FEFR 11

Episode 11

“What nonsense is that?”

Even back then, Lenart had reacted the same way. Ranje couldn’t stop smiling from relief.

Meanwhile, Lenart took a step back, weighing Ranje’s demeanor.

He had always thought she was odd, but if she was this unreasonable, he might just have to carry her back by force.

He regretted foolishly following her here, but when he imagined what might have happened to her had he not come, he could only sigh.

Not just Erna’s words, but also an unexplainable pull had warned him — it must’ve been a sign.

Ranje might be speaking lightly, but this was no easy matter.

“Don’t worry. I’m confident. You just need to make up your mind. Are you going to assist me, or are you going back?”

“And you’re calling that a choice?”

“If you really don’t want to, I have other methods I can use alone.”

She meant using a different, more time-consuming ritual, but to Lenart, it sounded more like a threat to perform it solo.

Seeing his expression twist, Ranje realized the misunderstanding — but didn’t bother correcting it.

She recalled a conversation they once had.

—Make your choice. Will you assist me, or let me die?

Back then, she had truly threatened Lenart, who stubbornly said he’d rather die.

—I’m not leaving this place. Whether the summoning fails or you don’t help, I’ll die. There’s only one way for me to survive.

Just like before, Lenart reluctantly complied — though this time, he gave a more spirited reply.

“If you’re serious about summoning, then I have to be the anchor.”

Summoning — a ritual that borrows magical power from a higher dimension by observing this world — required both an anchor to act as the vessel for power and a supporter to handle coordinate calculations and complex processing.

However, opening dimensional doors was fraught with danger, and death could come at any stage. In fact, Ranje’s faded hair color was a side effect from once serving as a vessel herself.

Normally, if both parties had similar experience, aptitude decided who served as the anchor. But more often, the person with more experience would take that role.

But Ranje and her partner were far from normal.

At first, Ranje took the lead because Lenart lacked motivation, and she continued to use him as her assistant afterward.

This wasn’t just about skill.

Performing calculations in battle required more than just intellect or talent.

Especially for a summoning, the supporter’s role was critical, even if the title made it sound secondary.

Ranje’s personality was anything but precise — it was better for Lenart to handle control.

“Now I even have more experience?”

There was no time to explain all this, so Ranje just winked.

“I’m not great with theory.”

“……”

“Well, that’s how it turned out.”

“Turned out? Nothing’s turned out yet.”

His annoyed retort couldn’t stop Ranje.

With a bright smile, she turned her body. The tip of her spear gleamed as it pointed toward the flames.

“I’m starting.”

“I never agreed to this.”

Ranje ignored him and began arranging her magic.

Lenart reached out in alarm, but the air had already changed.

And not just the air—

Too late.

The space itself had warped bizarrely.

They had wasted time arguing, and now things had gone too far.

Still, Lenart reminded himself: he chose to come here.

There was no turning back now — he had to help Ranje.

Taking a breath and borrowing her words — “that’s just how it turned out” — he focused himself.

“The coordinates are already calculated.”

He placed a hand on Ranje’s shoulder.

“You’re quick as always.”

“Fixing the coordinates now. Don’t move for twenty seconds. Keep your output steady.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll…”

Ranje didn’t finish her sentence.

I almost said, ‘You’re used to this kind of thing,’ she thought.

Even if they’d gone through these steps before, for the current Lenart, it was entirely new.

She was grateful she couldn’t see his face clearly.

“You’ll do great!” she called out in a high voice.

“What are you so confident about…?”

“Attitude is everything! Half the battle is in the momentum.”

Finishing the chatter, Ranje chanted gently:

“<The key of Levit lies in my hand.>”

The space around her spear tip shattered.

From beyond — darker than the fading sun, more brilliant than the gouged moon — a gaze looked down on them.

Ranje was very familiar with that gaze.

As the name suggested, summoning required help from an observer in a higher dimension.

She knew the name of the owner of that gaze that granted her magic — but that alone she would never utter aloud.

Ranje was aware of her untrained body and the burden placed on Lenart.

But there was no need to beg. Her god was as generous as ever. Just making eye contact was enough for them to grant her power.

She offered silent gratitude and quickly sealed the gate.

“Magic power secured.”

Though she hadn’t said anything, Lenart fulfilled his role faithfully.

Now, instead of holding her shoulder, he grasped the spear together with her as they moved into the next phase.

Dark clouds swelled quickly and blanketed the sky. Some of the power had gone out of control, even seeping into the fire as sparks.

Perhaps sensing its impending demise, the flames surged higher into the sky.

“Nervous, senpai?”

Hearing his uneasy breath up close, Ranje asked with a tease.

“But we’ll win.”

“…I know. You don’t have to say it.”

Then all sounds disappeared.

The shouting in the distance ceased, and even the flames paused for a moment.

“<From the shoulder of Calpeni, fall upon this land.>”

Heavy raindrops slammed into the earth.

The chill was so intense it barely felt like rain — it pierced through the fire like a blade.

The two had succeeded in summoning and manipulating the weather.

“See? I told you it’d work.”

Ranje beamed, her pride almost smug. Seeing that, Lenart finally snapped back to reality and relaxed.

Still holding her hand, Ranje stepped slightly away and met his gaze.

Soaked from the downpour, his face looked down at her.

“You really pulled it off.”

Even if he’d been swept into this, he hadn’t expected it to succeed, so he felt dazed.

“Ranje…!”

Just then, a familiar voice called from behind.

Erna was approaching, struggling with a heavy load as she trudged through the muddy road.

“You made it all the way here?”

“The rain started suddenly. I figured it was your doing…”

“That was dangerous.”

“Being alone is dangerous too.”

“True.”

Ranje let go of Lenart and took the bag from Erna.

“This one’s for you, senpai.”

As he received the luggage, Lenart studied Ranje’s expression. Even though summoning drained the body, she was still smiling. All he could read was excitement and joy.

“…Give me yours too.”

Though she looked perfectly fine, it didn’t sit well with him, so he took her bag as well.

“Do you think anyone’s hurt?”

Looking at the dying flames, Erna spoke with concern. The three moved deeper to assess the situation.

The fire had started near an open area at the edge of the market, so the damage wasn’t as severe as feared.

Some stalls had collapsed, and tents blocked the road from people fleeing in panic, but because the fire was extinguished quickly, those who hadn’t escaped in time didn’t seem seriously hurt.

Though, one startling event did occur as they moved:

“Senpai!”

One shaky pillar suddenly toppled toward Lenart.

Thanks to Ranje’s warning, he dodged just in time. It had been in his peripheral vision — without her, his shoulder would’ve been hit.

Lenart tried to thank her, but she had a peculiar frown.

“Thanks, but… what’s with that face?”

“Mm… nothing.”

She pressed her lips with a finger. A memory had suddenly surfaced and distracted her.

Did that scar come from an accident like this?

Lenart had a scar on one shoulder that didn’t suit him. Ranje had never asked, suspecting it might be from some serious incident — maybe he’d always been through close calls like this.

Soon, they reached the fire site.

The smugglers and their lackeys who’d run in looked surprisingly unharmed. Most of their injuries came from tripping over themselves.

Once faced with actual flames, it seemed they hadn’t dared to do much.

As expected, they had caused the fire. Near the scorched warehouse, unburned oil drums were still visible.

The large warehouse had been reduced to its frame, and the medicinal herbs inside were now ashes.

Yet even now, some of them were still trying to salvage the ruins.

Erna, finally grasping the full reality, clenched her jaw.

Ranje kicked a box near her feet.

“Looks like this was inside. Something must’ve exploded. Maybe they stored gunpowder?”

Lenart clicked his tongue in disgust.

“Judging by the initial explosion, that seems likely.”

Probably a discarded cigarette sparked the fire.

To have summoned higher powers to save people like this — Ranje was equally displeased. She lifted a sack from the box.

It was filled with dry leaves that rustled crisply. Lenart glanced at her.

“What are you going to do?”

Her cheerfulness made her unpredictable, which made him more uneasy.

“Throw it away.”

She tossed the sack toward the embers. Her aim was perfect — likely aided by magic.

The smuggler, scolding his men, finally noticed the three of them.

“Who the hell are they?!”

Ranje tilted her head and replied,

“Your saviors?”

Instead of thanks, they were met with colorful curses.

Ranje hadn’t expected gratitude anyway and calmly closed the distance.

“Yelling won’t help anymore.”

The sack she had thrown had survived the blast in its box, but most other supplies were already ash or ruined by the rain.

Ranje kicked the smuggler in the knee — the same way she’d nudged the box earlier.

“Agh!”

He had been sitting on the ground the whole time and only let out a pained scream, unable to stand.

“Shouldn’t you call a doctor first?”

The smuggler’s leg was broken.

Of course, no one listened to Ranje’s advice.

Thankfully, a doctor who had heard about the fire arrived on their own.

“I knew something like this would happen eventually.”

A black-haired woman passed Erna and Lenart.

“I told you so many times to manage that warehouse properly!”

She raised her voice at the injured. If she hadn’t been holding a medical bag, she might’ve used it to bash their heads.

While everyone else looked startled by the sudden appearance, Ranje’s face lit up.