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“This is for accompaniment. I won’t be the one singing.”
“I see… But what does listening to a song have to do with training in spirit arts?”
“…The thing is, spirits love music. Especially wind spirits, they have a strong affinity for songs and musical instruments. So, I thought we could start by listening to good music to enhance your affinity with the spirits.”

Glancing sideways at Ashimi’s calm expression as he explained, Luke had a feeling that this was an improvised excuse made up on the spot… but wisely chose not to question it.

Then— As they got closer to the outskirts of the city, a burnt smell wafted towards them from the direction they were heading.

“Do you smell something too, Ashimi?”
“It does smell like something’s burning…”

As the two muttered and squinted their eyes, they saw several plumes of smoke rising from beyond the low houses.

“Look at that… could it be a fire?”
“!!”

Ashimi’s face changed color, and he took off running. Luke immediately followed, sprinting at full speed.

When the two arrived at the gate separating the city from the outskirts, they saw the slum engulfed in roaring flames and smoke, on the verge of collapsing.

The slum was a cluster of shabby shacks made from scrap wood. The fire spread like a blaze through dry grass, quickly covering the entire area and becoming an uncontrollable inferno.

“This is… what on earth…?”
“—Gotta be arson.”

Ashimi’s stunned question received an answer from beside him.

An elderly gatekeeper with a troubled expression was approaching. The beggar girl, her face vacant, was being led by the shoulders by him.

Seeing the girl unharmed, Ashimi breathed a sigh of relief, but his brow immediately furrowed at the disturbing words.

“Arson… You mean someone set the fire on purpose? Did you see it happen?”
“No, but the flames erupted simultaneously in several places. All of them were usually uninhabited and had no sources of fire. It can’t be a coincidence.”

Luke approached the old guard.

“Have you contacted the city guards or the fire brigade? We need to extinguish the fire and rescue anyone trapped!”

In response to the boy’s plea, the old man replied calmly.

“Not happening. The slum is beyond the jurisdiction of the city. The people living here are nothing but drifters and demi-humans with no citizenship, let alone rights. The higher ups think it’s no problem if they disappear… so they just leave all these people alone. They might be vigilant to prevent the fire from spreading to the city, but that’s about it.”

With an indescribable expression, the old man lightly pushed Ashimi’s shoulder, releasing the girl, then shuffled off towards the barracks near the gate.

“Leave them alone… Could this fire be related to that eviction talk from yesterday?”

As Ashimi gritted his teeth, recalling his conversation with Bernd from yesterday, the girl, who had been staggering towards him, finally collapsed to the ground in front of him.

“Gramps is still in the fire… even though he has bad legs…” Watching the slum being ravaged by fire and smoke, the girl murmured like a delirium.

“Gah—!” Upon hearing this, Luke immediately attempted to rush into the sea of fire, but Ashimi intervened, using his body to stop him just in time. “Stop it! You’re just heading to your own death!”

“But there might be people who can be saved if I go right now!”
“What can you do alone?! Get a hold of yourself!”

“But—” Luke still attempted to break free, but as his eyes met those of the girl shedding tears while staring at the flames in silence, he suddenly lost all strength, collapsing to his knees. “Why… why am I so powerless…”

Ashimi, too, clenched his lips, but his eyes held a determined glint.

“No, it’s not over yet. There’s still something we can do! If human strength isn’t enough, then we’ll borrow the power of the spirits. Listen, Luke. I will summon rain here! You call upon the wind spirits to gather as many rain clouds as possible!”

“Rain clouds…” Looking up at the cloudless sky, Luke wore a puzzled expression. “That’s impossible. Besides, I’ve never even sensed the presence of wind spirits, let alone mastered wind spirit arts!”

“We ought to try it even if it’s impossible. You only have two choices—do it or don’t. If you choose not to, then take that girl and get away from here.”

Ashimi spoke while removing the lute from his back and tuning it, adopting an uncharacteristically calm tone devoid of tension.

In that moment, Luke also rose to the occasion, ready to act.

“I understand. I’ll do it!”
“Good. I’ll play a song praising the Wind Spirit King, so call forth the wind to match my melody! Let’s do this, Luke!”
“Understood!!”

♦♢♦

In the capital city of Cilento, where not a single cloud had been seen, a sudden gust of wind arose, followed by rain clouds gathering from nowhere, swiftly covering the entire sky. Soon after, large drops of rain poured down on the entire city.

People who hadn’t prepared rain gear panicked and rushed to seek shelter. Despite their complaints about the unexpected rain, it was a different story for the slums outside the city, which were engulfed in flames at the same time. The rain, coming at just the right moment, became a blessing, and the fire, which seemed to have engulfed the entire slum, was relatively quickly brought under control, mostly extinguished in its early stages.

Damage was limited to about one-sixth of the area, and remarkably few casualties occurred. The makeshift shacks that had been homes were expected to return to their original state after a round of repairs.

Simultaneously, it was revealed that the fire had been intentionally set. Those directly involved, related organizations, and the masterminds behind the incident were quickly identified and promptly executed.

Furthermore, it was discovered that the backdrop of the incident was a plan to evacuate the slums. Given these circumstances, the plan underwent significant revisions.

♦♢♦

“What the heck? Young ones these days are so gutless!”

With the first words being a reproach, Ashimi, exhausted and drained, slowly lifted his head from where he had collapsed onto the ground.

“…yo. Still alive, huh?”
“Well, obviously! A tough old dwarf like me wouldn’t just croak in a fire!”

Seeing Bernd laughing heartily, Ashimi, lacking the energy to retort, sighed heavily.

Sitting back to back, Luke seemed to have no strength left, as he was just breathing heavily without even looking in their direction.

“Anyway, Anise mentioned you folks helped us out. So, I guess I owe you a thank you.”
“Anise…?”
“What? You haven’t asked her name?”

Looking to where he pointed, among the victims flipping over the ruins, looters, and onlookers, that girl was singing a song.

At her feet sat a slightly charred wooden bowl.

“…Come to think of it, I didn’t.”
“Hah. You’re a carefree one, aren’t you? But thanks for protecting that girl’s smile. —Thank you.”

With an unexpectedly sincere attitude, Bernd bowed his head.

Seeing Ashimi’s eyes widened in surprise, he smirked and quickly turned on his heel, heading back to the slums.

Watching him leave, Ashimi spoke to his back.

“Did you hear it? And can you hear that song?”
“Yeah… It… It brought me some relief.”

With that, the two fell silent. Anise’s joyous song continued to envelop them, wrapping them in its embrace.

Author’s Note:

As for Luke’s awakening, it was a bit of a rush. He is crying as he realizes his own weakness, because casualties still appeared. Also Jill is expected to appear in the follow-up.