The Laughing Swordsman

"Sir, you must understand that I only barely escaped from the clutches of the fallen angel. There is nothing I can do about him at the moment."

Mark smiled cordially as he said so.

The person across the table wearing a royal mantle sighed.

"If there is nothing you can do, then how is this deal supposed to proceed?"

Mark shrugged his shoulders helplessly as a slight frown appeared on his face.

"It is unfortunate, but you must show me first. That is the only chance we have at defeating him."

The corner of his lip turned up.

"After all, I'm your only chance."

The person wearing the royal mantle slammed his fist on the table.

"Nonsense! I am the king of this city, yet you dare order me around?"

He was a man with short black hair, but no crown on his head. Though he really did want to get a gold one, beggars can't be choosers when they live on a floating island detached from the rest of the world.

Mark pouted exaggeratedly, like he was a child.

"My apologies, but I will not defend your city from the fallen angel simply because I do not have the capability. You don't want to forsake the entire city because of your stubbornness, now do you?"

The king clicked his tongue.

"You speak as though you both aren't from the same place! I-"

"Sir!"

He was cut off by a guard, who rushed in, panting. Clearly displeased, the king turned to the guard.

"What makes you so bold that you are even willing to interrupt my conversation?"

The guard saluted before bowing.

"Sir, the fallen angel has begun killing people of this city along with the rabbit cult. We are being overwhelmed. I don't think we can last much longer."

The king's eyes widened.

"What?"

Mark's eyelid jumped slightly as well. He was surprised, but decided to suppress his reaction. Though, he couldn't help but smile a little wider.

"It appears that the situation is dire, sir. Won't you finally make an exception for the city you rule over?"

The king clenched his fist.

"...Did you do this?"

Mark shrugged his shoulders as a chuckle escaped him.

"Hey, I simply fought with him earlier. You know I couldn't have done this as I have hardly been in contact with him."

The king took a deep breath. After a few moments of silence, he spoke.

"You have to deal with him afterwards."

Mark nodded with a small chuckle.

"Naturally, naturally."

The king stood up from his seat, then turned to the guard.

"Leave. Nobody is to enter until I explicitly give permission."

The guard nodded.

"Yes, sir."

With that, he got out of the room and shut the door. After confirming that the guard indeed left, the king stood up.

"Follow me. The secrets of the winds around this place stem from a certain being."

He walked over to the side of the wall, which was pure white, while Mark followed from behind. The king took a deep breath, as though preparing himself for something.

Suddenly, his hand shot out, going into the wall before clutching onto something. Then, he pulled back, which had become bright red.

The wall that was there just moments ago began to distort. After a few moments, it began to transform into... wind. At first, there was only a whistle, but in a matter of moments, it became a howling wind.

It was strong enough to cause both Mark and the king's clothes to flap wildly.

In front of them, was what looked like a canyon. There were white walls that continuously went down, almost like a bottomless pit. However, what caught the most amount of attention was the being floating in the middle of the sky near it.

It was an elemental made of wind. Although its body wasn't the most corporeal, being composed of winds, it had a relatively humanoid shape. In a certain sense, it looked like a ten meter tall baby that was curled up, sleeping.

The king frowned slightly.

"This is the being that should be responsible for the winds. The palace itself was never actually created by us, but by that being. And the material it is made out of is actually wind."

He turned to Mark.

"Be very careful. Even if a small stone is thrown into these currents, it will be enough to greatly disturb the flow and cause the island to be thrown off balance."

Mark raised an eyebrow, clearly very interested.

"Mm... and nobody has ever found this place other than you?"

The king clicked his tongue.

"Why does that matter? I've already shown you the place, why can't you take care of the fallen angel now?"

Mark lifted up his hand.

"The reason I wished to come in the first place is to gain enlightenment from it. This is your only chance at saving the city, so please cooperate."

The king furrowed his brows.

"...I am the only one that knows of this place, as I found out by coincidence. Everyone believes that the sudden jostling of this place is caused by a natural disaster, but it was actually me."

Mark nodded.

"And nobody has been suspicious of the strange gap in the middle of the palace or tried to explore it?"

The king shook his head.

"This gap is well known. There is a hole at the bottom which we use to dispose of all our waste. However, because of how it is designed, the only way one would see the being here is if they have fallen within."

Mark took a closer look down.

Sure enough, he saw little bits of garbage being thrown far down below. The hole itself wasn't that large compared to the canyon. First, the trash would tumble down a steep incline before being picked up by the winds and forcefully shoved out.

As for what happened after, it was hard to tell.

Mark smiled.

"Hmm..."

Then approached the wind elemental.

The king widened his eyes.

"What are you doing!"