Swamped Chapter 172 Page 10

The bolt came from high in the sky. Normally, the ether trail from a spell like that would go back towards the ground.

But this one is still high up. It’s not staying in the sky, but it’s only descending a little bit. Which means that whoever cast it must be somewhere high – a rooftop, perhaps, or maybe a tower.

You can see a tower from here, though you don’t know its function offhand. This isn’t a part of town you’re familiar with. Come to think of it, where exactly are you?

Well, there’s a large open space in front of the building you just came out of. You realize that it’s an outdoor stage – probably where the opening ceremonies of the festival will begin. In that case, though, you’d expect a larger guard presence for such an important place.

But then, the guards are busy with a lot of other problems tonight, aren’t they? And it occurs to you that if you were plotting to sabotage a festival, you’d be taking advantage of the fact that its main stage is virtually unguarded.

Perhaps by sneaking into the warehouse behind a stage and placing a rune there.

“Got it!”

That’s the merfolk wizard. You float back in and see that they’ve pulled the spine off the wall with their chains. They back away from it, put down the spine in their pocket, and walk away from that. Must want to talk.

So you enter the spine.

“What’s the situation like outside?” they ask. “That was a close enough call already.”

“Someone cast a lightning spell,” you reply. “I don’t know how closely they’re watching. They seem to be in a tower nearby, judging from the ether trail.”

“Hmm,” the wizard mutters. “A tower would grant them good visibility. And they might be working with my captors, for all I know. I’m going to need cover just in case, but it’s hard to find anything good in here –  a box moving around would be far too obvious.”

They’ve got a point. You’ll need a plan for helping them move about here.