Night Patrol I

Kies entered the inn through the window of their room. It was a good thing that no one was outside when he arrived since it would've looked pretty suspicious for a person to be carrying another person while jumping from roof to roof in the middle of the night. He slid open the window and jumped into the room.

"Iris!" Sirks was the first one who ran to his side, taking Iris off him and helping her onto a bed. After setting her down, he looked at her injuries and scowled. He turned around and gestured at Nyana to run to him. "Quick, heal her!... Please!" he added, noticing that he was coming at her in a rude tone.

"I'm on it..." Nyana rushed over to Iris and checked on his condition. She placed her hands on her forehead. "Her vital signs are fine," the elf said, feeling her pulses. "The only problem I see here is..." the elf pointed at the big bulge on the side of Iris' head.

"Can't you just heal that?" Sirks asked her, not seeing what the problem was.

"I mean I can, but my magic doesn't work like that."

"What do you mean?"

"I can only heal wounds as long as they're not that deep. As for this, I can heal the outside with no issues, but I can't do anything if it goes any deeper than that..."

"Oh." This was a serious problem then. Sirks looked around the room, expecting there to be a solution just lying in it. "Um..." Unsure about what he should do in this situation, the middle-aged soldier scratched his head. There was nothing in the room that could help. In the first place, none of them were doctors so what did he expect? There was no medicine or tools to be seen.

"Well, I heal her head for now. You should have a doctor look at her later," Nyana suggested a plan. It was the best they could do right now. Without waiting for a response, the elf started healing the bulge on Iris' head. In a matter of seconds, it receded back into her head and it looked normal.

"Hopefully, that will be enough," Nyana said, gently nudging the spot on Iris' head where the injury had been. It felt fine, but it was still a good idea to get a professional to check up on her.

"Thank you so much," Sirks gratefully said to the elf.

Nyana shook her head. "It's no big deal. But if you really want to repay me, I'm curious as to how you all ended up like this."

Just like Iris, the other two were also hurt. Well, the keyword here is "were." There were a bunch of bandages and patches lying on the floor stained with blood. Kies assumes that they belonged to Sirks and Wompa before Nyana healed them with her magic.

Sirks sat down on one of the beds and stared at the floor. "How, you ask?" He hesitated, uncertain about what to say. "I'm not even sure myself," he said as a matter of fact.

"What?"

"The three of us were on our way back to this inn when we got ambushed by some men," Sirks explained.

"What happened after that?" Kies asked. Although he had an idea about what occurred after, he wanted to know the story in full detail.

"Since there were people around, they had to act fast. They hit all three of us with clubs and then grabbed Iris and ran away with her," Sirks explained the entire story.

"Clubs?" That explained the bulge that had been on the side of Iris' head. But why clubs? Couldn't they have used knives or a more practical weapon? Wait, no. Their goal was to capture Iris so using lethal weapons was out of the question.

"I see..." Nyana turned to Kies and looked at him. "I'm guessing you have the rest of the story," she said, asking Kies to tell them what he found.

"Yes, I do." Kies took a deep breath, unsure of where to start from. Starting with how he tracked down the kidnappers, Kies lied and said that he saw a bunch of footprints in the sand that was all leading towards a house for some reason. He followed it out of curiosity to see where it went. It was then that he arrived at the house and saw Iris jumping out of it from what looked like the third or second floor.

"Anyway, I took care of the kidnappers and brought her back," he told them, simplifying the entire thing to make it easier on Sirks and Wompa. The last thing they wanted to hear was that there was a half-human-half-demon involved. Of course, he will report that to Rui or another one of the guards or soldiers, but it was best if he didn't tell that to the other two right now.

"By taking care of them, do you mean..."

"I killed them," Kies said, answering the elf's question.

"Oh."

Kies probably could've gotten some information from them if he didn't kill all of them, and that was exactly what he intended to do, but things didn't go the way he planned. He left the leader alive and wanted to get something from him but after he took that syringe and transformed into a hybrid, it kind of ruined his plan.

"I guess you had your reasons for killing them all..." Nyana said in a disappointed tone. "I wasn't there so I have no say on the matter, but couldn't you have spared them?"

"You want me to let them live!?"

"I understand that they're criminals, don't get me wrong," Nyana said. "But... Actually, never mind. Forget I ever mentioned that." She looked at everyone in the room, making sure that they were all okay before walking towards the door. She stopped in front of it and said without turning around, "I'll be in my room if you need me." Just like that, the elf left, closing the door behind her.

Sirks and Wompa looked at Kies with questioning expressions on their faces. "Did you get into a fight with her?" Sirks asked.

"Not that I know of..." Did he do or say anything that offended her? Kies didn't know. To begin with, he didn't know that much about elves other than that they spend most of their life in forests or other places where they are surrounded by nature. Nevertheless, if he did somehow offend her in any way, he will have to apologize for it later.

"Hm... I think it might be when you said that you killed them that she got angry..." Sirks said, recalling that it was what Kies said that made her uncomfortable.

"I killed them... Is that really why she got upset!?" They were criminals! Why did Nyana care about what happened to them? Kies didn't understand this.

"I heard somewhere that elves hate bloodshed. That might have something to do with it," Sirks told him, remembering that he got that from somewhere. He didn't know if it was true or not, but it definitely explained her reaction, if it is.

"Really?" This was Kies' first time hearing this. In all the time he spent out in the world searching for the fragments, he learned a lot of things, and it was strange that he never heard anything about this until now. Regardless, it was good to learn this before he actually ventured into the elven territory with Nyana.

"Good to know... Well, I'm heading off now," Kies waved his hand. He went towards the window and looked out.

"Wait, where are you going?" Sirks stopped and asked him before he could jump out the window.

"I have some things to do," Kies told him.

"This late?"

"Yes... I need to clean up the rest of those nuisances." Kies may have killed all the kidnappers, but he knew for sure that there were more people involved and that they also wouldn't stay silent. He needed to find out who they are and dispose of them before they could make more trouble for them.

"But won't that be too much to do? You still have a match tomorrow!" Sirks pointed out. "You should rest instead. We can have the guards deal with those guys," he recommended.

This was definitely a matter that should be left to them. But Kies shook his head. "It's faster if I do it." He wasn't looking down on Otane's security and military in any way, but they were way too slow. This was something that he needed to do himself.

"Wait!" Sirks tried to grab Kies as he jumped out the window but he was too slow. A gust of wind slammed into the middle-aged man's face, causing him to raise his arm to block it. When he lowered it and opened his eyes again, Kies was already gone.

"Where did he go!?" He pokes his head out the window, trying to find where he went. There was no way he could disappear like that. But after a minute of searching, it became clear that it was possible for him to just disappear like that.

Sirks sighed. He turned around and sat down on a chair. He was far too tired to chase after him. But even if he had the energy, he didn't know where Kies went. He could only pray that something bad doesn't happen to him. "Ugh... I hope that kid doesn't hurt himself..."

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