The Adventurer’s Academy

Everything went quiet in Rin's mind.

Miri had just been shot in the back. Attackers were swarming the site. People were yelling out orders on both sides. It was a lot to process all at once.

Her first instinct was to run forward and start fighting too, but she held that instinct back.

Rin knew that at some point, she'd have to blow her cover as an innocent, defenseless maiden. That said, she could choose when to do so, and she decided that she'd like to avoid having everyone here know of her capabilities.

So, for now, she let Sara do most of the fighting.

The instant that swords were drawn and arrows started flying, Xhez wanted to move up and join the action as well, but Rin put a hand in front of her.

Xhez was livid at what she felt was a denial of her revenge, but Rin simply told her:

"Not yet," in a low whisper and she appeared to reluctantly agree to stay put for now. Rin pointed over at Miri. "Can you heal her?"

"... Fine." The sprite knelt beside the adventurer and quickly drew a basic healing spell as Elisa crouched by her side as well and pulled the arrow out.

While that was going on, Sara played the part of a bodyguard well, staying as close to the trio of Rin, Xhez, and Elisa as she could, refusing to walk too far from them. Sye, as the Mages Guild representative, walked forward and drew several elaborate spellsigns prompting flames to pour out from her hands.

Screams, yells, and cries rang out all around the girls. It was a chaotic scene, but, because she wasn't directly involved just yet, Rin could see most of it in detail.

The majority of the attackers were located near the train, naturally. The politicians from Cradle and Libera who'd gone there to oversee the repairs were hiding atop a heavily decorated carriage. Some skirmishes were happening close to them, but they were mostly being ignored. The adventurers who'd just come in quickly joined the fray and it became difficult to tell who was attacking and who was defending, given that the adventurers shared the same sorts of ragtag outfits as the raiders.

Amidst the spells, swords, and arrows, Rin's eyes fell on Miri, who was slowly getting up after having her body repaired.

"Henry!" Miri called out to her one remaining partner.

They drew their weapons out and, without a word to the noblewomen behind them, started running forward.

[... Don't get yourself killed, please. I'd like to ask you a couple of questions later.]

Seeing a couple of guards having a hard time to the left, Rin gestured over at them, letting Xhez know she could help out if she wanted to.

The sprite did not need much encouragement.

She made her way over to the fight and quickly conjured a pair of ice spears from the ground that stabbed right through the enemy's heads.

The way Xhez stared at the guards she'd just helped after that made Rin briefly fear she'd attack them too, but the sprite quickly returned to Rin's side.

It was brief, but Rin caught sight of Sye watching Xhez work. She seemed satisfied with what she saw, though it was difficult to deduce what she was thinking given that she always had that same look on her face. That knowing smirk and those mischievous eyes.

Soon, the battle became split. There was a fight happening by the train, and a fight happening at the camp Rin, Elisa, Sye, Xhez, and Sara were all currently standing in. Seeing that, Rin figured it was okay to let loose now.

She signaled this fact to the others by running in headfirst and punching one of the attackers, a young beastborn woman, in the side of the head. As soon as the others saw that, the message became clear and everyone went in.

Picking a sword up from the dirt, Elisa stabbed someone in the back with so much strength she lifted the man up into the air. Sara dashed in between two ongoing fights and decapitated a pair of enemies in the blink of an eye, seemingly with just one well-placed spinning slash. Xhez created several more of those magical spears, with each one that burst from the ground earning a quick kill.

Staying near the sprite, Rin watched as a boy identified the short, white-haired girl as a threat and ran up to her, from behind. He was just as short as she was, actually, and almost as thin, with long, lanky limbs and leather on his body that could hardly be considered "armor".

Rin interrupted him. Cutting him off, she swept his legs, threw him on the ground, and raised a fist over his head.

The boy looked scared, all of a sudden. The bloodthirsty Rin had seen aimed at Xhez had turned into pure fear and desperation, and Rin's hand froze for just a moment.

Images of the cave she'd been teleported into flashed before her eyes then, and a quick reminder of what The Scorned were doing set that hesitation aside.

She punched him as hard as she could without pouring Essence into her arm. That wasn't enough to kill him, though she heard a nasty crack and strings of blood formed between her knuckles and his nose.

One, two, three, four extremely hard punches later, and the kid was done.

As Rin stood up straight, blood dripped from her hand to the dirt beneath her feet.

Looking around, Rin made sure that not too many people had just seen that.

At the same time, she noticed that, to her surprise, most of the fighting had subsided by now.

[What?] She walked forward, trying to find more enemies. [There's no way that's it. Did they really go through all that sabotage just to put on this half-hearted attempt at a raid?]

"Was that really it?" Rin wondered aloud.

"Probably not," Elisa replied. "Come with me."

Without questioning her, the girls all followed the noblewoman as she cut through the field and made her way to the train.

Once here, almost as if on cue, smoke began to rise.

"What happened?" Elisa asked.

"Um, Lady D'Ana," one of the workers said, with blood staining his shirt. "S-Some of the attackers, they just- they ran in and started hitting the train with spells."

"Ah," Sye said from behind with a smirk, "so, they re-sabotaged it, then?"

[If that's the case, then... I guess we can expect a second round soon.]

Rin had something she wanted to do before that happened.

She looked around, eyeing all of the fighters and workers up and down until her eyes fell on a familiar face. Having spotted Miri, she took a deep breath.

[... You're not Rin,] she told herself. [You're Triss. Elisa's rich, noble friend. Act like it.]

And, with that, she put on the best powerwalk that she could, striding toward the adventurer. She drew some eyes, as people sensed that she was angry about something.

Miri was sitting on a rock, hunched over and staring at the ground. Until Rin appeared before her.

"Miri, was it?" Rin asked.

"Um, yes, ma'am?"

"You mentioned rumors before, didn't you?" Rin asked, narrowing her eyes at the girl and putting her hands on her hips. She spoke as loudly as she could, trying to create a scene.

Trying to create pressure.

"I think you owe us all an explanation."

And, thankfully, the plan worked.