Allen shoved her away, and just as she cried out in surprise, a fierce gust of wind hurled him through the air, slamming him against the ground on the far side of the field.
“A-Allen—!” she screamed, forgetting her own pain.
“Well well, we’ve finally tracked you down!” A thunderous bellow shook the air. A group of strangers emerged from the dense trees on the edge of the field. They looked harsh and dangerous, their eyes gleaming ominously, and were armed with short swords and other weapons. They trampled on the flower crowns as they advanced toward him.
“Eek...!” Charlotte let out a little shriek, trembling. She couldn’t move from where she fell. They know Allen...? But he said he doesn’t have anyone...
Allen staggered to his feet and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He glowered at the men. “You got here quick...”
“The master has to track down his lost dog, after all.” One of the men stepped out from the group. The man with a scar on his face cast a cold gaze on Allen. “I’ll let you off the hook for botching your job. We underestimated our target this time. But why didn’t you come right back?”
“I...”
“You were going to make a run for it, weren’t you?”
“No, that’s not—ack!”
The man kicked him off the ground without so much as a blink. With a dull, horrifying thud, Allen’s small body fell on the ground again. Charlotte couldn’t even utter a sound. As she watched frozen in shock, the man kept on battering Allen mercilessly.
“Who do you think picked you up when your parents sold you off, huh?! You ungrateful whelp... You want to get chained in a cage and eat pig food again?!”
Allen didn’t fight back with magic, and the others didn’t stop the man either. They only looked on, smirking and laughing.
Allen...he’ll die...! Charlotte caught her breath at the chilling thought. Her scraped knee hurt, and the men were scary—but she couldn’t bear to think of losing Allen. “Stop!!!” she screamed.
“Huh...?” The man was distracted by the sound and his barrage on Allen paused.
Charlotte mustered up her courage and dashed to Allen’s side. Planting her feet firmly and spreading her arms as wide as she could, she confronted the man. “P-Please stop! Don’t bully him...!”
“What the hell? Where’d this kid come from?”
“No...! Run, Charlotte!” Allen shouted desperately. He finally called her name for the first time. Before she could feel glad about it, the man reached out and grabbed her by the hair.
Looking closely at her face, he said, “Hmm, you’re pretty cute for a brat in the sticks. When you’re grown, you’re sure to attract customers.”
“Eep...l-let me go! I don’t—”
“Shut up. Sleep.”
“Oh...” The man’s spell made her unconscious, and she crumpled to the ground. Allen’s eyes widened at the sight.
The man chuckled deeply. “What luck, you brought us new merchandise. You’re starting to learn how to pay for your mist—arrrgh?!” He howled midsentence and staggered back, gripping his bloodstained arm. The henchmen’s faces changed color too. “Allen, you little...! What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Don’t touch her with your dirty hands...!” Allen slowly rose to his feet. He was smeared in blood, and his body ached from the blows he’d taken. His face was swollen too; he could barely open one of his eyes. Still, he fixed the men with a glare, head-on. It was his turn to protect her. “This girl saved my life! If you hurt her, I...I won’t hold back!”
“Hah... Are you serious?” The man cast a brief spell, and the wound on his arm began to seal itself. In a matter of seconds, his arm was as good as new. Flaunting it in front of Allen, the man laughed derisively. “You might use a bit of magic, but you’re still just a little kid. Do you really think you can beat all of us?”
“I don’t care! You only came here to kill me in the first place!” Allen barked, spitting out blood. He was up against a dozen men, all carrying weapons. On top of that, some of them knew some magic too. It was clear as day that Allen was at a disadvantage. But he scoffed. “There’s no future for a slave like me anyway... I might as well die protecting her!” he roared ferociously, ready to throw down his life.
The men edged closer to him. The whole field seemed to hold its breath in the taut silence—but the silence was suddenly broken by a lilting, easygoing voice.
“I wonder, aren’t you a little too young to give up on life?”
“Wha—?!”
The men’s cries were quickly cut off as a freezing cold wind thrashed through the field. Allen couldn’t help but squeeze his eyes shut. When he opened them, all the men were trapped in large pillars of ice. None of them moved an inch, frozen with their faces contorted in astonishment. And right next to the pillars stood a young man in a black robe.
Allen drew in a sharp breath. “Harvey Crawford...?!”
“Well hello there, my little hit man.” Harvey sketched a slight bow with a cordial smile that completely contrasted the situation. With a light tread, he waltzed right up to Allen, then shrugged with a sigh. “My my, what an adversary you are, at your age. Not only did you take me off guard, but you also gave me a pretty serious wound and threw me off your scent. You’re too exceptional to waste away under some small-time criminals.”
“But...you found me in the end.”
“Not from any fault of yours. These useless idiots were so overtly suspicious.” Harvey grinned at him. “So, what will you do?” he asked, though he seemed to guess Allen’s answer already. “If you’d like to fight, I can oblige you.”
After a pause, Allen shook his head and slumped down on the ground. “No. I was going to go to you and tell you everything anyway—who’s pulling the strings and all that. You saved me the trouble.”
“Oh, is that so? That’s good news. As an educator, it would have pained me to nip young talent in the bud.”