A Side - There's Something to See (6)

I was confused. That's the only way I could describe my first impression.

At a glance, anyone could tell she was a woman in her mid-twenties. That on its own wasn't that unusual. Granted, she was walking through a dangerous area of the city, but that could be explained for any number of reasons.

But her outfit... with those looks... well, that was another story. The color of her shirt and jeans contrasted in a slapdash way, coming more into conflict with her messy brunette hair. Her feet laid bare on the ground, exposing themselves indecently to the entire world. However, the weirdest thing had to be the black mask on her face. It looked as if she was attending a masquerade ball with how little it covered her face.

And that wasn't even half of what set off alarm bells. The quality of her clothes were rather high, yet it looked like it had been worn from many years of use. Her gait indicated some level of battle experience. In fact, her feet had shifted ever so slight to more easily obscure her movements.

Basically, she was suspicious.

Huh? We're suspicious too? No idea what you're talking about.

Well, for Todd, it didn't matter who she was--hey! Wait a second! Why she already leaving?!?

"Please help!"

...

She's still ignoring me! Me!!! Who in the world does this woman think she is?!? Sure, there had been people who left before, but she was the first who had actively spurned a damsel in distress! Like, what the hell?!?

"Hey missy. Where'd you think you're going?" My knight backed me up, and I expected her to turn back around and fight, but...

"Don't mind me, I've got other places to be," she didn't even stop!!! She just waved her hand and went on her way. Was she actually leaving a young girl to be kidnapped? Again, what the hell?!?

Wsssshh. Clink!

...huh? An ice shard shattered a mere hairsbreadth away from the woman's foot, causing her to stop. This isn't the plan, why did-- ah. Even at this distance, I could tell my mage was fuming in anger. After all, she had just watched her master get brushed off not once, but twice.

"Hold on there, missy. Stay a while. Let's have a chat," my knights were slightly more cordial, but the veins bursting beneath their helmets were impossible to miss. They were clearly ready to take up arms, at least to release their pent up anger. I'm not sure whether I should be happy or terrified right now.

The routine from then on was supposed to be quite familiar, but the woman kept throwing a wrench at every turn.

As the kidnappers, my knights asked her to lay down her bag and weapons. While she did comply with the former, she apparently wasn't carrying any weapons. It didn't look like she was wearing any armor either. That was absolute insanity, especially in these back alleys. Even my knights laughed in disbelief.

No one could surely be that stupid, we all thought. So, the captain sent the other two to confirm while patting her down. He was clearly leaning into the role a bit too much at this point, given that we were trying to recruit her, but it seemed his anger hadn't yet abated. Well, this one's going to be a bus--

...wait. Something changed. I hadn't noticed it at first. It was so subtle that it would be impossible to detect under normal circumstances. But to a mage like me, I understood what was going on.

The woman had just used her mana. And she was controlling it with a level of precision I'd never though possible, even before the moon shattered.

"Let's see those goo-- grk!"

The next few minutes played out like a theater show, as though fiction bled into reality. The woman easily knocked down my first knight, used his weapon to take out the second, before immediately bludgeoning the captain before he could protect me. Each move was a choreographed dance, one where she somehow knew all of their moves before they happened.

And after those brief few minutes, she was the only one left standing.

I found myself in a state of awe and fear at her skill. She'd taken down my knights like they were simple bandits. Even at this moment, she never let her guard down, carefully surveying our surroundings for the mage.

"Um, thank you for saving me," I managed to squeak out.

The woman turned towards me. "It's whatev--"

Wsssshh. Chink!

...no way. I thought the mage's last shot was perfect, but the woman managed to use her mask to intercept it. Then, she took the my final defender down, tossing the broken spear in a perfect arc.

It was hard to describe what I felt at that moment. But I definitely remembered what happened right after.

That moment I saw her eyes glazed over, her irises a solid gray.

She's a beastman.