"Your friend is in danger, and you worry about the kidnapper?"
Cedric scratched his black hair and replied with a smile.
"I have my reasons, alright? It's a long story, but I believe in Leo. He won't endanger Anna's life," Cedric argued as he crouched down to tend to the wounds.
He carefully immobilized Leo's arm and then cast a simple healing spell, administering whatever first aid he could.
Cyril didn't say anything. He only shook his head and waited for him to finish.
It's not my friend that was kidnapped anyways.
Using this window of free time, Rhamn began reprimanding Morpho in the background.
"You must be more careful of your surroundings. How can you let yourself be harmed by such an inferior being?"
Morpho guiltily made circles around her, not trying to defend herself.
After a few laps, she stopped.
Rhamn's scolding expression soon disappeared, replaced by uncertainty.
The butterfly hovered in place, her compound eyes looking at something on the rooftops.
What's wrong? Cyril asked, turning his head in that direction. The flat grey roofs around them were empty, with nothing interesting to be found there.
"Morpho said she saw some black blur move there."
Cyril stared at that place for a few seconds more but saw nothing unusual.
...Could've been a delivery bird.
He gave himself an explanation, though a frown remained on his face.
After a bit of time, Cedric finished with healing and grabbed the body of Leo, looking like he wanted to carry him.
"Let's go already. Your friend is in danger." Cyril sent him a glare.
Cedric pursed his lips but relented, lowering the body back on the ground.
"Sorry for wasting your time. Let's go." He dusted himself off and moved towards Morpho.
...
They walked after the red butterfly, returning back to the shopping street.
Their pace was fast, and they moved in silence.
As the group was passing by store after store, Cyril noticed another familiar person walking in their direction.
Myra? I keep encountering people today...
As he discovered her, Myra too found him. Today, instead of her uniform, she was dressed in a simple black shirt and pants.
"Cyril! You are here too? What a coincidence!"
With her breathing slightly uneven, she ran up close, her pace eager.
"What a coincidence..." Slowly repeated Cyril, narrowing his eyes in the process.
She is wearing dark-colored clothes. It couldn't have been her, right?
"Morpho says she can't tell. But I wouldn't be surprised if she turned out to be a stalker." Rhamn glared at Myra, her arms crossed.
Taking his silence for something else, Myra leaned in closer to his shoulder. "Oh, is that your butterfly? It's so beautiful."
Morpho fluttered her wings as a greeting, to which Myra returned a cautious wave.
Rhamn's wary stance didn't change, but her frown diminished a little as she tried to hold back a smile.
"Her name is Morpho. I've been buying a few things for her." Cyril replied, slightly raising the bags in his hands.
...It must've been a simple delivery bird anyways.
Myra nodded, then her gaze switched to another student nearby.
"Hi, Myra," Cedric said with a strained smile.
Myra returned the greeting and tilted her head as she looked at the two of them together.
"Did something happen?"
"We are trying to find Cedric's kidnapped friend." Cyril simply explained without hiding anything.
Myra's eyes widened. "That's a noble goal! Can I go with you?" She made a step closer, her fists clenched in front of her.
...Her reaction is somewhat different from what I expected.
He calmly stared at her without saying anything.
Myra's face suddenly froze.
"A-actually, I always wanted to become a knight. And this seems just like what a knight does!" She stammered with her cheeks dyeing a subtle red.
"..." Rhamn resumed her glaring, eyes narrowing even further. "Something is not right with her after all."
There's nothing wrong with acting out your dreams. Cyril nodded with understanding.
Cedric, standing nearby, looked tense, but he continued patiently waiting for them to finish. Only in his eyes could some helplessness be seen.
"Let's go together then."
"Nice." Myra eagerly nodded and walked up to his side.
"Thank you for the help, Myra." Cedric bowed slightly, to which Myra dismissively waved her hand.
Getting her cue, Morpho flew up and began leading the way once again.
"Morpho has the trace." Cyril briefly explained and started walking.
Myra nodded and, without asking any questions, followed after him.
...
Passing by store after store, they reached a small building in the corner.
On the simplistic sign above the door was a drawing of a coffee cup. The few windows were shut, obscuring what was inside.
Morpho flapped her wings frantically in front of the wooden door.
"She says the target is in this building."
"Your friend is inside," Cyril voiced her translation.
"Thankfully, she wasn't far."
"We should prepare for a fight." Cedric warily approached the closed windows and attempted to see through the gaps.
Cyril casually walked closer to the door.
"If Leo had strong mages at his disposal, he would've sent them straight after you. No need to go through such a process." He said while putting the shopping bags on the ground.
That coward wouldn't refuse ganging up on someone...
"Some ordinary thugs inside at most." Cyril tried to open the door as he was saying this, but it wouldn't budge, so he turned around.
"We need to find a way to get inside. If you have no ideas, I'll break the door."
Cedric looked over the whole building, then glanced at the people walking around not far away, his movements careful.
Even though this place was out of the way, it was still a public area.
At this moment Myra walked up closer to Cyril, her face barely hiding a smile.
"She must really like being a knight."
"I can quietly open the door."
Cyril wordlessly stepped aside.
Myra moved in front of the door and put her hand on the handle.
A magic circle soon appeared, staying for a brief second, and from the door a clicking sound rang out.
"It's done." Myra turned to look at Cyril with shining, almost puppy-dog eyes, like a child expecting praise for a task well done.
"Good job," Cyril said on reflex.
Myra nodded with a brightened face.
Is she a stalker? She seems a bit too pure to be one... Cyril thought without much confidence.
"She knows a spell to open locked doors. That doesn't seem pure to me." Rhamn waved her arms in complaint.
Refocusing on the present, Cyril opened the now unlocked door and stepped inside without any worry, followed by Myra and Cedric.
The cafe was clean without any dust. The shelves were mostly full. The tables and chairs were standing without anyone occupying them.
Safe for two ragged men. Their faces showed scowls as they stood up facing the entrance with knives in their hands.
"Who the hell?" One of them yelled.
"Doesn't matter! These are intruders. Let's do our job, Rex." The other immediately replied.
Cedric immediately raised his hands, preparing to cast a spell.
Cyril stood there calmly, observing all of the cafe first. Morpho flew up from his shoulder, staying at a distance.
Just two?
"Don't you dare underestimate us!" The thug standing closer to them lunged forward with a yell, slashing with the back of his knife.
Cyril smoothly dodged the slow-moving attack and hit the man on the stomach.
"Ugh!" The thug bent over, recoiling in pain, and fell on the ground.
The other thug froze, his eyes widening, but before he had the time to do anything, Myra reached him, as swift as the wind.
Grabbing onto his sleeve, she threw him over her shoulder with a spin.
It all took a second.
From the thug's perspective, one moment he was staring at his friend on the ground, and the next he was facing the ceiling with a sharp pain in his back.
"We give up!" He immediately yelled out through the pain.
Myra froze and retracted her fist that was about to land on his throat.
With a satisfied smile, she turned towards Cyril and gave him a thumbs-up.
Cyril returned a nod, having witnessed all of her actions.
She is skilled.
Not only is she capable enough with a spear to defeat me, but it seems her barehanded techniques are not bad as well...
"Tsk. It's only a matter of time before you surpass her in all regards." Rhamn appeared at his side, her arms still crossed.
Not far away from them, Cedric could only scratch his hair and then relax. There was no time for him to cast any spell at all.
At this moment, one of the thugs pleaded in a servile voice, "Please, young heroes, we were only hired to stop a girl from escaping. We didn't do anything to her!"
Cedric immediately reacted. "Where is that girl?"
The thug pointed at the room behind him, and Cedric swiftly ran there, leaving the other students here alone.
Now what?
Cyril looked at the two docile thugs on the ground, then glanced at Myra nearby.
She happened to meet his gaze at this moment. Her face expectant, she stood at attention like a soldier awaiting orders.
Okay.
Not getting any input from her, Cyril turned his head away and contemplated some more.
"Get out, " he said to the two thugs and motioned with his head towards the door.
Involving the guards would be a pain, so just let them go. "Good plan!"
The two men immediately got up from the ground and dashed away.
"Thank you, kind people. We'll never do anything like this again." Leaving such words, they quickly ran out of the building.
"These guys seemed to lack a spine. How pitiful." Rhamn shook her head in contempt.
They don't have any strength to resist. What else can they do? Cyril dismissively replied and then turned to look at Myra.
She was currently sending threatening gazes towards the leaving thugs, as if warning them to behave from now on.
"Myra," His words immediately attracted her attention, her face losing any sharpness.
"Where did you learn to fight like that? And that spell?"
Myra's face soon lost some of that enthusiasm, and her eyes started wandering around the room.
After a couple of seconds of hesitating, she finally replied, "I traveled around before enrolling in Ailanthus. You get to pick up a lot of skills during that."
Cyril stared at her right in the eyes, or tried to, as she avoided his gaze.
"I see."
Everyone has a few secrets, I suppose.
At this moment Cedric returned, followed by a young woman with chestnut hair. She was wearing a sweater with a torn sleeve. There were no signs of harm visible on her body anywhere.
"Thank you again for rescuing me, Cedric. I almost thought I had to fight my way out myself!" She said with a laugh.
"It was my fault you got kidnapped in the first place... And don't thank me. I've done nothing useful today. It was Cyril here who found you." Cedric's voice was a mixture of guilt and relief.
"And Myra helped free you, I didn't do anything at all."
Only now did Anna notice the other people standing here. In an instant, her face flushed red and then just as quickly went blank.
Taking an unobvious step to somewhat hide her body behind Cedric, she murmured, "Thank you," her voice much quieter now.
She was staring somewhere in the distance as she said that, stealing only occasional glances at Cyril's face.
Cyril could only nod in return.
"Is she pretending?" Rhamn, now sitting by one of the tables and playing with Morpho, couldn't understand this shift in personality from outgoing to shy.
With a look of realization, Cedric opened his mouth. "Right, Cyril, Myra. This is Anna Welley from class IV. Don't let that placement fool you. She is actually quite talented. Oh, and she is not good around strangers, so don't be too harsh."
In the middle of his sentence, Anna subtly nudged him with an elbow but gave up after a while.
He then turned towards her. "Cyril and Myra are famous in our academy, so you probably know them already."
Cedric gave a big smile. "Cyril is not a bad guy, right?"
A look of 'I told you so' appeared on his face.
Anna's brow twitched, and she avoided Cyril's sight, her blank face briefly becoming red again.
"Since we now know each other, let's go grab something to eat and celebrate a good outcome." Cedric said with a beaming smile all of a sudden.
"It's already getting late. We still need to install the terrarium in a suitable place and maybe buy something else for Morpho. Anyways, we don't have time for them."
"I still have something to do. I'll be going first." Cyril turned around, not intent on agreeing.
Cedric reacted with a shrug. "Next time, then."
It was a mystery what was in Anna's mind. She simply continued to avoid Cyril in silence.
"What about you?" Cedric turned towards Myra.
On her face was a reluctant expression, and she didn't reply for a few seconds.
"Are you sure it's over? Maybe there is something else we can to do right now?"
She twirled a strand of her auburn hair, avoiding Cyril's speechless stare.