Time flew by, and the winter sun set early. In a peaceful atmosphere, Tivian welcomed the last night of the year.
As night gradually enveloped the city, the city lights also lit up one by one, the dense lights dispelling the darkness and illuminating every street.
On a street corner somewhere in South Tivian, in a restaurant that was still open even during the festival, Dorothy, dressed in a black cotton coat and skirt and wearing a wool hat, sat at a dining table. On the other side of the table sat Grego, wearing a brown-yellow trench coat, sharing a lavish turkey feast with Dorothy.
"Mmm... This is great... It's been a long time since we celebrated a holiday and ate together. I remember the last time we celebrated together was several years ago at Hannah Aunt's house. At that time, I never would have imagined that one day we would be celebrating the New Year in Tivian." Grego said to Dorothy, taking large bites of a chicken leg. Dorothy, on the other hand, was using a fork to eat small bites of a potato pancake while nodding in response.
"Yes, we haven't celebrated a holiday together since you went to Igwinte to work, Grego. Although the food at Hannah Aunt's house wasn't as good as here, there were many people, and everyone was very happy."
"Haha, of course. Here it's just the two of us, but there were so many people there... It was definitely more lively.
"I recently sent some money to Hannah Aunt's family. If they are willing, they can move to Igwinte to live. If we have time in the future, we can also go back to Igwin County to see them."
As he spoke, Grego finished the chicken leg in his hand. At this moment, Dorothy changed the subject and asked him,
"Speaking of which, Grego, there are a lot of activities in the city tonight for the festival. I see that many places have hired security services to ensure safety. You don't have to work overtime?"
"Ah... that. Yes, our company received quite a few security requests during the festival, but since I just completed a major task and need to rest, I wasn't assigned overtime."
Grego replied like this, and Dorothy, after hearing his reply, couldn't help but silently take a sip of tea and nod.
'Although the current situation is a bit delicate, Grego hasn't been called to perform any tasks, neither from the An Yin Bureau nor the Eight-Pointed Nest. It seems that the previous spy incident has made both sides a bit cautious.'
Dorothy thought to herself. Ever since Misha, based on Dorothy's intelligence, exposed the spy Weihan within the investigation team, she had become cautious about continuing to use the remaining members of the investigation team. And the Eight-Pointed Nest, after Weihan's exposure, in order to protect their informant Yadlin, also temporarily stopped his activities and went silent. So Grego, who had no tasks from either side, unexpectedly became free for a while and had time to have dinner with Dorothy.
'Hmm... Although it's good that Grego isn't working overtime tonight and I can have dinner with him, if he doesn't have tasks, I won't be able to know the movements of the An Yin Bureau. Those natives who were fooled into causing trouble haven't done anything so far. I don't know if they were caught by the An Yin Bureau...'
Dorothy continued to think to herself. What she was worried about now was the matter of some natives coming to Tivian to seek so-called revenge, as Kapak had mentioned. According to Kapak, those guys had set off for Tivian over half a month ago. The time it takes for a regular passenger ship to cross the Starfall Ocean between the Main Continent and the New World is about ten days, so they should have arrived long ago. The fact that there has been no movement yet means they were either caught by the An Yin Bureau or they are preparing for a big one. But since Grego is on holiday, Dorothy lacks information from the An Yin Bureau, so she cannot be sure.
'Before, I had already reminded Misha as a Detective to be aware of similar incidents. I don't know if she listened, but I think she probably did. Not only have the police on the streets increased recently, but even Vanya has been temporarily transferred to the An Yin Bureau to enhance medical resources for emergencies, which proves that the An Yin Bureau is also borrowing personnel from the Church to strengthen security.'
Recalling what Vanya had told her before, Dorothy thought to herself, and at the same time, the worry in her heart slightly eased. With the An Yin Bureau's security forces strengthened, this group of natives should not be able to cause much trouble, of course, this is assuming it's just them. But the actual situation is that there is likely a black hand manipulating them from behind.
With a heavy heart, Dorothy and Grego finished the dinner on the table. Since the party was scheduled to start around 8 o'clock in the evening, they were not in a hurry to go to the venue immediately, but chatted for a while longer in the restaurant before going out.
On the cold street, Dorothy and Grego walked together, quickening their pace towards the nearby square. As they got closer to their destination, the number of people around them increased. Most of them were families of three to five people, including adults, elderly, and children. Many citizens of Tivian chose to go out with their families to watch the party after dinner.
After all, there were no televisions in this era, and various entertainment activities were relatively scarce, so many people chose to go out to watch the party. After all, free public performances like this were quite rare, not to mention that the organizer was the Royal Family's Princess. Everyone was unwilling to miss such a rare opportunity.
Amidst the increasingly dense crowd, Dorothy and Grego finally reached their destination, Bishop Square, the venue of the party. At this time, a considerable number of people had already gathered in this large square. A huge wooden stage was set up on one side of the square, covered with exquisite carpets and various decorations.
In the open space of the square in front of the stage, the crowd was bustling and noisy. With Dorothy's height, she couldn't see the scene on the stage from a distance, only the moving heads. But fortunately, Grego noticed this. He pulled Dorothy and squeezed forward, using the strength of an auxiliary "Cup" Extraordinary to push a path through the crowd and squeeze to a close viewing spot in front of the stage. In front of them was the cordon set up by the guards to prevent spectators from getting too close to the stage.
Just like that, in a relatively good position, Dorothy and Grego began to wait for the party to begin. As time passed, more and more people gathered in the square, and it became more and more crowded. Dorothy felt surrounded by noisy sounds.
Finally, after a long while, music began to play in the square. Behind the stage, a band that had been prepared earlier began to play. The music, composed of countless various instruments, floated over the cold night sky, and the originally noisy crowd gradually quieted down in the sound of the music.
Immediately after, under the bright Light of the stage, a young man in a suit, handsome, and with neatly combed hair, slowly walked onto the stage. When he reached the front of the stage, the band behind the stage stopped playing. The man faced the crowd in front of him, spread his hands, and said loudly,
"Good evening! Citizens of Tivian! I am very happy to be gathered with you at this important moment. Another year is about to pass. Since the Light came into the world, our world has been saved from darkness and has now gone through 1359 years. Tonight, we will be filled with gratitude to the Saints and welcome the arrival of the new year!"
The host-like man began to speak loudly and emotionally on the stage. Along with his words, applause occasionally erupted from the audience.
Without a script, the young host gave an opening speech on the stage. This opening speech lasted for several minutes and finally came to an end. The host began to solemnly introduce the organizer of this party.
"Everyone, this grand event is a grace, a grace from many sides. The Saints saved our world and have kept it going to this day, allowing us to witness the change of seasons and the arrival of the new year. This is the grace of God.
"And the reason we can gather here and share the joy of the festival is because of the grace of man, the grace of our beloved Royal Family! Now, let's welcome the organizer of this grand event, the one who brought us together, the benevolent Princess Isabel! And the invited guest, the esteemed Duke Barret!"
Warm reminder: The website is about to be revised, which may cause the loss of reading progress. Please save your "bookshelf" and "reading records" in time (it is recommended to take screenshots and save them). We apologize for any inconvenience caused!
The host shouted loudly on the stage like this. As he shouted, he raised his hand to one side. Looking in the direction he was pointing, they saw that not far from the stage, on the balcony of a tall building on the edge of the square, Light lit up at the right time, illuminating the scene on the balcony.
On the open-air balcony far from the crowd on the ground, there were two luxurious chairs at this time, and on those chairs, there were two figures, a man and a woman, sitting together.
The man was a middle-aged man of about fifty years old. He was slightly overweight, wearing a yellow coat, with streaks of white in his hair and mustache. His peaceful face had not too deep wrinkles, and he wore a slight smile as he faced the people in the square below the balcony.
The other woman was a young woman of about seventeen or eighteen years old. She was wearing a cotton white dress with various delicate floral embroidery, a white decorative flower hat on her head, and shoulder-length slightly curly golden hair. Her fair skin was almost flawless, and her beautiful face had a cheerful smile. She raised her hand and waved to the people in the square below.
The appearance of the two Royal Family members immediately pushed the atmosphere of the party to its peak. The crowd immediately erupted in enthusiastic cheers. Everyone waved and cheered at the young woman on the balcony. In many places, people were shouting Isabel's name loudly, and Dorothy also silently watched the figure on the distant balcony from within the crowd.
"That's... Duke Barret, and Princess Isabel?"
Dorothy murmured like this, and at this time, Grego beside her also looked at the distant balcony and replied,
"It seems so! Princess Isabel is said to be the Royal Family member who is closest to the lower classes and participates in the most various donation and assistance activities. As expected, she is very popular among the people!"
As Grego said this, he scanned the people around him who were shouting Isabel's name. The enthusiasm of these ordinary people for Isabel seemed to prove that what Grego said was true. After hearing this, Dorothy also looked at the young woman on the balcony with interest for a few more glances.
'A Royal Family Princess who is loved by the common people?'
...
On Bishop Square, the emotions of the audience were boiling because of Isabel's appearance, and at this moment, it was not only the people on the scene who were watching the party. Around the square, there was also a circle of people monitoring every move in the square.
On the rooftops of the buildings on the edge of the square, there were many guards stationed at this time, keeping watch on the surroundings while also monitoring the movements in the square.
Many of these guards were Extraordinary directly transferred from the An Yin Bureau's Hunters. The An Yin Bureau attached great importance to this party with Royal Family members participating and dispatched enough forces to maintain the safety of the party. These guards of extraordinary origin were currently guarding various high points around the square, guarding advantageous terrain, and being vigilant against abnormal situations.
Under such security measures, it was difficult for any unexpected danger to occur. Of course, if the guards who were maintaining security themselves had problems, that would be another matter.
On the rooftop of a building in the southeast corner of the square, a guard wearing a helmet and a coat was standing there, concentrating on the lively scene in the square. After seeing Isabel waving in the distance, his mouth under his hat couldn't help but slightly tilt, letting out a cold laugh.
"Enjoy yourselves, you ignorant people. In a little while, many of you will probably never have the chance to enjoy yourselves again..."
Looking at the scene below, the guard murmured, then turned around and slowly walked to the attic room on the rooftop where he was. After opening it, what came into his view were a dozen figures in the dim room.
These figures were almost all male. They were wearing the everyday clothes of ordinary Tivian citizens, scattered in the room either standing or sitting, with expressions of worry, fear, or determination in their eyes... If you ignored their uniformly brown-yellow skin, they would look no different from ordinary Tivian people.
"Brave warriors, how prepared are you?"
Looking at the people sitting or standing in front of him, the guard whose identity had been replaced spoke directly. The language he was speaking at this time was not prite language, but another language called Spirit Seal Language.
Listening to the words of this "guard", a tall man with a scar on his face, who had been sitting in the corner, immediately stood up. He came to the "guard" and then spoke in a calm tone.
"Of course we are ready. We are eager to make the white-skinned people pay a blood price for our tribesmen and families."
"Is that so? Then may I see how your preparations are going, Sado warrior?"
With his hands behind his back, the "guard" asked the man in front of him with a smile. And the man named Sado, after looking at the three men sitting next to his right hand, said,
"Get up, Aku, Pam, Kuzdo... Let him see our determination."
Listening to Sado's words, the three New World natives standing beside him slowly stood up. The three of them silently looked at the "guard" in front of them, then untied the coats they were wearing, revealing circles of small sticks with fuses connected, which were explosives.
The three people in front of this "guard" had three circles of explosives strapped to their waists, three circles of explosives that could be detonated at any time. These were the preparations Sado had made.
"The pain of gunpowder was brought to us by you white people. We have firmly remembered its power with the blood of countless tribesmen. Now... it's time for your people to remember this power with your own blood."
Standing beside the three, Sado said in a heavy tone, and the "guard", after seeing this, couldn't help but nod and murmur.
"I have witnessed your determination, very good... very good... Then next, let others witness the weight of this determination."