Leave a comment

And then, two days later, in the middle of the night— Inglis and Rafinha found themselves on the same beach as before. Leone and Liselotte had already drifted off to sleep.

They were indulging in a midnight snack. Feeling a bit peckish, they were catching and grilling fish. Eating grilled fish while gazing at the stars and the night sea offered a tranquil escape.

“…Ahh. I’m getting a little tired of this,” Rafinha murmured, though several fish had already been reduced to bones.

“We’ve been eating nothing but fish lately, haven’t we?”
“Well, after hearing something like that, I can’t stomach the food they serve here…”

Although they could get meals at any time, none of the four felt like eating them. Their main sustenance for the time being was fish caught from the sea. In a way, they were fortunate to be near the sea. Ultimately, they relied on nature’s bounty.

“Should we head back to Charalia for a while?”

Illuminas was still in the process of being restored, so they couldn’t have Rene properly examined yet.

“I don’t know. Rene hasn’t been seen yet…”

Rafinha scooped up Inglis, who was sitting next to her, and placed her on her lap.

“But Special Envoy Theodore probably didn’t expect Illuminas to fall from the sky either, so I don’t think he’ll be upset with us.”
“Yeah, that’s true… I also don’t know what to say to Mais when we see him again.”

Rafinha hugged Inglis tightly, as if clutching a stuffed animal, likely to soothe her various anxieties.

“Yeah, it’s a bit hard to explain.”

Illuminas presented itself as opposed to the enslavement of Midlanders and appeared friendly towards them. However, behind the scenes, unknown to Mais and the general populace, they were covertly gathering people from the surface, turning them into Mana Essence fluid, and creating an advanced city centered around Mana Coats who became the very control core of the city.

If they were to reveal this to Mais, would he believe them? Even if he did, it could drastically alter his worldview. Wouldn’t that be harsh for him as one of the Highlanders?

Considering that, it might be challenging to openly tell the truth. After all, they only heard this from Über, a secondhand source. They haven’t confirmed the Mana Essence fluid manufacturing sites, nor have they verified it with Vilma or Professor Vilkin.

But it’s a topic they can’t delve into carelessly. If they were to mention it, how would these people react? Eris was in the care of Professor Vilkin. Inglis and the others couldn’t afford to make a wrong move.

“An equal relationship between the Midland and the Highland is impossible…is it?”
“That’s what Mr. Über said.”
“Considering Rene… no, Lady Cyrene and Special Envoy Theodore, I thought that wasn’t true… But seeing what Illuminas, Rene’s hometown, is really like… maybe Mr. Über was right?”

“That’s just his perspective. Rani, you should think about it in your own way. Well, the easiest thing is not to think about it at all, though, right?”
“…I don’t want that. It feels irresponsible… I mean, if I don’t think things through, who knows what you might do, Glis.”
“Fair point. I’m your squire. My duty is to follow your lead.”
“…You haven’t given this much thought at all, have you?”
“Yep. As long as I’m with you and can spar with formidable foes, I’m content.”

For Inglis, there was no judgment of right or wrong, no guiding principles or ideologies.

“Really, Glis, you never change. Life should be full of worries… At least try to look serious or get hurt once in a while.”

Rafinha playfully squished Inglis’ cheeks with her fingers.

“Hfahfahfa… (Hahaha…)”

“I think we’ve worked pretty hard, you know? We’ve slain countless magic stone beasts in Ymir, prevented an airship from crashing into the capital, rescued Miss Ripple, thwarted an assassination attempt on His Majesty the King, ventured to Alucard, and even vanquished a Prisma, right?”

“Weff, dah waigt, Dhani (Yeah, that’s right, Rani.)”

“But in the end, even if we thought we worked hard… has anything really changed?”

Rafinha’s voice was soft as she looked up at the starry sky.

“The Prism Flow still descends, and we rely on Artifacts to protect ourselves from the magic stone beasts, right? But to acquire those, we need to offer food from the Midland or even sacrifice human lives… And whether it’s the Three Archdukes’ Party or the Church Founder’s Union, both factions exploit Midlanders or convert them into Mana Essence fluid. In the end, we’re either killed by magic stone beasts or by the Highlanders. Even if Charalia bans human trafficking to the Highland, it’s a normal thing in Venefique. As long as there are people like Über who willingly sell surface dwellers, nothing will change…”

Rafinha’s hand slipped from Inglis’ cheek and wrapped around her in a tight hug. She seemed emotional; Inglis could feel her voice and body trembling.

“…However, if every country and person on the Midland stopped selling people to the Highlands, the Highlanders wouldn’t be able to sustain themselves. That would likely lead them to start hunting people, and if we tried to stop that, it would mean war with the Highlands.”

Inglis personally wouldn’t find that so undesirable.

“Yeah. In the end, many people would still perish, and we’d just end up not obtaining any Artifacts, making things more difficult… And even if we won and seized all the technology for manufacturing Artifacts for ourselves, that would mean sacrificing people like Mais and the others…”
“Which is exactly what the Ironblood Chain Brigade is trying to do.”

Their anti-Highland, anti-Highlanders activities were aimed at that very goal.