Half-step Purgatory

Durin stroked the black cat on the armrest of his chair, sitting on the black leather sofa. Through the glasses perched on his nose, his gaze passed over the long table in front of him and settled on the man kneeling on the carpet:
"I understand, you've made money in Naples, your business has been very successful, and you've led a happy life. You've had those secret police, friends in both the law and the underground, and even the Royal Family speaking on your behalf."
"You don't need a friend like me, I know that. You're afraid of owing me a favor, and you don't want to get involved in troubles."
"But now you come to me and say, 'I beg you, Mr. Durin of the Corleon family, please help me seek justice, so that my life and my family will not suffer and sink into despair.'
Yet, in your eyes, I was nothing more than a second-rate artist involved in movies and music. Even at the brink of death, you still show me such disrespect, not even willing to call me by my title... Keeper of Secrets."

Durin's Diary

·The human heart is a prime subject for manipulation; the fervor of youth, the springtime of the uninformed—these are the kindling most cherished by conspirators behind the scenes. They use the former to ignite the fire of civilization, but this fire is ultimately lit by life itself, and so even its flickering colors change.


At this moment, Big Orange seemed like a historian chronicling the annals of history.


This member of House Sario named Cork, who seems to also be Irene's cousin, stands here today, signifying that he and Durin must resolve their life-and-death conflict.


There are few in this world who are not deemed pawns.


The street vendor is a pawn of their family; the child in the academy, a pawn of their parents; indeed, everyone is a pawn of fate.


Everyone dances upon the chessboard and savors it as such.


Hence, facing Bishop Sarol's smile and the young man supporting him, Durin's eyelids inadvertently fluttered.


Chapter 42: The Academy's Top Gunslinger