Water Magician

Editor: Tseirp

Two weeks before the Pope’s Inauguration ceremony in the Western countries.

Red Post, a border city in the eastern part of the Kingdom.

Rednar, a former border city of Inbury Duchy, in the western part of the Union.

Both are named after the characteristic red soil near the border.

The Kingdom-Union border runs through the middle of these two towns.

A huge tent was set up along this border line.

That was the location for the meeting.

“Nice to meet you, Your Majesty. I am Aubrey Hubble Coleman, the Governor of the Handal Union.”

“I have heard of Governor Aubrey Coleman’s distinguished reputation. I am King Abel the First of the Kingdom of Knightley.”

After the greetings, they shook hands.

While the two men’s expressions were calm, the atmosphere around them was heavy.

It seemed as though tension was palpable between them.

However, a completely different exchange of greetings was taking place on their side.

“Frank… it’s been a while.”

“Kenneth, you’ve grown up well.”

It was a reunion after several years between the alchemists representing both the Kingdom and the Union, who could be considered the brains of their respective nations.

Those two had worked side by side in the Royal Alchemical Workshop, producing numerous inventions.

Although there was a considerable age gap between them… talent knows no age.

They both considered the other to be the foremost alchemist in the Central Countries.

Such was the high regard they held for each other.

“All right, Kenneth, I’ve brought some delicious bread. Not quite up to the standard of bread from Cologne, but it’s quite good. Hey, Mr. attendant over there, bring us some coffee to our table. We’ll be eating bread over there.”

“Frank, you never change…”

As Frank and Kenneth headed towards the seats at the corner of the tent, they exchanged conversations.

Observing them from a distance were the leaders of the two countries.

It was Lord Aubrey who broke the ice.

“I was honestly surprised when the suggestion was made to bring Viscount Kenneth Hayward. Was it alright to introduce Viscount Kenneth to Dr. Frank?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Do you not think there is a possibility that Viscount Kenneth Hayward might defect to our Union?”

“Not at all. Rather, wouldn’t it be Dr. Frank de Verde who might want to return to the Kingdom? Persuaded by his beloved disciple, Kenneth?”

“Nah, I don’t think so.”

With that exchange, Abel and Lord Aubrey both laughed heartily.

From their distant seats, holding bread in one hand,

“The ones steering the country have it tough, don’t they?”

“Certainly.”

Such conversations between the two alchemists went unheard by the King and the Governor…

“The only thing our Union wants to confirm is this.”

Lord Aubrey did not have an especially scary expression as he spoke.

But he certainly wasn’t smiling.

Both of them had already decided on the questions and answers to follow.

This was simply a confirmation.

“Was it the Kingdom that attacked the city of Curcio?”

“No, it wasn’t.”

The voices of both the questioner and Abel, who answered, were very calm.

Because they understood that this was a confirmation.

Lord Aubrey, the questioner, simply nodded in response.

“The Kingdom only has one question too.”

Abel said, his expression not particularly tense.

But he wasn’t smiling either.

Even though he understood it was just confirmation, it was not something to smile about when considering the deceased royal subjects.

“Did the Union attack the city of Van Lane?”

“Of course not.”

The voice of Union Governor, Lord Aubrey remained extremely calm.

Because he understood that it was merely a confirmation.

Abel also nodded once.

“The confirmation has been made, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

Both Aubrey and Abel knew this in their heads.

Because it didn’t make any sense.

But confirmation was necessary.

It was to confirm whether the other party was lying or not.

At their level, it was easy to see if the person in front of them was lying.

“Now, that brings up a problem.”

“Yeah. Who exactly carried out the attacks?”

“Exactly. For what purpose did they attack, sacrificing lives?”

Both Abel and Aubrey had reached the same question.

“Normally, I’d say it’s the Empire, but…”

“Yeah… however, it’s too far from the Empire’s border.”

Both Abel and Aubrey shared the same thoughts on that point.

Both the Kingdom’s city of Van Lane and the Union’s city of Curcio are located well south of the Empire.

It would be extremely difficult to move ten thousand cavalrymen that far without the knowledge of both countries.

Of course, the Empire had Baron Hagen Benda, who could use .

Currently, he seemed to be away from the Empire, having joined the diplomatic mission to the Western Countries… however, there was indeed a possibility that he could return and use …

Honestly, both Abel and Aubrey were contemplating whether the Empire would go to such lengths.

But why bother with that when they could easily do it further north?

Even if they wanted to create a ‘situation where only the Union and the Kingdom were involved’, there was no need to engage in siege battles.

Just like how the Empire attacked Abel in the north, there were plenty of other methods of deception available.

No matter how skillfully executed, there was no reason to initiate a siege that would result in significant casualties just to pit these two nations against each other.

Moreover…

“In Curcio, the residents were slaughtered, the city was set ablaze, and it was abandoned.”

“Same with Van Lane.”

Indeed.

Both cities were abandoned…

All the residents were killed, yet there was no evidence of any looting of valuables or supplies.

Despite the significant sacrifices made during the siege…

“In fact, I would like to provide some information regarding that matter.”

Abel interjected.

“Oh? Please go ahead.”

Lord Aubrey understood well that they were sorely lacking in necessary information for an accurate analysis.

“This concerns the time when our city of Van Lane was attacked… It seems that the cavalry continuously rammed against the city gates. Gradually causing damage until the gates were finally breached…”

“Your Majesty, what… does that mean exactly?”

Aubrey furrowed his brow in response to Abel’s information.

Naturally so.

Cavalry crashing into the city gates one after another?

Does such a siege tactic exist?

What happened to the cavalry that crashed into the gates?

Furthermore, such an attack doesn’t seem to have significant effectiveness.

Lord Aubrey, known as a ‘Great General’, naturally has numerous achievements in siege warfare.

And Abel’s description of the siege was unheard of.

“Well, that’s true. Even those who reported it couldn’t believe what they saw. It seems that the cavalry that hit the city gates damaged them, then disappeared into thin air.”

“Were they not human?”

Abel’s words were met with a slight shake of the head from Lord Aubrey.

But the response to that question came not just from the two of them.

A little further away, enjoying warm bread and coffee at another table…

“Could it be the legendary army of the Djinns?”

It was Frank De Verde.

“Dr. Frank?”

Lord Aubrey uttered, looking puzzled.

“Well, even I have looked into the legends of Djinn. There was a book with such descriptions back then. I don’t remember the title. But there must have been a more famous folklore officer in the central temple of the royal capital than I am. Just recently, he came to the Union and identified the Djinn bug…”

“That must be Viscount Rashata Debuo.”

Kenneth responded to Frank’s words.

“Yeah, that’s right. I think confirming it with Viscount Debuo would be the most reliable.”

“I see.”

Lord Aubrey nodded vigorously in response to Frank’s words.

“Indeed, we need to confirm this promptly.”

With that said, Abel stood up.

“Your Majesty.”

“Yes, Lord Aubrey, I understand. As soon as we get any confirmation, I’ll contact you immediately. Although, it’s unlikely that communication via alchemy tools is possible yet…”

Abel replied promptly to Lord Aubrey’s words.

“When we return to Jayclaire, we can establish a connection right away.”

“Eh?”

Abel and Lord Aubrey both responded in unison to Frank De Verde’s words.

“It seems Frank was also thinking about long-distance communication using a similar mechanism. With a little adjustment, it seems it can communicate with the Kingdom’s system. Although, it’s only with the large one in the royal capital.”

“At the final step, I was stuck, but Kenneth always finds a way. He solved it easily.”

“No, it was just luck…”

Kenneth blushed deeply at Frank’s praise.

It was an exchange that revealed the warmth of the relationship between the two…

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