The fire thief

Raily slipped out of the guards' sight and carefully climbed the tower.

Her two brass prosthetic hands deftly hooked into cracks in the stone wall. Without the slightest awkwardness or any need to brace herself, Raily climbed straight up.

She inched her way upward. The guards probably never imagined that a bug would climb directly up the stone wall, so none of them looked up.

The prosthetic hands, created with technology unique to the Gear Council, allowed this ladybug to climb anywhere at angles that would otherwise have been impossible.

That was only one of their many convenient functions. But Raily, who cherished freedom, had never liked tampering too much with her body, even though modifying her arms had indeed made her life considerably easier.

Hanging high above the ground to take a brief rest, Raily recalled fragments of her past.

Agonizing pain, noise, the helplessness of the adjustment period, the alien feeling of a body that was no longer whole, the terrible sensation of being torn apart piece by piece.

Convenience was not everything in life. In the end, Raily had refused to let them keep cutting her body open and declined any further modification surgeries.

That had also earned her the label of an outcast, marking the beginning of her long, lonely career as an observer.

She regretted none of it.

"I'm getting closer to that light. I have to see what's going on."

Her reflections soon ended. After resting briefly on the tower's stone wall, Raily calculated the distance she still had to cover and continued onward.

The closer she drew to the light, the more strongly she felt the restlessness in her body, as though something akin to a soul within her was stirring, yearning to get just a little closer.

Forcing down the feelings welling up inside her, Raily kept climbing. She knew she would have her answer soon.

This tower, whose summit shone with light, was the tallest structure in the Black Shell Plains. Standing at the center of the plains, it offered the best view.

That was probably why the Ancient Civilization had chosen to build a town here.

Perhaps this had once been an immensely prosperous town, relying on the plains to supply the entire Kingdom with grain and livestock products.

But time had flown by, and by now its people had long since vanished, leaving only ruins behind. It was these outsiders who had repaired the buildings.

These outsiders had actually accomplished something and produced tangible results. Yet the council members, who proclaimed themselves the legitimate descendants of the Ancient Civilization, did nothing but boast and harp on purity.

The thought sent a wave of shame through her.

At least these outsiders had truly done something, whereas the leaders of her own territory were nothing but cowards.

They spent every day weighing gains and losses and fighting other members for ridiculous privileges, oblivious to how much the outside world had changed as they clung to the old order.

"If only we could learn from them, even a little."

Raily sighed, at a loss for words.

At last, she reached the top of the tower. Rather than recklessly entering, she cautiously assessed the situation with her antennae. Only after confirming there were no guards did she slip through the window into the room.

Looking around, Raily was rather surprised. She had thought that the tallest building in the entire city would be lavishly decorated and contain something extraordinary.

But that was not the case. The interior was utterly plain, without any decorations or furniture. The door was firmly shut. It was simply an empty room.

The only unusual feature was a circular pattern formed by strange runes on the floor.

At the center of that pattern lay an ancient-looking book, orange-red in color.

Apart from the flame symbol at its center, she found no name or annotations, and she had never seen the material from which the book was made.

Without hesitation, Raily picked up the book and stowed it in her backpack. She had no intention of returning empty-handed.

"How strange. From the ground, the light here was blinding, but now that I'm at the top, I can't find anything giving off light."

She continued examining her surroundings. Faint warmth and tiny sparks filled the air inside the room, yet there was not a speck of dust.

"Where are these sparks coming from? There's nothing combustible here at all."

Another bizarre situation she could not explain. First the light atop the tower, then this room. Raily felt she was almost getting used to it.

Looking down from the window, she could see everything from this perfect vantage point.

The laborers of Bastion City were still hard at work. To them, labor seemed to be more than merely a duty; they also found a kind of joy in it.

It was different. This place truly was completely different from where she had come from.

At least, smiles like those were nowhere to be seen in the territories governed by the council members. How wonderful it would be if she could live somewhere like this.

With a sudden start, Raily realized what she had said. If the overseers heard words like those, they could have her sentenced.

"Raily, oh, Raily, what are you thinking? How could you entertain such thoughts?"

Raily stood there shaking her head, as though trying to shake those dangerous thoughts loose. It was easy to imagine just how terrified she was of those overseers.

While shaking her head, whether by accident or sheer luck, Raily spotted a tiny hidden hatch in the ceiling.

It was a little square that would have been impossible to notice without looking closely.

Raily immediately realized something and began climbing the inner wall.

As she approached the little square, she indeed spotted a handle whose color was equally inconspicuous. The moment she pulled it open, dazzling light and heat flooded the entire room.

"This room actually has two levels. Without knowing beforehand, no bug could possibly guess there would be a hidden hatch in a place like this."

Raily spoke with delighted surprise.

There was no time to marvel. Though she had no idea what the object before her was, Raily endured the blinding light, took a small piece from it, and placed it in the jar she carried with her.

Once that was done, she immediately closed the lid, and only then did the dazzling light and surging heat subside to their former levels.

"It's a shame neither of my hands can feel anything anymore. Otherwise, I could at least find out what this thing feels like."

The light in the jar continued to shine, so wonderfully warm.

Bathed in that light, her body seemed to become whole once more. Raily was certain that if she let her guard down for even a moment, she would stare at the light in the jar forever.

Forcing herself to look away, she wrapped the jar containing the luminous object in black cloth and left immediately.

She slowly descended the stone wall along the route she had taken up. Her movements remained light, but she was considerably faster than before.

She had been away from her post for too long. If the overseers found out, she would probably lose even her position as an observer and be sent straight back to the furnace to be remade.

Donning her black robe again, she successfully left Bastion City through another exit. After making certain no one was following her, she immediately ran toward her original post.

Not a single bug had noticed her throughout the entire theft of the light. Raily believed she had pulled it off flawlessly.

But what had really happened?

Within the essence in that jar, Lin Jin was watching everything with keen interest.

Raily's operation had not actually been as perfect as she imagined. She had nearly been discovered several times along the way. Only because Lin Jin had secretly helped her had she escaped unscathed.

Otherwise, given the standard combat strength stationed in Bastion City now that it served as a frontline supply base, she would have been captured right at the city gates.

And Lin Jin had another reason for helping her.

After reading the Historical Records of Ironkeep written by the Snail Shaman, Lin Jin had quickly recognized that this bug seemed to be a descendant of the Ancient Civilization.

Lin Jin had been wondering how to win over these once-wealthy folk. Although they had fallen on hard times, their ancestors had been rich, after all. Spreading his faith among them would probably not be easy.

He was determined to conquer the entire Kingdom, but having his followers fight them simply was not worthwhile. Whether they won or lost, he would suffer a loss either way.

But if he could bring these remnants of the ancient people into his faith, that would be a fine outcome.

As luck would have it, just as he was racking his brains, an opportunity had delivered itself right to his door.