The autumn wind still carried a desolate chill. Beneath the night sky, Bunta City was colder than it had been during the day, and far fewer pedestrians walked its streets than a month earlier, leaving the whole city rather quiet.
Yet outside a mansion in the northeastern part of Bunta City, more than thirty carriages stood parked.
Though these carriages varied in size and shape, they shared one characteristic: every one of them was extraordinarily luxurious.
Not only was each carriage adorned with decorations that were visibly expensive at a glance, but even the horses pulling them looked magnificent. They were clearly no ordinary nags.
The carriages alone made it clear that their owners were exceedingly wealthy. Any one of them might well be an important figure in Bunta City.
Laughter drifted from the mansion from time to time, accompanied by the faint sounds of music and dancing. A banquet was evidently underway inside.
A banquet capable of gathering so many important figures from Bunta City was a rare sight indeed.
A dark carriage suddenly rounded the corner.
Its exterior looked quite ordinary. Apart from a battered lantern hanging outside, it bore no decorations at all. Even the horse pulling it had a patchy coat and showed not the slightest trace of magnificence.
Judging by the carriage, its passenger was clearly no person of importance. Before it could reach the mansion's entrance, the guards at the gate stopped it.
Just as one of the Guards was about to bark a reprimand and drive away this carriage that did not know its place, its curtain lifted, and a young man jumped down.
Though the young man wore neither fine clothes nor expensive accessories, he carried himself with dignity, and confidence showed in his every movement. He was plainly no ordinary commoner.