Deep Sea Embers

Snowing.

The fine weather didn't seem to last long at all, and another snowfall came to visit the frost. Since the morning, the gloomy clouds have accumulated over the city-state like lead blocks, and the disorderly cold wind blows across the streets non-stop. And when the time approached noon, snowflakes began to fall one after another. From the upper city to the lower city, from every tall tower to every back alley, the entire city-state was shrouded in hazy and numerous snowflakes.

The sudden snowfall made the streets seem a lot quieter.

The sound of the brakes of the steam car broke the tranquility of the street in the snow. A dark gray car stopped at the gate of the city hall. The door opened, and Agatha, dressed in black, got out of the car and walked towards the tall building in front of her. A majestic, large-scale building with light gray as the main color.

She raised her head and looked at the towering main building of the City Hall—this classical building inherited from the royal power era still retains the majesty of the previous era. Its towering columns, arches and continuous undulating roof structure no matter when you look at it It looks very imposing, although its name has changed from "Winter King's Court" to the current "City Hall", but its status in the city-state has never changed.

It still symbolizes one of the "authoritative dual poles" in the city-state, and together with the silent cathedral that is far away, it shelters this golden city-the building is a history book piled up with stones, and the power that circulates and changes in the building He and the characters are nothing more than line after line of text descriptions in the pages of a book. Whether it is the Queen's era or the current consul system, it will inevitably become a record that has been turned over in the history book...

Agatha frowned suddenly, raised her hand and gently pinched her forehead.

She knew that she was distracted again, and she was expressing a lot of emotion like a sentimental poet - she has always been like this these two days, and for some reason, she couldn't help thinking about some things, or she was restless for no reason.

This is not a good phenomenon. As the gatekeeper of the city-state, one must maintain a high degree of control over one's mental state, and "wandering mind" should be avoided as much as possible.

Footsteps came from the direction of the gate, interrupting Agatha's mental activity. She raised her head and saw a senior secretary in a dark blue coat walking towards her.

"Ms. Agatha," the young man serving as the consul's assistant came to Agatha and bowed his head respectfully, "The consul has heard of your visit, and he is waiting for you in the dome office."

"It's better to save the politeness," Agatha nodded, "Lead the way."

On the top floor of the city hall, in a large office with a circular vault, Winston, the current consul of Frost City, is sitting behind a large curved desk.

He is a tall man with a slightly fat body, wearing a bright blue coat decorated with medals and ribbons. Perhaps it is too much energy to manage a declining city-state. His hair has thinned to a precarious point. As for having to wear a curly wig to cover the scalp - when Agatha entered the domed office, the consul was fiddling with an elaborate brass mechanism that sat on a desk.

The mechanical device with a complex structure looks like some kind of miniature model. Its tightly meshed gears and connecting rods are as exquisite as a work of art, and it makes crisp sounds from time to time under the manipulation of Consul Winston.

"I didn't expect that you would have time to fiddle with the machine models in addition to being so busy with government affairs," Agatha's voice came from the desk, "I thought that the recent situation in the city-state was enough to keep you busy. "

"This is not a machine model, this is the next generation of mine cart traction mechanism - it can save 30% of the power, and it is more reliable and durable than the previous generation," the consul Winston looked up seriously Said, "The troubles of the city-state come one after another, but we can't stop living and developing because of this."

Agatha was noncommittal.

Mr. Winston, the consul, is obsessed with machinery and engineering technology. He has served as consul for twelve years, and most of his energy has been put on the support and promotion of engineering design institutes and machinery manufacturing plants. This Mr. Consul is ambitious He seems to hope to solve the current predicament of the city-state through technological breakthroughs - including the upgrading of old facilities and seeking new economic drivers, but how to put it...

It can only be said that the idea is very good, the confidence is full, and the hard work is a lot-but the reality is full of difficulties.

"Technological progress allows us to complete the transformation of mine facilities at an acceptable cost, and more practical new machines can also be exported to other city-states - Frost can't live forever by selling boiling gold," Winston noticed that the gatekeeper's reaction was mediocre, so he couldn't help but say a few more words, "Boiling gold mines are the basis for Frost's survival, but the pillar formed by a single industry is too weak..."

"I am not an official in the economic or technical field." Agatha had to remind tactfully.

"Oh, well, I overlooked it," Winston raised his hand and looked up at Agatha while putting the machine model on the desk aside, "Then let's get down to business, Ms. Agatha, about You seem to have something to say about the exploration of the second waterway?"

"The exploration team encountered trouble under the connecting shaft in the second central area," Agatha said bluntly, "The passage is close to the bottom of the boiling gold mine. The gate to the first connection is blocked - my orders to the exploration force are to use violence to break down the barriers in the second waterway, but my people report that they saw the lead left by the city hall on the gate seal and nameplate."

"...the lead seal and nameplate of the city hall?" Winston was obviously taken aback for a moment, his surprised expression did not seem to be fake, "Are you sure?"

Agatha observed the expression on the Consul's face for a long time before she said softly: "It seems that you don't know anything about it."

"That's the Second Waterway, which has been abandoned for half a century - the last time it was put into use was when the Frost Queen ruled the city-state!" Winston raised his hands with an exaggerated expression, "Even if there is some lead underneath that The seal and nameplate must have been left over from the Queen’s time. How could there be something left over from the City Hall—Ms. Agatha, do you think I secretly sealed the gate there? What’s the point? Treasures are stored deep in the ground?"

"...You really have no reason to do this," Agatha nodded lightly, "If you really want to store some treasure, any place in the city-state is more reliable than the second waterway that is out of control."

"I don't want to hear you seriously assuming such a thing." Winston waved his hand, but his expression became serious. "Isn't there such a thing as the date and the name of the person in charge on the nameplate? It must be on the regular nameplate." With something like this, you should be able to easily determine who locked the door."

"Unfortunately, all the writing is defaced and illegible, the nameplate and lead seals have suffered considerable corrosion, and in fact even the door has become extremely fragile - we suspect that the acidic environment of the formation near the mine caused the metal to rot. Accelerated aging," Agatha shook her head, "I can only confirm that the door was indeed locked by the city hall—the Queen's era would not have such a standard form of lead seal."

Winston stood up, with a slightly irritable expression on his face, pacing back and forth behind the large curved desk, and after an unknown period of time, he stopped and muttered: "If that was really left by the city hall, It could only have been a long time ago - maybe even the first or second council since the end of the queen's time..."

"It seems that your predecessors did not pass on all the information to their successors." Agatha said.

"It's also possible that some of the data was lost or damaged due to the chaos in the early days," Winster waved his hand, "But no matter what, there is an area that was ordered to be sealed off by the city hall deep underground in the central area of ​​the city, and this area It is still part of the Second Waterway, this matter is very abnormal... Ms Agatha, this matter must be investigated."

"Of course, this is my duty." Agatha nodded, her expression relaxed a little, "Although I didn't get the answer I wanted, it's the same attitude to get your support-the exploration will continue , I will find out what is behind that door as soon as possible, and if there is any new progress, the church will communicate with the city hall in time."

"That's the best." Winston nodded.

The mood in the dome office is a little more relaxed.

"Then I won't bother you much," Agatha said. "There are still many things on the Second Waterway that I need to personally supervise."

She bid the Archon a polite farewell, then turned and left the domed office.

The figure of the gatekeeper disappeared into the room, leaving only the sound of the cane and heels hitting the ground gradually fading away. It took a long time for Winston to heave a sigh of relief, and then he frowned suspiciously.

"... Ms. Agatha did not use the 'Grey Wind' to drive today..." The middle-aged consul, who was slightly fat, raised his head, looked at the direction Agatha left, and muttered softly, "So she also Can you walk in and out of the door normally?"