'…Is that why you asked me, brother Rin?' asked Siel in a quiet voice. 'Is it time for us to destroy the young la– the source, to save all the people whose lives hang in the balance?'
Arin just stared at the younger magician.
Wait…
Wait, wait, wait…
…
What?
The only way to save everyone else was to… kill Elara?
They'd have to kill Elara!?
Was that what Siel was saying?
…
Arin was glad to have finally learned of what a damned distortion was; Siel's conveniently school-report like explanation had been brief and thorough, even including a helpful little example near the end.
Full points to the kid.
Still, based on what he'd said…
Did tower magicians traverse these lands routinely killing people as part of their job description? Or was there some special, government-issued agency they'd have to dial – à la pest control, but for distorted people.
Arin didn't answer the younger magician's question. He was trying to erase the mental image of uniformed men holding pressure sprayers and bait filing into the headman's estate. More importantly, he didn't quite know what to even say. While he remined where he was, silent and expressionlessly brooding, Siel suddenly spoke up again.
'If I'm being honest, I'm rather surprised that wasn't the first thing you did upon awakening earlier,' he said. 'Since we were unable to draw lady Elara out of the dream, I simply cannot understand why you'd spare her life, brother Rin…'
…
…shit.
Was that what Rin would have done?
But it made sense, of course.
The more he thought of it, the more sense it made,
Three people had already died in their sleep. A fourth death that they'd just learned of may or may not have been related to it. If it was one life, up against the lives of all the other people still breathing in the village, well…
Killing Elara… destroying the source of the distortion… might be the most rational course of action.
It most certainly was the kindest.
…
For now, he had to answer Siel without betraying his true identity.
Arin pursed his lips.
'We cannot be certain of the outcome…' he said at last.
'What do you mean, senior brother?' Siel raised a brow.
'What do think will happen to all the people who've been trapped by the distortion, once its source is destroyed?' Arin shot back.
'I…' Siel shut his mouth, then opened it again. 'There… there is a chance they might be expelled once the dream ceases to exist. And if – if that is so, wouldn't they all awaken…?'
'There is also the possibility of them being destroyed along with the distortion. As we know, a distortion has no benevolence…' …right?
That did make sense, right?
…Was he just blathering nonsense? Was this the moment he finally blew his cover?
Arin maintained his unbothered, expressionless façade, inwardly bracing himself for an eruption of – 'That's not how distortions work at all, idiot! Who even are you?'
Thankfully, that never came. Siel merely widened his eyes further, nodding slowly as he looked at Arin. 'I see… I see, brother Rin. And rather than rushing into things like headless chickens, we should try our best to ensure the survival of as many people as we can.'
'It is only after we've exhausted all possibilities that it makes sense for us to kill… or, well, to report the matter to the regional officials. Because, as we know, they'd rather kill all the sleeping villagers with their own hands than risk delaying the destruction of a distortion. And then, matters would truly be out of our hands.'
Oh? There was also that angle?
…he'd worry about that later.
'For now…' Arin walked up to Siel, glancing down at the documents the boy had been reading through when he'd first arrived, 'tell me what you've learned of miss Lana's employment at the headman's estate.'
'Ah, yes…' Siel straightened up with the demeanor of a straight A student about to deliver another well-researched presentation. 'Madam Marla keeps her records well. It seems she directly handles all matters relating to service and wages within the estate.'
'According to her notes, miss Lana left her post due to her 'personal circumstances'; what they were, has not been detailed. However, her last wages were paid nearly a whole year ago.'
'A whole year…?' Arin wrinkled his brows in thought. 'But lady Elara was said to have first fallen asleep some two months ago. If that is when the distortion first began and drew her in, it makes no sense for it to have unnecessarily gone through the effort of creating a facsimile of miss Lana within it. After all, she didn't work at the estate anymore.'
'That is not all,' said Siel. 'Even though the head maid's records are well-maintained, or perhaps because they are, it is quite easy to see that some information from just around the time of miss Lana's departure is missing. It is as though the records from that period of time have been deliberately erased from existence.'