The steam train David was riding rumbled out of the imperial capital. The train slowly passed by a small hill where a little cemetery sat.

Right now, people were holding a funeral in that cemetery.

The white steam shooting into the sky from the train and its mournful whistle became the backdrop to this funeral. The mourners, heavy with sadness, buried an empty coffin in the ground as the church pastor gave his eulogy.

Grave of Dorothy, Imperial Front-line Soldier. In honor of: A life of loyalty, kindness, and diligence.

The headstone was simply carved with a few brief lines recording the deceased's identity. As for the body, there wasn't one.

The soldier who'd brought news of Dorothy's death back to the orphanage from the front lines said this brave young woman had been killed in a violent explosion on the Dragon Ridge battle line, her body completely destroyed.

Her fellow orphans could only find some clothes Dorothy had worn as a child and erected this cenotaph for her.

Dorothy had no family. The orphanage was her final home, but this home had too many members, and the caretakers hadn't shed many tears for this young woman who'd joined the military so young.

Soon, she would disappear from people's memories and die completely.

Not far from this small funeral, near the edge of a cliff, an elderly man in a gentleman's suit, properly dressed but with hair in complete disarray, stood silently before another grave.

Unlike Dorothy's fading fate, the owner of this grave had been remembered for decades.

The person remembering her was none other than the famous master alchemist of the entire Empire, Julius.

The old man was Julius himself. He held a newspaper in his hand, looking at his wife's grave, then toward the mouth of the Lionheart River below the cliff, illuminated by sunlight and flowing to the sea. His eyes wavered.

"Old partner, didn't you say your greatest wish was to adventure across the Vortex Sea? Hehe, they've built steel battleships. Our wish is about to come true...

Just wait. Once I've dealt with those filthy old bastards, we'll set off! To sail, to adventure..."

Hope for the future still seemed to fill the aged alchemist's eyes. He smiled and placed a bouquet of flowers before his wife's grave, then turned to leave.

Today, he would board a train from the nearby station heading to that town full of synthetic beasts. There he'd complete the task His Highness had assigned while dealing with those alchemists who'd completely fallen into corruption.

After that, he'd owe the Goliath royal family nothing more.

...

On the train, David sat in a private compartment, reading through the materials Fernandes had given him while enjoying the scenery outside the window.

Today had unusually nice weather. The green countryside and gentle breeze outside were refreshing.

"Coo... coo coo..."

Suddenly, a white bird flew past the compartment window. It flipped around mid-flight and came back, slamming into the edge of the window with a thud, landing in a not particularly graceful manner.

"Coo..."

David looked at the bird curiously and realized it was a pigeon with a small metal tube tied to its leg. Looked like a carrier pigeon...

"What carrier pigeon chases after a train?"

Looking confused, David reached out to remove the metal tube and open it. Inside was actually a small rolled-up note.

"To my hunter, David..."

David was stunned. This letter was actually for him?

Looking at the handwriting, it was Fourth Prince Roland's... His Highness Roland really was incredibly capable. Even his carrier pigeons could directly track someone's current location.

David couldn't help looking back a few times, confirming he wasn't being followed by the prince's people, before looking at the note with mixed feelings.

"I'll pay for your ritual expenses, no need to pay me back..."

That first line made David smile.

"...But there's something I need you to handle on the side. I know you're heading to the Monster Cage in Dark Valley. I need you to completely destroy it, kill all the fallen alchemists, leave no one alive. Remember, leave no one alive! Also, don't reveal your identity. If you get caught, I won't rescue you."

The killing intent in His Highness's handwriting sent chills down the spine. After reading it, David gently crumpled the paper into a ball and found a match to burn it.

Knew it—there's no such thing as a free lunch.

But His Highness's order actually saved David some trouble. Originally, to get the best glowing heart, he'd inevitably have to negotiate with the Monster Cage folks, maybe even pay a hefty price.

Now though? Things were simple—this was just officially sanctioned robbery!

Kill everyone, take everything, walk away clean, hide all merit and fame—that was the entire plan. Simple! Efficient! I like it!

Thinking this, David smiled, crossed his legs, covered his face with his hat, and prepared to catch up on sleep before reaching his destination. He hadn't slept well these past couple days...

...

Dorothy opened her eyes. The horrifying sensation of her leg bones being pulverized made her mind instantly tense.

She frantically moved her eyeballs, confirming where she was.

That dark battlefield was like the most terrifying nightmare. Any lapse in vigilance could cost a soldier their life. How could she fall asleep in a place like that...

Wait, asleep?

Why had she fallen asleep? What was with the pain in her legs?

In the darkness, Dorothy reached with trembling hands toward her lower body. There was nothing there...

Pain?

No, that seemed to be a phantom sensation. She'd long since lost the legs that could feel pain.

She remembered now. On the battlefield, she'd had both feet blown off by an attack powerful enough to vaporize the earth.

Vaguely, she remembered someone dragging her back, then she'd lost consciousness...

She'd thought that would be eternal sleep, but it turned out to be just the beginning of another nightmare.

Dorothy in the darkness lay on the ground, slowly reaching forward until she touched the cold bars of a cage—she remembered now. Those people who'd "saved" her from the battlefield had no intention of letting this legless soldier return home with honor.

She'd fallen into the hands of some masked, terrifying monsters and been thrown onto a cold, bloody operating table...

Terrible memories flooded her mind, making her relive the excruciating pain of having her lower body cut. Those people had sawed off her severed thighs at the root, then forcibly attached some kind of alchemical prosthetics, demanding she learn to control her "new legs."

The piercing pain and bone-scraping torture left her unable to move, but trapped in the cage, she didn't even have the right to wail. Any unnecessary movement brought merciless whipping.

They didn't treat her as human at all. No food, no water. She seemed to have become an undignified test subject, a doll to be manipulated at will.

Over the following weeks, the only thing that entered her stomach was an endless stream of suspicious potions. Those liquids constantly burned her throat, esophagus, stomach, intestines...

Even if she used her hands to dig the potion out of her throat and spit it out, they'd tirelessly pour more down!

Until her body began to change: her hair lost its color, everything in her vision turned red, her body became emaciated and weak, horrifying light began flowing beneath her pale skin, her nerves and blood vessels seemed to be burning.

That day, she heard those people excitedly shouting something about "success." They popped champagne in front of her, celebrating triumphantly.

Yes, the torture was finally ending. Those strange metal prosthetics they'd forcibly attached at her thigh stumps finally moved under the control of endlessly burning nerves.

She'd learned to control those legs.

But her fate also ended there. Those people removed her "legs," threw her into a cage, and sent her underground.

She'd lost all use. According to the people transporting her, in the spirit of not wasting anything, she would become food for a monster. That was her ending...

Last night, through the gaps in her cage, she'd seen that monster's silhouette.

It was huge, terrifying... that abyss-like maw seemed quite suitable as her final resting place.

Most peculiar was that its heart area was emitting light.

That was a warm light...

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