As soon as the al ended, he imdiately put his plan into action. All morning, he crafted magic tools for each village and distributed them to Bloom. In the afternoon, he began making the treasures to be used in the treasure hunt.
The rules for the week-long treasure hunt were simple.
Several swords imbued with plausible illusion magic and physical magic were planted deep inside the innermost section of the lord’s castle’s evacuation area, as well as in the deepest part of every local shelter. A resident would stand before a sword of their choosing and loudly declare three tis, “From now on, when the city’s bell rings, I will take shelter here.” If they grabbed the hilt and the sword ca loose, they would be rewarded with money. Naturally, the odds of successfully drawing a sword were low. However, they were allowed unlimited attempts if they rejoined the queue.
Ayra, for the sake of effective promotion, put forward outrageous prize money. If the sword ca halfway out and stopped, the bell would chi once and the resident would receive 1 Sel. If the sword ca out completely, the bell would chi three tis and they would receive 10 Sel. If the sword shimred ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) as it was drawn, the bell would ring grandly, and the person would receive 100 Sel along with clothes made of Skit silk.
And if — just once, for a single person across the entire estate — the sword glead brilliantly as it was pulled out, the city’s great bell would ring with a resounding clang from the bell tower. That person would be awarded 1,000 Sel, one night of luxurious lodging and als in the castle, and a house with a farm attached to it.
The response from the people of the territory was explosive. Everyone rushed to the shelters, dreaming of winning 1,000 Sel and a house with farmland. They waited in line all day long, stomping their feet whenever they heard the bell ring for a winner ahead of them. Even the priests and clerics, glancing around nervously, secretly changed into civilian clothes and joined the queue.
Ayra took it a step further with a subtle tactic. On the second day of the treasure hunt, she intentionally selected a lucky winner of the 1,000 Sel prize. All the estate’s residents watched in awe and envy as the winner, draped in a splendid cloak, rode a horse escorted up to the lord’s castle. Once the bell's chi resounded throughout the city and left a deep impression on the people, Ayra made another announcent.
“One winner isn’t enough, so we’ll select one more.”
Having seen such a brilliant example, the residents charged toward the shelters with fire in their eyes. And when every last one of them had morized the phrase “From now on, when the city’s bell rings, I will take shelter here” and firmly imprinted both the shelter locations and bell sound into their minds, Ayra drew the final winner and declared the end of the treasure hunt.
That night, satisfied with the success of the evacuation drill, Ayra went to bed in a good mood — only to be awakened from sweet slumber by scattered alarm bells ringing throughout the city.
❄
“There are five confird deaths and a total of thirty-four injured, of which seven are in critical condition.”
Bloom gave his report in a heavy voice. Ayra, who had urgently summoned her closest aides at dawn, rubbed her tired eyes as she looked down at the map — or more precisely, the map window projected over the physical map. But unlike the day Janus warned her of intruders, there were no obvious differences in the window. Other than a barely noticeable increase in the density of ma-beasts, nothing stood out.
‘Pebble isn’t all-powerful, after all......’
Even as she muttered this to herself, Ayra’s heart was heavy. This wasn’t about approval ratings. A lost body or life could never be returned.
“All of these incidents occurred in different villages?”
“Yes. According to the soldiers stationed at each site, the ma-beast attacks occurred almost simultaneously.”
Bloom marked the attacked villages on the map, and their locations were all scattered. Ayra tapped her fingers against the table and spoke.
“This kind of thing isn’t common, is it?”
“Correct. At least since I’ve been in Solar, this is the first ti.”
“Sa for . I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Both Bloom, the knight commander, and Hera, the beast hunter, agreed. Even Ayra, who specialized in ma-beast studies, had never witnessed such a phenonon. While ma-beasts generally had higher intelligence than typical wild animals, they showed no capacity for cooperation. They ford packs, but coordinated group assaults were unheard of. Even within a pack, infighting and cannibalism were frequent.
There had been ma-beast attacks during the treasure hunt too. But those had been manageable thanks to the early warnings from alarm magic. Last night, however, simultaneous attacks across multiple villages had inevitably led to casualties.
“And there was sothing unusual,” Bloom added.
“Unusual?”
“Most of the ma-beasts involved in the attacks were of the sa species. They look like dogs or wolves — mostly red fur, a single main eye, and four to eight auxiliary eyes, with multiple tails. Around here, they’re called Karkal.”
“Oh, you call them Karkal here. They look like this, right?”
Ayra conjured an image using illusion magic, reconstructing the ma-beast’s form as she rembered it. The realistic image drew a gasp of admiration from Bloom. Pebble, eyes sparkling like black beads, fluttered over and perched on the beast’s head like a rabbit riding a wolf.
“Yes, that’s exactly the species.”
“But Karkal usually migrate away from Solar around this ti of year and appear closer to Bolni. This is quite strange.”
A deep crease ford on Hera’s face. Considering the Karkal’s habits, her concern was justified. They weren’t easy opponents. Ayra, deep in thought, suddenly turned her head.
Janus was seated beside her, arms crossed, nodding off. As Ayra looked at him, the other aides followed her gaze. The dragon, who hadn’t stirred while Ayra was watching, snapped open his eyes the mont he sensed their stares and flared up.
“Eyes off.”
It wasn’t just a verbal warning — a sharp burst of killing intent swept out from him. Jinas and Gretel, bookish by nature, went pale. Bloom and Hera, both warriors, stiffened and instinctively reached for their weapons. A dragon’s killing intent was fundantally different from a human’s — more like a person swatting at flies. But the pressure was incomparably more violent.
Ayra clicked her tongue. So now even glances set him off? He reached out and grabbed Janus’s jaw, who was now glaring murderously at the others.
“Stop bullying my aides and look at this. Is this the ma-beast you ntioned last ti?”
Janus obediently turned his head as Ayra directed. Looking at the illusion spell, the dragon raised his eyebrows like he hadn’t just radiated a death aura.
“What’s this?”
“These are the ma-beasts from the Bolni forest you ntioned. The ones that suddenly disappeared from the area — said the scent had almost vanished.”
“Oh, yeah. This is the one.”
Ayra was once again reminded how terrible Janus’s drawing skills were. The sketch he’d done back then hadn’t resembled this ma-beast at all.
“The ma-beasts obviously didn’t make an appointnt to attack all those villages at the sa ti.”
“So you’re saying soone orchestrated this? But we’re talking about ma-beasts. How could anyone possibly do that?”
Bloom’s expression twisted in disbelief. Hera muttered, “Well... maybe so people could,” and glanced sideways at the infamous labyrinth mage sitting next to her. It wasn’t suspicion — just a passing thought.
At that mont, countless thoughts flew through Ayra’s mind. What ca up imdiately were ways to attract specific ma-beasts — and who might possess such knowledge. Her face stiffened briefly before she spoke.
“We’ll uncover the truth behind this later. First, we need a counterasure.”
“Karkals are difficult to subdue. They’re insanely fast — even on horseback, you can’t keep up. If it were just a few, it might be manageable, but with numbers like this, casualties will be severe.”
Bloom, who had spent the entire night racing from village to village to rescue residents, replied with a somber face. A deep scratch on his hand, now covered by a crust of dark blood, showed the struggle he’d faced against the Karkal.
Just as Ayra was about to offer herself as bait to lure the Karkal, Janus, still sitting with arms crossed and a crooked posture, spoke up.
“Want to handle it?”
“Really?”
Ayra imdiately brightened — she’d already been considering how to bait the beasts and then coax Janus into finishing them off. For Janus, dealing with Karkal would be like swatting stray dogs.
“I’ve been itching for a fight anyway. I’ll round them up and wipe them out in one go.”
“That’s perfect.”
Ayra bead at the thought of resolving a tricky issue with a single dragon punch. Then Hera, who had been deep in thought, raised her hand.
“Lord Ayra, sothing just occurred to .”
She hesitated, rubbing her chin before speaking slowly.
“For the past few days, the temple’s been selling items said to repel ma-beasts. They claim the blessings of Morunka are embedded in them — supposedly especially effective against Karkal.”
Ayra’s face darkened. Anti-ma-beast goods? If sothing like that really worked, the labyrinth would’ve already developed it and sold it across the territories. It was exactly because such tools didn’t exist that Ayra was researching improved hybrids for Honghwa exports.
“Do they work?”
“Of course not. It’s just a charm with maybe a petal or two of Honghwa inside. Completely useless. But doesn’t it all feel a little suspicious?”
Hera had a point. The timing was far too convenient, and the grudge Teon held against her was unsettling. Ayra looked at Pebble, who had been marking Karkal locations on the map window. The spirit paused, then popped up a loading screen. Tilting its head like it couldn’t understand, it finally returned a system ssage.
[Tip: Aterra la Teon is planning to exploit the Karkal incident for a big payday and flee Solar.]
So this was the best answer Pebble could generate...
Ayra wasn’t convinced Teon had the ability to lure only Karkal. But even if he didn’t, did that really an he had no connection to this? Her instincts scread that Teon was definitely involved.
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