Red Flame (6) [EP.10 The Slave Merchants] - Raging Waves, Iron Bars Submerged in Water -
It was never meant to begin with a kidnapping. In the original story the protagonist’s party had come to the sea for a school trip. Legia, Irene, and Charlotte. The three of them were enjoying a late-night stroll when they happened upon a slave merchant’s carriage rolling past. The children immediately tailed the wagon to rescue the captives and eventually reached a colossal transport ship laden with cargo.
“What do we do?”
“The professors will take too long to get here…!”
“It’s about to set sail.”
“This is our only chance.”
“Yeah. If we hesitate, it’ll leave.”
“Let’s go.”
They boarded at once and the fighting began. Bewildered soldiers swarmed them. Legia’s power had still been unstable back then, but the other two had already reached a respectable level, so the crisis seemed to pass smoothly.
The moment Bulmyeong confirmed Charlotte’s face he withdrew.
The sudden betrayal made the difficulty plummet. Despite the Hunting Dog’s savage resistance, the children combined their strength and finally brought him down.
They thought it was over.
KWAAAAAANG!!
A tremendous explosion roared. The ship had been rigged so that if the person in charge—the Hunting Dog—died, the automatic sinking sequence would activate. The enemy must not be allowed to seize the vessel and its cargo. The hull, dealt a mortal wound, began to slide slowly beneath the waves.
“Th-this is… we have to abandon ship, now!”
“It’s sinking too fast!”
“Those insane bastards…!”
“There are still innocent people locked on the lower decks!”
“We don’t have time.”
“If we stay, we’ll sink with it.”
The children fought with everything they had, but exhausted as they were they could not save everyone. Raging waves. Iron bars disappearing beneath the water. They could only watch helplessly as the tragedy unfolded.
It was hardly a bright ending. That pain would drive the protagonist’s party forward, becoming rich nourishment for their later growth—a classic tale of growth through failure.
‘Still… it was simply too cruel.’
It had shown the three children with their minds completely broken, raw and unflinching. No matter how many times one replayed the scene, the ship could not be saved. The story only progressed after the boss—the Hunting Dog—was defeated. Attempts to disarm the detonation magic failed; handling a spell woven from hundreds of overlapping circuits was no simple task. Worse, the arrays were not concentrated in one place but spread evenly throughout the hull.
‘In the end it was unavoidable.’
It would have been the same for anyone. No matter how outstanding, they were still students who had not even held their coming-of-age ceremony. That was why the memory sat so heavily in my chest.
The children shedding tears one after another. That heartrending illustration kept resurfacing in my mind.
‘Poor things.’
I clicked my tongue, a complicated taste in my mouth. As I tried to shake off the lingering thoughts, a small hand suddenly caught my sleeve. It was Irene, still leaning against my chest.
“D-did I just hear that? The ship is sinking…?”
The fox stared up at me with wide, startled eyes. Her dark pupils trembled. The word “sinking” seemed to have shaken her to the core. In a quivering voice she asked again.
“Is the ship really going to sink…?”
We had barely overcome one crisis, yet a far graver one now loomed. To her it must have felt like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. I answered calmly.
“It is an event that has not yet occurred.”
“That person said the explosion would happen within thirty minutes. If we don’t free the prisoners right now…”
“Irene. Calm down.”
“But we don’t have time—!”
“Shh.”
I pressed my index finger to her lips. The girl who had been spiraling in panic slowly regained control of her ragged breathing. Like a dying ember she gradually steadied. Before long Irene’s head drooped.
“……Is it my fault again this time?”
The murmured words were soaked in anguish. She was blaming herself. After all, it had been she who cut down the Hunting Dog. The act meant to protect everyone had instead flipped the switch that invited destruction. It was enough to make anyone’s mind go blank.
I denied it firmly.
“It is not.”
Tap. I placed a hand on her head. To soothe her I playfully ruffled the crimson strands. Her unfocused eyes remained fixed on me.
“Because this time will be different.”
I spoke with confidence, then gently pried the fox from my chest and sat her down on the floor, as though telling her to wait a moment.
“I will take care of it.”
Snap!
I flicked my fingers. The shadow covering my fingertips receded and my senses shot out like sharpened blades. I could feel the alien traces of mana scattered throughout the hull.
Current Remaining Output: 20.2%
Roughly twenty percent remained. I had consumed a great deal, but it was still just enough.
‘Seventy explosive arrays are planted throughout the hull.’
It could withstand roughly five detonations, which meant sixty-five formulas had to be neutralized. Hundreds of circuits resonated together; disturb one and all seventy would erupt at once. To disarm them I would have to cancel all sixty-five simultaneously, without the slightest error.
‘First, I need a clear line of sight.’
The arrays were evenly distributed across the lowest deck. To solve them all at once I needed a vantage where at least seventy were visible in a single glance. I clapped my hands sharply.
Clap!
The next instant I stood in the air a short distance from the ship. Beneath my feet black waves churned. Sea wind brushed my ears as I stared at the massive hull.
“……”
After a short, steadying breath I gently raised my closed eyelids. White pupils appeared, and a new world overlaid with mana filled my vision. I gazed straight through the ship.
Oooong—!
I felt it. The heavy pulse of mana. Hundreds of circuits tangled together, forming fuses that numbered in the tens of thousands. I raised a single finger and pointed at their center.
“Reveal.”
The lines in the air sharpened. I moved my fingertip in delicate patterns, pushing aside the spider-web circuitry. The control required total concentration. Calm on the surface, it was in truth harder than sinking a needle thrown from afar into the eye of another needle.
I exhaled slowly and searched for the core of the circuits.
Current Remaining Output: 15.4%
Current Remaining Output: 12.1%
Current Remaining Output: 9.7%
The output drained rapidly. Amid razor-sharp tension I searched for the single flaw that governed all the resonances. Soon I found it. A star radiating brilliant light, encircled by layer upon layer of circuits—the heart of the stacked formulas.
Without hesitation I pointed my finger, poured every last ounce of remaining output into it, and launched a phantom bullet into the wind.
“Shatter.”
I whispered.
“Blackout.”
Immediately afterward—
Pff—!
With a sound like escaping air, darkness erupted. The fast-flying fragment pierced the star’s heart. Every connected circuit was dyed in shadow and the brilliant light vanished. Mana was severed; the spell was neutralized.
Thud. Boom—!
The appointed time came and went, yet only faint echoes rang out a few times. The ship remained unchanged.
‘Done.’
The moment I let out a sigh of relief, a familiar mechanical tone sounded.
Current Remaining Output: 0%
A blue window floated before my eyes. Immediately afterward, dark blood surged up my throat.
“Cough…!”
The sleeve was instantly soaked. The blood was pitch black. The sensation of floating vanished and my body began to fall from the sky. Before I could react the water rushed up to meet me. A belated thought crossed my mind.
‘Ah.’
I had overdone it.
Splash—!
A fierce impact struck me. Cold waves swallowed my body. Consciousness blurred as though losing focus. I had to surface, yet my exhausted limbs refused to obey. My open eyelids slid shut once more.
‘This is bad… at this rate…’
My fading awareness met no resistance. The last thing reflected in my darkening vision was…
Grab—!
A hand catching my sinking wrist. The last image was disheveled crimson hair. Then I closed my eyes.
Some time later.
On the deck of the ship that had been brought back, two thoroughly drenched figures sat on the cold planks. They looked as if they had just been pulled from the sea.
“Wake up…!”
The unconscious blond boy lay limp. He was not breathing. The fox, face pale as death, pressed down on his chest with desperate CPR.
“No… you can’t die like this.”
Even exhausted, the girl did not stop. Tears spilled from her glistening eyes. She lifted the boy’s chin, pressed her lips to his, and breathed into him. A faint hint of color returned to his face.
“Haa… haa…”
Irene panted roughly. Head lowered, she repeated the artificial respiration again and again. It was the desperate struggle of a beast trying to save its master.
I woke up two full days later.