Plymouth.
As Triss passed through a street, she suddenly stopped, staring blankly at the collapsed buildings ahead.
The New Year was close at hand, and City Hall had hung ribbons from the roadside electric lamps and trees, trying its best to create at least a little festive atmosphere.
Yet it was as though a pall of gloom weighed upon every citizen's heart.
More than half a month had passed since the officially reported "Malff Meteor Shower Impact Incident," but Triss still seemed somewhat dazed.
According to the newspapers, a terrifying meteor shower had descended upon Plymouth, even destroying more than half of Jeston District!
The scattered meteorites had also caused dreadful impacts and casualties elsewhere.
But many people felt things were not that simple. In the taverns, quite a few people swore they had seen people who could fly, the devastation wrought by supernatural powers such as lightning and frost, and monsters! They claimed the Empire had concealed the fact that Plymouth had suffered a Beyonder attack!
Even the clerics in the churches had become hysterical...
Triss, however, felt that things were not too bad.
—Since the Lower City truly had no targets worth attacking, neither the native demigods nor the Secrecy organizations had made it a target. With no fighting, there had been no destruction.
As a result, after the attack, the originally poor and filthy Lower City had instead become one of the best-preserved areas in Plymouth.
It had to be said, that was quite an irony!
"Triss!"
At that moment, a young man approached from the opposite direction.
Triss looked up and could not help freezing, a flush swiftly crossing her face.
The newcomer wore an impeccably tailored aristocratic suit, with a rapier hanging at his waist. His eyes resembled the finest purple gemstones, and his features