"What... What do you want from me?"
The girl stuttered as she struggled to get up, yet staggered upon straightening her posture and sank down. She seemed to be in a worse condition than appeared to the eye.
"Hey, calm down! I'm checking on your condition."
"You killed my father!"
Doris pointed at the man sprawled on the ground. Blood was oozing out of the person's nose as he lay there, unmoving.
The cloaked man who was frozen for a brief second finally turned around.
"Look, he deserved a beating!"
Maybe more than just one punch!
"Who the hell are you to say that?"
At the girl's furious growl, Ian took half a step back.
"Well..."
Good question. Why was he mad? He didn't even know this girl.
-Master is just like that!
-Shhh!
"No, why are you defending that man?" The golden-haired youth brought up a question. "He was about to kill you!"
The question that was on everyone's mind.
"Mhm... Right..." Doris's brows bent to a knit. "But he's still my father!"
Seemed like the girl couldn't sort out her emotions quite yet. Ian wasn't a stranger to such a sight. He shook his head and heaved a sigh.
"Let's go somewhere else for now, okay? Miss Eleen will tend to your wounds and we'll further discuss the matter."
"W-why should I come with you? I don't know you guys!"
The girl dragged herself away from the group. Ian took a step forward.
"Look," The girl was so wary of them that Ian found it hard to convince her to follow them, especially with how the matters unfolded. "I don't guarantee how my friend will react if your father wakes up and makes a fuss again!" This wasn't a threat, Ian was still shocked by Kieran's actions. "He might actually kill him this time."
"....."
The child's eyes went as round as walnuts. She glanced at his collapsed father first before her gaze shifted between the group of four, especially the men.
"Um..."
Ian only wanted to get someone away from possible harm, why did it feel so wrong??
At that moment, Eleen pushed Ian aside by stepping before the girl and leaning close to her ear. Her lips moved open and closed in the clear sign of her speaking, yet her voice wasn't audible to anyone besides Doris. The teenager's brows raised upon hearing the spoken words and her eyes shifted between the three men in the back. After a brief second of inspection, she suddenly nodded her head.
"Alright!"
She grabbed Eleen's hand, using her aid to get up.
'What... What did she tell her?'
Ian got an ominous feeling. The persuasion was done way too fast and efficiently. In addition to that, the kind of look the girl gave the three of them...
"...."
"...."
The other two boys both turned to look at him and at each other. Seemed like he wasn't the only one who felt something amiss.
"Mhm... I-It must be some girlish stuff..."
Ian shook his head before following Eleen as she took the teenager to their inn. It didn't take long for them to reach the building. As soon as they arrived, Eleen began inspecting the teenager's condition.
"Oh man, what the hell is this?"
The girl's body was bruised all around and swollen at some points. Fortunately, there weren't any life-threatening injuries but there were even some fractures in her bones. The doctor couldn't help but curse as she applied medicine to the wounds.
"It's just as Sir Ian said; that man needed a more severe beating!"
It was the first time they were witnessing her rage. Of course, there was one time she attempted to beat Kieran using a stone...
-Master, I want to take a look as well!
'Nope. Stay quiet!'
They had rented only one room in the inn and it was too late to get another one, so Eleen ordered the three male members of the group to sit side by side with their backs to the doctor and her patient, to let them do their job in peace.
Lior was being held in Ian's embrace with its eyes closed. This creature wasn't specifically a boy, yet it wasn't a girl either. Ian didn't want to betray some teenager's trust by letting a little kid peek at her body, even if that kid was invisible to the others, neither was he willing to allow this child to see anything inappropriate for its age. Thus, the current situation happened.
"What are these scars? How many times has that scumbag beaten you up?!"
"Hey, stop cursing my father!" The girl spoke for the first time since her arrival at the inn, "Dad doesn't beat me that much! I got that one from a fair fight with my brother!"
She continued before anyone could assume anything about that brother, "We had an argument about some silly stuff, and a fight broke out. He slapped my face, I kicked his balls, and so on. Nothing serious."
"Oh..."
Seemed like something common? among siblings...
"But this definitely isn't his first time doing this to you!"
"Well, he has a little bit of a bad temper."
Eleen tsked while moving to pick up another bottle of medicine. Irritation was written all over her face.
"So... What do we do now?"
After a brief silence, Alaric proposed a question. Ian stretched his chin.
"Hmm... I don't think it's safe for her to return home-"
"Return home? Never! I won't allow it!"
Eleen's loud screech cut off Ian's words, sending shivers down the backs of the other four people in the room. Even Doris flinched at the gentle-looking doctor's vicious expression.
"Seriously, there is nothing to be so mad about. Well, I don't think he'll let me in his house anyway."
Her father has already dragged her out of the house. It was possible that he would change his mind after he became sober, but with how some strangers interfered and even gave him a beating, that chance was now too slim to count on.
In her father's eyes, she has already become a filthy creature undeserving of his love and attention. She was a traitor. She's plotted against him with some 'men' and even ran away with them. She must've set a plan to harm her father or maybe even kill him so that she could steal his money. Just as he mentioned before, they might even have some nasty relationships with this girl. That should be why they helped her; because she's their benefactor as well. That wouldn't be surprising. This dumb whore has already lied to her father about her job!
After all these years, Doris knew his father's line of thought way too well.
"I don't understand. Why would he do that? Because of the theater incident?"
The golden-haired boy kept asking question after question. Doris had no obligation to answer some strangers, and neither felt too comfortable about it. One could never know what other people would think about her or how would they react, or even use this to abuse her, but she did explain anyway. It would be too rude to ignore the people who wanted to help her.
"Well, that was one of the reasons. It was mainly because he found out about my second job. He has always been against me working. Dad barely agreed to let me work in the restaurant. Ah, also because of my inappropriate dressing which intended to show off my body, or something like that. And for interacting with strangers? For ruining his image? Anyway, that's not important. He's just like that."
"...."
"...."
The group was speechless upon hearing the explanation. It was just absurd!
By now, the doctor's examination was done. Doris glanced at the people inside the room one by one after thanking the kind lady and stood up from the bed.
"I heard that you guys are mercenaries, right? That man seems like a swordsman while that person is a mage. I saw him do magic in the theater."
Upon receiving the group's approval, her lips raised into a smile.
"So, can I give you a mission? The payment is 50 Bronzes!"
"...."
The four people were frozen for a second. The hooded individual was the one who broke the confusion.
"What kind of a mission is it?"
"Help me get my stuff out of my house without anyone noticing, especially my dad."
Judging by the girl's expression, she wasn't phased much by the fact that her father had cast her away. Ian couldn't help but feel a tinge of curiosity about the situation.
'Come to think of it, she is a human with high potential of becoming a great mage. She's already given the gift of a fiery mana... But I've never heard of such a person before in my previous lives. How can that be?'
Was it just like what happened with Kieran?
'But I DID interact with Kieran in my past lives, just didn't know who he was.'
However, there were never any mentions of any great fire mages on this continent.
'It's not too hard to guess... There are many possible alternative developments.
'If it wasn't for our interference, she could have gotten either possessed or contracted with that fire elemental, leading to her certain death. If none of these situations happened, it's possible that she'd be taken to prison for 'burning' people to death and then executed. These people already believed she was a witch. It was only thanks to that woman being saved by Alaric's magic and us persuading the others that she wasn't captured.
'Even if she survived the theater incident, I doubt she'd be able to run from her father. She'd be either beaten to death or forced to live a secluded life while being shut inside her house. I doubt she'd live a long life even if she survived. The people of the town wouldn't let her free.'
This girl was destined to die regardless of what.
"...."
Ian's lips twitched up without his notice. A burst of excitement spread in his chest.
"Alright. We'll take the mission."
He's always enjoyed unexpected developments.
. . . . . . . . .
Kreeeeeekk
The door's screech echoed in the empty hall. Through the small gap, a tiny creature poked its head inside.
-Hiikk!
The wolf's pup's fur stood on their end. As he peeked inside, his four paws trembled in fear.
-I-it's so creepy...
The theater was as silent as death. No one was inside and no light was on. Lior could barely distinguish anything using his senses.
The puppy couldn't take it anymore. This was too much for him! He plopped down in front of the door and covered his eyes with the two front paws.
-Scawry...
Why did he even come to this place? No, he didn't come to this theater, he was sent here!
-But Papa said it'll be fine...
Upon remembering that man's words, Lior's tense muscles relaxed a bit. He lowered the front paws a bit to take another look into the building.
-If Papa says it'll be fine, then it'll be fine!
Hmph! The wolf pup let out a breath and jumped to its feet. There was no way his master would send him anywhere dangerous! Reminding himself of that note, Lior took several leaps forward with his confidence boosting to the skies.
However, it didn't take long before he once again, began to tremble in horror.
-Eeeeekkk!!
Not too far away from himself, he could feel a massive bundle of energy roaming around. The blub of energy felt as hot as fire and as chaotic as a stormy ocean. Just being exposed to its existence made Lior dizzy and horrified.
Before the child could decide on what to do, the elemental suddenly jumped his way.
-Woof, meow!
Lior's paws moved faster than his thoughts. By the time he came to his senses, he was already hiding behind a row of chairs.
-Hic!
He didn't want to stay here any longer. He missed his papa so much! He wanted to hide in his arms and get plenty of head pats!
-No, Papa said I can do it, so I definitely can!
Tears began to roll up inside the tiny wolf's eyes.
-O-O-Owoo... Ooowo.... uh...
It was useless trying to howl like a true wolf. Lior went back to what he felt more comfortable with.
-Meow! I-I'm going to eat you, meow!