Gun of Ashes

The rainy season in Old Dunling had ended, and this gloomy city unusually welcomed a sky that stretched endlessly blue, the dewy greens reflecting the sky’s brilliance.

Eve paused briefly, taking in this unbelievable beauty.

She’d rarely left Old Dunling since childhood, and her impression of the sky was always a gray blur, with drizzle pattering down from time to time.

Despite Phoenix Manor being on the outskirts of Old Dunling, over many years of expansion, most of the peripheral areas of Old Dunling had been swallowed by the gradually growing city, and the once-blue sky over Phoenix Manor had also turned gray over the years.

Eve stood holding a freshly sun-dried white bedsheet, dazed for a long time, only snapping back to reality when someone called for her, and she jogged down with it in her arms.

Countless frames were erected over the green fields, with sheets and duvet covers washed and disinfected hanging on them, as well as some hospital gowns, swaying like dancing flags in the wind.

This was Merlin’s castle, which after the Black Mountain Hospital incident, Merlin generously offered it as a temporary hospital to alleviate the pressure of patient accommodation, contributing this nearly abandoned castle for patient care.

As the technical head of the Perpetual Motion Pump, Merlin was essentially an Alchemist, perhaps with ideals different from ordinary people, he wasn’t interested in common wealth. When assigned to this land, he treated it as a warehouse, rarely coming back, and mostly using it as temporary housing when needed.

A few months ago, Lorenzo and Red Falcon, among others, gradually awoke in this castle, spending a not very long holiday, and now it welcomed new guests.

Doctors moved through the castle, nurses pushed wheelchairs, occasionally accompanied by the screams of patients, the stale air now overshadowed by the smell of disinfectant. As Eve walked through, she saw a group of people cleaning, sweeping out thick dust from the corners.

Because Merlin treated this place as a warehouse, the staffing in the castle was always minimal, and when the doctors from Black Mountain Hospital moved in, they even thought it was abandoned.

After the incident, everything was a mess, and Arthur was still in a coma. In her bewilderment, Eve suddenly remembered Arthur’s last words to her.

Merlin knew about his own past, so while Arthur was still in a coma undergoing treatment, Eve applied to come here. After passing erosion tests, she became one of the caregivers.

Truthfully, Eve hadn’t thought it would be so easy to blend in here. In her eyes, this was just a mysterious organization, with everyone inside behaving like bloodsucking Evil Ghosts, but maybe because they had fought Demons together, they unexpectedly treated her well.

Thus, Eve inexplicably became part of this temporary hospital, running back and forth for nearly half a month.

During this time, she also tried to find Merlin. His office was set at the top of one of the castle’s towers, and Eve heard others refer to it as a museum, though she wasn’t sure why.

As the technical head of the Perpetual Motion Pump, Merlin was incredibly busy these past two weeks, never having the time for a proper talk with Eve, delaying it until finally today’s appointment.

After putting away the laundered bedsheets, Eve headed towards the tower top known as the museum.

Everything she had been fixated on was about to be answered, yet at this moment, Eve’s heart lacked any excitement or joy, instead feeling an unbearable calm.

Ever perceptive and intelligent, Eve, after experiencing all this, already had a vague hypothesis about the constant nightmares and her own oddities, but she wasn’t sure about any of it.

You could say she wasn’t seeking an answer, but rather hoping someone would confirm her suspicions. Yet suddenly she felt a bit panicked, for although all these things had long become history, the thought of them being true made them hard for Eve to accept.

The path, seemingly long, was finished in just a few thoughts, and Eve stood silent for a moment before knocking on the grand door.

...

Pushing open the heavy door, a musty air rushed forth, this being the only ”Merlin’s private area” within the castle, uncleaned by the caregivers, with few visitors except for Merlin who worked here.

The bright light fell on Eve’s face, making her squint against it.

The museum’s dome was made of transparent glass. A few months ago, it was dusty and dirty, but after a storm washed everything clean, it now appeared divinely holy under the light.

The inside of the museum was piled with odd and peculiar items. Rather than a museum, it seemed more like a warehouse, filled with random things.

A wheel was placed in one corner, a Nautical Chart hung on one side of the wall, a coin stored in a box, and an ancient flintlock gun.

There were so many strange items that Eve almost couldn’t take it all in, even a bit puzzled as to why Merlin had cluttered so many things here.

”Eve?”

Suddenly a voice rang out, under the enveloping light, Merlin raised his head, and only then did Eve notice there was a person sitting amidst the heap of clutter.