Page 120

The list of issues that Anlesa was currently dealing with would be long, and the portion of those that related to Arisea Station would make up a good portion of the list, a chunk of those added within the last ten minutes.

“Ash.” Syrus simply said Ash’s name.

“Syrus! It is an emergency.”

“Oh really?” Syrus said very sarcastically.

[What are you–] (Eva)

[Everyone is an enemy unless proven otherwise.] (Syrus)

“Yes, we need your help on the north side of the city,” Ash explained. “Another beast has appeared; the hunters are holding it off; it’s the last one left.”

Syrus nodded. “I understand. Everything must’ve been difficult. Okay, show me where you are injured. I have some potions.”

“Okay.” Ash smiled and moved closer, one hand pulling up her shirt while the other moved closer to Syrus.

“Ugh!”

Syrus punched Ash right in the stomach and grabbed her outstretched arm as she fell to the ground.

[...This disgusting feeling.] (Syrus)

[Syrus… please tell me what is going on?!] Eva was beginning to panic.

It was obvious something was wrong with the city. How does a city under attack switch to one of dead silence with no one around in less than three hours?

The unknowns of the situation caused Eva to worry immensely.

[I… have never read anything like this…] (Luna)

Before Syrus answered anything.

“Argh…” Ash groaned.

“You up?”

“Syrus?” Ash grumbled as if Syrus was the last person she wanted to see right now.

“You feeling better?”

“Better? Do you know how much of a rush I’ve been trying to organise myself, get supplies, and–” Ash paused, noticing where she was and the quietness of the streets.

“Oh god… what…” She slowly stood up and looked around at the peaceful city.

Syrus asked. “Ash, do you know where everyone is?”

[Syrus, can you go easier on her?] (Eva)

[No.] (Syrus)

“I…”

Luna amended. “The last thing you remember would also suffice.”

Ash chose to pick the latter option. “It… was when the celebration started.”

Ash began to explain that after intense battles, the hunters and guards managed to slay and/or drive off the remaining mutated beasts. The elephant’s corpse was supposedly still near the western edge. Then after that… Ash wasn’t exactly sure what happened.

Civilians were still being kept in the evacuation areas for safety, and the hunters were trying to quickly move all the animal bodies into an area for dismantlement and move the human ones elsewhere so they would be properly buried.

Then a quiet song occurred across the city, and everything kind of faded.

Ash remembered moving towards somewhere.

“I… think I was near a bunch of other people… doing nothing?” Ash grabbed her head. “I was midway through providing treatment to someone when it happened.”

“I see.” Syrus nodded.

[Luna, do you think the church could have sent all those mutated animals to the city without some sort of support?] (Syrus)

[Umm, I mean, it is possible… Though even from my lack of knowledge of the church’s full capabilities, I still think sending a whole herd of mutated beasts seems nearly impossible… So let me rephrase, I am unsure if the church could do this.] (Luna)

[...How so?] Eva wanted to know how Syrus’ question related to their current predicament. She had ideas, but she didn’t want to guess right now; she needed answers.

[In simple terms, there is no way you can send a whole horde of mutated animals in a direction without having them fight and kill each other first.] Syrus explained. [Those beast’s eyes were filled with hunger and rage, common emotions for a mutated animal to be stuck in, but every single one we saw held the same eyes. Mutated animals have many things wrong with them, that is for sure, and attacking others' onsight is to be expected, but the instinctual reason why they attack varies. It could be that they see you in their territory, which is everything, they could see you as a threat, which is everything, they could see you as food, but even with all those similarities, there are some differences.] (Syrus)

[Okay..?] (Eva)

[Someone controlled them. Likely they had a person put them all asleep, then woke them up with the express person to attack the city. Could be a few different people or the same one, I don’t know.] (Syrus)

[But how..?] (Eva)

That was still the big question. Eva didn’t know if it was some magic or attribute she never heard about, and if it was, how could it affect people along with the monsters? If so, why not start with that?

[Well, Luna, did you know any attributes that can influence people or creatures?] (Syrus)

[Nothing on this level…] Luna said. When it came to affecting humans to a result like the guard or Ash, nothing came to mind, but there were a number that did have some mental effect. [When it comes to specific effects. There are the emotional and feeling attributes, that can cause said feelings to be intensified or weakened in the user or others–Joy, Hunger, Ferocity, Joy, Lust, Sadness. The exact details are uncertain, as nearly every written record has some differences. Manipulation has also been described as being able to influence emotions, but considering that attribute is more common compared to the others I’ve mentioned, it has been tested and that theory has not been proven.]

The emotional attributes were on the much rarer side of attributes. They were in the same special tier as Manipulation and Space. While these attributes were all labelled as rare, there was no similarity in the frequency of when these attributes appeared.

[Did you expect this from the start, Syrus?] (Luna)

[No, I did not.] Syrus honestly wished she had, as maybe staying within the city would’ve been the better choice. [Only now, seeing the city like this, am I trying to connect the dots with what I remember from earlier.]

Syrus patted Ash’s shoulder and helped her up. “That’s enough.”

Anlesa looked around the city; it was quiet—not a single argument, not a single scream, not a single cheer over a beer. It wasn’t anything but peaceful.

“W–what do I do now?” Ash asked. The fact she couldn’t remember the last hour was stressing her out.

“You can either stay by my side or hide in your shop.”

Ash didn’t know what sounded safer. Knowing the little she knew about Syrus, she understood that Syrus was about to head straight first into trouble, but what if something tried to control her again while separated?

“Let’s just head towards your shop; I need to pick up something from my house anyway.”

Syrus let Ash use her shoulder as support as they walked.

[Syrus…] Luna asked, [I need to ask. What do you mean you recognised the feeling?]

[I once met someone who possessed a similar feeling mana.] (Syrus)