Alto looks confused, probably because she doesn't realize that Nina is the crazy jealous type.
"Well, I did promise Alto. She held up her end of the deal, and I'm not going to break my word. If I go, then obviously you need to stay here to protect everyone. What else would you have me do?" (Mizuki)
Nina's face scrunches up in thought, like she's trying to solve a hard math problem, and I sense frustration from her. After a moment, she walks over to Alto with an annoyed expression then addresses her aggressively, with direct eye contact.
"Tch…listen here, Alto, was it? You better make sure that elf princess doesn't get all familiar with Mizuki if you want her to keep having limbs attached to her pretty little body. You understand?" (Nina)
Alto goes pale and nods vigorously to Nina, who looks pleased with the response. When Nina turns to walk away again, Alto shoots me a scared and bewildered expression like 'is she sane?'. In response, I shake my head in exasperation, like 'no, not at all'.
"Yeah…so, Nina is kind of the jealous type. Don't worry, though, Ilina won't do anything familiar with me. While I consider Ilina and myself somewhat friendly, I wouldn't call us close friends, and we're definitely not romantic with one another. I promise, it will be fine. You ready?" (Mizuki)
Alto nods her head absentmindedly, as though still in a state of shock. Eh…that'll do.
I walk over next to Alto and, realizing that we're about to leave, she grabs onto me. I then teleport us to just inside the door of Ilina's and Klaus's inn room in Cedonia.
When we arrive, Klaus and Ilina are sitting at the table talking and having tea. Both have dressed themselves in their normal day clothes since my departure. I guess they were hoping for news from me tonight.
Seeing us appear suddenly, they both jump in surprise. However, when Ilina notices Alto, her eyes go wide, and she runs over towards us. When she gets closer, it looks like her eyes have become misty. She turns to look at me.
"Mizuki…how many are hurt? Did you lose anyone…?" (Ilina)
Before I can answer, Alto does something like a curtsy and interjects.
"Princess Ilina, it's good to meet you. I'm Alto. Please do not fret, this man retrieved every elf and wolf-kin child from where we were being held. None of us died, and nobody was injured." (Alto)
Ilina looks relieved beyond expectation, then turns to me and…lunges at me for a hug!? As she wraps her arms around my neck, I can feel a little bit of wetness on my shoulder. I guess she couldn't fully hold the tears in.
"Thank you so much, Mizuki! I…really thought the worst would come to pass." (Ilina)
I awkwardly pat her on the back while she squeezes my neck. Glancing at Klaus, he seems…uncomfortable. That's fair. On the other hand, Alto looks…terrified!? Ohh…right, Nina did threaten to rip off Ilina's arms if something like this happened. Time to try using thought communication with someone other than Nina.
I look at Alto and focus on her hearing my thoughts.
[Alto, let's not mention this to Nina if we want Ilina to live. Okay?] (Mizuki)
Alto makes a shocked face at hearing me suddenly, but then nods gratefully.
Ilina pulls away from me and wipes her eyes. Then, she turns to Alto. She glances at me briefly, then speaks to Alto.
"Alto, are the children and everyone else okay, emotionally? I'm glad everyone is physically fine, but I'm sure the scene…that man…left was a slaughter. There's also the matter of how I thought you'd be under contracts. Did he have to torture the contract master to release you?" (Ilina)
Somehow, Ilina's voice feels, off? She also seems to be avoiding using my name. 'That man', really?
Wait…could she be speaking Elvish to try and talk about me right here!? Azazel promised that I could understand and speak all languages. Realizing that must be the case, I can't help but chuckle out loud.
Ilina glances at me when I do, puzzled. I smile back at her as I respond to clarify that I'm not actually mad.
"Fufufufu…Ilina, you'd talk about me like that while I'm right here? I did exactly as I told you that I would. There's no evidence that anyone was ever there. No bodies, no weapons, no bloodstains, nothing. I made sure to take care of that before I let out the kids, to avoid scaring them. As for the contracts, Lady Nedonera and I found another way to break them. We didn't torture anyone." (Mizuki)
Ilina's face goes pale, and she stares at me with her mouth and eyes wide open in shock. Klaus and Alto are equally surprised.