"Ah- wait that kinda hurts-" Blondie held the little girl's hand–Remy–who was sitting on his shoulders and pulling on his hair like a rat. Ray and Isaac were swinging on his arms. He looked at me with pleading eyes, "Siennaaaaaa."
I ignored him and continued to talk to Len.
"Sorry, what were you saying?"
He crossed his arm, his head moving like a metronome. "The emperor organizes an envoy to spread his blessings in the months leading up to his birthday celebration."
"Do you want to come with me?"
"Yes!" Wait- oops. I agreed without thinking straight! No! Will Archen even allow me go...?
Doubt it.
"Really? That's great."
I closed my eyes. He spoke in his normal tone, but you can tell he was happy.
I... I can just sneak out.
"When is it...?"
"In two days and we'll stay for just a day."
"Two... days?"
"Yeah. Is that not enough time for you? I... can ask them to delay it."
I shook my head and laughed. Delay it...? To delay the emperor's fixed schedule, isn't that... something only close people to Azriel can do?
Apart from Archen... was there a guy who was also close to Azriel?
I turned around and saw Blondie, squatting with a stick in hand, the children surrounding him as he drew pictures while he told his stories.
"Hey! When will the duke come back again?"
"Huh?" Blondie raised his head. "Next week!" He said before continuing with his storytelling.
I guess I can work with that.
Looking up at Len, I grinned from ear to ear, "I can't wait!"
Len hummed, his hand reaching out to touch my head but stopping midway.
...? What?
I tilted my head to which he chuckled at and he finally patted my head. "I'm looking forward to it as well." My pupils trembled.
Shit.
I gulped, my cheeks visibly red. I averted my eyes as if that'll help. In the first place, I can't see his eyes, so what is my eyes averting from?
Len, as if teasing me, leaned down. His hand slowly moved to my nape, making my body shiver.
"Len...?"
He chuckled and leaned in closer. "You're red."
You don't have to tell me that, I can feel the heat on my face, okay?!
"Tha-"
Swish.
Thud.
Before I could complete my words, a stick flew over, targeting Len.
With the reflexes of a warrior, Len swiftly caught the stick with his left hand while his other hand pulled me closer. My face slammed into his firm chest.
His scent invaded my nostrils.
He smelled just like one would think.
Len had the scent of winter.
The smell of snow piling outside the pine wood cabin as the firewood crackles and the vanilla scented candle burns while lying on someone's shoulder, taking a sip of hot chocolate with marshmallows and cinnamon.
And it made sense.
"—na."
"Sienna...?"
I quickly jerked back. "What? What is it?"
"Are you alright?" He asked and I finally came back to my senses. My eyes darted to his hand that was holding the stick.
"Are YOU alright?"
"Huh? Yeah?" He said in a tone that basically said 'why wouldn't I be alright?'
Why is his hands getting targeted so much today?!
And the sniper is that pesty blondie motherfucker!
I quickly turned around and glared at the dumb mean blondie Regina wannabe. "You could have blinded him!"
"I wish I did."
"What?!?" I was about to march towards him but Len grabbed my wrist.
Seeing that, dumb little blondie eyes almost popped out of his sockets.
What the hell is wrong with him...?
Does he seriously think of me as his sister now?
Thud.
???
"Meanie!" Remy yelled, her little fists hitting Blondie's stomach.
"Ow!"
Deserved.
Looking at Remy's action, Ray and Krisha looked at each other with a smile and followed suit.
"Bad!" Krisha shouted.
"Evil man!" Ray said.
"He-Hey, ouch! Stop, stop, pleaseeeee."
The corner of my mouth twitched.
So proud, go Remy! Go Ray! Go Krisha! Go my babies!
Punch him more!
...
"Oh come on, Sien-"
Bam!
Sienna slammed the door shut to my face. "Haa..." I brushed my hair back, half-frustrated and half-amused. Was that hooded fucker such an important person to her? Why? Ugh.
I got closer to the door, whispering, "goodnight."
Turning around, I was met with the moonlight. The sky was dark with no stars in sight and only the moon shone bright.
"That's right..." I put my hood on and smiled.
Tonight is a good one to hunt.
I snapped my fingers and was instantly teleported to the River's guild whose inside was still lively, mercenaries clinking their beers could be heard from outside.
"Hah!"
Yup, enjoy the fun while you still can.
Sienna must not have sensed it because of Raina's body, but this place, the River's guild reeks of disgusting black magic.
The most revolting being the 'guild master'. To compare, Raina's black magic smells like your laundry that was left not fully dried for a few days, meanwhile, that fucker smells like he bathes in the sewer.
Such stench means they've been involved in black magic for a while now.
"Oh, dear goddess..." I closed my eyes, pinching my nose as I tried to suppress my anger. How much human sacrifice have they taken.
"Bellona, miko warh ki naiou ont le raiki di hor."
(Bellona, please guide your children in the circle of life.) I chanted.
I shook my head and looked at the bright and sparkling run down building with loathing, the laughter inside fueling my anger. I opened my palms and clenched jaw as I prepared to create a magic barrier.
After all, while this place was in the outskirts of the central, there is still a few stalls that might get impacted.
I slowly walked towards the building
"Ah! Help!"
"RUN!"
The big, rugged men that was just laughing seconds were now running for their lives, faces plastered with fear and panic. I giggled at their sights, it was ridiculous. Now, you know what those people you sacrificed felt like.
"Freo." I pointed at the swarm of men and magic was released from my fingertips. They quickly fell on the ground, unconscious. I hummed my sister's favorite tune as I levitated them in one place, and just in case they woke up, I made a net with mana thread to put on top of the pile.
I kicked the mountain of men before teleporting on the second floor of the building. "What the..." I said with utter confusion, because the fire from the explosion felt... rather odd. It looked like the wood was on fire, yet it wasn't spreading. Wasn't fire supposed to feel hot? But why did this one... feel comforting...? It's similar to Al's holy power's if she was the one born with my constitution, but, that's not possible.
I shook my head, putting those thoughts in the back of my mind to focus on my hunt. As I walked towards the guild master's room, a shadow swiftly flew from across the hallway, its dagger glinting as it aimed for my chest.
My eyes became wide, then, it turned into crescents.
I quickly casted a protection spell, the figure dressed in black bounced back on his bottom, the dagger shattering into pieces like glass. I used holy power to restrain the guy which was the supposedly right answer. It was better to use holy power when dealing with dirty, black magicians as they are no match to the pure holy power that the goddess of fate, Bellona has bestowed upon her chosen ones.
But to my surprise, the figure quickly disintegrated into the air, leaving not a single trace.
"A puppet?" I scoffed to myself and continued to walk where I was attacked by 4 more puppets who I didn't bother fighting and just shot them with holy power to make them disappear, I finally got to inside the room.
It was dark, if not for the window letting the light shine through, one would not see that the countless treasures that were proudly displayed is now on the ground, scattered and broken.
"Ugh-" I haven't even moved yet, when another puppet rushed to attack me. I rolled my eyes and shot him with my holy magic, but for some reason, this one didn't vanish. My eyes shook and I quickly casted a barrier and materialized a sword with my mana.
The man in hood who I assume is not an ordinary puppet walked a few, hesitant steps back. The hand that held his sword relaxed but after seeing that I had my own weapon and was aiming for a kill, his arm tensed up.
I rushed in with my mana sword and he combatted it with his own sword that miraculously didn't shatter. With ease, the man used his force to make me break my stance. I swiftly jumped back to regain my posture before rushing in again.
I clenched my jaw while fighting. This guy is no puppet, he's a monster! Where in this continent can you find someone, whose swordsmanship excels to the point that a mana sword does nothing to him.
The only advantage that I have is my magic.
That's right, I have magic!
While countering his attack, I made fireballs and sent it flying to him. "Hah!" I scoffed in mockery, but my arrogance turned to dust when the fireballs disappeared, seemingly being absorb by the man while he continued with his attacks.
You can do that?!
In my shocked state, I left an opening to which the man used to his advantage.
I couldn't jump away to distance myself and was pushing through everything with sheer force. In my struggle, my hood dropped.
The man let out a confused "huh?" and he quickly retreated, sheathing his sword. Hearing his voice, I also had a realization.
"Aren't you..."
"Aren't you..."
"Sienna's brother?"
"That hooded bastard?"
To be continued.