A fire was blazing merrily in a stove, casting a ruddy glow over the floor of the room.
Azima felt warm in her house. She watched snowflakes drifting in the north wind outside the window while listening to the crackling of the flames in the fireplace. In the past, when winter had come, she would have suffered severe frostbite on her hands and her hand skin would have chapped very easily. It was a memory from her childhood. Back then, she had had to rummage through rubbish in search of food every winter. After moving to the Sleeping Island, her hands got even worse because of the long-term exposure to salty seawater.
After all these years, she was already accustomed to the pain of frostbite. For her, it was nothing compared to the misery of being a tramp on the streets. However, right now, there were only a few shallow cracks on her fingers. She did not feel any pain or see any blood in them. She enjoyed this pain-free winter. She had not had such a comfortable experience for years.
She came to understand that the living environment of Neverwinter was exceptionally good and even ordinary houses were much better here than their counterparts in other towns.
For example, a thick mortar was applied to both sides of the walls of this brick house and each corner of the window was closely connected to the bricks. No matter how strong the snowstorm was outside, the people inside the house would never be affected. Without such a st.u.r.dy house, the fire could hardly warm up the whole room. If Azima was now in an ordinary residence of Valencia, she would hear a whistle of a wind blowing through cracks of the door and the window and many other clefts in the house.
In addition, there was a tunnel inside the fireplace, which was connected to the bedroom adjoining this living room. With such a heat supply pipeline, the bed would be warm when she and her sisters put out the fire and went to bed at night.
And those designs were only a small part of the new things she discovered in Neverwinter. Similar details were everywhere in this city. The longer she lived here, the more she wondered. "Maybe they didn"t build this city to survive at this place."
"They built it this way in order to enjoy their lives."
"As for why they built it in the Western Region, the highest-hit area during the Months of Demons, it must be because of the strong contrast. In a place where all year is springtime, one would not feel anything special in a warm room. By contrast, in a place of ice and snow, one would be deeply impressed and satisfied by the warmth. The must think that only a seemingly impossible thing is worth doing and take pride in such an achievement."
For a moment, she really believed this speculation.
"The soup is ready. Let"s have dinner." Doris walked out of the kitchen while holding a pot of soup and then she placed it on the low table in the living room.
"Thank you." Azima handed a cus.h.i.+on to Doris and then sat down at the table.
There were two dishes and one soup. All of them used bird beak mushrooms as the main ingredient. These fleshy and juicy mushrooms were a specialty of the Western Region. They were tasty and easy to cook. They only needed a little salt instead of lots of seasonings and they did not require a special cooking method. More importantly, they were the least expensive ingredient in Neverwinter and were as cheap as wheat.
"I bought a lot of mushrooms at a clearance sale and stored them in our room," said Doris, happily. "Even if we can"t find enough food in the winter, these mushrooms will be enough for us to fill our stomachs until the spring, though they may become less tasty after a long time."
Azima scooped up some soup with her spoon. Under the reflection of the fire, the oil floating on the soup"s surface shone with a golden color and looked quite alluring. When she put a spoon into her mouth, she felt its aroma fill her mouth instantly. After that, the warm soup flowed down all the way into her stomach and warmed her entire abdomen.
The soup was as delicious as before, but now she had no appet.i.te.
After taking two spoonfuls of the soup, Azima put down her small bowl.
"Is there anything wrong?" Doris quickly noticed that Azima seemed to be a little different today.
"I"m wondering... whether my decision was wrong." After a long silence, Azima whispered. "It"s my own decision to leave Neverwinter, but because of it, everyone lost the chance of having a better life together with their families in this city. If Whitepear didn"t quit her job in the Sleeping Spell, she would now live in a big house equipped with a heating system instead of this small house that doesn"t allow us to go about freely in our daily life."
"Why did you suddenly say that..." Doris was stunned and then soothed Azima. "No matter how small our house is, it"s able to shelter us from wind and rain. When their relatives have enough money to pay the minimum down payment, they will move out. It"s not as good as the house of the Sleeping Spell, but I think it"s already good enough for two people to live in. Think about our old days on the streets—"
"But it"s different now!" Azima interrupted Doris anxiously.
Azima had been feeling frustrated recently. She overestimated her personal ability and failed to a.s.sess the situation correctly. In the past, she had led her sisters to search for food in rubbish and s.n.a.t.c.h food from jaws of wild dogs, but now she refused to do anything like that. She did not want to give Tilly and her witches any chance to laugh at them, even though her sisters might not mind leading such a life.
She had submitted lots of job applications to the City Hall like ordinary residents of the city, but none of them got approved. Literacy was a key requirement in the job descriptions of most positions, and well-paid jobs usually demanded a primary education diploma. She could not meet those requirements and wanted to work in some construction projects or in the Furnace Area, but the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Industry only recruited adult males. The City Hall clerk told her that she should go to school to finish her studies first if she wanted to get a promising career.
Among the six sisters, only Doris and Whitepear had jobs. The former was employed by the Witch Union. She further processed Mystery Moon"s magnetized copper rods with her enchantment and earned about 30 or 40 silver royals a day, almost as much as the witches living in the castle. But it was just a part-time job. Sometimes, she only worked one day in a week.
Whitepear worked in a tailor"s shop as an ordinary worker. Considering she did not have to use her magic power in this position, she earned the average salary. According to the number of her working days, she usually earned 15 or 20 silver royals a month.
The other sisters were also unemployed just like Azima.
In other words, Doris and Whitepear had to afford the living expenses of the six sisters.
For this reason, Azima felt guilty for the cozy life she had now. She had firmly refused Wendy"s invitation because she wanted to prove to Nightingale that she was not a weak person and could live on her own without relying on the Sleeping Spell. She felt embarra.s.sed by the current situation.
That was why she sounded so impatient when talking to Doris.
She felt regret right as soon as she interrupted Doris. "I"m sorry, I didn"t mean to..."
"It"s okay." Doris held Azima"s hands. "I know how you feel and I want to tell you it wasn"t your own decision to leave the Sleeping Spell. We also agreed with you. It"s not your fault. As for the living expenses, please don"t mind it. You"ve done so much for us and now it"s time for us to pay you back."
"You don"t owe me a thing. I helped you without expecting to receive anything in return."
"That"s the same for us. See what I mean?" Doris blinked and said.
"But..." Azima did not know what to say at this moment since she was moved deeply by Doris" honesty and sincerity. She had not felt so touched for many years and could not adapt to it at the moment, but she soon managed to control herself and reminded herself that as the leader of the sisters, she should never mention those stupid things again.
At this moment, someone knocked on the door.
"Who"s it?" She hurriedly turned her head, pulled her hands back and stood up, trying to cover her feelings.
"It"s me, Wendy," the person outside answered. "His Majesty wants to talk to you."