Go back—and return only to the most pivotal figure in all of this.
Sean thought through everything... starting almost from the snow disaster in his own town. If every event was tied to someone, it had to be Count Hamilton, the perpetually ill man who always remained at the center of power.
It was he who nodded approval for the aid to Sean's town. The struggle among the three heirs stemmed from his refusal to give a clear answer.
Even the arrival of all the male nobles and the Red Dragon Witch just now—every driving force seemed to point back to this count.
With Ignia, Sean ran down from the mountaintop, heading straight toward the count's estate.
Explosions rang out in succession from afar. Many citizens on the streets stopped to look around... but the eastern district was far from here. From the mountaintop, flames were still visible; once on the street, only the sounds could be heard.
"Sean, why are we going to the count's estate? Shouldn't we go help?" Ignia turned to look at him, her focus more on the distant area.
Near the east and its surroundings...
In truth, Cogar City had its own defenses. In an attack or dangerous situation, warnings would appear from various places.
Yet so far, there had been no news at all. People on the streets didn't even know what was happening; they could only stare into the distance, or if they were better off, climb onto their rooftops to see what was going on in the east.
"Can you put out all those fires?" Sean asked in reply.
"No... I mean, we could go help. Cogar City has so many buildings—if they catch fire, it could affect a lot of people."
Ignia had grown up in this city and didn't want to see the place she'd lived her whole life suffer disaster.
"I know, but that's not the priority right now." Sean insisted, still pulling her toward the count's estate.
They had arrived by carriage earlier. In the rush, the nobles who'd gotten off first had taken the horses but left the vehicles, leaving them with no mounts when they descended.
They could only run on foot...
But after leaving the West Market, they saw people fleeing on the main street—whole families running desperately, dragging their belongings.
"What's going on? Why is everyone running?" Ignia stopped one of the runners to ask.
His eyes showed [Panic!] as if he hadn't even registered being grabbed at first, his speech stammering.
"Th-there are rioters! A gang of rioters over there! Smashing every shop, carrying flintlocks. You'd better leave too, or you'll get caught and beaten to death," the man said frantically.
Rioters!!
On the main street?
"What about the guard? And the Black Feather Knights?" Ignia pressed on.
"Oh, miss, it's chaos now—no one's looking out for that. Hurry to the west. They say the rioters came from the east, so everyone's running west..." Without waiting for a reply, he melted back into the crowd and kept running.
Ignia looked blankly at Sean.
"Sean, what do we do?"
It was too sudden.
Like a change in an instant.
Though the other side might have planned for a long time, to the innocent, it was a sudden disaster—they didn't even know what the disaster actually was!
At that moment, Sean felt his heart race with the fleeing crowd.
He finally understood that feeling...
One day, he too would become like those passersby he'd mocked in his past life when seeing news reports of sudden events—utterly lost.
Fires. Riots.
They were creating chaos.
"Keep going to the count's estate. I think their target is there," Sean said firmly.
"Alright, stay close behind me and don't wander off." At a time like this, Ignia set aside any pretense of reserve, grabbing Sean's hand and walking against the flow of people.
Shouts, cries, and even the distant sound of flintlocks.
The ground was littered with trampled and discarded items...
Ignia kept her other hand on her magic staff, maintaining a pre-cast state, with a [Scan~] spell hovering above her head.
The crowd's rush eventually thinned. When Sean felt fewer people around and the gunfire growing louder, he saw in the distance a dozen masked figures ransacking shops. The street was in chaos, with many wounded lying on the ground!
Sean looked at them...
HP ranging from [1000~1800], with bold red letters behind them: [Hostile]!
Their affinity was directly [Hostile]—meaning they'd attack on sight...
Before Sean could react, Ignia hurled the spell she'd been charging.
Boom~
The magic projectile exploded near them, missing but hitting a stall close by, causing a blast.
"A wizard!"
Gun barrels swung toward them, firing a volley, but Ignia blocked it all with magic.
She pulled Sean into a nearby shop.
"Get inside, Sean." She cast another spell and threw it outside, this explosion louder than before.
"Stay here and don't go out. I'll deal with them, then we'll move on."
Ignia was a Level 4 Order Keeper. Those outside barely reached Level 2—they couldn't hurt her. As long as she wasn't careless, they were easy pickings.
Sean knew he couldn't face them head-on, so he nodded and stayed in the shop.
It was a hardware store, already in disarray. Anything portable was gone; only the large items remained.
Sean noticed an open box on the counter. Curious because he'd seen one before, he went to look...
A flintlock case.
Similar to the one in Skov's shop—it seemed flintlocks were always stored in these boxes.
No bullets inside!
The shop owner had probably planned to use it for self-defense but found the situation worse than expected and fled without even taking the guns.
The box held two guns...
[Fine Flintlock: Ammo 0, Damage 600~1200]
No ammo.
But Sean picked them up anyway...
Just then, an idea struck him. If his magic relied on imagination, with level as the limit, could he create bullets with his current ability?
Nothing too strong—just a simple fire round.
He tried opening the gun's loading port and ran his hand over it.
Magic!
He used his existing mana to forge a bullet.
His vision showed no [Invalid] status; instead, it displayed [Magic Proficiency: 91].
And in his hand...
[Fine Flintlock: Ammo x, Damage 600~1200].
The ammo count was erased, showing no number.
Was this a magical creation?
He did the same with the other gun.
[Magic Proficiency: 92]...
Sean looked outside. Ignia was fighting the enemies, while he aimed at the ground and fired.
Bang~
He could see a fiery bullet hit the ground, blasting a small crater.
[Magic Proficiency: 93]...
A sensation of mana being drained from his body.
The ammo had auto-replenished?