"Huff! Hah! Haaah! Damn it, this is bloody exhausting. Cursed hill! Damned hill!"
Roper was panting heavily, his ragged breaths mixed with curses as sweat poured off him like rain. The bandage wrapped around his head was soaked with sweat, and his shirt was darkened by it. Wiping the sweat dripping from his neck and chin, Roper ran toward the column of black smoke rising from the hill in the distance.
"Gallad, whose houses are up there?"
"Aket, Roti, Rant, and… Rinolda's houses."
"Hah! Just a bunch of similar bastards living together! Even if one of their houses is on fire, I'm not sure my arms would bother lifting a bucket of water to put it out. Huff… hah…"
"Don't be too harsh, Roper. They're all part of the farmstead family we work with. We haven't even seen whose house is burning yet…"
Gallad spoke as he pushed the panting Roper's back to help him climb the hill.
"Then what's that smoke? You think they're roasting some meat? If that much smoke is coming from roasting, they'd need ten pigs on the fire!"
"Let's hurry and find out whether they're roasting pigs or someone's house is burning."
As the two exchanged words and climbed the hill, the source of the smoke came into view.
Just as Gallad and Roper had rushed toward the column of black smoke, others from the farmstead had also gathered at the site. Flames were dancing in the wind, consuming a wooden house. Some people were already running with large wooden buckets filled with water, splashing it onto the burning house.
"What's going on?! Why's there a fire?!"
Roper shouted as he ran toward the crowd trying to extinguish the flames.
"I don't know! I just saw the black smoke and came running!"
"Roper! Help with this! Wait—are you hurt?"
A lean man with brown hair approached, carrying two long poles, and handed one to Roper.
"It's nothing. Let's put out that fire first, then we'll talk. What do I do with this?"
The pole Roper received had a large hook at the end—a tool used to harvest fruit from tall trees in the farmstead.
"Use it to pull down the burning parts. It'll stop the fire from spreading, and smaller flames on the fallen wood are easier to put out. Ready?"
"Yeah! Let's do this!"
Roper slung the pole over his shoulder and charged toward the house, where fierce flames were surging.
The man who'd gone ahead signaled to others holding hooked poles, gathering them to his position.
The growing flames were swallowing the wooden house. Roper and the men with hooked poles tore down the burning walls, while Gallad and others tirelessly ran up and down the hill, fetching water from the lake below to douse the raging fire.
"Who the hell did this?!"
Amid the frantic efforts to extinguish the fire, Rant's voice rang out.
"What? This is your house, Rant?"
Roper wiped the black soot from his face with the back of his hand.
"Roper! You! It was you, wasn't it?! You set my house on fire!"
As soon as Rant saw Roper, he charged, grabbing his collar with both hands and shouting in fury.
"Hmph! Look at this guy, accusing the one trying to save his burning house…"
Before finishing his sentence, Roper swiftly lowered his head, slamming it into Rant with a thud, breaking free of his grip.
"Ughhh…"
Blood dripped from Rant's nose where Roper's head had struck. Wiping the blood with the back of his hand, Rant staggered to his feet and shouted again.
"If it wasn't you, Roper, then it's gotta be those selfish bastards who follow you, always refusing to share the farmstead's seeds with the farmers!"
"Ha! My head's been through enough these past couple of days!"
Throwing down the hooked pole, Roper grabbed Rant's chest and slammed his head into him again.
With a heavy thud, Rant crumpled to the ground, rolling in the dirt.
Roper touched the bandage on his forehead and strode toward the fallen Rant.
"One hit's not enough, is it, Rant?"
As Roper lifted Rant to deliver another blow, he was interrupted.
"Stop it, both of you. Let's put out the fire first, then talk."
Gallad had slipped between them, loosening Roper's grip on Rant's clothes.
"Gallad! Don't stop me! You didn't hear the crazy things this guy was saying!"
Roper shouted at Gallad, who was holding him back.
"I get it. But first, we put out the fire. Let's talk after—wait… what's that?"
"What? What is it? Did the fire spread? What's that?"
Noticing Gallad's gaze fixed on something behind him, Roper turned to see what it was.
Rant, freed from Roper's grip, also looked toward the sky behind him.
"Water? That's water, right?"
"Whoa! It's magic! That's magic!"
Everyone's eyes turned to the sky above Rant's still-burning house. A massive sphere of water floated there, slowly descending, hissing as it produced clouds of white steam mixed with sooty smoke.
"Wow… that's incredible…"
"Is that Lisia?"
"Yeah! It's Lisia's magic!"
The sphere enveloped the burning house, then burst, sending streams of water cascading down the hill.
"I'm sorry. I was late because I was investigating the forest where Warren's missing wagon was found."
Even after witnessing the sudden appearance of a giant water sphere extinguishing the fire, the people gathered to fight the flames stared in stunned silence at the half-burned remains of Rant's house.
Then, Diara, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, appeared, walking through the crowd to stand in front of Rant's house and address them.
"I was late, but the fire is out. I apologize again for my delay. And!"
Diara shouted "And!" loudly, striking the ground with the tip of her staff before continuing.
"It seems the farmstead is divided, with conflicting thoughts causing tension."
At Diara's words, the crowd began to murmur, some covering their mouths as if afraid their words might be overheard.
"I'll continue."
Diara struck her staff on the ground again, the loud thud silencing the restless crowd.
"As Lisia instructed, I am to convey the farmstead's opinions to Lord Ratak in Ves-Dinas."
"Yes, please tell him quickly, before something worse happens here!"
"What? So someone deliberately set Rant's house on fire?"
"Shh, keep it down."
As the crowd grew restless again, Diara cleared her throat and raised her voice to regain their attention.
"Until I inform Lord Ratak of the situation and receive his guidance, incidents like today must not happen again."
Her lips were set in a firm line, and her sharp gaze swept over the crowd.
"From this moment forward, I hope no accidents or incidents, no matter how small, occur again."
Speaking calmly but locking eyes with the farmstead's people, Diara continued.
"I'll share a teaching I learned at the Temple of Hidden Moon. They say human goodness is like moonlight: it illuminates its surroundings, but when the light dims, one must always be vigilant. Every being is the guardian of their own light. So, please, guard your goodness carefully."
The crowd fell silent after Diara's brief sermon, unsure how to respond, exchanging cautious glances.
"Now, now! The fire's out, so let's take Diara's words to heart and get back to work. You all dropped everything to come here, so let's meet again tonight!"
Roper shouted loudly, breaking the solemn silence and giving the farmstead's people a chance to disperse.
"You got here just in time to stop the fire from spreading, Diara."
Gallad approached Diara and spoke.
"No, I should've come sooner."
"You're the only one who thinks that, so don't beat yourself up too much."
"Okay, I'll try not to, Uncle Gallad."
Diara gave a wry smile, lowering her head, then looked up to respond.
"How's Lillu? Has she regained some strength?"
Gallad recalled hearing that morning that Lillu had woken up and asked Diara.
"I asked the child what happened, but… she really couldn't remember anything. But her eyes welled up with tears, as if something had come back to her, and she kept crying…"
"Poor thing…"
Gallad's expression saddened at the bad news. After a moment, he took a deep breath, straightened his posture, and spoke to Diara.
"I'll go catch a few rabbits. The kids at the farmstead love roasted rabbit with sweet seasoning. That's about all I can do for her. I'll head out now—I need to grab some trapping tools from home and set the traps before it's too late."
Gallad exchanged a brief wave with Diara and hurried down the hill.