◈ Episode 242 Rhapsody on a Rainy Day (1)
“Hey, how did this happen?”
A forest far outside the city of Ledervelk.
The Clockwork Knights who arrived there were speechless at the horrors unfolding before their eyes.
“Hey, little one. Didn’t you say there was a forest here?”
“yes? yes. That’s right. It’s obviously not big because it’s called Lamore Forest, but there should have been a place with thick bushes.”
“But what is this? There is nothing.”
The forest no longer existed where the Knights looked.
Countless scars and upturned earth. Even huge craters dug everywhere.
The trees were gone, and the common rock was nowhere to be seen.
“oh my god. Was there a war of some kind?”
A sight of this magnitude could not have come out without a large-scale bombing.
However, if it is enough to blow up a forest, the amount of gunpowder needed will be staggering, and a huge amount of manpower will be needed just to transport it.
Even though it was outside the city, if that many people had moved, there would have been reports in advance.
‘It didn’t mean… … .’
The knight commander stroked his chin and thought for a moment.
“Captain. Could someone have secretly conducted an experiment here?”
“Experiment?”
“yes. like magic. If not… … .”
While a knight next to him cautiously gave his opinion, another fellow female knight denounced the article.
“you idiot. What are you experimenting with here? Besides, if you do an experiment, you should do it in a more secluded place and covertly. If you break everything like this, is that a secret experiment?”
“Is that so?”
“okay. It must have been something else.”
The knight commander, who had been listening quietly, turned to the newcomer and asked.
“newcomer. What exactly was the report that came in today?”
“That, that… … .”
When the knight commander asked, the clumsy youngest said with a trembling voice.
“The sky outside the city turned red, and after a while, I heard a huge noise shaking the heavens and the earth.”
“Is the sky dyed red?”
“yes. I’m sure you heard that.”
“Strange. How can the sky turn red in such sunny weather?”
I didn’t understand what was said in the report, but I couldn’t understand it even more when I saw the horrors that actually happened.
It is clear that something happened here, but it was impossible to guess exactly what it was.
“Couldn’t the monster of Reportang, who disappeared that day, reappear?”
One of the Knights Templar made such an opinion.
“The monster of the Jebodang?”
“yes.”
The knight commander tried to tell me not to talk nonsense, but kept his mouth shut.
Wasn’t he in a position to see with his own eyes the huge monster that suddenly appeared at the Kunst auction house?
That’s not to say it’s impossible.
‘If a monster of that size appeared and swept the surrounding area, that would make sense.’
However, the scars on the ground were not something that would appear simply because a huge monster ran rampant.
No matter how you look at it, the craters engraved here and there were traces of the explosion.
It seemed that all the other articles thought similarly, and they each brought out their own opinions.
“It looks like a magic experiment to me, no matter how you look at it.”
“Isn’t the appearance of the cryptid right?”
“What if it was a top-secret project carried out secretly by the military?”
When this or that was said, the newcomer cautiously gave his opinion.
“Uh, maybe.”
Naturally, the senior knights had no choice but to focus on the newcomer.
“The scene of destruction is wide, but judging from the fact that the shape is subtly similar, isn’t it something a wizard did?”
“what? Wizard?”
“yes. He is also a very powerful wizard. But not alone, it seems like the two of us fought.”
At that, the senior knights exchanged glances with each other and burst into laughter at the same time.
“Ha ha ha ha ha! Our youngest has a very interesting idea.”
“Is he really funny? What wizard in the world would fight in a place like this behind the scenes?”
“that’s right. Two wizards who would create this level of horror in the first place? You have to say something that makes sense.”
The recruit’s face turned red with embarrassment.
The Clockwork Knights Commander, who had been listening quietly, rubbed his chin.
‘It’s a wizard.’
I’m a stranger to magic because I’ve only walked the path of the sword.
If you become a knight commander, you will have no choice but to learn about magic, whether you like it or not.
At least within the knowledge of the commander of the knights, in order to cause such a calamity, you had to be at least a 6th tier or higher called the Archmage.
And 6th tier wizards were never common.
‘Is it a fight between two wizards of at least 6th tier?’
There was no way that would be possible.
The youngest’s opinion was that there were too many loopholes.
The captain sighed and shook his head.
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
‘I don’t know. Not a clue.’
For now, he intended to continue the investigation, but the knight commander suddenly had an idea.
No matter how much research you do, you won’t get the results you want.
‘I’m really worried about the troublesome guys these days installing from Ladervelk.’
Thinking so, the leader frowned as he saw the group of horses hanging out to one side.
“Those guys.”
It was the same with the knights.
The knights, who were discussing seriously with each other, looked at a group and spat out annoyed words.
“Why are the Paladins of the Church of Lumensis here… … .”
Knights wearing white armor and cloaks.
Unlike the knights these days who wear uniforms, they are still clinging to old-fashioned clothes, and they were recently active paladins.
A paladin belonging to the Ledervelk Diocese.
Since this was under the jurisdiction of Ledervelk, the Clockwork Knights came forward, but the Paladins roamed the site as they pleased, as if they didn’t care.
But no matter what you say, it will be of no avail.
Armed with the madness called faith, they won’t listen to anything this side says.
“Captain. What should I do?”
“done. They won’t listen to anything we say anyway.”
Poop is not avoided because it is scary, but because it is dirty.
Just as everyone was being warned, one of the Paladins approached the Clockwork Knights.
“nice to meet you. Shinto.”
“… … What’s going on?”
The person who approached was a middle-aged paladin with a benevolent smile.
“May the blessings of the parents be with you.”
“Okay, let’s start with the main point.”
“I have come to share my opinion about the horrors that have taken place today.”
“opinion? What is your opinion? It just seems like someone did this.”
The knight commander’s tone was cold, as if he didn’t want to mix up the conversation, but the paladin didn’t blink an eye.
“I mean, we’re not trying to figure it out together. Because we can guess who did it.”
“… … .”
The knight commander narrowed his eyes and tried to determine whether the paladin’s words were true.
However, there was nothing that could be read from the paladin’s smiling expression.
“… … Really?”
“yes. Can’t you feel the special energy that fills this space, Captain?”
“You mean there is such a thing?”
“yes. We, who serve the Lord Lumensis, can know for sure. The smell wafts from everywhere. There is only one being that smells like this disgusting blood.”
“Who is that?”
“Now, there is only one vampire left in the world.”
The paladin frowned as if he was unclean just by putting it in his mouth.
“It’s an entity that the Church has been tracking for a long time to eliminate.”
* * *
“Mmm.”
Selina opened her closed eyes.
Raising her upper body, she looked around.
“Oh, where is it?”
Apparently, she had been walking with Rudger until daytime, but when she came to her senses, night had arrived.
The moment she realized that, Selina was startled.
“Oh right! Mr. Rudger!”
“Did you call?”
“Wow!”
Selina screamed involuntarily at the sudden voice from behind.
Realizing belatedly that the owner of the voice was Ludger, Selina rubbed her hand over her chest.
“Oh, what a surprise. You were surprised.”
“sorry.”
“Other than that, where is this place? Why am I here?”
Selina looked around.
What she came to her senses was a park bench overlooking the city of Lederbelk.
“Did you not know? Selina-sensei suddenly collapsed, so I brought her here.”
“Yeah?!”
Selina was taken aback by the sudden collapse.
“Did I really do that?”
“yes. She must have been very tired.”
“Oh, no. I was very active today.”
Even as Selina said that, she was about to shed tears at her stupidity.
‘Stupid Selina. What are you doing? It was a rare opportunity.’
Even the meal was completely canceled due to an unintentional guest.
I thought about going to see a musical together, but looking at the time, it seemed that even that would not work.
Selina had mixed emotions, but the first word that came out of her lips was an apology.
“sorry.”
“What are you sorry about?”
“You even blew up Mr. Ludger’s holiday because of me.”
Looking at the time, it seems that Rudger continued to take care of himself after he collapsed.
Come to think of it, I went through something similar like this on the festival day.
‘Where’s my body really bad?’
Selina couldn’t help but feel even more depressed.
Then, the spirit of darkness appeared in Selina’s arms.
“Esmeralda?”
The dark spirit seemed to be happy that the night had arrived and climbed onto Selina’s shoulder and rubbed her cheek as if to comfort her.
Selina smiled at the sight.
“Are you comforting me? thank you.”
Rudger watched the scene, then sat quietly next to Selina and said.
“Miss Selina, you don’t have to apologize to me. Rather, my responsibility for not being considerate is greater.”
Selina felt sorry for Rudger, but it was Rudger who was rather sorry.
Originally, Selina, who should have enjoyed the day, fainted for half a day because of Grander who suddenly appeared.
In fact, it was Ludger who knocked her out, but perhaps something more troublesome would have happened if he hadn’t knocked her out on the spot.
“Mr. Rudger is kind. Even though I don’t need to be so considerate.”
Selina, unaware of this fact, could not help but think that Rudger was comforting her.
“But it is too late. The day is gone.”
The city was full of light, but Selina felt something was missing.
I had to go back to Seorn now for tomorrow’s class.
The happy holiday ended with this.
“Even if it’s good, I wanted to enjoy it properly.”
Rudger stared at Selina’s profile before opening his mouth.
“You don’t have to worry about that part.”
“yes?”
“I see it just in time.”
As Ludger looked to one side, Selina’s gaze naturally went there as well.
A deserted park.
On that street where only the light from street lamps was shining softly, a group of people slowly approached us.
“Hey, Mr. Rudgar. What about those people?”
“These are the musical actors that Miss Selina wanted to see so much.”
“The actors? Why are they here?”
“This place has been used as a place to practice performances for a long time. The inside of the city is noisy, so it is said that small events are held in such a quiet and secluded park.”
“yes?”
“You are lucky. Just in time, today is the day.”
The musical team took their seats and soon began to dance and sing in unison.
“Wow.”
Seeing that, Selina completely erased any doubts about this staggering coincidence.
It was because I thought that I would regret it for the rest of my life if I couldn’t enjoy even this moment because of momentary doubts.
Sitting on a bench with Rudger and watching a performance just the two of you.
Rather, it was nothing more than a gift she wanted.
Tuduk. Took.
Then raindrops fell from the sky.
At the point where the haze of light flowing from the city looked dull, I wanted to just in case, but as expected, it eventually started to rain.
“Ah, of course it rains… … .”
Selina felt impatient, thinking that the performance might be cut off in the middle because of the rain.
At that moment, Rudger, who had been sitting still, moved.
As he lightly waved his hand, the rain that was pouring down escaped as if it had been blocked by an umbrella.
The rain that fell all over the city was the only one avoiding this space.
shoot it
Traces of water droplets scattered on the ground.
Despite the jealousy of the sky, the performance continued without stopping.
Rudger added a little service to that.
Soft light began to flow out, beautifully illuminating the surroundings of the musical team performing.
It began to dance in harmony with people, like a paper doll made by cutting out light.
with a light step.
bright and splendid.
“Wow.”
Urban landscape in the pouring rain.
People who put on great performances against that backdrop.
Even the fairy of light dancing in the air.
Selina couldn’t keep her mouth shut at the dreamy scene, as if walking in a dream.
Esmeralda, held in her arms, quietly watched the performance.
Rudger looked at it with satisfaction.
‘I’m glad you’re happy.’
Since Selina’s holiday was blown up because of him, he felt uncomfortable if he didn’t reciprocate.
Fortunately, Selina really enjoyed this small event.
The musical lasted less than 30 minutes.
But even though that time was short, it was 30 minutes more precious to Selina than any other time in the world.
clap clap clap.
As Selina clapped her hands with a smile on her face, the musical actors bowed politely to Selina and expressed their gratitude.
Eventually, the performance troupe withdrew and only two people remained in the silence of the scene.
The light disappeared and all that was left in the park was the dull light of the street lamp.
Shaaaaa.
Rudger got up from his seat in the rain that gradually got thicker.
“Let’s go.”
“yes. I should. It seems to be raining more and more.”
“I hope to see a proper musical next time.”
At those words, Selina shook her head.
“no. It was already a valuable enough experience. Rather, I am more satisfied.”
“I’m glad if that’s the case.”
“thank you. Mr. Rudger.”
Selina smiled brightly.
Rudger looked at her like that and handed over the umbrella he had brought beforehand.
“Write.”
“yes? What about Ms. Rudger?”
“I have one extra, so that’s fine.”
“Still, going with you… … .”
“I still have some business to do, so I’ll be back in a little while.”
At the nuance of not asking for details, Selina nodded her head with an ah.
It was a bit disappointing, but I was satisfied with this and decided to withdraw.
“Then I will go first. See you tomorrow.”
“yes. See you tomorrow.”
“I really enjoyed today.”
Selina smiled at Rudger and left with a sprint.
After seeing Selina disappear, Rudgar dispelled the spell.
Before the raindrops fell, he opened his black umbrella.
Rudger, who had been standing still, opened his mouth.
“Stop watching, why don’t you come out soon?”
Then, the presence that was felt not far away came towards us.
“sorry. I didn’t mean to do that on purpose.”
Rudger slowly turned his head.
There was a woman who appeared to be in her mid-40s, wearing a white outfit and a white hoodie.
She looked at Rudger with a smile on her face in the pouring rain, not even thinking about using an umbrella.
“so.”
Rudger looked at him and opened his mouth.
“What do people of the Church of Lumensis do to me?”
