Chapter 285
Chapter 285: Water and Fire (4)
A bizarre spectacle.
It was merely a channel, yet the water erupting from it looked like a waterfall turned upside-down.
Each droplet that sprayed in every direction was heavy. The grain beasts lurking across the ground cried out as they died.
The impact stung considerably. Without a tempered body, it would have left a massive bruise. Some might have broken bones.
"Identify yourself."
The freckled woman said.
The erupted water held its shape beside her like a colossal serpent. On closer look, it was quite grotesque. A serpent formed from hundreds of droplets.
The serpent held its mouth open.
If the woman completed her intent, droplets would spray from it like a volley of arrows. Or perhaps the droplets composing the serpent itself would.
Ellen hadn't drawn her sword. The signal had worked. He'd need to establish a new signal going forward. Behind the water, presences sprang up. There seemed to be a snow shelter nearby.
"Are you from Serzila?"
When no answer came, the freckled woman asked again.
The question was unexpected.
The middle-aged mage from before hadn't even considered the possibility that Harad and Ellen were from Serzila.
Because Serzila couldn't leave the patrol routes.
'Either inexperienced, or cautious.'
The freckled woman appeared to be the latter.
If she were inexperienced, she wouldn't have made it this far.
"If you're Serzila, get lost. We've got no interest in you this time."
The freckled woman said, glancing at the swords on Harad and Ellen's hips.
"How rude, mistaking us for insects."
Harad feigned offense.
"We're from the Tower of the Sun."
"Nonsense. The Red Tower can't be here."
This deployment was an unsanctioned Aquins operation.
He didn't know what that deployment was, but the Red Tower couldn't be involved. That was what the freckled woman was saying.
"You dare dismiss fire?"
"The Tower of the Sun? You can't even fake being a Dreamer. A real Dreamer would've already set fire to everything."
The freckled woman scoffed.
"You really don't know a thing, do you?"
"You're right, I still have much to learn."
Harad conceded cleanly.
He'd lost. The information gap was extreme.
The presences that had risen in the distance were closing in. They must have noticed the freckled woman's magic.
'Which one should I pick.'
This woman, or one of those approaching.
Interrogation worked better on the smart ones.
Because they hated holding out like fools.
The freckled woman was plainly smart.
"I like you."
That was the signal.
Capture the freckled woman alive, kill the approaching mages.
"Excuse me?"
But Ellen apparently didn't understand.
Fury blazed in her eyes. Harad understood immediately. Because the freckled woman was a woman.
"Not like that. Capture."
"Ah."
Ellen nodded. The droplet serpent spat water instead of a cry. Dozens of eyeball-sized droplets shot toward Harad.
Faster than expected. Not fast enough to dodge, though. Nor was the force. Sparks scattered through the air. Each spark was the size of an eyeball. Their number matched the droplets.
HISSSSS--! Each spark devoured a droplet and vanished together. The steam started to rise, then was swallowed by the blizzard.
The droplet serpent froze mid-gape like a statue. The freckled woman's intent had halted.
"Fire?"
The freckled woman murmured.
That was when the presences closed to arm's reach.
Exactly as intended. Kill every comrade but one. Few methods crushed morale more effectively. Three streams of water and one column of ice erupted. Ellen drew her sword.
"Misunderstanding!"
The freckled woman shouted.
Ellen, sword drawn, froze in place. Because the three streams and the ice column before her had halted.
"There's been a misunderstanding."
"......?"
There hadn't been.
Harad tilted his head.
"Let's talk inside."
The freckled woman said.
"Miles of the Puddle. Rowen of the Hailstone."
She said it while looking at Harad and Ellen.
***
Miles of the Puddle.
Rowen of the Hailstone.
Harad realized those names belonged to the owners of the robes he and Ellen were wearing.
'I'm Miles. Ellen is Rowen.'
In other words, the freckled woman had told them.
Play the parts of Miles and Rowen.
Harad looked down at his robe. Then at Ellen's. Could they be told apart? At least Harad couldn't. There must be some know-how to it.
Even so, remarkable perception.
The four mages who'd just joined couldn't tell Harad and Ellen apart from Miles and Rowen, unlike the freckled woman.
Five per shelter.
And among them, one mage who served as squad leader.
"Right then. Miles, Rowen. What happened?"
Even the squad leader mage mistook Harad and Ellen for Miles and Rowen.
'The Red Tower is the odd one out. Probably because its numbers are small.'
Being in the same organization didn't mean everyone knew each other.
The mage before him was proof.
"Well......"
Harad trailed off. His eyes met the freckled woman's. She shook her head.
Smart, perceptive.
Naturally, her instincts would be excellent too.
"Would you allow me time to collect my thoughts."
Harad raised his register.
The freckled woman gave a slight nod. That seemed to be the right answer.
"Unbelievable."
The squad leader mage said.
"You've got some nerve. There's no time for that. What's more, Miles, Rowen -- you've abandoned your duties and left your post."
"Your post" meant the shelter.
"Your duties" meant digging the channel.
"That was the misunderstanding."
Harad said, pointing at the freckled woman.
"We didn't abandon our duty or post. We barely survived."
A bold-faced lie.
But the freckled woman showed no reaction. This entire situation existed because of her.
'What's she thinking.'
Harad was curious about that.
That was why he was playing along.
"Survived?"
"Yes. We came under fire attack."
The freckled woman visibly swallowed a laugh.
"The Torch!"
The squad leader leapt to his feet.
'The Torch?'
Harad forcibly smoothed his twitching brow.
"Was it the Torch?"
"Apologies. I couldn't confirm the identity."
"Fool...... no. Right, he's no easy mark. Well done, Miles. I'll include your name in the report to Aquins."
The squad leader looked pleased.
"Pira."
The squad leader said.
"Yes."
The freckled woman raised her head.
"Give Miles and Rowen a space to rest. I'm going to report to Aquins."
Without even waiting for a reply, the squad leader swept out of the shelter. The other three followed as though it were a matter of course.
"Stupid bastards. Blinded by merit."
The moment they left, the freckled woman -- Pira -- cursed the squad leader.
Harad nodded.
By rights, the squad leader should have taken Miles and Rowen along. They were the witnesses. But the four names atop the report would be their own.
"Not everyone in the same Tower gets along, I see."
"Look who's talking."
Pira scoffed.
How much of a mess was the Red Tower, exactly.
"Why did you help?"
Harad was more curious about what was inside Pira's head than the Red Tower's affairs.
"Because I don't want to die."
"Backup was right there."
Harad jutted his chin toward the exit the four had taken.
"So that's how the other five died?"
Pira pointed at a corner.
Two blankets sat neatly folded.
The shelter Harad had dealt with had contained five blankets.
"Miles and Rowen received blankets. The squad leader had even more than that."
"So the blankets really are valuable."
The blankets seemed to denote rank.
"Brazen, aren't you? You've decided to stop pretending?"
"We're in the same boat now, aren't we? If I talk, you won't come out unscathed either."
"Same boat, my ass."
The profanity was thick.
"It's not 'if I talk,' it's 'if I annoy you.' Bringing a knight along, no less."
Pira had seen the Aura blooming on Ellen's sword.
"Answer my questions and I won't kill you."
"And what would you know? You came from outside."
She'd said she'd cooperated because she didn't want to die.
Yet Pira was defiant.
"Enough to hold my own."
"The Extinguished Torch too?"
"Aten."
At that answer, Pira's eyes widened slightly.
"You know him?"
"I told you, I know enough."
Pira stared at Harad.
"So what do you think of Extinguished Torch Aten?"
"The fire I despise the most."
"How much?"
"Enough to kill him, if I could."
Beside him, Ellen flinched slightly.
Elaine had been the one to kill Aten. Harad had never managed to.
"Good to hear. We're here to subjugate the Extinguished Torch."
That hadn't happened in the past life.
Or perhaps it was something he hadn't known about.
Maybe the Aten of the past life had been subjugated by the Tower of the Deep Sea after all.
"So that's why those four were thrilled. Felt like prey had walked right in."
"Exactly. Grinning ear to ear, too stupid to realize they'd been tricked. Just finding a lead is already merit enough."
Pira said, gazing at the blankets.
More merit apparently meant more blankets.
"You played along with the deception, though."
"Because I want to live."
Pira seemed like the sort who valued her own neck above all else.
The easiest type to interrogate.
"Subjugation? Isn't that a bit grandiose? At the end of the day, he's still just a mage."
"You don't know the Extinguished Torch very well, do you? He's a monster who's lived over a century. It'd be stranger not to take him seriously."
Pira said, stroking the back of her hand.
The tension was plain to see. Extinguished Torch Aten was a bigger figure than he'd thought.
"You followed the channel, right?"
The channel. Harad nodded.
"The channel is bait. The Extinguished Torch tries to kill anything related to water."
Eiga disliked water.
Extinguished Torch Aten seemed to dislike water even more.
"It's also preparation. When the Extinguished Torch appears, the channels will flood. This entire area will turn into something like a lake."
Just as Pira had used the channel moments ago.
They were preparing a trap in the crimson desert.
"Why here of all places? There must be better locations to spare."
The Boundary overflowed with cold places.
Yet the Tower of the Deep Sea -- no, Aquins -- was painstakingly laying water into a desert.
"Seriously? I have to explain from there? The Extinguished Torch loves this desert. Every time he travels to and from the outside, he makes a point of stopping here."
"The outside" meant the continent.
"He likes the Boundary?"
"It's hot, isn't it? I heard it's the Extinguished Torch's hobby to bury himself naked in this desert."
Lunatic.
Harad clicked his tongue softly.
At any rate, the situation made rough sense now.
The shelters and channels existed for the subjugation. The target was Extinguished Torch Aten.
He was already dead, but the Otherworld didn't know that yet.
'The Moon would know, though.'
As always, she was doing them favors.
Because it would benefit the old hag too.
"But is that even allowed? Killing another Tower's mage would violate Paradise's Taboo."
"You've picked up a lot about the Otherworld, haven't you? Knowing that and all."
Pira called the Otherworld by its proper name.
Not Paradise.
"Breaking the Taboo in the Boundary is common. It just doesn't come to light."
"That doesn't seem possible here."
Pira had called it a subjugation.
Meaning the scale was considerable.
"I said before. The Red Tower can't be here."
"So the Red Tower turned a blind eye."
The Red Tower had abandoned Extinguished Torch Aten.
"The Torch sinned first. Justification lies with the Tower of the Deep Sea."
"Didn't you say it was Aquins's unsanctioned operation?"
"That tells you just how angry the higher-ups are."
Aten seemed to have wronged Aquins.
"What's the charge?"
"River and Waterspout. Avery Aquins and Panles Aquins. Extinguished Torch Aten killed two Stars of the Deep Sea."
"I see. He has it coming."
Harad nodded slowly.