Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: A Gentle Breeze
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It was a gentle breeze. A wind slipping softly through her hair, leaving behind a cool sensation.
If it weren't for this situation, she would have savored a strongly sweetened tea while enjoying the subtle breeze.
If it weren't for this situation.
"Ah, miss."
Willet stammered. Even the seasoned butler seemed helpless before the supernatural phenomenon.
Ariel said to the butler.
"Calm down. We'll be safe."
She said it, but in truth, she was just as anxious.
A storm was raging. A pleasant calm breeze blew around the mansion, but not beyond it.
There was a common saying on days when storms raged: "The heavens are angry." Could anything express the scene unfolding before their eyes more accurately?
"The heavens are furious."
Tacha said. The flag unfurled by the lizard warrior soared toward the sky.
"It'll be okay, right?"
Ariel asked in a quiet voice, so Willet wouldn't hear.
"As long as that little warrior keeps her eyes open, it'll be fine."
"What if Charlotte faints?"
"Then we'd flee with our tails cut off. Standing against a spirit's wrath is foolish. Even I, who reveres battle, would avoid that."
Ariel looked at Charlotte, standing a little ways off. Ethan was right beside her.
Charlotte gripped Ethan's hand tightly as she gazed up at the sky.
Ariel lifted her chin as well. An unidentified red mass had appeared in the air without warning, tossed about by the wind.
The red monster spewing horrific mana and laying waste to the surroundings looked like a mere toy before the wind summoned by Sanka.
"It's a bit disconcerting to entrust our lives to the kids."
Ariel voiced her honest feelings. Tacha snorted.
"Does long life bring wisdom? Does age bring purity of heart? Most just grow old on the outside while rotting within. Children know no good or evil; they are pure. Without boundaries, they are infinite. That little warrior, who knows how to wield a spirit's power, is far more mature than us."
"That's your warrior philosophy. To me, she's still just a child in need of protection."
The raging wind fell still in an instant. Just as Ariel narrowed her eyes, wondering if it was over.
A shadow fell over them. Wings blotting out the sky. The sight overwhelmed her the moment she saw it, her shoulders hunching involuntarily.
A chill ran down her spine. If wind took physical form, would it look like that?
The massive wings dragged the atmosphere along as they moved. The sky was swept away. The red monster was carried off by the wings.
Kwaaaaa—a shockwave that threatened to burst eardrums. A wind pressing down on her body. Her knees buckled on their own.
She raised a hand to grab her wildly whipping hair and looked up at the sky again.
"...Ah."
It was a sky clear to the point of sharpness. A transparent sky that made her forget even the chaotic situation.
She stared blankly at the sky for a long while. Her chest swelled with emotion, growing a little tight, until a wistful sigh finally escaped.
"It's awe-inspiring."
Tacha said. Ariel nodded vigorously. Then she came to her senses and looked toward Charlotte.
Lost in the wondrous sight, she had forgotten—but until moments ago, their lives had hung in the balance.
If Charlotte hadn't been here, if Sanka hadn't lent her power, she and everyone in the mansion would have been swept up in the red line and died.
No, Tacha might have survived.
"Charlotte!"
Ariel called out as she hurried over. The girl turned her head with a bright smile, then staggered and collapsed sideways.
Ethan caught her gently and laid her on the ground.
"Child-rearing is no easy task."
A single gust of wind descended, swirling around Charlotte before taking the form of a small bird.
Sanka stroked Charlotte's cheek with her lone wing.
"Is Charlotte all right?"
Ariel asked.
"It's not too much strain on my child's body. But she'll be tired. To be honest, even I was surprised. I didn't realize her Imaginary Realm ran deep enough to manifest my other wing. Children really are little universes. Impossible to fathom."
Sanka turned her head. The wind spirit gazed at Ethan.
At that moment, the hawk soaring high overhead cried out sharply and descended. It perched on Ethan's shoulder.
"When I entrusted Charlotte here, I thought the mountain child would prove helpful. I wasn't wrong. But the one she followed turned out to be you, surprisingly. Rappa child, keep protecting my child from here on."
"I... just played with Charlotte, that's all."
"That's more than enough. You're a child who sees true and leads true. Not like those wicked human children who stir up tempests."
Sanka glared at Ariel. After so many glares, Ariel had grown accustomed. She met the spirit's gaze without looking away.
"I have no intention of harming Charlotte."
"Your own path in life is a disaster, and you say that? Anyway, I still don't like you."
"I don't particularly like you either, Sanka."
A fierce gust slapped her face. Her carefully tamed hair fell into disarray again. She gathered the strands dangling before her eyes and tied them tightly.
"Anything else?"
"You're such an unlikable human."
Sanka whipped her head away. At the same moment, Charlotte's eyes fluttered open.
"Sanka, is it okay now?"
Charlotte looked up at the sky and asked the moment she awoke.
"Don't worry. I cleared it out completely."
"Thank you. For granting my request."
"What you desire is what I desire. You're my precious child, after all."
Sanka rubbed Charlotte's cheek with her beak, then vanished. It meant the danger had passed.
She stepped away from the mansion to survey the surroundings. Everything was in ruins. She couldn't even begin to guess how long reconstruction would take.
Paved roads had been flipped entirely, exposing their rough undersides, while houses that had years poured into their facades were reduced to bare foundations.
Convenience facilities lay crushed or half-vanished. The devastation was total—yet not a single human corpse in sight.
Ariel had witnessed it when the monster first appeared. The red line absorbed people without leaving so much as flesh. Like a plant multiplying by feeding on humans.
"What on earth was that thing?"
She asked Tacha, who had come up beside her.
"I can't say for certain, but it's undoubtedly profane. A power that should never exist."
"It felt similar to the monster that attacked the Holy City."
"The Holy City was stifling, but stable. No longer."
How many had died? The nobles who kept residences here were those who held considerable status even within the Holy City.
If key figures in its administration had perished, the Holy City would descend into true chaos.
First the citizens, now the nobles.
Public sentiment would erupt, and the Emperor would respond with measures to contain it.
Whether that meant a reign of terror or politics attuned to the people's will would depend entirely on the Emperor.
Either way, the Holy City would transform.
"The Assembly will rise up. The rift between the mainland and the frontiers will deepen too. That chaos could be our opportunity."
"Handle human politics yourself. I'll lend my strength only to what I deem just."
"So if you find me unreasonable, you won't help?"
"Naturally."
"Is our friendship worth so little?"
"Friendship?"
The lizard warrior with vertically slit eyes tilted his head.
"Forget it. I was spouting nonsense to someone whose head is filled only with 'fight.'"
"Good that you know it's nonsense."
"Are all Tarin like that?"
"I'm one of the refined ones."
Tacha lifted his snout and snorted haughtily. As Ariel shook her head.
"A great warrior approaches."
Tacha said, narrowing his eyes. There was only one person in the Holy City whom the Tarin warrior—who looked down on humans—truly revered.
Ariel swallowed hard. The approaching figure felt more daunting than even Sanka, who had swept away the monster with transcendent power.
Tense, she clasped her hands together needlessly.
"I can't understand it. The man hasn't changed, so why the tension?"
"He has changed. Now that I know who he really is, how could I not be tense?"
"Humans are truly baffling. The essence remains the same, yet you tremble over a mere name and title. Even the shaman who prays for abundance becomes a warrior like us once the rite ends, but humans invent their own hierarchies."
"Enough preaching. I'm too tense to think straight."
"Then let me help."
What help? Her confusion shifted to alarm in that instant.
Tacha's hand shoved Ariel's back hard. "Eh—" As her body lurched forward, she scrambled to keep her footing.
Her battered boots came into view. Ariel slowly raised her head.
Lander—no, Hus—was asking if she was all right.
"I-I'm fine. Commander."
"I told you last time, that title makes me uncomfortable. Treat me casually."
"......"
She tucked her lips inward and fell silent. Memories flashed through her mind in rapid succession.
Yelling at him to hand over the necklace, telling her she didn't know her father, hinting not to suspect her mother.
How abominably she had behaved toward the very man her father had served—the leader of the Imperial Knights.
Her face burned. Even after they'd cleared the air last time, she couldn't help shrinking before Lander.
He had been an object of admiration, a name drilled into her ears at Schola until they blistered.
How could she treat casually the only man her father had called comrade without reservation?
"If you keep that up, I won't have the face to show my senior. Or should I bow lower?"
"No! Don't. I might actually die."
Forgetting all noble decorum, Ariel waved her hands frantically to stop him. The mere thought made her dizzy. The Commander bowing?
"Sanka protected this place."
"Yes. We survived thanks to her."
Ariel finally met Lander's eyes.
"Charlotte seems fine too."
Charlotte was looking their way, waving.
"Yes. More importantly, the monster on the other side..."
"I handled it."
"As expected."
It was astonishing. She had thought it a power beyond human reach, yet the Commander had dealt with it. His moniker as the Empire's mightiest weapon was no jest.
"It seems settled for now?"
"Appears so. Nothing else in range."
As Lander spoke, a flash of light erupted. Intense enough to sting the eyes.
She looked toward the source.
The castle, which should have loomed in majestic splendor, was nowhere in sight.
The explosion's roar followed belatedly. The glare faded, dust shrouding the castle's surroundings.
"No way."
Before her words could fade into the air, Lander moved.
* * *
"They say it was the United Kingdom."
"No, the Assembly. The Assembly."
"You think? The castle's gone. The Holy City's castle. Were things that bad between the Assembly and the Emperor?"
"You never know with people. Maybe they tried to kill the Emperor and seize power while they were at it."
They were deep in conversation when Vinsendal slammed the table.
"That's not the point. The point is we nearly died for nothing."
"True enough."
"Quite a few nobles went down too, from what I hear."
Vinsendal snorted.
"Didn't you read the papers? Sir Aleng's dying words were splashed across the front page. I made up my mind the instant I saw them."
"Made up your mind about what?"
"Why should we be the only ones exploited? It's time for a change."
"What power do we even have?"
"Numbers. That's our power. With the Holy City in chaos like this, it might be our chance."
Those snickering at his ravings gradually fell silent, focusing on Vinsendal's voice.
"Is there a way?"
Someone asked. From that question, the others began to gather.