Chapter 171: Stolen Water

Chapter 171: 171: Stolen Water

The temporary mana pact disappeared, but the distrust remained.

Lucard and Cedric stood across from each other for one more breath after the small circle vanished. Neither of them pulled away too quickly. Neither of them held the handshake longer than needed. It was the kind of agreement that looked peaceful only to fools.

Elowen understood that much.

Puff did not.

The puffer rabbit sat in Cedric’s arm with one carrot leaf still hanging from its mouth. It looked at Lucard with deep hatred that no rabbit should have been able to show. Its round cheeks puffed once, then slowly shrank as Cedric stroked the fur between its ears.

Lucard looked at the rabbit. "It understands more than a normal beast."

Cedric smiled. "Of course. Puff is not a common rabbit. It is a Deep Pouch Puffer Rabbit. Its kind can store roots, air, water, and even weak mana liquid in the mouth pouch without mixing them with stomach fluid. That is why I raised it."

"To steal from springs."

"To collect rare things from places people like us should not enter," Cedric corrected. "Stealing sounds crude."

"It is stealing."

"Yes, but with better manners."

Elowen looked at him with disbelief. "You both speak like stealing from under a strong old man is a normal plan."

Cedric glanced at her. "Miss, in noble society, stealing is only shameful when done badly."

Lucard said, "And when caught."

Cedric pointed at him with the hand holding the wand. "Exactly."

Elowen pressed her lips together. "I should not have asked."

Lucard opened the old Stoneford map on a flat rock. Cedric crouched beside him without coming too close. The two of them studied the marks around Deepwell Spring. The spring had three upper streams and one lower water line. The lower line curved from the west through soft root ground before rising into the main basin.

Cedric pointed to a tiny mark near the western side. "This is where Puff can enter."

Elowen leaned closer. "That mark means rabbit bed, but this one beside it means pressure hollow. The records warned people not to dig too deep there."

Cedric looked up at her with more interest. "You can read old Stoneford marks?"

"It is my family map."

"Useful."

Elowen gave him a dry look. "I am so happy to finally become useful to another dangerous person."

Cedric smiled politely. "You are more honest than most noble girls."

"She is louder than most captives," Lucard said.

"I am not your captive," Elowen snapped.

Lucard did not look at her. "Then do not act like something I must carry."

She became quiet, but the anger in her eyes stayed.

Cedric watched them for a moment and wisely returned to the map.

"We cannot send Puff directly into the main water line," Cedric said. "The pressure will crush its lungs if the deep rise starts too strongly. It needs to enter from a side tunnel, hold air in the pouch first, then release it when it reaches the cold flow. After that, it can fill the pouch with pure water."

Lucard pointed at the lower mark. "This bend."

Cedric looked. "What about it?"

"The water splits there."

Elowen nodded slowly. "Yes. The old record said the cleanest flow comes from the lower left curve. The right curve mixes with mineral mud before reaching the basin."

Cedric frowned. "Puff will not know the difference unless I guide it closely."

"I will guide from the blood trace," Lucard said.

Cedric looked at him. "Without putting your blood inside the water?"

"On the outside of the pouch. Around the fur. Not inside."

"If even a little blood enters the pure water, the old man may notice."

"Then do not make your rabbit shake."

Puff puffed its cheeks at Lucard as if it understood the insult.

Cedric lowered his voice to the rabbit. "Ignore him. He is rude because he has no friends."

Elowen almost laughed, then covered it with a cough.

Lucard ignored both of them. He cut his fingertip and drew a circle in the air. The blood did not drop. It spread into thin lines and formed a small seal no wider than two fingers. It was not meant to control Puff this time. The first attempt had already proven that Cedric’s bond would strike back. This seal would sit outside the body like a second skin.

Cedric’s smile faded as he watched. "You are better at spell formation than I thought."

"You thought wrong."

"I am beginning to see that."

Lucard moved the blood seal toward Puff. The rabbit tensed at once. Cedric whispered something soft and placed two fingers against its head. Blue mana moved over the beast’s fur, calming it. Only then did the blood seal settle around Puff’s mouth pouch.

Puff trembled but did not resist.

The seal became almost invisible.

Lucard said, "It will hide the smell of the deep water while it returns."

Cedric lifted his wand. "And I will add a crystal skin over the pouch to keep the water from mixing with air or outside mana."

A thin blue shimmer covered Puff’s mouth pouch. The rabbit looked even more ridiculous after that, like a small white beast with a shining round face.

Elowen stared. "It looks like it swallowed a moon."

Cedric nodded proudly. "A very talented moon."

Lucard looked toward the west. "Move."

They left the carrot field and followed the old map toward the pressure hollow. It was several kilometers from Deepwell Spring, far enough that the gathering around the spring could not see them. Lucard still moved carefully. The old man had noticed him once. That meant distance was only protection, not safety.

The pressure hollow looked ordinary from above. It was a low dip in the ground with dry grass, soft soil, and several rabbit holes near a cluster of twisted roots. But when Lucard stood over it, he felt water moving far below. It was deep, cold, and heavy with mana.

Cedric placed Puff on the ground.

The rabbit did not run this time. It looked at the nearest hole, then at Cedric, then at Lucard. Its eyes became unhappy again.