A brief silence fell between us again, making the situation awkward. I needed to say something.
"So, why did you suddenly open up to me? Aside from feeling comfortable with me, that is."
"Well... um... you're the first boy who talked to me, even after I was rude to you so many times."
"Sounds like you don't have any friends at school."
"...."
She fell silent, a shy expression crossing her face. It seemed I hit the mark—she had no friends besides her butler, Jed.
"Well, from tonight onward, I'll be your first friend."
"H-huh?! You really don't mind?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Well, I mean... you're okay being friends with someone like me who's rude and... shy?"
"Is that it? Haha! That's no problem at all. You just worry too much about the little things. Just be yourself, and one day, you'll see yourself differently too."
"...."
She didn't say anything, but I could see the shyness and happiness in her face as she avoided eye contact. She's... cute. Well, I mean, she's really shy.
As we continued talking, a loud explosion echoed from inside the mansion.
"H-huh?! What was that?!"
"It sounds like trouble inside. Stay here, Ashley; it might be dangerous."
"But—"
"Do you know how to fight?"
"...."
Her silence told me she didn't, so it was better if I went in alone. Just before I could leave, her butler Jed arrived.
"Miss Ashley, I'm glad I found you."
"Jed, what's happening inside?"
"Unknown individuals have forced their way in and are causing chaos. It's better if you stay here for now."
"But what about Mom and Dad?"
"Miss Ashley, they can handle themselves. You're not yet skilled in magic, and if they have to protect you too, it will only make things harder for them."
"He's right, Ashley. I'll take care of this. I'll make sure your parents are safe."
I left quickly after saying that, even though I wasn't sure how much I could do if the intruders were really strong. But I trusted myself not to be a burden. Just as I was heading inside, I encountered someone.
"Oh? Lost, kid?"
I surveyed the scene—there was damage everywhere, people running in panic, and I couldn’t see my parents or Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
"What do you want?!"
"Hey, if I were you, I'd leave before someone gets hurt."
"You must think you're really something just because you're older."
"Hey! I'm giving you a chance because you're a kid. If you don’t leave, I won't have any choice but to take you down."
Smoke floated beside me as I summoned my Elderstaves from the 'Empty Space,' a technique that allows me to store weapons made of mana, accessible anytime without the need to carry them. Though I'm not yet a master of using the Elderstaves, I had to try.
"Oh! Elderstaves? Haha! Looks like I hit the jackpot!"
I focused, just like in my training, but I needed to be quick before he attacked.
"Water Splash Bullets!"
I was startled when water bullets shot out, but they weren’t as powerful as the normal magic spells I usually use.
Still, my training paid off, at least a little. The man drew his sword and easily deflected my attack.
I wasn’t surprised—I knew it wouldn’t be enough to hit him directly. So, I returned my Elderstaves to the Empty Space and retrieved the dagger Jun had given me.
Once I had the dagger, I attacked swiftly, but he blocked it. I wondered if he was as fast as Craft or just slightly slower.
Regardless, I followed up with another attack to the left side of his head, but he blocked that too. He tried to punch me, and I blocked it with one hand.
As I held his arm, I released wind magic from my feet, spinning in the air. I aimed a kick at him with wind magic, sending him flying, but he wasn’t seriously hurt. He just grinned and vanished from my sight.
I focused quickly, and in a flash, he reappeared right in front of me, attacking. He struck at me from various angles, and while I managed to keep up, each blow from his sword was twice as heavy as the last.
My body couldn’t keep up with the force of his attacks. Even though I blocked them, the impact was overwhelming, to the point where my body felt like it might give out.
"Hey! Looks like you’re no pushover if you can keep up with my attacks!"
"Tsk!"
Even though I could keep pace, I was struggling. I couldn’t keep up with using weapons, so I retreated and used wind magic.
"Palm Wind Scyther!"
He tried to dodge the barrage of wind attacks, but there were too many, and some of them hit him, though he blocked others.
"Hahaha! You’re not bad, kid!"
I kept up the assault with wind magic, launching attacks from both my hands and feet. Even though I couldn’t stop him from getting closer, I did everything I could to move in the air, dodging his strikes and countering with wind magic.
‘If this keeps up, I’ll run out of mana and be at a huge disadvantage.’
I thought to myself. With no other options, I decided to run. If it came down to speed, he was faster, but with wind magic, I was more agile.
I crouched slightly, channeling as much mana as I could into my legs to unleash powerful wind magic.
Just as he was about to strike, I used wind magic to escape, but before I could get far, he grabbed my leg.
"Wha-"
"Hahaha! Where do you think you’re going, kid?"
"Ahh!"
He slammed me into the ground, shattering it. The impact was so strong I nearly lost consciousness.
‘I can’t pass out here, I can’t!’
I told myself. But before I could do anything, he wasn’t finished. He pulled me up again and slammed me into the ground once more.
"Ahhh!!"
"Hahaha! Did you really think I’d go easy on you just because you’re a kid? I told you to get out of my way."
I lay on the ground, slowly losing consciousness. I could barely understand what he was saying anymore. My vision blurred until I finally passed out.
I woke up suddenly, unsure how much time had passed. I tried to stand, but my body was in agony.
"Ah! It hurts! Hah! I... I still have some mana left, I can use it to heal myself."
I tried to heal myself without draining all my mana. It wasn’t enough to completely ease the pain, but it allowed me to stand.
I carefully got up and looked around to see what was happening. Bodies were scattered everywhere, lifeless.
The sight shocked me so much I nearly threw up. I forced myself to stay calm and find a way to stand.
I slowly walked down the stairs. The sound of fighting still echoed from the lower floors. As I reached the bottom, I saw Dad fighting off five men outside the house.
I couldn’t see Mom or Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and I had no idea where Ashley was with Mr. Jed.
I wanted to help Dad, but I didn’t have the strength left to fight. It wasn’t that Dad couldn’t handle his opponents—the problem was that their numbers were increasing. There were already ten of them.
As I was about to head outside, more enemies appeared, both heading for Dad and toward me. I quickly moved to leave my spot and slipped out through an open door nearby.
Once outside, I spotted an old carriage and hurried inside to hide. I lay down in the dark, struggling to stay conscious as blood continued to drain from my body. My vision and hearing started to fade.
I heard people approaching the carriage, and two men began talking nearby. I couldn’t understand what they were saying anymore until I finally passed out.
"Hey! Why is there a kid here?"
"Beats me! Is he guarding this carriage?"
"Hey! I’m the one asking you, why are you asking me back?"
"But look, he’s injured. Should we help him?"
"Hey, how do you know he’s not an enemy?"
"What's wrong with you two?! Can’t you see he’s bleeding out? Kyle! You drive the carriage. I’ll help the boy."
"H-hey! Mika, what are you doing? You don’t even know who he is. He might be dangerous; just look what happened to him."
"Are you crazy?! Can’t you see he’s in critical condition? I can’t just leave him like this."
"Sigh. What choice do I have? Kyle, let’s get moving. Jarred, get in."
The carriage carrying Azrael drove away, and a woman inside began using healing magic to close his wounds.
"Come on, kid, you can't die on us."
"A-ahm, Mika, do you think he’ll make it?"
"Do you think he’ll survive if you just stand there watching? Use your healing magic too, come on!"
"A-ahh, o-okay, sure!"
The two other men quickly joined in, using their healing magic to help close the wounds on Azrael's body.
'Tsk, some of his bones are broken. He took a really bad hit. If we don’t keep using healing magic until we reach our destination, he’s going to die,' Mika thought to herself.
After several hours of using healing magic, Mika and Carl took a break, leaving Jarred as the only one still casting spells.
"This is better than all of us using healing magic at once. We’ll take turns every three hours to rest and rotate."
"That’s a good plan, Mika, but... why are you so determined to save this kid?"
"I don’t really know, okay? It’s just... I just feel like I have to. I can’t just let him die, and besides, he hasn’t done anything wrong to us."
"But are you sure he’s a good kid? What if he got all those injuries because he’s a thief, just like us?"
"What's wrong with you, Jarred? He’s too young to be a thief. And look at what he’s wearing."
"Yeah, his clothes look expensive. Do you think he’s from a rich family?"
"Who knows? But maybe we can use that to our advantage when he wakes up. We could return him to his family and ask for a reward."
"That’s right! You’re really smart, Mika!"
“Anyway, do you want something to eat?"
Mika handed a whole loaf of bread to Carl.
“Thanks, Mika. How about you, Jarred?”
“I’m good.”
“Kyle, do you want any?”
“Nah, I’m fine.”
“Alright then, I’ll keep it all to myself.”
As morning broke, they took turns healing Azrael with their magic. Carl was the first to wake up, stretching his arms as he stood.
“Good Mornin—Oh? You haven’t slept yet, Mika? Do you want me to take over?”
“No, I’m fine. Why don’t you replace Kyle and take charge of the carriage for now?”
“Ah, okay. Sure. Kyle, I’ll take it from here.”
“Oh, good morning, Carl. Thanks.”
As the sun began to rise, so did the day for this group of travelers, continuing their journey with Azrael with them.