“What? Their leader is also coming?” Nefertari raised her eyebrows and stopped what she was doing.
She reached out her hand and pressed a few times on the ritual disc burning with blue-violet flames to extinguish the fire.
Looking back, the pale-skinned red-haired lady asked her tall childhood friend in surprise, “When? What level of leader?”
In the beautiful flame-colored pupils, there was an unceasing flame dancing.
It was the search for endless knowledge or possibly greed.
“I didn’t ask, but it should be a senior church member,” Nieusel replied in a deep voice.
He shook his head, sat behind Nefertari, and looked at the bookcase in a daze.
He whispered, “They are indeed the Light’s followers, like you said.”
“What do you see?”
“Light.” Nieusel replied, “Unlike us, they have light in their eyes and cannot be lost… Their light seems to come from their hearts.
“They are young. The oldest is in his early twenties and younger than 30 years old. The boy among them is her blood-related little brother.”
“Blood-related little brother?” Nefertari froze for a moment.
She was silent for a moment and replied in a daze, “I remember that the male heir in the world above ground should be the primary heir of the family, right?”
“At the very least, that applies to the Austere-Winter Dukedom. I believe the nobles of the United Kingdom also have this custom.”
Nieusel’s mood was heavy, “Her brother has died in Sporeggar Mill more than 30 times.”
Hearing this, Nefertari’s hand trembled slightly.
Her lips moved slightly. The word “idiot” was stuck in her mouth, but she still could not bear to spit it out.
She was silent for a while, but she still swallowed the words and put it another way, “It’s their leader who ordered them to go to Sporeggar Mill to purify the nightmare, right?”
Overseer Nieusel nodded.
Then, he added, “Their leader is coming here to purify the nightmare too.
“I heard from them that there should be a group of backups after that. There are at least a hundred people, all of whom are elites who are proficient in purifying nightmares.”
“I can’t afford to pay that much.”
“No, they did not ask for money.”
“They did not ask for it, but can I not pay them?!”
Out of the blue, Nefertari shouted irritably, “Whether they want it or not is their business, and whether I give it or not is my business!”
The two of them raised their heads at the same time and looked at each other subconsciously. However, after a brief but unbearable silence, they quickly turned their eyes away.
“Sorry,” Nieusel spoke first.
His voice was gentle and honest, as calm and harmless as his appearance.
Nefertari sighed deeply and shook her head, “You are not at fault. I was too emotional.
“That’s what I think, Nieusel. Listen to me. These one hundred people must not have come here to purify Sporeggar Mill.
“They should be here to spread light into the underground world. The leader wants us, the underground folks who live from the false light, to experience the light that belongs to the ‘sun’.
“However, if they purified the Sporeggar Mill nightmare for us, I plan to give them a generous gift. They come to change the fate of our underground people and give their blood and sweat, even without ties or reasons.
“I don’t care what the Wise Council and the Digger Council in other cities will do. However, I want them to firmly believe that when they come here, at least one city will welcome them and at least one city will recognize and remember their contributions. Their dedications are not in vain.
“Those stupid and short-sighted mortals may not understand what they have changed. They don’t care about nightmares and never care about the fate of every underground city in which nightmares have eroded. The space in the underground world is so vast that they no longer cherish them.”
Nefertari stood up, put her hands on her chest, and her voice grew slightly louder, “But I understand what this means! This is a country without deities. Although the underground world is vast, it is not infinite. As nightmares spread everywhere and as our population increases, we will come to an end one day.
“But it’s different now!
“I know what they paid! However, I understand more clearly that all the misfortunes we have experienced have nothing to do with them.”
I even want to join them. Nefertari’s lips moved.
But she still did not say that out loud.
She felt sad for her cowardice and her clinging to her survival.
She could accept her death to seek Truth and accept the ending where she paid her life for her friend—such as Nieusel.
However, for the hundreds of thousands of nightmares that could never be purified in a lifetime, it was like throwing a pebble into the sea if she fought to the death and sacrificed everything.
They were insignificant sacrifices that would not see the dawn of hope.
It was even possible that the speed at which she purified nightmares could not keep up with the rate at which nightmares were born. Even if she abandoned her life, her relatives and friends, and the ideals she held since she was a child, she would not be able to produce meaningful results.
Just thinking about it would terrify her.
She was not afraid of sacrifice and not afraid of death.
However, she feared that her sacrifice was meaningless and nothing would change.
Just thinking about it almost made her cry.
“I understand, I understand.” Nieusel wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes intimately and then said in a gentle voice, “We should not have our heroes’ blood and tears go to vain. Is that what you mean?”
“Yes, that’s what I meant.” Nefertari obediently stood still.
After Nieusel handed her the handkerchief, she gently blew her nose.
Only then she pursed her lips, raised her head, and said seriously to the tall and robust brown-haired Overseer, “Nieusel, our fellow [Digger]. The accumulator of wealth, the Protector, the person who pioneered the city—
“I, the [Wise], Nefertari apply for a fund according to the ancient rules. It is used to entertain the [Secret Eye]’s leader, build enough houses, purchase sufficient food and drinking water, hire servants, and provide travel expenses and medicines to the followers of the Light until their destination city is willing to pay for it. After the purification of Sporeggar Mill, I would like to give them some gifts in our name.”
The gift that could be given to a transcender would only be curse vessels.
Nefertari knew that was a lot of money.
Even if she took out all her private money, she could not make up for it.
The scale of the underground city was much smaller than that of the above-ground town because of its large area and sparse population. The entire Sporeggar Mill might not even reach 30,000 people. On the contrary, the city population of the Austere-Winter directly above it was ten times more than that.
As a matter of fact, the comparison was the Austere-Winter Dukedom during the winter year. Thus, there was no need to compare with other places.
The tax collected from 30,000 people could barely support 100 people to live with high standards.
Plus, there were “gifts” and travel expenses.
Nefertari could not afford the money at all.
However, the “Digger” was different.
Those who could become a Digger usually had to risk their lives in the exploration layer for more than ten years. Thus, they had accumulated a considerable amount of wealth at hand.
However, this wealth was earned with their lives. That was because Digger usually would not enter the exploration layer anymore. Thus, they were always spending their wealth instead of having an income. After investing in an underground city and becoming an Overseer, the Digger usually tried to manage his expenditure as much as possible.
Although they were not as clever, they also understood the danger of spending money without generating income.
However, Nieusel replied without hesitation, “I agree.”
That was because he shared similar thoughts too.
“Don’t worry, I still have the founding right to establish two cities and one medicine field,” Nieusel replied smilingly, “The annual dividend alone can supply the daily consumption of Sporeggar Mill.”
“Then, we will all become paupers.”
“Sooner or later, you’ll earn it back again. You’re smart, after all.” Nieusel shrugged.
The two looked at each other and smiled.
The two of them were not too surprised by each other’s choice.
Instead, this was the reason they had known each other and known each other since childhood.
It was just that they had not fallen in love yet.
…probably.