Water Magician

Editor: Tseirp

“Abel, foolish actions may be laughed off twice, but doing them three times makes you a fool.”

“Ryo, even doing them twice already makes you a fool.”

Here they were, at a teahouse facing the square.

Ryo and Abel had become the duo of overstuffed eaters, resting for the third day in a row, just like the day before and the day before that.

Yes, they had overeaten yet again.

“We even avoided ‘Happy Eats’ and went to a different place…”

“It had a sign saying something like ‘Eat Until You Drop’. And here we are, both of us dropping from overeating.”

“This free city has too many delicious places to eat.”

“And yet, trying to get full on bad food doesn’t seem right either…”

“Yeah, that’s true. That doesn’t feel right at all.”

Both Abel and Ryo sighed in resignation.

Sitting at the same spot as the previous day, sipping green tea while absentmindedly watching the outside and waiting for the food to digest.

After a while, the same trio from the previous day appeared once again at the table two seats away.

Ronfan, aide to the deputy minister of the Port Authority;

Zo, aide to the minister of the Port Authority;

And Juse, aide to the minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Today, there was one more person with them, a woman.

“You may already know her, but this is Larsa, our colleague from the same year, aide to the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.”

Zo introduced, and they all exchanged brief introductions.

“Larsa, you were the one who came up with the draft for that training exercise we discussed yesterday, right?”

“Yes, that was me. I made it during the first year of our training.”

“Impressive.”

Ronfan said as if he suddenly remembered, while Larsa smiled slightly, and Juse praised her.

It was quite rare for something created during the first year of joining the government to be recognized at the core of national defense and become part of it.

“Yesterday, after hearing Zo’s story, I was really surprised. The Minister of Ports, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Finance… they all have severe headaches. And then…”

“No way…”

“Yes, even the Minister of Internal Affairs.”

Larsa’s words shocked the three, but they also somewhat expected it.

“There’s no doubt about it. Some kind of plot is at work.”

“Yeah. Could be poison, or magic…”

“Could also be a curse.”

Ronfan, Juse, and Zo said, dismissing the idea of it being a coincidence or some widespread illness.

With such pinpoint cases of ‘severe headaches’, it was only logical to assume that someone had targeted them for a reason.

“After hearing about it yesterday, I asked around among the people working under the Minister of Internal Affairs, and they said he’s often in a daze and isn’t as sharp in his thinking as he used to be.”

“Not as sharp? The Minister of Internal Affairs is known for being a sharp person, right?”

“Now that you mention it… our Minister of Ports also seems less responsive. Though, honestly, he wasn’t exactly sharp to begin with, but he was better than this.”

“Yeah, maybe our Minister of Foreign Affairs is the same. Though he’s always had a lot on his mind, so…”

At Larsa’s words, Ronfan, Zo, and Juse shared their thoughts.

It seemed that, at the very least, there had been some change from how things used to be.

“It’s only the ministers, right? The deputy ministers are the same as always?”

“Everything’s normal on our end.”

“Same here.”

Rongfan from the Ministry of Ports and Larsa from the Ministry of Internal Affairs nodded as they answered.

The troubling situation seemed to be affecting only the ministers.

“We need to find out how far this has spread.”

“Other ministers, or even the prime minister.”

“Yes, and also the naval admiral and the defense commanders.”

Just then.

“”

Clang. Clink-clink-clink-clink…

A translucent roof appeared above the four.

There was a sound of something invisible hitting the roof repeatedly.

On closer inspection, a single talisman floated near the ceiling, from which nearly invisible air slash-like attacks were being sent toward the four.

At some point, a talisman had appeared above the four, launching an attack.

And at some point, a translucent barrier had been raised to protect them.

“R-run!”

Zo shouted.

Together with the trio, other customers inside the shop fled outside.

It’s a secret that among the people who fled were a swordsman and a magician.

“I instinctively blocked it.”

Ryo said, now sitting on a bench in the square.

“Well, it’s a good thing you did. I wouldn’t want to see the people striving so hard right next to us die.”

Abel said, sitting next to Ryo, panting.

Yes, both of them were still full from eating.

“I saw the talisman float in. And I thought it might be something, and of course, it was…”

“Yeah, there was something similar during the crown princess’s room incident in the Suje Kingdom and the coronation ceremony. Back then, it was stone bullets.”

“Yes, and this time, it was like an air slash, wasn’t it? A wind-attribute magic? Is launching a surprise attack from above using talismans a specialty of sorcerers?”

“That might be the case. Since humans naturally have a blind spot above them. Especially during ambushes, it’s an effective strategy.”

Both Ryo and Abel had been through numerous battles, so they weren’t bad at analyzing these things.

However, there were still many unknowns.

“They were probably trying to kill those four, but why did they carry it out there?”

“Exactly. They should have done it somewhere with fewer people. Thanks to that, it got blocked.”

“…It feels weird hearing that from the person who blocked it.”

“There’s a saying, ‘To see injustice and do nothing is to lack courage’. You have to stop bullying when it’s happening right in front of you!”

“O-okay…”

Abel felt that something was slightly off but couldn’t disagree with Ryo’s words.

Then he asked about something that came to mind.

“By the way, Ryo, during the coronation, you found the enemy’s location using the magic lines extending from the talisman, right?”

“Yes. I wonder how this is different. Unfortunately, I couldn’t trace it. That process takes quite a bit of time, you know. If I could train to be able to locate the enemy’s magic lines instantly, things would change a lot. I’ll keep working on it!”

“I see… well, just don’t push yourself too hard.”

For some reason, Abel’s question seemed to have fired up Ryo’s determination. ‘I’ll make it happen!’ he declared.

Abel, who had sparked this motivation, wore a slightly guilty expression—perhaps a sign of the asymmetry between their feelings.

As they sat on the bench in the square, the voices of the townspeople reached their ears.

“I heard it was some government bigwig who got attacked.”

“A talisman attack, huh…”

“What? So, a sorcerer? No way…”

“Of course! When it comes to assassinations and sorcery, that’s how that country operates!”

“The Atinjo Grand Duchy…”

The citizens murmured among themselves.

“Could what just happened have been a show of power?”

“Probably. The speed at which word is spreading is too fast.”

Abel replied, agreeing with Ryo’s question.

Their opinions seemed to align.

“There were people who clearly looked like soldiers, right? The Atinjo Grand Duchy already has the power to attack high-ranking officials of the Free City government in broad daylight, and they’re spreading the message that the Free City government can’t protect itself…”

“That’s…”

“Yes. They’re trying to break the will of the citizens.”

“Break their spirit…”

Ryo stated firmly, and Abel shook his head slightly.

The root of human strength lies in the heart.

As a swordsman, a king, and someone who had faced countless formidable enemies.

Abel knew that as long as the heart doesn’t break, one can rise again and again.

But if the heart breaks…

“Generally speaking, the most successful way to capture an enemy’s key city is to prepare everything in secret and take it all at once, before anyone knows.”

Ryo explained.

“Like what happened in our royal capital.”

Abel recalled, thinking of how the Crystal Palace had been occupied in one night by the King’s younger brother, the northern nobles, and the imperial army.

“Exactly. But when you use that method, there are always rebellions afterward—by citizens, former guards, or similar groups. That’s what we call a resistance movement.”

It was only natural for resistance to rise when their homeland was suddenly occupied by a foreign nation.

“Zack, Scotty, or even the ‘Valkyries’ and the ‘Morning Star’ became rebels and resisted…”

Abel nodded as he responded.

“Yeah. The occupying force must crush such resistance movements again and again to demonstrate their power. If they fail even once, the situation could be overturned. That’s because the population of the citizens is larger than that of the occupiers. If they all rise at once, the occupiers can’t win.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

“That’s why the Atinjo Grand Duchy is showing their power first this time. They’re saying, ‘Even with your government, we can wield this much power’. They want the citizens to think, ‘It’s hopeless. We can’t resist. Let’s give up’. They’re starting the occupation by breaking the will of the people.”

“They’re breaking their spirit so that they don’t even feel like resisting in the first place. That’s ruthless.”

Ryo’s explanation made sense to Abel.

Whether you show your strength after the occupation or before.

The effectiveness is clear.

“But if they show their hand too early, it makes the actual occupation more difficult. Any government or country would try to prevent an enemy from taking over. They’d strengthen their defenses, right?”

“Either they’re confident they can handle that, or they believe it won’t happen. They must have made some sort of preparations…”

“Well, that seems like the natural conclusion. But we don’t know what exactly those preparations are.”

Ryo answered, frowning.

Although it wasn’t his homeland, or even his second home, watching the country before him fall to occupation wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

However, as someone who had studied history, Ryo knew:

All nations eventually fall.

The only way to prevent that, or at least extend the nation’s lifespan—is through the actions of every individual citizen.

“The world isn’t kind…”

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