The woman's frantic actions caused the Eirin to back away. Eirin could not say anything as she eyed the young man in front of her, but it seemed like even the young man was baffled by the situation.
"I said leave! Did you not hear me?"
Shade scratched the back of his head, and his eyes showed annoyance. "Why? Explain it so we can understand why you're acting like that." Hearing the rude and arrogant Shade Cromwell say those words with a calm tone left Eirin's mouth agape. She didn't know the young man could talk like that. However, Scarlett Jenkins did not answer, instead, she pursed her lips, as if stopping herself from saying something.
Scarlett ruffled her hair as she moved away from the railings. "Wow, I can't believe this," she said to herself as she held onto her temples. "Regina, that fool." The two heard her whispering which left Eirin blinking lots of times. Why was the Phoenix insulting the Queen?
The woman kept exchanging glances between Eirin and Shade before saying, "You two are the worst pair to be sent to this place, do you know that?"
"I know," Shade admitted.
"Screw it. I have loads of things on my plate right now. Bring Arthur instead and leave this place this instant."
Scarlett turned around and walked away, leaving Eirin and Shade confused. Eirin did not want to remember the terrifying mood change the woman executed in front of her.
"What the fuck was that?"
Eirin saw the annoyance in Shade's eyes as he kept murmuring cuss words and muddling his hair on their way back to the lodging. Despite not knowing what the Phoenix wanted to convey, the teenage girl assumed that it was her fault that the Phoenix did not want to leave with them.
"There they are! What took you guys so long?"
Upon seeing Coleen's worried face, Eirin noticed how dark the surroundings had become. The sun had already set, and the wind was getting colder than earlier.
"Is there something wrong? What's with the grim expression?"
The four of them walked back to the lodging, talking about the clues they accumulated, but Shade wasn't speaking about how they met the Phoenix earlier, leaving Eirin anxious as she bit her fingernails.
"Finally, dinner," Coleen said as she sat on one of the chairs in the lodging.
Even after getting back, Shade ignored the three and walked to the stairs.
"What about dinner?" Link asked.
"We need to talk."
Coleen stood from her seat due to the serosity in Shade's voice.
"Just the two of us," Shade said while eyeing Eirin and preventing Coleen from following them.
Coleen clicked her tongue. "What's with him, seriously?"
The two girls were left on the first floor of the lodging and were forced to eat on their own as Coleen's stomach continued to grumble while waiting for the guys to come back. Coleen rambled about random stuff, but Eirin's mind was lingering somewhere else, questioning why the Phoenix had said those words and why she had reacted the way she did after hearing Eirin's name.
Coleen noticed how Eirin would nod with what she was saying, but she knew how the teenage girl wasn't listening at all, so she chose to keep her mouth shut, but the silence was fleeting after a bunch of men entered, kicking the door down like some kind of gangsters.
"We need food."
The awful stench of blood covering the men as they entered the lodging filled the room. Their tunic and leather shoes were covered with mud and blood, and scars were visible on their body. Just the sight of strange men caused Eirin's body to tremble as she held onto Coleen's hand.
"I think we should go to our room now."
Coleen nodded and they stood from their seat.
"Oh? What's this? I didn't know there would be beautiful women in the boonies. We're lucky men indeed, do you not agree, men?"
The men cheered, but Coleen did not hide her disgust as she glared at them and pulled Eirin towards the stairs. However, two men blocked their way while smiling at each other.
"Come on now, girlies. Why not have some fun with us for a little while? The night's still young and we could have plenty of fun."
Coleen did not hide how disgusted she was with what the mercenary said. However, her expression only caused the men to laugh, and found her adorable and feisty.
Eirin flinched after feeling someone else's touch on her shoulder. "This one's pretty and demure. Won't you stay the night with me?"
Eirin gasped after one of the men grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Coleen. The trauma inflicted by those senior students caused Eirin to huff and puff as she swatted the man's hand with full force, ending up scratching him.
"Did you just hurt me!? You wench!"
Eirin's eyes widened after the huge table behind the mercenaries floated into the air and slammed itself to the man's head before he could hurt Eirin.
The teenage girl froze and couldn't speak as she watched the tables and chairs inside the pub of the lodging floating in the air and continued attacking the mercenaries.
"Shit! They're flair users!"
One of the mercenaries charged at Eirin, pushing her down to the floor and saddling her. The impact caused Eirin to feel dizzy and her eyes were blurry. "Stop it, girlie! Put everything down before I stab you," the man said as Eirin's endless struggle continued until the man pulled a knife out of his pocket and held it near Eirin's neck.
"It's not her! I'm the one doing this!" Coleen screamed in panic after seeing Eirin lying on the floor. One of the mercenaries took the opportunity and tackled her, pinning Coleen to the ground, and immediately stopping her flair.
Eirin tried to call for Coleen's name, but the man holding the knife near her touched her arm. Her stomach churned in disgust as she shut her eyes.
It was chaos. Both female students were pinned on the floor by brute mercenaries, weak and defenseless. The men laughed as they explored their hands, harassing the two young girls and making it seem like entertainment.
"What the fuck?"
The mercenaries stopped after one of them screamed as he fell to the ground face flat. "What the hell is this kid's problem?" He turned to Shade, but his head was smacked back to the floor after the young man stomped on him.
Link quickly aided the two girls after the mercenaries grew wary of Shade's presence and what he did.
Eirin's body trembled as she got up, but quickly fell back on her knees. Her wrists were red with bruises and her knees were scraped, but it was nowhere near the pain of being groped by an unknown man.
"What's up with this crude child?" The mercenary holding a knife and pinned Eirin said as he walked towards Shade. He pushed the young man's shoulder, but Shade was quietly staring at the man who held Eirin's body.
"Hey, aren't you going to—"
All eyes grew wide upon seeing how Shade held the mercenary's face and lifted him effortlessly. Flames came out of Shade's hand, and the screams of the man filled their ears as Shade's eyes were locked on him.
"You dare touch her with those filthy hands?"