly snapped his neck.
Leaving someone alive was for others. For him, as long as this person appeared in his sight, he could trace everything about him through fate and find the organization behind him.