CH 67

Firebird

Translated by SoundOfDestiny

Edited by Zil

In a corner of the town of Ulfin, there was a section of warehouses that were rented out to peddlers who had come from other towns.

After the Empire took over Ulfin, the warehouses were no longer popular, but a group of people were gathering in one of the warehouses.

“I’m not in the mood at all. This back breaking job.”

A man sits on a wooden box in a rented warehouse and grumbles.

He is a middle-aged man with a stubbly beard and a cigarette in his mouth, the white smoke rising to the ceiling.

His superior raises his eyebrows at the sight of the man exhaling purple smoke.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. It is your job to burn, not you to burn up.”

“Ha……what’s the fun in doing all this dirty work?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did you, the fire-eating bird, let your cowardice get the better of you?　You’ve burned  down a lot of towns and fields.”

“Don’t talk about me like I’m a bloodless murderer. I’m just doing what I do best, lighting fires.”

The middle-aged man known as the “fire-eating bird” replies to his boss’s sarcasm by putting out a cigarette.

The people gathered in this rented warehouse were covert operatives sent by King Granard.

Their mission in Ulfin is to set fire to the city just as Raidorl Zain is about to attack it with his army.

The central figure in this operation was the fire-eating bird, a sorcerer who was particularly good at setting fires and burning people.

The Fire-Eating Bird was originally one of the court magicians, and was considered to be the foremost expert in fire magic.

However, an accident during an experiment with a new spell destroyed part of the palace and led to his expulsion from the Court of Magic.

After a series of twists and turns, the Fire Eater became an agent under the king’s direct command, and began to work behind the scenes of the kingdom, specialising in burning down enemy strongholds and fields.

It was inevitable that the fire-eating bird, an expert in flames, would be assigned to this mission, but the man’s face was not happy.

“Just because I like fire doesn’t mean I have to burn everything…….Why should I burn down my own town?”

The fire-eating bird has done a lot of things, including when he was a court magician, but he was never a bloodless villain.

In the past, when he blew up the palace to develop new magic, it was to increase the number of weapons to protect the kingdom of Zain, and when he burned down the stronghold of the enemy, it was to prevent the enemy from entering the homeland.

Although somewhat warped, the Fire-Eating Bird had his own sense of justice and ethics, and drew a clear line between what could and could not be burned.

“This is obviously something that shouldn’t be burned…”

“Anyway, ‘fire-eating bird’. If you’re going to smoke, why don’t you go outside? What if the oil catches fire?” 

In the storage room were ceiling-high crates of oil and firewood, which they had procured locally.

“Who do you think I am? I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

The “Fire Eater” sniffs and puts a new cigarette in his mouth.

As he holds up his forefinger, a small spark is ignited and the tip of the cigarette is lit.

The man who is the captain of the operative unit narrowed his eyes at the “fire-eating bird” who used the superior technology of non-chanting magic in a gesture that was natural.

“…… You’re not being serious are you? Do you realise how important this operation is for the survival of His Majesty Granard?” 

“His Majesty’s future…….”

“If His Royal Highness Raidorl is allowed to live, he will surely do harm to your future. It is the mission of our secret service to prevent this from happening and to protect the future of the kingdom from the shadows. If you are one of them, you should be more aware of this.”

“Okay, Okay……, I’ve got it under control.”

The fire-eating bird chuckled and let out a cloud of purple smoke.

The clandestine head, scowling at the clownish man’s gesture, dismisses the sermon, saying that there is no point in saying anything.

A glance at the captain who is shaking his head in dismay, “Fire Eater” spits purple smoke with depressed emotions.

“In the end, it’s a battle for power. The only people who get caught up in it are the lowlifes like me and the people who don’t know what’s going………Human beings are ugly.The only thing that is beautiful is this flame.”

Under the guidance of the fire-eating birds, fire-starting devices filled with oil and firewood are being placed all over the town.

These devices, placed throughout the town by a sorcerer who knows all about fire, have been perfectly calculated to ensure that the fire will be strong and the smoke will flow in the right direction, so that when the operation starts, half the town will be burned to the ground and many lives will be lost.

When he thinks of the gloomy fact that it is he who has created the devil’s device that has taken the lives of so many innocent people and placed the blame on his innocent brother and sister, his brow naturally creases.

“…….I’m afraid I’m going to have to go outside and smoke.”

The fire-eating bird rises from the crate he has been using as a chair and turns his back on his fellow operatives, ready to leave the warehouse.

But before he could put his hand on the door, it slid sideways and opened from the outside.

“Sorry to disturb you. Incoming Peddler’s party .”

“Huh?!”

Suddenly, the door opened and the “Fire-Eating Bird” jumped back involuntarily.

A man’s silhouette loomed in the backlight as light streamed in through the gap in the side door.

“You can’t come in here without permission. This is a warehouse that we rent.”

The captain of the team, wearing a friendly mask, tries to deal with the intruder.

Behind him, another operative draws a weapon from the door, hidden from view.

“Look, please get out. We’re in the process of taking inventory of merchandise”

“Oh, inventory? I thought you were preparing for some kind of trick, but you’re not. ……?”

“…..Are you sure you’re not confusing me with someone else? We’re just peddlers.”

The captain of the group makes excuses with a hint of caution. As he does so, his eyes gradually adjust to the light from outside, and the face of the person in front of him becomes clearer.

“Oh, ……, we’re dead.”

The first person to notice the identity of the person was the fire-eating bird.

He throws his shortened cigarette on the ground, stomps on it, takes out a new one and sips it.

He then takes out a new cigarette and exhales, savouring it slowly, as if it were his last cigarette.

“No, you’re not wrong. This is the hiding place of a fake peddler who loves to play with fire, isn’t it?”

The man then slammed the door shut behind him, blocking them from escaping.

The man with the jet-black sword hanging from his waist was the target of the plot, Raidorl Zain.