Navas's body was slightly stooped. He held a fluorite lamp in one hand, and the wrinkles on his face were creased like dried orange peel, carrying a hint of bitterness.
Ever since he had botched things at Iron Ridge Fortress several months ago, his standing in the Sener Family had plummeted. That glittering golden gate that had only just opened before him—the gate that could have allowed him to climb to greater heights—had slammed shut again. Worse still, while he had been struggling upward, he had been ruthlessly knocked from that rising path and fallen to an even lower position, becoming a warehouse keeper for the Sener Family in Tokeyi City.
How could a warehouse keeper compare to his former post as a manor steward? It was a meager, miserable job. Aside from the fluorite lamp in his hand, the only companion it brought him was the whistle hanging around his neck, one he would probably never get to blow.
Thinking of how, at this hour in the past, he would surely have been sleeping under the covers with at least one beautiful female slave in his arms, while now he had to come out again and again to make his rounds—and even when he returned to his room, it was cold and empty, without a single person in it—made the days especially hard to endure.
"How can Zhang Tie's escape have been my fault..." Navas's heart was filled with grievance. Seeing that no one was around, he could not help muttering aloud, giving himself a little comfort. After spending so many months alone, he had developed the habit of talking to himself. "The one who came to Tokeyi City that day and slaughtered everyone was a Knight. The person who rescued the Eagle of Selnes might also have been