Chapter 209: The Reunion
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 209: The Reunion
The Mage Marshal, the pride of the Military State, was a woman of immense dignity. The sight of Prelvior—the model of a soldier and respected by all citizens—spinning in mid-air while emitting light was utterly ridiculous.
But given her high rank and the urgency of the situation, no one dared to laugh. Except for one person.
“Haha! Hey, old lady! Getting weak in your old age? Can't even piss straight anymore? It's spraying all over the place!”
Patraxion cackled with insolence. The general officers running beside him couldn't laugh, but for a different reason: the joke was simply too crude.
His booming voice reached Prelvior, whose stern face twisted in a scowl.
“Silence! An adult is working! Get over here and help, now!”
“Just a minute! I'm almost there! Hey! Gand! Spear!”
“Here, sir!”
After receiving a spare spear from his adjutant, Patraxion planted his right foot hard into the ground and came to a sudden halt. Tendons bulged on his shoulders. He drew his arm back and, channeling all his forward momentum into the spear, threw it.
Whoosh. The spear shot forward with heavy force. Just before his fingertips released the shaft...
“Hup!”
His fingers, tensed with power, gripped the spear again. At the same moment, he straightened his bent knees and kicked off the ground. Patraxion flew through the air, clinging to the very spear he had just thrown.
He soared in a parabola and landed right in the middle of the battlefield. Planting his spear into the ground to right himself, he charged forward with bravado.
Sunderspear had entered the battle. The Regressor leaped up and shouted.
“Tyrkanzyaka! Deal with Sunderspear!”
“Just a moment. I must teach that insolent fool a lesson...”
“Deal with him quickly so you can help him!”
Tyr glanced in my direction, then pressed her lips together and followed the order. Turning away from the Mage Marshal, she moved to engage Sunderspear and the general officers following him.
“Progenitor! Your opponent is...”
“Me! I'll be your opponent!”
“Hah. A greenhorn like you...!”
“Why is everyone so hung up on age? It's so damn annoying! Do you have any idea how complicated I'm feeling right now?!”
“Even your speech is foul!”
Prelvior gathered her mana as she lectured.
She had exhausted her stored light, but flames produce heat as well as light. Heat had the power to turn air into wind. Ugong-isan recycled its accumulated heat, pushing out a blast of wind. Her wind-filled cape spread wide.
“Preset, Pascal!”
The wind lifted Prelvior high into the air. Even heavy shipping containers tumbled helplessly across the ground in the violent gale. It was a torrent of power more comparable to a waterfall than a mere wind.
In the midst of it, the Regressor raised Chun-aeng.
“Hmph. Sorry, but you're not the only one who can control the wind!”
Chun-aeng was a treasure that held the power of the sky. It contained space itself, granting the ability to freely command wind and clouds.
The Skyblade Art was a form of spellsword technique that drew out that power using mana and Qi. The Regressor swung Chun-aeng, slicing through the rushing wind.
Skyblade Art, Wave Breaker.
“This is... magic!”
The Regressor advanced, cutting the raging storm apart with a single strike. Witnessing the wind being split by a sword strike, an enraged Prelvior shouted.
“To have mastered both magic and Qi at your age, why...! How can geniuses be so selfish!”
“...Thanks for the compliment, but the word 'genius' doesn't mean anything to me anymore!”
“Unforgivable! If you were blessed with such talent, you should be grateful, not just brandish it about! I will not allow you to act like a reckless brat on this nation's soil any longer!”
Prelvior's furious roar echoed.
Compared to the fierce battle over there, nothing passed between Ria and me. No attacks, no accusations, no shouts—nothing but a brief exchange of glances.
But we couldn't stay like this forever. I set the box on my back down at my feet, took out a mana herb, and offered it to Historia.
“Care for a smoke?”
Historia stared at me for a moment before taking it. As she put the mana herb to her lips, I raised my finger as if on cue and touched it to the tip.
“Set, Re. Fahrenheit.”
A flame flickered from the tip of my gauntlet. Historia inhaled, and the hot flame was drawn into the mana herb, which slowly began to burn, saturated with the fire.
A deep drag. As she tasted the smoke, Historia's expression softened for an instant.
‘The taste... is strangely good. What is this? Is it because he lit it...?’
“Good, right? Calling it 'top-shelf' doesn't do it justice. I heard it's made with leaves from the World Tree.”
‘...No, that can't be it. It's just a good mana herb.’
Mana herbs have a calming effect. This one, in particular, was a special product made from the leaves of the World Tree. Being high-quality, its effects were potent, and Historia's agitation subsided considerably.
A smoke break always comes before old school ties, after all. Now that I've gotten her to take a drag, maybe I can play up those old ties to stall for time.
“This brings back memories, doesn't it? You were so bad at Standard Magic you always had to borrow a light for your mana herbs.”
I brought up the old memory to kill time, but Historia wasn't having any more small talk.
“What's with that ugly armor? Dressed for a fight, are you? Think you can beat me?”
“There's no way I could beat you. This is just for self-defense. I put it on so I wouldn't get blown away if I got caught up in a fierce battle.”
“Is that all?”
“Of course. What good would armor do, anyway?”
Historia exhaled a plume of smoke as if in agreement. Perhaps because I was facing the wind, the smoke drifted toward me. It had been a while since I'd quit, but the scent lingering at the tip of my nose was refreshing.
Was the urge to smoke again because the mana herb was high-quality? Or was it because I'd met an old smoking buddy after so long?
“If you have no intention of fighting.”
Historia snatched a chain with her fingertips. The long chain returned to her hand like a well-trained animal. She rattled it menacingly and ordered me.
“Hold out your arms. I'm taking you into custody and bringing you to the Public Security Agency.”
“Just me?”
“You first.”
“What's the charge?”
“You pick. What should I book you for?”
‘Murder, perjury, insurrection, fraud, and obstruction of justice. I can pin any charge I want on you. After you killed 161 people in Hamelin, the specific charge is meaningless.’
It seems she still firmly believes what happened that day was my fault. How am I supposed to clear up this misunderstanding?
Or rather, should I even bother?
In any case, not getting caught was the priority. I adopted the most harmless posture I could.
“Ria. You know it wasn't me.”
“I'll hear the details in the interrogation room, Huey. You won't be leaving until you've coughed up the whole truth.”
‘Not that there's any guarantee you'll leave even if you do. In any case, I won't let you talk your way out of this.’
An old acquaintance turning into an enemy is a scary thing. She knows me so well that she's trying to restrain me first instead of getting drawn into a conversation.
I've messed with her countless times in the past, so she won't fall for any mind games. In that case...
I didn't want to do this, but it's time to prey on her guilt.
“Why are you blaming me? You're the one who needs to confess the truth.”
I grabbed my mask and lifted it, revealing my bare face. The headwind dried my eyes.
Still, I kept my eyes wide open, filling every feature of my expression with deep resentment.
I blamed her.
“You were the one in the wrong first.”
“...”
“If you had just saved me in time, none of this would have happened. Why did you turn your back on me at the last second?”
I drove the final nail in, shouting at the silent Historia.
“What makes you any different from them?”
The truth is, I already know. I could read Historia's thoughts then, and I can read them now, so there's no need to interrogate her. That's why I faked my death without any hesitation and headed for the capital.
This emotional display was purely to stir her guilt.
But Historia was far more resolute than I had expected.
“I'm not.”
She had too much to say to me, and too much she needed to hear. And she wasn't the type to miss an opportunity over a little guilt.
Historia's lips parted from the mana herb. The ember died down for a moment, then released a clear, filtered-looking smoke.
“So, surrender. While I'm still a Six General.”
‘While I'm still the Daughter of the Military State, a faithful soldier. If it gets any later, or if you become an even greater threat... even I won't be able to save you.’
If that's the case, you shouldn't have tried to catch me in the first place, I thought. Why go so far as to become a Six General, all while thinking I might be alive and continuing to chase me?
If you'd just pretended not to see me, I would have lived my life just fine.
As I stared at her resentfully, Historia offered the half-smoked mana herb to me. It was the most amicable gesture she could make.
Back when mana herbs were hard to come by, we used to share a single one. With this gesture, it seemed she wanted to offer me a sliver of trust.
If I let her capture me now, I could probably survive. I was willing to spill every bit of information I had to save my own skin, and maybe the Military State would believe me and grant a pardon. Above all, my old classmate was a Six General; I'd have that connection.
But then again, if I just don't get caught, none of that matters. Why should I cling to a single thread of hope and tumble into an even more dangerous situation?
And before that.
“Ah. I forgot to mention.”
The cool scent of the mana herb tickled my nose, but I forced myself to look away and shrugged.
“I quit.”
The silence that fell was heavy. It was so quiet all around that for a moment, I thought the wind had stopped.
Historia muttered a beat too late.
“...You did?”
At the same time, she dropped the mana herb. Her boot came down hard, crushing the ember on the ground. Having steeled her resolve, Historia glared at me with fierce eyes.
“I'll do this by force, Huey. You might pass out, so grit your teeth.”
“Wait. Before that. I have one more gift.”
Just before Historia could approach, I kicked the lid of the box open. The latch came undone, and the tightly sealed surprise box unveiled itself. Puffs of white smoke billowed out from inside.
As if expecting it, Historia raised her guard and prepared for a fight.
‘Of course. There's no way you'd come empty-handed. But, Huey. A simple surprise won't be enough this time.’
Amidst the tense atmosphere, the first thing to emerge from the thick smoke was a sound, drawn out as if in a state of bliss.
“Myaaaow~. Mya. Ah?”
Along with the cat's cry came a scent that was both thick and refreshing. Historia caught a whiff and furrowed her brow.
‘Wait, this smoke, is it from that mana herb just now?’
“You like smokes and you like cats, right? Here, a present. This surprise box is a smoking cat. A gift you'll like twice as much!”
Nabi had been sleeping soundly inside the box filled with blissful smoke. But when a fierce wind swept across the belt, the smoke scattered in an instant. With hazy eyes, Nabi reached out, trying to catch the dispersing smoke.
But all she felt was the strong, cold wind.
Nabi's eyes snapped open. As she pawed futilely at the air, she realized just how windy it was where she was.
“MYAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
And she grew furious at the wind that had stolen her happiness. To vent her rage, she leaped out of the box and looked around frantically.
Naturally, to a beast, a human-shaped figure is a much easier target for hostility than a steel mannequin.
Especially if there was a half-smoked mana herb at that person's feet.
“Huey, you crazy son of a bitch...!”
Historia began round two against the rampaging Cat King.