Chapter 22
“It’s a secret.”
“What, what?” The moment I spoke, before the aftershock of the explosion had even faded, Lian Qi hit the glacier with another round of explosion magic.
“Lian Qi seems… really fired up?” Qifeng asked weakly, standing beside me, holding down the hair at her temples that was being blown about by the shockwave.
“Probably because… she hasn’t been able to let loose in a long time?”
I also replied weakly.
“She must have been holding back a lot, having nowhere to use it in the Royal Capital.”
So, what place could be more suitable for Lian Qi to let loose with some explosion magic than the vast, empty, and uninhabited permafrost? Right~?
So I just let her do as she pleased.
I thought to myself, if only I could have brought a round table and a tea set. I could brew a pot of tea for them to drink, enjoying afternoon tea in this land of ice and snow. That would have its own special flavor, wouldn’t it?
Plus, there are explosions to admire.
One shot.
BOOM—!
Two shots.
BOOM—!
Three shots.
I kept counting for Lian Qi. She took breaks in between. Around the twenty-seventh shot, Lian Qi leaned back and lay spread-eagled on the snow.
“Phew, so tired.”
I walked over to her, clasped my hands behind my back, and bent down to look at her with a smile. “Lian Qi, be careful not to expose yourself.”
“It’s fine. I’m wearing safety shorts,” she said, panting, lying exhausted in the snow.
“I’ve been busy all afternoon. Did the permafrost melt?”
…I looked back at the glacier, still standing tall. Although this proved the Druids’ theory was flawed, I still felt bad for Lian Qi, who had worked so hard for nothing. I was afraid if I said too much, it would just be tears, so I tried to put it gently with as few words as possible: “It did not.”1
Lian Qi had an expression of disbelief. “I blasted it with explosion magic for so long and not even one fragment broke off? Then how did you get the permafrost ice blocks for your freezer at home?”
“Adventurers just… pick them up off the ground.”
Lian Qi was speechless.
“Fine. The Druids said abusing magic causes the permafrost to melt, right? How come using magic in the Royal Capital can cause permafrost thousands of miles away to melt, but using magic right in front of it doesn’t?”
“Or… maybe the permafrost melting really has nothing to do with abusing magic?” I said. “Let me help you up first?”
Just at that moment, an impolite voice entered my ears.
“Hey—! You three!”
I looked over, mystified, and saw three men in green cloaks walking toward us.
It’s pretty rare to run into people in such a desolate place. But it’s also dangerous.
Seeing them, Lian Qi scrambled up from the snow without my help. Qifeng also vigilantly moved to shield me from behind.
“What are you doing?” the other party asked, staring at Qifeng.
“Whatever we’re doing, it’s none of your business,” Lian Qi said coldly.
A brief silence fell. The other party seemed to feel offended and looked very displeased.
“We’ve been watching you for a long time. You’re the ones who have been here all this time, blasting the glacier with magic, aren’t you?”
Eh? So they were drawn here by Lian Qi’s explosion magic? That makes sense. After all, with such high-profile explosions, it’s impossible not to see them…
“I thought there was no one around here,” I said.
“No one? Of course there is.” the man said. “We are members of the Druid organization—the animal protection side, responsible for protecting the wild animals in this area.”
“Druid organization, animal protection side?” Lian Qi frowned, expressing her doubt.
“They’re the group that was protesting and blocking the Adventurers’ Guild,” I reminded Lian Qi. “They’re separate from Professor Einstein’s environmental protection side. A different branch of the Druid organization.”
“I know. I’m just surprised to run into them here,” Lian Qi said. “If that’s the case, why aren’t you off protecting animals? What are you staring at us for?”
“We are here to stop you!” the other party said coldly.
Me, Lian Qi, and Qifeng just looked at each other.
“This act of yours, bombing the glacier with magic, is harmful to the animals inside!” the man said viciously.
My face was a question mark.
“That’s right! It is harm!” the other two chimed in.
“W-Wait, we didn’t harm any animals. We tried, the permafrost glacier can’t be budged at all, let alone hurt the dragon-beasts inside,” I said quickly.
Unexpectedly, the other party snorted. “Even if you didn’t injure them, the explosions created by magic will scare the animals inside!”
The man continued nonstop: “There was once a famous prison experiment. They locked a death row inmate in a sealed room, blindfolded him, scraped the back of his wrist with the back of a knife, and then played the dripping sound of water. Three months later, the magic scholars opened the sealed room and found he was dead in his chair. The experiment proves that fear is one’s own most terrifying enemy. This is true for humans, let alone animals!”
“W-Wait.” I said weakly. “Didn’t he just starve to death?”
However, the man ignored me, continuing to accuse us righteously: “I don’t know what your purpose is in bombing the glacier with magic. Perhaps it’s for fun? But just to satisfy your own entertainment, you have caused indelible trauma to the minds of these animals!”
“Hey, these dragon-beasts are sealed in permafrost. They aren’t conscious at all,” Lian Qi said coldly.
Unexpectedly, the other party retorted, “You aren’t one of them. How do you know they aren’t conscious?”
Lian Qi froze for a moment, and her expression immediately darkened. “You guys are just being completely unreasonable!”
“I think you’re the ones who are obstinate. Looks like we’ll have to teach you a lesson!”
“You want to fight?” Lian Qi said coldly, taking a step forward.
The lead man pulled out a syringe from under his green cloak.
“Just in time to test the organization’s new medicine.”
I stared at that syringe—Eh?
I’ve seen similar things. Deadblade used one, and so did Tristina’s suitor.
And so, I stopped Lian Qi.
“Lian Qi, leave this to me.”
I stepped forward and summoned my long-handled hammer, gripping it in my hand.
The man glanced at me disdainfully and made a threat: “Whichever one of you comes first, you’ll regret that I was your opponent.”
I gave a helpless laugh. “Is that so?”
Maybe it’s because I’m wearing an extra shawl, or maybe he has snow blindness, but he actually didn’t recognize me as the Saintess. But whatever. When you’re out and about, you ultimately have to speak with your fists. I twirled the hammer in my hand, watching him stick the syringe into his arm.
Immediately, his right arm began to twist, deform, and in an instant, it burst through his sleeve. To be honest, I was quite surprised when I saw the blue scales grow.
“This is arm-dragonization!” the man said, flexing his dragon claw proudly, as if having a part of his body transform into a dragon was something to be immensely proud of.
I saw blue lightning crackle and wrap around the dragon claw, making popping sounds.
I’ve seen a whole person turn into a beast, but this is the first time I’ve seen a part of a body dragonize. While I was still surprised, he raised his dragon claw and charged at me.
“The sins you have committed against animals—repay them with your bodies—!”
The lightning-wreathed dragon claw swiped at me.
I swung my hammer to meet it, and in an instant, all the surrounding snow was blasted away.
“Don’t force your ideals onto other people!”
I smashed his dragon claw with my hammer, and the dragon claw, in turn, slapped him across his own face. He went tumbling and flew far, far away.
Footnotes
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然并没 (rán bìng méi) is short for the internet slang phrase 然而并没有什么用 (rán’ér bìng méi shénme yòng), which roughly means “However, it was completely useless.” ↩