Bridge
One Day, Above the Sky
Day three. Morning.
"Next, the weather. Following up on the low-pressure system that formed in western Las Vegas…"
The usual news flowed out of the TV. The townspeople were heading to their respective jobs, alternatively pleased and worried by the upcoming weather.
The city of Snowfield was not yet in a state of panic.
Faldeus was mostly satisfied with that outcome. He could cover up most disturbances himself, and he had confirmed that he could suppress larger-scale incidents to some extent with Francesca's help.
"How to deal with the incident at the hospital last night… Assassin should be setting to work assassinating Galvarosso around now, too…"
Such matters occupied Faldeus' thoughts when a secret communication arrived on his personal channel. It was not from inside Snowfield. It was from the special bureau in Washington — the "true masterminds" — who were backing him up.
"…Faldeus here. What is it, General?"
"…Have you seen the news?"
The solemn voice of the man he had called "General" prompted Faldeus to turn his attention to the local news that had just run. Nothing, however, stuck out to him as particularly important, so he checked the national programs. There, he saw the news that a powerful candidate in the upcoming presidential election had died of natural causes.
"Oh… And they said he had this election in the bag, too. Talk about bad luck. Still, I don't believe this directly concerns your section, General."
"…You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's not just him. Thirty-five financial bigwigs, big-time mass media personalities, and even leaders of major lobbies died suddenly, of accidents or natural causes, yesterday afternoon alone. Every one of them had a fat pipeline to the White House."
"…"
"Autopsies concluded beyond a shadow of doubt that the deaths were accidents or natural causes. That's what has some people thinking that this coincidence must have something to do with magecraft. Given the timing, it's only natural to suspect a connection to your ritual," the general informed Faldeus in a tone that said those doubts had not been assuaged. He sighed deeply, then abandoned his businesslike manner.
"I haven't reported to the president yet. If you figure out any connection to the ritual in Snowfield, contact me ASAP."
Faldeus thought about that day, which was later to go down in books on urban legends as "America's Cursed Day." Then, as the result of independently looking up the times and places those thirty-five people had died on the net and connecting them on a map… he determined that they were centered on Galvarosso Scladio's headquarters and linked in order of proximity to it. It was almost as if an angel of death had set out from Scladio's headquarters and walked around killing targets in the order that it found them.
Faldeus was not big enough to look at this and say, "Hassan-I Sabbah can't be involved" with certainty. He was also not shameless enough to pretend not to have seen it.
He did not know whether the all-important Galvarosso was alive or dead. Even if he was dead, it was clear that the Scladio mages would conceal the fact for some time.
"Hassan… Where are you…? And what are you doing…?"
At that point, it struck Faldeus — this "ritual" was no longer confined to Snowfield. It was beginning to spread its curse to the entire United States. Also that Francesca had probably hoped that it would from the start.
As if to kick the shocked Faldeus while he was down, the announcers on the news launched into a hurried announcement.
"This is a follow-up to the weather report — observers report that the low-pressure system that formed in western Las Vegas is currently rapidly increasing in force and has transformed into a massive hurricane."
"…?"
In the satellite image displayed on the TV, he was able to confirm an enormous hurricane more than eight hundred kilometers in diameter.
"There is no precedent for such a development…"
"In Death Valley National Park, a sandstorm is…"
"Its projected course is a beeline for Snowfield…"
"…It really is going in a straight line, isn't it? Is something like that possible?"
"It's almost like the hurricane has a will of its own."
"This is no time for jokes."
It began to flow. A chaotic whirlpool of information.
Faldeus instinctively picked out the facts, looked half-resignedly up at the ceiling, and muttered:
"Who's doing this…? Which faction?
"What the hell… are they trying to summon to this city…?"
X X
Snowfield. Twenty kilometers above ground.
"Hurry up now."
The gigantic airship that served as Prelati's workshop.
Standing atop its balloon portion, Filia stared at the sky far to the southwest. She continued to nod in satisfaction, watching a mass of clouds visible on the curved horizon. Even taken on a global scale, it was gigantic.
"That's the way. I pulled you from a 'branch' that doesn't seem like it connects to anywhere, but, well, it shouldn't be a problem just for a little while, right? I mean, the 'me' in that age should just barely be able to use her Authority…"
Then, she held out her hand to the mass of clouds, hundreds of kilometers distant, as if looking at a cherished pet, and spoke as if addressing it directly.
"Don't worry; I won't start anything until you get here. We'll all get our revenge together."
Her expression was a smile, but it was utterly devoid of any human quality. In a sense, it held a terror exactly the opposite of Bazdilot's.
And, as she directd it downward, that smile expressed an unspeakable desire to kill.
"…On that rude pair of ingrates."
X X
Francesca's workshop.
"The person on top of the airship's been acting kind of scary…"
"Don't mind her. She's glaring at the two on the ground, not us."
Although Prelati's words soothed her, Francesca puffed up her cheeks in a pout.
"Oh, I wish she'd lay off the unjustified resentment and go somewhere else…
"Going up against a broken goddess' data would be no fun at all!"
X X
Unaware that she was being complained about under her feet, the "thing" that had possessed Filia's body called out to the hurricane far to the west in tones of what almost sounded like self-pity.
"Once you get here, I'll restore you to your proper shape…
"Look forward to it, Gugalanna!"
next episode [Fake05]
Originally Posted by Arashi_Leonhart
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