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 old man with gray hair sat at the outdoor seating of a coffee shop.


Early in the morning, the young people of the town assembled, chanting and running around the town.


Many old men like him watched these youths with envy, envying their youth and early years, envying their time and prime.


"If I were as young as they are, I too would definitely join Lord Durin's army and fight for the most humble yet greatest ambition."


"You? When you were young, you got out of breath just taking a few steps. Don't brag."


The old man listened to the conversation of his peers as he smiled, mixing the coffee in his hands.


It was then that an Elf, dressed in linen robes unique to the Great Wilderness, approached and sat down in front of him, "Fisher Gregory, you old fish, if it weren't for the scar by your eye, I wouldn't recognize you."


Chapter 140: Staggering on the Land of Injustice