.
.
"Hello, ladies. I'm afraid this isn't your lucky day."
At once, the two women stopped walking. Before them, a burly man was standing, twirling a rather heavy-looking axe in his hands. A few seconds later, exactly seventeen other men stepped out from behind the trees, and some went behind them, effectively surrounding the women and blocking any potential escape route. They started chuckling darkly, and the man who had first spoken stepped forward.
"Alright, let's do this the easy way," he urged, his grin showing off one of his gold teeth. "You come with us, you don't cause any trouble, and we'll be gentle—ugh!"
He was sent flying, and harshly landed further down the road. The impact even created a large dent in the ground. There was a moment of stillness, before all brigands reported their attention at once on the women. The orange-haired one hadn't moved, but the younger girl, the purple-haired one, was now standing where their leader had been just a second earlier. Slowly, she straightened up, and shook her fist.
"Ugh, I hate those cliché lines," she grunted, a tad annoyed. "If you're gonna rob or kidnap people, can't you at least be a little creative with it?"
"W- what the hell!?"
"She moved too fast!"
"Wait, those capes…"
"They're- they're Magic Knights!?"
"But they never come around these parts!"
The girl lifted her fist threateningly. "Alright, let's do this the easy way: you guys scram and never come back. If we cross paths again, I'll pummel the shit out of you. Deal?"
"Stop- stop screwing around brat!"
"Magic Knights or not, there's still just two of them!"
"Get them!"
"COME AT ME!"
One second, the seventeen bandits were rushing toward them with their swords held high and ready to draw blood. The next second, all of them were lying on the ground, the smell of burnt flesh filling the air and their swords having been turned into melting, bubbling iron messes. Quinn lifted an eyebrow, unimpressed, as Mereoleona dispersed her Fire Magic at once.
"Don't you think that was a tad overkill?" she flatly pointed out.
"Tche. Weaklings, the lot of them," grunted the fiery woman.
"You know, we were planning on heading to a new Grand Mana Zone since we're done with the Yultim Volcano, but don't you think we could stick around for a bit?" then asked Quinn, glancing at the bandits lying at her feet. "I've got the feeling there's some more of those rats lurking about. Something big is going on."
Mereoleona lifted an eyebrow at that. "What makes you say that?"
"Four things," answered the girl. She first pointed at the bandit at her feet. "Their clothes are clean and undamaged. Also, none of the bandits are dirty, and they seem to have good basic hygiene. If they simply lived in the wild, they wouldn't look fresh-out of the baths."
"Which would mean?"
"The most evident answer would be that they live in a village where they can repair their clothes, and where they live properly protected from the elements and the wilderness," answered simply the girl, thinking fast. "But I doubt less than twenty bandits would be able to build something like that on their own, so there must be more of them."
"Good call," nodded the woman. Quinn then realized she had surely understood as much, and that she was merely testing her. "Though, what makes you think there's something bigger going on?"
"That leads me to my three other points," nodded Quinn. "First, if there's such a village, surely one of the Squads would have heard of it by now. Wouldn't nobles be targeted? They'd complain a lot, for sure. So, that leads to believe there's someone powerful enough to hide their existence. That leads to the second point: their weapons. They're well made, and are obviously expensive. Where could they have possibly gotten such weapons, other than from an especially wealthy benefactor?"
"That's pretty good guesswork, cub," nodded Mereoleona, grinning a bit. "Color me impressed. Not that many Knights think that far. So? What's the last clue?"
At that, Quinn looked at her with a very serious expression. It was pretty unusual for the young girl, which put Mereoleona on guard. What could possibly warrant such an expression? It was probably a very somber matter, which couldn't be treaded on lightly—
"Gut feeling."
The lioness suddenly felt like hitting the girl—so she did. "DON'T ACT SO CONFIDENT WHEN TALKING ABOUT CRAP LIKE THAT!"
"Ow, ow, ow!" Quinn rubbed her sore head. "It's not crap, I swear! Since I've got a special connection with mana in its most natural state, I've developed some sort of a sixth sense: while it's not exactly concise, it's pretty accurate and, right now, it's telling me something is wrong."
It wasn't a lie. While it wasn't like her visions, she could always feel it in her guts when something was amiss with the picture, or when a piece of the puzzle was missing. And, after so many lives lived, Quinn had learned to trust her instincts.
"Well, if you say so…" Her violent companion didn't seem convinced, but she didn't fully doubt her either. "Anyway, we should look into the situation. If there truly are more bandits like them lurking around, then it's our job to get rid of them!"
"Well, that and you enjoy hitting people," grumbled the teen.
"What was that!?"
"Nothing, ma'am!"
Quinn and Mereoleona had spent an entire month at the Yultim Volcano, training day and night in order to build up stamina, physical strength, and develop further their mana core. The girl had learned the hard way how to properly channel the intense ambient mana in a fire-based Grand Mana Zone, but she had gone a long way from suffocating when just stepping near the place, so she certainly wouldn't complain.
Once Mereoleona judged they were done training at the volcano, though, she decided to head for a new Grand Mana Zone, situated completely at the opposite of Yultim. And, since she didn't want to use Magic nor brooms to get there, they had been traveling on foot again, hence the situation they had ended up in.
"Well, I'll be damned," grunted Mereoleona, crouching. "There's actually a village here. But…"
"But it's not a village of bandits," completed Quinn in a somber tone. "It's a village that's been taken over by bandits."
"Suiren Village, if I remember correctly," frowned the lioness beside her. "There has been no report of any bandit activity around or in the village, though."
"Suiren is too far from Kikka to send patrols regularly, so the city authorities rely on monthly reports given by the nobles who live the nearest to the villages," then explained Quinn, clicking her tongue in annoyance. "And Magic Knights wouldn't bother regularly patrolling peasant villages since they wouldn't pay them like nobles do, and said nobles who are in charge of the reports often end up falsifying them in order to gain more money, land, or prestige. It happens more often than one might believe, unfortunately."
Mereoleona however frowned at that. "I never noticed."
"Not many people do," simply shrugged Quinn. "And no offense, but you're still a noble, and royalty at that: no matter how you might try, you'll never truly understand the struggles of the people who aren't those who share your blue blood."
"You know, I've noticed before, but you really don't hold nobles in high regards, do you?" snorted Mereoleona, not taking offense.
"Talking from experience," simply shrugged Quinn. "The strong dominating the weak is nothing new, but it is getting old. By becoming a Magic Knight, I'm hoping I'll be able to at least make some sort of difference, as small as it might be…" She trailed off, noticing a richly decorated carriage suddenly coming out from the other side of the forest, heading for the village. "Well, would you look at that. How much do you wanna bet this is the wealthy benefactor I mentioned earlier?"
"We can't beat him up until we've caught him red-handed, though," pointed out the woman.
"You mean arrest him, right?" sweatdropped the teen, before shaking her head. "But you're right, we can't act recklessly. There's something more going on than just some bandit activity… I mean, why bother settling in a village and seeking the protection of a noble? And why would a noble bother with such a risky business anyway? We need to figure things out, and fast."
"I'll tail the noble," then decided Mereoleona. "You enter the village and question its inhabitants."
"Got it. Oh, and Mereo-sama?"
"Hm?"
"Don't burn down anything," warned flatly the girl. "If we want all of them to go to jail and actually stay there, we'll need many proofs and pieces of convictions."
"I know that, cheeky brat!" snapped back the woman. "Get lost already!"
"Yes, yes."
Quinn had to get rid of her red cape in order to blend in more easily with the villagers, instead putting on her traveling cloak, with a hood that hid her purple hair, and putting the cape in her backpack. After that, she started roaming the village. It looked pretty desolate, but Quinn couldn't help but feel like it was much poorer than it should have been. Sure, villages in the boonies had never been wealthy, and famine was known to strike at the most inopportune times, but this… this was different.
"No, please! Please, don't take him! I'm begging you, please—"
"Shut up, old hag!"
The teen tensed when a loud slap echoed. Hurrying the pace, she finally reached a half-demolished house, where an old lady was kneeling on the ground, sobbing and crying out for the small child that had just been taken from her. Seeing red, Quinn didn't hesitate and walked up to the two bandits. Rapidly jabbing her fingers in places where she knew the nerves were the most sensible, she easily knocked them down in a matter of seconds. The now free child, a young boy who couldn't be older than six, stared up at her in wonder.
"It's okay," she smiled, patting his head. "It'll be alright, now."
"Ja- Jackie!"
"Grandma!"
At once, the boy ran back to the old woman, whose tears of despair had turned to tears of relief. While they hugged tightly, Quinn wasted no time in grabbing the two knocked-out bandits and quite literally throwing them through one of her spatial doors, which would have them land directly in a temporary cell at the Magic Knights Supervision Office. Once done with that, she turned to the two civilians.
"Do you mind if we go inside?" she suggested with a reassuring smile. "I don't really get what's going on, but it would probably be safer to take cover right now."
"R- right, of course," nodded quickly the old woman.
The inside was even worse than the outside. The house was even more rundown than it looked like, with the walls about to crumble and the roof on the verge of collapsing. There was dirt and crass pretty much everywhere, and barely any furniture. The small table was made of half-rotten wood, and the sole bed was apparently broken in half.
"I'm sorry about the house, it's not in a very suitable state," murmured the old lady, offering her the sole chair.
"No, please, sit," refused Quinn, taking a step back. She offered her a reassuring smile. "I don't intend to impose for too long. Say, how long have the bandits been here for?"
"The bandits…? About four, five months…" The old woman sighed, sitting down, and the little boy kept on holding her hand. "My name is Kama, and this is my grandson, Jackie. Thank you, for saving him."
"I'm Quinn, a Magic Knight," greeted the girl. Instantly, the old lady straightened up, and the boy gaped at her with awe. "I'm here to help, but I'll need your assistance."
"A Magic Knight, after all this time?" Kama didn't even seem able to believe it.
At that, Quinn bowed her head. "My companion and I stumbled upon Suiren by accident. I'm afraid we'll have a lot to do to make up for all of the suffering you've gone through because of our incompetence but, first, we have to free the village."
"I- I understand. Well, of course, I'll help in however way in can," nodded Kama.
"Great. So, mind explaining exactly what's going on?" Quinn jabbed her thumb outside. "Why were those men trying to take your grandson?"
At that, sorrow entered her faded blue eyes. "They've been taking children from Suiren for about three months, now. Only Jackie and a few others are left."
"Taking the children? Where?"
"To Lord Fell's mansion, that's just about an hour from here. We… don't know what happens to them. All of the men of the village were mobilized and forced to work in a mine about three kilometers away, and all of the women have to work in the fields or- or are taken by the bandits…" Kama closed her eyes, pain clearly written over her face. "That's what happened to my son. His wife died a little before the bandits took over, and he was taken to the mine and has yet to come back, leaving Jackie with me. But I'm getting old, and I couldn't even protect him…" Tears then appeared at the corners of her eyes. "Please… Please, Lady Quinn, help us!"
"I told you I would, didn't I?" The girl placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I'll do anything I can to pull you all out of this mess. You said the men were working in a mine?"
"We found this mine about seven months ago," nodded Kama, rubbing her eyes. "We reported it to Lord Fell, as we should, but he didn't report it to the Royal Capital, thinking to keep the mine for himself so he could make the fortune of the Prido Family grow. And, barely two months later, the bandits attacked. We weren't prepared, we didn't see them coming, and there were so many of them… Before the day was over, all of the men had either been killed or taken away, and the women and children had been locked in their homes. A little later, we had to give up our houses, our belongings, our food, everything, and they started living here, forcing us to do their bidding. And then… and then, they started taking the children." She hid her face behind her hands. "We couldn't do anything…"
"I see… Well, you don't have to worry anymore," assured Quinn, smiling confidently. "My companion and I will free Suiren at once, free the men of the village, and retrieve all of the children. I promise!"
"You're lying!" Jackie suddenly exclaimed, pointing accusingly at her. "No one cared before, so why would you? You're just gonna leave and you won't come back, and things will get even worse!"
"Will I?" Without warning, she pulled her red cape out of her backpack and threw it at the boy. He caught it, stumbling a bit, his eyes going wide again. "This cloak is precious to me. It's a symbol of the oath I made when I became a Magic Knight. You don't trust me? I get that. But you can trust that I'll definitely come to get it back." She grinned, ruffling his hair a bit. "Take care of it for me in the meantime, alright? I'm counting on you." He could only gape at her, taken aback. Chuckling a bit, the girl then turned to Kama. "Stay inside for now. I'll come get you once all of the bandits have been taken care of—"
'BOOOOM'
The loud explosion made the entire house shake on its feeble foundations. Startled at first, Quinn then sensed the explosive Magic power she had gotten so used to in the last month. Frowning, she quickly headed outside, running toward the source. As she got closer, she easily noticed the flames spreading around, though none of them reached any of the houses. Quinn could only once again marvel at the sheer control Mereoleona had over her fire, but she quickly shook it off as she reached the middle of the village. There, over forty bandits surrounded the fiery woman, though she easily took them down one after the other.
Well, I was hoping to gather some more information, but I guess we're taking down the bandits earlier than first planned.
Summoning her Wind Fans, she quickly created a gust of wind so strong it blew about a dozen of the bandits away. As they started falling, though, Quinn was already there, using her enhanced speed to reach every single one of them and slice open a Spatial Door right under them, through which they had no choice but to fall. And, assisted by Mereoleona's more direct approach, sending away all of their foes barely took five minutes. In the end, only one of them was left, though he was unconscious.
"Why keep that one?" asked Mereoleona, lifting an eyebrow.
"I gathered some info. Apparently, all of the men in the village have been taken to a mine where they're forced to work, and that guy will show us the way so we can go free them and get rid of whatever's left of the bandits," explained Quinn, quickly tying the guy up with some rope she had conveniently found lying around. "What of the noble? Weren't you supposed to tail him?"
"He slipped away," grunted Mereoleona. "He's Lord Fell Prido, the Head of the Prido Family. Apparently, he's been leading illegal research on mana-cores in order to develop magic tools, which is what earned his family a fortune and many titles to begin with. He's been using the iron found in a non-reported mine as material, and he employed the bandits to keep an eye on the villagers so they wouldn't try and get the word out to the Royal Capital."
"So he sent all of the bandits after you so he could get away," understood Quinn, frowning. "But isn't this bad? He's definitely going to try and get rid of all the evidence!"
"We already have numerous witnesses, counting the bandits and the villagers. He also had some documents about the money he owed to the bandits for their services, and some plans of the mine, all of which I obviously got my hands on before deciding to arrest him," explained the woman, for once looking serious. "I may act recklessly, but it doesn't mean I have to be stupid. Even if he gets rid of the evidence in his mansion, we still have more than enough to arrest him."
"R- right…" Quinn shook her head. "But still, there's something that we're missing, I'm sure—"
::
"They've been taking children from Suiren for about three months, now."
::
"Oh no," paled the girl, suddenly feeling sick.
::
"Apparently, he's been leading an illegal research on mana-cores in order to develop magic tools."
::
"Quinn?" frowned Mereoleona.
"I- I have to go!" she exclaimed urgently. "We have to split up! Take that guy and have him lead you to the mines! I'm going to Lord Fell's mansion at once!"
"Why?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "What's going on?"
"They've been taking children from Suiren for months! The illegal research he led was probably conducted on those kids!" Quinn felt the urge to throw up, but now wasn't the time. "If he wants to get rid of the evidence, then he'll- he'll have to get rid of them too!"
"That means he'll probably have sent word to also kill all of the men at the mine, and probably make it collapse too so we can't gather evidence there," understood Mereoleona, now frowning. "Very well, let's split up. Take this!" She threw to the girl a small pendant, and Quinn realized she could open it. "It's a communication device found in a dungeon. It only works on small distances, but it should be okay. If anything comes up, contact me at once! Failure isn't an option!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Then go!"
She didn't need to ask Quinn twice. The girl summoned her Wind Fans and, at once, she propelled herself upward. In a matter of seconds, she was completely out of sight. At first surprised, Mereoleona then grinned, albeit it looked a tad mad.
"Didn't think the cub could move that fast. That means she's been holding back on me, uh?" Shaking her head, she then picked up the now-woken-up bandit. "No matter. You are going to tell me everything you know."
The man simply gulped.
.
.
"Father, you're back early! Did something go wrong?"
Lord Fell stopped dead in his tracks, a bead of sweat running down his face. He had been heading straight for the greenhouse situated behind the mansion, but he hadn't expected to run into his son. Plastering a reassuring smile on his face, he turned to face him.
"Of- of course not, Allen," he chuckled nervously, pulling on his collar. "Nothing wrong, nothing wrong at all! The- the meeting was actually postponed to a later date, is all. A colleague fell ill, and it wouldn't feel right to meet without him, since he's such an important partner." The lies rolled off his tongue with ease, and he soon got back control over his emotions. "Anyway, I was heading to the parlor—"
"The parlor?" smiled his son. "Perfect! I was headed there myself to meet up with Mother. You can have some tea with us, then! You've been so caught up with your work lately, we've barely seen you."
"R- right, of course, of course. L- lead the way, then!"
As the young, white-haired man started telling him about the affairs of the house he had missed due to his repetitive absences, Lord Fell started sweating a bit. He hadn't expected a Magic Knight to show up and get her hands on his documents, and it seriously put a damper in his plans. But, as annoying as it was to deal with those lowlife bandits, he couldn't deny their utility—they'd surely manage to finish her. Unfortunately, that meant more Magic Knights would drop by soon enough to investigate, which meant he needed to get rid of all of the evidence, and fast.
However, his son Allen was a bright young man, he'd surely notice if he started acting suspiciously, so he needed to keep up appearances a little longer.
"You look rather pale, father," suddenly stated Allen, frowning. "Are you alright?"
"Pe- perfectly fine, don't worry! Simply a little tired, is all."
Nodding, his son then stopped walking, and Lord Fell only then realized they had reached the parlor. Clearing his throat, he then followed him inside, where his lovely wife and her personal maid were already waiting for them.
"Darling," she greeted.
"Elsa, my dear."
"You've come home rather early," she remarked plainly.
"Yes, the meeting was postponed. An unexpected virus entered the picture, and now one of my colleagues is deeply sick." His eyes narrowed a bit. "I should probably clean up my office later, to make sure it wasn't contagious."
Elsa's eyes narrowed a bit in return, but she nodded. "Yes, we should be cautious. If your health fails, then it could affect the entire family."
Unbeknownst to them, their son was listening, and closely at that. He easily picked up on the tones and the mild tension now reigning in the room. However, he had been raised properly, and wasn't one to pry.
"Not to worry, Mother, Father," he simply chuckled, sitting down next to his mother. "If anything happens to Father, I'm more than ready to take care of the family, and make it as prosperous as Father managed to!"
Lord Fell chuckled at that. "I'm sure, my son. We'll be counting on you—"
"Sooner than you'd think, I'm guessing?"
Everyone stiffened at the new voice. At once, they turned to the window. It was opened and right there, on the windowsill, was sitting a young girl with purple hair. They could only stare in astonishment as she invited herself in without any more ceremonies, and even less of an introduction. Walking up to them, she leaned over the Lady's seat, grabbing one of the cookies placed in the middle of the table. After what, she sat on the last chair, as if she actually belonged there.
"Who- who are you!?" finally spluttered out the Lord. "How dare you break into our mansion like this? I'll have you arrested immediately!"
"Arrested?" she echoed, as though amused by the thought. "By Magic Knights, perhaps?"
"Absolutely! So you better leave immediately, or I'll have them come and get you at once!" he warned, turning blue of absolute outrage.
"Will you, now? Well, then, I guess it's a good thing I got rid of them, right?" If he was blue before, the man was now turning to an interesting shade of white. "I can't really take all of the credit, though. After all, they were pretty weak, even for fake Knights."
"What—"
"As if weaklings like that could actually become Magic Knights!" she snapped, pointing her half-eaten cookie at his face. "Don't disrespect us so casually, you buffoon!"
"Bu- buffoon!?"
"Us?" picked up Elsa, narrowing her eyes.
At that, the teen grinned, though it looked bitter. "Quinn, Magic Knight of the Crimson Lion Kings Squad. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you but… yeah, it really isn't. Plus, I already know who you are, so no need to go over boring introductions and the likes. Let's get down to business, shall we?"
"W- wait! You want us to believe you are a Magic Knight? You!? A little girl with no last name, and not even a uniform?" protested Lord Fell, growing even more agitated. "This is utterly ridiculous! You must be bluffing! You—"
"Father, calm down, or you'll collapse again," suddenly stepped in Allen, frowning. He looked at Quinn with wary eyes. "If you're telling the truth, then what business could you possibly have with our family?"
"Simple: I've come to free all of the children you kidnapped and on whom you've been experimenting for the last three months." She got up, glancing outside. "It's a pretty nice mansion, but it's also pretty big. Mind showing me the way to the lab?"
"What- what are you even- what are you even saying!?" Lord Fell looked like he was about to pass out. "Those baseless accusations are—"
"We have the documents. We have the witnesses. Frankly, at that point, raiding your mansion for evidence was a moot point, since we already have more than enough proof to have you behind bars before the hour is up," shrugged Quinn. Her carefree attitude however quickly vanished and, without warning, she grabbed him by the collar and lifted him from his seat. "Knowing your kind, though, you'd have tried erasing everything that could have gotten you in trouble, including the poor children you've kidnapped. So, I'll ask again: where. Are. They."
Though, frankly, it wasn't a question. It was more of a 'talk-or-I'll-beat-you-up-to-make-you' kind of statement.
"If you make use of any unwarranted violence, we will make sure that your alleged career amongst the Magic Knights ends quicker than you can beg for mercy." It was Elsa who had spoken up, her eyes cold and calculating. "You have nothing that could possibly back up the claims that those kidnappings actually happened, or that it was even us. Otherwise, you wouldn't have bothered coming to us and ask—you'd have demolished this entire mansion brick by brick already."
At that point, the Lord's feet were dangling over the floor, and he was starting to choke. Then, Quinn released him, and he collapsed, coughing harshly. Clenching her fists, Quinn turned to the Lady of the house, her eyes burning with unhidden rage.
"Understand this, bitch," she spat, not minding her words in the least. "The only reason I haven't already destroyed this entire hellhole is because I don't want to risk injuring those kids. And frankly? Try and destroy my career, for all I care. I mean, who do you think the people will listen to: a Magic Knight or a pair of psychopaths?"
"You still can't prove it," replied calmly Lady Elsa. "Look all you want, you won't find them here. And, if you do possess the evidence you mentioned, then come back with an arrest warrant. Until then, do not bother stepping foot again in this mansion—"
"Is it true?"
At once, all eyes snapped to the one person who had yet to speak up since Quinn's revelations: Allen Prido. The young man seemed quite shaken by what he had just heard, and he was looking at his parents in disbelief, confusion, horror… but also resignation.
"You said… you said that it's been going on for three months?" Quinn simply nodded, curious as to how things might turn out. The poor guy looked like he was going to be sick. "Four months ago, we built a greenhouse… One that I've never been allowed to step foot in. And then, Father and Mother started spending so much time in there—"
"Allen, enough!" snapped Lord Fell, though his voice was a little hoarse. "You- you do not know what you're speaking of! She's obviously lying! She's—"
"I saw the carriages in the middle of the night!" exclaimed the white-haired heir. He was shaking, now, as if all of the dots were connecting at once. "I saw them once, using the cover of the darkness to come… When I asked about them, you said I had simply dreamt of them! And- and I found so many documents… so many plans of magical weapons and new sources of power that were being tested… We've never made weapons before, so why did those plans exist? For your buyer from Diamond? The one I found out about when reading your letters!?"
Lord Fell paled at that. "You've been in my office!?"
"I was hoping to learn how to manage the family business since you were never there to properly teach me!" He breathed out slowly, gritting his teeth. "You were never there… because you were always working on those experiments…"
"Allen, you do not understand," stated plainly Elsa, though there was an underlying warning. "You can't—"
"You mentioned a greenhouse," cut Quinn, growing impatient.
He tensed for a bit, before exhaling deeply. Then, he rose to his feet, and looked right at her. The girl was pleasantly surprised by the sudden determination now lighting his gaze, and she certainly wasn't going to complain about the unexpected support.
"I'll take you there," he announced.
"Stop! Stop right there!" exclaimed angrily Lord Fell, going to stand between them and the door. "You aren't thinking straight, Allen! You—"
"If she's lying, then why are you so worried about the greenhouse?" retorted sharply the heir, clenching his fists. "If you truly have nothing to hide, then you'll let us through right now!"
There was a moment of stillness. Then—
"Okay, I've got enough of this."
Moving too fast for the human eye to follow, Quinn appeared before Lord Fell and, at once, she blocked his main mana coils. He collapsed in pain, wheezing, and she jumped over him so she could open the door.
"Let's go," she simply urged, heading out.
"R- right!"
This time around, Lady Elsa didn't try to stop them, simply lowering her head in resignation. As for Allen, he was quick to fall in step with Quinn.
"What did you do to my father?" he asked, mildly worried.
"I blocked his mana coils, and he'll be paralyzed for a bit. He won't be able to use Magic, albeit it isn't permanent," shrugged the gir, unperturbedl. "Didn't want him causing more trouble, you know?"
"R- right…" He bit his lower lip, before sighing heavily. "But… what exactly is going on?"
"Around seven months ago, the villagers of Suiren found a mine, a few kilometers north from the village. Your father, however, never reported it to Kikka, and instead decided to illegally exploit its contents for his own benefit. He engaged bandits to take over Suiren so they wouldn't be able to leave and ask for help, the men were taken to the mine for forced labor, and around three months ago, the bandits started taking the children here," explained the purple-haired girl. "We already have the documents about the illegal exploitation of the unreported mine, and even proof of the employment of bandits so as to take control of Suiren… but there was nothing about the children, other than eyewitnesses. So, your mother was right on one point: if I can't find them, then I can't prove anything. And, by the time I come back with an official warrant…"
"Knowing my father, he'd have tried getting rid of all evidence." He looked sick just by the thought of it, though. Then, they stepped outside, and he shook his head. "It's just ahead."
The greenhouse was very large and, from the outside, it didn't look any different than a normal greenhouse. In fact, the inside was pretty normal, too. There were plants everywhere, obviously, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. However…
"The flow of mana isn't normal," frowned Quinn, activating her Mana Eyes. "There's natural mana emanating from the plants, but it's overloaded with another source, like some sort of leak…"
"You can see mana?" wondered Allen, who looked awed by the thought.
"Amongst many other things," she simply confirmed, trying to see if something seemed off. "Does anything look out of place to you?"
"Well, as I said before, I've never been allowed inside before. He used to say it would only distract me from my duties…" He sighed again, glancing around. "I doubt we'll actually find anything here."
"You know, for being their son, you don't seem too intent on believing their side of the story," mused the teen. "Shouldn't you, like, try to defend them or something? Call me a liar? Be all dramatic and cry about the unfairness of my accusations?"
He snorted bitterly at that. "I know my parents too well for that. They may love me, but they love our name even more. The Prido Family has been known for generations for being one of the greatest producers of magical tools. We may not live in the Noble Realm like most nobles elect to, but our name still carries a lot of prestige. I may love them… but I'm not stupid, either. I know they'd do anything in order to make our influence and power grow even more." He clenched his fists slightly at that. "I simply… I simply never imagined they would go to such lengths—what are you doing?"
Quinn narrowed her eyes at the tool shed she had just found. "The door is locked, and the mana is pretty dense around here."
"You think it might be a secret entrance?" he easily guessed.
"Well, only one way to know, right?"
"Oh, please: allow me."
Curious, the purple-haired teen stepped aside. Taking a hold of his grimoire, Allen then summoned his mana.
"Ice Creation: Frostbite!"
At once, frost covered almost the entirety of the door. Her Mana Eyes still activated, Quinn could easily see how the spell actually spread frost through the entire door, so she wasn't surprised when, with a light knock, the young Lord made it literally crumble to pieces.
"What a dangerous spell," she sweatdropped.
"That's why I don't use it on people," he deadpanned.
She snorted at that, but the amusement soon died down as, through the settling dust, a secret flight of stairs was revealed. Taking the lead, Quinn wasted no time in heading downstairs, though the heir was quick to follow her. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, they found another door though, while it wasn't locked, a magic barrier protected it.
"Alright, my time to shine," drawled the girl. "Step back!"
The white-haired man did as told, and she breathed in deeply. Then, slowly, she placed her hands against the barrier. While it stung a bit, she was quick to synchronize with the mana flow. After all, it certainly wasn't as intricate as the one protecting Kiten, or even the one around the Lions' headquarters. She got through the feeble layers of mana in less than thirty seconds and, once she broke through the last layer, she completely pulled the barrier apart.
"I've never seen anything like this," breathed out Allen, definitely in awe now. "How did you do this?"
"I'm a mana manipulator, but I'm afraid a more thorough explanation will have to wait," she replied, grabbing the door's handle. "We're here."
At once, she slammed it open. Almost instantly, all activity inside stopped. There were exactly six researchers and fifteen armed guards, all scattered across the large lab that had been set up, and they froze at once when hearing the loud entry. There was a moment of stillness during which none knew what to do or say, until Quinn's eyes landed on the few children who were currently attached to chairs along the walls.
"As of this moment, this lab is out of business," she growled threateningly. "Drop your weapons and step away from the kids. Now."
One of the guards lifted his sword her way. "And who're you to tell us that, uh?"
"She's a Magic Knight of Clover," answered Allen, his head held high despite the clear shaking of his limbs. "And I am Allen Prido, son of Lord Fell Prido! Speaking on behalf of my father, I therefore shut down this illegal laboratory!"
"We only answer to Lord Fell!"
Without warning, one of the researchers pressed the button of one of the numerous machines lying around. A large wave of energy washed over the entire room, and Quinn stiffened when realizing she could no longer use mana. There was no ambient mana, and all of her coils seemed unresponsive. Even her grimoire didn't react to her demands!
"The hell is that!?" she snapped, annoyed.
"NMZ Emitter," answered Allen, narrowing his eyes. "It creates an artificial No-Magic Zone, in which all ambient mana is banished and where no one can use their magic. It's only a prototype, though. It won't last more than a minute."
"Tche. A minute or five or even ten won't make a damn difference to me," she scoffed, hitting her fists together. "I DON'T NEED MAGIC TO BEAT THEIR ASSES SENSELESSLY!"
She darted forward. Even without mana enhancement, she was much faster and much stronger than an average human, thanks to her relentless training. In barely fifteen seconds, she managed to take down all six researchers, whom she had targeted first since they had a greater knowledge of all of the magical weapons here, which meant they represented a bigger threat.
Then, as if on cue, the NMZ vanished and, at once, all mana returned to the room. Without hesitation, she gathered mana in her fists and pounced. Hitting and kicking left and right, the guards held no chance against her, and they started dropping like flies. Then, before she knew it, all of them were down for the count.
"Whew, what a lousy workout," she huffed, glancing at the bodies lying around. "It's—"
"Argh!"
Quinn spun around, tensed and ready to fight again, and she found one of the guards she had beaten earlier standing just before her… but he was completely frozen. His clothes and his weapon were completely fine, but there was a thin layer of frost covering all of his skin, and she could easily tell it had spread under it, too.
"What…" She trailed off when seeing Allen standing just a few meters away, holding another weapon, which he had apparently fired. "What's that?"
"A gun," he answered, throwing the weapon a disgusted look. "Or more exactly, a Magic Gun. You can channel your Magic through it and fire bullets made of your natural affinity." Quinn then noticed that the guard before her had one attached to his belt, and so did all of the others. "But this, and all of the weapons here, weren't… they aren't even supposed to exist. They were just theories, fantasies, even, and yet… and yet, my parents not only created them, but they sold them to the enemy, too!"
He threw it on the ground in a fit of rage and frustration. At the same moment, though, Quinn noticed one of the researchers by the door, who was trying to flee while they were distracted. Not thinking straight, she grabbed the Magic Gun hanging to the frozen guard's belt, aimed, and fired. Instinctively channeling her mana through it, the shot parted at once, and a shining, golden bullet flew for about two seconds before hitting its target in the middle of her back, even leaving a vibrant afterimage in its wake.
A moment later, the researcher collapsed, a pained wail clawing its way out of her throat and bouncing on the walls around them. Then, a strange pattern suddenly appeared on the visible skin, like a golden light tracing veins they couldn't see before—except they weren't the woman's veins, but her mana coils. Then, as her body hit the ground, the shining markings disappeared at once and, as if on cue, the Magic Gun crumbled to pieces in Quinn's hand.
"W- what was that?" gasped Allen, a tad shaken.
"Guess we now know what happens when someone who doesn't have a definite affinity fires that gun," deadpanned Quinn, taking a look at the collapsed woman with her Mana Eyes. "Her mana coils are completely crippled. She won't ever be able to use them again."
"You- you can see that…?" He then shook his head, as if trying to focus. "But what do you mean by someone who doesn't have a definite affinity? How do your eyes function? And most importantly, how do you know how to use a Magic Gun!?"
::
"No."
"XXXX, you don't have a choice."
"I don't want to."
"I don't care. You're going to learn how to use a gun properly, and that's final."
"You can't make me! When I joined the military, it wasn't so I could become a hired killer! I didn't sign up for this, XXSXXNX."
"Then what did you sign up for, exactly?"
"I agreed to follow you because you told me you helped people! That you protected them! That's what I signed up for! Not- not so I'd learn how to kill them!"
"Then tell me, how do you intend to protect the people if you can't even protect yourself? I understand your discomfort, but you don't have a choice in the matter. If it can help, though, understand that knowing how to use a gun doesn't mean you have to use it. This is just a precaution, in case you find yourself in an unsavory position. Plus, it's pretty much mandatory: you can't join full-time if you don't even know how to use it properly."
"… fine. Fine, I'll do it! But if you pull a fast one on me like that again, be sure that I'll use what I learn so I can shoot you up your ass!"
"Whatever you say, princess. Now, go find your sister: she insisted to be the one to teach you, and she now owes me dinner since I managed to convince you."
"You mean XXXA was in on it!?"
::
"I don't," Quinn finally answered, dropping whatever was left of the gun and rubbing her hands together to get rid of the uncomfortably familiar sensation that was left from holding such a dangerous weapon. "I just reacted on instincts. Anyway, I'll free the kids here, and you go ahead and free the others. I can feel their presence in a communicating room, in the back."
"Right on it!"
Sighing, Quinn then walked up to the nearest kid. A boy who's head they had shaved was attached to the chair with leather straps, and he had a strange helmet on his head. His eyes were closed, though, so she guessed it was meant to keep him in an unconscious state. Carefully, she pulled the helmet off. Once certain it couldn't harm him, she threw it away, before getting to work on the numerous leather straps.
"Who- who are you…?"
She looked up, offering the boy a reassuring smile. "It's okay, kiddo. The bad guys won't be coming anymore. I'm taking you and everyone else home, alright?"
"Home…?"
He was more out of it than she first thought. Leaving him be for now, she moved on to the next kid. This time, it was a girl, though she didn't look much older than the first child. She, too, had had her hair shaved, and Quinn only then noticed the small, ink-black number tattooed behind her ear. It was small, and barely noticeable, but it was there, and it made the girl's blood boil.
To think all of this could have been avoided if the Magic Knights simply bothered with monthly patrols instead of falsified reports… She quickly shoved that thought out of her head, though. Julius-san has already made great improvements in our military system. If anything, with Asta, Yuno now Magic Knights, it'll improve even more.
It took her a few minutes but, soon enough, she was done freeing all seven kids. Four boys and three girls, all of whom had shaved hair and serial numbers tattooed behind their right ear. They looked a little spacey still, probably because of the mana waves that were constantly being sent through their brains in order to keep them in a coma-like state, but she held no doubt they'd get better once they ate and slept properly for a few days.
"Lady Quinn!"
The teen snapped her eyes to the back of the room, where the white-haired heir had just appeared. Behind him, over at least thirty children were walking, looking wary or stunned. Then, as they slowly took in the unconscious bodies and their freed friends, hope started finding its way once more on their faces.
"Alright, let's do this efficiently," announced Quinn, smiling as brightly as she could manage. Looking all grim and desolate wouldn't do any good for their moral right now. "You've all been through a lot, I know that, but we have to leave right now. We…" She trailed off when realizing most of them weren't even listening, too exhausted, both physically and mentally. "Okay, nevermind. Allen-san, do you think you could let them stay in the mansion for the night?"
"Of course," he instantly agreed, nodding earnestly. "They'll be given clean clothes and proper food at once, and we'll find a way to accommodate all of them for the night. And, while I take care of that…" He gestured to the bodies of the guards and the researchers. "Maybe you can handle this particular issue?"
"Yeah, that'd be a good idea," she agreed, a tad sheepishly. She then offered him a wary glance. "I'm afraid I'll have to bring your parents in, too."
"My father would have tried to run, but you already made sure that he couldn't," he simply shrugged. "And my mother is an intelligent woman—she knows when she's beaten, so she won't try anything that could drag them into even more trouble."
"Alright. Then, take care of them, okay? I'll be back before you know it."
"Of course."
While Allen led all of the children outside, though he had to carry a few since some of them couldn't even walk straight, Quinn got to work. Opening a large portal, she stepped through and landed right in the middle of the Magic Knights Supervision Office's main building, scaring the crap out of none other than Sekke, who was apparently on communication duty.
"Gah! Not you again! What do you want? Bah-ah!" he choked out, pale.
"I dropped a few bandits around here earlier, they should still be in their cells, right?" she simply stated, not wanting to waste any more time than necessary. "Well, I'm bringing in a few more, so I need you to register them."
"That- that was you!? Their sudden appearance caused a serious commotion! Bah-ah!" he retorted, now annoyed. "It was absolute chaos!"
"Yeah, yeah, my bad. I was in quite a hurry at the time, but I'm here to clean things up, now," she replied, rolling her eyes. "So, how about we get started?"
"Yes, yes…" he grumbled, pulling out some documents. He then placed a full stack on the counter between them. "You need to fill out an official arrest form for each of the bandits: their names, their affiliation, the weapons in their possession, the location and time of their arrest, the reason behind their arrest, and also the means used to arrest them. You also need to give a brief description of the context of their arrest, which will include the date, the exact location, and also who you were with at the time of the arrest, if you were accompanied by another Knight or some sort of official that could act as a witness should the need arise. And, of course, you need to sign all of those documents." He stifled a yawn, before gesturing to the large stack of papers. "If you have any questions or need any more forms, come back here. You can use one of the offices placed at your disposition or simply fill them out at your headquarters, but understand that they will be considered null and void if you hand them back after the twenty-four hours period is up. If that happens, then all of the people you have arrested will be freed on parole. Bah-ah!"
Quinn gulped a bit. "I need to fill out a form… for each person arrested?"
"Yes. Of course, if there is some information that you are unable to get due to a certain resistance on the part of those arrested, you may simply indicate as such in the form, and it'll simply add to their charges. Bah-ah!"
"Right…" Sighing heavily, Quinn then headed back toward her portal. "I'll just finish bringing them in, and then I'll grab the forms. Can you call for some backup, though? There are quite a few of them. Two or three people would be great."
Sekke yawned yet again, not even bothering with answering her. Narrowing her eyes, she slowly returned to his desk, and leaned over it until their noses almost touched. He gulped a bit, suddenly more awake than he had been in the last few hours.
"I chose to ask nicely—I won't show the same kindness twice," she warned in a low tone. "You know I could kick your ass to the moon and back if I wanted to, so be a dear and call for backup, will you? That'll save us both some trouble."
"R- right, of course, right away! Bah-ah!"
Pleased, the girl pulled back and stepped through her portal again, ready to get to work. The children and Allen were no longer here, which she guessed was a good thing since she didn't want to overwhelm the kids with too many new faces so soon. As she picked up two of the researchers, one under each arm, three Knights stepped out of her portal. Two were from the Green Mantis Squad, and the third one—
"Oh, Quinn!"
"Randall!" She was pleasantly surprised by the man's appearance. "Man, it feels like I haven't seen you or any of the others in forever!"
"Yeah, we heard you were practically kidnapped by Mereoleona-sama, so we were worried!" Laughing, he slapped her on the back, and she almost dropped the two unconscious people she was carrying. "You know, there's even a betting pool as to when you'll run back to headquarters with your tail between your leg, ah, ah!"
"Don't take me so lightly! Mereo-sama might be a tad insane, but she's a great teacher. I'm already much stronger than I was when I left!" she assured, puffing her chest a bit. She then lifted the two researchers a bit, so he could see them. "Proof right there: I completely wiped the floor with their sorry asses. Goddamn assholes… They better rot in jail for the rest of their lives, or I'll bring them to Hell myself!"
"Well, well, someone's pretty pissed off," mused Randall. "What'd they do? You're usually a pretty easy-going girl, so seeing you actually angry is new."
"They kidnapped children from the nearby village and experimented on them in order to create magic weapons, which they sold to Diamond afterward," she answered in a flat tone.
He paled at that. "What!?"
"Excuse us…?"
"Oh, right!" Turning around, Quinn faced the other two Magic Knights. "I'm Quinn, from the Crimson Lion Kings Squad. Pleasure to work with you, however briefly it might be!"
"R- right… Well, I'm Nix, from the Green Mantis Squad," replied the spiky-haired man with a hesitant smile. "And that's my companion, En Ringard. But, what you just said…" He gestured at the prototypes around them. "Are those the weapons you mentioned?"
Her smile strained a bit at that. "Yeah. I don't know what to do with them right now, so they'll probably stay here for the moment."
What the hell!? He didn't even ask about—
"What about the children?" It was En Ringard who spoke up, and she startled a bit at the genuine worry in his tired eyes. "How are they?"
Her smile relaxed at that. At least one of them has his priorities straight. "The kids are safe. They're being taken care of at the moment, and I'm planning on bringing them back to their family as soon as they are able to travel again." She then looked around. "I simply asked for backup because transporting all of these guys on my own would take too long, and I have a lot of arrest forms to fill out."
Randall snorted at that. "Ah, the joys of paperwork."
"When I win our bet, who do you think will do it for me?" she replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Oi, oi, you're quick in business, kid. I told you, it won't happen!"
"Just watch me."
"Not that this isn't more entertaining than our boring day in the office, but how about we get started?" then deadpanned Nix. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather we finish before the end of the day."
"Right, right…"
So they got to work. That En guy used Fungi Magic, which Quinn wasn't too keen on trying to copy because frankly, she found it a tad too weird for her liking. However, he made good use of his sentient mushrooms, and they easily carried three people at a time. Nix used his Fire affinity to tied them up with fire-made chains, so they wouldn't try to make a run for it while they were being transported to the Supervision Office. Finally, Randall made good use of his Air Magic to effortlessly carry many of them at once and, if their heads either hit a table or a wall on the way to the spatial door, no one said anything about it. And, since Quinn couldn't exactly use a spell of her own, she simply enhanced her strength and physically brought them in.
"Hey, what happened to that one? Her mana's… weird."
At Nix's question, Quinn looked his way, and saw him kneeling beside the researcher she had shot earlier, and who had yet to wake up.
"Oh, yeah. She tried to escape, so I ended up accidentally destroying her mana coils."
There was a moment of silence during which all three senior Knights stared at her with wide eyes and mildly gaping mouths, unsure of what to say. Had they heard her right? Destroyed her mana coils? Accidentally? How did something like that even happen? But in the end, they decided it was probably best for their sanity if they simply didn't know.
Once they were done cleaning up the secret lab, Quinn brought them outside, where they picked up the fake Magic Knights the girl had beaten up earlier. Finally, after about twenty more minutes, they were done.
"Well, I guess that's that," sighed Quinn, wiping some sweat from her forehead. "There's two of them left, the instigators, but I'll take care of them myself. Thanks for the hand, guys!"
"Well, it is our job," snorted Nix.
"I was happy to help," simply smiled En, albeit it looked a tad creepy because of his disheveled and unkempt appearance.
"Just glad to see you're still alive and apparently doing good by yourself," grinned lazily Randall, ruffling her hair a bit. "Though, I gotta know: what happened to your cape?"
"Uh? Oh, I lent it to someone, don't worry."
He sweatdropped at that. "You don't just lend your uniform to someone, kid."
She simply carelessly waved her hand in a 'don't worry about it' kind of gesture, and he decided not to insist, since it probably wouldn't serve any purpose anyway. They hadn't known each other for that long, but he already knew that, saved for their Captain and probably Mereoleona-sama, she wouldn't listen much to anyone else.
"Well, whatever you do, stop getting involved in those weird situations, would you?" he finally remarked, a tad amused despite all. "You've got a knack for finding trouble, so be careful."
"I'm not the one looking for trouble—trouble is the one that finds me," she deadpanned.
He snorted at that, patting her shoulder before stepping through her portal for the last time. He was soon followed by En and Nix, and she closed her spatial door afterward. Then, not wasting any time, she headed back to the parlor. She was a little worried that, after all, maybe the Lord and the Lady might have tried to run, but she was relieved when realizing it wasn't the case.
"So you've found them," simply stated Lady Elsa, who hadn't moved from her seat since they left her there.
Lord Fell was still lying on the floor, unconscious, and Quinn mildly wondered if maybe, just maybe, she hadn't been a tad too harsh when handling him.
"We did. Your son helped quite a bit, too."
"I see."
Quinn considered her for a moment. "… The names of the servants and other employees of the mansion who knew about the experiments, the dealings with Diamond, the mine, and the employment of the bandits would be greatly appreciated."
At that, the Lady sighed heavily. "At this point, I might as well salvage whatever is left of our Family's pride—you'll have the list in the hour, if you would be obliged to lend me a quill, some ink, and a paper."
"Well, you'll have the time to work on that in your cell." At once, she sliced a new spatial door open, and she bowed mockingly. "After you, Milady."
With her head held a tad too high for someone who was being arrested, the woman rose to her feet and graciously stepped through the portal. Once she was through, Quinn wasted no time in literally kicking the Lord inside. Once the portal was closed, the teen let out a shaky breath, finally allowing herself to relax a bit: the threat had been handled, the children had been rescued, and she could now breathe much more easily.
She passed by the Supervision Office one last time to grab the forms, and she was pleasantly surprised when she was also handed a few papers with the names, weapons, and other necessary information she needed in order to fill out the arrest reports. En Ringard, with the use of his Fungi Magic, had apparently used his mushrooms to interrogate the bandits, the guards, and the researchers, who had all woken up by the time they were done transferring them to their cells.
It saved her quite a lot of time, to be honest, and she couldn't be more grateful. In the end, the guy might look a bit creepy, but he was obviously a Knight in both title and heart, something she greatly respected.
I'll definitely find a way to repay him, though. Thanks to him, I'll be done before the twenty-four hours are up!
Before she plunged herself into her paperwork, though, Quinn headed to the left wing of the mansion, where she could feel over thirty different sources of mana. There, she found the main dining hall, where all of the children were eating their fill with an energy that hadn't been there before, though they were all dreadfully silent. It would seem that, despite being rescued, they'd need some time to get over the whole ordeal, though it wasn't exactly a surprise.
"Oh, Lady Quinn!" Allen ran up to her, a smile on his face. "I take it you are done?"
"Almost." She lifted the stack of documents with a cringe. "I've got paperwork to fill. Do you mind if I get settled in your father's office? I'm afraid it'll take me most of the night to finish."
"Of course. I'm guessing it'll keep you quite busy," he chuckled, apparently amused. "And I'll have someone bring you something to eat, too."
She nodded at that. "I appreciate it. How are the kids?"
"They're doing better. They were all cleaned up and, thankfully enough, none of them were wounded or seriously injured." His tone turned a tad bitter. "Apparently, my parents took care of their precious guinea pigs."
"Well, there's that, at least," sighed Quinn. She had the feeling she had sighed many times in the past few hours. "How many of them are there?"
"Exactly thirty-seven, all ranking between six and eleven-years-old. They are… mostly aware, of what was done to them, but they don't remember much of the experiments, which I can't tell whether it is a blessing or a curse," he admitted, scratching the back of his head. "They have no idea they've already been separated from their families for three months, but they do know they've been gone for a while. They can't wait to go home."
"If they're in any shape to travel, I'll bring them back to Suiren tomorrow," nodded Quinn, thinking it over quickly. "I don't want to risk using my Spatial Magic on them while they're still sensitive to mana, though. We don't know what kind of experiments they were put through, it might be dangerous for them to step through one of my portal, so we'll have to walk. The village isn't too far, but it'll probably take us a few hours, if not the whole day—"
"What are you even saying?" he scoffed, cutting her off. "I'll have all of the carriages we have ready to depart tomorrow morning, and they'll be reunited with their families in the hour."
Her eyes widened a bit at that. "Se- seriously?"
Allen adopted a serious expression. "I am not my father nor my mother. This was a grave, disgusting mistake, and I intend to correct it, by any means necessary—starting by taking them all back to their families, safe and sound."
Surprised at first, Quinn then smiled. The young Lord was a bit taken aback, since it was the first smile she offered him that looked so… bright. So genuine.
"Thank you." He had never heard such an honest voice. "Now, about that office…?"
"R- right. It's in the main wing, the first room above the entrance," he explained, clearing his throat a bit. "You may ask any maid or any servant if you need anything—they have received clear instructions to give you anything you might ask for."
"Got it. See you later!"
Quinn had a hard time finding the office, because not only was the mansion simply too big, she had also completely forgotten Allen's directions. However, as told, all of the staff members of the mansion were more than happy to help her out. Once she got settled down in the office, she sat at the large desk and took a hold of the pendant Mereoleona had given her before they had split up. Channeling some mana through it, it didn't take long for her to connect with the twin pendant.
"Oi, cub! About time you called! I was starting to think you had been beaten!"
"Ah, no way," snorted the girl, leaning back in the seat. It was pretty comfortable, to be honest. "Beating them up and finding the kids was the easy part."
"Then what's the hard one?"
"The paperwork."
Mereoleona snorted at that. "Should have guessed. Well, though luck, I guess. I'm already back in Suiren, with all of the men who had been taken away. We were right about Lord Fell trying to cover up his tracks, but I got there way before the messenger. When he showed up to tell them to destroy the mine, I had already taken care of all of his little friends, ah!"
"That's pretty neat. I managed to get my hands on the instigators of the whole mess, and Lord Fell and his not-so-lovely wife are now held in the Supervision Office. All of the children are safe and sound, and we'll be coming back to Suiren tomorrow. And, of course, I'll have all of the paperwork delivered on time," summarized the purple-haired teen.
"That's good to hear. We'll meet up tomorrow, then. Good luck, you're gonna need it!"
And then, cackling like a madwoman, Mereoleona cut the connection. Quinn rolled her eyes a bit, but she couldn't say her mentor was being too dramatic—it was a lot of paperwork. So, not wasting any more time than she already had, Quinn got to work.
.
.
As expected, Quinn spent most of the night diligently filling up the documents. In fact, she didn't even realize she had fallen asleep until she woke up because of the sunrays hitting her face. She was relieved to find out she had completely finished filling each paper before falling asleep, but there was still the matter of delivering them. So, despite only having about three or four hours of sleep to work with, Quinn thoroughly checked each of the forms one last time. The last thing she wanted was for one of her prisoners to be liberated because she stupidly forgot to answer one of the questions written on the document.
Once certain everything was in order, she opened a portal to the Supervision Office and literally dropped everything on the reception desk. Sekke was no longer there, it was some Knight from Azure Deer, and the poor woman did not see Quinn coming. She was so badly startled by her sudden appearance that she quite literally fell out of her chair, and she comically paled when seeing the amount of paperwork Quinn had just delivered on her desk.
"W- what—"
"You need to sign all of this," she announced firmly. "And yes, I mean now. I basically spent the entire night filling this stuff and I am not in the mood to waste more of my time than I need to. So, you will sign every single paper in this stack, and you will do it fast. Have I made myself clear?"
"Y- yes, ma'am! Right away, ma'am!"
Right then and there, anyone watching would have found the scene rather hilarious. A fully grown woman, a Magic Knight, cowering before a little purple-haired girl? But frankly, the poor Deer found it anything but funny: that girl was scary. Honestly, she reminded her of that mad royal lady from the Lions' pride but, surely, she was wrong when assuming they were actually connected, somehow. After all, there couldn't possibly be two of them, right?
Right!?
Credit where it's due, though, she was pretty efficient and, in less than twenty minutes, she had signed all of the forms.
"Whew, thanks! That's a weight off my chest," Quinn grinned, finally easing off on the intimidation bit. "Hey, do you like sweets by any chance?"
"U- uh?" The black-haired woman looked a tad terrified by the sudden, abrupt change in character of the young girl. "I- I do…?"
"Great! I'll be back in a sec!"
"What—"
But Quinn passed through a new portal before the Azure Deer member could finish her sentence. Just as the woman started wondering whether or not she had actually dreamt the entire thing, though, the teen reappeared… and dropped two colored boxes on her desk.
"What…" She trailed off when opening one of the boxes. "Pastries…?"
"I didn't know what you liked, so I grabbed a little of everything," chuckled Quinn, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry for the scare earlier, I'm just a little tired. Forgive me?"
"S- sure…"
"Great! I'm Quinn, by the way! I'm with the Crimson Lion Kings Squad!"
"I- I'm Fragil Tormenta, from the Azure Deer Squad…"
The teen beamed brightly. "It's really nice to meet you, Fragil! I've gotta go, but thank you for your hard work! Enjoy the sweets!"
And just like that, the girl vanished again, this time for good. Fragil blinked a few times, honestly taken aback by the unpredictable character of the girl. However, she couldn't deny that it had distracted her from the boredom that was already weighing on her mind despite the early hour. Frankly, if that strange girl started regularly dropping by, then maybe being on office duty wouldn't be so much of a pain anymore.
"Good morning, everyone~! How's it going?"
At Quinn's cheerful greeting, all activity stopped at once. Well, to be honest, not much was going on. It would seem that, after a good night's sleep, they had started to realize just how bad their situation had been and, from the looks on their faces, they were pretty homesick. After a moment of stillness, though, a kid she recognized to be the first boy she had freed the day before walked up to her.
"You're the one who helped me," he recalled, staring at her in wonder.
"You remember me?"
He reached out, as if trying to stroke her hair even though he couldn't reach it. "I remember… purple…"
She smiled softly at that, kneeling before him. "It's okay. It might be a little fuzzy right now, but it'll get better over time."
"Allen-san said we'd be going home today," then remarked quietly a girl, one of the older kids. She looked a tad wary. "Is it true?"
"Yes, it is." She rose back to her feet so she could face all of them. "You don't have to worry anymore! I'm a Magic Knight of Clover, and I'll see that you all get home safely! I promise!"
When hearing the confirmation, most of the children started cheering. Then, without warning, many started running at her and, at once, they all tackled her to the floor, piling up while trying to reach out and hug her.
"G- guys… you're heavy…" she wheezed out.
When realizing they weren't getting off, though, Quinn decided to resort to a more effective approach: at once, she started tickling them. Instantly, laughter and startled cries filled the air as they quickly got off of her and ran away. Laughing, the young girl got back to her feet.
"So you guys are ticklish, uh?" Grinning, she lifted her hands in a threatening manner. "In that case, you better run if you don't want me to catch you! RAWR!"
Instantly, more laughter and cheerful screams filled the air as the kids started running away, completely forgetting about the nightmare they had just been through. Even if it was just for a little while, it was completely worth it.
They're a pretty loud bunch, uh? But that's okay—that's how it should be. I wish they could keep laughing like that, but I know how rough it can get in the boonies. Who knows how long it'll be before another greedy noble shows up? Before a famine hits the village? Biting her lower lip, she shook her head. It's not like I can do much. With Kiba in full reconstruction, I can't possibly afford to help rebuild another entire village. I'll simply have to try and find a solution later.
And on that note, she focused back on the game, her carefree laughter joining theirs.
.
.
While the Prido Family possessed many carriages for all sorts of occasions, the same couldn't be said of the horses supposed to pull them. In the end, only four carriages could be prepared, and each could hold eight children, at most. However, Quinn was quick to find a solution: she'd be the one pulling the last carriage. Allen had been a tad horrified at the thought of making her do something that was apparently unbefitting of her rank as a Lady Knight, but he gave in nonetheless.
Quinn honestly didn't mind; in the end, it was good training. So, once they were all set to go, they left the mansion. The white-haired man had also insisted on accompanying them, though Quinn didn't know to what end, yet. With him bringing up the rear and her setting the pace by leading the entire group, though, she felt reassured—he was pretty strong, after all, so she knew she could trust him to have their back.
Anyhow, as promised, it took them all under an hour to finally reach Suiren. When they arrived, it was only to find pretty much all of the villagers anxiously awaiting their return, with Mereoleona apparently busy talking business with some of the elders. Everyone fell deadly silent as the carriages arrived one by one. And then—
"ELON!"
"Mom!"
The little boy from earlier practically jumped out of his carriage, running toward his mother, who burst into tears when her child finally reached her arms. Apparently, this broke the rest of the villagers out of their trance and, at once, numerous names began being called out, tears started pouring down and heartfelt cries of relief filled the air. While they all started reuniting, Quinn walked up to Mereoleona, who grinned when seeing her.
"Good job, cub," she congratulated.
"Thanks. So, what's going on? You seemed to be having a pretty serious conversation."
At that, the lioness tensed slightly, and the two men and the woman she had been speaking with lowered their heads.
"Apparently, they won't prosecute Lord Fell and the Prido Family," finally admitted the royal.
Quinn paled at that, turning to the villagers. "… you don't have the money, do you?"
The oldest man sadly shook his head, his beard practically brushing the ground. "Suiren is completely devastated. Getting through the incoming winter with what little we have left will already be hard enough, and pressing charges against Lord Fell requires too much money. We simply… can't afford it, I'm afraid."
"Mereo-sama, is there nothing you can do?" pleaded the young girl.
But her mentor shook her head, scowling a bit. "My status as royalty might grant me many privileges, but it also comes with many restrictions. I usually ignore most of them, but bringing the Vermillion House into such a delicate situation would create numerous political conflicts, mainly because we're already in an official partnership with the Prido Family to begin with. We signed a contract that basically stops us from going against them."
"Damn it! We can't just let him and all of the others walk free!" protested Quinn, trying to come up with a solution.
"We won't."
Surprised, Quinn turned her head to see none other than the heir of the Prido Family joining them, his face set in a determined expression.
"I am Allen Prido, son of Lord Fell Prido. I am here… to make amends." He bowed deeply, more deeply than someone of his rank could ever be allowed to bow. "What my family did to your children and to you, villagers of Suiren, is simply unforgivable. You can rest assured that I will do everything in my power to ensure that justice follows through, and that you all be given back at least tenfold what was taken from you. I will take full responsibility for my family's mistakes!"
Mereoleona narrowed her eyes at that. "What exactly do you mean by that, boy?"
Allen straightened up at that, looking at her right in the eye. "Since my father has been arrested, he is unfit and unworthy of leading our family, meaning I intend to step up as the new Lord Prido. Right at the moment, my place as the Head of the House is only an interim arrangement, but I will make it permanent. In the meantime, though, I am still allowed to take any decision I deem necessary for the benefit of our family. You are a Vermillion, are you not?" She nodded in confirmation, and he straightened up a bit. "In that case, I tell you here and now: our contract ends now. The Vermillion is no longer attached to the Prido Family in any way, shape, or form."
Quinn facepalmed at that. "You can't just decide to end a contract like that."
"Can't I?" He pulled out a sealed parchment from his pocket.
"That's the contract," instantly recognized Mereoleona, now curious.
"Correction—" Suddenly, frost covered the entire parchment and, without hesitation, the white-haired man crushed it. "—it was the contract."
…
…
…
"AH!" Mereoleona barked out a laugh, slapping him on the back a few times. "You ain't half-bad, boy! But fine, since you've gone this far, I'll play along: what do you want from me?"
"Nothing more than your testimony, Lady Knight," then admitted the young man. "I intend to fully finance the trial on behalf of Suiren, but having you as a witness once we get in court would greatly help to move things along in the right direction. And, of course, having the Vermillion backing up the village during the trial would definitely sway many of the judges."
"You want to indirectly use the Vermillion's influence in order to jail your own parents?" mused Quinn. "Color me impressed."
"I want to make sure they can never hurt anyone again. Having the Vermillion make pressure on the trial would only work in our favor and, since the contract no longer exists, they no longer have an obligation to defend the Prido Family," he simply replied.
"… Alright, I'm in," then grinned Mereoleona. "It'll give my little brother gray hair, for sure! Ah, ah!"
At that, the purple-haired girl resisted the urge to facepalm again. Then, an idea suddenly popped in her head, and she turned to the three Head Villagers and the Heir of Prido, a grin slowly stretching her lips.
"Hey, has any of you ever heard of Kiba?"
I think I've said it before, but we're really in for a wild ride. I don't think I've ever written a story that's so far out from the canon storyline, seriously.
Also, in case some people hadn't realized, I definitely got the inspiration for Kiba's existence and the entire socio-politico-financial-whatever else issues that come with it from That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime. Amazing anime, the 2nd season is coming out now, so check it out!
Special thanks to everyone who favorited this story and left a review! I'm really grateful for the comments, in particular!