- Shari -

Okay, somehow this situation got a little out of hand.

The moment I moved into the shop a full-force lightning strike completely paralyzed me.

But what is at least as stunning, if not more so, is that when I look in the direction that attack came from I discover that the perpetrator is a young woman who looks exactly like Liqu.

Maybe I should've planned all of this a bit better than just showing up in front of them and hoping it would turn out well.

I mean, how could anyone be this stupid?

Anyway, I need to do something.

As always with lightning, the stun is only temporary and I already get some of my control back.

The first thing I do is to swing and extend my arm behind me to smash the door closed.

If they'd now manage to alert a patrol I would be in serious trouble.

Maybe I could get out of this by showing my badge to the guardsmen but I was just instructed not to draw too much attention to my person.

And this before I even have a contract.

"Did you see? Her arm! I told you!" (Lea)

"Don't just talk! We need to do something!"

"Zap"

Directly another lightning strike hits me and my whole mass becomes unresponsive again.

"I'm keeping it in check! You have to smash the core while it's occupied!"

Did they just devise an anti-slime murder plan?

"Zap"

Damn!

The girl just continues shooting at me.

Keeping up this barrage must be taxing, but it's sadly also very effective.

And now the healer procured a heavy-looking staff and starts to hit me.

"Whack"

"I-it's blue!" (Lea)

"Who cares, Lea! That didn't work!"

"I don't know how to do this, Eluca! It's hidden beneath all the clothes. Do you want me to reach in there?" (Lea)

So her name's Eluca?

Sounds oddly familiar.

"No! You need to avoid contact by all means! Just hit it harder!" (Eluca)

"Zap"

And another numbing lightning strike.

Those are really starting to make me angry.

I'm becoming more and more understanding of Liqu's violent measures here.

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"Whack"

I feel another impact that fortunately isn't doing too much against my surface.

However, I need to act now before that healer manages a lucky hit on my core.

This Eluca girl already prepares the next barrage, so I need to act quickly.

First, I move my core as fast away from the presumed impact area as possible.

If I learned one thing from my fight with Zeon then that getting hit with the lightning element is basically an off-switch for me.

Next, I fortify my front area to guide the strike to the ground and prepare to separate the rest in a way that I'll maintain my control over it.

"Zap"

And there it comes!

Yet this time I'm prepared.

One big advantage is that the woman obviously can't shoot indefinitely or in quick succession.

And the other is that the healer is currently awfully close to me.

I use the part of mine I can still control, quickly dash out of my cloak and wrap around her.

"Ieekh!" (Lea)

"Leah!!" (Eluca)

Sorry, but you just tried to kill me and I'm not in the position to be lenient.

So I move behind the healer and wrap two tendrils around her to use her as a human shield against any further lightning attacks.

At the same time, I procure two daggers from within my body and hold them to her neck.

I've got the dynamic of these two kinda figured out and am rather sure that this should hold the lightning thrower in check.

Especially, it grants me the bitterly needed time to readjust my body, though my cloak is now a bit too complicated to pull back on in this situation.

"E-Eluca..." (Lea)

"Let go of her!" (Eluca)

The mage still has her hand raised in my direction to shoot as soon as I give her an opening.

Sigh.

I form another appendage and point it toward her.

As it's now, she's going to shoot another lightning at any moment.

Maybe even in this position if she deems it necessary to save her friend.

* Slime bullet

The projectile hits her straight in the face.

Fortunately for her, it's a non-lethal variant.

I already have it down how to make them sticky and hard to remove, which is just what I need here.

"Eluca! No!" (Lea)

So, now I finally have a bit of time to get this situation under control.

It really comes in handy that I had these meat skewers earlier.

I use the matter to create the same sticky slime as before in the bullet.

First, I apply a layer on her mouth to keep her from screaming, while at the same time, I force her hands behind her back and use another batch to fix them there.

I deem the amount to be enough coming from the negligible strength her strikes had before.

"Aaaahh-umpfh!" (Lea)

Now she should be more manageable.

The next one in line is the lightning mage.

"L-Lea! LEA!!! What did it do to you?!" (Eluca)

"Zap"

A random shot somewhere into the room.

She's becoming desperate.

That she can't see makes her by no means defenseless.

I move over to her, but before I have any contact I prepare my body the same way as before to guide any lightning to the ground.

That was probably Alec's one helpful deed, to show me how bad direct contact with a lightning user can be.

"Zap"

Which was apparently the right course of action when I feel another lightning blast impact my body.

"Zap"

"Die!" (Eluca)

"Zap"

"Die!" (Eluca)

"Zap"

"Fucking die!" (Eluca)

"Zap"

Naturally, I place another layer over her mouth while being careful to remove what the bullet left over her nose.

Then I proceed to bind her arms as well behind her back since she's aiming with them.

Yet she makes things difficult.

"Zap"

"Zap"

"Zap"

Okay, this takes its toll on me and makes me not the slightest bit more inclined to handle her very delicately.

Fortunately, my prediction was right and she soon runs dry of energy, which stops further shocks.

It seems I've got both of them quiet.

Damn, what now?

This hostage scenario wasn't exactly what I planned.

And no, I don't plan to dissolve them without leaving any traces.

In the first place, this was partly the fault of my bad execution.

First things first, I should do something to make them calm down.

So I quickly glide to the healer, lift her up with my mass, which naturally startles her, and bring her over to the other one.

Even if my body wouldn't be perfect to carry stuff, this girl is so small and light that I have no trouble transporting her.

If the mage becomes aware that both of them are still alive it should keep her from further lashing out and induce her not to move away from her position.

Just good that they can still hear me.

"Goddamnit, just one single time I wish that something goes smoothly. Okay, listen! A long talk is overdue. Healer girl, I will now take the cover from your mouth and you won't start screaming. Is that something we can agree upon? Nod for yes." (Shari)

Let's be honest, who would even consider refusing that their mouth gets freed from slime?

However, I still need to be very careful in case she doesn't want to keep her part.

There are people like this.

Yet she doesn't seem to have this in mind.

At least something works out today.

"So, are you able to talk in civil volume?" (Shari)

"Y-y-yes." (Lea)

"Good. Then now we'll see if we can come to an agreement, okay?" (Shari)