Chronicles of Injustice

Translator: Cinder Translations

...

In the dimly lit living room, a small flicker of flame danced gently atop the candlewick.

The candlelight brought a glimmer of illumination to the room, casting shadows that revealed the youthful, spirited face of a young man.

He was hunched over the table, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on the candlelight, his expression blank, as if he were a statue.

Suddenly, the candle flame began to change; it no longer flickered gently but started to rise upward. Simultaneously, the flame narrowed, resembling a small dough being stretched into noodles by a chef.

The young man's expression shifted slightly as he furrowed his brow and his gaze sharpened, yet he remained focused on the light before him.

The "stretched" flame underwent further transformation; it bent, tilting its upper half slightly to the young man's left, then to his right, and back again in an endless cycle.

If another person had been present and observed closely, they would have noticed that the young man's eyes were moving, and the direction of the flame's tilt matched the movement of his pupils.

It seemed as though the young man was controlling the flame before him.

The speed of the flame's oscillation increased rapidly, but just then, the sound of a door creaking open interrupted, and the flame's movements came to an abrupt halt.

With a soft pop, the candlelight extinguished into a shower of sparks, dissipating swiftly into the air.

The room was immediately plunged into darkness, and the candle did not reignite.

"Damn it, Edward, I felt like I was about to elevate my control over fire to the next level. It would have been an understatement to call it a breakthrough, and now this perfect moment has been ruined by you! Couldn't you have knocked before coming in?"

The young man who had been controlling the flame spoke irritably.

He then snapped his fingers, and the extinguished candle flared back to life, quickly regaining its original height.

Looking at the candle, now only half its length, he sighed sadly.

"Shut up, Nathan. You usually fail at the slightest sound. Do you really think my knocking would be any quieter?"

The newcomer, Edward, was a man with sharp, eagle-like eyes, yet his tone carried a hint of levity.

"This time was different; I was on the verge of success. I had confidence... Forget it, let's not discuss this now."

Nathan shook his head and asked, "So, did you bring back that batch of books?"

Edward picked up the water jug from the table and took several gulps. "There were some setbacks, but we managed to bring them all back. Sanel is supervising the unloading at the dock. However..."

"But what?" A female voice interjected as a woman descended the staircase.

She appeared to be under thirty, exuding a mature charm. Her features were elegant and beautiful, with striking, almost dazzling red hair that, against her milk-white skin, resembled a vibrant flame. Her hair was neatly arranged in a lovely bun at the back of her head, with two strands cascading down in front of her shoulders.

Upon closer inspection, one would notice that her irises were also a reddish hue, an extremely rare eye color on the continent.

"Mom!" Nathan called out to her.

"Lady Marianna!" Edward addressed her.

TL: Lady Chiyan à Lady Marianna

If an outsider were present, Nathan's casual address of the woman might have seemed confusing, as she looked more like a sister than a mother, being far too youthful.

Unlike Nathan's informal reference to his mother, Edward spoke to her with great reverence.

Lady Marianna was a powerful female spellcaster, as well as a member of the ten-member governing body of the Secret Council.

Edward had only recently learned her name—Marianna—having previously been instructed to refer to her as the Red Lady, likely due to her striking red hair.

He quickly answered her earlier question. "Our supplier has raised the price for subsequent orders by 200 Aldor copper shields per book."

"Why?"

Edward explained, "According to Sanel, the local church has exerted influence over the lord. Now, they can only transport the books through certain special means... similar to smuggling. In short, they can't deliver them to us openly."

Marianna immediately asked, "How did the local church exert influence? Did they put pressure on the lord there?"

"No, ma'am. As far as we know, the church representatives simply presented the books to the lord, and he ordered a ban on them."

Marianna continued, "If our supplier continues to use his 'special means' to provide us with goods, will it cause trouble for the lord there?"

Edward replied, "Ah? Trouble? Certainly! For example, they won't be able to tax these goods."

"I mean his relationship with the church."

"That shouldn't be an issue. What lord has the power to control all the lawbreakers in his territory? Everyone knows the situation; the local church probably just wants a show of attitude."

Lady Marianna seemed to fall into thought, and Edward noticed a flicker of concern in her expression.

But after a moment, she said, "Alright, Edward, regarding the supplier's price increase, that's not a problem. We should meet their demands; now is not the time to quibble over small profits."

Edward nodded in agreement. "Yes, ma'am."

"Additionally, these are the sample books from this batch."

He pulled out a couple of books and handed them to Marianna.

She slowly ran her fingers over the new, ink-scented pages, which bore the title Chronicles of Injustice in large, bold letters in the Corner Language.

After a long pause, she exclaimed, "I still don't understand how our supplier managed this—almost all the fonts and handwriting are identical. Were they all copied by the same person? But clearly, one person couldn't complete such a massive workload, and even if it were one person, copying two books consecutively would not yield identical results."

Edward immediately replied, "Oh! Ma'am, I might have an answer to that."

"You?"

Marianna looked at him.

"Yes, I heard from Sanel, who caught a glimpse from afar while in the Northwest Bay—this book was not handwritten at all."

Edward's face showed disbelief. "It's incredible, truly incredible! It wasn't manually copied but produced by some sort of machine."

Nathan, puzzled, asked, "Those books were made by a machine?"

"Yes, I initially thought the books were transcribed by a large team, and I was confused about why the handwriting... even the arrangement of letters was identical. But Sanel's description clarified my doubts. You mean produced? No, no, no; in technical terms, it should be called printing."

Edward corrected Nathan's miswording.

(End of the Chapter)

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