Nameless Heroes

Residents around the merchant guild had spontaneously organized to fight the fire. The brick-and-timber houses stood packed tightly together; if the flames spread through them, it would all be over.

But they could only throw water from the perimeter, helpless to save those crying for help inside. They anxiously passed buckets along, their hearts twisting at the shouts from within the merchant guild building.

May the God of Light and Order bless them! Prayer was the only thing the nearby residents could do for those trapped inside.

"Look! The guard unit is here!" "They came so quickly this time?" The guard unit was Valuana's city force responsible for both public security and fire prevention, its organization inherited from the Old Empire.

Two men in drenched leather cloaks, their faces hidden from view, carried lead-lined buckets and charged resolutely into the building. Everyone was stunned by their determined march against the flow. "Yes! Save them!" "Come on!" "May God bless you!"

Fortunately, everyone's attention remained fixed on the merchant guild building. No one noticed that the two "guard unit" members had slipped out through the rear entrance of the inn across the street, nor did they see the Green Inn plaques attached to their lead-lined buckets.

Pim had always had terrible luck, or at least that was what he believed. He was convinced it was the reason he had accomplished nothing so far.

His bad luck seemed to be at work again. After finally pulling strings through his uncle to land an easy job guarding a large merchant guild's warehouse, he had run into a fire!

"Misfortune!" He curled up in a corner of the warehouse, tears streaming down his face. Pim had tried to escape earlier, only to find that flames on the first floor had already reached the ceiling. Thick smoke made it impossible to see where he was going. Forced back into the basement warehouse, he could only watch as smoke continued to pour through the cracks beneath the door.

The air grew scorching hot, and Pim's mind began to blur. He did not know that this was a symptom of oxygen deprivation.

Bang! The warehouse door was kicked open violently, and two cloaked men walked through the roaring flames as if by miracle.

"God of Order above! You sent angels to save me!"

"There's a kid who's been cooked stupid."

"Find the leather goods first."

The ones who entered the warehouse were Scouting Falcon and Night Owl. They quickly moved past the shelves and found the neatly arranged leather goods—the cargo Rorschach's group had gone through so much trouble to escort.

"You and I each put on two leather armors before we go." Fortunately, the leather armor was made in the style of vests and was not too heavy, allowing them to layer it.

"Don't take that one. Our little brother looked at it."

"You remember even that?"

"There are serial numbers on them. Can you use your brain while on a job?"

Fire usually spread upward. The greatest threat in the basement was smoke, so they were not under quite as much pressure. After considering it further, the two decided, "We'd better bring out one or two more. There are people outside, so we need to make it look natural." At last, their eyes fell on Pim.

"Hey, kid, pull yourself together! If you want to live, do as we say. Listen to us, okay?" Brother Owl patted Pim's pale face.

Pim looked at the masked "angels" and nodded. Brother Owl did not explain further and began putting leather armor on him.

The smoke grew thicker and thicker. He scooped something from the water bucket—a rag mottled with every color imaginable—and slapped it over the young man's face.

What is that smell?! Pim wanted to retch, but the wet rag was pressed tightly over his face. He passed out again. His cursed luck had struck once more—the rag seemed to have been used to clean toilets.

Scouting Falcon, bringing up the rear, put on leather gloves and picked up a burning piece of wood after soaking it in the bucket. He used it to ignite the shelves holding the other leather goods.

"Would there be any fire prevention measures?"

Dragging Pim along, Night Owl found worn markings on the wall by the door. If Rorschach had been there, he could have followed the circuit and seen the Water Creation magic array on the ceiling, but the circuit had been severed.

"Heh. It had fallen into disrepair long ago, and there's no energy-storage circuit either. Let's go."

Three soot-blackened figures rushed out of the burning building to thunderous cheers.

"They did it!" "Well done!"

"This injured man needs his outer clothes removed so we can check him for burns! Bring more water to cool him down!"

The pair had already been accepted by the crowd as unquestionably professional rescuers. Everyone did as they said, and Night Owl naturally removed the leather armor from Pim.

"Heroes, there are still people upstairs!" The speaker was met with reproachful looks from the others. How could he demand that they enter an increasingly dangerous fire again?

To everyone's surprise, the two nodded. They tucked the leather armor beneath their cloaks and had people nearby pour water over them from head to toe. "Everyone, we'll go in again, but we can't promise we'll succeed!"

Everyone was moved. Amid enthusiastic applause, they rushed back into the sea of fire, then went straight through the first floor and slipped out the rear entrance into an alley.

"Why did we leave from here? I almost couldn't find the little door!"

"With so many people watching us, how else were we supposed to leave?" Even an Elemental Resistance scroll could not completely block heat; it could only fully withstand burns of around sixty degrees.

"Next, we need to find our little brother Rorschach. The set of coded messages the boss gave him was—"

Accompanied by the urgent ringing of brass bells, the real guard unit's carriage finally arrived. The fire engine consisted mainly of a massive water tank, with a manually operated press pump mounted on top.

"So they weren't guard unit members!"

"They were heroes who volunteered to save people!" "Heroes who left no names behind!"

Reporters from the newspaper had also arrived. A famous merchant guild building catching fire was absolutely newsworthy, but now they had found even better material.

"Gentlemen of the guard unit, please make sure you save our heroes!"

"Sir Reporter, this kid was rescued by those two. Hurry and interview him!"

The reporter walked over to Pim and lifted the soot-covered rag from his face, immediately catching an indescribable smell.

Pim opened his eyes and saw blue skies and white clouds above him. I'm safe! He nearly cried, but dehydration left him unable to.

A detestable man with a beaming smile was squinting as he studied him. Pim heard him say, "How did it feel to be saved by heroes? Could we have a talk?"

On the fifth day of the Ten Days, Rorschach had only morning classes. He rose from his assigned faculty dormitory room and found a Valuana Morning News tucked into the outside door handle.

"Who delivered this? The tower spirit? An apprentice?" Rorschach began reading the newspaper over breakfast in the dining hall. Apprentices around his age did not read newspapers, but as a former modern person deprived of his phone, he had an almost compulsive need for information. For now, newspapers offered a small measure of comfort.

"Luowei Merchant Guild building catches fire; Nameless Heroes save people from flames?" The newspaper could not afford to hire a mage to create magical images, and there were no cameras either. In place of photographs, there was a front-page headline and an illustration of the burning Luowei Merchant Guild building.

"Not bad. They even got the perspective right."

Wait, the Luowei Merchant Guild? Rorschach read on. "All inventory goods reduced to ashes, losses severe. Luowei Merchant Guild announces that this season's merchant notes will be redeemed late—"

Don't tell me everything I escorted is gone? Thinking of the merchant guild's complicated background, the young man caught the scent of conspiracy.

Rorschach continued reading. Two mysterious heroes had rushed into the fire at the first opportunity and rescued a young man. Everyone else who had failed to escape had perished, while the Nameless Heroes had vanished without a trace.

What a lucky kid! Rorschach turned the page.