Dark clouds churned as thunder rumbled. Heavy raindrops poured down from the sky like the Milky Way had been overturned. The area around Beinz was battered by a torrential downpour—one that had been brewing all night.
Perhaps it was because the Dragon Ridge Mountains, one of the "Ancient Ruins," lay right next to the area. Perhaps it was due to the mysterious influence of Beinz Blood Lake. In any case, extreme weather like this frequently occurred here. Sometimes it was a torrential rainstorm, sometimes heavy snow in the height of summer, and sometimes thunderstorms that appeared out of nowhere. The strange celestial phenomena were much like those on the great grasslands, so the townspeople were hardly surprised anymore. The residents shut their doors and windows tight to keep out the wind and rain, while the magic towers around town activated arrays that weakened the effects of thunderstorms, preventing lightning from striking the buildings. Yet in the midst of this downpour, Marshal Ofra, leader of the Kingdom Knights, came calling.
"I hope this unannounced visit hasn't caused you any trouble." Ofra was still dressed in full armor, as though she never took it off no matter where she went. "There are a few things I'd like to confirm with you regarding tomorrow's itinerary."
Gusts of cold wind blew into the parlor through the open door of the guesthouse, but not a single raindrop drifted inside. Ofra merely stood in the doorway, and the torrential rain seemed to flow around her. Hao Ren discovered that the area within two meters of her had become a vacuum in the curtain of rain. Behind Ofra followed an unremarkable-looking old man. He was sturdy to the point of seeming too robust for his age, and appeared to be the female marshal's attendant.
"Oh, it's fine,