Lungworth

- Well, in that case, sign me up,” Lester said approvingly, raising a finger in a cautionary gesture. - If the tour is truly completely free, and this includes a round-trip ticket! You see, as I've already noticed, the rules here are quite strict, and as a foreigner, I pay considerable taxes, which the government then uses, among other things, to provide certain benefits for my fellow citizens, creating a pleasant investment and migration climate. Therefore, I would be happy to take advantage of this initiative and, at the same time, gain valuable information about your hospitable city, which, as you say, I am unlikely to find anywhere else, and which may help me better understand the peculiarities of this place.

— Les... I mean, Nightblade, you're worrying too much. It's your decision, but I think it would be beneficial for everyone,” she said, moving closer, almost calling her companion Lester, a name she had learned at the guild when filling out paperwork.

- Nightblade,” Lester corrected. - You know, Gulveig from Baldr, all people can be divided into two types. Those who live with their hearts, and those who live with their minds. I might wish to belong to the first category - that would mean I lived a carefree life in luxury and without the slightest worry, able to satisfy any emotional impulse at any moment... But unfortunately, in my native environment... Under the cover of night, in the war-torn ruins of slums, where human life is worth less than a pack of cigarettes, so parents sell two children at a time... In the endless, soul-piercing megacity, kilometers deep in sewer collectors, which are an additional multi-level complex of sorrow and desolation, where the foot of the guardians of ephemeral "order" has never stepped... Where the most coveted place to live, for which entire families and individual groups cut each other's throats and chop off heads, are residential blocks in the vicinity of an illegal glue factory - just to breathe in the fumes from its processing products around the clock... Where every child learns to shoot and kill before they learn to walk... In this environment, those who live with their hearts do not survive for long. That is why I plan everything in advance. And so far, this approach has never failed me. And I'll tell you more, as one manager to another - leave the burden of "worry" to those who are used to it and have woven it into their paradigm of existence in this world. Some of them will be your sword, some your eyes and ears, some your brain, some your heart. At the crucial moment, their skills will serve you well. As for me... I am ready for anything that fate intends to throw at me. Because I am an entity that controls the threads of the lives of my helpless opponents, cutting them with quick and precise strikes under the cover of darkness. And today, darkness is gathering over the island of Lungwort... Lester inhaled the sea air, as if savoring this growing despair in the atmosphere from the anticipation of the inevitable catastrophe. Exhaling, he smiled, laughed quietly and menacingly, throwing his head back, and went to rest on a bench, waiting for the start of the tour.