Neri! Neri!"
The construction of the great wall was rushed and because of that, a part of the foundation which was not yet reinforced had collapsed during the rain. Thus, there were several innocent people who got involved in the accident.
~ Plau! Is that you?
"Sis, Neri is! Neri is!"
On the actual scene of the incident, workers of the construction project and injured people who were trapped under the collapsed wall were all currently being rescued. Fortunately there weren’t any dead yet.
~~ Dammed it's useless, this is impossible unless one is skilled in water arts.
"Why didn't you save Neri? Quickly, get a water Doctor here."
~ To call a doctor for an [Artless] pet, it's something which bends the rules.
"Neri is family person! Family's friend person!"
~~Plau.....we have no choice, Neri is an [Artless]
~~It would be better to let him rest sooner.
~~Missy is such a poor thing, it can't be helped as she is a [Artless]
~~Plau is a good kid right? So please bid farewell to Neri here, alright?
"Neri......"
As the rain poured down and battered on the walls, an [Artless] was trapped under the rubbles of the accident. The blood of the person who she had spent all her time with, Neri's blood could be seen, as though her life was flowing away together along with the blood, the young girl was lost at what she could do and was just staring while crying.
"......Ng"
Within the walls, inside a room of the fortress, the sound of the rain battering the cobblestone could be faintly heard. Listlessly lying down and getting up, a sorrowful dream a memory that she had embraced. Plausha awoke from her bed with a single stretch.
"Today, I have to go over to where the Head Instructor is ....."
After washing up, she put on her water troupe uniform while biting a piece of bun and dried fruit in her mouth. She then left her room within the barracks compartment.
------
Near the borders of Fonclanc and Blue Garden, it's been the 4th day since the appearance of Deernook Fortress. The heavy rain from the previous day had caused the dried earth of Kaltcio to moisten. This was a blessing to Paula, who is currently experiencing a severe water shortage.
The rain continued pouring on for 3 days, and yet again, the wind arts corps are monitoring the shadows that are on the walls of the fortress as it was their scouting mission. Due to the massive appearance of Deernook Fortress, the soldiers who had nothing to do had gathered together in the recreational area where Yuusuke had made a game to pass the time.
The outside of the turntable was red, green, yellow, green, black, white mass. The idea was to let the ball go into ditches in the surrounding area.The ball would be dropped on the spinning round turntable, and the ball would roll downwards due to it's mass and momentum. Numbers of magnification is written on the side of the table, and the player has to choose the expected color in which the ball will drop in the ditches by placing their bets. The name of the game is [Kaltcio.Roulette]
"Yesss! Double Red came!"
"Ahhh~~~~~~~ just one more and ~~~!"
Unlike the usual gambling bills that they played, this was a higher form of gambling. It became a very popular game as the soldiers were currently starving of entertainment.
"After I created the Pachinko, everyone got confusedly hooked onto it....I didn't knew it would turn out like this."(Yuusuke)
"Captain, is this okay? This...."(Aisha)
Aisha who unreservedly questioned about the current gambling game as she raised her eyebrows wryly. Yuusuke replied with "It should be okay unless they take it too far", while preaching the need for a relief. Incidentally, the highest in command within this fortress is Yuusuke who is the captain of the Royal Knights, while the 2nd in command is Hivodir, the team commander for the god corps.
And that 2nd in command is currently standing in front of the roulette table. He was standing there, promising a treat to his underlings while borrowing gambling bills from them, though most likely he wouldn't keep his promise.
"So close! Let's start the next round, I'll win everything back."(Reifold)
"Commander, that's the 3rd round already right?"
And that’s how Deernook Fortress/became a gambling den.
------
Within the fortress of Paula, an empty room that was lined up with the great wall was renovated into the [Water Mirror HQ]. Zeshald, with the organization, was currently endeavoring to slowly integrate the system of Cofta, which the reigning Queen used, into the activities of Paula.
He started by overturning the plain and simple daily common sense of Paula. In order to confirm whether there was any visible changes, he made use of the [Artless] activities. In the alleys of Paula, where large gatherings of [Artless] hung out, most of them had been converted into the Queen's property and were wearing bracelets marking them as slaves.
Those who are the Queen's property were dressed neatly and proper meals were given to them. They are also not allowed to cause unneeded violence.
In terms of sex, one should not force another without the consent of the other. A compulsory medical examination must be conducted accurately by the use of water arts, and most importantly, [Artless] should all be treated equally as though they are dealing with a normal person.
Although at the beginning there seemed to be confusion from both sides, the assignment became much smoother after an elderly who came from Cofta stepped up..
"It'll soon be noon, Plausha will you go out for lunch too?"(Zeshald)
"Ah, yes"(Plausha)
Within the Water Mirror HQ, there was a group of alternation escort officers from the God Militia around Zeshald, as they were here to keep a lookout of any wary assassination attempts towards Zeshald. Amongst them, Plausha held a very special position and was relatively close to him.
Plausha was a collection from the water troupe provisional members, she was recruited during the restructuring of the forces whereby talented personnel were being secured from the god militias.
Originally, she as Zeshald's disciple wanted to joined the water troupe. As she was once a provisional member of the elite team, her being around Zeshald didn't seem to be unnatural or uncomfortable in anyway, thus there wasn't any suspicion of her being a spy from Izapnar's camp.
While having lunch in the HQ simple and long table, Plausha was nervous as she was wondering what kind of information she should report to Izapnar. For the past few days, in spite of being in the vicinity of Zeshald, nothing serious was being talked about and she only heard some silly jokes.
Due to being busy with activities from the organization, she could not ask for divine arts guidance, and it would seem unnatural if she were to inquire about the different things of the organization. At this rate, she was getting impatient by the topic of tomorrow’s weather and the passing of time.
"Ahh.......just as I thought, I am not suitable for this."(Plausha)
"What's wrong?"(Zeshald)
Plausha was sighing as she had nothing to do. That made Zeshald worried about her and he asked Plausha if there was something wrong.
"Er, erm.... I heard that a fortress had suddenly been built at the border."(Plausha)
"Hmmm, it's about Deer North Fortress right? There is no need to worry about them coming over and attacking for the time being though."(Zeshald)
"So it's like that? Oh.....but, I heard that the Darkness God Corps are stationed at that Fortress...."(Plausha)
"What, even if that guy likes to fight, he will not move unless something happens. Wouldn't it be better if everyone kept quiet?"(Zeshald)
Zeshald was chewing on his vegetables while speaking about it. After hearing the Hero of Gearhawk being mentioned, Plausha began to suffer from the complicated feelings she had, but she buried them deep into her sea of thoughts in order for Zeshald to not to become aware of her unnatural behavior from his words.
The Water Mirror members who were attached closely to Zeshald were not very suspicious about Plausha, although she had said to be a provisional member of the elite team, they still identify her as an immature girl. As Plausha is a strengthening type water arts user, she doesn't seem to have any attacks to be of threat.
However, Zeshald on the other hand was informed by Reifold who had informed him that Plausha was a spy planted by Izapnar to extract information from him. There was a hidden message within the previous sentence "the darkness corps will not move unless something happens" .
"That said, I don't think that Izapnar will step down quietly without giving a fight."
Today yet again, those who caught glimpses of the current Queen’s entourage who was once the divine instructor and his disciple having a meal, felt like a harmonious scene of a grandpa and his granddaughter. But in fact, under the surface of the seemingly calm water, a quiet battle of authority and symbolism was being waged.