Ch.770Bolt from the Blue

After completing the restraint operation with mutual consent, we placed the two prisoners in opposite corners of the tent and set up camp in the freezing cold, waiting for Adamante to return with the airship.

It wasn’t particularly difficult though.

The tent, constructed using dragon remains as its framework, easily withstood the raging blizzard, and the encroaching cold was something Ophelia and I could somehow manage.

As for food, thanks to the Holy Corps leaving us plenty of preserved rations, we were spared the tragic situation of having to slice and roast Macaoros’ limbs.

So, except for the annoyingly loud blizzard howling all day long, we could enjoy a relatively peaceful camping experience.

“My ears… they’ve been cut off?!”

“Ophelia, that one’s awake. Knock her out again.”

After subduing Eirnesia, who had turned pale upon waking—likely sensing her connection to the World Tree had been severed—and was trembling with her lips quivering.

“Mmph! Mmmmph!”

“Asha.”

“Be quiet!”

And silencing Macaoros with a hammer blow to the back of his head as he elegantly mumbled.

—-

“To subdue me, ME, in such a state…! You vile, short-lived creatures, what exactly do you intend to do to me?!”

Upon regaining consciousness and realizing that her tendons and ears had been completely severed while she was bound, Eirnesia immediately began throwing a fit.

“You’re noisy. Let’s get some sleep.”

“Kugh…!”

I extinguished my cigarette on her forehead and briefly summarized what fate awaited her.

“What do we intend to do? Well… something spectacular, I’d say?”

Specifically, I meant her life or existence.

After interrogation at Faelrun Castle, she would spill everything she knew and then be executed. That was the end awaiting her.

Too harsh, you say?

Well, considering the number of people a fairy guardian who has lived for fifteen hundred years must have killed throughout her lifetime… not executing her for each life she took already seems merciful enough.

“Y-you vulgar, beastly woman! Even as enemies, how could you, another woman, inflict such humiliation worse than death?!”

“What? No, there seems to be some misunderstanding. What I meant was—”

“Kuh…! Kill me! Just kill me instead!”

Eirnesia glared at me with the face of a captured female knight without pants, screaming as if in agony.

Apparently, she misunderstood my words as a threat to “make her give birth as much as she killed”… what’s going on in this woman’s head?

Is she such an old maid that even a unicorn would reject her, with only such thoughts in her mind?

“No, I’m not going to kill you. It would be too wasteful to kill you before using that mouth of yours. Don’t worry too much. If you cooperate willingly, it won’t be too painful—”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Rather than becoming a plaything for short-lived creatures, I’d rather…!”

Ignoring my explanation, Eirnesia stuck out her tongue as if attempting suicide.

Snickering at her ridiculous appearance, I forcibly opened her mouth, stuffed it with a piece of cloth torn from her garment, and tied it like a gag.

“Mmph! Mmmmph!”

“Good grief. Biting your tongue won’t kill you. It’ll just hurt like hell. Don’t you even know that?”

Just cutting a few people experimentally would make that clear. Especially in this world where immediate treatment methods are abundant.

“Stay still. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to scream and struggle later, so don’t waste your energy now.”

After advising her to stop her useless resistance and conserve her strength, I gently squeezed her neck until she passed out.

“Mmmmph! Mmph…! Mm…mmm……mm……..”

Despite my advice, Eirnesia continued to struggle and convulse until the end, before finally rolling her eyes back and going limp.

—-

Anyway, that’s how we spent our time, appropriately soothing the two prisoners whenever they woke up.

Thanks to repeated educational beatings, Macaoros had become a well-behaved lizard who didn’t bark carelessly, but…

“Ptooey! *cough*… *cough*…! Just you wait, you short-lived creatures!”

The fifteen-hundred-year-old fairy grandmother, who seemed to have only developed her vocal cords during that long life, would glare at us and shout every time she woke up.

“Someday, Alvheim will completely—!”

“Ah, she broke through the gag again. That mouth of hers is something else.”

She even managed to chew through the firmly tied gag with her molars.

Unable to stand it anymore, Asha created a ring-shaped device to forcibly keep her mouth open.

“Mmmm! Mmmmm! Mmmmm!”

Indeed, it was much more convenient that way.

When feeding her, we could just pour food through a funnel, and at bedtime, we could plug the inside of the ring to block her throat.

That’s how we spent six days.

Passing the uncontrollably leisurely time by sparring with my companions.

“You’ve definitely… improved your skills!”

“Thanks to you!”

I admired Demian’s swordsmanship, which had become unexpectedly difficult to handle after he recovered from full-body burns.

“Hey, isn’t that sword cheating?”

“No, it’s not. If you’re jealous, try using some Jin magic yourself.”

“There’s no such magic!”

I dragged out Ophelia, who was showing obvious signs of annoyance, to spar with her and gain experience fighting against mages.

“Haaah!”

“Hyaaah!”

“Your breathing is perfectly in sync. Have you two been practicing together behind my back?”

I even conducted instructional sparring with the two people who had maintained an ambiguous relationship—neither close nor distant—since that night’s events were discovered. These were fulfilling days in their own way.

[That thieving western girl…!]

The only exception was having to restrain Hersella, who tried to use her Karma of Murder tentacles to separate Nigel and Jahan whenever they seemed to be getting along well.

‘Seriously, give it a rest. I don’t understand why you’re so irritated. Jahan is about thirty years old, and it would be stranger if someone that age didn’t have a lover.’

I understand that she might feel like she’s losing her brother to someone else, given that they were like real siblings and treated each other as the only family…

But she should show some restraint.

Anyone watching would think she was a mother-in-law throwing money around and begging, “Please break up with my son.”

—-

Six days later.

Finally, Adamante the Judge returned to the hill where our temporary tent was set up.

“Judge Adamante has returned!!”

Instead of returning with the airship, she came riding on Cascador’s back, just as she had when descending the mountain.

Adamante showed clear signs of exhaustion, having apparently endured a forced march beyond my expectations. Even Cascador, who had carried her up the mountain range, was panting as if he was about to collapse.

“Good. Well done. …But why have you returned alone without the airship?”

“Well… we have a problem!”

As soon as she saw me, she jumped off the horse, knelt down to pay her respects, and reported the reason for her solo return with an apologetic expression.

“The walls of Faelrun… collapsed?”

It was a reason more shocking than I could have imagined. I stood up abruptly, questioning in disbelief.

“What happened… did the werebeasts invade?”

Was it Oleg who attacked? No, that’s impossible. How long has it been since Rurik was defeated?

They would need to sit quietly for at least a few years, focusing all their efforts on recovering their strength after the losses they suffered.

“Ah, no, that’s not it!”

Adamante shook her head, denying my speculation. Fortunately, it seemed the werebeast invasion had not resumed.

“Then what? Why would perfectly fine walls suddenly…”

“The airship, you see? It crashed badly! It hit the walls and smashed them to pieces! The Duke of Faelrun said he would bill us for the repair costs!!”

…I take back what I said about being fortunate.

“Crashed… it crashed… haaah…”

I covered my forehead with my hand and sighed.

I had sent it to Faelrun territory to protect it from possible attacks, but it crashed and rammed into the walls? This sounded like a bad joke.

“…Explain in detail. What exactly happened?”

“Yes! So—”

Adamante continued her report.

The airship heading toward Faelrun territory reached the airspace above Faelrun Castle as planned not long after departure.

The problem was… the mana engine, which hadn’t been designed for operation in extreme cold conditions, reached its limit at precisely that moment.

With the mana furnace shutting down and losing power, the airship fell helplessly in a diagonal line, crashing into the walls of Faelrun Castle and shattering into pieces like an explosion.

For the Duke, it must have been a bolt from the blue.

The only fortunate aspect was that the mages on board managed to escape by abandoning the ship, saving their lives.

Although many suffered serious injuries from failed landings in their desperate jumps.

“…So he sent me the bill?”

“Yes! He said he could overlook sending an aircraft without prior consultation, but destroying the walls with it was tantamount to a declaration of war, and we should consider it merciful that he’s only asking for compensation!”

Adamante nodded and exclaimed.

I silently looked at the amount written on the bill she handed me… then lit a cigarette and muttered:

“…The Tower Master’s tears will turn into tears of blood.”

The compensation amount had so many zeros I couldn’t even count them—it seemed like selling the entire Magic Tower wouldn’t be enough to pay it.

You ask if I should pay it? Where would I get that kind of money?

Besides, it can’t even be considered my responsibility.

If you think about it, isn’t it the Magic Tower’s fault for providing what they claimed was a finished product that couldn’t even withstand temperatures of minus 30 degrees?

Right?