Boom boom!
A deafening blast tore through the air, followed by a blinding flash that engulfed the entire city.
Buildings cast shadows in the opposite direction, darker than night, before the light that was brighter than the sun faded as quickly as it came.
In the blink between closing and opening one’s eyes, the flash vanished and the shadows returned to their rightful place.
But the tremor that followed was long and unrelenting….like an earthquake.
The aftermath of the massive explosion rang through the city like a struck bell.
And high atop a distant bell tower, a lone figure had been watching the entire scene unfold from beginning to end.
“Knew it would come to this.”
A murmured voice scattered into the wind.
The figure had been surveilling one man for a very long time.
The subject was a genius mage—
But one who harbored a dangerous instability that exceeded even his considerable talent.
Thinking he’d eventually cause a major incident, the figure had shadowed him again today and that explosion had just confirmed their suspicions.
“…He’s not dead, is he?”
A fleeting worry crossed their mind, but they quickly shook their head.
If he was dead, well, that wasn’t necessarily a bad outcome.
Still, dead or alive, they’d need to find him and clean up the mess.
Resolving as much, the figure walked to the edge of the roof.
Though the bell tower stood over 60 meters high, he leapt without hesitation—
A dizzying freefall.
The landing was as light as a cat’s, and without pause, the sprint began.
The figure dashed across the city, faster than a beast, quieter than the wind, heading straight for the explosion site.
Crunch, crunch.
Shards of shattered ice cracked beneath their feet.
Proof that the man hadn’t died in the blast.
“Unbelievable. The guy just doesn’t die.”
Muttering to himself, the figure looked ahead with a complex expression.
The man he’d been tailing Winter Winslet was alive and unharmed, despite having been caught in a devastating explosion.
He had likely created a multi-layered ice barrier to shield himself, wrapping around him like the layers of an eggshell.
But the structure also looked like a coffin made of ice.
Inside it, Winter Winslet lay with his eyes closed, like the dead.
He had used too much magic at once and lost consciousness from the backlash.
“Completely carefree, like a fool. Doesn’t even realize the state he’s in…”
That ice was not normal.
No ordinary ice could have withstood a blast of that scale.
As the figure approached Winter Winslet, step by step, the air grew colder, biting at his skin.
A heavy chill radiated from the frozen coffin.
How to get him out?
After a brief pause to think, the figure chose the simplest method.
He struck the ice with his fist.
Crack!
His iron-like blow struck the ice.
It was a powerful punch, one that could shatter stone—
But the ice barely cracked.
Instead, a disturbing cold slithered up his arm like a living tendril.
As expected, this was no ordinary ice.
Something unnatural…something that had no place in this world was binding the crystals tightly together.
But the figure wasn’t ordinary, either.
He continued pounding his fist down.
After more than ten blows, hairline fractures finally began to appear across the frozen block.
He shoved both hands into the narrow gap and pulled with force.
Crack, c-crack.
Thin fissures spread outward, and with a sharp metallic snapping, the ice finally split apart.
At last, the figure managed to pull the man from within.
“Stupid thing’s hard as hell. Damn, my hands are freezing.”
He laid Winter Winslet down on the ground and examined something.
A moment later, his brow furrowed.
“So it’s come to this, after all.”
It wasn’t something visible to the eye,
But the figure had sensed the irreversible change that had occurred within the man.
On impulse, he reached for Winter’s neck.
“If I just snapped it now, this whole mess would be over…”
But that wasn’t an option.
Until a certain time came, the figure was forbidden from taking the man’s life.
Because that was the promise.
“Tch.”
The figure let go and stepped back.
Then he looked around.
People nearby were still frozen in shock from the explosion.
But soon they’d come to their senses—
And once they did, spectators would start flooding in.
He had to leave with the man before that happened.
But carrying an unconscious, tall man slung over his shoulder would definitely draw attention.
After scanning the area briefly, the figure discovered a laundry sack in the washroom on the lower deck of the riverboat.
He snatched it up and brought it to his nose. A musty smell wafted out, but he just shrugged.
“Well, this’ll do. Not like he’s in any position to complain.”
Returning to the upper deck, the figure roughly stuffed the unconscious man into the sack.
It was far from gentle. Nothing you’d expect when handling a person.
The sack seemed a bit small; the man’s legs stuck out, dangling limp.
The figure fixed the issue by kicking the bag a few times.
A faint moan escaped from inside, like sleep talk,
But the figure paid it no mind.
It was time to move.
Daang— Dang— Dang— Dang—
The city had finally shaken off the shock.
Disaster alarm bells began to ring.
But the figure, having completed all preparations, slipped away from the scene just as silently and secretly as he had arrived.
***
“What a goddamn unlucky day. Cleanup duty again?”
Carina Valpenera leaned her arms on the railing of the arched bridge connecting Tionville and Nephet Street, gazing down below.
A devastating sight lay beneath her.
The site of the massive explosion.
The walls lining both sides of the canal looked like they’d been struck by naval artillery. They were shattered and torn apart.
Even buildings built on higher ground weren’t spared; rooftops had been blown off, leaving them bare like bald heads.
Two bridges close to the blast zone had collapsed entirely.
Authorities would have to shut down traffic immediately.
And amidst all this destruction, a small pleasure boat was drifting miraculously intact along the river.
Amazingly, there were people aboard.
They appeared to be unharmed and were even waving and shouting toward Carina.
Though she couldn’t make out what they were saying from that distance, she had a good idea.
Carina turned to Conroy and gave an order:
“Contact the city watch. No—better yet, notify the Canal Authority. They’ll need a boat to rescue those people!”
Carina had been helping evacuate the audience at Estwick Theater when the flames suddenly vanished….and only then did she realize she’d been deceived by Nice Goodman.
She immediately began pursuit.
Tracking him wasn’t hard.
There were too many witnesses for him to cover his tracks.
But in the middle of the chase, a deafening blast and tremor had struck, and by the time Carina arrived at the scene, nothing remained but devastation.
“What a stench…”
Carina covered her nose.
The harsh, metallic, acrid smell was all too familiar.
It was the after-scent of a Caraphine explosion.
Did Nice Goodman fail?
Unless the man was completely insane…
Well, actually, he might be. But even so, he wouldn’t have caused a blast like this in the middle of the capital on purpose.
The Empire wanted intact Caraphine, after all.
Which means… this explosion must’ve been Longsoniere’s doing…
Nice Goodman had pushed them hard, but it seemed they’d rather self-destruct than let the Caraphine be taken.
“Goddamn spies. They’ve got no restraint just because this isn’t their turf.”
“Anyway… where is Nice Goodman?”
“No idea.”
“You think he’s dead? With an explosion like that, there might not even be a body left.”
“No. If it’s him, he’s still alive.”
“Even after getting caught in that blast? Why are you so sure?”
“Well, he made that. That… ice cocoon.”
A massive ice cocoon.
That’s the only fitting name for the thing lodged in the middle of the river….or rather, at the bow of the cruise ship.
Countless shards of ice, all interconnected by frost-laced strands, formed a round shape like a bird’s egg, white as spider silk.
At the center of the cocoon—
That was probably ground zero.
The ice cocoon had taken the full brunt of the Caraphine explosion. It was cracked in multiple places, letting the wind whistle through, and fragments had scattered as far as the bridge where Carina now stood.
It was the cocoon that had absorbed the explosion and thanks to it, the passengers aboard the cruise ship had survived.
A blast this big, and no casualties? That’s a miracle.
Under the setting sun, the scattered ice shards glittered like stardust. Carina found them beautiful and absentmindedly picked one up.
The moment her hand touched it, it clung to her skin with a biting cold.
But… isn’t ice supposed to melt?
She rubbed the surface with her thumb but it didn’t melt.
It triggered a faint sense of déjà vu…
But the feeling passed quickly.
At that moment, her mind was racing with a thousand thoughts.
Why would a mage of that caliber be working as a subcontractor for the Empire? He can’t be from the Empire. There’s no way someone this skilled came up through their infrastructure. So… a defector from Karaf? An activist from the Knowledge Liberation Front? Or maybe one of those revivalists from the fallen Mage Kingdom? …Whatever the case, Karaf is probably keeping a close eye on him. The killers in the Fifth Library division would love to hear about this. Should I casually leak some information to Karaf and see how they react?
“Chief! Why are you mumbling to yourself like that?”
“I’m concentrating, so don’t interrupt me, Conroy.”
Carina replied sharply, then turned to glare at Conroy, a frown creasing her brow.
“Wait, you’re still here? I told you to contact the Canal Authority.”
“I was going to, but they’re already on their way. Look over there.”
As he spoke, Conroy pointed across the river. Sure enough, a rescue boat was speeding toward them from the opposite bank.
But Carina didn’t want to keep monologuing with Conroy standing around….it ruined the effect. So she kicked him squarely in the rear to chase him off.
“Then go already….and bring back some hot coffee while you’re at it! My brain’s freezing thanks to that damned block of ice!”
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