Water Magician-Chapter 600.2 : The Imperial Capital at Dusk Part 2
Chapter 0600 The Imperial Capital at Dusk Part 2
Translator: Jay_Forestieri
Editor: Tseirp
Even so…
“The enemy is too strong.”
Even Captain Bizis muttered that despite herself.
“Judging by their gear—adventurers?”
Mifa murmured in answer.
“They’re not regular soldiers.”
Words leaked from Chief Attendant Lin Shun.
Attendant Wen Shu said nothing.
He was too out of breath to speak.
Which meant…
“Ugh!”
His braced foot landed on a small stone.
He slipped; his posture collapsed.
Assailants would not overlook that.
Clang.
“Ugghh!”
“Wen Shu!”
Shouting, Captain Bizis struck in the same instant.
Her blow felled the assailant who had stabbed Wen Shu in the belly—but it left an opening in herself.
Assailants focused on Captain Bizis.
Catching that at the edge of her vision, Mifa moved.
She moved before thinking.
She slashed at the enemy that had gone for Bizis.
The result…
Chief Attendant Lin Shun was exposed to attacks from three directions.
The battle line that had been balanced on a knife-edge collapsed all at once.
From there, it was a complete melee.
The four of them cut down eight new foes, but all four took deep wounds.
Wounds that robbed them of the ability to continue fighting.
“This is bad…”
At last, even Chief Attendant Lin Shun let a despairing phrase slip.
Up to now, Lin Shun had never uttered anything negative.
He was mindful that he was the commander here.
But this was indeed bad…
“Give it up.”
For the first time, a voice came from the assailants.
A man stepped out before the carriage.
Presumably their commander.
Like the others, his face was hidden.
“If we give up, will you stop the attack?”
Chief Attendant Lin Shun asked.
He knew full well that would never happen.
But right now, he wanted every minute, every second.
Even if people-warding talismans are posted, not everyone is blinded.
Some feel something is off; some can grasp what’s happening.
A miracle like that isn’t impossible.
The more time passes, the more likely the miracle.
In that case, buying time by talking is only natural.
“I might spare your lives.”
“Don’t lie.”
Lin Shun shot back without a beat.
“You’ve no reason to let us go here.”
At Lin Shun’s words, the commander did not answer and only shrugged slightly.
Yes—he intended to kill them.
“Why target Prince Ryun in the first place? No, foolish question. Because you were hired.”
“…”
“Why not be honest? You’re adventurers from the Advanced Hall, aren’t you? Your employer is Prince Bin, the Fourth Prince.”
The moment Lin Shun spoke Prince Bin’s name, a ripple of surprise ran through the assailants.
They hadn’t thought they knew that much.
No, even they hadn’t met Prince Bin himself.
But they knew the noble who came to give them orders was called “Lin Sui”.
And in this Imperial Capital, “Lin Sui” is known to be the right arm of the Fourth Prince, Prince Bin.
At that point, even a child could tell who their true employer was.
Officially, however, Prince Bin was unconnected.
To maintain that fiction, he would never appear in person…
Even so, they reacted.
For Lin Shun, that was enough.
He had never expected honest answers.
“Enough.”
Saying that, the commander looked around at his comrades surrounding the carriage.
And said,
“Kill them.”
But…
“Guh!”
“Ugh…”
“Ah!”
Muffled cries rose here and there.
They weren’t the voices of those guarding the carriage.
It was the assailants who suddenly began to drop.
“What?”
Even the commander was surprised.
At the time when dusk had fully given way to night—
Something was flying about, but it was hard to catch with the eye.
Clang.
The sound of someone knocking something aside rang out.
Clang.
The sound came from elsewhere too.
“Guh!”
Soon after, there were voices of someone apparently struck down.
It took all of three minutes.
A reversal of fortunes in just three minutes.
Brought about by just… one person.
“Fo-fo-fo. I thought there were people-warding talismans about and came to see—only to find magic-sealing talismans deployed as well. A most thorough ambush.”
“Who goes there!”
“To shady assailants, I have no name worth giving.”
In that instant, two more assailants fell.
“Magic? Impossible! There are magic-sealing talismans posted!”
“Mm. Thanks to that, it’s rather troublesome to use magic.”
The commander cried out, and a voice from the darkness laughed as it answered.
And from that darkness, an old man stepped into view.
He could hardly be one hundred and sixty centimeters tall.
He wore deep-blue Darwei Attire, leaned on a staff, and his white hair and beard were grown quite long.
He looked to be over seventy.
Yet his gaze was startlingly keen.
Something whooshed around the old man as it flew.
Even at a glance, the commander understood.
The old man was a powerful magician.
Stronger than himself.
But… there was no retreat now.
This was the last job in Darwei.
If they killed a prince, it would of course be their last.
They would take the large success fee and flee to a distant foreign land.
True, they had received a decent advance payment… but they would go as far as they could!
“Old sir, this doesn’t concern you.”
The commander spoke as if calm.
Because it was true.
They had looked into Prince Ryun’s subordinates.
The magician to watch out for was Captain Lu Yao of the Magic Artillery Unit.
But Captain Lu Yao was a young woman.
Not an old man.
There was no elderly magician under Prince Ryun’s command.
So he said again,
“Old sir, be on your way.”
“And if I go, will anything good happen to me?”
The old man laughed as he asked—
As if enjoying the conversation.
“…You get to live.”
With growing irritation, the commander answered.
“I see. Yet to witness an attack on a public thoroughfare and then walk away… that would be unseemly for a subject of Darwei, no?”
As the old man said this, two more assailants fell.
“You bast…”
“Yes, yes, that’s exactly what assailants say, Second-Rank Adventurer San Ki.”
“Wha—”
The old man called the assailant commander by name: Second-Rank Adventurer San Ki.
San Ki, the commander, was struck speechless.
“How…”
“How do I know your name? Simple. Because I remember your face and name. For all adventurers of Rank 3 and above registered in the Imperial Capital, I’ve memorized every face and name. Especially you, San Ki—you’ve been an adventurer a long time. Even with such a mask hiding most of your face, I can tell.”
With that, the old man burst into hearty laughter.
It wasn’t funny to the assailants.
All faces and names memorized?
Is that even possible?
Yet he had just named San Ki… despite most of his face being covered.
“There are, what, seven hundred or so? If I can’t remember that many, what good am I?”
The old man said it offhand.
“Who the hell are you?”
From surprise to anger, San Ki demanded.
“I told you earlier—I’ve no name worth giving to shady assailants. Already forgotten?”
The old man shook his head slightly, smiling wryly.
But then San Ki finally caught with his eyes what was flying around the old man.
“Ice discs…?”
“Oh? Good eyes, San Ki. With it this dark, I thought you couldn’t see clearly. As expected of a Second-Rank adventurer.”
The old man laughed.
In that instant, San Ki understood.
Who stood before him.
Of course.
Wide as Darwei is, there is only one water-attribute magician who floats multiple ice discs and attacks with them.
“One of the Six Saints… Lord Rowon.”
“Ho, correct.”
San Ki said it as a near-whisper; the old man—Lord Rowon—laughed heartily and confirmed it.
The difference in their demeanors was a measure of the overwhelming gulf in power.
“Why… would such a big name be here?”
“Hmm. I was out walking and just happened to pass by.”
“As if anyone would believe that lie!”
“If you decide from the start it’s a lie, I suppose you can’t believe it.”
San Ki shouted; Lord Rowon laughed.
“We can’t possibly win…”
San Ki muttered, then shouted,
“Withdraw!”
But…
“As if I’d let you run.”
The instant Lord Rowon’s voice was heard, agony lanced through both of San Ki’s legs.
Not only San Ki—every melee fighter in the encirclement, every magician and sorcerer lurking nearby felt the same in their legs…
The ice discs had split and punched through both legs.
The split discs weren’t large…but the damage to their bodies was.
Every one of them lost the ability to walk…
Multiple discs continued to wheel above the adventurers, as if to intimidate them.
They realized it wasn’t mere intimidation but surveillance when someone tried to use a potion to heal his leg—and a small disc punched through his arm as well.
After that, no one tried to use a potion, and no one tried to flee…
When all was finished, Lord Rowon nodded once, satisfied.
As if taking that as a signal, a man and woman alighted from the carriage.
Prince Ryun and Princess Shio Fen.
“Oh ho… so it was indeed Prince Ryun’s party. Which means…”
Looking over the fallen assailant adventurers, Lord Rowon continued.
“It seems adventurers have intervened in the Imperial Household’s strife. That is nothing but a tightening of the noose around adventurers’ own necks…”
He shook his head with a wry smile.
“Lord Rowon, you saved us from grave danger. You have our thanks.”
“Think nothing of it. I just happened to pass by.”
Prince Ryun offered his thanks, and Princess Shio Fen as well.
Lord Rowon answered with a laugh.
Meanwhile, Chief Attendant Lin Shun and the others were circulating potions they carried or had stored in the carriage, giving them to the guards.
“Lord Rowon, earlier you spoke that adventurer’s name.”
“Mm. Second-Rank Adventurer San Ki. He’s a sort of coordinator at the Advanced Hall of the Adventurers’ Mutual Aid Association here in the Capital. To see even someone like that dragged into this is lamentable.”
“I see.”
Prince Ryun nodded at Rowon’s words.
“Well, it is most fortunate that Darwei has not lost someone of value such as Your Highness. And most fortunate as well that I need not see my disciple grieved.”
“Yes—when I return to the residence, I will tell Lu Yao that we were saved by Lord Rowon.”
“I appreciate that. Perhaps my standing will rise a little in my disciple’s eyes.”
Saying so with a laugh, Lord Rowon departed—
Refusing the reward Prince Ryun offered.
Several tens of minutes later.
Lord Rowon was shown into a room.
“Lord Rowon, I hear you saved Ryun just now.”
“You hear quickly—as expected, Your Highness. Surely you won’t scold me for saving a rival?”
Lord Rowon asked with a joking smile.
“Of course not. Ryun is a precious asset to Darwei. I would thank you, not scold you.”
The master of the room smiled as he invited him to sit.
“It’s been a while since you met Ryun, hasn’t it? How did he look to you?”
“A tiger. To speak plainly, Your Highness—he will be your greatest obstacle to taking the imperial throne as the next emperor.”
“I thought so.”
Lord Rowon stated it outright; the room’s master smiled as he agreed.
Being called the greatest obstacle somehow pleased him—
As if to say the assessment he himself had made years ago was correct.
“Oh yes, Lord Rowon—I’ve come by some wonderful coffee beans. Care to have a cup?”
“I’ll gladly impose upon your kindness.”
Prince Kouri, the Second Prince, invited him to coffee with a smile, and Lord Rowon accepted with a smile of his own.
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