“We received a tier red emergency! What happened?!”

Soldiers rush into the guild, their silver shimmering armors fill the room with sounds of clatter.

The Demon girl observes their every movement, then her gaze shifts to the receptionist who holds a red glowing crystal ball in her hands. She clicks her tongue.

The adventurers who thought they were doomed step forward, contrary to the now retreating girl their expressions light up in hope. “You came just right! We gotta finish her now, don´t give that monster time to prepare!” A bulky man shouts and lifts his battle-ax high in the air to charge the Demon.

She turns to the adventurer and prepares to block his down-swinging chunk of metal. But before she can even lift a finger, a big shadow casts over her. The figure of a delicate looking, yet incredibly strong woman towers above her: Her light metal armor doesn´t cover her body entirely, protecting only her most vulnerable parts. Her golden hair flows back in a ponytail and slightly sways as she lifts her halberd. She catches the adventurer´s weapon with ease in hers, sparks fly from the metal brushing against each other.

“Eh?” the Demon girl looks up at the female soldier, at the Berserker.

“What do you think you´re doing?” the woman asks with anger in her voice while flinging the ax out of the adventurer's hand. His and the Demon´s face follow the weapon in confusion while it spins in the air, then sinks into the wooden floor with its sharp side. Both seem not understanding to why she would protect an enemy

“What are you–?” the man begins irritated, but then the gears in his head turn. He quickly realizes how this scene would look to anyone who wasn´t here from the start: A bloodied guild, everyone with their weapons drawn. Mad adults about to kill a helpless child. The internal conflict between adventurers and knights doesn´t help at all either right now.

He takes a few steps back, desperately flailing his arms and trying to explain; “No wait, please listen! This here is all this girl´s doing!” He points at the gore on the ground which once were his comrades “Don´t let her appearance deceive you, she´s some kind of monster! You have to believe me!”

The surviving adventurers nod their heads in confirmation to his claim. The soldier furrows her brows and turns her head only to see a quivering girl behind her. A doubtful expression surfaces on her face.

“Don´t trust her! She killed Henrik and Helene! Don´t underestimate her! Besides, can´t you see the wounds on their bodies? Do you really think we did that?!”

The soldier shifts her eyes around the room for about a second before looking straight back at the man. Sensing conviction gushing from him, she rubs her forehead and turns to one of her subordinates

“Did you bring an |Appraisal Catalyst|?” she asks

“Yes, we have one here, guard captain”

“Good, take it out” she orders before raising her weapon and setting her eyes on the accused child:

“Girl” the girl looks up at the woman “Sorry about this, but everything will be fine, so don't worry”

The Demon is very skeptical about the ´everything will be fine´ and 'don't worry' part. If they appraise her and find out… She again retreats a few steps.

´I have to think of something´ the little Demon´s heartbeat quickens as her gaze jumps around the room in hope of finding something, anything that she could use to her advantage. She desperately searches for her beacon of hope, but…

“It´s ready, captain”

“Then what are you waiting for? Appraise her”

The soldier does as he´s told. As everybody waits for the appraisal to finish, the adventurer´s closely observe the girl, expecting her to make her move at any second now

´With this, the real fight is about to begin.´

Their impatience builds up, but more so a wave of unease overcomes them as the Demon´s worried expression suddenly turns into a smirk

“Captain, we finished the appraisal”

“So? What does it say?”

The soldier hesitates, he scratches the back of his head before answering with an awkward grimace on his face; “Well, other than that her level is somewhat high at 10, she´s just a normal girl. She doesn´t even have a class yet. I don´t see any way she could´ve done… this” he gestures around the room.

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The guard captain, as if having waited to do so, angrily turns toward the adventurers “So it´s just as I thought”

“Wait W-What?” the three remaining survivors can´t believe the words they just heard. This can´t be. They saw her do it, they saw her kill everyone. There´s only one explanation they can think of:

“The appraisal! Something must´ve went wrong, please believe us! You must redo–” but the guard captain has seen enough; “Silence!” she interrupts “How dare you shift your crimes onto an innocent bystander, a child even?! I can´t tell if you´re impudent or stupid!” she raises her voice and halberd at the adventurers.

Meanwhile, beneath the counter of the guild's lobby, the receptionist's thoughts run wild:

´How? How did she do that? Did she use an |Appraisal Obfuscation| Artifact? No, there´s no way a monster could get its hands on one of them. They should be either in possession of nobles or guarded in the royal treasury. Even if a commoner worked a whole lifetime they wouldn´t even amass 10% of the cost, and they are guarded as such. Then a |Skill|? There´s no way she has a |Skill| that can hide her Mana-Waves! If she had, she wouldn´t bother with a mere Level 100 or two. Then, why? What did she do? Don´t tell me, did the appraisal really fail at a time like this??´

She won´t allow this to happen, not on her account. As she is with the guild her words carry weight. The soldiers may not listen to some random adventurers, but they will definitely listen to her. She will take medicine into her own hands. She takes a deep breath

"Wait!" she appears from behind the counter "Those adventurers speak the truth! Let me–!” she starts, but she too is interrupted. However not by a soldier or adventurer...

“Madeleine! I was so scared!”

But by the Demon girl

“H-How do you know–” Madeleine gasps, her thoughts in complete disarray from just these few words. Immediately after, not giving the woman any more time for words, the Demon embraces her like a snake would its prey. Madeleine freezes up as the little girl whispers in a voice only the two can hear;

(Listen) she hisses coldly (Don´t even dare make a sound)

Madeleine begins trembling from the pressure, she´s engulfed in a deep, cold sea of darkness, stricken by nothing but fear. In this state she couldn´t release a sound even if she wanted to

(We know each other and the adventurers went on a rampage while I came to visit you, got it? And forget about busting me, if I´m found out I´m taking you with me)

For a second Madeleine forgets how to breathe.

The girl who easily killed those adventurers is now pressing her face against Madeleine´s body, it slowly begins to overwhelm her. She winces at a sudden adventurer´s shout: “What the heck are you doing?! Get away from her!”

´I… I can´t´ the receptionist remains unmoving

“Pipe down for a second would you?” the guard captain hisses with her patience slowly reaching its limit. “You,” she then turns to the receptionist. “You know the girl. Who is she? Explain” she demands

Madeleine feels the girl´s grip tighten around her

“Yes! That´s it! Receptionist, tell them what happened here! Tell them what this monster–” “Didn´t I tell you to shut your fucking mouth?! Let her speak!”.

“U-Uhm, I–”

Madeleine somehow manages to stutter. Droplets of sweat roll down her forehead

“T-That´s”

Her breathing roughens as her vision begins to blur, probably from the tears forming in her eyes

“I-I”

She can´t hear anything besides her own heartbeat anymore, she barely remains conscious. She wants to puke

“I-I”

Madeleine shuts her eyes tightly. Opening them again, her next words almost come out as a shout:

“This girl is my relative! The adventurers had an argument, it escalated into what you see here! Please, please help me!”

The receptionist drops to her knees while holding herself at the counter with her arms. Only her last words were genuine. She… What did she just do?

(Well done) she hears the Demon´s voice whisper into her ear

“You heard her! Apprehend the adventurers!” the guard captain swings her arm in an arc as she gives the order

“No, wait! We didn´t do… please, listen to us! Let me go!” The adventurers stammer, but only receive spiteful glares in return

“You disgust me, that´s why I hate adventurers. I´ve dealt with enough of you rats, don´t you have any shame? Any honor?!”

The ´criminals´ turn their heads to the receptionist “YOU! Why did you lie?! Why do you protect her, you saw what she... it did! We can´t let it run around freely! Why? Answer me! Why? Why?!” they scream, from the bottom of their lungs, as they´re being dragged away.

Madeleine puts her hands to her head. Their words sink deep inside her heart, they're eating her up.

“Hey, you two” the Demon girl and receptionist hear the guard captain above them “It seems… you went through a lot just now. I mean, just look at this mess.” She says and looks around, a bitter expression on her face. A moment of silence passes before the guard captain sighs. “Normally we would need you to come with us as witnesses, but... I don´t think that would do anyone any good right now. I´m sorry we arrived late, please go home for today and recover. We´ll take it from here.”

With these words, the guard captain turns around to her subordinates before leaving the guild herself.

The Demon grins. “Madeleine, let´s go home,” she asks... orders and turns around to see that the receptionist´s eyes look empty. The woman only manages to give a weak nod.