With Ange in her arms and Noir following her from behind, Lucille left Janet’s room, but made sure to talk to the doctor who treated Ange’s wounds. She was standing at the corner as if she was waiting for Lucille to come out.

“Janet, was it?” Lucille asked as she approached the petite veterinarian. Lucille herself was a tall woman herself, but she never noticed how much taller she was. She wondered if she was just really tall or Janet was just short.

“Yes…?”

“I want to take you for all you did for Ange. How much are you willing to be paid?”

Janet, who had been expressionless up until now, suddenly became wide-eyed as she took a step back. “No, I don’t need money. I only did it because I love animals–dogs specifically. Please don’t impose payment.”

“Please, I want to at least repay you! If you don’t want money, how about I treat you to a meal or something?”

Janet froze and started pondering. “Food…sounds nice.”

“Then, it’s a deal!”

Lucille smiled. She headed downstairs where she saw Thomas sitting on a chair, waiting for the doctor to come out. He noticed her coming down, which caused him to stand up and rush towards her.

“Ange is okay?” He asked worryingly.

“She’ll be fine.”

Thomas gently stroked Ange’s head. Lucille then asked about his brother.

“The doctor says that he’s going to be okay.”

“Then, why the long face?”

Thomas had his head down. Lucille always thought of him as a happy, cheerful boy, so seeing him with such a sullen look was definitely a first and an unpleasant sight to her. She didn’t like seeing that look on him.

She knelt down and reassured him. “Peter will be just fine. Just in the doctor and in your brother. I’m sure he’s fighting too.”

Ange took the chance to lick his wrist, also reassuring him that everything would be fine. His face slowly brightened. This made her happy.

“Well, I’ll be returning home now. I want Ange to rest.”

“Alright. I’ll see you again soon, Lucille.”

With a smile, Lucille walked past him and when she opened the door, a group of men were crowded outside. She noticed some of them were from the tavern when they were complaining about fairies. She quickly took a few steps back and slammed the door shut.

“What’s wrong?” Thomas asked.

She handed Ange to him. “Thomas, go hide somewhere with Ange and Noir. I have some…pests to get rid of.”

Thomas did as she said as he took Ange and hid himself in an empty room with Noir following behind. When the coast was clear, Lucille let out a sigh. She was anxious, but she didn’t want to wallow in her nerves. She had something precious to protect. She leaned down to check her boots. They had the word ‘WIND’ written on each of the soles. She then rolled up her sleeves to see that both arms had the word ‘EARTH’ written on both arms. She double-checked to see her ring was tight and secure on her finger.

I should start with fighting without my staff and then summon it to use Ice Javelin…

Before she could open the door, she heard Janet descending the stairs. “What’s going on?”

“Let’s just say that…I have some pests to deal with. They’re dangerous, so go hide with Thomas and my dogs.”

Lucille turned to face the door. She inhaled and exhaled before opening the door and slamming it shut behind her.

She was surprised the group of men didn’t attack the clinic right off the bat and actually waited for her to come out.

One man noticed that she was unarmed. “Miss, it’s dangerous to approach us unarmed. If you don’t want to be harmed, hand over your dogs and we’ll spare you.”

“I refuse.” Lucille replied, unwavering.

“Miss Witch, we really don’t want to hurt a woman, so just do as we say.”

Lucille readied herself by spreading out her legs. “I am no witch. I am a sorceress.” She took a deep breath and yelled, “Wind to feet!”

A blast of wind shot out of her boots, accelerating her speed without the need to move her legs. She used the speed advantage to shove one of the men to the ground and then zipped past him. She summoned her staff so she could use the tip to help her turn around without losing speed. She swung around and then raised her right arm.

“Earth to right arm!” Pieces of the earth started forming from her skin and onto her right arm. Soon, she gained an arm that was three times bigger than her normal size. She used it to punch another man. Using the wind on her feet, she jumped. She put her staff into storage as she now made the same arm with her left one. She started a pattern of punching a man and then jumping up into the air to dodge attacks.

Yes, this is why I love word magic so much. Just writing something down and saying it aloud gives me all the power I need.

The more she knocked the men out, the more thrilled she became. However, what she didn’t account for was one of the men having a crossbow. His precision was what caught her off guard as it pierced through her leg, causing her to lose her balance in the air. She had to mutter to stop the wind so she wouldn’t hurt herself as she was falling.

She used her earth arms to soften her landing. She spoke to remove the earth on her right arm as she tried taking out the arrow on her leg. She noticed that the man with the crossbow, the last man standing, was about to shoot her again but he grunted, froze and fell to the ground.

The cause was Janet who was holding a syringe in her hand. “Don’t worry,” she whispered to him. “The poison is a slow one. You’ll feel the effects in a few hours, but there is no antidote. Sorry about that.”

She then approached Lucille to help her up and got the arrow out of her leg. “Come back inside. I’ll go get Felicia to treat your wounds…”

Lucille held onto Janet as she staggered while walking. She looked down to look at her. Somehow, there was a bright aura shrouding Janet and it made her have a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

She’s cute, but also so cool…

Janet noticed her gaze as she looked up to meet her eyes. “Is there something wrong?”

Nervous, Lucille blurted out, “Thank you for helping me out…” She didn’t dare to shower Janet with praises; she didn’t want to be seen as weird to her.

As they went inside, Thomas came out from his hiding spot. Noir was the first to approach her. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine…” Lucille said as she slid down and hugged him.

She could feel her own heart beating rampantly, but she was happy because she got to protect her dogs from hunters.