Like the work of ants, the bodies were bagged, cataloged, and carried away. The valuable items that were still intact were taken to a bank, where they were stored alongside the sum of money deposited by Olete. The funds would be sent to the state, and the items sold at an auction. The bodies of Olete and Silvia were cremated, their names permanently placed on the country's blacklist. The house was demolished, and the debris cleared away, leaving an empty lot that was purchased the following month by a neighbor for a high sum of magic stones.
Gregos and his lieutenants found two women hidden in a secret room behind the office bookshelf. Both were rescued and underwent a medical evaluation. Although they had been considered lifeless husks before falling into Alistar's hands, it was confirmed that both were alive and had a chance at rehabilitation. They also arrested over thirty people connected to nobles, all of whom had acquired these "living dolls." The trial was swift; the judge ruled that since they enjoyed forcing others to do as they pleased, it was only fair they tasted their own medicine. All were sentenced to forced labor for the rest of their lives.
The rescued women and men were taken away to recover.
Gregos requested a leave of absence to pursue the killer who had taken his brother's life; he was categorically rejected.
...
A carriage slowly arrived at the street where Olete's mansion once stood. A man stepped down from the carriage, pausing for a moment in confusion. He looked around and, wiping his brow with a handkerchief, walked over to a neighboring house where a servant was pruning trees near the empty lot.
— "Sir! Excuse me."
The man lowered his pruning shears and looked at him. — "How can I help you?"
— "Where is Father Olete's house?"
The servant looked at the gentleman in confusion, then pointed to the empty lot.
— "Did he move?" The man seemed a bit irritated by the employee's attitude.
— "No, sir! Don't you know? Olete and his wife were murdered, his daughters are missing, the house was burned down, and the land was sold along with his assets. Their names were put on the list of traitors. Apparently, the priest was in league with a body snatcher."
Lúcio walked back to the carriage and stopped in front of the door before fainting. Melinda and Lúcia quickly climbed down from the vehicle. Lúcia held her pregnant belly while trying to help her father.
Some servants helped place the man back into the carriage, and they drove away, returning to the hotel where they were staying.
Lúcia wept in the room while Melinda consoled her. Lúcio stood out on the balcony, staring at the colorful hats coming and going, thinking only of sinking into the midst of that crowd.
— "God! I did so many things to rise in life! I sacrificed my humanity, my daughter! For what? To end up nowhere?!" Taking a few more steps until his stomach pressed against the railing, his eyes filled with tears as his hands pushed his body forward and down. Unexpectedly, a hand gripped his shoulder, pulling the old man back to reality. He took two steps back and spun around.
Melinda stood at the doorway, glaring at Lúcio.
— "You have responsibilities in this world! Your daughter is carrying twins from a dead man! She needs you!"
— "Melinda, I am a sinner!" tears rolled down his cheeks. — "I let the fox into the henhouse!"
— "Exactly because of that, your debt to this world is immense. But as long as you live, you can make amends for what you did! If you die, your daughter will suffer for your sins alone. If you want to throw yourself off, be my guest, but do it later so you don't hurt anyone down below."
Melinda turned and withdrew, returning to the bedroom, leaving the man deep in thought on the balcony.
A few hours later, she walked out of the city's security office holding a document in her hands. Melinda looked around before letting out a deep sigh. She looked down at the paper, which was filled with jargon, reporting Gantz's men and their families as missing. Although attacks on farms and small villages were not uncommon, Melinda thought it best to officially register the disappearances.
She still remembered that rainy day. She had been taking the clothes off the line while the children helped her carry things inside when she heard an argument out on the street, formed by a cluster of people gathered around the old hunter and milkman. Apparently, he had gone to deliver the week's order and found the house locked. The porch was covered in overgrown grass and old leaves, looking as though it hadn't been cleaned in weeks. He called out several times before deciding to break down the door. The place was decently tidy, but there were still traces of damage. He searched the entire surrounding area before giving up and coming to ask for help.
Everyone gathered to conduct a search of the region, moving through the forest in a long line of people, shouting their names until they grew weary. The search only concluded after a week of tracking, without finding a single trace.
Melinda decided to accompany the village chief to the city just to report the family's disappearance, despite knowing that the chances of anything being discovered were practically zero. Sitting on a bench outside the office, she thoughtfully caressed her stomach. During her last encounter with Gantz, she had planned to stop taking her contraceptive. She didn't know when she had fallen in love with him, but the desire to have his child grew stronger with each passing day.
— "I should have done it. At least now I would have a little piece of him with me forever," she sighed, watching the busy street.
...
Gantz sang a tune while swaying his body atop the donkey. Geremia seemed to enjoy the rhythm, shaking his head and rear to the sound of the melody.
— "From the fresh new leaves, the world fills with green. La, la..."
— "From the smallest things, great things arise. Ta, ta, ta..."
— "I let the wind take me! I let life carry me!" he traveled, his voice rising in pitch. — "Upon its back I go... feeling the weight, the old weight of sins that are mine!"
— "I cannot help but wonder! What I did to deserve this place! Perhaps... just perhaps... I was a sinner in another life! Now I pay, I pay, I pay without end..."
— "But no! I won't let myself be broken!" The rhythm shifted, becoming faster, more aggressive. — "I will have my revenge, whatever it takes! I will resist this wretched fate, this farce that someone without empathy imposed and chose for me!"
The moon appeared from between the clouds; the blue sky was slowly devoured by the darkness. Just like me, the firmament is consumed by the nightfall—not by choice, not by its own desire, but by an irresistible will of something far above itself. Like me, it changes, from day to night, from night to day, without knowing when this cycle will end.
When will it end? he recited softly to himself.
The road grew sinister at this hour. Only the gray light of the moon illuminated the path ahead, always just a few meters; the rest was a black wall of doubts and mysteries. As if someone had pierced that wall to let light flow, a small dot gleamed, far, far away from where he stood.
They stopped for a moment.
— "What do you think, my brother? Straight ahead, or go around through the woods?"
The donkey brayed and took a step forward.
— "Okay, straight ahead it is!"
It took less than a kilometer before the flames finally became a visible campfire rather than just a speck of light.
— "Who goes there?!" a man bellowed from the dark, his voice thick and guttural.
— "Just a traveler!" Gantz shouted back from atop the small donkey, which brayed as if to confirm the statement.
Three men emerged, one on each side of the road and one in the middle. They wore blue armor with silver contours that shimmered in the moonlight. Hanging from black chains around their necks was the symbol of an anchor—one of the divine letters of the God of the Seas.
— "I beg your pardon for disturbing such a grand retinue with my presence. I did not know this was a holy journey," Gantz smiled, placing one hand over his chest as he bowed his head.
The soldiers relaxed their shoulders; the noble manner in which they were addressed made them less tense.
— "Your name, noble traveler?"
— "I am Sasha Natanael, of the fallen House of Natanael."
The men looked at one another for a moment before one of them nodded in agreement.
— "I ask your pardon for the security measures, young master, but surely you know that the roads are not safe in these parts. Orc clans patrol this region, not to mention bands of stray bandits."
— "Do not worry. I would simply like to request a spot in your retinue until we are close to the border."
— "Which part of the border are you heading to, if I may ask?"
— "Not at all. I am bound for Brazanta."
— "Oh, what a coincidence! Our retinue is moving there as well. Come! Come warm yourself by the fire."
As Sasha walked over to them, the men looked curiously at the well-groomed donkey.
— "It was my grandfather's last gift. He said he comes from a very special lineage of donkeys."
The soldiers nodded as if they understood, but inside, they simply chalked it up to one of the eccentricities of nobles.