Daniel's Investigation

In a street deep within Alderan's eastern district, the lights were dim.

This was the darkest and most secluded area in the entire imperial capital, a place seemingly forgotten by high society. Vast Alderan was like a mountain piled layer upon layer: its upper reaches were filled with magnificent buildings, while its base was hidden deep in the darkness like a festering wound. Advanced Magic-Conducting Technology, flourishing modern commerce, and an increasingly glamorous citizen class—none of these had much to do with the streets deep in Alderan's eastern district.

This place was only half a city away from the Obsidian Palace, yet it seemed even farther from civilized society than those distant mountain cities.

And in these streets, far from all of Alderan's official eyes and ears, a man with a scraggly beard, sunken eye sockets, and a tattered coat hurried past the doors of one low, dilapidated house after another.

Hasty, undisguised footsteps rang out. Prying gazes emerged from the doors and windows of those houses. At this hour, after nightfall, anyone daring to walk alone deep in the eastern district was bound to arouse the curiosity of onlookers. Yet the gazes drawn to the street by those footsteps soon turned doubtful.

Because they saw nothing. In their eyes, the street was empty.

Yet the footsteps had undeniably been there.

The gazes hiding behind doors and windows gradually filled with tension and fear. Superstitious residents recalled terrifying tales of wandering ghosts and black wizards after dark. They quickly withdrew their eyes one after another and shut their already closed doors and windows even tighter.

The man openly walked through the entire street and arrived before Number 14 Black Iron Alley.

He stopped before the pitch-black door, pressed a hand against it, and briefly sensed the movements inside. Only after