The 31st Piece Turns the Tables - Chapter 219
Episode 219:
A few days after the evacuation order was issued for the port city of Labene, an expedited investigation team was dispatched to the waters near Labene.
They frequently used the transfer magic circle, which they rarely used.
“It was completely destroyed….”
“There is nothing we can do because a large-scale tsunami has occurred. Still, it’s fortunate that there were no casualties. “There was no damage other than the dock being destroyed and the ship filling up with some water.”
“That makes sense. “The world looks different depending on how you look at it.”
“It’s the difference between a friendly tsunami and an angry tsunami. Well, a tsunami is a tsunami. The fundamentals don’t change. “Okay, let’s stop chatting and go there.”
“I’m nervous because it’s my first time being dispatched as an investigation team….”
“Nothing special. Just go and find out the cause using magic traces, and if you don’t think you can do it, just conclude that you don’t know. Because no one is to blame.”
Several ships sailed into coastal waters.
Anxiety about what might happen was deeply entrenched within the investigation team.
The magical traces made in the coastal waters were extremely unique traces that were difficult to see even if they devoted their entire lives to the study of magic.
“Everyone is coming!”
“Don’t use magical power carelessly! “You will be sucked into the vortex!”
“yes!”
Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss…
The wave height gradually increases.
“Check the wave gauge.”
“It is much higher than the usual offshore standards.”
“You’re almost there. “Tie the chain you prepared to that rock.”
“yes.”
The wizards whined for a while and tied chains to the stone pillar rising above the sea.
There was a reason why they, who had magical power and were capable of versatility if not omnipotence, took on such tedious tasks without using magic.
An investigator from the kingdom was dispatched to find out the truth about the first magical disaster, but he used magic around the whirlpool and was sucked into the center of the whirlpool.
From then on, using magical power in the vicinity was strictly prohibited.
Anyway, as the ship got closer to the whirlpool, the chain tied to the pillar gradually became tighter.
Deciding that they could not go any further, they observed a whirlpool in the distance.
“That….”
“Magic disaster….”
Quaaaaaaaaa…
Quaaaaaaa-!
As the boat approached the nearest location, someone took out a crystal ball.
Cheeeeeeeek…
The crystal ball was connected to somewhere.
“How do you see it?”
The person holding the crystal ball was covering one eye with an eye patch with a scale drawn on it.
Soon, Santio, the owner of the Aries Magic Tower, appeared in the crystal ball.
The shaggy hair and funny glasses were still there.
“Has Frannan arrived?”
“Yes, this is the place.”
The person wearing the eyepatch was Frannan.
He personally led the wizards of Libra to the South Sea of Prion in order to uncover the truth about the magic disaster.
Although all the magic towers were watching this matter with interest, only Frannan, who was closest to the magic tower, could take direct action.
And the person chosen to help him make his decision was Santio. In this field, even among all the tower owners, there was no wizard who could surpass Santio.
Santio asked Frannan.
“…what do you think?”
Quaaaaaaa…
Frannan answered, staring at the whirlpool.
“I’m seeing it as it is.”
“From what I can tell, I don’t think it’s a natural phenomenon.”
“Can someone artificially cause a magic disaster like that? Then the questions follow.”
Santio also nodded.
“Who on earth could possibly cause something like this?”
“… I know of one person.”
Frannan and Santio looked at each other at the same time.
They knew one person who would do something like this.
No, most wizards would think of one person when they experienced something incomprehensible.
“Grand Duke of Frost….”
“Could it have been him who did it?”
“You don’t know that. It’s just that that kid might be able to do something absurd like this. Well, the fact that the public values him higher than his skills also plays a part.”
“Jealousy seems narrow-minded.”
“joy.”
Santio said, tapping his forehead.
“I guess we can’t do some magic. “The unknown being is not angry, so the magicians of the East will have no solution.”
“A new route should be built toward the Great Sea. Fortunately, it is near the coast, so a new route will be created soon.”
“But it’s strange… If it wasn’t an individual incident, wizards would have been mobilized on a large scale. “Perhaps…”
“No, there wasn’t. There is no sign of a magic corps of that size moving. “But I saw something on the way here.”
“yes?”
Frannan showed Santio something he was holding in his hand.
“cloth?”
“Yes, it is a piece of black cloth, found everywhere. Some even washed up on the docks of Labene.”
“If there is that much fabric….”
“Yes, usually large organizations have uniform uniform colors.”
“It could be a large-scale conflict between groups… There have been frequent local conflicts in Pandea recently, but they have never shown their fangs to this extent…” “Anyway, I will stay for a few days and look for more.
”
“Yes, I will contact you again in a little while.”
“Do whatever you want.”
Frannan and Libra pulled the chain and returned to their original position.
The people selected for the investigation team were veterans, so no one was afraid.
However, he was honest about his feelings about witnessing a man-made magic disaster right in front of his eyes.
“Can’t we go back a little sooner?”
“why?”
“I suddenly needed to urinate…”
“Me too… I’m sorry.”
“Tsk tsk tsk… Anyone who sees a scene like that will shrink. It’s natural. “But if you’re in a hurry, you can go to the sea, right?”
“If that happens and the urine gets mixed with magical power and it escapes….”
“You’ll get sucked into the vortex. “While peeing.”
“I’d rather just die.”
Even after the return ship arrived at the dock, the Libra wizards continued to talk.
“Whoa… I feel a great sense of responsibility because this vortex is something that even academics are paying attention to.”
“I know the cause is not natural, but it seems difficult to go any further than that…”
“If it is artificial, then what kind of group would do something like this… or rather, is there not a single witness?”
“An evacuation order was issued in advance. Every single one of the bastards escaped from Lavene. Judging by the location of the whirlpool, fortunately it seems that the tsunami did not hit immediately. That’s why everyone was able to evacuate.”
“It’s a strange fate that everyone was evacuated and there were no witnesses.”
“You wouldn’t have been able to see it in Labene anyway. Unless you were on the scene that day… you can’t know the truth… Huh? But what about Frannan?”
“Oh, he said he would look around and left.”
“alone?”
“Yes, alone.”
* * *
Frannan was currently exploring the area around where the incident occurred alone. I couldn’t get close to the whirlpool, so I hovered near the columnar joints in the distance.
“Hmm… It’s a place where at least one survivor is likely to be washed up.”
The assumption that he survived after being hit directly by something with enough destructive power to artificially create a magic vortex made no sense, but now he had to assume that it was just one chance and persisted.
Without that persistence, I couldn’t figure out anything.
“You can climb around this side…”
“Huh…”
Frannan made eye contact with someone on the carved cliff.
“….”
“Hiaaaaaaaa!”
“… I’m sure.”
Frannan received a lot of information from the other person, who trembled the moment their eyes met.
‘He knows about this!’
Ogi and Geunseong finally achieved one thing.
Pot-!
Frannan ran forward and tried to catch the man.
“Don’t come here!”
“at there! “I have something to say!”
“Don’t come!”
“I promise! “I won’t touch your body…”
Frannan got some more information from the man who turned and ran away.
One is that the man’s eyes are somehow delicious, and the other is that even though he looks like a crazy person, the energy felt from the man is unusual.
Pot-!
Frannan almost caught up with the man.
Sigh…
He succeeded in catching the man in front of Je-ae.
“Aaaah! “Let go of this!”
“Stay still!”
“Aaaah!”
When Frannan saw the black tendons protruding from the man’s face, he realized the cause of the man’s condition.
“… the magic power flowed back.”
“Ah…”
The man’s movements soon quieted down.
I wasn’t exhausted after moving vigorously.
‘Soon… I’ll die.’
People whose magic power flowed backwards usually met terrible deaths.
This person probably didn’t seem to have anything to do with the case either.
“Did you see it?”
“….”
“I saw it that day. “What happened there?”
“Ahh….”
A bit of firearms returned to the man’s eyes.
A man who exudes extraordinary energy.
He was Jaqun, who served Bria.
A person who managed to save his life by swimming alone and escaping slightly away from the place where the terrible incident occurred.
However, he only gained a little bit, and was destined to die soon due to the influence of Ur’s magic.
“That spirit….”
“… Spirit?”
“Kudaraaan… the spirit… appears…”
“And?”
Zakun said, trembling.
“Fingers… Fingers… Argh! “I’m scared…”
It’s something I can’t connect with at all.
However, the man’s next words left Frannan in bewilderment.
“There was a man…”
“There was a man? “Can you tell me about your impressions?”
“I was scolded… I was scolded… Immortal… Golden…”
The expression disappeared from Frannan’s face.
“Eyes… ugh… ugh!”
Puhwaaaaaaaaaaaa!
The man’s face turned red, then he vomited black blood and fell limp.
Chiiik…
A signal came to the crystal ball.
Regular contact from Santio.
Frannan hurriedly infused magical energy into the man’s body.
Whoa!
The man’s body flew over the cliff due to telekinesis.
A crystal ball that catches Santio’s signal.
“Frannan, did you find out anything? what? There…”
Frannan shook his head.
“Nothing.”
“I see….”
Chubbeoung-!
“hmm? “What is that noise?”
“Looks like a dolphin is swimming.”
“… okay. “Now that I think about it, my contact will interfere with the investigation, so please make the next contact directly, Mr. Frannan.”
“I get it.”
Chiiik…
Frannan chanted while holding the disconnected crystal ball.
“What on earth are you two doing?…”
Golden eyes and a huge spirit.
The people who caused the magic disaster worthy of being recorded as a wizard were Kangseol and Ur
* * *
【You know, it looks like it’s going to be dangerous…】
A small rascal spoke to Kangseol in a lantern.
Sigh…
The ocean currents of the Great Sea are quite arbitrary. It was okay up to the coastal waters as the effect was minimal, but as you moved further inland, it was easy to get caught up in the current.
This strange ocean current was, to put it bluntly, a random space trip. A device that, if caught, will quickly fly somewhere in the field.
Several days had already passed since the incident occurred and it had flowed to the Great Sea, so it was unclear where Snowfall’s body was flowing now.
He had been able to survive safely so far because he had used up a lot of consumables before his actions, but now that he had been unable to wake up for much longer than expected, the situation was quite precarious.
At the very least, if you are on a large ship, you can resist the ocean current to some extent, but can a human body, which is not even a small ship, resist the ocean current?
Snowfall’s body had already reached a place that was incredibly far away from Labenoe. I don’t know where it is though.
That’s why Bitan crawled out of the lantern and sat on Snowfall’s body.
【excuse me? Hey… Is he really dead?】
Sae-ae-ae…
Sae-ae-ae-eok…
【Breath! Are you breathing? Uh…】
Bitan shouted in a hurry.
[Artificial respiration! We need to do artificial respiration…】
Grief suddenly hardens his expression.
【It’s still too early to get there… It’s a bit like that between us, right? “You too?”
Of course, there was no way I could hear an answer from Kang Seol.
Something was busy going back and forth under the sea.
【It’s a shark!】
I even used consumables to make creatures avoid approaching, but it seemed like that time had already run out.
【go away! go away! Wow…】
Strangely enough, the demonic spirit, Bitan, was protecting its owner.
The grief that drove away the shark sat on Kang Seol’s chest and continued her thoughts for a while.
【Hehe… Does this body have to step forward in the end? Good!】
Cluck… Cluck…
The sound of seagulls.
There was no response from those around him.
【But what should I do after I step forward?】
Grief found what to do.
【okay! All you have to do is take this guy to land!】
Bitan became busy from then on.
Using Snow’s body as a boat, he tried to move forward by swinging his arms vigorously…
“I’m sinking!” Dismissed!】
I even tried to train a passing sea turtle by slapping its head.
【bald head! Come on! Don’t go!】
The night of the Great Sea was cold and scary.
Even though the grief was born in a terrible place, the continued cold and loneliness made him shrink.
【Now stop playing around and get up, I’m bored…】
A completely intimidating heartbreak.
Tap… tap…
And then something happened that bothered him even more.
Qarring-!
Shoot…
it rained.
It was all the same to get wet one way or another, but the heavy rain amplified the fearful side of the sea even more.
Crumbling!
【no! Don’t sink!】
When Bitan was swept away by the waves and tried to sink, he whined and tried to raise himself to the surface.
I was overcome with anxiety that everything would end like this.
【Don’t die before you fall!】
Right then.
Crumbling!
Sigh…
A huge ship was passing nearby despite the wind and rain.
【conceive! ship! I lived! It’s here! here! There’s a human here! It hasn’t fallen yet! Give me a ride!】
The boat must have heard the desperate cries of sorrow and stayed nearby.
A silhouette appeared on the deck.
【Hey you! If you give this guy a ride, I won’t take revenge!】
“….”
Whirling!
The rope flew out and reached Bitan.
【Tie it up? okay! This is the only time I will do what you tell me!】
The rope was carried by the waves and tried to move away from the hand of grief.
【No, it’s a joke! I’ll endure it one more time!】
Fortunately, grief held on to the rope.
Bitan tied Kang Seol’s body with rope.
【Pull!】
Seuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…
Grief and Snowfall were pulled up onto the boat.
【Phew… you! “Huh?”
“Huh?”
The person who threw the rope met a look of sorrow.
【Ugh! It’s a talking skeleton!】
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! “Sea urchins talk, right?”
A grotesque skeleton spewing green flames where the eyes should be was horrified to see the grief.