Chapter 1305 House of Parting

Chapter 1305 House of Parting

"This... is the House of Parting. It is the furthest point of Weave as one travels upstream." New novel chapters are published at novelhall.com

Ananke's voice sounded uncharacteristically dispirited.

'House of Parting...'

Sunny studied the artificial island and the solemn structure built upon it, then turned to the old woman and asked:

"It's... a windmill?"

She nodded. "Yes, my Lord. The tower harvests the wind to maintain the island."

Ananke lingered for a second, and then added:

"The cities of the Great River are actually more akin to flotillas, each consisting of many city-ships — some small like this one, some spanning dozens of kilometers across. They migrate sometimes, but mostly they have to stay in place. There is nothing to anchor a ship to on the Great River, though."

Nephis raised an eyebrow. "Is the Great River so deep that no anchor can reach its bottom?"

Ananke shook her head. "It is not that the floor of the Great River is too deep, it's that it doesn't exist. No one has ever managed to reach it, at least... so, we had to find other ways."

She pointed to the rotating blades of the towering windmill.

"There are various ways to make a city-ship resist the current, from mundane ones to magical. The House of Parting... you can't see it from here, but there is a great water wheel at the back of the island, constantly propelling it forward at the same speed as the River pushes it back. Its mechanism is mostly powered by the current itself, but the windmill lightens the burden significantly." She sighed. "The island's mechanism is on the brink of collapse, now... I've tried to repair it as well as I could, but my knowledge is insufficient to keep an entire city from breaking apart. There's little point to, anyway."

Sunny and Nephis looked at the dark windmill, feeling a sense of awe. The island in front of them was actually the creation of incredible human ingenuity — a floating city district that used the wind and the power of the Great River itself to fight against the currents of time. Even now that the people of Weave were gone, it was still pushing forward, refusing to become a thing of the past. The ketch approached the island in solemn silence. As it drew close, Ananke released the wind filling the sails, skillfully guided the boat to the pier, and moored it to the pier with a piece of rope. The three of them left the small ketch for the first time in a long, long while. Feeling the sturdy wooden planks of the pier under his feet, Sunny enjoyed the fact that the ground was not swaying and took a few steps. He was swaying like a drunk himself for the first couple, but then regained his balance. As he stretched his limbs, Nephis looked around and asked:

"The House of Parting... why was this place given such a name?"

In fact, he was surprised by some of the things he had seen already... the wood that Curious, he asked the old woman about it. She smiled:

"The trees? There are some. There are floating gardens and fields in Weave. They are However, he suddenly wanted something else to happen today. Ananke's ketch and the pier of the House of Parting were built of, for example. Where had it come from? The fruits that she had treated them to, as well. There was no soil anywhere on the Great River, so how could there be trees? How could there be flour to bake pies, and tea leaves to brew tea?

Curious, he asked the old woman about it. She smiled:

"The trees? There are some. There are floating gardens and fields in Weave. They are not too large, of course, because the surface of the city is limited. So... we can only afford to eat fruit, bread, and rice on special occasions. Most of the year, the River People eat what the River gives." Sunny looked down, suddenly feeling guilty. So the delicious food he and Nephis had been enjoying was something that Ananke herself had not tasted often. They were currently in one of the smaller chambers of the House of Parting, the old woman preparing to cook them a late supper. He had been rather complacent in allowing her to take care of them... mostly because it felt great to be pampered by someone caring and kind, but also because Ananke was strangely adamant about treating Sunny and Nephis with utmost dedication.

However, he suddenly wanted something else to happen today. Walking over to the old woman, he gently pushed her away from the table where all the ingredients were waiting to be prepared and cooked.

"Go rest, Ananke. I'll take care of everything."

She looked at him with big eyes.

"But, my Lord..."

Sunny resolutely shook his head. "No "buts"! You don't need to cook. Today, this lord is going to cook for you instead."

Throwing an evaluating look at the ingredients, he grinned and added:

"Do you know? I am planning to get rich by opening a restaurant in the future."

Then, he paused for a moment, scratched his head, and pointed at Nephis... who gave him a confused look in response.

Sunny smiled brightly. "And that... is my star chef. Come and help your boss, chef! You don't want to get fired before the restaurant even opens, do you?"

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