Chapter 111
Chapter 111
Portable Mist (2)
After finishing our conversation with Heringson and stepping outside, Ilyena immediately spoke.
"We’ll need to stay in this village for about a week. What about lodging?"
"We’ll use the village hall."
A small, low-traffic village like Erens doesn’t have any proper accommodation facilities.
Usually, travelers passing through such villages visit the village elder, greet them, and pay a small fee to use the village hall as a place to stay.
Even in the smallest of villages, there’s typically at least a hall for local gatherings and events.
"Looks like Erens didn’t originally have a village hall."
"It does now."
The Rose Garden had built a fine one here. In other words, it was a new building—very clean and quite impressive.
"For the record, we don’t need to pay."
"Of course not."
Kairus and Ilyena were here to support the Rose Garden. The people of Erens lived peaceful lives under the Rose Garden’s control.
They had no choice but to fully cooperate with Kairus and Ilyena.
"From the moment that prosecutor sets foot in this village..."
He would be playing right into Kairus and Ilyena’s hands.
"Good thing we disguised ourselves as reporters."
As she spoke, Ilyena pulled a box-shaped camera from the luggage she’d brought. A reporter carrying a camera was too natural to question. No one would doubt it—not even Settern Volos.
Kairus and Ilyena headed straight to the village chief of Erens.
"I heard the story. We’ve run into some trouble, so for the Representative to send help like this... I can’t thank him enough."
The village chief was an elderly woman with white hair, well over eighty.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
"Feel free to stay at the village hall for as long as you need. Meals will be prepared by the villagers, and you won’t lack for anything."
In truth, this level of cooperation was to be expected. Everything the people of Erens enjoyed in terms of civilization was thanks to the Rose Garden.
"In fact, speaking of cooperation, there’s one more thing we’d like to ask of you."
The village chief nodded at Kairus’s words.
"If it’s something we can do, we’ll do it."
Kairus and Ilyena were currently disguised as reporters. The villagers of Erens would need to play along with this act. Kairus explained their current complex situation as simply as possible.
"So, that prosecutor named Settern Volos is under the impression that the two of you are reporters working with him."
"Exactly."
As a village chief, she quickly grasped the situation. Once Kairus confirmed that she fully understood, he added a few more requests.
"I’ll spread the word so the whole village knows."
"As I’m sure you understand, if this plan fails, the ones who’ll suffer the most will be the people of Erens."
It wasn’t exactly true, but from Kairus’s point of view, there was no obligation to tell them the full details of the situation.
"Of course. We’ll be careful not to cause any trouble. Here, the key to the village hall."
After finishing their talk with the village chief, Kairus and Ilyena headed into the village hall.
"No beds, huh."
"Obviously. It’s not like this is an inn or hotel."
They were only being lent a space to stay in, nothing more.
"As long as there are no bedbugs and a roof overhead, that’s good enough."
A few hours later, as dinnertime came around, the villagers brought meals to Kairus and Ilyena.
"This is almost uncomfortably overdone."
There were twenty-five different dishes delivered. It was definitely not a portion meant for just two people.
"I feel like I’m going to puke."
After finishing the meal, Ilyena let out a groan like she was dying.
"You could’ve just eaten moderately. It’s not like we’ll have to worry about food for the next week anyway."
Unlike Ilyena, who had eaten a ton, Kairus had not overeaten.
In response to Kairus’s words, Ilyena answered with a burp and got up from her seat.
"If I stay like this, something’s going to go wrong. I need to digest this."
As Ilyena stood up with her stained glass in hand, Kairus also grabbed Flicker. Fortunately, there was a spacious clearing behind the village hall—large enough for both of them to train freely.
"Anyway, it’s a village facility, so let’s not break anything."
Even if the clearing were to be wrecked by excessive training, the villagers couldn’t hold Kairus and Ilyena responsible. All they could do was watch with sighs of regret.
"No need to wor—whoa!"
With a pop of air bursting, Ilyena shot forward like an arrow toward Kairus.
Kairus drew the blade of Flicker, and the tip of Ilyena’s stained glass clashed against it.
Sparks flew, the impact spread, and the air quivered.
"Didn’t work, huh."
After the clash, Ilyena retreated and dragged her foot across the ground. The air, still trembling from the impact, followed that motion and turned into wind swirling around her.
"An attack that sloppy isn’t going to work. If you’re going to ambush someone, you’ve got to dodge their line of sight first."
If your opponent’s looking right at you, surprise attacks almost never work. When Kairus gave his sword a strong swing, the wind swirling around Ilyena wavered visibly.
"It wasn’t an ambush—it was a greeting."
Ilyena swung her fist wide through the air. It looked like she was punching an invisible wall.
Once more, the air surrounding Ilyena’s body settled into a stable flow.
"Nice."
Kairus preferred to control the wind by swinging his sword, while Ilyena leaned toward controlling it through direct movement of her body.
It didn’t matter how it was done. Only the result mattered. Ilyena was now fully able to control the wind.
"At this point, I might even be able to disrupt your Swift Blade, you know?"
"Yeah."
Though it sounded like a bit of a provocation, Kairus agreed without resistance. Ilyena, as she was now, could indeed interfere with Kairus’s Swift Blade.
"But that doesn’t mean it’ll lead to your victory."
"Then I just have to make it lead to that."
The wind swirling around her gathered at her left leg.
As she stepped into her Rear Node, Ilyena’s body shot toward Kairus once more.
Once again, blades clashed. As if she had planned it, Ilyena’s strike was stopped by Kairus just like before.
But there was one difference.
"I doubt you’re doing the same thing expecting the same outcome."
Kairus’s gaze was now fixed on Ilyena’s left leg.
With the explosive sound of a gale, Ilyena’s left leg shot up, aiming for Kairus’s chin.
The fact that he was looking meant he’d already guessed it.
Kairus instinctively leaned back, and Ilyena’s leg soared upward into the air.
"Ha. You’ve gotta be kidding me."
The sight that followed left Kairus, who was preparing a counterattack, scoffing in disbelief.
The gale wrapped around Ilyena’s leg still had power left. After the kick missed and her leg shot skyward, wind blasted out again from it.
Using that propulsion, Ilyena managed to launch herself far away from Kairus.
It looked absurd—like a weight with legs tied to it had been thrown across the field.
And since she even botched the landing, Ilyena ended up falling flat on her butt and rolled a few times across the ground.
"You do know that was incredibly ugly, right?"
"Who cares how it looks in a fight! As long as the enemy dies and I survive, that’s what matters!"
Ilyena’s rather indignant retort wasn’t without merit.
"You seem more comfortable controlling the wind with your body than through your weapon, huh?"
At Kairus’s comment, Ilyena briefly paused and gave a nod.
"So what? Is that going to be a problem or something?"
Kairus wielded Swift Blade to control the wind. Ilyena knew that well, and she also knew that her method was different from his.
"No, it doesn’t matter how. Use whatever method feels natural."
"Then why even ask?"
"Because it looked like it was bothering you."
As soon as she said that, Kairus rushed at Ilyena and swung his sword.
A sharp sound echoed through the air. The blade Kairus swung now hovered above Ilyena’s head.
A rising current formed beneath Ilyena’s feet, lifting her body slowly upward. It wasn’t that Kairus’s blade was coming to her—it was that her body was being pulled toward his sword.
"You bastard!"
Ilyena quickly swung her right leg and kicked through the air.
The rising current Kairus had created scattered, and her body, which had been dragged toward the blade, was freed once more.
"Just train in the way you’re used to, so stop worrying about pointless things."
Kairus struck the disrupted wind with his fist, and the air, regaining its shape, slammed into Ilyena like a flail and sent her flying.
"Once you get used to one method, you’ll get used to the other too."
"So damn perfect, aren’t you!"
Ilyena’s body, launched into the air, gradually slowed down before landing smoothly.
But it wasn’t Kairus who helped her land. Ilyena had done it herself.
'Her learning speed is definitely impressive.'
Using Swift Blade to land softly mid-flight wasn’t exactly easy. But even in the middle of all that chaos, Ilyena pulled it off effortlessly.
"We don’t really have anything else to do until Settern Volos arrives, do we?"
At Kairus’s words, Ilyena wiped her lips and gave a nod.
"Exactly five days. I need at least two of them to rest."
If she went too hard and ruined her condition, it might cause problems when facing the three escorts guarding Settern Volos.
It wasn’t often that they got time to focus solely on training without distraction.
And for Kairus and Ilyena, the next five days were one of those rare moments.
"Five days is enough. Let’s kill ourselves out there."
Eating the meals provided by the people of Erens and staying in the village hall, Ilyena and Kairus poured themselves into training.
Five suns rose and five moons passed.
Then, they received word from Heringson that the Add-On they’d commissioned had been completed.
"...He said it would be hip flask-sized."
With a smug expression, Heringson handed them what was indeed a hip-flask-shaped Add-On.
"Go outside and give the mouthpiece-looking part a slight twist."
Kairus immediately twisted the flask’s mouthpiece all the way.
"You dumbass, I said a slight press—!"
Seeing that, Heringson shouted in panic, but it was too late—Kairus had already cranked the flask’s top completely.
Mist burst out of the flask like an explosion, filling Heringson’s workshop entirely.
Kairus then twisted the mouthpiece the other way. The deadly flood of mist pouring from the flask stopped.
But the workshop was already dense with fog.
"What the hell are you going to do about this!?"
As Heringson lost his temper, Kairus wrinkled his face slightly and swung his sword.
A faint breeze formed, gathering the thick mist that clung to the room with the tip of his blade.
The mist collected at the blade’s edge turned into water and ran down the sword in a stream.
In just that short moment, he’d successfully converted enough mist into water to drip visibly from his sword.
"Good work."
It was a satisfying result. Actually, more than just satisfying—it exceeded expectations.
If they could generate this much mist in such a short time, then Nimbus, the sword technique Kairus had acquired in Pontus, would be fully viable in combat.
Creating clouds had always been the biggest hurdle in using Nimbus.
Now, all that remained for Kairus and Ilyena was to manage their condition and wait for Settern Volos’s arrival.