The Only Answer

"Little Linsey?"

"Come here, be good and help Mom with something. Take this food to your Uncle at the granary."

"And it's getting cold. Put on this coat."

Linsey stood before his mother.

This ordinary woman lovingly ruffled Linsey's hair, tucked a piece of the meat she had been slicing into his mouth, then went into the next room to fetch him a coat.

She was busy during the festival, barely able to keep up with herself.

Linsey had wanted to refuse. Burdened by his worries, he had no energy for it.

But the dried meat his mother had put in his mouth was precious food Hunter Uncle had brought back from the mountains.

More importantly, she was his mother in this life.

What Linsey had just heard was a request from his mother, and what he saw was a gaze brimming with love.

"The fibers are tough, a little salty, a little bitter..."

"It tastes bad, but it's not bad."

After judging it from the perspectives of both his past and present lives, Linsey bit down on the meat and headed east.

That was where Anville Village's granary stood.

After sparrow wheat was harvested, it needed to be dried to prevent it from molding.

Only then could the grain survive the long journey and eventually reach the heart of this world—the City of Law.

With concerns weighing on his heart, Linsey naturally moved quickly.

He delivered the food to the granary, received a few words of praise, and hurried back to the village.

Then...

"Bargett, are you insane?!"

Under the night sky, an angry roar rang through Anville Village.

After half a night of revelry, the Villagers of Anville Village were already somewhat exhausted.

But at that roar—

Everyone felt as if someone had squeezed their hearts, instantly snapping to attention.

—It was the Village Chief's roar.

—And that shout contained some kind of power, meant to warn every Villager in the village! Linsey was the first to realize what was happening.

He turned toward the source of the shout, while more voices rang out through the village.

"She is a criminal. The law has judged her so."

"Alvitte is the inheritor of the Sword of Heart. She is the future of the City of Law. You are the rebels—the mutineers, the traitors!"

"Those who defy the law, whether king or commoner, shall share the same guilt."

"I will never let a bunch of machines like you judge her!"

"You would defy the law as well?"

"To hell with your law! Don't think you can take Alvitte away!"

"Those who obstruct the law's judgment of criminals are rebels as well."

"Bargett, what do you mean by this?"

"Leiner, the organizer. Everyone in this village is your supporter. All rebels are to be executed immediately!"

"Law Flame, burn away all evil!"

In an instant, raging flames shot into the sky!

At the edge of Anville Village, mysterious golden-red flames encircled the entire settlement. The blazing fire obscured everything around it, making it impossible to see anything outside.

In the blink of an eye, the fierce flames devoured the houses at the very edge of the village.

The Villagers' cries rose one after another.

Only minutes earlier, the village had still been celebrating the festival. In the next moment, it had become a scene straight out of hell! "Fire... fire!"

"Put it out!"

The Villagers of Anville Village had spent their entire lives farming the fields. They had never seen, nor could they imagine, a battle between Awakened.

Much less a judgment delivered by the legendary Law Knights! All their lives, they had only heard tales of Law Knights punishing evildoers. How could they have imagined such a thing would befall them?

A small number of them still tried to put out the fire.

But they quickly discovered that the flames could not be extinguished with water. They only burned more fiercely upon people and objects! Despair spread in an instant.

Before the merciless Law Flame, all they could do was run and scream on instinct.

But Linsey was different.

Though he had been neither a military elite nor an athletic champion in his previous life—

He had watched plenty of games and movies. He knew he could not just sit and wait for death. He had to find a way out! Stop the Village Chief and the Law Knight from fighting? Leaving aside how he could persuade either of them, Linsey would probably be killed by the aftermath before he even got close.

Master Bai Lin?

That Awakened's ability lay in agriculture. He was likely helpless in a battle like this as well.

In a village surrounded by flames, with nowhere to flee—

How could Linsey, only a child, act now to give himself a chance of turning things around and save both himself and his loved ones?

"..."

"Then there's only one answer!"

Linsey's gaze sharpened. He made his decision in an instant and immediately ran toward the north side of the village.

That was also the direction of the mill.

It might only be a faint hope, but he had to try to seize it! The flames surrounding the village burned ever fiercer, leaving fewer and fewer places for people to escape. The Law Knight was slaughtering innocent Villagers, and despair filled the entire village.

Yet Linsey ran against the flow, charging toward the flames amid the wails around him.

He plunged into the street, surrounded by burning houses.

Running at full speed made heavy breathing unavoidable. His throat drew in air scorched by the heat, and pain immediately became unbearable.

Boom—

After he had run several dozen steps—

A house by the roadside burned through some flammable substance.

The sudden ignition blasted a mass of flames from the house, knocking Linsey to the ground in an instant.

"Hiss—"

Linsey rolled across the ground, intense pain shooting through his entire body.

But he had no time to cry out. He hurriedly endured the pain, braced himself with his hands, climbed up, and prepared to keep running.

"Ah!"

The ground lit by the fire instantly burned his palms, and the searing pain made his heart pound wildly.

Linsey clenched his teeth. He did not even dare make a fist as he ran.

Before long, he began to feel as though—

The terrifying flames around him were seeping into his body from every corner, ready to roast him until his skin split and his flesh cracked.

Under such torment, Linsey briefly felt the urge to run away. In his panic, he could even hear his own heartbeat.

But where could he run now?

Giving up meant giving up his life!

Linsey could only run as if his life depended on it, sprinting toward the only chance of survival! After a few breaths, the mill came into view.

From here, Linsey could even see that the waterwheel by the river was being consumed by flames.

At some point, the entire river had also been covered in Law Flame, cutting off any possibility of escape through it.

Only the mill remained untouched.

Every flickering flame seemed to possess a will of its own, actively avoiding the building as it burned.

The Law Knight wanted to burn down all of Anville Village! But he had no authority to kill the prisoner held here.

Because according to the law, Bargett had to take Girl back to the City of Law and execute this rebel who had defied the law before the world's highest authorities.

"Cough—cough cough cough!!!"

Just as hope rose—

The thick smoke from the blaze nearly knocked Linsey to the ground.

A thought surfaced in his muddled mind—during a fire, didn't most people seem to die from smoke? There was no follow-up to the random thoughts of a dying man.

Driven by an obsession deep within him, Linsey charged toward the mill's door.

Bang! Linsey made it.

The mill door had not been locked in the first place.

He slammed into it, forcing it open at once, and rolled across the ground like a lump of charcoal.

By then, Linsey could no longer open his eyes. His consciousness felt scorched to ashes.

Vaguely, he sensed something soft embrace him and lift him from the blazing ground.

"Help... help..."

Linsey could only murmur a single syllable.

He could not even see the Girl holding him in her arms, but her voice said:

"Since you have asked me for help, then I will take your hand!"