Gun of Ashes

Gaulunaro, Maruri Port.

The man slowly walked along the dock and finally stopped in a corner, gazing at this still sleeping port.

The air was filled with damp mist, and the sea fog covered every inch of the port, making everything in sight blurry. Yet, despite this, one could still see the sharp, ferocious outlines peeking from behind the mist, arranged in a continuous line like mountain ranges.

Unlike Ingwig’s Reindona Port, this place lacked that sense of foreign hustle and bustle. Instead, there was a pervasive air of grimness, something that the captains had already vaguely acknowledged among themselves.

”It’s really cold, almost as if it’s about to freeze.”

Another man emerged from behind the fog, and from the vague shadows at the back, more people could be seen standing not far away.

”The mornings here have always been very cold.”

The man standing in front replied, slowly reaching out his hand to gently wipe the railing beside him. The cold droplets fell one by one, like a gentle rain.

”It will only get colder in the future.” After a pause, the man added.

”I know, Corey, but... I feel that the weather is just one of the issues. More troubling are those things. They make the captains uneasy. A few years ago, they were just memorabilia, and no one paid them any mind.

But in recent years, they have been reactivated one by one. Though some are outdated, the sound of hammers lingers day and night, like revived undead, wailing until black smoke spews from the chimneys.”

The man lit a cigarette as he spoke, looking towards another part of the port where those ominous sharp silhouettes stood.

Before this place was called Maruri Port, it was known as the Maruri Naval Base, where one wartime vessel after another was docked.

It was through this place that Gaulunaro continuously dispatched troops to Ingwig’s territory. Decades ago, the military referred to this area as the banks of the Nether River, and those warships were vessels ferrying people across the Nether River, soldiers leaving their homes one after another, ultimately meeting their demise on Ingwig’s land.

With the defeat in the Radiant War, Gaulunaro, severely weakened, needed to revive its economy. Coupled with Ingwig’s demands, the Maruri Naval Base was dismantled and transformed into today’s Maruri Port. Only a small base remained at the edge of the port, but it was of little consequence to anyone.

Some of the warships that weren’t dismantled became akin to a museum display, docked there until recent years, when engineers began industrializing them, sparking an uneasy feeling among the people.

This place was once a battlefield, where countless lives were buried.

”So have you truly decided to hold the establishment of the Orthodoxy here?”

The man asked again, having always been skeptical of this plan. Though holding the Orthodox Pope’s ascension at Maruri Port could directly disseminate information through these ships, such direct and arrogant behavior undoubtedly provoked the Holy Evangelical Pope Kingdom.

”Ingwig has already noticed these actions, do you still want to increase the number of enemies?” He was perplexed.

”Increase enemies?”

The Director of the Iron Law Bureau laughed disdainfully.

”The Holy Evangelical Pope Kingdom has always been our enemy. We just haven’t found the right excuse to go to war.”

Corey slowly spoke, his pallid face resembling someone who had been in a dark room for too long, with skin lacking wrinkles, making it hard to determine his age. His eyes were deeply sunken, like an inscrutable darkness.

”I know, but this is too hasty,” the man said again.

The formation of the Rhine Alliance, the kidnapping of Ivar... These events have all accumulated over recent years, as if an invisible hand is driving the wheels of history, accelerating its pace.

”Is it all because that person gave you the courage to accelerate these developments?” The man seemed to have thought of something and asked.

”Who are you referring to?”

”That person who calls himself the Dean, along with Miguel and their monstrous army.”

The man spoke as he walked to the railing, and behind the mist, a faint light had begun to rise, with the warmth gradually dispelling the cold fog.

”This is a terrifying army, one powerful enough to crush steam technology. Is it these that have given you the courage to initiate such a world-shattering war?”

The man asked again, as he was Corey’s adjutant.

”Do you remember the story of the Mad King?”

Corey suddenly asked.

”The Mad King? Of course, I know it.”

The man answered; as a Gaulunaro, it is a story known to everyone.

Gaulunaro’s history is inseparable from the Evangelical Church, with faith permeating this land so deeply that at some times, it wasn’t the King who ruled Gaulunaro, but the Pope of the Evangelical Church.

Corey and the man were both believers of the Evangelical Church, but after joining the Iron Law Bureau, their faith gradually stripped away, finally turning them into what they are now.

”In the end, was the Mad King Olim really tempted by the Devil? Or did he just refuse to continue being ruled by faith and swing his sword against theocracy?” Corey said, ”But none of that matters anymore. He failed. He hoped the people could break free from ignorance, but in the end, he was killed by the very people he wanted to save.”

”You should know more about such things than I do, given that your ancestor was a dragon-slaying hero, isn’t that so?”