“Please,” he started. “There’s a—”
I emitted a wave of mana, silencing the man.
“I don’t remember asking you,” I growled. “Or did you have the oh-so-bright idea of ransacking the Lightless ruin?”
“N-No, sir...” the man stammered, cold sweat streaking down his face due to my mana.
“Th-That’s right. I was the one!” Sigil insisted, covering for him. “I’m the one who said that I’d go to the Lightless ruin!”
The large man and the long-haired man rushed over to support the one with sunglasses as he almost crumpled to the ground. I gazed down at them coldly.
“You’re the leader, are you not?” I asked Sigil. “Indeed, I suspect that you ultimately made the decision to head here, but surely, someone must’ve suggested it first.”
“No! I-It was all me!” Sigil insisted.
Just then, the door of the room opened with a bang.
“Calm your horses,” a woman said in a dignified, regal tone. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bully these boys too much.”
A pale-faced woman with red hair entered the room. It seemed she could barely stand, as Lilka and another woman I’d seen in my dream—likely a member of this group—supported her. I furrowed my brow and scowled at this red-haired lady.
“And you are?” I asked.
I’ve never seen her before, not even in my dream. Is she a member of the Scarlet Wind or what?
“Iz is my name. And I’m the subleader of the Scarlet Wind, you adorable noble.”
Her smile was fierce and dignified, expertly masking the fact that she was unwell.
“A...subleader?” I asked.
Did the Scarlet Wind ever have a subleader? I thought Sigil was the leader and the rest were his subordinates. But...the name “Iz” does ring a bell. In my dream, I think Lilka mentioned it when she was talking about her past. She made it sound like Iz passed away, but this woman is now in front of me, smiling in my presence.
“I’ve been listening to your conversation,” Iz said. “See, these numbskulls came to this ruin to risk life and limb for me.”
“For you?” I inquired.
I gazed closely at the pale-faced Iz and saw that her skin was dotted with dark bruises. She noticed my gaze and tilted her head to one side.
“Wanna hear why?” she asked.
“I do,” I replied.
I nodded and motioned with my chin, encouraging her to take a seat.
✶✶✶
When Iz entered the room, the men frantically told her to head back to bed, but Lilka and the other woman (apparently called Elma) supported Iz from both sides and rebuffed their suggestion.
Iz then told me everything. She said that she’d fallen ill, and the cure was impossibly expensive. Recently, her illness had progressed considerably, and they needed money fast for her sake. I get it now, I thought. Sigil probably didn’t want to talk because he wanted to keep Iz’s condition a secret.
Maybe his plan was to let Iz and Elma escape should things go awry... No, I doubt he thought that far. And judging from Iz’s symptoms, it seems like mana particles are accumulating in her body, making her ill. To those who did not possess mana, these particles were deadly. When enough accumulated in their body, the rejection caused severe pain and agony. However, such buildup wasn’t normal to begin with; mana simply didn’t behave like that on its own. I wasn’t too knowledgeable on endemic diseases, but it seemed some regions experienced manatomic mutations that caused this.
That wasn’t suspicious in and of itself—these diseases were widely known. I was more concerned with the miracle cure that the Scarlet Wind touched upon. A cure? How? How can a potion extract all of the mana from a person’s body? There were potions and the like that replenished mana, but I’d never heard of the reverse.
A skilled mage could use precise, advanced mana manipulation to give some of their mana to another; even I could do something like that. But removing it altogether? That seemed like an impossible feat. To use an example, artificial respiration was possible by sending someone oxygen, but one couldn’t suck all the oxygen out of another’s body. The same logic applied to these potions.
If such a thing were possible, it would cause a huge fuss at potions conferences—it’d be front-page, earth-shattering news. What made this all the more suspicious was that the price of this so-called cure was greater than elixir, widely known to be a panacea. How could a curative cost more than a house? Besides, in my dream, Iz never made an appearance at all.
This implied that, in my dream, the Scarlet Wind’s desperate attempts to gather money had been in vain. Perhaps they weren’t able to make enough to buy the cure, or...
“I understand,” I said. “I can’t find any inconsistencies in your story either.”
I still had a myriad of questions, but I decided to call it for the day. Ultimately, I wasn’t able to know who else saw the dream that I did.
“I’ve heard enough. You can rest now,” I said.
I had Iz head back to rest; she’d been pale the entire time she was talking, and it must’ve been a trial for her to get out of bed at all.
“Oh? Are you worried for me?” Iz asked with a smile. “I thought you were a scary noble, but you’re kind, aren’t you?”
I glared at Elma, who stood up beside Iz. “Shut her up and carry her out.”
Elma hastily left the room with Iz leaning on her. Lilka worriedly chased after them, leaving only the men behind in the room. I glanced at Sigil, who was simply there, unsure of what to do.
“I can’t tell who the real leader is,” I muttered snarkily.
Sigil groaned and clutched at his chest.
“Agreed,” Hawk said.
“Yep,” Kay nodded.
“Amen to that,” Dan agreed.
“G-Guys!” Sigil shouted, looking clearly offended as he tried to pounce on his comrades.
Sigil, you’re less charismatic than in my dream...
Just then, I noticed my telepathic crystal in my pocket emitting mana. This crystal was connected to another person who held its counterpart, allowing two parties to converse even from a great distance away. I suspected that my father had called me to complain about taking too long. I quickly grabbed the crystal.
“Yeah?” I asked.
To my surprise, it wasn’t my father, but the magistrate I’d placed to take over Clinton. I wasn’t due for a periodic report yet, meaning that this must’ve been some sort of emergency. I channeled my mana into the crystal.
“What?” I inquired.
“Please forgive my sudden call,” the magistrate replied.
“Enough small talk. What do you want?”
“Yessir. I thought you should know—a wyvern appeared at Roguebert.”
“What?!”
My pathetic voice echoed throughout the room.
✶✶✶
A sigh escaped my lips. I stood on the deck of Ifrit as the airship soared through the skies with incredible speed. The breeze was in my face, but not enough to blow me away. At this speed, I wouldn’t have been surprised if the wind were stronger, but it seemed Ifrit was surrounded by some kind of magical barrier, protecting those on board. In fact, the breeze felt nice against my face, and I was quite comfortable.
I leaned on the railing of the ship’s deck and gazed at the horizon dyed by the setting sun. Needless to say, I was here now because of the report I’d received from the magistrate—a wyvern had suddenly appeared in Roguebert. The magistrate apparently had formed a group to subjugate the beast immediately, but a few citizens got in the way, and the expedition ended in failure. The wyvern made no attempt to attack people, and just landed on the top of the rock mountain to cry endlessly. It was as though the beast were calling for someone.