Chapter 216 From Ashes (1/2)
CHAPTER 216
FROM ASHES
Ella, Eggor, Scarlet and Annar stared at the distant flames roaring toward the sky, consuming huge swaths of land in their wake, their expressions eerily similar. Eggor sighed and shook his head, hiding his face from the sky in embarrassment, while Ella smiled bitterly, unable to think of what else she could possibly do.
Annar, much like Eggor, hid his face away, remembering how he planned on asking the strange blacksmith for an advice. He mused he did himself proud by holding back, as he would never live down this moment to himself rather than anyone else.
Scarlet, however, had a starlit expression, her eyes shining in high fervor, breathing quickening. Annar sneered silently at her while Ella questioned her own perception of Lino, wondering whether the latter truly had so much pull or whether it was just Scarlet that was insane.
The blaze hurdled on and on, consuming the world and driving the rest of the Continent into silence. Very few witnessing the event had ever seen anything on that scale, let alone directly at the heart of the Empire.
”You guys like it?” the four got startled as a voice broke them out of their stupor; glancing sideways, they saw Lino on top of a rather beautiful scarlet hippogryph, with three more people sitting behind him. He had a rather sheepish grin on his face, one full of pride and joy. ”Personally, I love it.”
”E-eh?!” Hannah and Ella suddenly exclaimed at the same time, both point fingers at each other.
”Elanor?! Why are you here?!”
”Hannah?! I should be asking you the same question!” Lino's grin disappeared as he looked quizzically at the two pointing fingers at one another. Even Eggor seemed unaware as he too stared dubiously at Ella.
”You two know each other?” Lino asked Hannah.
”... well, yeah,” she scratched her head awkwardly. ”She was the one keeping an eye out on me back when I stayed with you.”
”Eh?! Your 'friend' was Lino?!” Ella exclaimed, turning her eyes toward Lino. She found herself even more confused than over the whole Scarlet issue.
”Ha ha ha,” Lino, however, merely shrugged the coincidence and laughed. ”What a small world, eh?”
”... j-just a second,” Hannah suddenly seemed to have realized something, lowering her head and pressing against her temple. ”Your... adoptive parents?”
”Ah, yeah, these two,” Lino nodded, smiling. ”Eggor and Ella, the musclehead and the weirdo, the loud and the corny, the stupid and the--”
”Isn't that enough of an introduction?” Eggor growled lowly, his eyebrows twitching.
”Wait, how do--what are the two of you doing together?” Ella asked quickly.
”Oh, we're together.” Lino replied casually.
”... together?” Ella quizzed.
”Hm? What's confusing about that?” Lino retorted. ”Together as in, you know, she-rubs-me-I-meet-a-god-together.”
”...”
”...”
”You couldn't have just explained it normally, couldn't you?” Hannah sighed.
”But then I wouldn't get to witness all the various reactions,” Lino grinned. ”Like Ella's absolutely terrified gaze, Eggor's confused one where he seems to be questioning the reality itself, Felix burying his head into the chest, Lucky rolling her eyes once again, Annar itching to ask me how in the fuck I wooed you, and Scarlet seemingly re-examining her value as a woman. And, oh, of course your blush. Worth way more than all the rest combined!”
”It's rather amazing how observant you are,” Hannah commented. ”Even I didn't catch every single one of them.”
”That's because you're nice,” Lino explained. ”As someone whose profession is to piss people off, I've gotta know to read their expressions in the finite detail within a nanosecond as to extrapolate pleasure from it.”
”... please tell me that's not your fetish.”
”Oh, no, nothing sexual,” Lino shook his head. ”Though, you'll probably wish it was.”
”Hey!!” Hannah angrily exclaimed.
”Anyway, let's board the ship,” Lino said as he caressed Grim gently, causing the bird to cry out in joy, before putting it back into the Pouch and boarding the flying ship with the rest. ”How have you guys been?”
”... I'm not done questioning you!” Ella suddenly exclaimed, her eyebrows twitching as she grabbed at Lino's ear and dragged him away from the rest, putting up a soundproof barrier that no one on the ship dared listen through. Others stayed outside, reveling in the awkward silence. ”Are... are you really together with her?” she asked, seeming even excited to Lino's surprise.
”Yes...? Why are you so weird about it? It's not as though it's never happened before, you know?”
”Oh, trust me, I know,” Ella sighed. ”But that's not the point. Do you even know who she is?”
”...” Lino's eyes turned into slits for a moment as did Ella's. ”Which of the three identities you mean?”
”... you know all three?” Ella asked back.
”Is that a trick question?”
”I don't know, is yours?”
”You're an adult here, so out with it.”
”You're her lover, so you know her better.”
”You used to watch over her,” Lino persisted. ”So you go.”
”I'll list out initials,” Ella said, taking a deep breath. ”B-GD-HL.”
”... fuck, you know all three too?!” Lino exclaimed. ”Right, isn't she a total badass?” he suddenly grinned, glancing at Hannah who, unlike the rest, embraced the silence at sat on the ship's ledge, enjoying the wind. ”I mean, a Bearer, a Descender, and some super important member of the Holy Land. I can barely match her!”
”... wait, back up!” she exclaimed suddenly. ”You know she's a Bearer and you still got together with her?!! Are you insane?!”
”...” Lino smirked mysteriously. ”Ah, I wouldn't worry about it. Anyway, it's good that you're here. I'm gonna need all your guys' help.”
”Huh?”