Water Magician

Chapter 677 : Visit to the Grand Duchy of Atinjo II

Chapter 0677

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

“I was sleeping so comfortably in such a wonderful bed!”

Ryo fumed in indignation.

“Y-yeah...”

Abel glanced furtively at the inn.

All the fires in the inn had been extinguished.

“It’s... not very burned, huh?”

“Of course not. The arsonist’s bad luck was having a water-attribute magician staying here.”

Ryo, enraged at having his peaceful sleep disrupted, had extinguished every fire in an instant.

“Besides, if the fire spread, Andalusia would be startled, wouldn’t it? Horses and wild animals in general aren’t supposed to like fire.”

The stable where Andalusia and Feiwan were kept was in a different building from the main inn where the two of them had been staying.

Of course, they had already confirmed that both horses were safe.

The two stood in front of the stable, looking around.

“Those two... to me, it looked more like they were calming the other horses down, the ones that were getting frightened.”

Abel’s murmur never reached Ryo’s ears.

“Fighting is breaking out all over the place.”

The sound of clashing blades could be heard even here.

“They must have intended to set fire and attack while everyone was confused.”

“A classic method.”

Ryo gave a small shake of his head.

Then he continued.

“We may need to lend a hand, but I have no idea who’s the enemy and who’s an ally.”

“Can’t be helped. In situations like this, you should focus on protecting yourself and the things that matter to you. Anyone who attacks you in that situation is the enemy.”

“I see! Abel says wise things sometimes.”

“Ho?”

“The important one is Andalusia... well, Feiwan too, I suppose.”

“Just protect both of them honestly.”

Abel let out a small sigh.

After the fire had been extinguished instantly by Ryo, the two of them had changed clothes and come down here.

So their equipment was all with them as well.

“Just in case the target was Holy Sword Tatien, I brought it out properly.”

Saying that, Ryo showed Abel Tatien in its bag with his left hand.

“Man, if we do not even know the target, that is a pain.”

“Considering it was a nighttime raid, there is some confusion.”

“At least the fire did not spread. If it had, that would have been a disaster.”

“That is the punishment for disturbing my sleep.”

Ryo nodded pretentiously.

In the darkness, the sound of sword clashes coming from all around did not cease.

“Are there a lot of guys attacking?”

“Seems so. There were about a thousand infantry on this side alone, so it is strange that taking control is taking this long.”

Ryo tilted his head and chanted.

“.”

He shook his head slightly.

“As expected, there are too many to tell.”

“I see...”

“Oh, but I can tell this reaction.”

“Hm?”

“Zlurma-san is fighting very nearby.”

Ryo pointed.

Abel focused on the sounds he could just barely hear.

Ryo could hear the conversation as well.

“Zlurma, you traitorous bastard!”

“Getting hooked by that monster!”

Those surrounding Zlurma half-enclosed, shouted such words one after another.

“Give up, Zlurma.”

Was he the one leading the encirclement?

A man with an eyepatch over his right eye snapped those words.

Though wounded and down on one knee, Zlurma still held a sword in his right hand, and his fighting spirit had not yet dimmed from his eyes.

“Rukiya, with a brain like yours, you should understand. Doing this is pointless.”

So the eyepatch man’s name was Rukiya.

With a grimace, Zlurma tried to persuade him.

“The destruction of the Grand Ducal House is our only wish. Have you forgotten even that, Zlurma!”

Rukiya shot back.

But Zlurma replied clearly.

“I told you already. My loyalty is sworn to the Grand Duke and Duke Helb. I will not obey the clan’s orders.”

“As if we would ever accept that.”

In response to Zlurma’s words, an old woman emerged from the shadows and objected.

“Even the elder has come to the front line. Have you really joined forces with the Babury family and turned against the Grand Ducal House? You will not win.”

“Hmph. The monster is already gone. And the new Grand Duke is an astonishingly weak human, is he not? It looks like even the Babury family alone could get the job done. We of the Gyuga clan are simply riding the winning horse, that is all.”

“How foolish...”

The old woman called the elder spat words filled with scorn, and Zlurma twisted his face and muttered in response.

“I will ask you once more, Zlurma. Return to the clan and lend us your strength to achieve our long-cherished wish.”

“No matter how many times you ask, I will answer the same. My loyalty is sworn to the Grand Duke and Duke Helb. I will not return to the Gyuga clan.”

Zlurma stated it plainly in answer to the elder’s question.

“Then die.”

Clang.

A sword rang out sharply as it was knocked aside.

The eyepatch man, Rukiya, having his own sword deflected, took a light backstep with a look of surprise.

Between Rukiya and Zlurma stood a man holding a crimson-glowing magic sword, blocking the way.

“I hate ganging up on one person and attacking them.”

Abel, with his magic sword readied, sneered.

“You, are you Zlurma’s ally!”

Rukiya demanded.

“No, not at all. In fact, I have even cut off Zlurma’s head before.”

“Not just the head; he cut off all his limbs.”

Abel answered with a restrained fact, and Ryo stated all the facts.

“Did you really need to say that much?”

“Why are you trying to dress it up now?”

Abel complained, and Ryo said that with an exasperated tone.

Indeed, there was no point whatsoever in trying to soften things at this stage.

“Abel-dono, Duke Rondo...”

Still on one knee, Zlurma bowed his head slightly to the two who had helped him.

“If we kill all three of you, it becomes irrelevant.”

“Kill them.”

The elder declared, and eyepatch man Rukiya issued the order.

Clang!

Abel closed the distance in one burst and crossed swords with Rukiya.

“”

The attack that came at Ryo and Zlurma was deflected by an ice wall.

“Counterattack. .”

But...

Every single ice lance was ‘diverted’ away.

It was a familiar trajectory.

Paper floating in the air.

Paper that repelled all magic.

“Again with the talismans! Talismans again! Talismans-talismans-talismans-talismans, is that all you people have!?”

The furious water-attribute magician became even angrier.

“I have already found a way to deal with talismans!”

Ryo declared proudly.

“.”

A wide-area freezing spell named Permafrost.

It reduces the vibration frequency of the water molecules in the air within the range of vision and freezes the air.

The talismans themselves do not freeze.

However, the space around the talismans does freeze.

This stops the talismans’ movement.

But what is needed is the next step.

“.”

The ice generated by is changed into ‘Multilayer ice’.

Ryo’s ‘multilayer ice’ is ‘ice that does not conduct magic’.

It is ice that is not cold, invented by Ryo in the Western Countries.

Its principle is to sandwich ice with almost no molecular vibration.

Even now, he did not fully understand what magic power was.

He thought it was probably gravity in an extra dimension.

But he still did not know how it ‘changed’ after coming into this three-dimensional world.

Even so, he believed that whatever it was, it must be ‘vibrating’ in some way.

So, sandwiching it with ice that forcibly stops vibration should cut off the transmission of magic power... probably.

For that reason, when the ice around the talismans is turned into multilayer ice, the magic power from the sorcerer can no longer be transmitted to the talismans.

In other words...

“The talismans lose their power and fall to the ground.”

Ryo had finally come up with an anti-talisman method during his journey through the Eastern Countries.

But in truth, all the information had already been there.

After pondering, he finally used that information to derive the answer...

“Impossible!”

However, from the point of view of those who suddenly had their talismans dropped to the ground, it was something they could not possibly accept.

“Withdraw!”

It was the elder’s voice.

In response, fire-attribute spells went up all around them.

It was the signal to retreat, and likely also to set fire to the buildings, create confusion, and escape.

“.”

Once again, the angry water-attribute magician extinguished all the fires within his sensing range in an instant.

That said, this also meant letting the enemies who were right in front of them get away.

“Tch. They sure are quick on their feet.”

Abel clicked his tongue at the escaped enemies.

“So they got away, and Abel is all talk, I see.”

“Why am I the one getting blamed?”

Ryo gave a small shake of his head, and Abel voiced his dissatisfaction.

“Those guys aren’t knights or swordsmen or anything.”

“What are they, then?”

“Assassins or something like that.”

“I see.”

Ryo nodded at Abel’s words.

“You two saved me.”

Still on one knee, Zlurma offered his thanks.

“No, no. It’s an apology for Abel’s past rudeness.”

“Hey...”

While handing Zlurma a potion he had been carrying, Ryo asked.

“Those people just now were from your clan, right, Zlurma-san?”

“Yes, you heard them?”

“They called you a traitor.”

“Originally... I was sent by the clan to assassinate Duke Helb.”

“How astounding...”

Zlurma answered honestly, and Ryo was shocked.

Abel was silent as well, but he too was clearly surprised.

“But my abilities were nowhere near enough...”

“Ah.”

“After Duke Helb defeated me in return, he told me to serve him instead... Since then, I have devoted everything to the Grand Duke and Duke Helb.”

Though his expression held a trace of nostalgia, there was not the slightest cloud in his eyes.

However, the two who heard this...

“I feel like I’ve heard of something like that somewhere before.”

“That’s right, Phelps and Sheena.”

“Ah! ”

What the two of them remembered was the relationship between Phelps A. Heinlein, the leader of the B-rank party ‘White Brigade’, and his vice-captain, Sheena.

Sheena had approached Phelps in order to assassinate him, but after failing, she came to serve him instead.

“Do assassins often end up serving the target they failed to kill?”

“Who knows?”

Abel tilted his head at Ryo’s words.

“Do either of you know someone with that kind of relationship?”

Zlurma must have become curious too.

“Yeah, well.”

“From the side of the one who failed the assassination, it’s only natural to want to serve them.”

“Oh, really?”

Ryo was surprised by Zlurma’s words.

“Because it was an opponent your full effort could not reach. Once you are shown overwhelming ability, you develop a certain kind of admiration. If someone is that strong, isn’t it natural to honestly want to serve them?”

“I see.”

“Fair point.”

At Zlurma’s explanation, both Ryo and Abel nodded.

“The problem is with the one being served. The person who was targeted for assassination.”

“Well... if someone had tried to take your life once, having them nearby would be scary, I guess.”

“Indeed, of course. But we also demonstrated our strength. If we are rare enough that they would think us useful, someone worth employing...”

“Then they might hire them.”

Abel nodded.

 “Yes. Duke Helb is very broad-minded.”

“Well, Phelps, too, was a pretty broad-minded person.”

Ryo marveled, and the people both Zlurma and Abel had in mind were indeed open-minded people.

“One of these days, an assassin who targets Abel will show up...”

“The ‘Five Dragons’ San who came before got his head cut off, though...”

“So he wasn’t someone worth wanting to employ.”

“It was simply that I had no choice but to do that.”

Abel let out a small sigh.

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