Chapter 248 (2/2)

「What kind of magic were they using?」

「We don't know! We don't even know if it's magic… I see. So even you have no idea.」

Patricia thought that Kaglai, a Man Gnome, might know something. Unfortunately, she was wrong.

「I haven't heard of a magic item that could do that either.」Marquedo said.

「Me too.」Kudyastoria added.

Up above, Hikaru wracked his brain hard.

No way… One thing came to mind. A cannon? They have a gunpowder-powered weapon? In this world filled with magic?

Kaglai spoke, breaking the heavy silence that filled the room.「It is fine if we do not know anything about their weapon. So the navy fought them once, suffered defeat, and you sent us a message. Is that right?」

「Yes. Actually, I was on board one of the s.h.i.+ps to observe the battle as well.」Patricia said. Her aide didn't seem pleased at all, an indication that she went despite the people around her disagreeing with the idea.「It was too one-sided. It wasn't even a battle. More like a ma.s.sacre. With their weapon, they could target this building from way out there.」

A few of the guards gave a jerk and looked outside the window.

「Oh, it's fine. There are complex reefs in the bay. Even local s.h.i.+ps sometimes capsize when they hit them. Huge s.h.i.+ps like theirs wouldn't make it through.」

「So… What do these people from the Ruined Continent want?」

「This.」

A fis.h.i.+ng vessel was released after the battle. The crew handed Patricia a letter.

「Allow me to take a look.」

It was beautiful white paper, a kind that Kaglai had never seen before. He scanned the contents, closed his eyes, and pa.s.sed the letter to Kudyastoria who was seated beside him.

「I see… It was their message specifically. “You will pay for what you did 500 years ago.”」

「Yes. That's when I realized they were from the Ruined Continent. The slightly crude choice of words, but clear handwriting suggests that they asked someone from Dew Roke to write the letter.」

Patricia also thought that no one survived among those who migrated to the Ruined Continent. But then they appeared before them with their powerful forces. It was nothing short of a nightmare.

「But that's not all. According to a crew member…」

Suddenly, Hikaru's Mana Detection picked something up. Someone was coming closer, someone climbing from below.

They're coming from below? It looks like they're scaling the wall, but it should be in plain view from a watchtower.

The person was not coming from the balcony side. They climbed up all the way up to the roof were Hikaru was positioned.

Hikaru blinked a number of times. With his Mana Detection, he could sense that the person was about five meters away from him. Even his Life Detection could sense them. But he couldn't see the person with his naked eye. It felt like the air warped.

Wait, what?

He couldn't believe his eyes. A crack appeared in the air and a hand came out. The person was covering themselves with some kind of a cloth for camouflage.

No way! Is that optical camouflage?!

It reeked of actual science. But Hikaru's shock didn't end there. The color of their hand was purple.

The person muttered something in a language unknown to Hikaru and chuckled. Their cheeks were purple, their hair silver-colored, almost close to being pure white. As Hikaru watched them pull out a memo pad and a pencil, he was convinced. This person was a spy from the Ruined Continent.

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