The next day someone was awaiting Lilynn and Erwand in front of the tavern. It was Kinib, and he was not alone; a group of other men was around him, throwing not-exactly nice words at the demoness and her alchemist. Lilynn assumed they were the few people who still supported the old mage.
"We heard you could not catch the demon last night," one of them said.
"See! They are here to scam us!"
"And you also disturbed our peace and our memorial night! Absolutely unacceptable!"
Kinib was just smiling sinisterly while the men were defending him.
"Whoah there, didn't your precious drunk wizard also forget how to catch demons? I don't see him doing anything," Erwand said while laughing at their face.
"Oh I know who you were working with!" Kinib suddenly said. Lilynn was first confused at what he was referring to, as they really had no contact with anyone suspicious.
They dragged someone in front of the people. It was Luija, the baker girl.
"Let her go!" Lilynn said without hesitation. She could feel her blood pressure getting instantly higher by seeing them forcefully stand a girl in front of them. She was looking down, somehow ashamed.
The little drama god a lot more people around them. A lot of strangers from the village saw what was happening, gathering next to Lilynn and Erwand. They seemed to recognize the baker girl, but also had no idea what was going to happen.
Lilynn, however, did have an idea. And before she could shut Kinib's mouth, he said it out loud:
"We know you were working with this bitch, who was also a prostitute in another city! A dirty hoe! That is the kind of business these fake mages are into!"
Lilynn waited for the people to act surprised, and insult Luija.
But besides the friends of Kinib uttering incomprehensible words, no one was shocked. Luija looked around.
"Let her go," Lilynn said again.
Kinib's face went into anger and tossed the girl's body away like a sack.
"Are you this morally confused? Helping a hoe and scammers!"
"She is our baker!" a woman said behind Lilynn. "How dare you call her that, when she is working hard to keep her business going, and you do nothing!"
"We did more than him in the past ten years I reckon," Erwand said. A few people started to laugh at that. Did they just ignore that girl's past? Lilynn did not expect that to happen, as, from her experience, prostitutes were never respected.
But this village showed the opposite.
Kinib's eyes were red, and he looked completely insane. He suddenly started to walk backwards, shoving people from his way.
"Enough of you!" he shouted. He stretched both of his arms at his front and closed his eyes. Lilynn could see that he was whispering something... He was preparing a magical attack!
"My daggers of light will show you real power!" he said, and in the air, thin beams of light appeared, like small bolts of lightning around him.
"Erwand..." Lilynn whispered quickly. Does she try and slay him down before she hurts them? That would completely expose that she was a demon. Erwand was not at all worried.
He also chanted something.
Kinib pushed his body forward quickly, and the daggers were flying towards them with the speed of light...
And then, they hit nothing and evaporated into the air.
"What the..." the old mage uttered while gasping for air, as if he had used all his power with that one move.
"It was a simple barrier, old guy," Erwand said with a forced relaxed voice. The people around them were astonished at what he just did.
Kinib kneeled down, unable to keep his own body standing.
"Weak daggers of light, pathetic man," Lilynn said.
"Remember that a failed student of the Mage Academy taught you a lesson today," Erwand added.
"Get out of this place," Lilynn said. A lot of people echoed it after her:
'Get out, get out!'
His supporters were helpless, and became silent in the bigger crowd against him. Two people finally dragged him away, but Lilynn did not see where.
She hoped somewhere where he could never return from again.
"I need to learn how to do that," Lilynn said quietly to Erwand.
"The magic daggers or the barrier?" Erwand asked.
"I'll take the barrier."
People were cheering on them, but they tried to get out of it. And, like any young mage students would, they walked out of the scene without looking back.
⠀
"We need to follow that thing to the swamps, that is where it was headed," Lilynn said, looking at the distant trees where she saw the demon disappear into the shadows yesterday. They were at the edge of the village, at the exact same spot. "Is there a way to use the tracking magic again?"
"No. It only works to catch creatures that moved away in a short time," Erwand explained.
"Then we need to go and try our best to find it."
The thought of walking through the muddy, smelly environment of the swamps did not make Lilynn any more excited. "Is there a spell that can help us here?"
"I have an even better idea," Erwand pulled something out of his side pouch. A little glass with liquid in it, and he poured one drop on each of their feet.
"Now go and step in that big puddle."
"Are you crazy?" Lilynn opposed.
"Trust me."
Lilynn stepped into the slimy, cold water. It was not exactly the worst feeling ever but also felt very uncomfortable stepping forward again. As she pulled her leg out, her uniform and boots were still clean as they were before.
"You are full of surprises, Erwand."