Water Magician

Editor: Tseirp

“The Djinn’s minions…”

Zack muttered.

“Oh… so you do know that much. Huh? Come to think of it we were never properly introduced. My name is Oranj. I’m one of Gawain-sama’s four generals. And you, captain, what’s your name?”

“Zack.”

Zack replied straightforwardly to Oranj’s question.

Right then, every second counted.

He needed to grasp the situation and think of a way to escape.

Zack confronted Oranj.

The three who came out of the mansion with Oranj had tied up the three they had defeated earlier.

“Are you taking those three somewhere? Seems a bit menial for minions of the Djinn.”

Zack inquired deliberately to buy time while extracting information.

“Information is crucial, you know? We need to investigate those guys to figure out which faction, or who, and how much they know exactly.”

“That doesn’t suit your appearance at all.”

“Why you… you want me to smash your head in right now?”

Zack blurted out what he honestly thought, and Oranj retorted while his cheeks twitched.

Even as they talked, Zack was still receiving Oranj’s sword strike.

“If they still haven’t shown up after all this talk, does that mean the water magicians aren’t with you this time? I won’t ask for both, just one of them. Don’t tell me none of them came with you?”

“Why do you ask?”

As Oranj deliberately looked around while questioning, Zack frowned and asked back.

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s fun. Both of those water magicians are quite something. Well, as far as I know, they’re quite skilled. I don’t know the level of water magicians these days, but if they’re as good as those guys, fighting them would be enjoyable.”

“I see. They might be around here somewhere.”

Zack vaguely replied to Oranj’s explanation.

There was no need to explicitly give away the answer.

Zack thought he might not take drastic action if he considered they might be around.

However…

“Hmph, that’s a lie. I see, they didn’t come along. That’s a shame.”

“…”

“But still, you must realize that two swordsmen wouldn’t stand a chance against us, right? Why were you following us?”

“I’m not going to answer that!”

“Hmm. It wasn’t to defeat us… and certainly not to capture us either… In that case, it must be reconnaissance. Since you know my capabilities… ah, are you confirming if I’m here or not? Here in Wingston? I see…”

Oranj stopped there and took a breath.

Then he smirked maliciously.

And continued.

“You noticed the connection with the Duchy, huh?”

“!”

That was a decisive statement in various ways.

It became clear that there was a connection between the Djinn and the Duchy.

But at the same time, the fact that the Kingdom had noticed that connection was now known to the Djinn camp.

In other words, from now on, the two factions would clash in earnest…

At that moment, there was no turning back for both sides.

That’s how it was.

(This… I must report this no matter what.)

Zack frowned inwardly.

If Zack and Scotty were defeated or captured and unable to report back, then the Djinn camp would be unilaterally informed that the Kingdom had noticed the connection between the Duchy and the Djinn.

They would gain the upper hand in the upcoming large-scale actions.

That would be extremely bad.

It’s bad, but…

(There’s a good chance that neither Scotty nor I will be able to get out of this…)

Zack understood the difference in power between himself and the Djinn’s follower in front of him.

At the very least, he knew he was no match for him.

In that case, it might be possible for Scotty to escape from this situation and report back.

Making that judgment, Zack glanced at Scotty.

Scotty probably understood the same thing.

He glanced back at Zack.

However, he shook his head slightly.

It seemed Scotty’s opponents were also a formidable.

Even if they are not the Four Generals, facing two of the Djinn’s minions is naturally challenging.

After a while, the ones who were restraining the three people up ahead might join in…

One of the individuals restraining the three rushed over.

Zack noticed it but couldn’t move.

Oranj’s sword, poised above him, was surprisingly heavy.

Zack constantly felt the weight of the sword pressing down on him.

If the opponent were human, there would be various ways to escape from this situation, such as using the ground’s rebound force to push the sword up with one’s entire body for a counterattack or to retreat.

However, Oranj’s strength was extraordinary.

It felt like being crushed by tens or hundreds of kilograms from above…

He couldn’t move.

There was only one way to escape from this situation.

However, even that could lead to his balance being disrupted if mistimed, leaving him vulnerable to a fatal blow.

Timing was crucial.

The subordinate who had run over reported to Oranj.

“Oranj-sama, we have identified the identities of the three from earlier…”

After saying that, he glanced briefly at Zack.

“It’s fine, go on.”

“Aye. Those three appear to be spies directly under the Union Government’s jurisdiction.”

“When you say directly under the Union Government’s jurisdiction, you mean not from the something Grand Duchy on the border, right?”

“Yes.”

(If it’s the Union Government, then Lord Aubrey…. Did the Union Government also suspect the Shrewsbury Duchy?)

Zack contemplated the information he heard.

“Understood. Get more details when we’re at the mansion. Take those three to the mansion. Also, convey this message.”

Orange paused for a moment, then continued with a smirk.

“The Kingdom seems to be convinced of the connection between the Duchy and us.”

“Dammit…”

Zack grimaced and spoke regretfully at Oranj’s words.

“Sorry. Just doing my job.”

“You consider being a Djinn’s follower a job… you might want to choose a different career path.”

“Aye. Even in this situation, you never seem to run out of words. You’re quite composed, Captain.”

Oranj responded amusingly to Zack’s words.

At that moment.

Oranj’s grip weakened slightly.

“Gotcha!”

Zack tilted his sword with all his might.

Swoosh.

As Zack tilted his sword, Oranj’s sword slid forcefully over it, almost hitting the ground.

With the pressure gone, Zack extended his right leg forward diagonally, opening up his stance, and swung his tilted sword upward.

The sword sliced through the air.

Although Oranj’s posture was disrupted, he managed to jump sideways with just his right leg.

He avoided Zack’s deadly strike.

However…

Zack continued thrusting his sword forward.

Thrusting, thrusting, thrusting.

Oranj parried the last thrust with his sword.

Then, he tried to swing his sword downwards…

But halfway through, the trajectory of the sword changed.

No, it wasn’t just the sword; Oranj’s body itself jumped backward.

At the same time, blood spurted from the necks of the two followers who were fighting Scotty.

“Run!”

A man’s voice echoed around them.

Without hesitation, Zack and Scotty started running.

For a full two minutes.

Oranj stood alone, motionless.

One minute passed until their presence completely disappeared. Then another minute passed in the same manner.

“That ought to do it.”

Muttering to himself, he sheathed his sword.

By then, the fallen subordinates had lost their form and turned to ashes.

One of Garwin’s followers emerged from the shadows…

“Isolde, was that satisfactory?”

“Yes, it was. I thought about punching you when you started fighting that knight…”

Oranj scratched his head vigorously while speaking, and Isolde responded with a sigh.

“Well, at least I let them escape.”

“Because reinforcements arrived, right? What were you planning to do if they hadn’t come?”

“Then… I might have let them go in exchange for information on the water magician.”

“What’s that? Sounds suspicious…”

Isolde shook her head slightly at Oranj’s random answer.

At the very least, they didn’t intend to kill Zack and Scotty on the spot.

In fact, they needed them to escape and report to the Kingdom government.

“Now, the Kingdom will likely send a punitive force. They know we have an army… Maybe the Union will join in too. They’ll pincer the Djinn between the Kingdom and the Union.”

Isolde said happily.

“A war between the Kingdom and the Union against us, huh. Well, many people will die in a war. Whether the enemy in the war is another country or us, it doesn’t matter.”

The Kingdom and the Union realized that the initial move of the Djinn was to ‘trigger a war between the Kingdom and the Union near the border’.

That’s why they avoided it through direct talks between King Abel and Lord Aubrey.

However, they didn’t understand the reason behind ‘why they wanted to start a war near the border’.

The speculation that releasing a large amount of the ‘Fragments of God’ held by humans through their deaths would prompt Garwin’s complete awakening… was something nobody could figure out.

If there had been information about the ‘Fragments of God’ that the Mission to the Western Countries had, someone might have reached that conclusion…

Without understanding the cause, solving the fundamental problem was difficult.

That seemed to be a constant in any era and any world.

“Such a hassle. It would be so much easier to kill all the residents of Wingston and collect the Fragments of God.”

“I’m sure you know. The last ten percent must be fragments of God from humans who come out onto the battlefield.”

Oranj made an extreme statement, and Isolde responded.

“Seriously… What are these fragments of God?”

“I have no idea. Don’t ask me.”

Even high-ranking followers of the Djinn who had lived for thousands of years didn’t know everything.

“Perhaps… King Richard understood it better than us.”

“Yeah…. To have sealed Garwin-sama for this long. That might be true.”

“We managed… to escape… I think…”

“Yeah… maybe.”

Zack and Scotty exchanged such a conversation while catching their breath.

However, they quickly drew their swords and assumed a defensive stance.

They sensed the presence of others.

“Oh, we’re not enemies. Commander Zack Cooler and Commander Scotty Cobook. We are adventurers who infiltrated on the orders of Marquis Heinlein.”

Saying this, a party of five men and women emerged from the shadows.

“I’m Hector from Acre’s C-rank party, ‘Morning Star’.”

“It’s been a while. Since the Kingdom Liberation War, right?”

Zack inquired.

Zack and Scotty had infiltrated the royal capital before the liberation war, operating as rebels.

They had some acquaintance with ‘Morning Star’ back then.

“Yeah. Nice to see you again.”

Hector replied on behalf of the group.

“We owe you for earlier. Thank you.”

Zack expressed gratitude as he and Scotty bowed.

“No problem at all, don’t mention it. We just have one thing we want to confirm.”

Hector said, looking at Zack and Scotty alternately before continuing.

“Have you confirmed the presence of the Djinn’s follower?”

“Yes, we have. One of the Four Generals of the Djinn Garwin, who identified himself as Oranj. It was the follower I fought in Hafrena city.”

Zack said, and Hector nodded before continuing.

“Understood. We will report this to the Kingdom government.”

Upon hearing Hector’s words, Zack felt the need to add some information.

“However, they also learned that the Kingdom government has found out the connection between the Duchy and the Djinn…”

“Yeah… It might lead to a civil war or even a full-scale war.”

Hector grimly acknowledged Zack’s words.

No one really wanted a war…

“Please be careful and return to Hafrena city. We will shoulder the responsibility of reporting back.”

Hector said, and a woman behind him nodded.

“What about you guys…?”

“We have one more thing to confirm.”

Hector answered Zack’s question.

“Confirm?”

“Yeah. We have confirmed the connection between the Duchy and the Djinn’s followers. Next, we will confirm whether Erwin Ortiz himself is involved with the Djinn’s followers.”

Hector said, shocking Zack and Scotty into silence.

Erwin Ortiz was the current Duke of Shrewsbury.

Indeed, the elegant mansion where the followers appeared tonight was connected underground to the ‘annex’ of the Duke’s residence.

If so, it was likely that Erwin was not uninvolved…

But ‘likely’ wasn’t good enough.

They needed solid evidence.

That was the mission given to the five members of ‘Morning Star’ this time.

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