Chapter 195
★ Fire Scene: Maika Mushroom Warehouse ★
The flames that had suddenly erupted in the middle of the night continued to burn stubbornly, but they were gradually being extinguished.
The people gathered were all military personnel, and the one in command was none other than the Marshal himself.
The townspeople watching the firefighting from a distance merely observed from safety, saying, "What, it's just a fire?"
"Hmm... It went out rather easily for how fierce it was. How bad is the damage?"
"From what I hear, the outer wall was about all that burned, and the stockpiles inside weren't affected much. But they'll have to replace the roof."
"Good thing it ended as nothing more than an accidental fire."
"...Was it really an accidental fire...?"
"What is it, Staff Officer?"
The Marshal was speaking to a female soldier serving as a staff officer.
She rested a hand on her chin and groaned. She looked exactly as she had in the bar when she racked her brains trying to come up with some interesting riddle for the drunks.
"I'm no expert, but that fire... It flared up awfully fast for an accidental fire, didn't it?"
"Well, yes. It seems there was lumber piled up that could serve as fuel, so perhaps that's why."
"Fuel? Why was it here?"
"I don't know. If you're curious, we'll have it investigated. Illegal dumping of fuel is a crime, after all—"
"No, no, that's not what I mean. Even a kid knows it's dangerous to leave fuel in a place like this. There's foot traffic here during the day, right?"
The Marshal nodded. Though it lay toward the outskirts of the city, it was not a road that absolutely no one ever used.
"Then whoever left this fuel here did it sometime today or yesterday—in other words, only recently."
"Because someone would have reported it if they'd found it?"
The Staff Officer nodded.
"And then it burned within a day. This stinks."
"What are you suggesting?"
"...That someone used this fuel to try to accomplish something."
"Something?"
"I'd like to ask whether anything strange happened in the city. Where's the Centurion?"
"He was supposed to get that dragonkin drunk and question him for information. He's probably snoring away by now."
"Hmm. Then the engineer... No chance of him showing up, I suppose."
"None. This is no place for him to make an appearance."
"It's frustrating... If only we had some information, I feel like we could get a handle on something..."
Just then, they heard something explode in the distance with a heavy boom.
The Marshal and the Staff Officer exchanged glances.
"What was that—"
"An explosion. It came from far away."
The Marshal raised his voice.
"Hey! Did anyone hear that sound!? Anyone who's free, head over there and check for anything unusual!!"
About ten people responded to his shout and took off running, pushing their way through the crowd of onlookers.
"We don't know what's out there! Everyone, stay inside your homes!"
When the Marshal shouted, the citizens looked startled and hurried back to their own homes.
"Good. Staff Officer, let's go."
"Yes. We'd better hurry... Whoever they are, stirring up this much commotion is going to put everyone on higher alert."
The two of them set off running, each holding a magic lamp in one hand.
Even at this point, both of them still believed that someone inside the city had caused the disturbance. That was how completely they trusted the secrecy of this city.
★
"W-what... who is that...? Are they after us?"
"But they're smoking a cigarette..."
The last of the Lef people, who had been too slow to escape, stared dumbfounded at the hooded girl who had appeared, but—
"Get down!"
I shouted and swung the dagger in my hand.
She casually raised her sword and brought it down. That alone sent a powerful slash flying at us.
When my blade slammed into the slash, I knocked it upward amid a shower of sparks. It flew toward the upper part of the dome wall and gouged into it with a thunderous explosion.
"..."
She looked a little surprised that I'd deflected it with my blade, but that was all.
"Run! Run! Get up there, quickly!"
"B-but you—"
"Just go!! It's hard enough fighting while protecting all of you!!"
"!"
That was the honest truth. There was a limit to how much I could deflect with a dagger—in that single blow, the blade had suffered serious damage. And this was a blade with heavenly silver mixed into it!
The Lef soldier clenched their teeth, then ran up the stairs behind me and along the passageway leading outside.
The enemy sent another slash in their direction, but I immediately conjured several 【Fire Magic】 spells and slammed them into it. A thunderous blast lit up the surroundings.
"Damn..."
I couldn't stop it with magic.
The slash broke through, changing its force and direction as it struck the upper part of the passageway, and the passage was blocked by rubble.
No... Had that been her aim from the start?
To keep me from escaping?
"...Who are you?"
At last, she opened her mouth.
Her eyes held no emotion at all, and heavy dark circles clung around them; her lips were dry and cracked.
Her hoarse voice was almost that of an old woman.
"Adventurer Reiji."
I said it clearly, loud enough for her to hear.
Apparently she hadn't expected an answer—an even greater look of surprise appeared in her eyes than before, then vanished.
Like a bottomless swamp swallowing everything whole.
"Then your adventure ends here."
She raised both hands and brought them down carelessly once more.
Two vicious slashes flew toward me.
But—
"If all I have to do is dodge, it doesn't get much easier than this."
I used 【Dashing Art】 and ran to the left. The slashes passed through the spot where I'd been standing, gouging into the wall and exploding.
"..."
She swung her sword wildly at me as I ran.
Whenever I dodged, one slash struck what appeared to be a warehouse, blowing the wall inward; another gouged the ground; another flew off into the distance—
Even as this went on, I analyzed her attacks with 【Omniscience】.
(What looks like a single slash conceals countless tiny slashes within that sword. She brings down a single blow that combines them all. The sword itself bears no strain from launching them, and a membrane of vacuum surrounds it, allowing the slashes to fly smoothly.)
There was no magic involved.
In other words—
(An attack produced by an ultra-rare Talent Jewel...!)
It was the same kind of attack Lark used.
If that was the case, then her lack of humanity in her expression, her hoarse voice, and her rough skin—all of it—might be caused by the Talent Jewel as well.
I ran in a circle around her, keeping an equal distance, and returned to my original position.
A vast expanse of rubble and open ground had formed around us.
"Whoa, Sumelia's fighting!"
"Don't get close! Don't get close! You'll die!"
Soldiers who had heard the commotion arrived, but they knew all too well what the woman—apparently named Sumelia—could do, and didn't approach us.
It was true... With an ability like that, she was overwhelmingly strong, and no one could get near her.
But I didn't think any of that was a "good thing."
"..."
When she was told not to come closer, sadness had definitely appeared in her eyes—something I would have missed completely without 【Night Vision】 and 【Enhanced Vision】.
Like the dorsal fin of a white fish that had risen ever so slightly from the bottom of a bottomless swamp.
"Um, I never got your name."
"..."
"I told you mine, didn't I?"
"...Even if you heard it, you'd die."
I was no longer afraid of her.
She was certainly powerful. But that was strength backed by a Talent Jewel, nothing more.
She had the heart of a girl her age.
"I'll ask one more time. What's your name?"
"...Sumelia."
She gave in and answered.
"Sumelia. That's a nice name."
Then I told her:
"There were two things that had been unfortunate for you: no one understood that ability, and
you never met anyone with abilities greater than yours."
I'd already made up my mind: I was going to save her. If, like Lark, she was using a six-star Talent Jewel, there was a good chance it was shortening her life.
In a world with an absurd power like the Talent Jewels, there was no such thing as power that could be used without paying a price.
Unless you're an irregularity like me, with twice as many Skills as an ordinary Skill Holder.
"There was something fortunate for you, too."
It would be different if she were enjoying wielding that power.
But she didn't look like she was enjoying herself at all.
"I can overcome both of those misfortunes for you."