The Wind Calms the Fire - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 14
Carion let out a soft laugh, struck by how pure her smile seemed.
‘Purity.’ Did such a thing even exist in this world?
It was strange—his cynicism remained intact, yet some part of him wanted to believe her words, to trust that there might be another side to things.
Rustle, rustle.
Both of them felt it nearly at the same moment: the presence of someone approaching.
Carion moved first.
He quickly pulled her arm and drew them both into the shadows of a blind spot.
Moments later, three men emerged cautiously into the courtyard. Carion’s eyes narrowed to slits as he watched them.
They were clearly not soldiers from the Military Garrison.
There was no way ordinary soldiers would slip into the Official Residence at this hour.
The only strangers present now were Poema the Governor and his entourage, who had arrived earlier.
The three men glanced about nervously, pointed in a direction with their fingers, and moved quietly that way.
Their destination lay toward the rear exit of the Official Residence.
It was rarely used and situated in an inconspicuous place—impossible to find unless someone had shown them the way.
He lowered his voice and whispered.
“Return to your chambers.”
He was about to follow them when he hesitated.
Lea held fast to his sleeve. “I’m coming with you.”
“I’m coming too.”
“…What?”
Carion was dumbfounded.
“Do you think this is a game?”
“If you’re going to follow them, let me help.”
“Your Highness.”
“If you follow too closely, they might notice. I can trail them from a distance without them knowing a thing.”
Carion studied her for a moment.
This was the woman who had found him even in a burning forest village.
If he left her behind, she would follow regardless—he was certain of it.
“Sigh.”
Why was this woman so reckless and fearless?
He himself was unarmed at the moment, carrying no weapons whatsoever.
He could manage three men on his own, but protecting a woman changed the calculus entirely.
“If things get dangerous, I’ll abandon you and run. I’m quite good at running away.”
It was more convincing than any promise to fight at his side.
In her brightly smiling expression, he sensed an absolute refusal to back down.
When it came to stubbornness, he prided himself on yielding to no one.
Carion ran a hand through his hair and gave a short laugh.
He had indeed met his match.
He exhaled a hollow laugh and spoke with resignation.
“Then let’s go.”
‘Help me,’ she said silently to the spirit.
Lea gave a small wave of her hand as she spoke to it.
A breeze would follow them, showing her the way.
* * *
They slipped through the rear exit of the Official Residence and moved along the desolate back alleys of the Military Garrison.
Before long, Lea had taken the lead, finding the path with ease.
Because she moved forward with such confidence, Carion followed in silence.
The circumstantial evidence that these suspicious men belonged to the Governor’s party was clear enough that he felt no urgency.
If they lost them, they could simply wait for their return and capture them then.
As for why they had slipped away in the dead of night, a skilled interrogator would extract that answer soon enough.
He considered this moment a good opportunity to solve the riddle that was her.
How she had entered the Official Residence when she first appeared, how she had known to come to the forest village last night—these mysteries remained unsolved.
Darkness surrounded them, and the figures they were trailing had already vanished from sight.
Yet she moved forward without hesitation, as though she could see perfectly.
She often paused, standing still briefly, then gestured silently to indicate their direction.
Glimpsing the hem of the men’s clothes flashing ahead from time to time confirmed they were tracking correctly.
‘How?’
Had she somehow fixed invisible eyes upon their backs?
No matter how intently he watched, he could not fathom what trick she was employing.
‘There’s a problem here.’
Even as he marveled at her uncanny abilities, his mind had turned cold and calculating.
Security at the Military Garrison was far too thin.
The direction they were heading held no critical installations requiring vigilant oversight, making that sector relatively exposed by design.
But this complete absence of guards meant someone had deliberately arranged it.
Governor Poema had more than enough authority to buy off soldiers.
Fear of the Commander might run deep, yet he’d soon be gone—while the Governor remained master of this entire region.
What began as a casual pursuit had hardened into genuine suspicion.
Six years of relentless scrutiny had made it common knowledge: the Northern Eastern Region’s Commander was a man of rigid principle.
To compromise the garrison’s security under such a commander’s nose? To bribe his own soldiers?
The Governor would stake his office on it if caught.
What scheme demanded he shoulder such risk?
Lea stopped and spoke.
“They’re heading into the forest.”
The two pursuers had nearly cleared the Military Garrison’s perimeter.
Carion fixed his gaze on the darkness-shrouded woods ahead.
“You should turn back here.”
He glanced back at her as he spoke.
“After coming this far?”
He harbored no illusions that she’d simply obey.
“Even in the forest, can you still track them?”
“Forest or not—anywhere they go, I’ll follow.”
“If it becomes dangerous, don’t advance under any circumstances——”
“I told you not to worry.”
Carion felt a surge of sympathy for her attendants, burdened with this willful princess.
* * *
The Governor’s covert operation consisted of exactly three men.
Their guide began to falter as they neared the destination.
The wildfire had transformed the forest’s landmarks beyond recognition.
Trees charred black stood as skeletal pillars, and the ground—blanketed in ash—gave way beneath every step.
A heavy, acrid stench hung in the humid air, and with each breath came the metallic taste of smoke pressed into the nostrils.
The forest at midnight, devoid even of insect chorus, felt deeply haunted.
“Listen—how much farther?”
“We’re in the right area, but I can’t pinpoint the exact spot. There was a large boulder nearby——”
“A boulder? Isn’t that it over there?”
The guide moved toward where the man pointed, casting about in all directions.
Another man picked up a charred branch and idly thrust it into the ash-covered earth, again and again.
“Wait—there’s something here!”
The other two rushed over at once.
The guide dropped to his knees and clawed at the ground with both hands.
Soon an object emerged from beneath the ash.
A charred Grain Sack stuffed with blackened grain kernels.
All three men’s faces twisted in dismay.
“Damn—what a waste.”
Now that they’d found the exact location, traces of the Smuggling operation kept surfacing.
This operation had been substantial.
A considerable quantity of Weapons was to be exchanged for equally large shipments of Provisions and Medicinal Materials.
All of it had become ash in a single moment.
Three men alone couldn’t clear away or bury the scattered remains.
The man unslung a pack from his shoulder and withdrew an Oil Can.
“Thought my back would snap from the weight.”
He unscrewed the cap and poured its contents broadly over the area where evidence of the Smuggling still lay exposed.
They’d received two explicit orders from the Governor.
Go to the Smuggling site and burn the evidence again.
Though they couldn’t burn metal like Weapons.
Set fires elsewhere to spark a Wildfire, scatter attention, and recover the remaining scrap metal later.
As the man tossed down the empty Oil Can and reached for his Flint to strike a flame——
“Thunk!”
Something flew through the air and struck him hard across the head.
With a dull crack, he staggered and collapsed.
The other two spun around in alarm, eyes darting across the darkness.
Moments later, stones struck their heads with brutal precision, and they crumpled.
One lost consciousness on impact; the other two remained dazed, concussed and drifting.
Then Carion appeared, tossing a stone from palm to palm before catching it.
He’d come without weapons, but that hardly mattered.
In his hands, even a rock became a formidable arm.
Lea, watching from a distance, couldn’t help but admire the sight.
‘His Stone Sling technique is extraordinary. One shot, one man down—in this darkness, no less.’
She crept closer, step by careful step.
‘Doesn’t seem dangerous anymore.’
Carion swept ash aside with his boot, checking the tip of the spear he’d recovered.
He seized the groaning man by the collar and hauled him upright.
“Ugh… w-who… who are you…?”
“Commander-in-Chief.”
“Com…?”
The man’s eyes swam back into focus, and he gasped—a sharp, terrified intake of breath.
“Smuggling Empire weapons right under my nose? You’ve chosen death, haven’t you.”
“Provisions and weapons, sir,” Lea said.
Carion turned his head.
She was already sifting through the scattered remains with a stick, uncovering what the fire had left behind.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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