Chapter 78

Shaaaaa.

The sudden downpour had been going for a good twenty minutes now.

People in the lobby were crowding near the windows, murmuring at the sheets of rain outside.

Creeeak.

The door swung open with an especially dreary groan, and in walked someone who looked like a drowned rat.

Mikhail blinked at the unmistakable almond-brown hair.

"This… god… damn… weather!"

Edwin's face was flushed red and blue, a string of curses about to burst from his lips—

Scraaape.

A chair scraped across the floor on the other side, and Julien bolted from his seat.

"Mmph! Mmph!"

"Edwin. Tracking water all through the lobby isn't exactly good manners. Yeah? Right?"

Julien caught Edwin mid-drip at the entrance and steered him back to the edge of the foyer.

Mikhail watched the scene play out, then got up from his seat and approached the front desk.

"Could I get a dry towel, please? Oh, and an umbrella too."

He collected the items and headed for the lobby entrance.

Edwin stood at the threshold, clicking his tongue and shaking out his shoes.

Julien was wringing out Edwin's waterlogged jacket with both hands.

Patter-patter-patter.

Mikhail watched the droplets hammering the wet ground, then spoke.

"Edwin, I've got a question."

"Huh? Hey, can you not see the state I'm in? I'm soaked to the bone—I don't have the luxury of playing twenty ques—"

Edwin grumbled as if he'd been personally wronged and whipped his head away.

But the sour expression melted the instant Mikhail held out a dry towel.

Edwin scrubbed at his hair with it and spoke.

"Fine. What's the question."

"You got drenched helping some stubborn old man and a black-haired assistant carry their stuff. Right?"

Edwin's shoulders jerked. He turned back with a bewildered look.

"What the— how'd you know that?"

Mikhail answered with nothing more than a tug at the corner of his mouth, then shifted his gaze toward the shopping district.

"Dry off before you catch a cold."

He opened the umbrella and plunged into the rain.

If Edwin's story was any indication, the key figures for the mission's progression had arrived right on schedule.

Which meant he needed to move. Right now, he could lay the groundwork for a crucial connection.

"—Mikhail!"

That was when it happened. A clear voice cut through the curtain of rain and pierced straight to his ears.

Mikhail stopped dead and turned around slowly. Julien stood at the entrance, watching him.

"Ah."

Julien flinched—startled by his own shout.

He fidgeted, eyes darting, clearly flustered, before he managed to speak.

"Um… where are you going?"

Mikhail studied Julien's face for a quiet moment, then answered.

"There's someone I need to meet. We'll try the mana merging when I get back."

---

The rain poured for another ten minutes or so, then stopped.

The sky cleared as though the storm had never happened, bright sunlight breaking through.

"Ugh, everything's all soggy. I came all this way expecting a festival, and the first thing I get is a free shower. What kind of welcome is that?"

The short-haired girl hauling an armful of crates—Terha—was mid-complaint when her next step landed squarely in a puddle.

SPLASH!

"Gyaaah!"

Terha yanked her foot back in alarm, but the damage was already done. The toe of her shoe was thoroughly soaked.

Her face crumpled on its own. She glared down at her dripping foot and fumed.

"AAARGH! I'm so mad! I splurged on brand new shoes! Didn't even get to break them in properly and they're already ruined! Done! They're done for!"

But despite the tirade, her feet kept marching steadily forward.

Her master's voice—scorching enough to peel paint—still rang in her ears.

[You little hummingbird, move your legs! If even one tool gets damaged, I'm docking your pay—!]

Terha grumbled, her face a shade redder than before.

"Why does my pay always have to be on the line?! Honestly, at times like these she's not my master—she's a demon in disguise! The villain! …Oops, was that too far?"

Something building-shaped flickered past in her peripheral vision. Terha craned her neck over the stack of crates and looked around.

She'd been told there was a magic tool repair shop somewhere in the north shopping district, but she couldn't find it to save her life.

Do I need to keep going further?

Terha huffed with displeasure and pressed onward.

Clunk.

"WHOOOA!"

Her foot caught on something and her body pitched forward.

She was a heartbeat from eating pavement, but she planted both feet fast and caught herself.

The real crisis, however, was the tower of crates in her arms—now swaying like it was about to topple.

Terha went white as a sheet and stammered the same word on repeat.

"W-w-w-wait! Wait wait wait! WAIIIT!"

She swung her body side to side like a dancer trying to find her balance, but it was hopeless.

The merciless crates teetered as though they'd crash to the ground any second.

[Do you have any idea how much all this costs?! I knew your carelessness would cause a disaster! This month's paycheck is confisca—!]

Her master's thundering voice echoed in her skull. Terha squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the catastrophe about to unfold.

Clatter.

That was when it happened. The violently swaying crates lifted clean off her arms and floated to one side.

Her field of vision opened wide, and the road ahead spread out before her.

Puddles dotted the pavement here and there, and one stone block jutted slightly above the rest.

The heavy rain must have washed the packed dirt from between the seams.

Terha stood blinking, then turned her head to the right.

The crates that had vanished into thin air were right there. And behind them stood a person.

"Let me help. Where are you headed?"

Their eyes met.

The stranger's gaze softened at the corners, warm and approachable, and the casual friendliness caught Terha so off guard she sputtered.

"Huh? Wha? I… well. The thing is."

Her voice cracked and shot up an octave.

Terha squirmed, feeling awkward, then pulled her expression together and cleared her throat.

"Ahem. There's supposed to be a magic tool repair shop around here, so I was trying to find it. But I can't spot it anywhere."

"Ahh."

The person beside her—with a striking profile—scanned the surroundings and answered in a light tone.

"You took a wrong turn. This is the northeast road."

"Huh? What?"

"It's an easy place to wander off track if you're not paying attention. Follow me. I'll show you the way."

The eyes that met hers were the color of a blue dress spun by fairies in a storybook.

Terha stared blankly as the stranger turned and strode ahead, then snapped back to her senses and scrambled to keep up.

"—I-I'm Terha! Terha Airin! I came from the east to handle the fountain inspection and operations for this festival. I'm completely lost around here, so I was wandering…."

Terha planted herself at the stranger's side and spoke at full volume. They turned to meet her eyes and smiled.

"I'm Mikhail. I'm one of the coordinators for the prayer festival."

…Mikhail.

Terha murmured the name once under her breath, then continued with a noticeably warmer expression.

"Oh, a coordinator! Nice to meet you, Mikhail! No wonder you know your way around…. Ehehe, thank you so much for just now. If you hadn't caught those crates, the magic tools inside would've been destroyed. And if that happened…. Gahhh. I don't even want to think about it."

She shuddered at the memory of her master's roar still ringing in her ears.

A quiet chuckle came from beside her, followed by a curious question.

"Sounds like there's someone who'd give you an earful?"

"Yeah. My master! She's usually just the gruff-and-quiet type, but the second magic tools are involved, she turns into someone who swallowed a tiger whole. She says handling magic tools demands total seriousness and discipline, and I'm too scatterbrained for my own good…."

Terha mimicked her master's tone with a pout, then caught herself with a guilty start.

Badmouthing her master in front of a complete stranger. That was not okay.

"B-but! My master is seriously incredible. She served on the northern front when she was young, and now she's one of the top magic tool management experts around! She even used to work with that suddenly-disappeared magic research director—what was the name, Hae, Haerin, Haero-something…?"

"Haeron Reed."

"Huh…? Oh, oh! Right! Haeron Reed!"

Terha's face lit up at the missing puzzle piece clicking into place, and she nodded along eagerly.

But a flicker of something off made her blink, and she turned to look at the person walking beside her.

"But… how did you know who Haeron is?"

Mikhail let a faint smile slip through and said nothing.

"……."

Their steps continued all the while.

Terha and Mikhail exited the side road and turned onto a new street.

After walking straight for about ten minutes, they reached the magic tool repair shop and came to a stop.

"…Huh?"

[CLOSED]

[Out on urgent business.]

The news hit like a bolt from the blue.

Terha stared at the sign hanging on the shop door. She read it once, twice, three times—then let out a long, pitiful wail.

"Nooooo… you've got to be kidding me."

That was when Mikhail, standing beside her, asked in an even tone.

"Terha. Why were you going to the repair shop?"

Terha pulled her glare away from the sign and turned to face him.

"I was going to borrow a magic tool blower. I need to dry out the tools that got rained on."

"Is that so? …Hmm. By any chance—were all the magic tools in these crates made by your master?"

The question came out of nowhere, its purpose impossible to read. Terha found it a little odd, but answered honestly enough.

"Yeah. My master made every one of them."

"Ah, I see."

The corner of Mikhail's mouth crept upward.

Another smile whose meaning she couldn't begin to decipher. Terha tilted her head and let out a puzzled hum—

Clatter.

Mikhail set the crates he'd been carrying on the ground and turned toward the general store.

"Wait here a moment. I'll find something that'll work."