Chapter Fifty-Four: Everything Is Mere Coincidence

Mulan first returned to the York District Police Station. Although it was already after hours, the station was still bustling with people. Many officers bore wounds, but fortunately, most were only superficial and were being treated and bandaged at the station itself—after all, the surrounding hospitals and clinics were overwhelmed with more seriously injured victims.

He didn’t go inside. After a brief glance from outside, he chose instead to head home.

The Black Castle remained as it always was, yet today, weighed down by his secrets, Mulan felt a twinge of unease. His routine was unchanged, but he couldn't shake the nervousness as he returned. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice him. Yet as he neared his residence, he saw from a distance that someone was standing by his door.

A slight tremor ran through his heart, but he continued forward as if nothing was amiss. When he drew closer, he relaxed—the figure waiting was Dolly.

“You’re an hour later than usual today.”

Before Mulan could speak, Dolly addressed him first.

He shrugged helplessly. “There was a major riot in the industrial district today. The entire York police force was deployed. I went to investigate too, so I was busy until late.”

Saying this, Mulan shifted his tone to tease her. “So you keep track of when I get home every day?”

“Yes, I always know when you return. Are you planning to keep talking to me out here?”

Mulan quickly stepped forward, took out his keys, and opened the door, then gestured for her to enter.

“Please come in, Miss Dolly. Since coming to Black Castle, this is the first time you’ve visited my place.”

Dolly glanced at the groceries in Mulan’s hand and entered the small house. Mulan closed the door behind them and quickly moved past the curious Dolly, heading straight for the kitchen.

“Make yourself comfortable. Since you’re here, have dinner with me tonight.”

Dolly didn’t respond immediately, instead surveying the furnishings and the well-used kitchen.

“You seem to have adapted well to life in the Black Castle.”

Without turning, Mulan replied as he sliced meat, “You, on the other hand, seem quite unaccustomed to life here.”

“I’m leaving,” she said.

Mulan paused, looking over at Dolly now seated at the dining table. It wasn’t that they were particularly close, or that he felt any great reluctance, but as fellow arrivals from Valentine to Digo in the same year, Dolly naturally occupied a place close to that of a companion in his heart.

Though strictly speaking, he and Dolly had rarely had in-depth conversations, he knew her to be pure-hearted, and she, in turn, understood his character.

“Where are you going?”

“To where I’m meant to be.”

Mulan pondered this, glancing out the window. “It seems you’ve always had your own plans. Then why did you come to Black Castle?”

Dolly smiled, her tone for once teasing. “You’ve been at the police station too long—you want to investigate everything?”

Mulan continued cutting meat. “I don’t have many friends. I just want to know how to contact you in the future.”

This seemed to touch Dolly more than he expected; her hands, clasped together, gripped each other tighter. She shifted the subject.

“I heard you can already choose your path. Have you made a decision?”

At this, Mulan couldn’t help recalling what it felt like today to become another version of himself. From a theoretical standpoint, that could count as a unique path, though it wasn’t advanced and hard to categorize.

“Not yet. I have at least five options, and it’s a real headache. Each seems promising—I’ve studied the basics of them all. But when it comes to building a world, trying to take on too much is suicidal.”

“By the way, can you handle spicy food?”

“I’ve never tried.”

“Then it’s time you did.”

With that, Mulan made the decision for her and began cooking. He lacked any means to absorb the smoke, and his heavy-oil, high-heat techniques quickly filled the kitchen with the scent of oil and an enticing spiciness.

Dinner was both harmonious and amusing. Dolly had almost no tolerance for spice and needed to drink copious amounts of water after even a little, yet she clearly enjoyed it. For all that water, she never once excused herself to the restroom.

After the meal, Dolly stood to take her leave. Mulan saw her to the door and watched as she disappeared into the night, unable to resist calling out to her again.

“Dolly, you know Sir Walton is far from a fool.”

Dolly smiled, turning to look at Mulan. “You finally got his name right. Then let me return your own words—Sir Walton is indeed not a fool.”

She continued on her way, but after a few steps, she paused once more.

“In truth, I’d like to be your friend. You’re witty and talented, your heart is bright and courageous—so much of what I once hoped for in humanity. But in the end, we’re from two different worlds. Perhaps, if we meet again, it will be as enemies.”

Leaning against the doorframe, Mulan showed no particular surprise.

“You’re like a girl full of secrets—wanting to grow closer to people but too shy, longing to shed your restraints, hoping to leave behind a trace of yourself. Yet all these gestures might only bring me trouble, if you’re planning something reckless…”

He paused, then went on. “As a potential unlucky bystander, I think I have a right to know at least a little.”

“Well, I won’t tell you, not at all! Ha ha ha…”

Dolly laughed, then marched off, whistling the tune of Lieutenant Jones’ March.

But the farther she got from Mulan’s home, the more severe her expression became. At length, even a trace of ferocity appeared. Deep in her eyes, a turbulent magic was awakening. She was weary of everything past—of bondage, of her people, of her own birth, of her former self, of all machinations and schemes. For all her loathing, this was a turning point in her life, a chance to choose anew, and for that, she would pay any price.

‘I can help you achieve your goals, but I am no puppet. I have my own suppressed fury—so let there be destruction!’

A peal of thunder rumbled across the heavens as storm clouds gathered over the city.

Back indoors, Mulan, tidying up after dinner, gazed through the kitchen window. The storm clouds had blotted out the moon entirely.

A flash of lightning, brighter than the gas lamps, tore across the sky, the thunder almost simultaneous—a sure sign the bolt had struck nearby.

Another flash, another deafening crash, and then a barrage of pounding noises…

A lightning bolt struck Mulan’s small house directly. The gas lamps flared, then shattered. Most of the upstairs windows blew out as well, and Mulan recoiled from the washstand in fright.

A torrential downpour followed, veiling all of Digo in rain.

As the lightning blazed again, Mulan glimpsed two enormous, serpentine shadows writhing in the nearby sky, roaring at the earth. Shadows from the Inner World were bleeding into reality—winged monsters by the score surged toward the heavens.

The main buildings of the Black Castle lit up at once, and earsplitting detonations rang out. At that very moment, Sir Walton remained at the palace, and the Black Castle’s key defenders had all been sent out by him to patrol Digo and its outskirts, hunting the mysterious evil. By some stroke of fate, everything had aligned thus.

A hauntingly beautiful melody echoed throughout the Black Castle, while Mulan remained safely inside, not daring to take a single step out.