Interlude: Resolution

Running through a burning forest, a mage with dark purple hair rushed towards whatever was happening. He, like many others, had been shocked when a large fiery explosion boomed from a nearby forest. However, unlike many others, he had near-instantly ran towards the forest. He figured his magic could help put out the flames or help those who were hurt. Plus, he had sensed that the explosion was made of magic, so on the off chance that there was someone who had purposefully set the forest ablaze, he was ready to use magic to stop them.

The mage pointed his palm towards a small blaze in the underbrush and cast a spell that shot a high power beam of water towards it, putting it out with a sizzle. He continued running, wiping sweat off of his brow. His legs were aching so he strengthened them using mana.

He sucked in air, trying his best not to suck in the smoke. The mage continued running, putting out as many fires as he saw. His eyes flicked around for any people through the smog.

The mage ran through the forest, coughing occasionally from the smoke. It had been about ten minutes since the explosion had rung out when a second sound rang out within the forest. A scream.

It was pained, confused, and scared.

The mage's heart skipped a beat as he pushed his already exhausted body towards the scream. He ignored the fires around him as he ran.

He ran into a clearing, the ground was torn up and misshapen, and trees laid around on the ground. The mage realized that this was probably near where the explosion had taken place.

He looked around, and his eyes landed on a group of people. There was a man in a blue coat kneeling nearby a man with black hair. The black-haired man was unconscious. Next to these two was a man with yellow hair, he held a sword in one of his hands. He was looking down at the other two.

The mage swallowed hard and opened his mouth. "H-hey!"

He continued, as the two conscious men looked over at him. Their eyes were wary of him. He continued, "Uhm, I'm Lain, a mage. I'm here because I saw that explosion earlier. Well, I'm here specifically because I heard a scream a moment ago."

The man in the blue coat said, "Ah… okay."

Lain stepped over towards them. "Here, I'll heal you."

His eyes landed on the unconscious man. Lain expected him to be the most injured, but he was actually just about as injured as the man in the blue coat.

Lain walked over to the yellow-haired man and raised his hands over one of his wounds. A blue glow formed around his hands as he summoned water magic to heal the man's various wounds.

"What happened here?" Lain asked as he moved his hands over a long cut that seemed to be from some kind of knife.

The man in the blue coat answered, "There's this infamous murderer around here, his name is Hans. This guy, Subaru," The man motioned to the unconscious man, "Was being hunted down by him for some reason. I helped him get Youra and Sele- Oh shit. Selena."

Lain tilted his head to the side as he finished healing the long cut. "What?"

The man in the blue cloak stood up, his body wobbled from his pain and from his nausea. His eyes scanned the surroundings. "There was this other person… she was hit by one of Hans' spells… I… think her abdomen was cut open."

Lain stopped healing Youra and started looking around too. After a moment, Clement said, "There!" Lain turned his head, his eyes landing on a figure on the ground about a hundred meters away. He strengthened his body with mana and ran over towards Selena.

He made it to her a moment later, his face palling at the sight. She was on her back. She had managed to keep most of her organs within her body, her arms were laid over her abdomen, which was split open. Blood pooled around her. Her eyes were still open. They flickered over to look at Lain.

Lain got down near her, he could tell that she had only lasted this long because she had used magic to strengthen her body. He summoned his water magic, forming a glow around his hands. He began to heal her wound. Sweat dripped down his face.

Her eyes began to lose what little life they had left. He took a breath and said while healing, "Hey, hey, stay with me here. You'll be fine, okay."

She slowly opened her mouth, intending to speak. "Hey, there's no need to speak. You can say it after I finish healing you. Just focus on keeping your mana flowing through your body."

She spoke anyway, her voice was quiet and tired. "Who… are you?"

"I'm a mage. My name's Lain. Now just focus on-"

"Youra… sama" Her eyes looked over past Lain. Lain only just felt the presence of another person, he wasn't able to look at the person, as he was far too wrapped up in healing.

"I'm here, Selena."

The yellow-haired man kneeled down next to Lain and Selena.

"Is… he… gone?"

"He is… I'm sorry for your loss."

"I… never liked him… anyways."

Selena groaned in pain. Her eyes began to close.

"You did well, Selena."

Selena raised one of her arms. Youra grabbed her hand.

"You'll be fine."

"I… can't be dying yet… There's still more that master expects of me…"

"That's right."

"I want… to keep making master happy…"

Selena smiled. Yours squeezed her hand. Her eyes drifted shut as she lost consciousness.

The three stayed in silence for a moment.

Lain broke the silence by saying, "She… should be fine. She's just about stable."

Yours nodded, still looking at Selena's face.

Lain continued, "She lost a lot of blood, so she'll be weak for a while. If you're fine with it, could you give me her address so I can check up on her later?"

"She lives with me. I'll show you where we live after you finish healing us."

Lain nodded. He finished the last bit of healing on Selena's abdomen before he moved on to healing the rest of her injuries.

Lain sighed as he finished healing the unconscious man's injuries. He had finally finished healing everyone.

Lain stood up and turned to the other two men, who he now knew as Clement and Youra.

Clement bowed, "Once again, thank you for everything."

Lain smiled, "It was nothing. Anyone would've helped."

Clement nodded. "How should we reimburse you?"

"You don't have to, it's fine."

"No, no, really. Do you want money or something?"

Lain sighed, "I'll take a small amount of money."

After a moment, Lain ended up with just a little bit more than just a 'small amount' of money. He could already tell that there was no way he was going to get Clement to take it back, so he just graciously accepted it.

Lain said, "Well, I'm going to continue helping to keep this fire under control. See you around sometime. Ah, Youra, if you don't mind, could you stay here with Hans' body until some knights come and get it? Then could you wait around here for me?"

Youra thought it over for a moment, before answering, "Yeah, I will."

Later on, after night had fallen, Lain returned to the clearing the explosion had made. He looked around for Youra, but he found no one there. Hans' corpse was gone too. The man's mouth tilted downward.

Lain gazed up at the moon in the night sky. The bright ball in the sky reflected in his eyes.

"Today sure was eventful…"

To think that his first day in this city turned out to be such an adventure. He couldn't help but feel excited about what was to come in the future. An excited grin formed on his face.