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Word was that the Lord Elroy had struck some sort of bargain with Daro Bright, the mysterious Black Artisan, in order to help him finally track down his kids and recover them. There was speculation that, despite only just reappearing, he would soon disappear again for that purpose.

Which was a strange worry, Raul thought. Surely, for such a quest, Lord Zeff would ask at least a few strong warriors to accompany him, no? Surely, he would not simply up and vanish like that a second time. Supposedly, the first time had not even been of his own volition.

But it was all a mess. No one seemed to be sure of anything. And with how busy all the reapers were--as well as himself, of course--Raul doubted that things would become clear for a while yet.

For the time being, at least, he was content enough with conducting rescue operations alongside his two brothers. It had come as something of a surprise to all three of them just how useful their power was during this disaster. They’d never used it in quite this way before, which might’ve seemed a bit odd, considering they’d grown up in the land of forever rain, where flooding was also a constant factor.

But actually, flooding hadn’t been so common for them throughout their childhood. Unlike the rest of Sair, the region around Luzo, wherein the fortress of Marshrock resided, almost never flooded properly. Instead, it simply stayed perpetually muddy--which was dangerous in its own right, of course, but still different.

Here and now, this was the first time that Raul and his brothers had ever attempted to walk on water. It was definitely more difficult than walking on mud, requiring intense concentration, but once Raul got the hang of it, he wasn’t walking for long.

He was running. Sprinting across the mirror-like surface of a vast lake. Hardly making the water splash or ripple with each step.

Apparently, there used to be a town here, though it certainly wasn’t obvious now. With how blue and clean the water was, it was tough to imagine anything else. Typically, with floods, there were at least signs of debris left behind, along with a murky brown color from all the displaced earth.

But here? There was none of that. It just looked like an isolated inlet from the Luthic Ocean now. Calm and quiet. Almost no waves at all.