[V11C38] Raining Black

The port town of Sazandol was not particularly well-fortified, but to maintain order, stone walls had been erected around the city and at the boundaries between each district.

The most frequented access point was the East Gate, where a certain man appeared.

This man was driven from his homeland of Randall, and attempted to take control over the underworld of Sazandol. His name was Samuel Throth and his entire body was consumed by dark shadows.

Throth placed his hand on a nearby brick warehouse and mumbled an incantation. One by one, the bricks he touched floated up into the air.

When manipulating objects with imbuement magic, the larger the mass, the greater the mana required. An entire warehouse of bricks wasn’t something Throth should have been able to control.

However, the immense mana supplied by Gluttonous Zoe made it possible.

The floating bricks rained down in front of the gate. Any travelers who were trying to pass through screamed and fled.

Ignoring the fleeing crowd, Throth silently piled all the bricks, as well as the wreckage of the warehouse itself.

Once the gate was fully sealed, Throth moved onto the next gate with unsteady steps.

＊　＊　＊

Lana Colette, along with Karina Barr, had come to the warehouse district in the west of Sazandol for a negotiation.

Clifford usually accompanied them during such negotiations, but today, he was left behind to handle the accumulated paperwork.

Clifford had a keen eye, befitting the son of Chairman Anderson, but Karina was also adept at discerning quality goods, and by no means inferior.

Since they were dealing with gems today, a skilled magical tool artisan like Karina was the best choice. She was familiar with ores due to working with similar materials.

Karina skipped along the road while skillfully avoiding puddles, clearly in high spirits.

“Waha, I’m so excited! Sazandol has lots of rare gems from foreign lands. I wonder if there will be any I’ve never seen before!”

“Come on, if you’ve never seen the gem, you won’t be able to appraise it, will you?”

“Don’t worry! I can get a good idea of the mana infusion rate just by checking the impurity levels and gem cutting!”

Karina said this in a nonchalant manner, but not many people could instantly deduce the mana infusion rate of ores.

For example, while Monica could calculate the mana infusion rate given the appraisal results, she didn’t possess the eye to appraise impurities and cutting.

In situations like this, Lana keenly felt the difference between a researcher like Monica and a craftswoman like Karina.

(Karina would be a great help if I could recruit her somehow… I wonder if she would join?)

Unaware of Lana’s intentions, Karina looked around with sparkling curiosity in her eyes. She seemed like a very curious cat.

Reminded of the cat she kept at her family home, Lana smiled wryly. Suddenly, the skipping Karina came to a stop.

Her eyes, widened like those of a cat, were fixed on the roof of a certain warehouse.

“There’s someone up there.”

“…Huh?”

Glancing up in response, Lana indeed saw a man standing there. He had reddish-brown hair and appeared to be around thirty.

The man gazed at the clear blue sky, holding something aloft in his hand.

(Something black… a jeweled box?)

The next moment, Karina suddenly dashed towards the warehouse. Her gaze was fixed on the building’s roof, as if trying to observe the man’s box as closely as possible.

“Wait, Karina!”

Startled, Lana hurriedly chased after Karina, who continued staring at the box without blinking.

Then, some kind of substance jumped out of the box.

A pole… That was Lana’s first impression of it.

There was a long, jet-black pole extending into the sky from the box. Once it reached a certain height, it branched out into thin strands, raining down towards the ground like drops of rain.

“…Eh?”

Black rain falling from the blue sky.

Lana could only stare up in astonishment.

The black inky substance might dirty her clothes. That was all Lana thought amidst the unreal sight.

“Grab on tight!”

Suddenly, she felt an impact. Someone had scooped Lana up in their arms.

Lana screamed as she looked up at the person rudely lifting her.

It was Bartholomew Alexander, a tall young man with black hair and golden eyes, who had recently been frequenting Lana’s company.

Bartholomew grabbed Lana with his right hand, sprinted forward, seized Karina with his left hand, then ran through the open door of a nearby warehouse.

＊　＊　＊

Nero, who had been walking around in cat form, coincidentally spotted Lana in the streets. He decided to transform back and approach her.

This was because talking to Lana would often result in being treated to a delicious meal.

However, before Nero could call out to Lana, something strange happened.

There was a man with reddish-brown hair standing on top of a warehouse. Some sort of black substance emerged from the box in his hands, resulting in a shower of black rain.

Nero did not recognize them as Theodore Maxwell and Gluttonous Zoe, but he could tell that this seemed pretty bad. On complete instinct, he grabbed Lana and Karina, then fled into a building with a roof.

“Yeah! I’m the greatest! So cool!”

Nero slid into the warehouse carrying Lana and Karina, then lowered them to the ground.

Although Lana was shaken, she remained surprisingly composed. On the other hand, Karina was frozen stiff with wide eyes, resembling the face of a surprised cat.

“Thank you, Bartholomew-san. You saved my clothes from getting dirty…”

Lana straightened the hem of her disheveled skirt and bowed her head to Nero.

Nero, who enjoyed being praised and thanked, kicked back in satisfaction.

“Yeah, praise me, praise me.”

“But of course, I am always impressed by your strength and speed. By the way, about that black rain…”

After catching a glimpse of the outside, Lana gasped.

There were, of course, other people in the warehouse district aside from Lana and Karina.

Anyone struck by the black rain was lying collapsed on the ground, their entire bodies stained black.

Lana screamed, “W-What in the world…?”

The black rain had already come to a complete stop, and a blue sky spread overhead.

Perhaps that man had targeted the moment when the rain stopped, so that more people would come out into the streets.

Lana was uncertain about whether to be on guard for a second attack, or to immediately check Monica’s safety. Meanwhile, Karina was muttering to herself while sitting on the ground at Nero’s feet.

“…Why…? Why is that here?”

＊　＊　＊

Outside the window, over-sized plants could be seen extending their vines toward the sky while making eerie squeals.

Melissa was currently occupying the director’s office of the Sazandol Mage Association. She reclined in the branch director’s splendid chair, scratching vigorously at her head.

“Gyeeeh! Shut up already…!”

As much as she would like to kill the nightmarish plants clamoring outside the window, she could not afford to waste a possible weapon against Theodore.

Melissa had been shopping for a dresser inside a furniture shop when the black rain struck Sazandol, so fortunately, she had not been in any danger.

But the scene she witnessed upon stepping outside the store was one that would never be forgotten.

It was a complete nightmare. The streets were lined with people struck by the black rain, lying lifelessly on the ground.

Moreover, once she hurried back to the Mage Association, she found that the plants she set up had turned into eerily overgrown monsters, plunging the district into further chaos.

Currently, the Branch Director was bowing to the neighbors and explaining the situation.

Among the Seven Sages staying in Sazandol, Melissa, Ray, and Silas had been confirmed safe. Only Monica, who was at home, had yet to be confirmed.

As Melissa wondered if she needed to send someone to check on Monica, the Dragon Slayer Mage entered without knocking.

“I’m back, Thorn-neesan.”

The black rain incident had occurred right as Silas returned to the Mage Association building, so Melissa had ordered him to assess the extent of damage with flight magic.

Immediately after noticing Silas’s return, Melissa gestured for his report.

“How’s the damage?”

“First, the east gate. It’s covered in bricks and debris. No one will be able to use the biggest gate in the city anytime soon.”

This gate blockade was likely the work of Samuel Throth, controlled by Gluttonous Zoe.

Melissa knew about Samuel Throth, but she didn’t think he had that much power. The amount of mana Gluttonous Zoe could give its servants exceeded their expectations.

“As for the black rain… It was primarily in the northwest, focused on Sazandol’s warehouse district. It didn’t reach the south.”

“I see, so he was limited to a certain radius away from the warehouse district.”

Melissa did not know about one detail. Originally, the rain was supposed to cover the entirety of Sazandol. However, Gluttonous Zoe had lost a significant amount of mana after its battle with Monica, reducing the range.

Melissa marked the warehouse district on the map and drew a circle around the affected area. Practically two-thirds of Sazandol was contained within.

“Good thing the black rain was a one-time thing,” Melissa said. “Since the effective range is so huge, the mana cost must be enormous. This isn’t an attack he can do often.”

“But the harvest should be equally significant…” Silas replied. “He might send the next shower once he’s closed off the other gates to prevent escape.”

Silas pointed to the south gate of Sazandol and the second port, which were both outside the affected area. He continued with a bitter expression.

“Right now, a lot of the healthy people are rushing to the south gate and the port. They want to escape by any means necessary, be it land or sea.”

“Ugh…” Melissa grimaced. “Riots are practically certain. Tell the military police and security forces to handle it.”

The next instant, Ray ran into the room with a clatter. This was a man who was practically never seen running.

“I-It’s terrible… I have some bad news and some worse news…”

“Is there really no good news, Abyss-niisan?” Silas groaned.

Ray shook his head and explained.

“Samuel Throth has appeared at the other gates and blocked them with bricks and debris. Also…”

The already gloomy Ray continued with a more profound sense of despair in his tone.

“A school of water dragons has gathered at the port, so we can’t send out any ships… We’re all trapped in Sazandol.”

Melissa leaned against the chair’s backrest and let out another “Gyeeeh!” as if she were about to croak over and die.

Her voice blended with the squealing of the wriggling plants, creating a harmonious yet miserable melody.

Contrary to this very grim turn of events, the clouds had completely cleared outside the window, revealing a clear blue sky.

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