They didn't answer.
Not a single one of them.
The woman lowered her head, her fingers curling into the snow, but she said nothing.
The others just stared at the ground, not even daring to look at me.
Tsk...
Figures.
"…Hah," I sighed deeply, my breath steaming in the cold.
Then, without warning, I moved.
Thud!
A swift enough strike that made the woman collapse instantly into the snow.
The rest followed before they even realized I had moved. I didn't kill them, but that was the least I could do for them kidnapping my friends.
"Talk or don't, but don't waste my time," I muttered.
I knelt down beside Derek first. He had a scratch on his cheek, and his armor looked scuffed, but nothing serious.
James, of course, had lost a shoe somehow.
Fucking idiot.
"…Always the loud one," I muttered under my breath, picking them both up and slinging one over each shoulder.
Their mana was still stable.
Still breathing.
Good.
