Chapter Forty-Nine: The Aspiring Youth

As we drove away, Lamia remained silent. Soleis struggled to awaken the Dead Clock’s ghostly flame; it stirred, though weakly.

I tried to reassure her, saying, “Lamia, we now know where this Simon is. Killing him will be easy for me.” He was a bishop in the Epoch Empire, no longer a mystery to us.

Lamia bit her lip and said, “Do you know what frightens me most?”

I asked, “What is it?”

She replied, “I didn’t even have the courage to shoot him.”

I said, “You’re afraid he’ll kill me, not lacking courage.”

Lamia said, “That’s true. I worry about your safety, but I can sense his unfathomable depth. If he wished to kill us, none of us could escape. He’s changed; he’s no longer the furtive, elusive figure he once was.”

Ahead, Le Steel stood by the roadside, waiting for a ride. We picked him up and told him what had happened.

Le Steel said, “That bridge doesn’t exist. San Francisco has no such structure. You wandered into an alternate space by some strange fate.”

I said, “An alternate space? No, it’s more likely an overlap between this realm and another.”

The Dead Clock remarked, “But that black crystal was real enough.”

Le Steel said, “Indeed. In ancient times, people called this crystal ‘Ember.’ The Black Coffin once had a reserve, but as the town expanded, it was depleted, and now we’re desperate to find more. So the Epoch Empire is searching for Ember as well?”

I answered, “Yes. They’re expanding, seizing as many strategic locations as possible, and they’re already close to the Black Coffin.”

Le Steel shook his head, saying, “You experienced a spatial distortion. That bridge may in fact be far from us; when the distortion ends, they’ll be sent back to their original place.”

I was startled. “Then our encounter with Simon Magnus was mere coincidence?”

Le Steel, who had heard Lamia’s story, said, “If it wasn’t coincidence, then Simon Magnus was subtly manipulating you, luring you into the alternate space. If that’s true, his power is even more unsettling.”

I growled, “That old degenerate, why does he keep pestering my Lamia? If it were Salvador, I might understand...”

Lamia scoffed, “What do you mean, ‘might understand’?”

I hurriedly said, “Of course, not really. But perhaps Salvador feels a missing fatherly affection with Simon, and it might benefit his character.”

Lamia shoved me, “Stop joking.”

Le Steel said, “But the Empire’s priests claim their expedition reached Sacramento. According to old maps, it’s hundreds of kilometers away, and the spatial distortion only widens that gap. Even so, we cannot be complacent. We urgently need to find a rich Ember mine, accelerate construction, and strengthen our forces.”

Soleis said, “They have strange devices that create force fields, immobilizing people.”

The Dead Clock tapped its head, still confused.

I said, “Yes, we must start worrying about war.”

Le Steel said, “There’s much to worry about: the Sun’s terrifying upheavals, the increasing number of demons, the awakening of Sun-infected, shortages of food and water. The Empire, far away, isn’t our most pressing concern; at least we have time to prepare.”

We all agreed that another outbreak of Sun infection would be catastrophic, but the Black Coffin could protect us.

I said, “If the people outside the Black Coffin hear of Sun infection, there’ll be riots. They’ll do anything to storm inside.”

Le Steel was silent for a moment, then said, “I’ve been thinking about that. For now, this must not be leaked.”

Soleis asked, “If we don’t tell them, and the Sun changes again, they’re doomed.”

I sighed at this zombie’s naïve kindness. “So what? Humanity has died once already. If they’re exceptional enough, they’ll enter the skyscraper. If not, they lack the right to be humanity’s seed and will remain as mere ashes after the blaze.”

Soleis shook her head. “Everyone has a right to survive. Life should be equal for all.”

I retorted, “If you had to choose between two mentally deficient idiots and two healthy people as the last Adam and Eve, what would you do?”

Soleis actually pondered seriously. Suddenly I understood—she was an extremely insecure zombie, perhaps thinking herself inferior to even the disabled.

Lamia took Soleis’s hand. “Soleis, the secret to happiness is not to worry about things that are nothing but mist. Ignore Fishbone’s odd questions.”

My wife was a delightful eccentric. She quickly adapted to living with zombies, no longer repulsed by their ghostly flames, whereas I still struggled.

Soleis said, “No, it matters to me. For zombies, the more truths we learn, the more complete our flame becomes, and our souls grow closer to human.”

Lamia turned to me. “Fishbone, let me ask you: If I and your mother fell into water at the same time, whom would you save first?”

I cried, “What kind of question is that? I’m an orphan!”

Lamia said, “Suppose your mother was still alive?”

I protested, “That’s absurd! I refuse to answer!”

Lamia laughed, saying to Soleis, “See? Humans are best at evading. You should learn from them.”

Soleis smiled back at Lamia. I couldn’t tell what she understood, but it seemed she did.

After six winding days, we made it home safely. Juno’s arrival caused another minor stir, and to my delight, this time I didn’t have to pay compensation; I made a tidy profit from Bella, who was far more straightforward than miserly Michael.

I finished my tasks at the Ranger camp, filled out records, went through safety checks. An hour later, my account showed the deposit. Three hours after, the Rangers issued a promotion notice, a lieutenant colonel badge, and a first-class merit award, drawing applause through the camp. Returning home, I basked in Betty’s envious gaze and her sarcastic congratulations—a taste that lingered, much like Lamia’s foot in my mouth back then...

Lamia declared, “From today, you’ll hand all your income to me. I’ll manage the finances and give you monthly pocket money.”

The words struck me like a slap, jolting me from my dream. I asked, “Why?”

Lamia said, “It’s the rule in the Black Coffin: wives manage the money.”

I protested, “Where? I’ve never seen that law.”

Lamia said, “It’s not law, just unwritten tradition, like the groom buying a house in the Black Coffin before marriage. It’s never written down, but it’s ancient. People did it last century. It’s a fine tradition, part of a great movement called ‘feminism.’”

I hated feminism.

I asked cautiously, “What if I refuse?”

Lamia laughed, “Then refuse. I won’t do anything to you.”

I shivered, unable to utter a single word of refusal. Luckily, she let me keep today’s earnings, giving me the feeling of surviving the Sun King’s wrath.

Now I had to think about how to squirrel away some of this forty million.

After dinner, Lamia took out a thick manual titled “Ranger Self-Funded Body Modification Guide.” She hummed and flipped straight to the embarrassing pages. I imagined her stunning figure, pictured our future together, unable to resist embracing her as we read.

She blushed and said, “Control yourself. You’re hurting me.”

I sighed, “Mjolnir’s hilt is a bit hard. That’s the trouble—too thick, too heavy, sometimes inconvenient.”

She said, “Then throw the hilt away.”

I was appalled. “You can’t. It symbolizes my swordsmanship. Without it, I’d feel as if I’d lost something vital, and my life would go astray…”

Lamia laughed, “Then hide it well, stash it where it belongs!”

I said, “My dear, aren’t you a bit uncivilized?”

Lamia replied, “How could I be civilized, reading books like these?”

I asked, “How much will the surgery cost? I’ll cover it all.” After all, it concerned my future happiness; every penny was worth it.

Lamia shook her head. “No need. It’s a Ranger benefit. I can claim most costs, and my savings cover the rest. I can’t let anyone say I depend solely on a man, right?”

I kissed her lips. “My darling, you’re so sensible.”

Lamia smiled, “No choice, it’s part of feminism too.”

I loved feminism.

At that moment, Salvador knocked at the door. “Sister, brother-in-law, are you asleep?”

Lamia shouted, “Your brother-in-law wore me out, I haven’t slept yet!” She burst into laughter.

I said, “He’s only seventeen. Aren’t you afraid of corrupting him?”

Lamia replied, “It’s called giving him a vaccine.”

Salvador cleared his throat outside. “Brother-in-law, I want… to talk with you alone.”

Lamia and I exchanged glances. Lamia spread her hands. “I have no idea.”

Baffled, I opened the door. Salvador said, “Can we talk outside?”

We went to the only translucent window on the thirty-fourth floor. From there, we could see the outside world: tranquil moonlight spilled over the town’s shabby houses, warm and bleak.

Salvador hesitated for a long time, then said, “Betty asked me… to borrow money from you. She says if we’re to marry, I must buy a flat in the middle floors. She’s set her heart on a forty-square-meter unit on the thirty-third floor; the tenants can’t pay rent, and the Black Coffin plans to repossess and sell it soon…”

I was shocked, my miserly instincts sending a cold sweat down my back. But he was the dearest to Lamia and me, so I forced myself to stay calm. “How much?”

Salvador said, “Fifteen million.”

I felt he might as well bleed me dry.

Salvador said loudly, “No, brother-in-law, don’t misunderstand. I don’t really intend to ask you for money. I want to earn it myself and marry her on my own merit. I just hope you won’t always protect me. For example, on this mission, I believe I could have managed. I want to achieve more, rise to officer rank like you, and earn more rewards and allowances.”

I couldn’t bear to dampen his spirits. In truth, had he accompanied me on this mission, he might well have ended up “king among men, men among kings.”