A town burned.
Everything that made it recognizable was devoured, engulfed by the flames" tongues.
Until recently, it was known as Elpis"s upper residential area, inhabited by only those who were especially wealthy even among citizens of the affluent Mercantile Federation.
As they watched, the many gardens of the rich went up in smoke, one after another. Their mansions joined their gardens, colors of white, red, or blue all fading to the same ashy black as the buildings lost their shape and crumbled. What was once an avenue lined with evergreen trees had transformed into a path of light illuminated by a series of gigantic torches.
"…No way."
In a corner of the plaza, away from any sparks dancing errantly away from the fire, a small, pet.i.te figure wearing a hood powerlessly flopped down onto their knees.
"No way… this can"t be real, can it?"
The person stared straight into the center of the fire, ignoring how its blinding light burned into their eyes. Dazedly, without a single twinkle in their dull eyes, they stared at what was being lost. As they watched, the flames began to encroach onto the plaza with tremendous force.
A Beast had been released on this Floating Island.
It was the Materno, Smothering and Enveloping Fifth Beast. A ma.s.s of high-viscosity liquid that should have been incapable of locomotion through its own power, it regardless – if slowly – moved around. Any and all living things it touched were melted, as if immersed in strong acid.
However, it was somewhere else, considerably far away from this place, and it never moved very speedily. It would likely devour the town eventually, but such a scenario wouldn"t occur for a while. There was time left.
"Hey, move it!"
A Beastman shoved aside the hooded figure, huge bundles of luggage slung across his back. The figure cried out as they crashed onto the stone pavement, their finely-made cloak quickly becoming dirtied by soot and mud.
A great deal of people were running around. With almost no exceptions, their eyes were bloodshot with fear. Incomprehensible words of prayer, a.s.sorted names, and screams flooded from their mouths. Some carried baggage, and others didn"t. They shoved and pushed their way through others, always trying to get even one step ahead of someone else so that they might get to the port, to the airships, and off the Floating Island.
It is common knowledge to everyone who lived in the sky that the Seventeen Beasts cannot fly. As long as they could get into the air, the Materno would not reach them.
The mob, turned into a stampede by the chaos and excitement, didn"t bother to notice what was laying under their feet. Over and over again, that small figure was kicked around like a ball, their cries swallowed up by the sounds of footsteps and angry voices.
Eventually, the number of people shrank, driven away by the ever-approaching flames, until at last they were gone from the plaza.
In their wake was the small figure, who had by now become something resembling a dirty bundle of rags. With their hands and feet planted onto the pavement, they trembled with effort to raise up their body. The hood of their cloak had been torn apart, exposing their real face.
It was the face of a child.
On her head, black triangular ears. On her cheeks, three pairs of long, thin whiskers. In families carrying mixed Beastman blood, a rarity in itself, there were cases where children might be born with small features such as these on their bodies.
The child looked up again, her gla.s.sy eyes fixed on a point beyond the flames, towards the spot where her everyday life had existed until just the other day.
"…Hey! Are you alright?!"
A Borgle wearing fireproof clothes came running up to the girl, scooping her up as if she really was the bundle of rags she resembled.
"Sorry, but I"m gonna have to touch you for a bit." He awkwardly patted down the child"s body from the top of what had been her cloak as she grimaced and let out a small, pained scream. The Borgle"s face grew grim as he realized how bad her condition was. Feeling her soft, limp body, he judged that she had bones broken all over. The girl was in critical condition, and without a doubt would die unless she was given treatment immediately.
"Please… let go…" The girl batted at the Borgle"s arm helplessly, trying to push him away.
"H-hey!"
"Need t"go… I know, it"s impossible… but still…"
"Hey, don"t go pushing yourself! That area"s already done for! You shouldn"t get too close!"
"It"s impossible… but gotta… be there…"
She stood up. Despite her wobbliness, she started to walk, towards the growing fire. "Cuz… today"s the day… I"m supposed t"meet… him…"
The girl quickly reached her limit. Her knees folded under her, and she crumbled down onto her left shoulder. "Got to… meet n"… say sorry…"
"Geez, I told you to not push yourself!" The Borgle picked up the girl again. He didn"t know whether it had been pain, fatigue, something else, or all of it combined, but she had fainted. He clicked his tongue, wrapping her up in his fireproof clothes.
Of course, he"d already noticed. The Beast was still far away from this town. Naturally, that meant the fire burning it down now had no direct relation to the Beast"s attack. That said, judging by how quickly the flames had grown and surrounded the town, it couldn"t be considered a mere accident.
Without a doubt, the fire had been ignited by a person. Someone had caused this, with only malicious intentions in mind.
The upper residential area had been a town of the highly affluent. A non-insignificant amount of people wouldn"t have looked too kindly upon those who lived there. Someone in a group of that sort probably threw a torch somewhere with shortsighted logic like, "Everything will disappear and be devoured by the Beasts anyway, so it"s just the difference between whether it"s sooner or later!" It was unfortunate, but the town was probably also the sort of place to easily attract such sentiments.
The Borgle hacked out a harsh groan as he placed the critically injured child on his back. "Still, just thinking about the kind of person who"d set all this on fire makes me want to puke."
"Feo…dor…" Still unconscious, the girl shifted and murmured someone"s name in her delirium. "…"m sorry… saying… such selfish things… gonna apologize, so… so, please…"
The Borgle lowered his head, trying his best to not hear the words directed towards someone who wasn"t here anymore.
He readjusted the child"s position on his back, then started back towards the port.