Chapter 10

Both Count Rompaneau and Cedric received water barriers of their own at her gesture.

-Hey, you two! You should consider this the honor of your family lines! Not just anyone gets these, you know! Got it?!

Belatedly, Undine realized no one else could hear her.

-Hmph! Not being able to hear me doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be grateful!

Undine never stopped chattering as she flitted about Reina’s shoulders. To those watching, it looked as though the water elemental was acting cute for Reina.

Reina didn’t hesitate any longer and walked into the flames.

One of the people watching quietly mumbled, “Cursed...? The duchess?”

A single question arose in the minds of the vassals, officials, and countless citizens who watched Reina: Was Reina Binochet truly the Cursed Binochet?

***

A rush of wind blew through the stone wall, which had begun to collapse from the fire. A small whirlwind of water delved between the wall and the wind, and the stone shattered with a loud crack.

A second later and the wall would have collapsed on Reina and her companions.

Reina urged Count Rompaneau to hurry. “Count! We must move faster!”

“Damn it! I’m doing my best, so why don’t you shut your mouth?!”

It had been an hour since they had entered the hellish flames, and the fire was stronger than they’d expected, so it was difficult to clear the way. Count Rompaneau no longer hesitated to direct coarse remarks to Reina or bothered to filter his speech.

That was how severe and critically dangerous the situation in Thushtra was.

Cedric, who had been firing his aura at the buildings in their way without hesitation, yelled in shock, “Count! How dare you speak to Her Grace that way?”

-Yeah! How can you tell our Reina to shut her mouth?! It’s thanks to her that you’re still alive!

Undine flew in Count Rompaneau’s face and demanded an apology.

Reina said nothing and kept her eyes ahead of her. They were moving slower than she had calculated.

They had a pattern, however. When Cedric cleared a blocked path, Reina used Undine’s power to put the fire out. Then the fourth-circle wind mage, Count Rompaneau, would change the direction of the wind to direct the flames away.

On occasion, large obstacles needed to be broken down with a strong stream of water.

She targeted the moments where hot stones would weaken at the touch of cold water.

However, they hadn’t found any survivors. Because they were only taking the main road, they hadn’t discovered any corpses either.

“This is strange.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s too empty here.”

“Well, how could anyone have survived these fires? Damn it!”

Count Rompaneau rushed to move the wind and push away the sparks flying overhead. As a mage himself, he knew that the pregnant Reina couldn’t use her powers carelessly.

That was why he had stopped her as much as possible. Regardless of who the mother was, the baby inside her was Duke Heathvilion’s first baby.

Reina’s face didn’t lose its solemn expression as she used the water to clear their path.

What would I have done if I had been in the fire?

If she’d had to lead the people within Thushtra...

Reina’s suppression of the fire grew stronger.

It’s possible... that more people survived than we thought.

Just as her hopes were growing, she heard a weak voice through the sound of the flames.

“H...help, help me...”

It was a thin, faint voice, but it was definitely a person’s.

It seemed that Count Rompaneau and Cedric had also heard the voice from the way they looked around.

The first to move was Cedric, whose senses were honed through his handling of aura.

Seeing Cedric break down the door of a shop, Reina said, “Undine, help Sir Cedric control the flames.”

-You got it. But Reina, are you feeling okay? Squirmy’s energy’s been growing stronger for a bit now.

“I’m still fine for now. Please.”

Upon seeing Reina’s smile, Undine reluctantly moved away and flew into the shop Cedric had entered. Undine flew about the interior, and the flames burning inside of the store died down.

Reina and Count Rompaneau entered the shop after them.

After checking the furniture and corpses that still had some form, Count Rompaneau’s face contorted.

“Your Grace, I think you should step out.”

“I’m fine.”

There weren’t many corpses, but the majority were children.

The corpses, barely recognizable as human, had restraints around their wrists and ankles. Reina could guess at what had happened here, judging from the restraints and the few adult bodies she could see here and there.

And considering the way that most of the people had gathered by the first-floor entrance, they all seemed to have burned to death without hope of escape.

She felt nauseous, and her stomach tightened. Ell could feel her instinctive disgust.

Noticing that Reina wasn’t in good condition, Undine wrapped her energy gently around Reina.

“Ah...” The refreshing energy made her feel much better.

Cedric leapt down from the second floor to Reina. The stairs had been destroyed by the flames so he had no other choice.

“Did you find them?”

“I looked all over, but I couldn’t find anyone. Seeing as the very faint energy I sensed is gone, it’s possible that they have died.”

Cedric’s face grew stiff. Cedric, who had lived a moral, upright life, seemed to be disillusioned by this corrupt, unethical establishment.

Reina nodded and looked around. The only things left were half-burned ashes and unrecognizable corpses.

“How could we have heard them?” she asked. “It was definitely a very quiet voice, so it’s strange that we could hear them from outside.”

“It was magic,” Count Rompaneau answered. “There is a way to make your voice carry with wind magic. It’s surprising that there was a mage here, but... I suspect that it was difficult to survive these flames.”

“It would be best to return now.”

Dawn was already breaking. They had no time to waste in a place like this. Reina looked around the store carefully before turning away.

Ell would rule over Heathvilion.

She would make it so that he would never have to set foot in an establishment too repulsive to even mention ever again.

Just as she turned away with that determination, Undine stopped her.

-Reina, I hear breathing over there.

“Madam?”

“We must hurry.”

Count Rompaneau and Cedric urged Reina to leave when she stopped. Reina paid no attention and followed Undine to the deepest part of the store.

After passing through a maze-like passage, she ended up in a room. The only things left were burnt furniture reduced to ashes and an iron safe that had been twisted from the heat.

Cedric had followed behind and, after a look around the room, said, “From the safe and the scope of the room, it seems like this belonged to the owner.”

“Madam, why did you come here?”

Instead of answering them, Reina asked Undine, “Is this the place?”

-It’s under here, to be exact!

Undine indicated the scorched marble floors.

“Sir Cedric.”

Recognizing what Reina meant, Cedric struck the floor using his aura-wrapped blade with all his strength.

The floor shattered from the force of the strike, revealing a thick metal door below the thin marble.

“In a place like this...”

Both Count Rompaneau and Cedric realized that the situation was highly suspicious and tore the metal door off.

Beneath the door was a ladder that stretched down.

“Your Grace, it would be best if I and Sir Cedric proceeded alone from this point on. Please wait here,” Count Rompaneau said firmly.

He hated the Cursed Binochet, but he was still a loyal servant of Heathvilion.

Is this woman really cursed?

He felt doubt for the first time.

He couldn’t push the lady of the house, the one who carried the future heir to Heathvilion, into a possibly dangerous situation.

Reina agreed with Count Rompaneau and, after a brief moment, nodded her head.

Put Ell in further danger? Coming this far through those flames must already have put quite the strain on him.

She didn’t want to overdo things and use any more of her energy.

But had he read Reina’s mind? She felt Ell kick. It was as though he was urging her to go down. Feeling the strong movement from her baby, Reina looked at Undine disconcertedly.

-Squirmy seems to want you to go down...? He seems really, really unhappy!

“Yeah, Ell...”

Her expression inscrutable, Reina properly buttoned up her coat and turned to Count Rompaneau. “Count, can you use the wind to move me down?”

“Absolutely not!”

“It’s fine. I trust your skills as well as Sir Cedric’s, and in the worst case, I still have Undine as well.”

Upon seeing Reina’s determination, Cedric gave up trying to change her mind.

“Then I will head down with the count first. You should come down last, my lady.”

“Sir Cedric? How could you—?!”

Though Count Rompaneau opposed, Cedric knew that he couldn’t change Reina’s mind, and so he moved quickly.

Cedric pulled the struggling Count Rompaneau to his side and climbed down the ladder.