The Letters Exchanged

The water giant advanced toward the lord's manor.

Its steps were slow, but each stride covered a great distance.

It was truly a sight of godlike majesty.

The ground shook with every step.

The residents followed at a safe distance, chattering among themselves.

"Think it'll just crash right in?"

"Probably."

Once the water giant drew close enough to the lord's manor, Baron Aarg noticed it and came out with several mages in tow.

He frantically ordered the mages to attack.

The mages launched spells at the water giant.

Spells of various elements slammed into it, but given the sheer mass of the water giant, the attacks had almost no effect.

They couldn't even slow its stride.

Then the water giant arrived at the manor and raised its left hand high toward the sky.

An unmistakable wind-up.

The people in the manor hurriedly evacuated.

Baron Aarg and his men retreated while desperately continuing their resistance.

The water giant's left hand slammed down on a building to the left of the manor.

After a thunderous crash of impact, a second explosion-like sound followed as steam billowed from the spot.

Apparently, the water giant had struck the smithing shed.

They must have been running the forge at full blast.

"Ah, of course. That's where they were burning the Elemental Stone."

"… Just as I thought. It was in there."

The water giant was gripping something in its left hand.

It raised the object up, then opened its palm.

In its palm sat a sphere of water.

The sphere slowly sank into the water giant's body.

"Hey, Azu."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Did it get bigger?"

"It did."

It felt too surreal, so I asked Azu to confirm, but the water giant really had grown larger.

The water giant must have grown too heavy. Its center of gravity shifted forward, and it toppled.

The direction it fell was… the lord's manor.

The water giant crushed the manor beneath its colossal body as it collapsed to the ground.

Then its humanoid shape disintegrated, returning to water.

That water spread rapidly in every direction.

"The water's coming this way!"

Someone shouted.

Baron Aarg and his men were hit head-on and swept aside.

The water was headed our way too.

We tried to get clear, but the crowd made it hard to move.

The water rushed in with force.

"Don't worry."

When Alexia said that, the water parted around people.

Everyone, us included, stood dumbfounded at the sight.

The water flowed past toward the parched earth beyond, soaking into the ground.

At some point, the rain had stopped.

"What just happened?"

"Beats me…"

The residents couldn't keep up with the sudden turn of events.

Amidst all this, Baron Aarg and his men, who had been swept away, got to their feet and headed toward us.

"What is the meaning of this!"

He shouted angrily, but soaking wet as he was, there was no dignity left.

"What was that thing? Explain yourselves!"

He grabbed a male resident by the collar.

The terrified man hurriedly explained, and Baron Aarg released him with a scowl.

"You there, the hooded woman! Was this your doing!?"

"Oh my, I merely spoke with the officials to make it rain."

"And the rain turned into that, did it not?"

"Do you really think a human being could have caused something like that?"

Alexia must have been holding in her frustrations.

Or perhaps she'd simply assessed which side held the advantage in this situation.

"What are you getting at?"

"I'm saying that capturing a Water Elemental is beyond human hands."

The crowd stirred.

Fertile land and abundant water — that was what had sustained this city.

I'd heard over the past few days that the residents knew the Water Elementals well, and that some even worshipped them.

The commotion grew louder.

Baron Aarg tried to continue but faltered at the sight of the crowd.

He finally managed to squeeze out some words.

"What evidence do you have?"

"Everything you just witnessed."

"Guh… Enough! Just who are you anyway? Take off that hood!"

I looked at Alexia.

She nodded toward me.

So she was prepared to reveal her identity.

Alexia removed her hood.

As she revealed her face, a Water Elemental floated up beside her.

The murmuring grew louder.

"Isn't that… Lady Alexia?"

"No mistake. She's alive."

"What's she doing here…?"

Not all the voices were welcoming, but no one openly condemned Alexia.

Baron Aarg seemed stunned to realize the person before him was the former lord's daughter.

"Alexia… Alexia Buvardia!? What business does the daughter of a defeated lord have coming here?"

"What business? I came to sell Elemental Stones. Then I saw the city in this condition, and when I wondered about it, the Water Elemental told me everything. Also, my family is gone, so just Alexia is fine."

"Guh, even so, sticking your nose where it doesn't belong!"

That's right, Baron Aarg was the one who invited us in.

What happens from here?

If he tried to capture us, the residents would resist. But if he forced it, we'd have no choice but to flee by any means necessary.

Then the man who had introduced himself as Carolus before slowly walked over.

"Well, things are lively here."

"Carolus-dono, I'm glad to see you're safe."

"Indeed. By the way, Baron Aarg, don't you think you have more pressing matters?"

"I'm in the middle of an important conversation right now… What is that?"

Carolus was holding what appeared to be a letter.

"Well, this is quite bad. I took a look at the correspondence between you and the count, and it's quite excessive. Capturing a Water Elemental and turning it into an Elemental Stone in exchange for creating a drought?"

"Wha… Impossible. That should have been locked in my safe. Don't tell me you opened it!?"

"Sacrificing an entire city, now that's a major problem. Your superior, the count, will be implicated as well. You'd better hurry back home."

Baron Aarg's face went white before our eyes.

Alexia folded her arms and fixed Baron Aarg with a stare, then murmured a single line.

"So, what will you do now?"

"O-one letter won't—"

"Can you still say that after looking around you?"

The residents were watching Baron Aarg.

"This is… no, you're wrong. It's a misunderstanding. If you do anything to me, it's rebellion against the Empire!"

He said while backing away.

"That's what I was trying to tell you. You don't have time for this."

Carolus muttered while watching Baron Aarg.

"Guh… Fine! We're going!"

Baron Aarg left the scene.