Chapter 16
Luna’s thick eyelashes trembled faintly.
“Am I too late? The ledger—what happened to the ledger?”
Her mind snapped awake, and she turned sharply toward the wooden storage shed.
“…!”
Something caught her eye. Her lips, dry and cracking, clamped shut as she quickly lowered herself to the ground. Like a small animal sensing a predator, every fine hair on her body stood on end as she tried to read the presence nearby.
Her eyes blinked rapidly, unable to believe what she was seeing. Through the falling sparks of fire, she spotted none other than the Raven unit’s commander, pouring oil.
“We’re done here! Move out! Any of you who dawdle and get excited enough to pull down your pants—I’ll have you all disciplined!”
“Yes, sir!”
The commander’s shout toward the iron gate at the entrance was answered by several other ravens.
He overturned the oil drum and doused even the flowers that hadn’t yet caught fire, then flung the empty drum far away.
As he turned to take one last look over the burning flower field, Luna dropped flat to the ground before his gaze could sweep over her.
Luckily, the cloak of her employer was large enough that when it fell, the hood bounced up and covered her hair completely. Dirty dust pressed against her cheek, and grey ash clogged her breath, but she forced herself to stay silent.
Raven is backing Arne? No way! To run into the nightmare I swore I’d never see again—!
Every time she blinked, Luna’s nerves screamed at the image of the commander’s flashing gold tooth. If she was discovered now, it was all over.
The commander started walking at a brisk pace. Amid the swelling flames and the deafening crack of a collapsing ceiling, his heavy footsteps were the most threatening sound of all.
Please… just keep walking. Please. Please!
Luna tried to calm her pounding heart. Through the narrow gap between hood and ground, she watched burned stems crunch under his boots, his looming shadow sweeping past.
“Commander! This guy’s gone totally blank! He’s grinning like he’s staring at the finest body in the world—come take a look!”
“What’s there to look at! Don’t be idiots! Shadowflower poison won’t wash out with water—haul him up and carry him back!”
The commander’s harsh voice echoed from the entrance. Then—slam!—the iron door shut heavily, sealing Luna inside.
“Cough, cough—!”
Only then did she let herself cough. Smoke stung her eyes, tears spilling down as sweat dripped through streaks of soot on her face.
She wiped her face roughly and ran toward the wooden shed. Time was running out.
Panting hard, she grabbed a farming tool lying on the ground and pried open the burning plank door without hesitation.
Her frantic eyes darted around the interior, only to freeze in despair. The ledger chest had already become perfect kindling, burning brightly.
“Stay calm. Calm. The Guildmaster said that was a fake. Did the commander know that too?”
Her eyes flicked wildly. Everything except the metal scraps was burning down with crackling snaps.
Maybe near the tools?
She jabbed into the pile of farm tools she had touched yesterday, overturning them with the stick. But the burning ones collapsed under their own weight, metal heads dropping uselessly—nothing.
“More hidden. Safer. He said it’d be kept more secretly…”
Luna recalled the Guildmaster’s words carefully.
If it was trickery sharp enough to fool both friend and foe…
She spun back toward the ledger chest.
“This is… odd. This has to be it!”
Something about the chest was off. The fake ledger was paper—it had burned away quickly, already nothing but gray ash. But the wooden chest itself burned strangely steadily, almost unnaturally.
Holding her breath, Luna flipped the chest with her stick.
“There it is!”
At the bottom was a sapphire-like gem that Arne had embedded. The Raven commander had no magic and was alone. He likely hadn’t realized the real ledger was there.
“Ugh—”
Ignoring the scorching heat of the sapphire, Luna forced a bit of magic into it. As she expected, a clean, unburned ledger dropped to the ground.
With reddened hands, she snatched it up and shoved it into her bag. Even with care, the heat had left her skin smarting with pain.
“Haaah…”
A ragged sigh slipped out of her parched lips.
Relief at having the true ledger tangled with despair at how she might escape now—her fingertips trembled.
BOOM! CRASH! BOOM!
The ceiling split again with a deafening roar. If she hesitated, she’d burn alive. The way she’d come was choked with smoke; retreating would be suicide.
Her dry eyes fixed on the dancing inferno. The only possible exit was the iron gate, though even that was uncertain.
Even if she ran through the marked paths, both sides were already blazing pillars of fire, tall stalks of shadowflowers toppling and collapsing.
“I’m… scared…”
Her face, drained of all moisture, twisted miserably. Her whole body shook, her legs trembling uncontrollably. Her injured hand ached and itched.
She had been driven by rage, desperate enough to snatch the true ledger—but now, so close to death, she realized it had only been stubbornness and blind resolve.
She had no training. No special strength. She couldn’t even use magic properly. All she had done was throw herself into this with nothing but her body and her grit.
“But… I can’t just sit here and wait! That’s not right, is it?!”
Her own words burst out into the smoke. She refused to regret her choice.
With trembling hands, she pulled her hood down tight over her head. She wasn’t going to die here. She had come for the ledger to live.
She adjusted her leather bag, braced her legs, and hurled herself toward the flames.
BOOM! CRASH! BOOM BOOM!
“Kyaaah!”
The ceiling burst apart again, shards of glass raining down like knives.
“Hhhk!”
Luna collapsed before she’d taken even a step. The exposed parts of her skin were slashed by streaks of red.
Gritting her teeth, she tried to push herself up again, but her legs only shook, refusing to obey.
“Move! Move, damn it! If you want to live, you have to move!”
She struck her legs with her fists, shouting desperately. Then she froze, a dread settling in. Hastily, she pulled out the pendant from her neck.
The once-clear blue gem had turned into a dull black stone, drained of its power.
The reason her legs wouldn’t move was simple—the pendant had failed to block the shadowflower’s poison. Partial paralysis had set in.
“P-Pfh… pfffhhah….”
Empty, broken laughter spilled weakly from her lips. The searing heat raised shimmering mirages before her eyes.
Luna clawed at the dirt, throwing clumps into the fire. The flames seemed to mock her, jeering at her arrogance—“You thought you could do this alone? All you had was stubborn pride.”
Am I going to die here…?
Her spirit faltered, dizziness dragging her vision into darkness. Burns and cuts hurt, but worse was the endless thirst, the crushing weight of defeat.
She hugged her knees and buried her face.
“Hhhk…”
Her shoulders shook with sobs, tears streaming down her chin to drip into the ash below.
“So what then…? Was I supposed to just leave that bastard alone?”
Her helplessness was unbearable. She wept, grief blurring the fiery hellscape around her.
Her lifeless eyes stared into the face of death as her lids drooped shut.
“….”
BANG! BANG!
Suddenly, a pounding crash rattled the air. Something was slamming hard nearby, the sound echoing heavily.
KWOOM!
Then it happened.
With a thunderous boom, the iron gate blew apart, the ground trembling faintly. Flames and heat were sucked violently toward the opening, bent by a sudden rush of air.
“Ah!”
Luna’s eyes flew wide. She raised her head toward the burst of wind.
Amid the fire, a man’s figure wavered into shape. Their eyes met.
Her dying heart lurched, pounding wildly. Her dry lips parted as she stumbled backward, eyes wide with terror.
In her pale blue gaze, the image of a man burned itself clear.
“As I thought—it was you! I knew it! Luna Adarette!!”
