Leo wasn’t a dense person. Seeing Felt excitedly waving her hands and shouting with an animated tone, feeling the relative peace and warmth of the Loothouse before Elsa showed her hand, he knew instantly what had happened. He only remembered scattered things about who he was, but his senses were not something to distrust. What had transpired before had absolutely been real, but somehow, he had come back. Somehow, the woman in his mind that he didn’t recognize must have given him a second chance.
His gaze rolled around the room, noting Rom as the giant raised an eyebrow as they made eye contact. Rom fit his species well, a wall of pure muscle, but Elsa had dispatched him with the calculated ease of an experienced assassin. Leo’s eyes moved to the small girl who now stood with one foot on her chair, her other knee planted on the table as she shouted her distaste for Elsa’s assessment of the amnesiac boy, the too-big dagger at her waist shaking in its loose cloth coverings. Felt hadn’t even had a chance to speak last time, she stood no chance against someone with actual combat experience.
Leo’s eyes narrowed as his hand stayed over his mouth, looking down at his lap. Why was he so calm? He had just been murdered, and he had seen the only people he knew in this world killed before his eyes. He should be panicking right now, clutching his stomach where the ghost of the previous pain still lingered, but instead, he raised his head, clearing his throat to get the attention of the two girls. “Felt, do you mind showing me that dagger you have? I think it’s mine.”
The girl went quiet, wide-eyed with her hands raised in the air as Elsa hummed, her eyes glinting as she leaned forward to rest her cheek on her hand. “Oh? Is the fearsome lion going to show his bite now?” she asked, her voice as smooth as ever as he shook his head.
“I just feel more comfortable with it.” he replied, his gaze on Felt, and after several seconds of silently staring at each other, the girl lowered her hand to cough into her fist, before she reached to unhook the knife from her belt and hand it to him.
“Careful, she thinks you’re a Cultist. You stole this off the one you were fighting, right? That weird guy that looked like a roach.” She grinned, moving her hand to proudly rest on her hips as she puffed her small chest forward, a smug look on her face as she pointed at Elsa. “He had to have been a bigshot, but Ford’s here to protect us. You can’t drive the price down for something like that, right?”
The woman was quiet for a moment, then she hummed, lifting her head to lace her fingers together and set her chin on them as her elbows rested on the wood. “What an adorable child you are. Do you think that because you were protected once, that that alone makes you allies? For someone raised on the streets, one would think you would know the venomous sting of betrayal.”
“T-That’s not relevant!” Felt cried, her finger swerving to point at the subject of the conversation. “You’re really strong, if you had any reason to betray me, you’d have done it by now! I trust you, because I have no reason not to.” She grinned, standing still for several seconds, but when he didn’t respond, her smile twitched, her finger lowering. “...Ford? You alright?”
Leo held the exposed dagger in his hand, his thumb running along the pink material of the crossguard as his vision tunneled to the edges. Now that he had some sort of idea what he was looking for, it was a lot more obvious than before. “This dagger...isn’t something that anyone should be wielding.” he said quietly, blinking a few times as he raised it to let it reflect the crystal lights coming from the walls. “Or, it’s not the weapon that’s the problem. Anyone who would wield it in battle must have already sacrificed their humanity.”
“Ford…?” Felt repeated, her voice low and with a concerned tone as she slunk off the table to sit back in her seat, her hands reaching up to hover in front of her. “Are you okay? You’re really pale…”
“Indeed, even possessing that is enough to be put on trial in this country.” Elsa said, a purr in her voice as she unlaced her hands to lightly press the table and stand up, taking a step back to turn herself and face him. “I harbor quite a bit of respect for those willing to hold such a wicked instrument in broad daylight. Of course, those I know that carry them have long since abandoned their sanity.”
Felt’s head turned back and forth between the two, a cold sweat forming on her forehead as she turned to Rom with a silent plea for aid, and he lumbered forward a few steps, lifting his club to smack on his off hand with a thud. “It feels kind of heavy in here…” the small girl said with uncertainty, her feet restlessly kicking up and down under the table. “Elsa, you’re not really a client, are you…?”
“No. That’s wrong.” Leo said, his grip tightening on the handle as he lifted his head, the gloomy atmosphere around him dissipating as he focused his scrutinizing look on the woman. “It’s just a tool. Any weapon would be evil if wielded by an evil person, but someone good can still make use of it. You’re allowed to become a monster if it’s to prove your humanity.”
Elsa’s eyes narrowed as her hand moved to her waist, resting on the curve of her side as she ran her tongue across her lips. “The mantra of a madman with the scent of absolute confidence. How attractive.”
Even when he expected it, the strike was rapid, fuelled by a perfectly hidden killing intent and the speed of someone with years of experience. He raised the dagger, and the sound of metal clashing on metal rang as sparks flew from the contact between the blades. As he parried, he pushed his other hand against the table to send his chair back and get him out of the way, though even with the preparation, he was only able to deflect it enough that it cut a shallow slice across his chest. His chair clattered to the ground as he caught his balance on his feet, his body twisted to minimize the surface area exposed to her as he raised the dagger horizontally.
“Ford!” Felt shouted, gritting her teeth as she turned to Elsa. “You vixen! You set me up from the start, didn’t you?” She was about to jump up when she was flung back by the force of the table smashing with a loud crack as Rom brought his club down onto the wood, a wild expression on his face as Elsa gracefully jumped back a few paces, a shrewd smirk on her face as she sized up the raging man.
“I won’t stand around while you cut up the brats under my ward!” he growled, trampling over the table as he swung the club in a heavy horizontal lunge, a wordless howl coming from his mouth as Elsa stood still, her expression never fading as she stared down the approaching beast.
“Old Man Rom, don’t! She’s not someone you can handle, just stay away from her!” Leo shouted, though Rom was already too far into the swing to stop.
The old man’s face scrunched up in surprise as his arms were forced back by the vibration of his club suddenly being torn from his grip, flying off to the side and landing against a wall. Startled, Rom stumbled in his step, not expecting to suddenly be without a weapon as the assassin leapt to the side, her cloak fluttering in the gentle breeze of her motion as she turned to watch him.
“A rampaging bull and nothing more. You wear your emotions on your sleeve, there’s nothing interesting about you.” She shrugged, sighing with a disappointed expression on her porcelain face. “I’ve seen the guts of giants before. I don’t care for them. What I want to see is what the insides of a fellow sociopath like myself look like...So, Mister Rom, would you kindly step aside?”
“Old Man!” Felt called, the green light of her Divine Protection glowing as she raced forward to jump on Rom’s shoulder, her arm raised as she flipped to bring it down on the woman.
“Huma!” came another voice, and the room was lit with a bright flash as a barrier of ice formed between the two girls, forcing Felt to land on the ground and slide backwards as she grit her teeth.
“What the-”
“It’s the elf from before!” Leo said, making his way in an arc around the fight to step between them and the door. “Elsa brought her here, she’s probably trying to get revenge!”
“That’s not what you should say to someone who saved your friend’s life!” Emilia replied indignantly, her hand raised to maintain the shield of ice in the air. “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you!”
“What-” he asked, before his eyes widened as he looked in Elsa’s direction, his mouth opening at the sight of Elsa frowning, her hand lifted as she tried pulling her kukri out of the ice. “You were...protecting Felt?”
“Elsa! We came to get my insignia back, not to kill anyone! I was listening, you provoked them when they weren’t doing anything wrong! This has gone too far!” Emilia said, mustering as much authority as she could in her soft voice. With a flick of her hand, the magic shell moved, and Elsa gave up on the weapon, leaving it to be tossed to the floor behind Felt’s foot, and the girl quickly kicked it farther away into the direction the club had gone in.
“The dragon crest was nothing but a catalyst anyway.” the woman said, reaching behind her back to pull out an identical knife. “I am Elsa Granhiert, also known as the Bowel Hunter. I was never here to buy that trinket to begin with.” She turned her blade to point at the boy, her chin lifting as she chuckled. “I came for him. The boy with creepy eyes, walking around like he’s royalty in a world he doesn’t suit. That is the Subaru I was asked to kill. He doesn’t have the black hair, but a smart man would change his appearance.”
“I’m not Subaru! My name is-”
“It doesn’t matter who you are, she’s already convinced.” Emilia interrupted, stepping into the store to stand next to him, her purple eyes hardening as she frowned. “We’ll have to settle this later. For now, I’m not letting her do violence to any of you.”
“You’re helping us?” Ford asked, and Emilia nodded, her pretty face furrowed in a deep frown.
“I just want my badge back, I don’t care about vengeance past that. Thief, is that a fair trade?” She asked the question in a raised voice, and Felt gave an annoyed grunt as she jumped away from Elsa’s forward slash.
“Fine, fine, whatever! Killing the Bowel Hunter would easily get me twice what that thing is worth!” the blonde called, and Elsa chuckled, pausing in her step to speak with a sinister lilt.
“One, two, four, it makes no difference. I was already interested in you anyway, little half-devil. I wonder, are your guts the same as the Witch’s?”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“I won’t have you mentioning that name in my store!” Rom bellowed, the floorboards cracking under his stomp as he lunged, his fist swinging straight in the direction of the woman, who looked at him with the carnivorous leer of a predator as her knife briefly glinted in the light reflected off the ice.
“Old Man Rom!” Felt screamed as the giant coughed, driven off balance by the strike as his arm flew past the woman, who sidestepped with ease as she was splattered with the blood that spat from the stump ending just above his elbow as his forearm fell to the ground.
Elsa snickered as she ran her tongue along the cutting edge of the blade, lapping up Rom’s blood as he struggled to stay standing. “Is that all that this team adds up to? A giant past his prime, a noble walking on eggshells, a child, and a man with no power. At least try and make this fun for me, this blood is tasteless.”
“Rom!” Felt called, but she didn’t have a chance to say anything before she was pushed aside by Leo, who scowled as he brought the Cultist dagger to jam it into the woman’s ribcage, driving it in to the crossguard before pulling back and standing defensively in front of Rom, his red eyes fixed on the assassin as she stumbled backwards.
“I am not powerless!” he growled, and she gave him a surprised look as she started to collapse. Her outfit lacked protection from the front, so it was easy to see that his aim had been true, a deep, jagged wound pointed up behind her sternum.
He jolted as she brought a foot forward to catch her balance again, and she stood up, a mad laugh in her throat as she ran her fingers along the scar. “You aimed straight for my heart. You were just waiting for me to get distracted, weren’t you?”
“How are you not dead?!” Felt asked, and Elsa hummed, her split skin starting to close up before their eyes as she raised her kukri again.
“I wonder. Try to aim for the belly next time, I don’t often get to see what my own entrails look like.”
“El Huma!” Emilia called, summoning pillars of ice into the air that oriented themselves to launch at the woman, but they did little against her as they dissipated against the cloak she wore.
The cloth began to fade away at the contact, and Elsa sighed, holding up the hem to watch as it disappeared from her grasp. “I was hoping this would last a little longer. But no matter. Please, do keep fighting as hard as you can. Why don’t you send that spirit of yours out too? Do spirits have blood?”
Emilia had spent the elapsed time before the shards connected to run to Rom’s side, holding him up and helping to drag him out of the woman’s range. “I’ve heard rumors...Is it really true that you’re immortal?” she asked.
“I wish you wouldn’t spread so much unimportant information. Did that sponsor of yours tell you about me? Honestly, an assassin’s talents are meant to be kept secret.” Her switch back to fight mode was instantaneous as she gave the smallest kick to the floor, sending her speeding towards the elf in a blur.
“Elf!” Leo called, but the woman was too fast to catch up with, and without the time to cast, Emilia was a sitting duck against the blade as it reached nearer.
“Don’t underestimate me!” Rom hollered, and Elsa’s expression briefly fell as she turned her gaze to him, but before she could break her momentum, he had already risen to his feet, his remaining fist connecting with the side of her head and sending her barrelling into the wall, the force causing a beam to crack and send a cloud of dust from the rafters.
“Rom!” Felt shouted, tears in her eyes as the old man gave a tired chuckle, falling to his knees as his big body heaved from his labored breathing.
“Don’t mock the strength of giants, you minx. I can’t stand with the best of them anymore, but I’m not going to die just from this. If anything can kill you, shattering your skull would.”
“You got her?” Leo asked, turning to look at the woman, who lay in a motionless heap, half-stuck in the wood panels. “Did...did we win?”
“We won!” Felt cried happily, racing towards her adoptive grandfather with large bounds across the floor, and Emilia stood up, confusion written across her face as she took a few steps closer to observe the woman’s body.
“I suppose...Enough damage is too much for her to handle?” she asked. “Immortality-”
“For the largest one here, you have no weight behind your strike.” came Elsa’s voice, and Emilia stepped back, her eyes wide as the woman smirked, her hands pushing against the wall to pull herself out. The beam was too damaged to support its weight now, and the section collapsed behind her as she stood up, bending to pick up her knife as she sighed. “All of you are just standing and watching while you thrash me in single-file. I’m not some thief from the slums, nor am I a foot soldier. Treat me as a riotous barbarian, as the unstoppable vampire that I am.”
“Just die already!” Felt responded, and before Leo could stop her, she lunged forward, her fist covered in her green wind as it formed a sharp blade on the back of her hand, cutting in a downward slash aimed for Elsa’s face.
Even after the jab, she elegantly ducked to the side, exhaling as she twisted her knife in the air, her feet planted on the floor to aim for the girl’s stomach.
“Felt!” Leo wailed, and Emilia raised her hands to cast again. “That won’t be fast enough!”
“I can try! El Huma!”
Time moved slowly as the ice ever so gradually crystallized, and Felt’s eyes widened as she found the tables turned on her. With Leo having nothing but the dagger, he could do nothing but stand and watch as the uneven injury on his chest burned, his hand moving to rub the wound as his teeth clenched.
The ice was too slow, and by the time it began to move, Elsa had already reached Felt, leaning forward like a fishing bird with her arm raised, but as she moved to bring the point home, she blinked, her other hand suddenly planting on the ground so she could catch herself as Felt jumped aside, out of range as the El Huma connected, the icicles boring into Elsa’s side as she stumbled.
“Ara? How unusual.” she said, standing back up as the magic melted away, leaving the gaping holes to begin sealing themselves shut as she raised her weapon hand. “Hm. Well, no matter. Something to ponder later.”
“You’re kidding me! She’s still that fast after all that?” Felt asked, wisely backing away several paces. “Old Man Rom, are you okay?”
“Still alive, for now. I told you, I’m not old enough to die yet.” the shopkeeper said, scratching his head as he rocked where he sat. “But that took everything out of me. Ford!” The boy’s attention was forced to him with the sharp tone he used. “Take care of this. You saw that too, didn’t you?”
Ford blinked, before his eyes widened, and he nodded. “...Yeah, I noticed. Have a good rest. By the time you wake up, everyone will be safe.”
“Hah! I really can’t tell if you’re an ace or a dunderhead!” he replied as he collapsed to his back, his eyes closing as he passed out.
“You saw something?” Emilia asked, and Leo nodded, biting his lip. His injury stung, but compared to Rom, he was still standing.
“She staggered. Her body’s indestructible, but her brain can still be shaken…” If he could stab in the right place, that could possibly be enough, but the Cultist dagger was too thin and smooth to stay embedded, and if she was found later with that weapon at the scene, then who knew what sort of trouble might come from that later.
He blinked, his eyes narrowing as a thought came to mind. That injury...Elsa’s kukri were sharp, but they didn’t cut cleanly. They had strange angles where the curved portions interacted, and he remembered from the last time that her cuts produced far more blood than was normal for a well-kept weapon.
“Felt! Can you distract her for a bit? Don’t try and hit her, just stay out of range!”
“What?! Do you think I can keep dodging moves like that?!” the girl complained, and he shook his head, racing across the floor as he circled around the fight.
“You can, now that she’s disoriented! Elf, cover her! I have an idea!”
“Stop calling me that, I have a name! It’s Emilia!” the silver-haired girl responded, her Huma shield forming to block the woman’s effort to catch Felt off guard.
“Really, yelling about what you’re up to right in front of me? Hunting is no fun when the prey isn’t afraid.” she said, changing targets on a dime as she aimed for Leo, who raised his dagger to parry her knife as he hopped over the broken table. When she attempted to follow, she fell, startled as her foot twisted on the uneven surface and giving him enough time to escape as Felt smacked the woman’s back with her fist, sending her to the floor.
“I don’t know what you’re up to, but I trust you, Ford!” Felt said, a pained grin on her face as she drove her foot into the space between Elsa’s shoulders to temporarily pin her. “I can’t keep it up for long, I don’t have much magic to begin with!”
“I only need a few seconds!” Leo responded, his eyes scanning the floor as behind him, the sound of metal clashing with ice rang out. “Where is it…?”
Something on the floor caught his attention, and he shouted in victory, before picking it up and cutting his motion with his heel, spinning around and giving a wordless yell as he raised Rom’s club. “Felt, out of the way!”
Elsa chuckled at the sight of him unsteadily wielding the comically large weapon. “A human boy wielding a giant’s bludgeon, what a sight! There is a difference between folly and bravery!”
Her knife drove into the wooden weapon, twisting it easily aside as his grip was already weak and sending the club flying with the kukri still embedded inside. However, despite being disarmed, his triumphant expression didn’t waver. As his foot landed on the ground behind her, he twisted his waist around, and her eyes widened as her neck was pierced through from behind, leaving her paralyzed where she stood as he regained his composure.
“For someone so experienced, you’re easy to trick. I noticed it when you got up from that punch. You aren’t immortal, you just recover quickly. If you really were unstoppable, then you wouldn’t have gotten dizzy after your head got hit.”
The woman’s smile didn’t fade, the corners of her mouth curling up as she coughed up blood. “And why do you think you’ve beaten me? I will recover from this too.”
“No, you won’t. I was just drawing your attention with that club, that’s not what I really was after.” he responded, and his hand let go of the handle of the first kukri, leaving it embedded in her neck as she collapsed to the floor on her back, sending the knife deeper into her head and forcing the point to jut out from the back of her mouth. “Have your weapon back.”
Her eyes rolled up to face him, her speech unintelligible as it was muffled by the blood filling her voice box. He sighed as he looked her over, before walking to meet with the others.
Emilia held a hand to her chest, kneeling down to start casting healing magic on the unconscious Rom, a worried expression on her face as she looked on at the woman. “Even that didn’t kill her...Won’t she just get back up again?”
“I hit her brain stem, and those knives don’t make a pretty cut.” he replied, his hand moving to his own laceration. “Until it’s removed, she’ll be stuck there for good. It’s almost the same thing.”
“You did it!” Felt said exuberantly, jumpin in the air as she rushed to Rom’s side, her face beaming as she held up his other hand. “You’ll be fine, Old Man Rom. Ford did it, she can’t do any more damage now.”
Ford nodded, walking over to pick up the man’s amputated arm and bring it back, lifting it to Emilia’s view. “I’m guessing you’re using healing magic. Do you think it can be reattached?”
The girl faltered at the sight, clearly disturbed by how easily he was holding a severed body part, and she shook her head slowly. “I don’t have the skill to do that, but I know someone who does. I’m sure she’ll help if I ask her nicely enough.”
“I’ll offer to play with her for a whole day.” came Puck’s voice as the spirit materialized on Emilia’s head, rubbing his paw along the back of his ears as he grinned. “You’d better not be thinking of going anywhere you’ll need me for a while, Lia.”
“I think we’ve had enough fighting for today.” the elf responded, and Leo smiled, before his expression dropped as he sighed.
“I guess now’s as good a time as any to say it. Felt, I gained some of my memory back. It’s not complete, it’s just random scattered thoughts, but-” He blinked, stepping back as his vision started to swim. “But...Huh, that cut must have gone deeper than I thought…”
“Ford!” Felt called, reaching her hand to him, but he was already on his way to the ground, blacked out before his head met the floor.