Dance with the Nightingale-Chapter 87 - 82: Aftermath

[Sunfish’s Pond]

[Rayne’s POV]

After handing the girl to Mark and meeting with Syrus, I decided to return to the inn.

It was not like there was anything else I could do.

The Baron’s speech, as cringe as it may be, atleast worked a little in at relieving the people’s fear, that along with the Atlas’s blessing that cured almost all the injured and healed all kinds of diseases made the people temporarily forgot their pain... Atleast the people who didn’t lose someone.

"Uwaaa...Father! Father! Wake up father!"

"My son…! My son…! Help my son! He stopped breather after that building collapsed! Help! Help!"

With my enhanced hearing I could hear a lot, a lot people trying to wake up their father, son, mother, daughter…a mother amid tears pulling back her kid daughter who was trying to wake her father…a grandma crying over the loss of her only grandson…a lot of people weeping in pain…and a lot of people silently accepting it.

’And it was supposed to be a good result.’, I mocked, but did nothing. ’I can’t replace their precious ones after all.’

And what I could do, the others were already doing.

The soldiers were already handling the aftermath. Helping people, bringing them to a hospital, handing out potions, taking out a body out of rubble and doing all sorts of odd jobs.

It wouldn’t matter if I joined or not.

So, rather than doing something and not making a difference, it was better to do something that would make a difference.

And that’s what I did.

Entering the inn, the first thing I saw was my favorite fairy sitting behind the reception table along with another colleague of hers, in a maid uniform of course.

So, with a smile, I went near the reception, and just like a dutiful maid the fairy greeted me.

"Good Afternoon esteemed Guests, what can I help you with?"

Though I could see the question she was asking with her eyes, ’What the hell happened out there?’

"Yes, can I borrow Miss Claire here for a second?", I replied.

But I didn’t expect such an answer instead, "I am very sorry, sir but Miss Claire cannot provide you with such services, if you want I can accompany you instead, sir?"

The reply amused me, and normally I would have had a little word play with miss colleague here, but I had just returned after seeing tens of deaths. And though I accepted that I couldn’t save everyone, nor that was it my fault that they died, but I wasn’t in a good mood per se.

So, just throwing a ’you explain’ look at the fairy who was blushing a little I backed off.

"It’s not like that Jessa, the esteemed Guests have a little boy with them, so they need help with chores and such.", Claire explained.

"Oh my! I am sorry for misunderstanding dear Guests.", Jessa said, as she gave us a deep bow.

"I didn’t know about that."

"It’s okay.", I said, before looking at Claire, "After you."

Walking after Claire, we climbed the stairs and knocked on the door. The next second, my communication amulet beeped, it was Cana.

’Paranoid girl.’, I thought as I picked up the call and answered her question before she could ask it, "Is that-"

"It’s me Cana, open the door."

-Click

The door clicked open as three of us entered the room, with my butt landing straight on the couch.

I was exhausted.

"Big brother!", though Allen’s hug was slowly healing me.

"So, what happened out there?", Claire asked as she took the seat opposite to mine, followed by Cana who, just as curious, took a seat beside her.

Seeing their eagerness, I first used a talisman to create a silence box before starting my story, "Let’s see...first the shopping district suddenly went kaboom! Loads of bombs spread across the district. Then, ’Rorkan’ whom I went to meet went berserk, and Mark went to capture him. Meanwhile, I found and defused the bombs one by one, don’t ask me how I could do that. Then while defusing the bombs I suddenly found out that the shopping district was an distraction, the real aim of villains was to use a huge mana arrow destroy a part of upper city. So, I tried to tank the arrow. But Baron Marek came to my rescue right on time and he kind of absorbed the mana arrow. Then both Baron and I defused the remaining bombs and went to apprehend ’Rorkan’ whom Mark had already captured. Then, Baron got a call, and he rushed into the upper city, both Mark and I followed but coincidently I found one of the villains hiding in the Atlas’s trunk, so I fought her. She had a strange attribute related to trees, and used it to attack me with vines, but when she added demonic energy to the vines the Atlas suddenly acted and did what you call, ’Atlas’s blessing’, the tree purified even the energy inside her body due to which she almost fainted and I captured her. As for what happened in the upper city for the Baron to rush up here, I don’t have a solid proof, but I can guess. I think the whole goal behind this bombing and mana arrow thing was to lure Baron out of the Upper City and do something or steal something from his mansion. As for what, I have no idea…well, that is all from me, anything you wanted to ask?"

"And risk having you speak for another hour? Gods, no.", Cana said as if repulsed by that very notion, while Allen who was hugging me, had eyes spinning in his sockets as he looked up and said, "Big brother, you are scary."

Okay, now guys! What is the problem with me speaking without a break?

Weren’t you the ones who wanted to know what happened!?

I screamed in my heart but didn’t say anything, causing an awkward silence to fall into the room.

In the end, it was Claire, who had digested the information, that broke the silence, "Okay. I get the situation…So what do you want? Why call me here?"

"I want a runesmithing lab. And an experienced runesmith if that’s possible.", I said, knowing that most of the Runesmithing shops in the shopping district had been reduced to rubble.

"And what will I get?", getting the context of my request, Claire asked back.

"Nothing. I can find them both using your information network, but why waste time?", I stated the obvious.

"Hm, reasonable.", Claire nodded.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

Then taking a pen and paper from her maid uniform she scribbled something on it before handing it to me.

"Here", she said. "The lab’s a bit-rundown, but you will find that experienced runesmith here."

"Thanks Claire.", I said, as I placed the note in my pocket.

"Anything else?", she asked and I shrugged, "Nothing for now..."

"Then, I will be going. Jessa seems to have very active imagination, and I don’t want her to think weird stuff about us."

"Yes.", I chuckled before cancelling the voice seal and letting her go.

***

[Evening, Lower City Lueurre]

With unsteady steps an old man walked through the streets...

With a gourd in his hand, the strong smell of alcohol and a slight hiccup with every breath he took…it was obvious that the man was drunk, and heavily so.

Taking a few steps forward, the old man leaned on the wall of a nearby building, before unable to hold it any longer, he finally retched, emptying the contents of his stomach on wall.

-Sigh

Aneles, the squirrel man, sighed as he saw this.

It was as if the God was mocking him by making his day even harder.

His mood was already bad. And of course it would be, his shift just got extended because of today’s incident not to mention the work wasn’t his usual gatekeeping, but ’helping the people’.

And now, his mood had just worsened.

The owner of the establishment came out with an angry expression, making it pretty obvious what he was about to do.

But before he could increase his work even more, Aneles moved his fat-ass.

"Stop! What are you doing?", calling out to the owner, who flinched as he saw him.

Not to brag, but with his 190 cm height and big build, Aneles looked quite intimidating to normal people.

"Nothing sir!", the owner shouted, before muttering, "But my wall…"

Haah, sighing once again, Aneles used a little Earth magic to bury the vomit underground before looking at the owner.

"Thank you sir!", the owner said before getting out of his hair.

But unlike him, the old man was much more daring, taking Aneles hand in both of his own.

He shook them mightily as he said, "Thank you! Thank you sir! You saved my life."

Repulsed, Aneles was about to shake his hand off, but then, "Read it.", he heard the old man’s voice, a voice too stable to belong to someone drunk, and felt some paper being handed to him.

Getting the hint, Aneles took the paper and pocketed it, letting the old man go his way, with unsteady steps.

’What an actor.’ Aneles thought as he went into an empty alley and read the paper.

[Hi Aneles, how are you? I wanted to talk after your shift was over, but I heard that it got extended because of today’s incident? Too bad, I can’t wait that long. We are meeting today, 7:00 pm, Elista’s café]

The paper said, and though it had no sender mentioned, the content already told Aneles who the sender was.

’7:00 pm, Elista’s café’, Aneles thought as he went to reschedule his break time.