Mr. Death in the Steam World

3:45 a.m., Shilou.

Melina secretly opened her eyes.

There were no footsteps in the corridor, no lights outside the iron gate, and a faint smell of alcohol in the air.

She secretly encouraged herself.

Excellent, everything is going according to plan! The watchman is drunk again!

She took a deep breath and pulled a small piece of metal from under the blanket.

She looked at the key to freedom in her hand with a complicated expression; it had taken her two weeks to remove it from the food delivery tray.

She had tried countless times, but the iron bar was welded so tightly that she couldn't pry it open with her strength.

But the gap between the iron bars and the window frame is widening day by day.

She used a piece of metal to probe into the gap and slowly, bit by bit, pried it open.

The sound of metal scraping against metal was particularly jarring in the silent stone building. She had to stop every few prying attempts and strain her ears to listen to the sounds in the corridor.

There was no response; the drunken guard was probably fast asleep.

The iron sheet was pushed into the gap little by little, and the iron bar began to sway slightly.

Sweat beaded on Melina's forehead as she gritted her teeth and pressed all her weight onto the metal plate.

With a soft click, an iron bar came loose from the window frame.

Melina quickly pulled it out of the window and gently placed it on the ground.

The gap between the remaining two iron bars was big enough for her to squeeze through.

She turned back for one last look at the stone building where she had been for who knows how long, then braced herself against the windowsill with both hands and slipped out through the iron bars like a small, thin cat.

Outside was a narrow mine tunnel.

Melina ran barefoot through the gravel and slag, following the route she remembered.

Turn left, go through a section of unlit mine tunnel, turn right, then right again, and the scree slope is there.

She squeezed herself sideways into the gap at the top, inching her way in, and finally emerged from the other side of the crack.

She can't outrun people with superpowers on her own two feet, but she can use other things.

She overheard the guards' gossip and learned that the waste transport convoy departed from the east side of the mining area at four o'clock every morning, passed near Shilou, and headed towards the waste pile in the southeast direction of the shantytown.

Although she didn't know where the waste dump was or how far the shantytown was, she knew that as long as she got on that vehicle, she could leave this place.

The carriage procession stopped at a fork in the road, with the driver leaning against his horse, smoking and looking quite content.

Melina pursed her lips and patiently waited until the driver finished his cigarette and went out to relieve himself before quickly hiding under the car.

Soon after, footsteps were heard.

The driver cursed as he boarded the carriage, and with a crack of the whip, the carriage slowly moved forward.

Melina curled up under the car and closed her eyes.

To be honest, she occasionally bumps into pebbles on the ground, which hurts quite a bit, but she's inexplicably happy about it.

The thought that this was the price of freedom made her grin.

Soon, the carriage stopped.

Melina heard the driver get out of the car, and the footsteps gradually faded away.

She peeked out from under the car and, in the dim morning light, made out her surroundings.

This is a waste dump, roughly on the edge of the shantytown.

She had seen this place before; on the day she was crammed into the carriage, she had glimpsed this gray-black barren slope through the gaps in the carriage.

She rolled over and lay on the ground, panting heavily.

The morning light peeked through the gaps in the clouds and fell on her dirty face, somewhat dazzlingly.

"Finally, I'm free!"

She cheered inwardly for her courage.

Staying outside all the time wasn't a solution, so she hastily found a shack and hid inside for a few hours.

......

As dawn broke, three or four men in black robes followed several mercenaries in leather armor, searching house to house in the alleyways of the shantytown.

The leader was a man with a scar on his face and a short gun at his waist. He pounded on the doors and windows of each house he passed.

"Open the door! We're checking people at the mine!"

A little girl peeked out and then quickly retreated back into the shack, her heart pounding.

She had grown up in the shantytown, and had seen mine foremen come to collect wages and chamber of commerce managers come to collect rent, but she had never seen so many people, making such a fuss, searching for people in the shantytown.

Who are they looking for?

She remembered the young man whose fingers seemed to ignite yesterday, and the questions he had asked—to find retired miners and inquire about the mining area. And then today, people from the mine came.

Was it because of him? Probably not, after all, he's so handsome and funny.

For some reason, a thought suddenly flashed through the little girl's mind.

Melina.

Her older sister, who was a year or two older than her, suddenly disappeared from the shantytown a while ago.

The adults said she was taken away by the miners and wouldn't be coming back.

The little girl didn't understand at the time; she only knew that her older sister, Melina, was very kind to her. She would use the coins she had saved to buy candy for them and would help her soothe her crying younger siblings to sleep at night.

If the person those people are looking for is Sister Melina—

The little girl clenched her fists.

She squeezed through the crack in the back door of the shack and jogged along the path behind the shantytown.

At the end of the alley, she saw an abandoned workers' shed.

She had seen her sister Melina run in this direction.

That was a long time ago, when my sister Melina was still living in the shantytown. Once, she was chased and yelled at by some drunk miners, and she ran away along this road.

If she really is hiding, she'll probably only hide here.

The little girl took a deep breath, climbed over the low wall, and tiptoed towards the shed.

"Sister Melina?" she called out in a low voice.

Soon, a trembling voice rang out.

"……Who are you?"

The little girl lifted the curtain and went inside.

The shed was dark, with only a small patch of light leaking in through a hole.

Melina was huddled in the corner, covered in coal dust and slag, her face so dirty that her features were almost unrecognizable, but the little girl recognized her light brown eyes at a glance.

"It's me!" She knelt down. "Do you remember me? You gave me candy last time and helped me comfort my little brother—what happened to you?"

Melina stared at her blankly, her lips trembling a few times, but she couldn't say a word.

The little girl didn't ask any further questions.

She knew this wasn't the time to ask questions. The men in black robes outside were still searching. If they found this place, her sister Melina would be taken away, and she herself would be implicated.

"You wait here," she said in a low voice, "I'll go find someone to help you."

"Who are you looking for?" Melina finally spoke, her eyes filled with confusion.

The little girl thought for a moment, and the face of the young man whose fingers could shoot fire appeared in her mind yesterday.

She didn't know his name or where he lived, but yesterday she overheard him talking to the priest in the black robe and mentioning a place—the Swallow Inn.

He's so handsome, he must be a good person, he'd definitely be willing to help!