12 — The Blast Heard Around Yenice

12 — The Blast Heard Around Yenice

The day after the emergency meeting, Sebeck and Cathrel trudged all the way across town just to bow to me.

“I don’t know what you want from me. It’s just not possible right now. We still have to finish building the schoolhouse first.”

They had come to beg for renovations and housing improvements to their own territories.

“That’s perfectly fine. And we don’t mean to ask for anything for free,” the dog-man pleaded.

“We’re always considered second-best to the wolf- and tiger-folk, but that’s purely in fighting ability!” the cat-man implored.

“We dog-folk are far more focused than the wolf-folk. We always keep our word!”

Unfortunately, I had no relevant acquaintances who could back up that claim, but I did trust plenty of wolf-folk, although I had seen reports that they were diligent workers in the fields.

“And we’re not inconsiderate, like the tiger-folk. The cat-people aren’t slackers.”

He had a point with that first comment, but cat-folk were known for being moody at times. And Ketty was loyal and all, so it would have been nice if I could earn some favors by building them houses, but not even she trusted other cat-folk.

“Anything you need, Luciel—no, Mister Luciel. We’re with you.”

“And the cat-people as well!”

“No ‘mister,’” I said. “And this will have to be farther down the line. If the time comes, we’ll talk again.”

At last, the two went on their way, Sebeck wagging his tail and Cathrel’s pointed straight up. I assumed that meant they were happy?

“Off they go.” Lionel grinned. “And nothing of value was discussed.”

“You’re a mean kitty,” Ketty teased.

They took way too much pleasure in putting me down. It wasn’t my fault those two had gotten their hopes up. All I had promised was that we might talk in the future. I mean, yeah, I was gonna try to help them if we could, but still.

“It’s better not to promise things and back ourselves into a corner,” I said. “Ketty, any news on that thing I asked you to do?”

“They were a little iffy at first, but the centaurs, ivoris, taurians, and primatians are in,” she replied.

“Good. Then we’ll proceed with negotiations.”

“Gotcha.” She left the room.

I had finally received replies from Brod, Galba, and Gulgar. Galba had written that his involvement would only end in “control by fear,” so I was supposed to figure things out on my own as best I could, but he did include four letters that would get the banished beast races on our side. So I had sent Ketty and Kefin’s men to meet with each of the leaders, and it seemed to have gone well. But I was still left with a creeping curiosity about the depths of the wolf-man’s influence. A curiosity that, somehow, I knew was best ignored.

“Just in time,” I said in relief.

“We shouldn’t drop our guard just yet, but I believe this means our lives will be less at risk from now on,” Lionel remarked.

It really was nice to not have to worry about a centaur arrow in my skull when I least expected it. Very calming.

“Now I just hope the honey works out.”

“Honeur claims they’ve reached maximum production efficiency.”

“Noted. Her Holiness told me the stuff sells for several gold pieces per cup when I sent her some. It’s so rare that it’s hardly even known around the world.”

“I would assume it’s not a common part of the public’s average diet.”

“It’s even more expensive than sugar.”

According to what I had heard, the vespians had been used as slave labor in the past. When I pointed out the similarities to their current situation to Honeur, I’d been laughed off.

“It’s safe, the air is clear, the honey is plentiful, it’s perfect for raising children! This place is heaven!” he’d raved.

Since adventurers rarely set foot in the forest, there were supposedly too many monsters to reliably have children there. But that wasn’t the case here, underground, and I had given them permission to return to the forest with their families, so everyone was loving life, which was a relief to hear.

Gulgar had asked for some honey for himself in his letter and included information on market rates. Based on them, that tiny, hundred-milliliter bottle I’d given to Bryan went for over one gold, at least.

“We have a good deal of inventory at the moment,” Lionel said.

“I don’t want to put it all on the market at once, for the vespians’ sake. It would draw too much attention. I was thinking about selling fruit with it.”

“Forence had quite a look in his eye when he saw the fruit for himself.”

“Right. So even that feels a little...risky. Imagine if he saw us peddling honey.”

We had shared some of our produce with the merchant, and his reaction had been less than subtle, murmuring something about dividends and the profit margin of “such a quality product.” I had been too focused on the crazed look on his face to hear any of it, but Ketty had picked up on it for me. The man was not to be taken lightly.

“Then when does business begin?”

“I think I’ll give it some more thought. We’ll probably get busy again once the school’s done. Speaking of which, I was thinking about making Nalia the headmistress.”

“Nalia? Hm. She’d be a good fit.”

“Glad to hear it. We’ve still got a ton on our plate, but things are starting to take shape, huh?”

“Agreed. And the medical district should be conveniently completed right near the end of your term.”

Lionel shifted restlessly, no doubt because I had told him we would make a trip to Merratoni when we left and he could hardly wait to butt heads with my master again.

“So, be honest: do you think we’re going to be attacked before then?”

“That’s difficult to say, though I wouldn’t be surprised if the tiger-folk had already made their move.”

I sighed. “It is what it is. We’ll see how tomorrow’s trip to the forest goes.”

“We ought to exercise extreme caution.”

“I’m counting on you guys.”

To be honest, we had already gotten all the wood and magic stones we needed for construction. But a trio of individuals who shall not be named were going through those gems like candy. At least they weren’t going to waste. I was having the three of them design potential magic tools for beastfolk, then letting them make whatever they wanted if they came up with something good. The tools were big hits, in fact, and we sent them to Forence, who put them on the market. This was, in fact, the only thing keeping the crazed businessman from losing it after the tragedy at the treasury.

Otherwise, it had been relatively smooth sailing. Most of our problems had been at the start, and we hadn’t hit any snags lately. But that complacency was about to come back to bite us...big time.

＊

It happened three months later, just before the school was completed. An explosion, like an enormous firework going off, rocked all of Yenice. In the direction of the blast, black smoke billowed, and flames licked the sky.

“Isn’t that where the medical district is? Lionel, Ketty, come with me!” I ordered. “Dhoran and Pola, stay here and take whatever action you need. Kefin, the guild could be next. Prepare for the worst, and stay on guard.”

I dashed outside without waiting for a reply. The medical district was supposed to be a joint effort between the Doctor’s and Healer’s Guilds. It was an ambitious project, meant to give everyone a place of comfort from whatever ailed them, and as such, it saw a lot of people coming and going to ensure its completion, halflings and full beastfolk alike. In short, there could have been a lot of casualties. The smoke alone would cause widespread injury, as if the flames weren’t enough. Respiratory failure or even death were very possible, as I recalled from my past life.

I was the only one who could save them, and that drove me forward. I pushed through the mobs crowding the streets.

“Out of the way! Out of the way, I said! You’re obstructing a healer!”

The people finally parted at my shouting. Lionel took the front, Ketty the rear, as always. I realized that I was sort of losing my cool, so I took a deep breath as we ran, until we came across the victims strewn across the street by the blast, covered in horrible burns.

“Tell me where the injured are!” I shouted at the crowd. “High Heal!”

The victims’ cuts closed, their charred skin smoothed over. There should have been, at minimum, thirty-seven halflings working here, but not a single one of those lives was expendable. I was going to save every last one.

Cries calling out the location of yet more wounded started sounding fast. I raced around to every single one, reviving even those singed completely black as if they had been utterly carbonized. My return to form—that is, now that I was envisioning the spells properly once again—meant that their potency had increased all the more. I felt my eyes burn, not from the smoke but with emotion. There were still people who needed me, though. There would be time for feelings later.

Once everyone on the street had been seen to, I steeled myself to step into the source of the blaze itself. There were people inside.

I can do this... We have a chance...

“Lionel, Ketty, we’re going.”

They followed without hesitation. The moment we stepped inside, I focused magic into my bracelet and activated the wind barrier.

“I’m sorry for being reckless, guys. Ketty, you’ve been here before, right?”

“I’m surprised you remember,” she replied. “It’s five stories, but the fourth and fifth floors are still empty. Only the first three are finished. Oh, and there’s a basement.”

Then that could only mean...

“We’ll start at the top,” I declared. After a confused yowl from Ketty and a questioning look from Lionel, I explained, “Smoke moves upward. The people up there are in the most danger. I need you to lead the way.”

She didn’t argue, and up we went. I immediately recoiled upon looking overhead.

“The blast blew the ceiling clean off!”

“There’re people over here!” Ketty yelled, pulling me back.

I dashed over. There were three figures huddled together on the spacious floor. I swiftly cast High Heal on them, regenerating their skin, but they remained unconscious.

I hesitated. “What do we do? Carry them?”

Lionel approached. “No need.” He reeled back, then delivered three quick, decisive slaps, snapping the workers back to their senses, albeit rather violently.

“You’ve all been healed. Head for the first floor. Fast,” I said firmly. “Can you make it?”

The sight of Lionel and his massive greatsword had paralyzed them, but they responded to me with a quick nod.

The fifth and fourth floors hadn’t been divided by partitions or walls yet, which was a mercy in our current situation. It made spotting victims easy. There were five more on the fourth floor.

“You two doing okay?” I asked.

“As long as we’re not sucking in smoke,” Ketty said. “Feeling fine.”

“The source of the explosion must be the basement,” Lionel suggested.

“Probably,” I agreed. “But this is a disaster. How is everything burning so quickly?”

Ketty shrugged. “Some shoddy work, eh? That’s what happens when work gets done fast.”

“Fire-retardant measures don’t seem to have been taken,” Lionel observed.

“Why didn’t they say anything to me? I would’ve helped!” I said.

“Likely to avoid being more in your debt than they already are.”

We never stopped moving. A man on the third floor lay crushed beneath stone, and we rescued him with the help of Lionel’s strength. I restored his mangled arm to form with Extra Heal.

As long as someone was still hanging on, I could heal them. I could do it. Lionel could handle the heavy lifting, and Ketty could sense people like a radar. I was reassured to have them by my side. And on we went, locating the survivors all the way down to the first floor.

The supports creaked, and the flames had burned through several load-bearing pillars, sending chunks of the ceiling raining down on us, but Lionel sliced apart anything that the wind barrier couldn’t handle.

“We still haven’t found Dolstar or his people,” I said. “And the smoke coming from the basement is a different color for some reason. I thought they hadn’t brought the Doctor’s Guild’s herbs over yet.”

“As far as I know,” Ketty answered.

“That can’t be the source of all this.”

Lionel cut down the door to the basement, and when the stairs became visible through the smoke, we descended. I could only imagine how poorly we would have been able to see without the wind barrier, or how bad it would have smelled. I cast Purification to clear up some of the fumes, revealing the floor below, including Dolstar, his men, and Guildmaster Smick.

“Area High Heal! Recover! Recover! Recover! Recover! All right, let’s carry them out.”

The moment those words left my lips, another blast rumbled the walls, blocking our only exit with fallen debris.

“Aaand, we’re trapped. I should’ve expected this. Let’s do something about the fire.”

My companions agreed. I lamented having forgotten that life was never fair as I did away with the soot and dust with cleansing magic and my companions extinguished the flames. We were breathing easily enough, so despite how intense the fire had been, we weren’t that badly off, all things considered.

“Can you cut through the ceiling, Lionel?”

“Surely, but it would be suicide without knowing what’s above us.”

“Have anything, Ketty?”

“Y’know, I’m surprised you’re not more panicked.”

Make no mistake, I was quite dismayed. It was just all on the inside. Everyone looked at me strangely.

“I guess because we’re underground. We’re relatively safe until Dhoran and Pola come to dig us out with the golem. Or if not that, we can stuff the debris into the magic bag and make it out that way.”

Lionel raised an eyebrow. “You anticipated this?”

“No, not exactly. But I’ve been thinking about our options since we got down here. If we marched out of here after rescuing everyone, I’d be a hero all over again. And that would provide the security for all this to last after I’m gone. But that’s what worries me.”

“True. Now would be the time for the enemy to act.”

“So I was thinking the safest thing to do would be to escape quietly, then catch them red-handed.”

“Wow, you’re nasty,” Ketty said, eyeing me in shock.

“That’s awfully bold, even for you, sir,” Lionel added.

“Chief, there are healthier ways of dealing with stress, y’know?”

How long would I have to endure this bullying? I wasn’t going to cry about it or anything, but my eyes might have sweat a little. These people didn’t understand my pain.

So I summarized it like so: “Yeah, like chugging a whole friggin’ barrel of Substance X. Come on, let’s have some tea.”

I produced a kettle and prepared to wait for our four survivors to wake up.

＊

We were enjoying a rather pleasant chat over tea, when at last, the men of honor decided to join us.

“What?” Dolstar croaked. “Where am I? S-rank?”

“Ah, welcome to the land of the living. Good thing I made it in time, eh?”

He shot up. “The others!”

“They’re all safe. Trapped underground, but no one’s life is in immediate danger.”

“Oh...well. Good then.”

He began waking his men and made his way over to Smick.

“Whazzaaat? Who’s theeere?” the guildmaster slurred in a half-asleep stupor.

“Have a nice nap? We’re in the medical district’s central office.”

“Huh? Why are you here?”

No drawling this time, it seemed. Someone was wide awake.

“I heard an explosion go off, so I ran here to rescue people.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? I was expecting a ‘thank you’ or two, but what do you have to be sorry for?” He didn’t respond. I turned to Dolstar. “Do you know what’s going on? What are you all doing down here, anyway?”

The twinblood glanced at Smick, then back at me. “We saw and smelled a strange smoke coming from downstairs, so we went to investigate.”

“But this isn’t where the explosion happened, is it?”

“No. The only thing the smoke caused was panic. And drowsiness.”

Then the fire we’d put out earlier had come from the floor above.

“You fell asleep? How? We could hear the blast from across town, and it blew the floor out of every story, straight through to the ceiling.”

“What?!”

“You didn’t hear it?”

“Only screaming, but I might recall...a faint detonation. But only vaguely.”

Sheesh, how strong had those fumes been?

“What do you know, Smick?”

The tanukin hesitated. “Walabis was here.”

“Walabis? Oh, your nephew. Right.”

He was supposed to be the tanukins’ head, but I’d straight up forgotten him entirely.

“He said he’d heard I was bringing herbs and stuff over to the new office, so he came to help.”

“I don’t like where this is going.”

“Something...strange happened. Things that shouldn’t during synthesis. The powders got all mixed together and...”

“But none of your materials could’ve caused the explosion, right? You wouldn’t have brought anything that dangerous...right?”

Smick broke into a sweat and looked away. “Wh-When the smoke started, I ran to get the firegrasses out of the room, but they were gone. Along with all sorts of other things. Someone had taken them while I was compounding.”

“But that wouldn’t make an explosion like this. Right?”

“Well, no. They don’t explode. They, er...combust when in contact with air. Into fireballs.”

Well, we’d found the cause of the fire. Could the smoke have turned it into that enormous blast? Or was it a dust explosion? No, the air was too clear for that.

“I have no idea what caused this,” Smick went on. “Walabis was nowhere to be seen, as far as I know.”

No good was going to come of constantly grilling him. But I was going to give him hell later over starting the smoke.

“Anything else weird happen?”

“There have been a lot of people going in and out. Lots of different races, but I’m not really involved in their work.”

“Right.” If only this were a TV drama. Then maybe one of us could’ve flipped the script and identified the criminal by now. “Do you need everything here?”

“Yes, but we do have spares at the guild.”

“Are you sure? I can take it all with us.”

“Oh, yes, absolutely. Please and thank you.”

The guildmaster bowed repeatedly as I gathered together the various plants and bottles.

“So, when do we get outta here, S-rank?”

“Whenever we want. Why? Do you want out, Dolstar?”

“I’m not about to let someone pin this thing on us.”

Oh, right. I’d forgotten about the halflings.

“I suppose it’s been long enough. All right, let’s go.”

I started tossing the charred lumber and debris into the magic bag while Lionel protected us from the shifting pile with his shield. The cheers of amazement behind us were somewhat distracting, though, to be honest.

With the staircase visible once more, we ascended, collecting what scraps of material we could along the way. At the top, the doorway that Lionel had sliced apart was blocked by yet more debris.

“Man, I’m glad we brought the magic bag.”

I got back to work. Some of the rubble was still smoldering and giving off smoke. It was suspicious how easily everything had burned. This was going to need investigating for sure.

Another hour later, we finally escaped the building.

“Crowd’s thinned a lot.”

“The stragglers seem to have been worried,” Lionel observed.

Only a few people remained on the streets.

“Where to?” Ketty asked.

“I think the giant golem’s probably a good place to start.” The golem in question was causing a stir over at the site of the schoolhouse. “Whoever set all this up, I’m gonna wring their neck. Dolstar, where would the halflings be?”

“In front of the government offices, I’d assume.”

“Head there. Find out what you can.”

Dolstar huffed. “Don’t make me regret trusting you.”

“I won’t. Lionel, Ketty, we’ve got work to do.”