Warning Powder

Midir’s shadow blurred, and his figure reappeared on the roof of a building.

From his vantage point, he surveyed the scene below. Soldiers were moving rapidly along every surrounding street toward Aila’s location. Finding the fake Blake in that massive surge of people would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Midir eventually gave up on the idea of searching for him one by one. He used teleportation again to return to the trio’s suite, which was now surrounded by several layers of guards.

Seeing the crowd outside the door, Midir simply waved his hand. Water elements surged around him, and solid walls of white ice completely sealed off the exterior doors and windows.

“You inside! Surrender peacefully, or we will be forced to use violence!” a leading guard shouted from outside.

“Where is he? Did you not catch him?” Aila asked in surprise as Midir appeared beside her, still covered in red powder.

“No, he blended into the soldiers and escaped. I didn’t dare use my full power because there were too many people,” Midir said with a helpless shake of his head.

“Then what about the soldiers outside? Surely we aren’t going to slaughter our way out?” Rosal looked toward the door blankly. Although she was still panicked, she gripped Thunderwing tightly in her hand.

“Slaughter our way out? No, that won’t do. We wouldn't be able to control our strength in this situation. Midir, take us out of here first!” After a moment’s thought, Aila signaled for Rosal to come closer, and both women reached out to him.

Midir’s movements were swift and steady. He lightly placed his hands on Aila’s and Rosal’s, wrapping their bodies in mana.

With a low, firm “Get ready, here we go!”, the entire room seemed to be enveloped by a mysterious force.

In an instant, their figures blurred and gradually faded into the surrounding air.

To prevent the surrounding soldiers from noticing, Midir moved them thousands of meters away from the room in one go, arriving at the other end of the fortress.

In a small room at the edge of the fortress, accompanied by the sound of the three landing, Rosal’s legs gave out and she collapsed to the floor. The dizziness from the long-distance spatial jump was a bit much for her to handle.

“How far did you move us this time? My head is spinning!” Even Aila leaned against a nearby wall, panting softly.

“I didn’t calculate it precisely, but it should be several kilometers. It looks like we’ve temporarily escaped the encirclement. But what is this red powder? Why won't the water element wash it off?” As the caster, Midir felt no discomfort. He frowned, looking down at the bright red stains covering his body while continuously trying to rinse them with water. However, the vivid orange-red showed no sign of fading.

“Running far won't help. This is called Warning Powder. It's a tool used for anti-theft in many places, and it can't be washed off with water! Besides, this stuff gives off a special scent; the guards will find us soon!” Aila looked at the red pigment covering her with distress, indicating she was also powerless against it.

“It’s okay, Sister Aila! Use oil! Warning Powder can be cleaned with a lot of oil!” At this point, Rosal finally recovered from her dizziness and spoke up while clutching her head.

“Hmm? How do you know that? The problem is, where are we going to get that much oil right now?” Aila, currently fretting over her red-stained long hair, asked immediately.

“Once I took an escort mission, and the client accidentally spilled Warning Powder on the carriage. My hands got covered in it too. They told me it could be washed off with oil. As for the oil... I don't know where to find any either.” Rosal’s voice trailed off, looking troubled.

Just as the two women were worrying, a dull thud sounded beside them. Midir pulled a large, waist-high barrel from his storage space and placed it on the floor. “Is this much oil enough? If not, I have more.”

“Eh? When did you prepare so much oil? What exactly do you keep in that storage space of yours?” Aila asked in surprise, smelling the scent of grease coming from the barrel.

“Back in Lionheart City, I had Blake go out and buy it during my free time. I didn't think it would come in handy like this.” Midir shrugged. He took a large ladle from his storage space, scooped up some cooking oil, and poured it over his hands. The red powder was quickly diluted and washed away where the oil touched it.

“It’s enough. Let’s hurry and rinse ourselves with oil and change! Wait, our luggage is still in the room!” Rosal was about to pour oil over herself when she remembered that, aside from their personal items, their clothes and food were still in the previous room. Aila and Midir were only wearing thin pajamas and short sleeves.

“It’s fine. Go ahead and wash. I have clothes here too, though they might not fit perfectly. Just try them for now.” Midir pulled out two sets of women's clothing from his storage space and handed them to the two women.

“Why do you even have women’s clothes? What kind of strange things did Blake buy for you while we weren't around?” Aila’s expression turned peculiar as she took the clothes. She looked down at the garments and then back at Midir, her eyes full of questioning.

Strange as it was, the two women didn't stop. Aila had Midir create an ice wall between them, checking carefully to ensure no light could pass through before pulling Rosal to the other side to change.

“Midir, don't you dare come over! If you peek, I won't let you off!” Accompanied by the rustle of clothes, Aila’s voice drifted from the other side.

“Mr. Midir wouldn't do that... Sister Aila, there's still some on the back of your hair. Let me help you wash it off,” Rosal said softly.

“Don't worry, I don't have such bad taste,” Midir muttered to himself, shaking his head. He poured another ladle of oil to rinse the red off his neck.

He took off the pajamas he had been wearing and tossed them aside. Miraculously, his base layer, woven from various elements, hadn't caught a single speck of dirt.

Midir was somewhat curious about the structure of these black clothes. Ever since he had woken up, this mysterious attire had been on his body.

He only remembered making it almost unconsciously, but he had only realized its special properties today.

As he was lost in thought, Aila’s voice came from the other side, pulling him back.

“Midir, be a good sport and produce some water! How about giving us both a rinse?”

Upon hearing her, Midir didn't think twice. He condensed a sphere of water at the ceiling. Droplets drifted down gently like a light rain falling inside the room.

Before long, once the three had cleaned the grease from their bodies and changed into dry clothes, Aila heard hurried footsteps from outside.

“Let’s go. We’ll talk somewhere else!”

Hearing the commotion outside, Midir immediately grabbed their hands and took them away from the room, leaving only red puddles on the floor.

“Phew, we finally lost them.”

The three of them appeared in a loft not far away. Aila peered out at the situation from a nearby ventilation window. Seeing that no one was pursuing them, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“But we can't just show our faces in Azure Fortress anymore. What should we do now?” Midir said, leaning against the wall.

“So what exactly happened? My head is still in a fog. What on earth was that eerie look on Mr. Blake’s face?” Rosal asked, looking at the two with her large red eyes.

Aila nodded to Midir and began to recount everything they had discovered in Azure Fortress to Rosal.

During this time, Midir secretly teleported back to the room once to retrieve Aila’s adventure gear and Rosal’s luggage.

After hearing their findings, Rosal sat cross-legged on the floor, thinking. She murmured softly, “So that means the Duke Rowena we saw at the beginning was also a fake? How many people in this fortress are imposters? And where did the people who were replaced go?”