The Art of Compromise

High, bright torches were held aloft, barely illuminating the slippery road ahead in the darkness.

The road here was even filthier than the sewers Aaron had been in before, and the air was filled with a nauseating stench.

Even though Aaron had mentally prepared himself before coming down, he couldn't help but gag a few times.

The firelight reflected on the stagnant water in the nearby channel, which barely flowed. Bubbles even occasionally rose to the surface, releasing the deeper stench into this world.

After walking for less than a few minutes, Aaron had already seen the corpses of several unknown creatures the size of house cats, as well as half of a human corpse that had rotted beyond recognition.

Under Aaron's admiring gaze, Lord Bals, without changing his expression, flipped over the corpse with his iron arm.

After a brief examination, he turned back and said to everyone, "Probably some unlucky vagrant, or a victim of a gang war. The sewers of Leyden City are never short of those."

In a way, the sewers not only gathered all sorts of filth excreted by humans but also the baseness and sins from their souls and character.

Bals casually opened his fingers, and a ball of blue-green flame suddenly erupted from his palm.

The heat wave surged, and Aaron watched as the half-rotted corpse was licked by the flames, sizzling and eventually turning into a pile of ash amidst a charred smell.

"It seems the City Guard is quite idle," Aaron remarked casually.

According to the customs of Yagrant, the City Guard was generally responsible for various miscellaneous tasks within the city, the most important of which was the regular disposal of corpses or mutated monsters.

Of course, the mutated monsters might not pose a significant threat, and some civilians might never even see these monsters in their lifetime. However, it was still unacceptable to let these monsters roam freely in the sewers.

Furthermore, the sewers, being an excellent place for travel and disposing of bodies, actually attracted the covetous attention of many ill-intentioned individuals.

Therefore, the City Guard's regular patrols and cleaning of the sewers were particularly important.

However, considering that even the captain of the City Guard, Colin, was an ordinary person, the City Guard's inaction seemed to have a justifiable reason.

"Miss Alice, I believe you know best that politics is the art of compromise. Perhaps you should introduce this art to your fiancé," Bals said, understanding Aaron's unspoken meaning, and chuckled nonchalantly. "Colin is the embodiment of this art."

The attendants did not enter the sewers. Everyone present was a Transcendent, so Bals did not need to hide his attitude. "No one is more suitable for this position than Colin."

"Just because he's an ordinary person?"

"In Leyden City, no one wants the City Guard captain to be a Transcendent." Bals smiled meaningfully at everyone. "Sometimes, we need to be like ostriches, covering our eyes and pretending we know nothing."

Aaron tilted his head, lost in thought, and stared at Bals, saying earnestly, "Lord City Lord, what do you mean by that?"

"Leyden City is the western pearl of the entire Yagrant Kingdom, rumored to be paved with gold. All the merchant guilds in the Yagrant Kingdom have branches here, so no one wants to be seen carrying what they shouldn't, or seeing what they shouldn't..."

"So Colin is the best choice?" Sart interjected casually.

He was quite displeased with Colin's private withholding of spices, even though the withheld spices were inconsequential.

"Of course." Lord Bals waved his hand casually. As the runes on his iron arm lit up, a gust of wind blew, precisely scattering the pile of ashes into the stagnant water.

The water, whose color was indistinguishable, silently swallowed the ashes, accepting this generous gift from Lord Bals.

Bals looked up and said earnestly to Sart, "As long as he is ordinary enough, it means he can be replaced at any time. The City Guard of Leyden City is always a consumable, and he is merely a tool."

His tone was natural, but Aaron inexplicably felt a chill.

Bals seemed to recall something and bowed slightly to Sart. "If you are angry about him withholding spices, I apologize on his behalf. He always likes to take advantage of small gains, and he never refuses those golden little fellows."

"For someone who is about to die, we should indeed show mercy," Siosand interjected unexpectedly.

As soon as he said this, everyone couldn't help but look at him.

As another branch of the Gold Coin Path, the Prophet abandoned the further study of rituals and spices to focus on his own soul. They could see what ordinary people couldn't and hear what ordinary people couldn't.

Similarly, drifting in the river of Fate, the Seer used rituals and spices to build a boat and navigate it, while the Prophet swam through the river of Fate using his own strength.

Or, one could say, the Prophet was closer to Fate itself than the Seer.

"What did you see?" Aaron asked with great interest.

They say olfactory cells fatigue easily, but the stench of the sewer seemed like an stimulant, making his olfactory cells go wild, and he had to force himself to shift his attention.

"When I saw that Colin, I saw a scene from the future," Siosand stared intently at Lord Bals. "It involves you."

As he spoke, he walked up to Lord Bals, tilted his head slightly, and gazed quietly at Bals's face. "Yes, Lord Bals, although I don't know when it will happen, I saw you kill Colin."

Lord Bals's expression changed slightly, but he did not refute it. Instead, he nodded thoughtfully.

Unlike the vague revelations obtained by the Seers, the premonitions received by the Prophets were often more accurate.

If what the Seers saw was a process, then for the Prophets, they obtained a result, or rather, one of the possible outcomes in future timelines.

"Perhaps we should consider how to catch that cultist?"

Aaron mentioned it casually, watching the slightly rippling stagnant water, his mind racing as he tried his best to deduce Bals's next plan.

Having already realized Bals's ill intentions, Aaron wouldn't be surprised even if he became a cultist the next moment.

He was just curious, curious about what Lord Bals would do, how he would resolve this matter plausibly, and what his ultimate goal was.

For example, did that cultist even exist?

Ahhhhh, going for a trial push!

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There's another update tonight!

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