Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

"The rumors included not only that there would be a celebration ceremony on the fourth day, but also that something unexpected might happen."

Lunicia nodded: "That's right."

"Then there are two possibilities, just like the sun and the moon echoing each other." Ashlee raised two fingers and shook them. "The first possibility is that the news came from the upper nobles, the House of Lords, or the four major families themselves. The second possibility is that the news came from someone who knew something and had a different stance from the four major families, and used a different channel to spread the news, thereby hindering the actions of the four major families."

At first glance, it seems that the possibility tends to be the second rather than the first.

Lunicia pondered and said:

"Why is there the first possibility? If the news was spread by the four major families themselves, then wouldn't it be inconsistent with what they actually did? Who do they hope to stop them?"

From her tone, we can tell that she didn't actually have any big doubts, but she also wanted to hear what her companions had to say, so she deliberately raised the question in this way to seek an answer.

"If it is the first case, it means that the final result achieved by the four major families deviated greatly from their goal. It is said that the moon itself is a lightless celestial body, and it only produces light because of the shining of the sun. This is also a surprise for the sun, isn't it?" Ashlee chuckled. "In this case, the four major families originally expected that what they did would have some bad effects, but in their opinion, this effect would remain within a controllable range, so they asked the citizens to stockpile supplies, and they and other insiders secretly prepared weapons to deal with possible events in the future. However, even they did not expect that the final event would make all preparations go to waste like bubbles."

Ashlee's expression only fluctuated slightly when she smiled. At other times, she remained the same, calm and without any fluctuations, just like a carefully crafted doll. However, this time she explained it in great detail, as if hoping that Lunicia could understand it better.

Ella took over the conversation from Ashetherin and continued, "Lady Luna, in the intelligence we collected last time, regarding the possible unrest in the future, did you mention a specific date?"

"For those with specific dates, they are basically on the fourth day, but there are some without specific dates, such as the possibility of monsters attacking Myuland... Such news only says things like 'a wave of monsters is approaching'."

"Then, I lean towards the first possibility. What about Lady Luna?"

“…It’s also the first type.”

Lunicia still seemed to be unable to help but worry about this.

"If it's the second possibility, that the opponents of the House of Nobles want to cause trouble, then this behavior doesn't seem to be a trouble at all... Even if they know what danger may happen, the citizens probably won't go to the celebration fully armed just because of such rumors. The same goes for the date of the fourth day. The news of the celebration was spread by the nobles. Will the opponents definitely believe this date? They may have determined the existence of the problem earlier than us. Will they really be so careless?"

Moreover, if they had been opponents all along, they would not have been too lax in observing the great nobles, especially the four major families. What happened in the Cathedral of Alexandria might not have been hidden from everyone - at least at that time, Lunisia and her group did not find any signs of fighting, and no one came to check, proving that what happened in there was indeed unknown to everyone.

Of course, this does not completely rule out the possibility of the second scenario. For example, although the news was indeed released by the opponents of the four major families, they were not opposed to the four major families from the beginning, but because of what the four major families "wanted to do". This can also explain why they used such a method that could not be considered interference. Perhaps they did not know what the four major families were going to do, so they could only use this method to make the citizens alert and guard against accidents.

"It feels like there is nothing left to discuss."

Lunicia pondered for a moment, then clapped her hands and said, "In that case - let's go and try to collect some information!"

Ella looked at Lunicia with a faint smile on her face, as if she was happy that she had regained her spirit.

"Ms. Luna, do you have any other plans next?"

In other words, after collecting intelligence, what do you plan to do next?

"Well - let's gather here again in the evening!"

"and then?"

"Then eat, and then sleep!"

"after that……"

"... Let's go to the Cathedral of Alexandria and take a look!"

It sounds like a reckless approach, but it is not necessarily impossible. After all, since the location where the problem will occur on the third day has been determined, it is necessary to investigate it on the spot. Since it seems to be a very important matter, there is a high possibility that we will find some clues at the scene, or even get important gains directly. Even if there may be troops there, this is an option worth trying.

So, with the determination to stop the evil god from coming, the group stepped out of the room and once again walked into this city that was still unfamiliar to them, and stepped into this ancient stone city.

……

"..."

Galeazzo de Barbacro could not help but pull at his collar, even though he was not wearing the military uniform that he wore in the past and felt it did not fit him well, but the blue and white uniform of the commander of the city garrison. He still pulled at his collar with an impatient look on his face, as if he could hardly breathe.

"Your Excellency, you don't look well?"

"Ah, it's okay. I'm fine. Better than ever."

Waving to his adjutant, Gian Batista, who was about the same age as him, Galeazzo shook his head again. Just like his action of pulling at his collar and his impatient expression, his tone was also full of anxiety about some unknown things. Next to his hand on the desk, the vermilion invitation was casually placed there, and the golden wax on it had not been removed. Gian was very worried that his boss would tear it up to vent his boredom.

He knew that doing so would not only fail to relieve his anxiety, but would also make him fall into deeper anxiety due to regret.

It seemed that Galeazzo himself was aware of this. He pulled his hands off the table and began to pace back and forth in the spacious but simple office. He did not try to relieve his boredom by looking at paintings or watering potted plants, but continued to wander meaninglessly. It seemed that this monotonous and circular pace was more effective than any other behavior. However, in Gian's view, this behavior was meaningless and would only make the people around him become anxious.

Just when Galeazzo finally reached out for the scimitar on the wall and looked like he was going to draw it and chop someone, Gian could not help but speak out to stop him - but that did not happen. Galeazzo de Barbacro simply took it down from the wall and hung it on the belt around his waist. At the same time, he put his usual small round shield with spikes in his left hand and adjusted the dagger at his waist.

"Sir? What are you going to do?"

"Can't you see? Patrol!"

Galeazzo's voice suddenly rose a few notches.

"You too! Bring your sword and follow me. The deputy captain can handle the daily affairs. There is no need to keep anyone here for the time being!"

"No, wait, sir, are you saying that you plan to go on patrol yourself?"

"Why, what's going on—wait, you didn't feel anything?" Galezo was stunned for a moment, then looked surprised, "You really didn't feel anything at all?"

"What on earth are you talking about..."

Hearing this, Galeazzo could not help but pace a few steps and glared at his adjutant fiercely, but the latter just shrugged innocently and made no comment.

"You kid, you have to practice more starting next month. How can you be so lax?"

Next month? That's fine. With Mr. Galeazzo's memory of schedules, he probably won't remember what he said until next month. After the vacation is over, he won't remember what he said. Gian Batista still said helplessly, "So, can you tell me roughly what happened?"

"That kind of incongruity is just like someone is strangling me, it's almost suffocating me. You really need to exercise more. You didn't feel such an obvious incongruity at all. You really don't have any vigilance."

"Feeling of disobedience?"

Thinking carefully, feeling carefully, it seems that it is not completely imperceptible - it seems that there is something wrong, but it seems that there is nothing. A rootless and uncomfortable feeling seems to exist, but I can't confirm its source or reason. It's like a joke. The world around me has not changed at all, but it seems that something is wrong, like the wood grain on the table has changed, or the sound of the wind blowing through the window is different, making it difficult for people to stay calm for no reason.

Gian Battista was always able to control his emotions, which was probably why he didn't feel this feeling very deeply, but Galeazzo de Barbacello seemed to have experienced this feeling more than once, so he was particularly sensitive to it.

"Feel it?" Galezo sighed. "This is something you often experience when patrolling at night. You have only been here for a short time and have never been on patrol at night. It is normal that you don't feel it deeply. However, this kind of slowness may lead to death at a critical moment. Be careful!"

"night?"

Jian seemed a little surprised.

"It's almost sunset now..."

"Ah, there's still some time left, but so what? I should go out on patrol when I feel the need to."

"Well... there are some things I don't know whether I should say or not."

"explain."

"Sir, you have plans tonight—"

If you do that you won’t be able to catch up.

"A party at Beatrix's mansion? Just turn it down. Going to the party is not as important as keeping this place safe."

"You can order the patrol arrangements to be strengthened so that we can go to the banquet safely."

"Then I'm worried."

Galeazzo pushed open the thick iron door of the office and stepped out.

"Follow me. We have to patrol until sunrise. We can't have any accidents on a day like this!"

……

Next, dear readers, let's turn our attention back to Lunicia, Ella, and Miss Ashlee. As you all know, they didn't go shopping today like "last time", so Ashlee could only wear her half-damaged armor and had no chance to buy a dress or new clothes. She wandered around the city with the other two companions, trying to gather as much information as possible.

Lunisia was used to asking citizens in a friendly manner, Ashlee was trying to search the city's agency terminals, and Ella was wandering in the alleys and taverns, looking for the people who had the final say and the information dealers who were supposed to exist in the city. This was not very efficient, and it was not a problem of method, but the things they wanted to explore were too secretive in the city.

Perhaps the best intelligence dealers could find the way to the four noble houses and learn secrets from the servants that ordinary people could not know, but even this way seemed to have lost its effect at this time - at least today, there was no unusual movement as Ella expected. The nobles of the four noble families did have their own little secrets, but they all seemed too "ordinary" and did not seem to be brewing a conspiracy that could destroy the entire Myuland or even the Mu Continent.

As a result, all that could be found was some information about the four major families.

“This is really a big blow—”

Lunicia looked very confused.

After all, it was she who returned from "that day" and brought with her all the information that prompted them to take action. It could be said that everything was caused by her, and it was normal for her to put too much responsibility on herself. In this situation, she didn't gain anything, which made her feel somewhat lost.

"Could it be that the accident hasn't happened yet?"

"Um……"

Ella's idea made Lunicia ponder.

This doesn't seem to be completely unreasonable, but how can this explain something? The preparations for the celebration ceremony cannot be completed in three days, and the arrangement of the opera performance does not make sense. If the incident that occurred late at night on the third day originated from an accident that would only happen within these three days, how could the four major families make preparations so long in advance?

What does this mean and what is hidden?

While they were thinking, the sky gradually darkened, and the street lights on the roadside lit up, marking the switch between day and night. The group walked slowly towards the hotel, discussing the intelligence they had collected in the afternoon, as if they had not noticed the change in time at all.

Until a familiar sound of weapons brought Lunicia's thoughts back to reality.

Chapter 41 Day 1: Crawling Corpses

Lunicia couldn't help but stop.

"What's wrong, Lady Luna? Did you find anything?"

Ella seemed to feel nothing, but Ashlee stopped and began to increase the power of the sensor, trying to see if she could feel more.

"Someone seems to be fighting...?"

"Battle, here?"

Ella also looked a little surprised, and looked around with Lunicia - Myuland's weapons control law was very strict, and it also largely eliminated the problem of private fights among adventurers in the city, so the possibility of encountering a battle in such a place was not great, but now this situation did happen.

“…This way.”

Ashlee didn't say much, she simply pointed in a direction.

It seems that, at least now, Ashetherin's sensitivity is greater than Lunicia's ability to hear everything. Lunicia and Ella looked at each other, nodded, and then rushed together in the direction Ashetherin pointed.

In the direction that Ashtherin pointed, Lunisia and her companions saw an incredible scene.

It was a commercial area under construction. The outer wall of the newly built building had not been further processed, and no windows were installed. It was simply connected to the energy source, so that the lights were bright. There was no one here now. If it was a worker, it would be normal. Now it was night, and the construction was temporarily stopped, waiting for the sunrise of the next day to continue. However, there was not even the most basic security personnel here, but a small team of soldiers wearing blue and white mail armor instead.

Spears, swords, guns, kite-shaped shields, strong lighting equipment, weapons enchanted with "Moon Touch" - no matter which one, they all look like professionals in dealing with darkness.

There was no doubt that they were the ones making the fighting noises.

The leading soldier was holding a scimitar and a small round shield, and his armor seemed thicker and more sophisticated than the others. He was constantly giving orders to the soldiers in the battle, ordering them to further narrow the encirclement. It was obvious that this tall Lobard with short golden hair was the leader of this group of soldiers - similarly, it was this Lobard who first discovered the approaching Lunisia and her group.

"Where's the cordon!" he yelled, "Who's the bastard responsible for setting up the cordon? I'm going to fire him!"

"No one, sir! You didn't ask anyone to set up a cordon because you didn't have enough people!"

"what----!"

Faced with the answer from an unknown soldier, the Lobad man could only scratch his head fiercely a few times and let out an almost crazy and anxious roar.

"Do you need help!"

He wanted to add, "Anyone is fine, go stop them!", but was choked by the words coming from the three ladies. He could only wave his hand and said to the adjutant beside him, "You take over the command first, I'll go by myself!"

"Is that all right, sir?"

"That's what I want to ask! Keep suppressing them. We must annihilate them here. We must not let them continue to roam, especially not to allow them to continue to penetrate the city. We must kill them all before any harm is done!"

"Yes!"

So, the adjutant continued to dispatch soldiers, and the tall Lobad man who looked like the leader quickly ran towards Lunisia and her group, trying to stop them: "Ladies, this is official business! It's very dangerous, please don't come any closer!"

His pronunciation was clear, his word choice was precise, and his tone was polite - but in fact, neither Lunicia, Ella nor Ashlee looked at him directly. The three of them stared at the construction site in tacit understanding. It was there that Lunicia understood what these people who looked like guards were fighting against.

"Is that... a corpse...?"

Lunicia's tone was full of uncertainty. It was obvious that she was not sure what she had seen and could only try to analyze it based on her limited experience.

"I don't know, it's just that thing makes me uncomfortable..."

Ella was unable to give a definite answer and could only express her most intuitive feelings hesitantly.

That's right, discomfort. Just a cursory glance at that kind of thing would make people feel extremely uncomfortable. The one in the sight of the group was indeed just a corpse at first glance. The joints were stiff, the skin was gray, the pupils were cloudy, and the body was covered with large and small corpse spots. He looked like an old man who had been dead for a long time. There were no obvious external injuries on his body, and it was impossible to determine the cause of his death. If he just lay there quietly, I'm afraid people would not feel anything special.

Sadly, that thing didn't do that.

The corpse was crawling on the ground, and would suddenly jump up from time to time, attacking the guards with its seemingly ordinary arms, just like the common undead, those corpses that moved for various reasons - no, that's not right, those staggering corpses, perhaps just attacking people who approached aimlessly, or repeating their behaviors in life as if they were still alive, or just sitting there motionless, none of them would be like this corpse, wriggling on the ground, moving in weird and twisted postures, its joints bent in extremely unnatural directions, its head seemed to have lost its function, just a decoration hanging around its neck, its empty and dissolving eyeballs did not look in a fixed direction, but bulged out of the eye sockets, spinning aimlessly.

That thing looked like something else covered in human skin... like some kind of arthropod, such as... a centipede or something like that.

Yes, the way it crawls, the rustling sound, and the twisted posture are just like a centipede with human limbs as legs.

Just when that thing moves, people will have an indescribable weird feeling, horror and disgust. Instinctively, they cannot regard that thing as a former human being. It seems that even a piece of dismembered meat is far better than that crawling grotesque thing.

"Ashe, what is that?"

"On the surface, it is a human corpse. The internal structure cannot be analyzed for the time being, and it is shielded from external scans."