Chapter 752: Chapter 17 The Light of Dust_3

“How, in the end, was this handled?” Gongsun Ce asked weakly.

“A long and arduous negotiation.” Gafri replied, his face betraying the painful memories, “It took a great deal of effort to barely convince Knight Alandia to impose partial rather than total law enforcement. Then we picked out the most egregious offenders from that terrible sea of files… You can’t imagine what a shocking sight it was to see all the Cabinet Ministers and senior civil servants weeping bitterly. The Finance Minister at the time wanted to swallow a bullet, we had to save him first, then send him off to the death row cells.”

“In the end, we managed to turn the catastrophe of the heaven’s wheel into a great earthquake of the Country. The nation was shaken, the political landscape underwent a major blood transfusion, and a series of brand-new policies were implemented, with almost half the people in the eastern districts changed.” The old commander said, “What followed was a vengeful backlash against the Knight Order like a mountainous call and a tidal wave from the ‘survivors.’ All our privileges were restricted, investigations became more and more tricky… Knight Alandia herself bore the brunt; she had been the second seat of the Starlight Council that year, and by all rights should have been next in line for deputy commander. We had even talked about her taking over as commander years ahead of the usual progression.”

“But, personnel movements were temporarily delayed due to the changing environment.” Deputy commander Gafri shrugged, “I still remember those days of riding a bike to work; I didn’t dare to drive.”

“It was tough, but also glorious,” chirped the old commander happily.

“Yes, commander,” Gafri smoothly agreed.

Yuliy finished his tea, laying down his cup with a clunk: “She remains the person I respect the most to this day.”

Gongsun Ce nodded, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say. He finished his tea, thanked the three, and left in silence and shame.

He walked alone through the ancient castle, his mood growing heavier with his thoughts. Everyone had tried their best; Alandia had even made such a great sacrifice. What he had seen of the eastern districts was the result of numerous reforms, yet it was still a mess, a terrible mess.

He didn’t like Situ Yi and his theater troupe, but he had to admit the man’s words made sense; that excessively pessimistic philosophy seemed to be correct… to be right.

“Ah Ce, you’re back?”

“…Ah.”

Gongsun Ce looked up, his older brother regarding him with a puzzled expression. Mo Yuankai was emerging from a door, holding a pencil, seemingly having just completed some paperwork. He must have been working on design diagrams for armour repairs.

“Big brother,” he said, “in the vast sea of time, are we all just as insignificant as dust?”

Mo Yuankai set down his pencil.

“Yes, Ah Ce. Think about the over six billion people on Earth, don’t you seem as small as a speck of dust in this world?”

“Then what’s the meaning of our actions?”

Yuankai replied in surprise: “Hey, this again?”

“What do you mean, ‘again’?”

“Haven’t we talked about this many times three years ago? Of course, the strength of an individual is limited, but if you go out and do something, there will be changes. Aren’t massive changes accumulated from little actions?” Mo Yuankai patted his shoulder, “Even dust, if it tries hard enough, can shine!”

Gongsun Ce remembered now; they had had similar conversations before. When Mo Yuankai first started his heroic activities, he had watched from the sidelines, criticizing them as useless, that a rotten environment would remain rotten. But his brother would just laugh and retort, how do you know it’s useless? Have you tried? Even if we can help one person, our efforts are meaningful!

And so, he kept doing it, day after day, transforming from a ‘chuunibyo’ in everyone’s eyes to a universally admired hero.

“I guess you must’ve encountered some terrible things again today. But you’ve helped people too, right?”

Gongsun Ce remembered the little boy who was nearly wronged, scratching his head.

“Yes, big brother,” he smiled, “Dust can shine after all.”

He didn’t want to disturb his friend’s work any longer and turned to leave. His heart was still heavy, but also much lighter. It was an understanding he already knew, but he had just realized it again, more profoundly than before.

Perhaps the greater environment could not change instantly, but that didn’t prevent the grains of dust from living their lives well.

·

Gongsun Ce found Dawn Knight in front of the East District’s Public Security Office. Alandia was holding a stack of paper files, seemingly just finished writing a report.

“My God,” Gongsun Ce groaned, “You’re submitting documents yourself?”

“Yes,” Alandia said.

“Damn it, can’t a Creator Realm Mage like yourself act a little less foolishly?!” Gongsun Ce snatched the report from her, “Who’s it for? I’ll go!”

Alandia looked at him inexplicably: “Second desk on the left as you enter the door, Knight Kuran. Thank you.”

Knight Kuran was a young man with dark skin and an honest face; it took Gongsun Ce a few minutes to convince him he wasn’t a suspicious outsider but just helping a friend run an errand. After submitting the documents, he walked out to see the Dawn Knight waiting in the corridor.

“Well,” Gongsun Ce wiped his nose, trying to think of something to say when his stomach betrayed him with a hungry growl. He said awkwardly, “…Are you hungry? I’ll treat you to lunch.”

He cursed himself silently. Goddamn stupid. That was probably the worst opening line he could imagine. He didn’t even have his wallet on him.

“Thank you, Mr. Gongsun, but there’s no need,”

Alandia’s response was devoid of emotion, as though she was just reporting to a colleague. “You see, we…” Gongsun Ce tried to flounder through his embarrassment, only to hear Miss Knight finish her sentence.

“Let me pay.”