Mage? Magic Engineer!-Chapter 40 - 37: Two Nameless Heroes

Residents living near the commerce association spontaneously organized to fight the fire. The brick-and-wood houses were all packed tightly together; if they all went up in flames, it would be over.

But they could only throw water from the perimeter, helpless to do anything for the people crying for help inside. They anxiously formed a bucket brigade, their hearts aching at the shouts coming from within the commerce association’s building.

’May the God of Light and Order protect them!’ Praying was the only thing the surrounding residents could do for those trapped inside.

"Look! The Security Team is here!" "They’re so fast this time?" The Security Team was Valuva’s municipal force, responsible for both law and order and firefighting, a system inherited from the Old Empire.

Two men wearing soaking wet leather Cloaks charged resolutely into the building, carrying lead-lined buckets. Their faces were obscured. Everyone was stunned by their determined advance against the tide of danger. "Yes! Get them out of there!" "You can do it!" "God bless you!"

Fortunately, everyone’s attention was fixed on the commerce association building, so no one noticed the two "Security Team" members slip out the back door of the inn across the street. Nor did anyone get a clear look at the nameplate on their lead buckets, which read "Green Inn."

「...」

Pim had always been unlucky—at least, that’s what he believed. He was convinced his bad luck was the reason he had never accomplished anything.

It seemed his terrible luck had struck again. After much trouble, he’d finally used his uncle’s connections to land an easy job guarding the warehouse of a major commerce association, only to run into a fire!

’I’m so unlucky!’ he cried, huddled in a corner of the warehouse. Pim had just tried to escape but found the first floor’s flames already licking the ceiling, the thick smoke making it impossible to see. He had no choice but to retreat to the warehouse on the basement level, yet smoke still poured in relentlessly through the cracks in the door.

The air grew scorching hot, and Pim’s consciousness began to fade. He didn’t realize it was a sign of oxygen deprivation.

BANG! The warehouse door was violently kicked open. Miraculously, two men in Cloaks emerged from the roaring flames.

"God of Order above! You’ve sent Angels to save me!"

"Kid’s delirious from the smoke."

"Find the leather goods first."

The ones who entered the warehouse were none other than Forest Patrol Falcon and Night Owl. They moved quickly past the warehouse shelves and found the neatly arranged leather goods—the very cargo Rorschach’s party had gone through so much trouble to escort.

"We’ll each wear two pieces of Leather Armor on our way out." Fortunately, the pieces of Leather Armor were made in the style of vests, so they weren’t heavy and could be layered.

"Don’t take this one. Our young brother already looked at it."

"You even remember that?"

"It has a serial number on it. Can’t you use your head on a mission?"

Fires generally spread upward, so the biggest threat on the basement level was the smoke; the situation wasn’t quite as dire. The two made another assessment. ’We’d better bring out one or two more pieces. There are people everywhere outside, so we need to look natural.’ Finally, their gazes fell upon Pim.

"Hey, kid, pull yourself together! If you want to live, do as we say and listen to us, okay?" Brother Xiao patted Pim’s pale face.

Pim looked at the masked "Angel" and nodded. Without further explanation, Brother Xiao started fitting a piece of Leather Armor onto him.

The smoke grew thicker. He reached into a bucket, pulled out a multicolored rag, and slapped it over the young man’s face.

’What is that smell?!’ Pim wanted to gag, but the wet rag was pressed firmly against his face, and he passed out again. His unlucky constitution had struck once more—the rag seemed to be the one used for cleaning the toilets.

Bringing up the rear, Forest Patrol Falcon, wearing Leather Gloves, soaked them in a bucket before picking up a piece of burning timber. He used it to set fire to the shelves holding the other leather goods.

"Are there any fire-prevention measures?"

Night Owl, dragging Pim, spotted worn-out engravings on the wall by the door. If Rorschach were here, he could have followed the circuits to the Water Creation Skill Magic Array on the ceiling, but the circuit was already broken.

"Heh. It’s been in a state of disrepair for years. I don’t see an Energy Storage Circuit either. Let’s go."

The three of them, blackened by soot, burst out of the inferno to a roar of cheers.

"They made it!" "Well done!"

"This injured man needs his outer clothes removed to check for burns! Someone get more water to cool him down!"

The crowd now saw the duo as unquestionable professional rescuers and did exactly as they said. Night Owl seamlessly removed the Leather Armor from Pim’s body.

"Heroes, there are still people up there!" The speaker was met with reproachful glares from the others. ’How can you demand they re-enter the increasingly dangerous inferno?’

Unexpectedly, the two nodded, tucked the Leather Armor under their Cloaks, and had someone nearby douse them with water from head to toe. "Everyone, we’re going back in, but we can’t guarantee we’ll succeed again!"

Everyone was moved. Amidst thunderous applause, they charged back into the sea of fire... and then ran straight through the first floor, slipping out the back door and into an alley.

"Why’d we have to go this way? I almost couldn’t find the back door!"

"With so many people watching, how else were we supposed to leave?" Even a Scroll of Elemental Resistance couldn’t completely block out the heat; it could only fully negate burn damage up to about sixty degrees Celsius.

"Next, we need to find our young brother Rorschach. The coded message the boss gave him was..."

With the frantic ringing of a Copper Bell, the real Security Team’s wagon finally arrived late. The fire engine was primarily a huge water tank topped with a manual, press-operated pump.

"So they weren’t members of the Security Team!"

"They’re heroes who risked their lives on their own!" "Nameless heroes!"

A newspaper reporter arrived at the same time. A fire at a nationally famous commerce association building was definitely news, but now the reporter had found an even better story.

"Gentlemen of the Security Team, you must rescue our heroes!"

"Mr. Reporter, this kid was the one those two rescued! Quick, interview him!"

The reporter walked over to Pim and peeled the soot-covered rag off his face, immediately catching a whiff of an indescribable odor.

Pim opened his eyes. Looking up, he saw blue sky and white clouds. ’I’m safe!’ He was so relieved he almost cried, but he was too dehydrated.

A detestable, grinning man was squinting down at him. Pim heard him say, "How does it feel to be rescued by heroes? Can we talk?"

「...」

「On the fifth day of the tenday」 Rorschach only had morning classes. He woke up in his assigned instructor’s dormitory to find a copy of the Valuva Morning News stuck in the handle of his door.

’Who delivered this? The Tower Spirit? An Apprentice?’ Rorschach began to read the paper while eating breakfast in the dining hall. None of the other Apprentices his age read the news, but as a transmigrator from the modern world who had lost his phone, he had a compulsive need for information. For now, the newspaper would have to suffice.

"Lowe Commerce Association Building Catches Fire, Nameless Heroes Rescue Man from Inferno?" The newspaper couldn’t afford to hire a Mage for image Casting, nor did they have cameras. Instead, the front page featured the headline and an illustration of the Lowe Commerce Association building on fire.

"The drawing’s not bad. They even got the perspective right."

Wait, Lowe Commerce Association? Rorschach read on. "Inventory completely destroyed in the blaze, losses are heavy... Lowe Commerce Association announces postponement of this season’s commercial bill redemptions..."

’Don’t tell me the stuff I escorted is all gone.’ Thinking about the commerce association’s complex background, the young man smelled a conspiracy.

Rorschach continued reading: two mysterious heroes had charged into the fire at the first opportunity, rescuing a young man. All other personnel who failed to escape had perished. The nameless heroes had also vanished without a trace...

’What a lucky kid.’ Rorschach turned the page.