“I understand your points of view. Master, Lionel, I’m sorry, but we’re going back to Ebiza. I’ll ask Dhoran to create a makeshift training area somewhere in town. You can train there until our departure.”
“Guess we don’t have a choice,” Brod grumbled.
“If you believe that’s the best course of action, then I trust your judgment. Let’s head back,” Lionel said.
“Yup.”
Thankfully, they agreed to back down as soon as they heard they’d be able to train. And so, having finished our meal, we returned to Ebiza. Nothing of note happened on the way back, other than me noticing that I could now see much better in the dark. Perhaps my affinity with darkness had been strengthened after receiving the Spirit of Dusk’s and the Umbra Dragon’s blessings?
As I rode on Forêt Noire, lost in my thoughts, I suddenly felt a telepathic nudge from Forêt, telling me to pay more attention to what I was doing, so I quickly refocused on riding.
We reached Ebiza...only to hear a huge boom that resonated deep in my stomach coming from the little town.
“Let’s hurry,” I told my companions.
The explosion sound had come from the direction of Bazack’s mansion, so I dashed through town on Forêt’s back. As soon as I reached my destination, I was met with the sight of the airship billowing with smoke and parts of what seemed like one of Pola’s golems flying around. What kind of crazy monster had just appeared here? Panicked, I tried to look for any hidden presences or mana signatures but couldn’t sense any that belonged to a monster or a demon.
“Oh, welcome back, Mister Luciel, everyone,” Rina said when she spotted us.
“Mister Luciel, please stop them!” Nanya urged me. “They made a mess of the garden!”
I climbed down from Forêt. “Hi, girls, we’re back. Just to be clear, you guys weren’t attacked by a monster, were you?”
“No. Mister Dhoran and the others have made magic artillery, and they were in the process of testing its power and accuracy and making adjustments,” Rina explained to me.
“The sun has set already, so I told them to stop so as not to bother the townsfolk, but...” Nanya trailed off.
Hearing that, I instantly regretted my decision to leave Dhoran and the girls alone for two days. I never imagined they’d be testing magic artillery in the middle of town.
I let out a long, long sigh. “I can’t believe they’ve already made a prototype of the artillery I asked them to craft. I really underestimated them, huh? Fine, I’ll go talk to them.”
Feeling relieved that we didn’t have to deal with a demon attack, I prepared to lecture Dhoran and the other two.
“Hey, guys, we’re back,” I greeted them.
“Ooh, Luciel! We were just ’bout done with that magic artillery ye requested,” Dhoran said, a bright grin on his face.
I took a look at the airship and saw that three cannons had been installed. “Yeah, I heard that. All the way from the entrance to town, in fact. Why did you install three cannons?”
“The one in the middle’s powerful enough to bring down any enemies with a single hit, while the ones on the sides are weaker but can fire off shots faster. Was Rina’s idea.”
I glanced at Rina and saw her fidgeting in embarrassment at the praise. I wondered how long it would take her to realize that Dhoran was playing her.
Casting him a suspicious look, I made my way over to inspect the artillery. “I know I’m the one who asked for this, but I can’t believe you’re done already.”
“I figured it’d help us deal with those pesky wyverns when we head to the empire.”
“I mean, it’ll definitely help us keep them in check, but I feel like we don’t necessarily need cannons powerful enough to shatter one of Pola’s golems into pieces,” I pointed out.
“Oh, I actually dialed down the power a wee bit for that test. If I hadn’t, it could’ve caused a right mess with the airship’s flight.”
What in the world was Dhoran planning on firing the cannon at?
“We’re only using the artillery to take down the research facilities from the sky if our airship is on the verge of being shot down,” I reminded him. “I have no intention of using it on people or to start a war with the empire.”
“I know that. I’m not ’bout to go slaughterin’ innocents. What d’ye take me for?” Dhoran retorted, vexed.
I felt a tap on my shoulder. Looking over, I saw Pola standing behind me.
“Grandpa wants to use the cannons against the Wicked One. He always says that it’s our job to protect and support you.”
A warm feeling welled up inside me at her words. If more people started thinking like her, I might be able to fulfill my promise to the Umbra Dragon after all. Such competent followers were almost wasted on the likes of me, though I felt like I had to address their “We’ll make any sacrifice to achieve our goal” mindset someday.
“I’m sorry for doubting you, Dhoran. I really appreciate everything you and the girls do for us, and I’ll keep counting on you moving forward. But it’s getting late, so can we pause the firing test for today? The noise will scare the townsfolk—both the kids and the adults—and they won’t be able to get any sleep.”
“Guess we don’t have a choice.”
“Oh, and I have a little request I’d like to talk to you about. Do you have a minute?”
“Of course.”
We talked well into the night.