[Noble Region] Tota

[Bloodedge]

Tota is a village within the noble region of the Clover Kingdom.

[Apollymi]

Within the village of Tota a young girl with blue hair stood just inside of a command post waiting for orders. She was a recent recruit to the Magic Knights and fell under the squad known as Blue Rose. Her brown eyes traced the ground and she held her hands clasped behind her back in the hopes of keeping from sight the fidgeting her fingers managed to do as she awaited her orders. Over the last few days she'd been adjusting to life as a Magic Knight and she was excited to see what kind of jobs patrols would entail. She didn't figure she'd get to do much, but wanted to show herself being an upstanding member of her squad just the same. She could be seen wearing a small blue rose insignia cape over her brown and gold zip-up top. And as such she waited for such a time as an order was delivered to her.

[Bloodedge]

As Tota was located within the noble region of the Clover Kingdom, a decent number of Magic Knights could be found nearby at any given time. This day, however, a certain report had been given to bring attention to a potential theft ring performing their operations in the noble region. The result of this was a greater focus on Magic Knight patrols near residences, delivered to all Magic Knights within the area via communication devices. One particular male sporting the cloak of the Coral Peacock squad happened to be near the blue-haired girl at the time of his order being received. He had medium-length black hair and wore a bland expression upon his face even while receiving such an order to enhance patrol. "Hai. On the lookout," he said.

At the same time, there was a curious-looking man with silver hair and deep blue eyes. He looked to be no more than a teen, but his appearance was quite deceiving. The order to this man, who wore a long Azure Deer-emblazoned cloak and a hat that looked like it was designed by a witch, was taken without a word - he simply continued walking around the village as he'd been doing all along.

[Apollymi]

Soon enough the young girl had her communication device give her a potential order she was going to follow. She'd jumped when the device had shown a person but soon after recovered enough to move along as if nothing had happen. "Hai, I understand." she muttered. She'd take this particular order and turn around while shuffling to put away the device and talk herself through the details of such missions that she knew by heart at this point. "Hai, I have to... make sure to keep a look out. But because I am inexperienced, I am not supposed to make contact if I do find something. If I see any suspicious behavior, I have to report it to someone higher ranking and more equipped..." she said to herself confirming her own knowledge of such situations. Even so she was nervous enough that she almost bumped into the man in the Coral Peacock robe. She came to a thundering halt her heart beating hard in her chest. "Gomenasai. I didn't see you there... I'll pay more attention and be more careful..." she let this entire sentence roll off her tongue while taking a deeply apologetic stance with her head bowed low.

[Bloodedge]

As the raven-haired male went about his patrol, his eyes were on the nearby buildings. There was suddenly a voice from a place very, very close to him. Said voice was an apologetic one - a girl who'd gotten quite close to him, but had not actually made contact at all. "Nani?" he questioned with little care in his tone. "I don't know what you're talking about. Did you also get the order from the capital?" he went on to ask, figuring that if they were two Magic Knights with the same task, they could perhaps make each other's jobs a little easier by cooperating.

The other male of this would-be trio was not quite as close by. His distance from the other two, though, had placed him within field of vision and earshot, though his back was turned to certain events happening precisely as the others met. Nearby was the house of the Vaude family, an esteemed noble group of the Clover Kingdom. At present, this very house was being raided from the inside by assumed servants who thought it a wonderful idea to assault the family in their sleep and make off with a bigger payload than their organization had ever seen.

[Apollymi]

The blue haired girl's eyes widened at this man's words. She wasn't necessarily clumsy but she was so used to apologizing for her actions she did so even when they did no harm. As such his words made her a bit more at ease but she still didn't raise her head until he spoke of an order he'd just received from the capital. She stood up straight then and nodded her head. "Hai, I just received word that I am supposed to help in the increased patrol in the area... we're on the look out for anything suspicious around the residences..." she said in affirmation. "I was on my way to have a look at a few nearby," she said thinking about it a bit more. "If you're headed that way we could work together..." she offered though the lass was inwardly flinching she held out hope that this wasn't going to be as bad as the experiences she was used to still she was practically holding her breath as she waited.

[Bloodedge]

"Sou ka," the male said when given confirmation that the order had reached this girl as well. She even went on to make the suggestion he'd been thinking about working together to better accomplish their task. He nodded a response to this, choosing to offer his introduction before they began their work. "Bastien Wisteria, 2nd Class Junior Knight of Coral Peacock. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu," he said. With that, he began moving to inspect the immediate area.

There were a great many things to be looted from House Vaude, and there were quite a few individuals in the process of looting at this very moment. A few managed to leave the building with full pockets to move on with their tasks, though a few still remained to keep the noble family in check and take the remains in the meantime.

[Apollymi]

Surprisingly for this particular girl, the lad who was now standing with her seemed to be fine with her suggestion that they work together. He was even so kind as to introduce himself. 'Bastien Wisteria!? 2nd Class!?' the girl took in this information with her eyes wide. She recognized this lad's name, as one of the higher tier nobles who inhabited the realm. She was stunned to even meet him, much less get a chance to work with him. "Wendy Marvell, 5th Class Junior Magic Knight of Blue Rose. Yoroshiku." Wendy got out her entire introduction and bowed her head once more. Though she was nobility herself, these sorts of situations dictated that she defer, not only for reasons of rank within the Magic Knights but also for reasons of posterity within the classes of nobility.

Soon after she'd lift her head and begin her proper patrol, looking out into the distance she saw the daily hustle and bustle of the area. Upon inspecting it she found that this area seemed to be fairly normal. But there was something strange to take note of, and that was the looters with full pockets moving about. They weren't necessarily odd, they just seemed to be in more of a rush than those around them. Wendy's eyes narrowed at this but she tried not to draw attention to what she'd noticed. Instead she chose to speak very calmly to Bastien. "Wisteria-senpai, those people seem to be leaving somewhere in more of a rush than everyone else around," she said. Being the sort of person who was always apologizing and always walking on eggshells, she could tell when people were trying not to draw too much attention to themselves.

[Bloodedge]

The 'widened eye' reaction to his introduction did not go unnoticed by Bastien, but he thought nothing of it. After all, it was far from the first time he'd witnessed such a thing. When the girl bowed to him a second time, he held up his hand as if to tell her there was no need. "Let's go," he said. With that, he was on his way. Soon after the two embarked on their joined patrol, Wendy was pointing out something that was rather suspicious indeed. A certain set of individuals moved in a hasty manner toward an unknown goal. One would think that in this sort of situation, nobles would be rushing to their homes, but... none of them looked like Magic Knights. Of course, there was one other thing they also didn't look like: nobles."They do look like they're rushing. They also don't look like they belong here. That house... Vaude, isn't it? We should tell someone about this."

[Apollymi]

Wendy would note at her second bow, the lad held up his hand. Whether he'd noticed her starry eyed reception of him or not, it seemed he wouldn't dwell on the feeling of superiority such things normally gave. This was a bit of a relief for Wendy as the blue haired girl was already a ball of nerves and didn't need anything else influencing her current disposition badly. "Hai!" she muttered, as they actually began their patrol it seemed she wasn't the only one taking note of their rushing suspects. In fact, Bastien pointed out the thing she'd not wanted to say at all, that these people rushing away from a noble house didn't at all seem like nobles in the slightest. He also recognized the house as belonging to a specific noble family. "House Vaude, that's the one..." she whispered. There was the matter of this needing to be reported so that the higher ups could take a look at it. If it was a recent burglary or even a robbery in progress more equipped Magic Knights should be notified immediately. "Hai, I'll notify Command. They should be able to find someone higher up to take a look more directly." she said before she began applying mana to her communication device. "Command, this is Wendy Marvell of Blue Rose. We've just spotted two people leaving the vicinity of House Vaude, none of them seeming to belong in the household and rushing in the opposite direction." she stated clearly as she waited for a possible reply. Whatever the case, she'd done her part in reporting the suspicious activity with the help of her new kindred spirit Bastien Wisteria.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai. Once we've got that out of the way, we can start scouting for any other activity in the village," Bastien said when Wendy decided to call the capital and alert them of these strange people. He was vaguely familiar with House Vaude, and was almost certain these people didn't have servants leaving their estate en masse as these people were. Just the same, the likely wouldn't have hired such suspicious-looking individuals. Little could he have known, these people had done away with their actual new staff members to impersonate them, and effectively made this a proper inside job. Wendy's call to the capital was promptly answered by a male with blue hair and a red tattoo overlapping his right eye. "Command here; Jellal Fernandes. Wendy Marvel, was it? Do you have any additional information?" the man asked.

Just then, the very same silver-haired male who'd been wandering in a different direction from Wendy and Bastien, stepped out in front of Wendy. "Disregard that," he said to the man named Jellal. "We'll take care of it right away. Leave everyone else to make sure nothing else is going on in the village," he concluded. This prompted a nod from Jellal, who knew this Magic Knight well. The communication link would be ended right away, leaving the silver-haired male to address the other two Magic Knights now in his company. "You two are with me. Good job finding this problem; now it's time we did something about it."

[Apollymi]

Wendy gave a nod of her understanding of what Bastien wished to do post her call to the Command Post. That being said, such plans would see anything to fruition. As the girl opened her mouth to explain further the situation she'd come across to command, someone stepped out in front of her bringing the girl to a complete stop. This person spoke to command and soon after their conversation was terminated by no fault of Wendy's own. Her eyes widened as it was a bit stunning for Command to simply take the word of this newcomer that this situation would be handled by him and two Junior Magic Knights. "Sumimasen, who are you?" the girl asked, honestly confused about what had just happened. She was all about following her rules, and if a superior officer gave her permission to participate in some manner she would do her best to be useful, but she didn't have many skills which could be applied to such a situation. "Ano, I mean.... I don't think I am much use in a potential combat situation, and I don't know what's going on there nor how much I can help. Gomenasai." she quickly explained going back to bowing and exceedingly respectful speech which she would have done, even if she hadn't thought it was possible her question could be thought of as rude.

[Bloodedge]

The young-looking male who'd interrupted Wendy's call was more than ready to move directly into the Vaude house, but he was halted by the girl's words toward him. "Gomen. Zinc Silva, Azure Deer... Senior Magic Knight... 1st Class," he said as his eyes scanned the house's exterior. He seemed a bit spaced-out even while introducing himself. Bastien recognized this name, but the appearance to go with it didn't quite match up. Still, he had seen the Silva family's current Captain of the Silver Eagle squad, and this individual did look much like her... though more like her child than anything. "1st Class Senior Magic Knight?" the black-haired boy questioned. To this, and to Wendy's claim to a lack of potential usefulness, Zinc waved an all-too-casual hand around over his head. "Yes, the very same... and yes to you," he said whilst pointing in Wendy's direction. "No, wait... Gomen. No to what you said. I'm sure you'll do fine." With that said, Zinc gestured for the two to follow him as he moved forward, aiming to enter the Vaude estate through the front door. Meanwhile, Bastien lagged behind by several paces, aiming to hold said pace with Wendy while looking at her as if he thought this ordeal strange.

[Apollymi]

'SILVA!' If the eyes of Wendy had grown from meeting Bastien they would only get larger as she was apparently meeting one of the royals from House Silva. Beyond this initial bout of disbelief was a bit of skepticism though, this lad claimed to be Zinc Silva and though she didn't know the name to match it to a face, she had at least seen the elder sister of House Silva, the Captain of the Silver Eagles Sibylla. What she'd seen of the woman indeed would lead her to believe this man was related to her, but she couldn't agree with him being old enough to be a Senior Magic Knight. Beyond her outward cynacism it seemed that this man wanted her along, though his method for getting to this point seemed a bit... spacey at best. "H-hai." she murmured. It seemed she wasn't alone in her disbelief either as Bastien had questioned it directly and in getting his answer was content to take up the paces that Wendy had. She looked to the lad with a raised brow questioning this man about the young looking man who was a member of House Silva. Obviously, Wendy was without this level of confirmation. "Sou ka, it's not just me then..." she whispered to the lad. They were approaching this potential crime scene but she had more of a problem with their potential leader than even she managed to have with her own lack of combat prowess.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai. I'm sensing a lot of power though, so... he's at least something," Bastien whispered in response, sharing Wendy's skepticism completely. At least this person could be of some potential use in combat if it came down to that. Perhaps there was even some truth to his statement. It could hardly be argued that he was a member of House Silva, but everything else he claimed just didn't seem to add up when looking at him.

Interestingly enough, Zinc managed to hear everything the younger Magic Knights said. "Focusing on the task at hand would be a good idea," he said while ironically seeming to do the exact opposite. Zinc used basic reinforcement magic to break open the Vaude estate's front door with his left hand, and simply walked right in. Multiple people were inside, including the restrained residents of the house and the crooks who were still robbing them of their every valuable. Zinc stepped inside without seeming to pay any mind to any of them. All he did was move forward at a very casual pace, holding out his right arm and angling it inward until his forefinger was pressed against his forehead... all while he stared into absolute nothingness, as if confused by something totally unrelated to current events.

[Apollymi]

Wendy nodded, she too wasn't without the ability to understand mana. Even though it wasn't greatly honed she could believe the smallish boy in front of them was at least powerful, though only time would tell if he was capable. That being said by the time they broke into the entrance of the House Vaude it seemed the man was capable enough to hear the whispers of those accompanying him which made Wendy's eyes widen for just a second. "Hai, sumimasen." she stated once more. Only to be confronted by a very strange sight upon finally making entry into the residence. Here she saw that their apparent leader was content to just walk past a room full of hostages and those who were robbing them blind to stand in the middle and tap his head seemingly confused. Still, the girl couldn't help but try her hardest in this moment. Her eyes began assessing the situation in a way which most would consider strange. 'Alright we should free the hostages and subdue the robbers probably in that order...' she thought. She'd look to Bastien and even to Zinc and take her lead from whoever to figure out what she should be doing. She didn't seem to be scared but she didn't know if she should be acting without direct orders, her own hangups would keep her from doing such things. Such an experience was entirely new to her and nothing could have properly prepared her for the scene she was currently witnessing.

[Bloodedge]

Bastien was absolutely out of his wit when Zinc spoke to the pair of whisperers. Shorty after this exchange though, Zinc went on to totally space out in the middle of the crime scene he'd broken them into. Even the criminals in the building paused to think of how odd a sight this was. On the other hand, there were two other Magic Knights from other squads with him, and both seemed to be much more alert than the spacey one. "Get these kids outta our hair," one male voice in the distance said, prompting the criminal group to mobilize. Zinc continued to behave like a worthless tag-along, but Bastien kept a cool enough head to focus on those who made their move to assault the group of Magic Knights. A pink grimoire emerged from its place at his hip, opening as he called upon one of its spells in an instant. "There's no use waiting. We have to attack. Sakura Mahō: Nayuta Bijinōbu!" As he focused his mana, Bastien spawned into existence countless cherry blossoms which swarmed around the trio - even Zinc. While primarily offensive by nature, Bastien chose to form a moving wall around them to buy them a few moments. "Silva! We need to do something!" he announced.

Zinc heard everything, but it hardly garnered any attention from him. He continued to tap his forehead in that strange pose he'd taken, and all the while, he was spouting incoherent murmurs by whispering. His eyes never landed on a single person, even those he was meant to be working with. He did, however, have one thing to say in response to Bastien, much to the latter's chagrin. "Senpai desu."

[Apollymi]

Wendy looked and was stunned by Bastien's ability to just decide to do something and do it. His words were somewhat encouraging to her even, though she was also dismayed by the fact that Zinc seemed to only be concerned about the fact that Bastien hadn't addressed him as his senior in this moment. "Alright... I know what to do," she mentioned as a pale green grimoire opened up and began glowing almost white. At this moment the girl made a series of strange hand gestures that would do something strange. "Banīa, Āmuzu, Āmā..." when she did this something strange would occur and several forms of reinforcement magic would be applied only to people the lass considered her allies in this endeavor. Her reach and precision with this kind of magic was so precise that she even managed to apply only the armor to the hostages even while casting all three forms of magic at once. Beyond that, these enchantments would increase the offensive and defensive power of all present. And allow them the maneuverability to hover and use low level fight if they wished for a few moments. Beyond that the restraints on their hostages would find themselves loosened by an gentle breeze caused by a casual manipulation of magic by the girl. "I've done all I can but even the hostages have really high defense for about 5 minutes. And so do we... we also have offensive increases, physical and magical, you could even fly for a little bit if you wanted to... But I don't have any offensive spells... gomen." these words would be ones which let everyone present know what kind of strange upbringing this girl had to make her so apologetic, that being said, several of the hostages realized they were free and began to move around very carefully to get themselves out of the line of danger and allow the Magic Knights to do their jobs, and maybe protect their assets.

[Bloodedge]

While Bastien erected his defense, Wendy found the motivation to be supportive... in quite the literal way. Specifically, her support magic was used to amplify and defend herself, Zinc and Bastien, as well as bolster the defensive ability of the house's victims. "Arigatou gozaimasu," Bastien said. In the spaces between his cherry blossom storm, he could see the captives taking an opportunity to seek their freedom. Sadly, Bastien was not the only one to notice this; some of the culprits could see it as well. Criminals were upon the would-be escapees soon enough, but Bastien used his amplified offensive abilities to block them off faster than normally possible with his cherry blossoms. 'Sugoi,' he thought, noting how much easier his magic was to use in this way now. On the negative side though, there was hardly a thing he could do without risking unnecessary injury to the innocent who'd yet to escape.

Zinc's attention was visibly on the cherry blossoms surrounding himself and the other Magic Knights, until it was briefly shifted to himself after receiving Wendy's trio of boosts. "Ano..." he muttered. During this time, some of the more cowardly criminals managed to escape the building with full pockets. Zinc's motives may have been unclear, but regardless of that, he held out an open grimoire. "Kiri Mahō: Genmu no Uzu..." he chanted, sounding just as spaced-out as he always did. The result of this spell was the creation of a mist which filled and encompassed the entire property the Vaude estate was placed on. None of the criminals could possibly realize this as of yet, but they no longer had the ability to escape this place without Zinc's approval, nor could anyone from outside the mist enter. "Eto... it should be done. What's taking so long, Marvel?"

[Apollymi]

Bastien seemed to be the one to notice most easily the effects of being bolstered by the enchantments Wendy had to offer. To his thanks she shrugged managing to look abashed. Shaking her head from left to right. She wasn't exactly sure how to handle praise or thanks but she could at least feel like she'd done something useful. Moreover though the captives worked to flee, there was the matter of their suspects, both aiming to flee and trying to harm the former captives. It would be then that an amazing thing would finally happen for the young looking lad who claimed to be from House Silva. This use of magic had a far reaching effect, one which was noticed by Wendy with wide eyes. 'That has to reach the entire property... I wonder what it does?' she thought curiously. But having done what she was capable of she was more than a bit stunned her name being included at the end of one of Zinc's sentences. In fact, she seemed confused by the assertion and nothing the man had done up to this point, led her to believe she should have any idea what he was talking about. "Ano, what? Did I miss an order, Silva-senpai?" the young woman questioned truly taken aback by the statements.

[Bloodedge]

Bastien continued to focus on his efforts which kept the criminals away from their captives while the latter tried escaping. If they were to make it, the innocents would easily be capable of leaving Zinc's mist, whereas anyone else would continue to wander while being led around an endless illusion designed to keep them confined to the mist's space. Zinc was entirely useless to the others outside of his mist spell, but the others seemed to be doing a good enough job by themselves. Of course, there was more to be done, and he was waiting for them to do it. Bastien had his limitations; that much was obvious. Wendy, on the other hand... could surely do more. She questioned Zinc when he spoke of her taking so long, prompting him to finally look her in the eye while placing his forefinger on his head again. "Yes, you missed an order. As your senior, I'm ordering you to hurry up and do something about this," he said while somehow looking annoyed by being required to have this discussion.

[Apollymi]

Bastien's efforts kept the criminals away from the civilians while, Zinc's made it so that the criminals couldn't escape the area properly. Of course given this, they were sort of left at a stalemate which she figured could likely be covered by Zinc or someone of his strength. Therefore the man's sudden annoyance didn't make any sense to the girl. Beyond this, he claimed she'd indeed missed an order and told her to do something about their current stalemate and she managed to look utterly surprised by the assertion. She'd definitely told this man no less than twice that she didn't have any offensive magic to call upon. All she could do was support others, and she didn't see the point in his current level of action. "Silva-senpai, I already told you... I don't have any offensive magic. I've made use of every spell I have except the healing spell. There is nothing else I can do, I told you I am not good for a fight," she said seemingly distraught. "Sumimasen." she apologized knowing that this was exactly why she was content originally not to have anything to do with this endeavor directly. She didn't currently have anything she could do to the criminals and she had no way of tipping the balance in their favor, if Zinc or Bastien couldn't do anything they were simply going to be locked in this moment forever.

[Bloodedge]

Whenever the bystanders were out of the building, Bastien knew he'd be able to take care of the criminals they were here to stop. As such, he was content to wait it out, since Zinc wasn't being very useful. "Silva... senpai... She doesn't have anything, but once nobody can get hurt, I can--" Bastien looked to Zinc, and his eyes widened while his speech stopped. He'd seen the Silva male looking back at him, suddenly feeling as if none of his words were hitting home so to speak. Now, Zinc was somewhat focused on something, though not what one might believe he should be focused on. His attention was entirely for the matter being discussed between Wendy and himself, though he briefly returned to his spacey expression, as if he were shuffling through his brain for a great many things at once. "Hmm... no. Magic Knights have strong ambitions. Don't you have something to protect? If you don't have... resolve... you should quit. So, find your resolve. Now. Before you get yourself and everyone around you killed in a real challenge," he said, seeming to continue struggling with a way to voice his thoughts throughout the clause.

[Apollymi]

Bastien seemed to understand the girl's plight a bit better than Zinc managed to. Even so, the man's voice stopped short of whatever he planned to say upon having a look at Zinc. Wendy on the other hand had her eyes never leave Zinc over the duration of their conversation. When he finally spoke to her again, clarifying what he meant the girl's brown eyes widened to a point that it looked almost painful. Zinc explained that from his perspective Magic Knights needed resolve to carry on, and asked the girl if she had anything to protect. He also told her she should quit if she had no resolve because outside of a situation like their current one she could get herself and other people killed. 'Do I have something to protect?' she asked herself in this moment. As she pondered this she remembered why she'd wanted to become a Magic Knight in the first place. In her head she saw a moment where her parents were considering marrying her off to another noble family because they didn't think the girl would ever make anything of herself, claiming she was too scared. She'd always claimed that she wanted to be a Magic Knight but she had nothing to offer offensively, fled from one on one training and anything battle oriented. The girl had decided to become a Magic Knight anyway, and resolved to become something better than what her parents thought of her, a 'sorry weakling too scared to move...'. The always apologetic girl with absolutely no backbone, who seemed to be afraid of messing up and her own shadow exclusively. As she had these thoughts her grimoire began to glow and she solidified a thought. 'But... I'm not weak!' As she had this thought this a new spell showed itself to her, and her eyes widened upon reading it. It didn't seem to be as technically offensive as most things, but it could help in this situation given the amount of control the girl had over her mana. "Sky Dragon Slayer Roar!" the call of this magic made a tornado manifest from the girl's mouth, but with much more control than general wind usage. It blasted each enemy nearby into walls but left the civilians unscathed giving them the distance necessary to escape the building properly in the distraction.

[Bloodedge]

Zinc sighed. He could see the blue-haired girl steeling herself, finally finding her reason to fight and press forward. It didn't take much time for her to use this, satisfying Zinc and surprising Bastien with a brand new spell. This use of wind cleared out Bastien's cherry blossoms, incapacitating the criminals in the building without even endangering the nobles. This was something Bastien wasn't even capable of managing in such an enclosed space, leaving him naturally impressed by the girl's ability. "Sugoi! That was an incredible spell," he said. Meanwhile, Zinc continued tapping his finger against his head. "Yare yare. That took too long to finish, but I guess it was alright," he said as the mist around the property began fading. "I'll leave the wrap-up to you two. And the credit."

[Apollymi]

The outcome of this new spell seemed to surprise Wendy herself, but the the results were favorable. Beyond this, she was soon complimented on the completion of her new spell by Bastien and she managed to look a bit embarrassed. 'Really? But his magic is so much more useful and practical. And he's much better at taking charge,' she thought to herself. Instead of harping on this it was her reflex to bow. "Arigatou gouzaimasu!" she still wasn't used to taking positive reinforcement but in this case she'd managed to not apologize so she felt like it was a step in the right direction for herself. Zinc's words though caused her a bit of panic which made her fall back into her old habits, apologizing for the amount of time this revelation took her. "Sumimasen." she bowed to him as well. Of course when he mentioned that he'd be leaving both clean up and credit to this pair her eyes widened. "But but, you can't just leave, Silva-senpai. Chain of command is supposed to be important and you were the leader on this... so it's your responsibility," she seemed very avid about this, mostly because she truly was a bit more scared of confronting those she considered better than herself and she didn't know if their current win would be counted for them if there wasn't a senior member around to verify their story. She definitely didn't want Bastien being denied any of the credit he was owed even if she was denied it herself.

[Bloodedge]

Wendy was quite obviously distraught by Zinc's decision to leave them behind. Bastien couldn't say he felt any differently about this, though his reasons were perhaps slightly different. "She's right. Junior Magic Knights were given the task of inspecting, but not engaging. We were to tell a senior and keep looking for anything else if we found something suspicious," he explained. Zinc expected this to be the case with the Junior Magic Knights, but he didn't care. Zinc was soon right back to his strange thinking pattern, and the odd way of speaking - in which he didn't seem to be speaking specifically to any person - to go with it. "Responsibility? Hmm... no. Responsibility is taken, but something everyone has always. But... I didn't take any extra responsibility. People who do things should be responsible," he said, wrapping up his tirade by addressing the other two while walking away. "It's your job," was the last thing he said to Wendy in particular. This marked his leave, and Bastien shared words with the blue-haired girl in Zinc's wake. "I still have a hard time believing that was Zinc Silva, but I guess it's our job to clean this mess up and report."

[Apollymi]

Bastien went on to back up Wendy's claims that this man should stay and at least give his report properly to take responsibility for clearing the two Junior Magic Knights to engage people. But just as quickly as Zinc's strange methods had made a little sense, they made no sense at all to the girl once again. In fact, the man's words about responsibility seemed to directly contradict what the girl had already said. Instead the white haired male had implied that he hadn't done anything extra so he wouldn't be taking responsibility for what had happened here. But they wouldn't have even come to this place, and she herself wouldn't have even acted without his insistence. 'Ugh, this guy is so confusing...' she thought to herself, but knowing there was still actual work to be done she gathered her wits about her as Bastien spoke. She looked to the other lad and nodded. "Hai. Silva-senpai is strange. Kind of motivational though..." she said aloud. There was still the division of labor and report to handle but she was sure they could wrap this up rather quickly. She rather quickly found herself helping civilians and moving the criminals into a separate space out in front of the building for their eventual pickup.

[Bloodedge]

"I suppose you did benefit from him refusing to do anything to help," Bastien said to agree with the girl. He wasn't sure how he should feel about the man named Zinc, but things happened to work out for the best this time. Bastien figured future events with this team setup were unlikely since they were each from a different squad, so there was little chance of having to repeat the strangeness that was dealing with the Silva male. Wendy, though, was one he could be content to work alongside in future. "Good work. Arigatou gozaimasu," he said as he joined the effort of rounding up the criminals and helping the innocent. Eventually, they would have the culprits hauled off and taken to the capital, where they would answer to their transgressions and likely have something done about the organization they belonged to.