Anagin Chronicles

Chapter 092. The Guest (1)

When Anagin broke the dam and caused a flood.

The villagers were all struck with shock.

Was it not an act far beyond imagination in every sense?

To unleash a flood and sweep everything away—it wasn’t even a war........

Naturally, the innkeeper, Makon, and Sanchonius, who had heard Anagin’s plan beforehand, could not help but be stunned.

They had heard he would do it, but seeing him actually carry it out was an entirely different matter.

In any case, Anagin broke the dam and caused a flood, and with the sound of his laughter, everything below the dam was swallowed up.

The downstream village, the practitioners aiming for the Ruin, without discrimination—everyone.

‘Good heavens, what is this.......’

‘He really collapsed the dam?’

‘Isn’t something terrible going to happen?’

Watching what Anagin had done, even the people from the downstream village and those on the innkeeper’s side who had brought them there muttered a word or two.

As if to soothe the brutal scene before their eyes and the anxiety it caused.

They all clung to the innkeeper, demanding to know whether it was truly alright, and the innkeeper gave a textbook answer that it would be fine.

All the villages swept away by the water could be restored, and Makon had agreed to help. On the contrary, he even assured them that the problem of the practitioners who had been threatening the village would be cleanly resolved.

With things already having come to pass, he had no choice but to say it would be fine.

Amid the murmuring village, the only one who remained silent was Sanchonius.

Admiring the flood Anagin had caused, and also having nothing appropriate to say in the current situation...... Sanchonius kept silent.

Time passed.

The villagers, having calmed their excitement, gradually regained order one by one, and as dusk approached, the flood also slowly subsided.

That was when Sanchonius’ silence broke.

“Wait a moment.”

In the darkness that was gradually settling in, he sensed an ominous presence.

As if to prove it was not mere unease, beneath the darkening sky, people drenched in water appeared. Among them.......

“V-village chief?!”

The innkeeper cried out in horror upon seeing the old man who looked like a drowned rat.

“Ha! So it was you after all! It was you!!”

The old man, called the village chief, pointed at the innkeeper and the temporary shelters erected around the inn.

Then he shouted as if informing the twelve visitors to the Ruin who had followed behind him.

“Practitioners! It’s these bastards! They’re the ones who betrayed us! It’s not my fault!”

Like the village chief, all of the practitioners looked like drowned rats, but to Sanchonius, their appearance was not laughable—it was frightening.

Whatever the case, it meant they had endured the flood Anagin had caused.

Whether they were Gigants with the strength of giants, Blessed Ones who had received a blessing, or mages who used magic, it meant they were powerful individuals with formidable abilities.

And there were twelve of them?

And all of them had come to the village in a fury?

It was not a good situation—far from it!

Sanchonius’ ominous prediction proved correct.

“These bastards betrayed me and betrayed the practitioners! They caused the flood on their own to try to kill us! Not me, them!!”

The village chief shouted desperately like a child throwing a tantrum, as if he would die if he did not.

In truth, it was not much different. A few hours before arriving here, he had been harshly interrogated by the waterlogged practitioners about what connection there was between the flood and himself.

“Who is it?”

Among the practitioners who had followed the village chief, a man who appeared to be the leader stepped forward, pushing the chief aside.

It was a short question, but its meaning was immediately clear.

He was demanding to know who had collapsed the dam and screwed them over.

And it was easy to predict the next questions.

What was their ability? Were there companions? Were those companions here.......

He was looking for something that could become Anagin’s weakness.

If they figured out what his ability was, they could consider a countermeasure, and if he had companions, they could take them hostage.

Needless to say, if they failed to answer, there would be corresponding retaliation.

The innkeeper, pointed out by the village chief, broke into a mad sweat and almost answered without realizing it.

But he failed.

Because Makon, the appointed merchant of the Dysis Polis, placed a hand on the innkeeper’s shoulder and stopped him from answering.

“You!?”

The village chief flared up at the sight of Makon. Was he involved as well?

Whether he was or not, Makon shook his head at the innkeeper, silently pressuring him not to speak.

If they revealed Anagin’s identity themselves, it was obvious they would lose credibility.

After going to such lengths to help, the relationship between patron and beneficiary might crack.

Above all.... There was no guarantee they would not retaliate even if they told them.

These matters were originally decided by whoever was stronger.

That was why Makon took the risk and restrained the innkeeper first.

If it were a situation where they would die either way, then it was better to choose the direction where profit could be expected.

That was the spirit of a merchant.

At this desperate moment, Makon inwardly prayed for the fortune of Hermes to manifest.

“You don’t want to talk?”

The man who appeared to be the leader stepped forward, pushing aside the furious village chief.

It was obvious what he would do next.

As the air grew cold under the killing intent.

Sanchonius stepped forward.

“You can speak with me.”

All eyes turned to Sanchonius, who had suddenly stepped out.

“...Who are you?”

“I am Sanchonius, an attendant of Chiron Tower!”

At the name Chiron Tower, a small murmur rippled among the practitioners.

Such was the weight carried by the name Chiron Tower.

“Chiron Tower? Don’t tell me, you were the ones who caused the flood?”

“Yes, so please leave the villagers alone and speak with me.”

Sanchonius stepped forward to protect the villagers.

The practitioners’ attention would focus on him.

Fortunately, it seemed to work.

”A conversation? After pulling something like that?”

“It was unavoidable. The mission of Chiron Tower was urgent..., and it was also for the safety of the village.”

With a brazen face, Sanchonius shamelessly lied.

As an attendant of Chiron Tower, which raised heroes, his conscience pricked slightly, but he consoled himself that it was unavoidable for the greater good.

He did not like lying, but in a situation like this, telling the truth to enraged practitioners could instead bring danger upon the village.

In such a case, lying could not be helped.

In fact, Chiron Tower taught that lying was permissible for the sake of the greater good.

Above all, it was not entirely a lie.

‘The mission of Chiron Tower is partly true, and if the standoff had dragged on, the village would indeed have been in danger, so this choice was also for the village’s safety!’

However, the practitioners who had been swept away by the flood in the dead of night did not seem to think so.

The leader practitioner stepped closer and asked Sanchonius.

“...What mission?”

“I cannot answer that.”

The leader practitioner took another step closer to Sanchonius.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Who is it? The one who collapsed the dam.”

“I cannot answer that either.”

The leader practitioner took yet another step closer.

“A Gigant? A Blessed One? Or both?”

“I cannot answer.”

“Because of that bastard, all of us, including me, suffered absurd losses. Chiron Tower or not, you’ll have to pay the price.”

“That is not something I can decide.”

“If you don’t answer by the time I count to three, I’ll make you speak by force. Frankly, I’m not even sure you truly belong to Chiron Tower.”

A threat of harm.

Sanchonius fell silent.

“.......”

The leader practitioner stepped forward one step at a time and began to count.

“One.”

With each number, he took a step closer.

“Two.”

He was right in front of him.

“Three.”

It was then.

“Four.”

At the moment the leader practitioner uttered the final number, a third voice rang out from among the practitioners gathered in the back.

Anagin’s voice.

From the empty air in the midst of the clustered practitioners, a shockwave suddenly exploded, shaking the ground and blowing away the people nearby.

Kugugung—!

At the sudden turn of events, not only the nearby practitioners but also the villagers fell back in shock.

A cloud of dusty earth burst up from where the shockwave had occurred, and through it, Anagin revealed himself.

As if shedding a transparent shell.

It was the magic of the invisibility bracelet worn by the crossbowman coming undone.

“So, it’s structured so that getting hit dispels the magic. Or rather, is it just the act of attacking?”

Anagin, holding a club in one hand, leisurely muttered while examining the bracelet on his other wrist.

The practitioners who had suddenly been attacked all shouted in agitation.

“Was it you!? You’re the one who destroyed the dam!!”

They were enraged at Anagin’s despicable act of collapsing the dam, and they judged that they could still defeat him in a fight.

They thought that earlier they had failed to resist properly because of the sudden flood, and that even now it was only because they had been ambushed.

However, Anagin silently pointed at the sky.

Suspicious that it might be some sort of trick, they nevertheless looked up one by one, and soon the practitioners saw it.

Dozens of spears are pouring down above their heads.

The spears that had been riding the wind in the sky with Sphinx fell straight down upon them.

Pababababat—!

Yet not a single one pierced anyone.

Because Sphinx had not aimed to hit them, but had simply dropped them.

However, it was enough to pierce the will of those who had been swept away by the flood and left reeling by Anagin’s ambush.

The practitioners who had fallen amid the rain of spear blades did not move, as if their will to fight had been broken.

Leaving them as they were, Anagin walked up to the man who appeared to be the leader and said.

“Shall we continue?”

* * *

The practitioners ultimately withdrew.

They had no other choice, their will to fight was already broken.

Once they chose to retreat, Anagin did not inflict any further harm.

If he had intended to hurt them, he would have started by smashing them with [Longbald] from the beginning.

More than anything, judging by their expressions, they no longer had the will to fight.

When Anagin released his grip, [Longbald] scattered into the air and vanished, and Sanchonius watched the sight in stunned silence.

He had recognized [Longbald]. It was the club once wielded by Periphetes the Clubber. Well, he had seen it before.

“Fortunately, it ended well.”

As the situation settled, Sphinx, transformed into a cat, descended to the ground.

The villagers were startled at the sight of a talking cat, and even more so when the cat transformed into a person.

“I told you they’d back off.”

Anagin, who had asked Sphinx to drop the spears from the sky, spoke.

‘There’s no need to hit them, so when I give the signal, just drop them at the right moment.’

‘No need to hit them?’

‘Yeah, just drop a bunch of spears over their heads all at once.’

Anagin had explained the plan.

He would conceal himself with the invisibility bracelet and approach to draw their attention, and in the meantime, Sphinx would use wind magic to drop the spears.

Then the practitioners would lose their nerve and flee.

It was a request Sphinx, who preferred to avoid fights, could readily accept.

Sphinx had done as asked, and it succeeded just as planned.

Still, she was slightly dazed. It had gone even better than expected.

“When things get chaotic, people make instinctive choices.”

“Are you saying those people were cowards?”

“Not cowards, perhaps, but they were certainly cautious. If they weren’t, they would have headed to the Ruin first.”

Anagin had struck precisely at the heart of it.

The fact that they had come to the village instead of their true objective, the Ruin, during the flood was proof that they were playing it safe.

Of course, it might have been a mistaken interpretation—but if so, they could simply have fought.

In any case, what mattered was that the practitioners had withdrawn without much damage.

Leaving behind only the village chief.

Sphinx retrieved the spears embedded in the ground and placed them inside her Interspatial Cloak, and Anagin asked Sanchonius whether he was unharmed.

Sanchonius replied that he was, for now.

Then—

“The Ruin… have you conquered it?”

Makon, who had been standing among the villagers, approached Anagin and asked.

All the villagers were curious about what had happened to the Ruin, but Makon was especially eager to know.

“Well, ‘conquered’ feels like too grand a word.”

Anagin gave a rough explanation of what had happened in the Ruin.

Neiron’s group, the moving bronze statues, the bronze statue workshop, the shield bronze statue he had encountered there, and so on.

It seemed quite a lot had happened, yet calling it a conquest felt somewhat lacking.

The word “conquer” felt insufficient somehow.

But Makon was astonished.

He had known there was an impressive Ruin, but to think it was a Ruin of an ancient city.

Not only that, but conquering such a formidable Ruin in less than a day was truly remarkable.

On the very day he arrived, no less, after driving away the numerous competitors who had already settled in.

Makon once again gained confidence that neither the City Lord nor his own judgment had been mistaken.

“Th-then, if that is the case, might we be entrusted with handling the byproducts of the Ruin?”

Having confirmed through Anagin’s explanation that many bronze statues remained in the Ruin, Makon asked carefully.

The bronze statues Anagin described would likely fetch high prices even individually.

For skilled mages, they could serve as research material or be repurposed; for nobles or wealthy merchants, they would make fine collectibles.

Depending on how things went, they might more than cover the compensation that had to be paid to the village.

“Hold on. Sancho.”

“Yes?”

“Do you need any of the bronze statues?”

“Ah, well. That isn’t for me to decide, but I think it would be good to have a few.”

“Set aside a few separately, and handle the rest as you see fit.”

Anagin gave his permission.

He had already taken what he needed, so he decided to pass the rest on to those who had cooperated.

Through this incident, he had confirmed that Dysis Polis was more useful and more tight-lipped than expected. He judged it a worthwhile investment.

Faced with this unexpected gain, Makon broke into a broad grin. As expected, his investment had not been wrong.

“Lord Anagin, thank you very much! I will never forget this favor and will report it well to the City Lord. First, you must be tired after conquering the Ruin. How about taking some rest? Then we can prepare a banquet—”

“—No, I’m leaving.”

“Pardon? Now? You mean immediately?”

“Yeah, I’ve taken care of everything.”

As if he were not joking, Anagin began preparing to depart, retrieving the bag he had left with Sanchonius.

Without asking whether Sphinx or Sanchonius were exhausted.

Unable to bear it any longer, the innkeeper interjected.

“Won’t your companions be too tired? It’s already dark.”

“You guys tired?”

Anagin asked the obvious question, and Sanchonius and Sphinx answered with silence.

“Guess you’re not that tired. Then we’ll set off right—”

“—Huh? What’s going on? Did something happen?”

The noisy village.

A lighthearted tone, out of place with the atmosphere, rang out.

A voice that stood out like oil on water.

It was a familiar voice to Anagin, and when he turned his head, he saw him.

“Ponytail?”