The rain had stopped, and the night had grown deep.
It was only natural, really. After the battering this city had taken, a certain stillness was bound to settle in. Yet the streets had once again been set ablaze by the residents’ eager curiosity, swelling once more with a surging, feverish flow of people.
But unlike yesterday, the crowd today seemed even more exhilarated. They gathered around Four Corners Clocktower Square, stepping on each other’s feet, shoulder to shoulder, forming what looked almost like a perfect, ever-shifting square.
You might wonder how I can paint such a vivid picture. Well, that’s because right now, I’m standing atop the towering dome of the bell tower, gazing out at this very scene. And even this view doesn’t satisfy me—I’m itching to lay bare every single thing in this city, big or small.
Quite some time had passed since I ran into Huihui again in that alley. At first, Huihui advised me to take the long view and plan carefully. But I wasn’t in a listening mood. I told her I had my own ideas and wanted to break through on my own… but in the end, I couldn’t out-stubborn her and had to bring her along.
As for the wind spirit, I’d told him to go get Cletty to step in, but he was strangely resistant to the idea. Even said something about how leaving me would be the end of him. So naive.
“…My invisible demon eye has already spotted him—the scout from that mercenary group,” Huihui suddenly announced. I quickly leaned in and had her point out the direction.
Huihui was the only eyewitness to the attack on Elph and the others. She could tell me the whereabouts of those mercenaries… and then, I could do what I could do—and what I had to do.
Oh, oh! I’ve seen this guy too. He’s the one who exposed our hideout here!
So it seemed he was right under everyone’s nose… which, conveniently, meant he was right under everyone’s nose.
“Hm? Dost thou think this mission will be difficult?” I shook my head immediately. How could it be?
“No, I’m just thinking about how to take him out.”
The immediate goal was to force out the locations of Elph and Alek. Perhaps Elph was still on the run, but I had to consider the risk that she’d been captured… It reminded me of rescuing Camilla the day before yesterday—
Tch. Why does that vampire pop into my head right now? Focus, focus. I’m in the middle of serious business.
Suddenly, the sound of booming bells hammered against my eardrums from somewhere nearby. Then I realized it wasn’t just this bell tower—three others were tolling just as heavily.
What was going on?! So there really was some important event or holiday today, right? They wouldn’t go this far—bell towers aren’t usually rung unless it’s a critical moment. Something must really be happening…
Then came a sight that left me stunned. My ears were still ringing, but my eyes were working perfectly fine.
What greeted them were fiery balls of every color shooting up into the sky, swirling and pairing off with one another as they climbed step by step to their peak…
“Boom…”
The sound escaped my lips before I could stop it, exactly as I remembered it from before, because I was utterly awestruck. The last time I’d seen fireballs soaring skyward was at that large-scale rally where they demonstrated military might to the public up close. Now, seeing them again, it was a completely different picture.
The fireballs burst into blossoms of every kind, their performance drawing to a close as the embers drifted down and faded away…
Magic… so it could be used like this too? What was this thing called? Could I see it again?
“Hm? Art thou alright? Hath the bells shaken thee?” I shook my head blankly, unable to tear my eyes away for even a second, not until the last embers had completely vanished…
“Ah! It’s not like I’m interested in this or anything! It’s just that I’ve never seen it before, so I…”
“…Thou art being dishonest again. Sigh… I have heard that these magical performances are called ‘fireworks.’ There are people who specialize in performing them, but their spellcasting strength is usually very high and rather flashy. So hiring them for a performance is not so easy.”
I listened intently, then suddenly remembered I still had unfinished business. I hastily cut Huihui off and turned my head to look for that patrol soldier…
Thankfully, he was still standing there like a complete goof.
“Alright, time to move. Huihui… no, Miss Huihui. That title feels more natural.”
“Ah… oh. Then let us go! My partner!”
“Uh, heh heh… I still find your lines a little embarrassing to hear, heh heh heh.”
Embarrassing as it was, being called someone’s partner did give me a small, secret thrill. Ah, who was I kidding—I was actually overjoyed, practically ready to jump for joy on the spot!
I covered my mouth and snickered quietly, then coughed a couple of times to get myself back in the zone.
The wind spirit was a lesser spirit who could manipulate the wind element, so he could naturally fly. Huihui herself had learned rudimentary space magic; even from this cliffside, she could manage to reach the ground, albeit barely… but the actual result left me less than impressed. She wasn’t able to use spells as freely as when I’d first met her in Maltex a few days ago. It seemed like something had happened in between.
For a player, she’s kind of lame—but I absolutely cannot say that out loud. It would break her heart.
I steadied Huihui by the shoulder and led her to the edge of the balcony, then looked at her. She looked back at me, then glanced down below, her expression practically asking, “Are you joking?”
I shook my head, showing her I was dead serious.
Because I believed in my Impression Blink.
* * * * *
Impression Blink — LV. MAX
Impression Blink has been fully mastered —
Teleport yourself in a straight line over short distances; [Rarely used, unwilling to use, using it makes you super “tired”] teleport yourself over long distances within already surveyed terrain; New — [Requires physical contact] you may bring one additional creature with you, or [Requires physical contact] perform the above operation on a single separate creature.
* * * * *
Truth be told, I’d been a bit uncertain before using Inspect, but now I felt much better. There shouldn’t be any problem.
I hugged Huihui tightly, then relaxed my body and slowly tipped forward… The howling wind soon ravaged my ears, but I could keep my eyes perfectly open without being affected. Huihui, on the other hand, shut her eyes tight in fear…
I almost burst out laughing but had to focus on continuously casting the magic downward.
The mind is what drives the magic. The head is what charts the direction.
As long as I don’t stop, I can maintain the acceleration from the initial fall without being influenced by gravitational potential energy—
And then, after a series of corrective measures on my part, we finally landed, steady and secure.
It seemed I’d have to think about how to use Blink more effectively later on. I hadn’t used it at all these past few days… Walking on foot was fine too, though it did drag a lot of trouble and nasty situations into the journey.
“Hah… hah, have we landed safely? Hah…” Huihui still had her eyes closed. Her legs were trembling in the wind, barely able to support her.
I quickly caught her by the arm, patting her back gently with my right hand to help her calm down.
The crowd was still noisy, their waves of cheers growing rather than shrinking. At the same time, quite a few small vendors were trying to squeeze their way in, hoping to grab a slice of this massive flow of customers… Of course, to maintain order, there was naturally no shortage of people doing just that.
I spotted a few inspectors blocking the southern entrance to the square. The other three directions were probably the same. So that was why the inspection office had been completely empty? Come to think of it, the officer left on duty had also lamented that he’d wanted to enjoy whatever ceremony this was too…
I really hoped Kailan wouldn’t come here. Knowing her straightforward personality, if she saw me, she’d try to arrest me without a second thought, even if I had perfectly good reasons to be here.
—? What was that sound?
Just as I was about to review the patrol soldier’s position, something like a speech suddenly rang out across the entire square. From what I remembered, it felt just like being at a mass assembly.
It was only then that I noticed a stage had been raised in the center of the square at some point, no doubt prepared for this speech. And a man who looked like some sort of host was standing on it, clutching something in his hand… Not that I want to be snarky, but don’t tell me this was yet another thing provided by the officials—a prop called a “megaphone”?
The rowdy, excited crowd fell utterly silent at the host’s first word. At the same time, the inspectors all turned their eyes toward the square.
Startled, I hurriedly turned my head away, absolutely unwilling to be spotted by someone… But it seemed everyone was immersed in the solemnity of the moment—
“Ladies and gentlemen! Good evening!”
“GOOD EVENING!!!”
The overwhelming, earth-shaking fervor was just like a crowd mobbing a stage or some kind of press conference. The host said a line, the audience echoed it back, and in the end, they’d realize they weren’t actually getting anything for free and quietly leave.
Maybe I was wrong to say that. After all, today was an auspicious day. Probably.
Anyway, I had to take advantage of this moment.
I patted Huihui on the shoulder to remind her to pull herself together a bit, but when we were about to set off, I noticed her eyes were unfocused, her pupils locked onto a single point not far away. Her face was brimming with anticipation and delight.
As much as I didn’t want to spoil her good mood, the mission took priority. I waved my hand in front of her eyes. No reaction—
“An illusion? Or pure anticipation?”
I swallowed hard. As much as I didn’t want to prod my own sore spots like this, if this were a large-scale mental attack, I should have been affected too.
Huh? No, wait, wait, wait… Those people weren’t being controlled at all. There was no so-called mental magic. Someone had simply used this celebration to set a trap for me.
I hurriedly took Huihui’s hand, trying to find a way to temporarily lead her away from this square, but then—
Aside from the sudden chill on my shoulder and the strength draining from my arm, I also realized that I had been injured. Again.
My arm went limp, forcing me to let go of Huihui against my will. I hurriedly tried to deal with the wound… It wasn’t serious. Something had just pierced through my arm. Even if it would be considered severe for a child my age, it was still within my tolerance.
And it wasn’t like both my hands were paralyzed. It was no big deal—!
Then came the relentless golden beams of light streaking toward me one after another, and I realized: none of this was simple at all.
