Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

The underground of Tongmen City is much quieter than the surface.

The stone walls of the sewer were covered with moss, and water droplets dripped from the gaps in the pipes overhead, hitting the puddles and making a monotonous echo.

The air was filled with a damp, rotten smell, a mixture of rust and mud.

Brown Jeffrey huddled behind a thick drainpipe, his back pressed against the cold stone wall.

His fingers gripped a sound transmission stone, his knuckles turning white, the stone still retaining a warm, lingering magical aura.

His breathing was so light it was almost inaudible, but his heart was beating like a drum.

On the other end of the communication stone was his wife's voice.

"I went...I went to your partner's house and asked..."

The wife's voice came from the stone, trembling cautiously and suppressing fear.

"They've all disappeared... Their families don't know where they went..."

"Brown...who exactly did you offend?"

Brown's throat bobbed.

"What did their families say?"

"They didn't say anything... Some closed the door, some shook their heads, some glanced at me and then closed the door..."

His wife's voice grew softer and more uneasy.

"Brown... tell me honestly... have you messed with someone you shouldn't have?"

"No!"

Brown's voice suddenly rose, sharp and urgent, like a string stretched to its limit.

"Who could I possibly have offended? I just took a regular job! I just killed a few vagrants!"

"Many adventurers have done this!"

"No one would come to me for a few homeless people!"

"So, nothing will happen at all, don't overthink it."

His voice echoed a few times in the sewer before being swallowed by the damp air.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the communication stone.

Then his wife's voice rang out again, softer than before.

When are you coming back?

Brown did not answer.

He cut off the magic of the communication stone.

The stone darkened, and the sewer fell back into that dull, lifeless silence.

He leaned against the stone wall, closed his eyes, and gasped for breath.

No one will find this place.

He kept telling himself that.

Even the city's garrison didn't know this location.

He had led a team to clean the sewers several times before, which is how he discovered this hidden corner deep inside the pipes.

Even if you sent a legend, let alone those nobles, you wouldn't be able to find him.

He repeated these words over and over, mechanically, as if he were reciting a talisman.

But the unease in my heart, like a rising tide, gradually crept up, getting higher and higher, closer and closer.

It seemed to be a response to his unease.

A cold touch pressed against his neck.

Thin as a cicada's wing, sharp as silk.

Brown stopped breathing.

His eyes snapped open, his pupils shrinking to the size of a pinhead in the darkness.

His body froze; he didn't dare move a single finger.

"Let...let me go..."

His voice was forced out of his throat, hoarse and broken.

"I still have family..."

A voice rang out from behind.

Calm, without any ups and downs, as if stating a perfectly ordinary fact.

"We all have families."

"You, me, and them."

"Mr. Brown Jeffrey."

A sharp blade sliced ​​through.

A very soft sound, like the sound of cloth being torn.

Warm liquid welled up from Brown's neck, trickled down his Adam's apple, and dripped onto the damp stone floor.

His body swayed, then he fell forward, his face submerged in the puddles, splashing a small amount of water.

It has never been touched again.

Behind him, Lin Gui revealed his figure.

His grey robes were stained with a few drops of water, and his oak staff was tucked into his waistband.

He held the dusty dagger in his right hand, the tip of which was spotless.

He took a folded piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it.

A list of names was written neatly in charcoal on the paper.

Most of the names have been underlined, except for the last one.

Brown Jeffrey.

Lin Gui picked up his charcoal pencil and drew a line on the last name.

Then he folded the paper and tucked it back into his pocket.

He looked down at Brown Jeffrey's body and remained silent for a long time.

Sewage flowed past the corpse, its surface murky and dull.

This list was given to him by Elvia.

It includes everyone who caused that tragedy.

The leader of the refugees who informed the adventurers, the adventurers who took action, the nobles who instigated the action, and Harold, the true mastermind.

Most of them have already been dealt with by Elvia.

Elvia revealed herself and killed many adventurers who came to capture her.

As for those nobles, it was Elvia who designed them.

He was framed for attacking a transport convoy and then met his end at the hands of Cedric and others.

However, a few still slipped through the net.

They escaped the purge because they didn't receive news of Elvia's appearance or the subsequent massive propaganda campaign to rebuild the post office.

Upon learning that Harold had been nailed to the ground, they realized something was wrong and went into hiding.

Finding a few people deliberately hiding in the Copper Gate City, which is even larger than the capital of Carter, is like finding a needle in a haystack.

But Lin Gui managed to do it by investigating each person who was related to the target by blood.

Follow those thin, delicate threads of soul to find their hiding places, and then go to them one by one.

Just like the methods the Alliance used to destroy Starfire.

Now, even the last name has been crossed out.

Every participant in that massacre paid the price.

But Lin Gui couldn't breathe a sigh of relief.

Because he knew better than anyone where the whole thing originated.

Harold went to the refugee neighborhood to vent his anger that day.

The incident stemmed from the fact that the vaults of several of his properties were looted.

The loss of nearly 8 million gold coins resulted in him being severely reprimanded by his family.

He was seething with anger and had nowhere to vent it, so he took his men to the refugee area.

As usual, I want to find a few lowly people I don't like to take action against.

Then he discovered the post office hidden inside.

Then the tragedy occurred.

The person who robbed that vault was none other than Lin Gui.

In order to raise enough money to invite the legendary figure to register, he stole money from many nobles, but he did not expect it to trigger such a chain reaction.

It can be said that Lin Gui personally took those people's lives.

The post office gave them hope, only to have it buried by Lin Gui himself.

The sewers were quiet for a long time.

The sewage was still flowing, carrying the smell of rust and decay.

Brown Jeffrey's body lay motionless on the ground, his face submerged in sewage.

Lin Gui stood before the corpse, his gaze fixed on its reflection in the sewage, and remained silent for a long time.

He then spoke.

"system."

Why hasn't the number of weekly commissioned emails changed?

"Those who wanted to send letters... are all dead."

"Die because of me."

The system's voice calmly sounded in my mind.

Because the recipients they were supposed to send the goods to are still alive.

Lin Gui remained silent for a long time.

His fingers tightened slightly around the gray dagger, then relaxed.

"In the future... if something similar happens, could you please let me know in advance?"

"I...don't want to see this happen again."

The system was silent for a moment.

[Host, you know this is impossible.]

Even I could not have foreseen their deaths.

They may have died from aristocratic tyranny, from hunger, or from disease.

For them, death is all too common.

[On your long journey of delivering letters, many senders may have already met with tragic deaths.]

Having lived through that revolution, you should understand better than anyone the despair of the lower classes.

Therefore, they want change.

But ultimately it failed.

【...】

In the end, you're the only one left.

Lin Gui did not speak again.

He silently gripped the gray dagger, took one last look at Brown Jeffrey's body, and then turned away.

The sound of footsteps gradually faded into the sewers, swallowed up little by little by the sound of flowing water.