"Harold! Please, someone save him! Let go! My son is still in there!" The woman struggled to break free, but it was no use. The others could only watch in sorrow.
"Harold? Is he a magician?" Peony hurried over, frowning.
Catching their attention, the woman rushed forward through her tears. "Yes! Please save him!"
One of the townspeople approached, looking frightened but desperate. "Are you strong, miss?! Her son relies on magical instruments to stay alive. He's a magician too."
A magician who needs artifacts to live? No wonder. Peony nodded. "Wait right here. These flowers consume mana to survive. I'll go get him."
"B-but, the artifacts—!"
"It'll be okay," she replied calmly. "I'm a certified healer and physician."
With that, she ran into the flower-choked house. Taking a deep breath, she released her mana. Her heart ached as she watched the flowers wither, and she quickly searched each room until she found one entirely overrun—corner to corner—with blossoms. A mound of flowers had formed in the center.
She quickly dispelled the flowers and checked the boy's pulse. It was faint and weak. Was he always like this? His lips were pale, but his cheeks were flushed. Why is his pulse so strange? Is it the flowers? But there were so many on top of him...
"Wait. Don't tell me..." she gasped as realization struck.
Shoving the thought to the back of her mind, she quickly began acupuncture before freeing him from the mana-draining artifacts buried under the flowers. Slinging the boy over her back, she dashed out of the house.
"Harold!"
The mother rushed forward and embraced her son tightly.
The elderly woman from earlier hurried over, worried. "Is everyone okay?"
"Yes," Peony nodded, then looked toward the boy. "However, he needs treatment immediately."
As she began checking his pulse, his mother hesitated. "He's always been frail since birth. The doctors weren't sure why, but they assumed it was due to his mana as a magician. He's used magical artifacts his whole life!"
"Was he unusually quiet and flushed as an infant?" Peony asked.
"Y-Yes! H-how did you know?"
"Magicians are normally born with a small amount of mana—roughly equivalent to that of an average adult magician. As they grow, their mana increases, and their mana pool expands accordingly," Peony explained as she opened her medical kit and pulled out a needle. "However, your child must've been born with a massive amount of mana. When I entered that room, the flowers were piling over him unnaturally. Judging by his condition, I understand now why he has so many artifacts attached to him."
She continued, "He's like a water balloon. When you fill a balloon with more water than it can hold, it bursts. To prevent that, he's been connected to machines that draw out excess mana. But none of them corrected the actual mana flow. If this continues, a day will come when those artifacts won't be able to help him anymore."
She quietly inserted a needle into the center of his chest.
After adding two more, they saw the boy's lips regain color, and the angry red of his cheeks cooled to a healthy flush.
Peony exhaled deeply and removed the needles. "That should do it."
"What did you do?" one of the adults asked in astonishment. "I've never seen him look like this before!"
"Using magic and acupuncture, I removed the blockage trapping his mana. Make sure he doesn't use magic for now," she said, standing and sending the needles off to be sanitized. "I need to head to City Hall. Something's happened there, too. Sylph..."
A wind fairy appeared as Peony instructed, "Take these people somewhere safe."
She turned to the townspeople. "We've already sent a team to ring the bell. Once it tolls, it'll cause the flowers to wither from mana overload—just like overwatering a plant makes it wilt. So wait for the bell before returning. I'll send help as soon as I can."
From afar, Trein observed with surprise as Peony hurried off. "Despite her fondness for flowers, she dove straight into danger to save a life. Who was she referring to when she mentioned 'wolves'?"
"It would be the other cultivators," the sylph replied. "Those humans are far crueler than most. We fairies are fortunate the princess protects us from them. Whenever they appear, she becomes relentless in our defense. Right now, the human leaders here have been slaughtered, and the fairies kidnapped. I've never seen her so angry."
"She must see the fairies as her kin," Trein nodded, glancing at the survivors. "She's far more than she claims to be. If the 'wolves' are those men from earlier, we must proceed with evacuation swiftly."
He approached the group hurriedly. "Is everyone unharmed?"
"You're…!" one of the adults exclaimed. "You're one of the chaperones from Night Raven College!"
"Night Raven College?"
"You know, the ones who set off the fireworks earlier during the festival?"
"Ohhh."
Trein turned to the child. "Is he unharmed?"
"Yes," the mother replied, visibly relieved. "That kind healer just now saved his life!"
"Healer…" Trein murmured. "What can't she do? For now, let's get everyone to the underground passageways."
"You know about them too?" one of them asked, surprised.
He nodded. "Long story short, my late wife and I discovered the entrances during one of our outings. I'd say now is a good time to put that knowledge to use."
"It is," an elderly person agreed. "Come. Let's hurry to the underground passage."
"I'll search for other refugees," Trein added.
As they moved, he hesitated. "Will they be safe?"
"If you're worried about the bad humans, these people will be fine," the sylph assured him. "Her Highness is extremely cautious with the safety of the weak—and very few are stronger than her."
"I see." Trein glanced toward the distant tower. "I hope they ring that bell soon..."
Meanwhile, in the winding corridors, the Diasomnia group, along with Azul and Idia, hurried into the lecture hall where they had first encountered the flowers and Rollo. Flowers had already overtaken the first floor, so they quickly made for the second, where there was still space to run. According to Peony's memories, this shortcut would lead them to the bell tower.
Looking back, Silver exhaled in relief. "Thanks to Rook and Deuce, we made it to the second floor safely."
The flowers had nearly caught them countless times. Though they fought hard, Rook, Deuce, Ruggie, and Jamil stayed behind to buy them time—an act that left a bitter taste for some.
"We should be close to the bell tower door," Malleus reminded them. "Keep your distance from the firelotuses while we search. We don't want them detecting our magic."
"This is like a disaster movie," Idia groaned. "We're losing people one by one. Maybe I should've just stayed behind with Deuce and Rook..."
"EVEN NOW YOU COMPLAIN?!" Sebek yelled. "You mock their sacrifice after they spared you from their fate?!"
"Hey, keep your voice down," Silver warned.
"Don't tell me to be quiet, Silver! People who do nothing but complain really get my goat!" Sebek snapped.
"Why should I care if your goat's gotten or not? Literally all of my wut?" Idia rolled his eyes. "You think disliking something automatically makes you right? What kind of diet grows an ego that bloated? If I could solve that mystery, I'd present a paper on it."
"Grrr!!!" Sebek growled. "Every word out of your mouth grates on my nerves! Is mockery all you can do?!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Can't think of a counterargument, so you go straight to violence? Yikes, Diasomnia's intense. Definitely steering clear of you guys."
Malleus sighed. "What a childish quarrel."
"What part of 'we need to be cautious' don't you boys understand?" Azul interjected. "Firelotuses aren't drawn to noise, but if we keep bickering, we'll miss the bell tower door—or worse."
"Azul's right," Silver agreed. "Calm down, Sebek."
"Indeed. One can hardly blame the weak for being afraid during such a dire situation," Malleus said solemnly.
Sebek grumbled but nodded. "Rgh... Yes, sir. If that's what my liege wishes."
"I'm not afraid, exactly..." Idia muttered.
"Idia, give it a rest. No, actually—give rest to the idea of giving it a rest," Azul said, shaking his head with visible disappointment. "If you're going to collapse, at least do it somewhere useful. I'd prefer you fed the flowers, not us."
"Whatever, Azul. Your stamina's just as bad as mine."
"It's not that I lack stamina. I simply move worse on land than humans," Azul defended, wobbling on shaky legs.
"Ooh, must be nice. Perfect excuse for times like these!"
"Getting catty now? Careful—I give as good as I take."
"You trolled me first. And I'd wreck you in a real debate."
"Guys!" Silver cut between them, forcibly pushing the two apart. "Can we please quiet down? We're all on edge. Look at Malleus—he's been calm this whole time. I'm sure he's focused on getting to the tower."
"Oh yes… focused on moving forward..." Malleus nodded, eyes dark. "...And illustrating to Flamme just how grave a mistake it was to issue me a false invitation. It's consumed my every thought."
"Really...?" Silver muttered sadly.
"Gracious, he's really not letting that go," Azul said under his breath.
"He's way more peeved than the rest of us," Idia added.
"Malleus is losing patience. We must make haste!" Sebek announced.
"...Good idea," Azul agreed reluctantly.
"Yeah. Last thing I need is him taking it out on me," Idia shivered.
"Considering how close we are to the bell tower, one of these doors must be it," Silver said, trying one, only to find it locked.
"Hmm… they all seem to be locked," Malleus noted, testing the others.
"Allow me, my liege. I shall break down a door and see what lies beyond!" Sebek declared, kicking one open. "HRAH!"