Just What Is She? [6.2]

He spun around in his tracks suddenly, startling the Captain and the others close by him. Everyone jumped out of his way as he walked straight to the men who looked so miserable with their limbs impossible to cure of frostbite. They noticed the cold and serious man strolling towards them with knives for eyes. The one who still had a tongue whimpered, "Haven't we suffered enough? Why do we have to deal with him now?!"

A frightening man to friend or foe. That's who the headmaster was.

The Headmaster stopped in front of the two men and looked at them with a slight scowl. He seemed to be disgusted just to be in their presence. He looked at the burly man who looked beaten and broken. The burly man's head was lowered as he came to terms with his lack of hands, legs, and tongue that would never be repaired and had to be amputated instead. He wouldn't talk even if he wanted to.

The Headmaster turned to the smaller man who had snot running down his face as he trembled. The Headmaster took a step back in disgust. He cleared his throat, "You."

"EEK! Y-Yes?!"

"Did that little girl really do this to you?"

"What little girl?! You mean that demon!!?"

He blinked in annoyance, "Answer."

The smaller man gulped in distress, "I-I mean… Yes… That little girl did this."

He cut in abruptly, "Where did she go?"

"How would I know?"

He glared at him cutting off his snarky remark.

The smaller man cleared his throat and forced on a strained smile to placate the frosty man, "S-She wanted a map to the other camps… She's most likely there…"

"I see."

"..."

The Headmaster gave him a threatening look, "Draw me the same map."

The man wailed, "How can I possibly draw you a map!? She took my hands! WAAAH!"

The Headmaster snarled from the man's incessant crying. He abruptly kicked his face causing the smaller man to not only stop crying, but to start choking on the blood from his now broken nose. The man cried out, "Oi! Brutality! Isn't it enough I won't have hands and legs anymore?! This is crueler than what a demon would do!"

The Headmaster glared at him causing his mouth to shut immediately. He spoke slowly, seething with anger, "If you can't draw, then tell me. I will draw for you. If you waste my time, you will lose more than your hands and legs."

He gulped and quickly nodded. He explained in great detail where the other camps were. However, before he got to each one, a set of fireworks began to explode. Caldwell noticed this and smirked, "I have a feeling a map won't be necessary."

Cyrus looked at the headmaster with pleading eyes, "Headmaster… Could you please find that girl? She was strong, but she was incredibly stupid. I'm a bit worried about her."

The Headmaster pulled out his wand and gave Cyrus a look that drenched him in freezing cold water. He let out a hum before waving his wand and creating a teleportation circle. Then, he disappeared without leaving a trace.

Cyrus stared dumbly at the now empty ring, "H-He just left?! Just like that?!? But what about the girl!?"

Caldwell chuckled as he grinned mischievously. He teased, "Why do you care so much, young master?"

Cyrus blushed and turned his head, "I-I don't care!"

Caldwell's grin grew larger, "Oh really? But this was the first time I have ever heard the Young Master compliment another. Could it be that the young master actually holds this girl in high esteem?"

Cyrus turned a darker red and stomped his foot, "Shut up Caldwell! That girl was stupid! There is no way I could ever like her!!!"

Caldwell giggled, "I never said anything about liking her."

Cyrus froze before clamping his mouth shut in a hurry. He tossed his hands in anger, "TAKE ME HOME ALREADY! Stop wasting my time!!!"

Seeing that he teased Cyrus too much, Caldwell chuckled happily before nodding, "Yes, yes. Let us go home, Young Master."

The Knights and the M.I.B. accompanied the children home. The Captain knew he had a long day ahead of him trying to find homes for most of the children there. Most of them had been orphans or were sold to the traffickers. Now they would all need to find a place to stay.

The Headmaster appeared at the new location of the fireworks, only to see the same scene as before. Children stood shivering without their collars, the men had been attacked and encased in ice, and the elusive girl was nowhere to be found. Without wanting to deal with the inconvenience, he waved his wand and teleported the children to the Captain. The Captain, now in his office, wanted to rip out his hair seeing more children needing homes. When the criminals fell to the ground chained up in ice, the Captain cursed the Headmaster for forcing him to deal with everything on his own.

The Headmaster didn't care to consider that he was dumping too much work on the man, and continued after the girl determined to catch her. However, the girl was somehow faster than him. He could only teleport a few times since it took so much mana, so he flew the rest of the time. How does this girl keep beating me?! Just who was she? Was the girl teleporting? Or was she flying too?

As he flew, he tried to figure out her identity.

The girl had to be a famous prodigy as well… But who could it be? One of the Princess candidates?... No. Impossible. Those girls didn't act like a slippery vigilante. Was it a girl from another Kingdom? Possible, but that wouldn't be ideal. I don't know of any strong visitors, which could only mean that would mean she snuck over. If that was the case, it could cause an international war.

Eventually, the Headmaster arrived at the last camp only to discover the girl had given up and walked off. He was surprised to see that some of the criminals didn't survive the ice prison she created or had lost many of their limbs to frostbite. Luckily, the criminals were able to "point" him in the right direction. He walked in that direction, but couldn't find her soul force as if it didn't exist.

He began to think of possible reasons why.

Lacking a soul force was impossible. Every living creature had a soul force that was traceable to some extent. However, this girl had absolutely none. To lack a soul force was to lack a soul. If a body lacked a soul, which was possible, then it was merely a puppetless meatbag. A soulless body is incapable of moving, speaking, and even surviving on its own. The body would breathe and go through the motions, but it was just an empty shell.

Thus, he rejected this idea. He thought of another one.

There were always ways to hide a soul force, but this was typically done by demons who use human bodies to hide in. They erased their own soul force to copy the human's soul force. So what was she? A demon?

No… While demons could remain undetected, what kind of demon would save human children? Demon's only acted on their own self-interest. They didn't care about others, especially humans.

Thus, this idea was rejected as well.

Could she be a fairy?

That would be more likely.

But why would a fairy be involved in the human trafficking case? They never cared enough to meddle in human matters.

Thus, he tossed out this idea as well.

Perhaps the girl just knew how to hide her soul force. But if this was true… Just how strong was she?