Although she sometimes has odd thoughts, she's actually a very clever little girl.
When she looked up at Andrew again, the little girl had stars in her eyes, and through the remaining tears, they shone with a crystal clear light: "That's great! Andrew, you're the best!!"
Finally, she stopped crying and started smiling.
Little did Andrew know, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank goodness, if this little one really kept crying nonstop, I wouldn't know what to do... any thanks for the gift of no more tears!"
As a Water Mage apprentice—well, technically still in the "apprentice tier" and not an official mage—Andrew, on his way back, had experienced some things and realized that he's specializing in firefighting. Dealing with matters unrelated to firefighting, like coaxing little Sophie, was a bit of a headache.
Nevertheless, seeing little Sophie smile was quite joyful.
It wasn't out of vanity or anything like that.
In this Flame Realm, where people generally felt negative, even numb, seeing such a pure and vibrant smile from little Sophie (though occasionally a bit silly) was truly heartwarming.
"Eh? Who's this big sister?"
Little Sophie called out again.
Only now did she notice Barbara's presence, "Wow, she's really beautiful! By the way, what's this big sister doing in the tent? Did you bring her back, Andrew?"
Andrew: "..."
He thought maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to let little Sophie take care of Barbara.
It didn't feel very reassuring.
He couldn't help but turn to Aunt Sofia and said: "I'm sorry, I should have explained when I first got back... but I need to head out again, and I wanted to ask if you could help look after my friend here (pointing to Barbara), is that okay?"
Andrew knew that such a brief request was somewhat unreasonable.
But time was of the essence.
Any further delays could risk dragging Wildfire Town's residents and the temporary camp into trouble.
However, Aunt Sofia shook her head without hesitation, saying, "I'm sorry, I can't do that."
Andrew: "?"
Aunt Sofia's face had changed at some point.
She was initially unsure of any connection between Andrew and the Wildfire Town riot.
Seeing Andrew's murderous aura subside, she had started to relax.
Until... she saw the burn on Andrew's arm!
Little Sophie was too young to understand.
But Aunt Sofia understood: that injury was caused by extremely powerful magic flames!
"I think Ivan mentioned once: all mages from the Magic Guild have flames with a certain 'toxicity.'
The more powerful the Fire Mage from a Magic Guild, the greater the toxicity of their flames."
With this in mind, Aunt Sofia's face turned extremely grim.
Because it precisely explained the strange corrosive injury on Andrew's arm!
"Andrew, how did you get that injury on your arm?"
Aunt Sofia pulled little Sophie closer, her voice tense, as she stared at Andrew, "Who is this girl? Does the town's riot have anything to do with you? Damn it! Do you realize you might get us killed! Andrew, did you go to seek revenge on Grand Mage Humboldt?!"
For a moment, Aunt Sofia even felt the impulse to shout out!
To tell everyone in the temporary camp that Andrew and a strange girl were here.
To sever any ties with Andrew!
In fact, if the murderous aura earlier hadn't made Aunt Sofia wary, she might have done it!
As a mother, her thoughts were straightforward:
Yes, you are my daughter's savior, and I am grateful to you forever!
But if you're really going to go against Grand Mage Humboldt, don't involve my daughter!!
"Auntie, you..."
Andrew had instinctively felt that Aunt Sofia would never refuse him.
Even though the cause of all this was Humboldt's pursuit of Barbara, and had nothing to do with Aunt Sofia or little Sophie.
But the Magic Thugs from the town would soon come over.
Andrew thought, there's no way to protect both the camp and Wildfire Town, all while handing Barbara over!
Barbara was with Warm Fire Commerce Association, and they were always friendly towards civilians, not like those Magic Guilds fighting amongst themselves like evil playing against evil.
The best protection plan Andrew could think of for everyone was the latest fire extinguishing plan: settle Barbara here and go to the town again to hunt; once he drew attention to himself, Barbara would be safe here instead.
If the plan went smoothly, enough fires would be extinguished tonight to quickly accumulate enough power to face Humboldt, or even kill Humboldt!
If the plan didn't go smoothly... damn it, no point in considering that possibility!
It would definitely go smoothly!
—That was Andrew's thought.
The fact he overlooked: Aunt Sofia didn't know what he knew!
Seeing Aunt Sofia's intense reaction, Andrew was momentarily stunned.
Realization dawned on him: he might have oversimplified the matter.
Only to hear Aunt Sofia ask again: "How did you get that injury? Did you go to find Grand Mage Humboldt? Were you... injured by Grand Mage Humboldt?!"
If possible, Aunt Sofia didn't want to kick Andrew out.
She really hoped Andrew would give a negative answer.