Anagin Chronicles

Chapter 084. To Wipe Out (3)

To be blunt, the innkeeper hadn’t so much been persuaded by Anagin’s words as he had gone along with them under duress.

The bleak situation surrounding the Ruin, Makon’s desperate persuasion, and Anagin’s threats had left him with truly, genuinely no other choice.

After all, it would have been even stranger for someone to be persuaded by a few words from a stranger who appeared out of nowhere, saying, “Aha! I see! I was being foolish!”

That said, regardless of his reasons for agreeing, the innkeeper moved quickly.

“Call in some of the young ones. Not the village chief’s side.”

As soon as he decided to try persuading the downstream villages, the innkeeper rose from his seat and carefully summoned the village youths—not those aligned with the village chief, but the ones who viewed the Ruin negatively.

When the youths arrived, the innkeeper briefly explained the situation, then ordered them to go to the downstream villages and persuade the residents to evacuate. Of course, he moved personally as well.

“I’ll go too.”

As the innkeeper took off his apron and prepared to leave, Makon, the appointed merchant of the Dysis Polis, also stepped forward.

“You as well?”

“This is an important matter for me too. I will guarantee the compensation for the damages.”

“Damn it! That’ll make persuading them a lot easier! Thanks!”

The innkeeper expressed his gratitude with mixed emotions. It was almost as if he were saying, ‘If you hadn’t brought that madman (Anagin) here, none of this would’ve happened!’

But there was no point arguing about it now....

While the innkeeper worked to evacuate the villagers, Anagin began making his own preparations.

“Sanchonius.”

“Yes, Sir Anagin.”

“Can you get me a hammer?”

“A hammer?”

“Yeah, a big, solid one. Spend as much money as you need.”

Anagin tossed him a pouch filled with gold coins.

Sanchonius looked dazed for a moment after catching it, then ran off to find a hammer.

After sending Sanchonius away, Anagin set the Interspatial Bag at his waist down on the ground and began taking items out.

The first thing he pulled out was the magical tool, the Infinite-Length Magic Rope.

Anagin tugged the rope to extend it, then tied knots so weapons could be hung from it. After that, he tied it again so it could be worn around his torso.

“What’s the plan?”

Sphinx asked as she watched Anagin pull out swords, axes, and a one-handed mace from the Interspatial Bag and hang them from the rope.

“You heard it earlier, didn’t you? Blow up the dam, wash away the bastards downstream, and the amazing me conquers the Ruin in no time.”

Something about it sounded very wrong, but the overall outline wasn’t incorrect.

There was, however, one part Anagin hadn’t mentioned.

“You know there’s a door blocking the way under the Ruin, right?”

That’s right—the door.

A door that even other practitioners had failed to break, eventually leaving it to the mages.

It was an easy detail to overlook, but not for Sphinx.

It might sound rude, but superhumans like Gigants and practitioners tended to share certain traits with Anagin.

Put kindly, they were brimming with confidence. Put poorly, they were obnoxious. Probably a side effect of their innate strength.

So if people like that admitted they couldn’t break it and handed it over to the mages? That was proof that it was tough enough that not even their teeth could sink into it.

And such doors were usually more than just physically sturdy—they almost always had some kind of magical mechanism on them.

She acknowledged that Anagin was strong, but that didn’t mean he could just open the door easily.

“Don’t worry. I’ve thought it all through.”

“What is it?”

Sphinx allowed herself a flicker of hope.

“I’m going to hit it really, really hard. Then it’ll open.”

The disappointment was immediate.

Suppressing the headache surging up, Sphinx asked,

“And if it doesn’t open?”

“It will.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because I’m amazing.”

“.......”

“Oh, Sanchonius is coming back. He really did get a huge hammer.”

* * *

Sanchonius brought back exactly what Anagin had asked for—a big, solid hammer.

The massive hammer, which had to be held with both hands, had a hammerhead nearly the size of a human torso, and it wasn’t hollow at all but densely packed and heavy.

“There were merchants selling weapons, so it wasn’t hard to find one. This is the remaining money.”

“Keep the change.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Keep it. It makes it easier for me to put you to work later. Didn't you say you would attend to me?”

When Anagin put it that way, Sanchonius reluctantly accepted it.

Before long, the innkeeper returned from afar, bringing Makon, the village youths, and a crowd of other villagers with him.

“Is this really the right thing to do?”

“I don’t know. But it’s what the innkeeper said....”

“Aren’t we just putting ourselves in more danger?”

He’d managed to persuade them somehow, but that aside, everyone was voicing complaints and anxiety, not fully understanding what was happening.

“Alright, alright, set up the tents. Tents! Hurry!”

Makon had his subordinates set up a temporary area for the villagers he’d brought. The innkeeper also had the village youths pitch in.

“Impressive. Honestly, I didn’t expect you to persuade them this quickly.”

When Sanchonius admired the innkeeper for successfully evacuating the people, Sphinx explained.

“It looks like Merchant Makon helped a lot. He said he’d pay them if they cooperated with the evacuation.”

“How do you know that?”

“I can hear small whispers. It seems he told them to take out all the money earned and distribute it.”

Sphinx replied, having eavesdropped on the conversation with wind magic.

In fact, Makon was calming the villagers he’d brought by handing out money and food.

“That merchant really does seem serious about supporting you properly, Brother.”

“A good partner is essential for a practitioner. You must be pleased.”

“I do like him. Back then, investing in Dysis Polis really was the right call. As expected, my judgment was spot-on. Past me deserves some serious praise.”

Anagin started by seeming to praise his counterpart, only to end with self-congratulation. Seeing that he hadn’t changed at all, Sphinx and Sanchonius couldn’t help but marvel—though not exactly in admiration.

Just then, the innkeeper approached.

There was now a hint of something fierce in his expression, as if to say, now it’s your turn.

“We’ve brought all the people from the downstream villages over here.... You can move now.”

“I was planning to anyway.”

Anagin switched back to polite speech when addressing the innkeeper.

Startled by Anagin’s mercurial attitude, the innkeeper froze for a moment. Anagin chuckled softly.

“What? I might be rude to senile idiots who’ve only grown old, but I know how to show proper respect to a real adult. I may look like this, but I was raised pretty well.... Sanchonius.”

“Yes.”

“Watch my luggage for me. From here on, I’ll have to go alone.”

Trained at Chiron Tower as an attendant to heroes, Sanchonius nodded instead of foolishly insisting on following along.

He’d already expected this the moment Anagin said he would destroy the dam. He knew full well that someone like him couldn’t follow by those means.

As Anagin took even the Giant’s Bed out of the Interspatial Bag and slung it over one shoulder, preparing to head for the dam, he turned back to look at Sphinx, who was following him.

“Why are you coming along? I said I’m going alone.”

“I’m your familiar. I have to follow.”

“Then do as you like.”

Anagin allowed Sphinx to accompany him with almost anticlimactic indifference.

* * *

“If you keep going this way, you’ll reach the dam… I leave the rest to you.”

When they were close enough to the dam, the innkeeper said that and fled as if running for his life.

From that point on, it was just Anagin and Sphinx on the path to the dam.

“But hey, are you sure you’re fine?”

As he walked, Anagin asked the question, weapons tied with rope clanking all over his body, the Giant’s Bed slung over one shoulder, and the massive hammer on the other.

“About what?”

“You said you were coming along as my familiar, so I let you. But keeping up is on you. I’m not planning to look after you, either.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Sphinx answered confidently, then pulled back the hood she was wearing and swept her golden hair back.

At the same time, her body seemed to shrink, and in the blink of an eye, she had become something like a kitten, hopping up onto one of Anagin’s shoulders.

“Oh....”

“That’s why transformation magic is so useful.”

Sphinx said proudly, looking at Anagin’s admiration.

Once you mastered transformation magic properly, it wasn’t just about hiding your appearance—you could freely move through tight spaces, underground, or even underwater.

“And it’s cute, too.”

“It really is cute.”

He’d said it half as a joke, but Anagin immediately agreed. Apparently not expecting that answer, Sphinx was so surprised her ears perked right up.

“Really?”

“Really. From now on, do the laundry in that form.”

“Haha, that’s not funny, Brother.”

“Of course it’s not funny. I wasn’t joking.”

Instead of replying, Sphinx cut the conversation off with silence. Anagin snickered and looked ahead. They had already arrived at the dam.

“It’s bigger than I thought.”

Anagin said it like that was a good thing. A big dam meant a lot of water stored behind it—and that meant greater force when it collapsed.

“I can boost the power with my magic.”

“Huh? What power?”

Anagin asked as he planted the Giant’s Bed into the ground at a forty-five-degree angle.

“Obviously, the river. If I raise strong winds, the current will also—.... What’s with that look?”

“I was just curious. The one who vanishes like the wind whenever a fight breaks out, suddenly saying she’ll fight.... Makes me kind of happy, like you’ve grown up a bit.”

Grown up, huh.... Sphinx smiled bitterly.

“Well, work is work.”

“Do you want to?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking if you want to do it.”

He was asking whether she wanted to fight using magic.

It was a short question, but strangely, Sphinx couldn’t answer right away.

After a moment passed, she answered honestly.

“If I have to fight, I’ll fight. But right now, I don’t want to.”

“Then don’t.”

“...Is that okay?”

Sphinx asked in surprise. She hadn’t expected Anagin to handle it this way, but as a familiar, she’d steeled herself to some extent. This was exactly when familiars were usually used.

And yet—if you don’t want to, then don’t.......

“Yeah. Instead, do me a favor.”

“...What is it?”

“Do the laundry in that form.”

“Brother, please shut up.”

Sphinx spoke with absolute sincerity to Anagin, who never gave her a single moment to feel touched.

Anagin cackled as he infused the hammer with Energy and swung it with full force against the dam.

The structure groaned, and then the dam began to spew forth a massive torrent of water.

* * *

“Damn it...! Looks like it’s not this one either.”

Another mage who had gone down below the Ruin came back up, spewing curses.

People usually think of mages as gloomy but intelligent and rational—but that’s something said by those who don’t really know them.

It’s always the ignorant who pretend to know better.

Mages were intelligent and rational, yes, but more than that, there were times when they were emotional and irrational. It sounded contradictory, but that was reality.

Wasn’t the world always like that? Rulers who cry justice while starting wars, judges who preach the law while taking bribes, heads of households who boast of responsibility and duty yet swing their fists at home.

Mages were no different.

That could be sufficiently explained if one considered the nature of magic as a discipline.

Magic used mental energy called Yeom, and the more outstanding a mage was, the more eccentric and emotional they tended to be.

The only question was whether great mages became eccentric, or eccentric mages became great mages.

Well, that wasn’t the important part.......

“It seems it’ll be difficult with just our power, Sir Neiron.”

They had found the ‘true Ruin,’ yet couldn’t enter it—that was the real problem right now.

“Damn it!”

Neiron cursed under his breath as impatience welled up while listening to the report.

By some stroke of luck, they had secured the ‘true Ruin’ and chased off all the riffraff, but being unable to enter once they were here, it was only natural to be furious.

It was like finding food after starving for three days, only to discover it was locked behind iron bars, impossible to eat.

The hunger was bad enough, but the frustration was unbearable.

‘But still....’

At the same time, that was exactly why his expectations grew.

Even trinkets made of Orichalcum were valuable treasures, but the door beneath promised something far greater.

A door that didn’t budge even under a practitioner’s blows or a mage’s spells could only raise expectations further.

This wasn’t one of those Ruins that were ‘fake’ in name only—it was a ‘true Ruin’ containing ancient knowledge.

Thinking that it had been the right call not to get greedy and instead call for reinforcements, Neiron the Miscellaneous Doll, asked his visibly shaken subordinate,

“When will the reinforcements arrive?”

“They say two to three days. Thanks to you requesting it immediately, Sir Neiron.”

Trying to lift his superior’s mood, the subordinate mage flattered him.

But it wasn’t wrong. If greed had made him delay the report, the reinforcements would’ve arrived much later—but Neiron had overcome that and reported it right away.

A Ruin conflict was a battle against time.

You never knew when some lunatic would show up and ruin a perfectly set table.

Two days at the earliest, three at the latest. That was more than enough time to hold the Ruin.

There was no one here stronger than the Miscellaneous Doll Neiron.

“...Sir Neiron? Sir Neiron?! Sir Neiron!!”

“What is it?!”

Pulled out of his thoughts by his subordinate’s urgent voice, Neiron shouted back irritably.

What could possibly warrant such a commotion?

“O-over there! Look up there!”

With a pale face, the subordinate pointed far into the distance.

When Neiron lifted his head, he doubted his own eyes.

A massive torrent of water, thick with mud, was surging toward them, churning up white foam.

What was even more shocking was that riding atop that raging flood was a madman holding a gigantic hammer—surfing down on something that looked like a bed.

“Wahahahaha!”

He was laughing like a maniac.