‘The central barrier… It’s this enormous.’

The gray barrier was so massive that even the word ‘enormous’ fell short of describing it.

It seemed to be at least twice the height of the surrounding two-story buildings.

The sight of such a gigantic barrier stretching endlessly to the sides was enough to inspire awe at first glance.

While Delphine was lost in thought at its overwhelming appearance, suddenly an authoritative voice came from the front of the carriage.

“A transport carriage? Do you have a special pass for the barrier?”

“Yes, yes. Of course. I’ll just drop off my passenger and return immediately.”

“Still, you need to fill out the traveler’s log first. Hey! The same goes for the person inside!”

On the east side of the central barrier, there was a single gate for exchanging goods.

Glancing through the window, she could see numerous imperial soldiers guarding that massive gate where cargo wagons passed through.

Delphine nervously pulled down the handkerchief covering her head to hide her face even deeper.

“Yes, yes. Customer! Of course you have identification papers to leave the barrier, right?”

“What? Ah, that’s right. I mean, yes.”

So this is what Betty had warned about.

That without identification papers, one wouldn’t be able to enter back into Zone 2.

Delphine wrote ‘Betty’ in the name field of the list that the coachman had filled out and handed over with his own name.

Although it felt very uncomfortable to leave her name on record, they would undoubtedly compare the name with the documents she had when re-entering later.

“Here it… is.”

Delphine awkwardly dragged out the end of her sentence as she handed back the list.

All of this felt so foreign to Delphine, as if it were happening in a different world.

“Pass!”

Like the mansion, the barrier didn’t overly scrutinize those leaving.

Thus, she successfully managed to pass through the barrier.

However, Delphine’s shock did not end there.

Not long after crossing the central barrier, a terrible stench began to waft in.

‘What is this smell…?’

Covering her nose with a silk handkerchief while peering beyond the carriage, Delphine was soon astonished by the scene that unfolded.

“Is this really… the capital of the Empire?”

Acrid gray smoke of unknown origin obscured half the sky.

The landscape on the ground was equally devastating.

Gone was the well-organized, clean cityscape, replaced by dirty earth strewn with garbage.

Shacks clustered like barnacles around streams flowing with sewage.

As Betty had said, there were hardly any people walking alone on the streets.

People hurried along with frightened or despairing expressions.

She even saw packs of filthy stray dogs passing by without any interference.

Delphine found it hard to believe that people were actually living in such a place.

“We’ve arrived, ma’am.”

The coachman’s call flew towards her as she was lost in great shock.

“Is this really… the right place?”

“Yes, 14 Baker Street. This is it.”

Delphine silently handed the fare to the coachman and got off the carriage.

Wondering what kind of place she had been called to, it seemed that No. 14 was in a residential area for Zone 3 residents.

‘That is… if this can really be called a home.’

Gray rectangular buildings without any patterns or decorations stretched along the street.

The only reason Delphine could tell these buildings were inhabited was because old laundry was hung out of the narrow windows.

‘People live… crowded together in places like this?’

She had never seen this type of housing even in Zone 2.

Even the maids and servants at the mansion lived in rooms more spacious than these.

After looking around at the buildings with a shocked expression for a while, Delphine soon took out her pocket watch to check the time.

1:50 PM.

She had deliberately dawdled to arrive a bit later, thinking it might be impolite to arrive too early.

But no matter how much she looked around, there was no one who seemed to recognize her.

Moreover, it didn’t seem likely that this chicken coop-like building was their base…

As she stood in front of the iron door of the building with a serious expression, she could feel the passing residents glancing at her.

“Wow! There’s a princess over there!”

A child wearing shabby clothes pointed at her and shouted.

Princess…?

As Delphine turned her head side to side to look around, she soon realized that the child was referring to her.

The child had called her a ‘princess’ after seeing the maid uniform she was wearing.

Certainly, compared to the clothes worn by the people passing by, the clean and crisply ironed maid uniform could look like a splendid dress.

‘Just for a maid uniform….’

For a moment, an indescribable emotion welled up in her chest.

“Shh! Child! I told you not to point at strangers!”

The old woman holding the child’s hand quickly glanced at her nervously and moved away.

Come to think of it, all the people on the street had anxious faces as they headed somewhere.

“If we’re late…”

“We have to work, or else we’ll be taken to ‘that place’…”

Where is everyone going?

When will those mysterious people who called me here arrive?

Delphine checked her watch once more.

5 minutes.

4 minutes.

3 minutes.

As time passed, she began to feel more and more anxious.

It’s proper etiquette to arrive at least 5 minutes early.

How could she trust people who don’t even keep time?

2 minutes.

1 minute.

…Could I have mistaken the address?

2 o’clock.

The minute and hour hands of the pocket watch overlapped at the top of the hour.

That’s when it happened.

A carriage, like the many others passing on the street, appeared in the distance, then clattered up and stopped in front of her.

Click— The door opened, revealing a passenger already inside.

It was a man wearing a strangely shaped rabbit mask.

“Shall we go?”

A low, calm voice.

Feeling a strange tension in the unfamiliar situation, Delphine quickly got into the carriage.

The carriage started moving before she could even close the door properly.

“Why were you here early? Didn’t we say 2 PM?”

Those were the rabbit mask’s first words.

Surprised, Delphine raised one eyebrow as she replied.

“Well, it’s courteous to arrive at least 10 minutes early…”

“Oh dear.”

The man clicked his tongue briefly.

Delphine could only see the black pupils through the holes in the mask.

‘Black… pupils?’

Those eyes scanned Delphine’s entire body.

“I thought there was no need to tell thee explicitly not to stand out.”

Even though only the eyes were visible, she could sense his great displeasure.

At his tone implying she didn’t even know the basics, Delphine burst out:

“This is the plainest attire I own in the mansion.”

However, all that came back was still mockery.

“Ha! Nobles…”

At that moment, Delphine suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.

“Wait. It’s a card too precious to just kill. Let’s take her to headquarters like this.”

Then. The voice she heard when caught up in the protest scene in District 2.

“…Thou.”

Delphine murmured, examining the black pupils seated between the mask.

“That day, in District 2, the one who said not to kill me. Is it thee?”

“Thy eye for detail is commendable.”

The man offered light praise-like words.

However, Delphine was only more confused.

“Then is Glasscock also part of such a protest group? Who on earth are thee? Where are we going now?”

The man then examined her intently with the eyes seated between his mask and asked:

“I should be the one asking. Why didst thou board the carriage without hesitation? Without even knowing who we are?”

“Thou must have spoken through that black object then. I came to know the truth.”

“And if thou dost?”

“What dost thou mean?”

“Even if thou knowest the truth, will anything change from now? It may only make reality more harsh.”

Delphine paused for a moment and gazed steadily at the man.

This person was testing her now.

Saying, what can thou do, who came wearing a maid’s uniform as thy plainest clothes, who was born a central noble and has never left District 1?

“My father’s head was cut off. Before my very eyes.”

The words came out surprisingly calmly, even to herself. Had she already grown accustomed to it?

“My family fell, and just because I couldn’t remember names, everyone in the mansion lost their lives.”

Delphine stared straight at him with her seething emerald eyes and spat out:

“Thou art inwardly looking down on me as a noble raised delicately.”

“…”

He doesn’t even deny it.

But the man’s attitude, showing his emotions plainly without pretense from the moment they first met, rather reassured her.

He’s wearing a mask, but it feels as if he’s not wearing one.

“I will not close my eyes and be swept along by my fate without knowing anything. For that, I must find out the truth.”

The man gave no answer.

Instead, he seemed to gaze at her emerald eyes for a while as if entranced, then suddenly turned his head.

Just as Delphine was about to flare up again with a “What?”, he abruptly handed her a black cloth.

“Cover thy eyes. It’s for security, so please understand this much.”

It seems my words reached the man.

Delphine silently followed the man’s instructions.

As soon as she covered her eyes, she felt the carriage suddenly speed up.

Thus, Delphine was carried in the rattling carriage for a while without any conversation.

With her eyes covered, her other senses naturally sharpened.

Her hearing, her sense of smell.

“…By the way, what is this foul smell?”

When Delphine suddenly asked, the man answered briefly.

“It’s the smell from factory wastewater.”

Wastewater?