As if meeting a daemon out here hadn't ruined my day already, the tonnes of rubble I was buried under similarly failed to cast a smile on my dust-covered face.
But what could I do other than worry? Such was my profession... "Master Roches, your cadet is in trouble. Got done in." The cold voice of that useless inspector certainly didn't help either.
If I had learned one thing while working together with their kind, it was that their uselessness was truly bottomless.
"Lead the way," I grumble, one hand pressed at the bleeding wound on my shoulder, curtesy to the rough landing.
Yet I knew if not for my timely reaction, worse would have befallen me. Some mana flowed into the injured tissue, soothing the pain and accelerating the healing process.
A long way from full healing, of course. But surviving that encounter was already something to celebrate about.
"Fucking twat," I hear myself murmur, unsure which stain I was addressing. "Talk about nosey," I ended up letting these thoughts wash past me.
"Why did we attack anyway?" On the way, I hear Evelynn speak her mind. "Because... look around you?" Sometimes I really wonder what the inspectors were made of.
Butter? I'd always hated butter... "This is against protocol. We haven't assessed anything, just jumped to conclusions arbitrarily." Evelynn's monotone rendition angered me.
"Fuck your protocol," I answered, happy to have found the right word. Coming closer to the pile of rubble burying Cadet Rose under, it took me quite a while to get rid of that.
Cadet Rose wasn't unhurt, making me silently complain to god just why us good lambs are always troubled with hardships while the undeserving revelled in luck and blessings.
"Now care to butt in with a healing skill or two so we can get this over with and done? Your striking... company is what I can do without." That twerp!
"My efforts are the only reason you're still alive," I admonished Inspector Evelynn before she could add more scathing sentences.
What I required now was calm and lots of concentration. "Know that a breach of protocol is not looked kindly upon by the Grandmaster Inspector."
She simply wouldn't shut her trap. I might need to stuff it for good to get my well-deserving peace. We did encounter a daemon and Cadet Rose hated silky pants more than I.
"Zip it before I make you." Inspector Evelynn jumped up and down in anger, her tiny frame not reaching eye level. She wisely kept her damn thoughts to herself, though.
Maybe she wasn't that stupid. I mean, even animals perceive incoming threats, so why shouldn't she? Then again, most inspectors didn't. And it showed. On statistics.
"In silence the angels preach, in reticence the pious listens, in benevolence the righteous beseech the Father. [Lesser Heal I]."
I felt my head burn up in shame. "Chanting for an entry-level spell of your school..." Her eyes told me perfectly what she was thinking.
Did I already mention I fucking hate her? Now it was more than official. "Daemons murder, pillage, rape and arson." Cadet Rose gritted her teeth while looking literally down on the twat.
"It seemed to protect, not destroy." I felt my blood run hot, the anger in my head exploding as I shouted at her in the face, "wanna burn?
At the next stake, like the unbeliever you are? Your kind will talk to the devil himself if you're promised some answers. Pagan traits..." And it became personal too.
My fist met her face before my words did. But at least I could hope the lesson stuck this way. "Paladin!" She shrieked while still spitting blood on the ground.
"Paragraph seven of The Principles, dereliction of duty is prosecuted with—" Bang! Another punch met the bleeding redhead, this time not from my loving hand.
Weakened she might be, but Cadet Rose was still stronger than any run of the mill twat. Inspector Evelynn jumped to her feet in anger, ready to mess up our local injured.
But a hard stare of mine did convince her otherwise. The weak always had to submit to the strong. Such was the way of the world.
And Evelynn was not only weak, she was also ignorant, headless, ridiculously inquisitive, misguided and worse of all faithless.
While she wasn't looking, I cast a glance of recognition at Cadet Rose. I surely didn't become famous due to my healing skills.
She gritted her teeth in response, her eyes happy to be of use, owning up to her training. That's what I call a promising talent, not the dimwitted cretin any hooligan could push down.
Now with this done, I procure the only holy relic in my possession from my stash, intent on smoking out that detestable daemon. Thought itself intelligent, surely. But that wasn't the case.
The harbinger of disaster might be gone, but its influence on this land was not. With a bit of luck we could smoke it out.
With less, I'd still discover its tracks. Few seconds later, I grabbed Inspector Evelynn and Cadet Rose by their shoulders and rushed out of this forsaken place reeking of the stench of our lessers.
I prayed for my results to be inaccurate. Gotta call for an army, mobilise my friends regardless! That fucking daemon was on the loose, the location disastrous.