Water Magician

Vol 3. Chapter 677: Bonus Part: Ryo and Abel’s Journey Home (4)

0677 Visit to {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the Grand Duchy of Atinjo II

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

Ryo was furious.

“R-right...”

Abel kept glancing at the inn.

Every fire at the inn had already been put out.

“It... didn’t burn that much.”

“Of course not. The arsonists’ luck ran out the moment they targeted an inn with a water-attribute magician staying in it.”

Enraged at having his good sleep interrupted, Ryo had extinguished every last flame in an instant.

“To begin with, if the fire had spread, Andalusia would have been startled. Horses, and wild animals in general, probably don’t like fire.”

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

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

The two of them stood in front of that stable, looking around.

“Those two... honestly looked to me like they were calming down the other frightened horses instead.”

That mutter from Abel did not reach Ryo.

“Fighting is breaking out all over the place.”

The sounds of clashing blades reached the two of them as well.

“They probably meant to set the place on fire, then attack while everyone was in confusion.”

“A classic method.”

Ryo shook his head slightly.

Then he continued.

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

“What can you do? In a situation like this, you just focus on protecting yourself and what matters to you. Anyone who attacks that is the enemy.”

“I see! Abel does say good things sometimes.”

“Yeah?”

“What matters is Andalusia... and, well, Feiwan too, I suppose.”

“Just be straightforward and protect both of them.”

Abel let out a small sigh.

After Ryo had extinguished the flames in an instant, the two of them had both changed clothes before coming down here.

Because of that, they had all their equipment with them as well.

“Just in case the target was Saint Sword Tattien, I made sure to bring it out with me.”

As he said that, Ryo showed Abel Tattien, wrapped in a bag and held in his left hand.

“Seriously, not knowing what they’re after makes this a pain.”

“Well, just the fact that it’s a midnight raid is causing some confusion.”

“At least the fire didn’t spread. If it had, this would’ve been a disaster.”

“This is the punishment for disturbing my good sleep.”

Ryo nodded loftily.

In the darkness, the sounds of clashing blades coming from all directions did not stop.

“Are there a lot of them?”

“Seems like it. We had around a thousand infantry on this side alone, so it’s strange that it’s taking this long to suppress them.”

Ryo tilted his head, then cast:

“.”

He shook his head slightly.

“As I thought, there are too many. I can’t tell.”

“I see...”

“Oh, but I can tell this reaction.”

“Hm?”

“Mr. Zuruma is fighting very close by.”

Ryo pointed.

Abel focused a little on the sounds that were reaching them.

Now Ryo could hear the voices too.

“Zuruma, you traitor!”

“You’ve been swallowed up by monsters!”

The people half-surrounding Zuruma hurled those words at him one after another.

“Give it up, Zuruma.”

The one who spat out those words was probably the man leading those who had surrounded him.

A man with an eyepatch over his right eye.

Even wounded and down on one knee, Zuruma still gripped a sword in his right hand, and the light had not yet vanished from his eyes.

“Lukiya, with a mind like yours, you should understand. Doing this is pointless.”

So Lukiya was the eyepatched man’s name.

Twisting his face in pain, Zuruma spoke as if trying to persuade him.

“The destruction of the Grand Duke’s house is our cherished wish. Have you forgotten even that, Zuruma?!”

Lukiya shot back.

But Zuruma answered him clearly.

“I told you already. My loyalty has been given to the Grand Duke and to Duke Helbe. I will not obey my clan’s orders.”

“As if that could ever be accepted.”

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

“So even the elder has come to the very front line. Are you truly serious about joining hands with House Bubly and defying the Grand Duke’s house? You cannot win.”

“Hmph. The monster is gone now. And besides, the new Grand Duke is a shockingly weak human, isn’t he? House Bubly alone looks capable of defeating him. We of the Gyuga clan are merely backing the winning horse. That is all.”

The old woman called Elder spoke with scorn, and Zuruma grimaced as he muttered in response.

“How foolish...”

“I’ll ask you one last time, Zuruma. Return to the clan and lend us your strength in achieving our long-cherished wish.”

“I will answer as many times as necessary. My loyalty belongs to the Grand Duke and to Duke Helbe. I will not return to the Gyuga clan.”

Zuruma declared it plainly in answer to the Elder’s question.

“Then die.”

Clang.

A sword was knocked aside with a sharp ring.

The eyepatched man, Lukiya, whose own sword had been deflected, retreated with a light backward step, his face frozen in surprise as he opened the distance.

Standing between Lukiya and Zuruma was a man holding a red demonic sword.

“I’ve never liked seeing a bunch of people gang up on one person.”

Abel spoke lightly, red demonic sword at the ready.

“So you’re Zuruma’s ally?!”

Lukiya demanded.

“No, not really. If anything, I’ve cut off Zuruma’s head before.”

“Not just his head. He cut off all four of his limbs.”

Abel gave the restrained version of the truth, and Ryo supplied the whole truth.

“Did you really have to say that much?”

“What’s the point in pretending at this stage?”

Abel complained, and Ryo answered in exasperation.

Indeed, at this point, pretending otherwise here would have no meaning at all.

“Lord Abel, Duke Rondo...”

Still down on one knee, Zuruma lightly bowed his head to the two who had saved him.

“If all three of you die, then none of that matters.”

“Kill them.”

The Elder said it, and the eyepatched man, Lukiya, gave the order.

Clang.

Abel invaded the distance in one burst and crossed swords with Lukiya.

“.”

The attack that came surging at Ryo and Zuruma was deflected by a wall of ice.

“Now for the counterattack. .”

However...

Every single lance of ice was deflected.

It was a trajectory he recognized.

Sheets of paper floating in the air.

Paper that knocked away all magic.

“As I thought, curse talismans! Curse talismans yet again! Curse talismans, curse talismans, curse talismans, curse talismans—is that really all you people have?!”

The enraged water-attribute magician grew even angrier.

“I’ve already found a way to deal with curse talismans!”

Ryo declared it loudly.

“.”

A wide-area freezing spell he had named Permafrost.

It reduced the frequency of vibration of the water molecules in the air throughout everything within sight, freezing the air itself.

The curse talismans themselves did not freeze.

But the space around the curse talismans did freeze.

That stopped the movement of the curse talismans.

However, what mattered was what came next.

“.”

It transformed the ice generated by into composite ice.

Ryo’s composite ice was ice that did not transmit magic power.

This was the ice Ryo had devised in the Western Countries, ice that was not cold.

As for the principle behind it, it sandwiched ice with almost no molecular vibration between layers.

Even now, he still did not completely understand what magic power truly was.

He believed it was probably gravity existing in extra dimensions.

But after it came into this three-dimensional world, he did not know how it changed.

Even so, whatever it was, he believed it was vibrating.

That was why placing ice that forcibly stopped vibration in between should block the propagation of magic power...

Therefore, if he turned the ice around the curse talismans into composite ice, magic power from the curse-arts user could no longer be transmitted to the curse talismans.

Which meant...

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

It was Ryo’s anti-curse-talisman method, something he had finally thought of during his journey through the Eastern Countries.

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

At last, his thinking had used that information to arrive at the answer...

“Impossible!”

But from the perspective of those whose curse talismans had suddenly been dropped to the ground, it was something they could never accept.

“Withdraw!”

That was the Elder’s voice.

At the same time, fire-attribute magic shot up from here and there.

It was the signal to withdraw, and probably also meant to set buildings on fire, cause confusion, and escape in the chaos.

“.”

Once again, the enraged water-attribute magician extinguished every fire within his detection range in an instant.

That said, it also meant the enemies right in front of them escaped.

“Tch. They’re quick on their feet.”

Abel clicked his tongue after they got away.

“So they managed to escape. For all your talk, Abel, you’re not much.”

“Why am I the one getting criticized?”

Ryo shook his head slightly, and Abel voiced his dissatisfaction.

“Those people weren’t knights or swordsmen.”

“Then what were they?”

“The assassin type. Something along those lines.”

“I see.”

Ryo nodded at Abel’s words.

“You both have my thanks. You saved me.”

Still on one knee, Zuruma thanked them.

“No, no. This is our apology for Abel’s earlier rudeness.”

“Hey...”

While handing the potion he had been holding to Zuruma, Ryo asked:

“Those people just now were from your original clan, weren’t they?”

“Yes. So you heard that.”

“They called you a traitor.”

“Originally... I was sent by my clan to assassinate Duke Helbe.”

“What...?”

Zuruma answered honestly, and Ryo was shocked.

Abel too was silent, but clearly surprised.

“However, my strength was nowhere near enough...”

“Ah.”

“After Duke Helbe defeated me, he told me to serve him... From that moment on, I devoted everything to the Grand Duke and to Duke Helbe.”

His expression carried nostalgia, yet there was not the slightest cloudiness in his eyes.

But after hearing that, the two of them...

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

“That’s Phelps and Shena, right?”

“Oh!”

What the two of them recalled was the relationship between Phelps A. Heinlein, leader of the B-rank party White Brigade, and the vice-leader, Shena.

Shena had approached Phelps in order to assassinate him, but after failing, she had ended up serving him.

“Is it common for assassins to fail and then start serving the person they were sent to kill?”

“Who knows?”

Abel tilted his head at Ryo’s words.

“So the two of you also know people with that kind of relationship?”

Zuruma, too, seemed to have become interested.

“Yes, well.”

“From the point of view of the one who failed at the assassination, wanting to serve them is only natural.”

“Huh, is that so?”

Ryo was surprised by Zuruma’s words.

“They were someone my full strength could not reach. If you are shown overwhelming power, you develop a certain kind of admiration. If that person is so strong, then wouldn’t you honestly want to try serving them?”

“I see.”

“There’s logic in that.”

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

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

“Well... their life was targeted once, after all. Having someone like that close by would be frightening.”

“Yes, naturally. But we showed our power as well. If we are rare enough that they think, this person is capable, this is someone I would like to make use of...”

“Then they might hire them.”

Abel nodded.

“But that takes an incredibly broad heart.”

“Yes. Duke Helbe possesses a great breadth of heart.”

“Well, Phelps is broad-hearted as a person too.”

Ryo spoke in admiration, while both Zuruma and Abel pictured people who were broad-minded indeed.

“One day, an assassin going after Abel might...”

“Sun of the Five Dragons came for me once, and I cut his head off...”

“So he wasn’t someone you found worth hiring.”

“It was simply a situation where I had no choice.”

And Abel let out a small sigh.