Endless Debt

Irwin opened the window, and bright sunlight poured in. His eyes felt sore, as if tears were welling up. He squinted his eyes. After his eyes got used to the bright light, Irwin opened his eyes again.

During the days he stayed in Opos, Irwin barely saw the sun. The industrial waste gas and the fog pouring out of the great rift accumulated together, forming a gas shield above the city.

The days in Opos were gloomy every day, and it would rain lightly from time to time. Irwin liked this cold tone when he was young, but now he only feels that his joints are in terrible pain.

Arriving at Freeport, many factories have been built along the coast, but the level of industrial pollution is not as high as in Opos... At least Irwin can look directly at the blue sky and sunlight.

Continuous buildings extend towards the harbor, and the ships piled on the sea can be seen in the distance. They are connected together, just like reclamation of the sea, creating the land on the sea. At the end of the sight, It is a dark sea.

Irwin breathed hard, and the fresh sea breeze brought air full of fishy smell, which made Irwin almost vomit.

Wiping the corners of his mouth, Irwin said to himself, "Ahem...this damn place hasn't changed at all."

The lingering smell of fish, the constant noise and sound of running water day and night, and the many people from foreign lands.

Fish and dragons are mixed together, and weird things are rampant.

This place is very similar to Opos, but most of the urban areas in Opos have good security, and the entire city can maintain a certain degree of order.

Freeport is different. People from foreign lands gather here to form different gangs. Huge trade transactions bring about crazy gray industries.

Irwin knows this all too well. When he was young, he was a member of this abnormal food chain and experienced this evil cycle firsthand.

It's like a smelly garbage dump with everything in it.

Irwin looked away, put his hand on his left arm, and gently pressed the dagger hidden under his sleeve.

Now Irwin is getting closer and closer to his destination, and dangers are hidden everywhere, ready to give Irwin a fatal blow at any time.

In the past, Irwin thought it would be better to avoid those gangs, and even said to use money to clear the way, but it is different now. There are existences in this world that are far more evil than humans, and that is the devils who have fallen from humans.

The shadows in Freeport were deep and long, and Irwin guessed that there must be many demons hiding there. Whenever night fell, they would crawl out of their lairs and eat like wild beasts.

Demons are not moved by money, they only care about the satiety of their souls.

"The human world overlaps with their world, and the world changes at the moment when day and night alternate."

Irwin scribbled in his notes.

Sometimes he would suddenly think of some sentence patterns and paragraphs, and would record them and save them for use in stories he wrote later, or to find inspiration.

"Are you forgetful?"

The voice came from behind, very close at hand, and Irwin sat up from the bed like a tiger with explosive hair.

Irwin yelled, "Can't you make some noise?"

Cinderella knelt on the bed, holding her stomach and laughing when she saw Irwin's appearance.

After getting off the train, the first thing Irwin did was to take Cinderella to find her sister, but after leaving the train station, Cinderella spoke slowly.

"Where my sister is...I don't know very well."

"You don't know?" Irwin almost collapsed, "Are you serious?"

"The last time I came here, I was only a few years old. Wow...this place has really changed a lot."

Irwin fell silent and forced Cinderella into a corner. He said viciously, "Are you taking advantage of my kindness?"

Someone on the journey did the same thing to Irwin, taking advantage of Irwin's kindness to achieve some purpose, but it was obvious that those people didn't know Irwin well enough.

They knew that Irwin longed to be a noble person, but they never thought about why Irwin wanted to be such a person.

Those people paid the price, which Irwin himself claimed.

"No...not really, I just think you are very interesting. Maybe we can walk together for a while to pass the boring time on the road."

Cinderella looked for a reason, "I helped you too, didn't I? We are a natural partner, and we can knock down all those killers."

Irwin couldn't deny this. Under Cinderella's childlike appearance was an extraordinary mind and power of action. Irwin even felt that if he gave her a dagger, she might make it even better than him.

But the more this happens, the more Irwin becomes suspicious of Cinderella. Her various behaviors are not what an ordinary girl can do.

Seeing Irwin's silence, Cinderella moved her position and escaped from the shadow cast by Irwin.

"Then... let's say goodbye?"

Cinderella did not force any of this, and Irwin looked directly at her, without saying a word as before. After a few seconds, Irwin decisively turned around and left.

She was like an octopus that couldn't be shaken off once it got tangled up, so this was Irwin's best chance to get rid of her - and he'd gotten rid of a lot of people along the way.

Cinderella's face flashed back in front of her eyes, and at the same time, the strange feeling of familiarity when the two met for the first time kept lingering in his mind, as if Irwin had seen her before, but judging from her age and experience, , the two have definitely never met before.

Irwin tried hard to get rid of this strange thought, but more random thoughts followed.

This made Irwin very uneasy.

curiosity.

Once curiosity arises, the sinking of self-will begins.

Irwin knew this very well and tried to forget the related things, but there was a voice calling him in the bottom of his heart. The girl's burgundy eyes burned in his mind and turned into a more brilliant color.

Irwin stopped and turned his head unexpectedly, trying to see if Cinderella had left.

A familiar smiling face came into view, and Cinderella followed closely behind him.

Cinderella grabbed Irwin's arm and shook it vigorously, "We are killer partners!"

Irwin broke away without letting his guard down at all, "What on earth are you going to do?"

"Going to find my sister, this is the truth," Cinderella then asked, "What about you, Irwin, why did you come all the way here?"

Irwin was silent, and Cinderella smiled even more, "Look, we are all people with secrets. How about we keep our distance and not disturb each other?"

"why me?"

Irwin didn't understand why Cinderella would bother him.

"Because you're a good person."

Cinderella's words left Irwin speechless.

"Okay, okay, I admit, I wanted to get some travel expenses from you at first," Cinderella confessed, but the degree of her confession was extremely surprising, "I met many people along the way. As long as I act cute, they will be fooled by me and start thinking about things they shouldn't think about."

Irwin took a wary step back.

"But you're a nice guy, Irwin," Cinderella said. "I like guys like you. There aren't many principled guys these days."

"That means you're not from that town?" Irwin asked.

"I just got in the car there," Cinderella said. "Humans are very good at completing information... I wasn't lying."

Cinderella gives a half-truth, and then Irwin deceives himself.

"Sorry," Cinderella apologized and waved her slender arm, "I don't have the strength like you. If I want to protect myself, I have to resort to some tricks."

After speaking, she bowed deeply to Irwin.

Irwin let out a long sigh. At this point, he could understand Cinderella. When her own strength was not enough, she could only rely on small means.

For example, what I did when I was young.

Irwin looked at Cinderella, and he suddenly realized what the familiar feeling came from. In some ways, Cinderella was very similar to himself, very similar to his younger self, a fallen leaf drifting with the tide.

No...there's still something different.

Seeing Irwin hesitate, Cinderella took advantage of the victory and asked, "Does this impress you?"

"Only half," Irwin explained. "You saved one of my lives on the train... no, two lives. Just think of it as something I owe you."

Cinderella took a long breath. She didn't have to sleep on the street in the next few days, and then she asked curiously, "What is the other half?"

"I always feel like I've seen you somewhere, even though it's impossible," Irwin tried to describe the dreamlike feeling, "but there's just something strangely familiar about it."

It was like seeing it in a dream.

Cinderella's expression was strange, and Irwin couldn't figure out why she was like this. Then Cinderella looked at Irwin up and down, looking hesitant.

"Irwin...if you were ten years younger, no! Twenty years younger, we could still give it a try."

Cinderella's expression was determined, as if it took her a lot of courage to make this decision.

Irwin was stunned for a few seconds, then he reacted and cursed, "Shut up!"