'Well... that worked pretty well to stop them, I guess,' I think as I watch Lance collapse, spitting blood amidst his gurgling screams.
The rest of the men stop the chaos and run towards the wounded fool, I took the opportunity, more quietly this time, to wrap the darkness around the two women and pull them gently behind me as we moved away from the group.
"Woah!? I'm floating!?" The blonde says, while the one with the beautiful short hair just opens her eyes wide as I lift her up.
"Are you hurt?" I ask as I examine her body, trying my best to keep my eyes from getting stuck on her very well-developed lower half, ‘focus, Seina, this is not the time to look.’
"Was that dark magic!!? It's different to what I've seen before, but it's still amazing! To be able to pick people up like you're holding a little toy in your hand... hold on, what did you say? Oh yes! I'm fine, thank you!"
She's really full of energy... she's very nice, but, I'm not very good, uh, even more so, talking to people who are always talking loudly, almost shouting, but who am I to ask her to change? Still, if we manage to become friends, I hope she won't mind lowering her voice just a bit.
"... Thanks for the help." I avert my gaze to look at the other woman...she's an elf too, her body on the more modest side, but still shapely, what do you call it, athletic? I think so. Her ears are a little smaller and she has some of the most gorgeous hair I've ever seen, it looks silver-grey to the naked eye, but when the light hits it, the inside of her short haircut looks a bright bluish color.
'Wait, I haven't answered, quickly say something!'
"Um, you're welcome, more importantly, what about Lance?" When I mention his name, all three of us look towards the entrance, where they have the brat spread out on the floor and a guy with a staff is taking care of him, at least he's not going to die, good for him, I guess. If I remember correctly, he's older than me, but he's acting like a spoilt child, so I'm going to treat him like one.
"You know him." The short-haired elf says in a suddenly colder tone...
"U-unfortunately, yes, he's in my year at the Academy, though in a different group, and, uh, we're not friends or anything!" I sounded a bit desperate... but I really don't want them to think we have anything to do with each other, so please stop looking so cold as soon as possible...
"C-Calm down, it's okay, I believe you, um, thanks for helping my sister."
Oh? She doesn't seem to be angry with me, good.
"Sigh..." But, sisters, huh, mmm, if you look closely, they certainly look a lot alike, at least their facial features, their bodies on the other hand...
I have to keep an eye on these ruffians, but I also have two strangers next to me... who I'd like to get closer to, because they look interesting and I've liked this place so far... I'm very nervous all of a sudden, I have to talk about something quickly! But what's a good topic of conversation when some bad guys are just a few steps away?
'Don't think, just say something!'
"Um, do you want to be my friends?"
"..."
"..."
'... AAAHHH I messed up! I should have thought a bit after all! This is DEFINITELY not the time to ask something like that!'
Ugh... But I guess it can't be helped, I have no idea how to make friends, so ever since I got here, I've been wondering how to bring it up, then I thought, how do kids do it? They just ask it straight out, right? So that question it's been in the back of my mind for a while, and I couldn't help but blurt it out as soon as a conversation came up...
"HAHAHA, you're funny~." Says the... Older? Sister. While the short-haired elf just looks at me in confusion, I think I should say something.
"Sorry! Um, I must still be half asleep or something..."
I don't know what they saw in my face, but they both look at me for a moment without saying anything, look at each other and... smile.
"Okay, let's be friends," the blonde says, giving me a light hug and a big smile that makes me forget about the grunts of pain across the room.
"REALLY!?" I can't help but squeal excitedly, finally! After who knows how many years, I have friends again! That was easy... wait, let's not raise any flags.
From the sisters' point of view, the young vixen's face suddenly lit up, almost literally, something that tends to happen to people with a lot of magic. A silly big grin appeared on her mouth, causing her pretty lips to quiver a little with excitement, while her cheeks rose so much that they narrowed her eyes. The ears twitched a few times before settling, and most importantly, the fluffy tail began to wag happily all over the place, up and down, side to side, seemingly unable to make up its mind... even the dark magic that never left the confines of her hands seemed to somehow flow with glee.
It was kind of them not to comment on the extremely sweet behavior, although they did wonder how lonely she must be to react like that....
"Surely-"
"Cough, K-KILL HER!!!" I have no time to celebrate, the brat interrupts us, it looks like he's healed enough to be able to talk again, although his throat has a big black and red mark, there's also a lot of blood on his clothes and unfortunately on the floor... Heh, you deserve it.
Also, I don't want to insult someone who is dedicated to healing others, but... I would have healed such a wound a lot of times in that time.
... Since when do I have a rivalry with other healers? I feel like that's a thought I should get rid of, but let's leave it for now.
Before the fastest of Lance's men reaches us, I simply clench my left fist and force him to his knees, holding him down with his own inner darkness, uh... it's a bit more uncomfortable than I remembered from the other day, and this guy feels really fragile, but I guess I shouldn't compare his body, mm, human? It looks like it, to that of a xeno.
"Please stop, I don't want to hurt you," of course they don't listen to me, they just pull out their weapons and keep coming, swords, daggers, even a guy with a battle axe, but mostly ugly big knives that look like they were made to cut up a bear, I don't have the skills to convince them to stop with words, so I won't even try, it will be violence then!
I don't know anything about strategy either, so I don't understand what they were trying to do, but approaching me, one at a time from both sides was clearly a mistake, so I simply move my other hand as if conducting an orchestra to send them crashing into the walls, ceiling and floor as they come.
But after I had knocked out four of them, the others seemed to be cleverer. One of them throws his knife at me, while another lunges at me with the clear intention of knocking me to the ground. Without even looking at it, I catch the knife in mid-air, spin around to avoid the idiot who tried to tackle me, and I take advantage of the spin to stab him in the back with the same knife, apparently piercing one of his lungs, because as he screams in pain, he also begins to cough uncontrollably.
Oh... uh... that, that was, huh? oh! I have to mov- no time, block! I parry a longsword with my forearm, not before surrounding it with darkness of course, but it took me by surprise, plus the attacker is a huge guy, so while he didn't manage to knock me down, he did make my feet slip and I backed up a few feet until I collided with the sisters, causing the smaller one to fall on her butt...
Enough, I know my mind isn't the quickest to react, but I'm already psyched, I'll tear them to pieces first and deal with the wounded later.
I don't bother using natural darkness this time, I conjure my own, which seems more than happy to obey as it effortlessly wraps itself around the skull of the guy running towards me for a second strike, whipping him to the ground, one down.
'To the left,' the one who threw the knife earlier appears in my vision, about to hit me with a metal stool, I don't have to do anything complicated, thank you for raising your arms, before he gets to lower them, I throw a punch with all my might at his solar plexus, making him writhe and pass out shortly afterwards.
'In front,' I was about to dodge a big fireball, until I remembered that the sisters were behind me, but before I blocked it, again by pure instinct, I shot some darkness towards the fireball, when they collided something strange happened... the fire stopped in the air... and quickly painted itself black, uh, no, in outline it also looks darkened, better said, it started to absorb the light so much that it turned into a black flame, wow! Without giving me much time to admire the phenomenon, the big black fireball returned to its launcher without any intervention on my part.
BOOM!
With a bang, two guys were sent flying into the wall of the place, one with his limbs stretched out, knocked out, as for the other, he hit a window and shot out with the glass... I guess to the park, or the pond if he was lucky.
I quickly approach the window frame... well, he was lucky and landed in the pond, I doubt they are decent people, but they are still under the orders of a noble, they may have no choice but to attack us, so I don't want to kill them or hurt them, um, much.
... Only three left, they're not moving, actually that was kind of fun, oh, the guy I still have on his knees fainted, uh, and I just realized I've been fighting without letting him go until now, I guess I'm just not made for fighting, yet? Whatever. Lance gathers magic and points his hands over here... I didn't feel in any danger, so I was planning to wait and see what he was going to do, when I saw a large shadow appear from behind them.
WHACK!
The suddenly appearing person hits one of the brat's henchmen in the shoulder with a large piece of chopped wood, interrupting Lance and sending him to the ground. This draws attention to him, but before I can help, he quickly defeats the other two, punching one in the stomach and the last in the face after he dodges his sword.
With the threats over, he calms down a bit, the first thing that comes to mind is that he is huge, an older man, about fifty years old, with grey hair tied in a thin ponytail, he also has a neatly trimmed white beard, along with a serious expression, he is about six and a half feet tall and his big muscles show through his rough grey shirt, but most of all, he has a slightly discolored cheetah tail.
Wow, this guy is awesome! He's almost as tall as my dad. But suddenly he raises his fist, clearly wanting to get rid of Lance as well, so I have to stop him, hitting a minion is one thing, but attacking a nobleman can lead to a lot of trouble, which I think can be avoided in this case.
Before he attacks the brat, I knock the whimpering Lance unconscious, just like I did with that old doctor, at the same time I pull him towards me, just in case, oh... he's a mess of blood and some tears, aren't you so brave without your guard dogs?
"Sorry, but please wait, sir, this guy is a nobleman, if you hit him, he might give you more trouble than he's worth, please let me handle this"
Oh... well, good job, me, he's an older man, so I should speak to him respectfully, I can't remember the last time I had to speak respectfully to someone, but I did it without thinking, thanks for the lessons, Mom.
"He doesn't matter, as long as you girls are all right"
"Uncle Dom!"
Mh?
Oh, good, you know him... that's, uh, fine I think... Am I feeling... jealous? Wow, I guess so, a bit. After years, I finally have friends, and there's even two of them! But when I see them talking familiarly with someone else, um, I don't know, I suddenly feel very lonely and want to get out of here... luckily, my need for social interaction can outweigh my depressing feelings this time, so I'll wait for them.
As the sisters get closer and talk to the man, I think about what to do... and what happened before, I hesitated, after I stabbed the guy in the back, I was a bit shocked, in the middle of a fight like an idiot. But I wasn't upset about stabbing him, I was upset about what my mind was saying to me after I did it...
For a moment I thought I had missed, I didn't reach his neck and he's still alive... well, these instincts seem to be accompanied by something a little more sinister... I have to go to church later, though I may forget again, at least talk to Nicole about it.
Anyway, Lance is going to wake up sooner rather than later, the old man didn't last long unconscious, how can I tie him up?
I come up with something, I wrap his hands and feet in darkness, then I add more and more, compressing the magic until it hardens, I've seen Nicole do this trick with little balls of light, if you compress the magic enough, even intangible magic like light and dark can become solid. Normally it's quite flimsy, but I feel like I don't have to worry about it breaking, not at all.
With the idiot tied up and things calmed down, I turn my attention to the three of them... and my social anxiety returns, should I move closer? But they seem to be talking comfortably... Maybe it's okay if I wait here? I don't want them to think I don't want to talk to them, but if I approach and interrupt, won't they get angry? Without realizing it, I'm getting more and more nervous, wait, we're friends, aren't we? it's all right for me to approach, I walk a few steps... but, I remember, I don't even know their names, I shouldn't after all, I step back, I guess I'll pretend to be part of the decoration in the background, like a plant.
"Foxy, come here! I'll introduce you." F-Foxy? Like that bastard who's always jumping in your face...? Wait, who? Interrupting my useless thoughts, the blonde elf comes up to me, grabs my arm and drags me to the entrance, where her sister and the man called Dom are chatting, or rather scolding the poor guy.
"You should be resting." The silver-haired elf says with crossed arms.
"I-I knew they'd come for you. I can't stay in bed"
"You're injured"
"I've been healed, remember? I have to-"
"Shut up, go to sleep as soon as you can"
"Even if you say so, I don't think I can sleep, even if I try..."
"Then force you to sleep"
"How can I do such a thing?"
"... Choke yourself to sleep?"
"... Do you want me to die?"
We both just stood there waiting for them to finish. Strangle yourself to sleep? That sounds really dangerous, but they seem to love each other very much, I get the feeling that the silver-haired elf doesn't normally talk much, from her soft and small but firm voice.
The girl next to me finally finds the space to join in. "Uh, Uncle Dom, I want you to meet Foxy, she, uh... What's your name?" she looks at me.
"M-my name is Seina, um, nice to meet you." I avert my eyes a little to the bodies around us, hoping that by getting down to business I'll avoid this awkward social act, well, at least they already know my name, so we're closer to being real friends.
"Seina eh? I'm Sarisa! This is my big sister Lenna! Oh, and this is Uncle Dominic! you can call him Dom." Says the blond elf- I mean, Sarisa.
"He should be resting at home..." Lenna says.
Dominic ignores her and looks at me very closely. "Ah... so your name is Seina, huh? Beautiful name, I could never forget it, thank you for earlier." The man says in his surprisingly soft but still gravelly voice, it's hard to describe but very nice, he would make an excellent storyteller. Wait, Sarisa and Lenna? Sounds familiar... never mind.
"Don't worry, I was eating here when they arrived," which reminds me of my unfinished food, I hope it tastes as good cold.
"Oh yes, this too, but I meant a few days ago"
"Er... have I seen you before?" What other day? I've been home recently.
"You don't remember me, do you? I guess you were busy. It's okay, you see, I was one of the people you saved after those black monsters attacked the other day"
"Oh... oh! I'm glad you're doing well then, and, er, sorry, I think I healed a hundred or more people that day"
"Like I said, that's fine, but let's save the small talk for later and take out these ruffians first"
I knock several guys unconscious as we tie them up and drag them out, I almost forgot about the one who fell into the lake, luckily it seems he collapsed as soon as he got to the shore, so he won't be running away, wait, he could have drowned... I have to be more careful, anyway, let's fish him out, just like I did with Lenna before, I lift him up until I bring him back, oh it's so easy even if he's far away, how nice.
But I don't know what to do in this situation... I don't want to bother Nicole now, so I'm going to find Ilona, she's part of a weird thing called the Dark Brotherhood, a branch of the government that's in charge of punishing corrupt nobles or even royalty, as unreliable as it sounds, I'll talk about it later. At least Ilona is quite nice and she's Nicole's friend, I'm sure she'll know what to do.
Meanwhile, they keep berating Dom
"What are we going to do if you get hurt again?"
"You can't expect me to stay in bed while you girls are here alone"
"We're not little girls, we could manage"
"No, you couldn't"
"We could"
"No"
"Yes"
I have a feeling they'll go on like this for a while...