In the Month of Blossoms, the weather in the Imperial Capital had gradually warmed. Even late at night, there was no biting wind.
Elliot came out wearing only a light shirt. This was the first time tonight he had left the Difference Engine and personally set foot in the Hearthfire District.
The streets were spotless, with neither bloodstains nor corpses.
The Steam Angel Theresia's attack seemed to have been no ordinary bombardment, but some kind of Formless Art with a sacrificial effect. Mortal and monster corpses alike had all disappeared.
Elliot lowered his head to look at the stone paving. He could vaguely make out human-shaped marks, as though they had been seared into it with scorching charcoal.
These were the last traces the monsters had left behind. They, too, had once been citizens of the Empire, yet now they could only die like this, even their remains taken for sacrifice.
Elliot stood silently in the street.
The Steam Angel slowly descended. Once she had returned to her place, the Steel Firmament gradually closed as well.
The streets, and everywhere throughout the Imperial Capital, were spotless, without a trace of filth or gloom. Theresia, who had protected the Empire for forty years, had bestowed her mercy once more tonight.
Not a trace remained of the Purification Ritual that had illuminated the entire Imperial Capital, as though it had all been nothing more than fireworks that vanished after a brief flash.
Only the steam left by the Bronze Statue's spell remained in the air, great cloudlike masses slowly descending to become the Imperial Capital's ever-present smog.
Everything seemed to have returned to the way it had been.
No, it was even better than before. The Empire spent a considerable sum each year keeping homeless vagrants under control. After today, perhaps that