Chapter 16: The Feast of Paradise

Lorenzo pulled Iguan into the madness of the party, everything was clear, the long tunnel led directly to the deepest part, but like a spider's web, it branched out into dozens of paths, and where the corners met, there were people lying all over the place, their eyes lost, seemingly lost in a dream they couldn't wake up from.

"What the hell is..."

Iguan almost choked, words already difficult to describe.

"The Feast of Ultimate Bliss."

Lorenzo replied in a flat voice, the blood-boiling atmosphere couldn't excite him in the slightest, as if his blood was cold, his gaze was on the people who were four across the ground, embracing each other passionately, indulging in a dream together.

This was only the periphery, who knows how many more people were intoxicated underneath this vast underground palace.

But Lorenzo didn't care about any of that, he pulled Iguan onward, stepping over a twisted and writhing body.

"What are those people doing?"

"Beautiful dreams, it's their way of relieving themselves."

Lorenzo said as he walked, holding Ichigo on his arm.

"You know that hallucinogen that's ravaging the outer city? That's what they inject, just a little bit can escape reality for a long time, it's one of the programs of the Saber Ball, the people in the Lower City usually call this gathering the Feast of Ultimate Bliss in their opinion this act is like going to heaven together."

His eyes were slightly cold, Lorenzo was never a fan of such means of escapism.

"But it only goes for a little while, the dream has to end sometime, a hard fall from a wonderful paradise, waking up and letting go in the dirty lower city."

Iguan froze, overwhelmed by the cruelty of the world that had been revealed to her in just one corner.

"For . ... why?"

As if asking why they didn't work hard and love life.

...

This was the age of steam technology, the rumbling steam engine pushed the technology of the whole world forward with force, but the goodness brought by this technology did not favor on everyone, even in the middle of this old metropolis of Ingelweg.

The whole of Old Turin is in a kind of sick deformity, the sky is covered with dark clouds, Zeppelin never dive the world's top technology in this industrial hotbed of breeding, everything towards the most beautiful direction.

But the price of all this is also so painful, mixed with the exhaust air in the lungs of every Invergar echo, in order to make the furnace never go out, the old forests have long been burned down, and now there are only wastelands to be developed.

The top of technology always prioritizes the military, and so the Irvig finally won the century-long War of Light, the dividends of war and unique military technology led to its rapid rise, and under the twisted development, the Serpent of the Atrium covered almost all of the territory of the Irvig, and the silent torrent of steel was enough to easily destroy any country that refused to submit.

But blackest of all is always the deep shadow beneath the day.

The fledgling public infrastructure can only satisfy the needs of the nobility and some of the population, the Mechanics' Yard has managed to send hundreds of tons of war machines into the skies, but it can't make electric lights in every dark home, and the liberation of the productive forces has been followed by the unemployment of untold numbers of people, who have been evicted from their own countries like feral dogs, and who live in the damp sewers before finally descending into desperate insanity.

"The whole of Old Turin is a pyramid, with the classes coming down one by one, and the cornerstones held up at the end by those who are powerless.

Lorenzo said coldly.

"Machines don't need wages, they don't need rest, but men do, and so they are eliminated and end up living here."

Iguan didn't say anything, being of noble class she couldn't say anything.

After a long walk, with multiple senses such as sight and hearing constantly hit by this ecstasy, Iguan finally breathed a sigh of relief when stepping into that actual ballroom.

As the two of them stepped in all the guests had already arrived, the door behind them slowly closed, the song gradually rose, men and women twisted and danced on the dance floor, as if the door was isolating the whole world, completely isolating the warmth of that ecstasy.

The huge chandelier was hung with countless crystals, which reflected the light and made the dome look like a white sun.

The hall was much more spacious than what one could see in the tunnel, with steps rumbling upward one after another, as if it were the dueling arena of that ancient aged horse. This place was unimaginably prosperous, Iguan had never imagined that there would be such a facility in the impoverished Lower District, as if all the wealth of the Lower District had been gathered here to build this great place.

"Dance?"

Lorenzo pulled Iguan into a smile, made a curtsy, and without waiting for Iguan to answer led her around the dance floor.

"I'm not very good at it."

Even though Iguan said that, she felt it was too late, the two were already moving, going back and forth through the crowd on the dance floor.

The band on the high stage played obliviously, the songs picking at everyone's emotions.

"As a nobleman, you should learn more, perhaps your future husband will then be the one to meet at the ball no?"

Lorenzo showed incredible skill, Iguan was like his puppet on strings, swaying and dancing with it in his hands.

"And how do you, a detective have to learn how to dance? "

"As you know, most of the time catching a mistress is at the end of a dance."

Lorenzo's voice was a little dry, it did seem a little bad to keep bringing up his dark history like that.

Iguan gave a wicked grin, his mood unconsciously relaxing, this was no different from a normal ball if you forgot how you got here and what you were up to.

"Look around carefully, we're looking for Saber next."

Spinning around with Iguan in his arms, the girl was much lighter than he expected, her long skirt spreading out as she spun around as if she were a lotus flower in full bloom.

"You don't know what he looks like?"

"I'm just a detective, how could I possibly have seen it, so we need to find him somehow before it's over."

His mouth was talking to Iguan, but Lorenzo's eyes kept sweeping back and forth.

"He's a Viking tall should be very conspicuous."

Iguan gave his suggestion, but Lorenzo shook his head.

"He won't be on the dance floor, he's the master here and this is just a warm up, there's no need for the master to show up so early."

Eyes darted back and forth across the gilded hall, and if it weren't for the mask, Lorenzo would have looked like a petty thief who had come to steal something.

"This is his kingdom, and a king is supposed to sit at the top and look down on his people, and be the first to see whatever happens."

The girl's slender waist was like a willow branch in Lorenzo's hands, and the two swayed and twirled as they continued to make their way through the crowd, fueled by the music.

"It's like those zeppelins, they're always above the clouds, they see whatever the people on the ground do."

His eyes eventually landed on the raised platform, and Lorenzo whispered in Iguan's ear.

"I think I found him."

It was a high platform, where the more distinguished guests had been seated early, talking amongst themselves, sipping wine and food, discussing things they didn't want others to know about.

"You said he was in that group?"

Iguan whispered as she saw there too in one of her spins.

"No, further up."

Lorenzo's eyes stayed further up the high platform, the magnificent glazed walls.

It was obvious that they were underground, but those walls were covered in stained glass, depicting as if they were myths in a chapel of worship, but this was underground, and the divine light could never wine down and reflect it all.

"This is underground, and that stained glass is so abrupt that it must be a room beyond that, and he is there behind that glass, watching us quietly from there."

"And how? Shoot at that?" Iguan was reckless.

"That way we'll all die here together today, it's underground, you saw how complicated the route is, the only known exit we have is the way we came in, and that's an advantageous terrain, as long as someone is blocking it with a cannon, he can fight one against a hundred, and it's hard for even an army to break through."

Like the Hot Springs Pass that Leonidas held on to, no matter how many enemies there were, they were evenly matched in that narrow terrain.

"Then how?"

"Wait."

Lorenzo looked confident.

"There's always a chance."