Chapter 58 - Trouble

Oz hurried to Lily's side. The bunny girl, with her shortness of breath and a rather scuffed-up appearance, was a troublesome sight to behold. It had been a while since he last saw her, and he couldn't help but wonder if this was the same girl he'd met back then. She had been tiny , almost malnourished, but now she merely looked small and petite.

He quickly reviewed what he could, and from what he could tell, she had suffered no significant injuries except for some bruising on one arm. Her clothes would need repair or replacement, but it seemed like she'd gotten out of it pretty well overall.

"Gods, what happened here? Margit is going to have my head…" Oz muttered, looking at the rest of the scene now that he'd confirmed the girl wasn't in dire need of medical attention.

Scorch marks were apparent, and glittery dust seemed to have coated a large portion of the area.

"Tim attacked us!" One of the boys immediately shouted and pointed towards the unconscious Leonia.

"That's what Charlie told me and why I rushed over…" Oz replied with a frown. "But now the perpetrator is unconscious?"

"Lily beat him up!" the boys exclaimed, their voices filled with awe at Lily's unexpected display of courage.

What? How? Oz thought as he glanced at the girl.

"It was amazing! She shot fire at him!" one of the boys continued, his voice filled with admiration.

Fire!?

"But Tim was too tough! Fire was not enough to stop him, but then he exploded into stars!"

Oz stared at the kids like they were delusional, but the evidence seemed to indicate otherwise. Rather than question Lily, he inspected Tim. The boy looked tough as nails, but he still checked that he didn't need emergency attention.

"Looks like he's just unconscious…" Oz sighed with relief.

"Damn…" One of the boys muttered.

Oz shook his head and ignored that remark. The kids were undoubtedly still distraught at whatever the Leonia had done.

Burn marks were apparent on his clothes, not to mention a thorough coating of that strange dust. It certainly looked like he'd been fighting someone with fire; magical or otherwise.

If the Dragia girl was here, I'd blame her. But I heard she had left for that fancy pants magic school… Did she somehow give the girl some of her flames or something? It sounds preposterous, but who knows what people can do with magic!

Oz sighed and turned to the victim-turned-hero.

"So, Lily, do you mind explaining what happened?" Oz asked.

Lily nodded meekly and began recounting the events. She was articulate and to the point. The boys wanted to hunt some gremlins when Tim appeared. He claimed that all the gremlins were his property and that he'd been exterminating them.

I wish people would stop telling youngsters that monsters help you grow in strength. I swear the rush of power after their first kill goes straight to their egos… But I guess everyone wants to be an adventurer.

Then Tim grabbed her and tried to drag her into the forest. Apparently, they had some history, and in the past, he had bullied her endlessly until Rose stopped him. The boy must have held a grudge for a long time and saw this as his perfect opportunity to capitalize.

"I… Won't get in trouble for defending myself, will I?" Lily asked hesitantly.

Some of the boys gasped at her asking such a question, and others immediately began to protest.

"No way!"

"You can't punish her! It's all Tim's fault!"

"Yeah!"

Oz chuckled at the enthusiasm and shook his head. "No, you've got more than enough witnesses and testimony that it was self-defense. At worst, you might get a scolding from Margit for being beyond the walls and ruining your clothes."

Lily sighed and then explained how she defended herself. She distracted Tim and then used glyphs to protect herself.

Glyphs? Oz wondered as he tried his hardest to recall what he knew about them. The best he could remember was it was some form of written magic, and he tried to hide his ignorance.

"But isn't that a mage thing?" Oz questioned.

Lily gulped, "I… Can do magic," she admitted.

"It was so cool!" One of the boys immediately added, getting a lot of agreement from the others.

"Damn, why did I have to run and fetch the guards… It sounds like I missed something epic," Charlie, the boy who'd fetched Oz, whined.

"Really? That's crazy, since when could you do magic?," Oz asked with a grin. "Did your friend leave you with a magic item or something? Or did you maybe have a hazardous potion from Camilla?"

Oz tried his best to coax the truth out of Lily, assuring her that he would shield her from any consequences, even if it was something dangerous.

To his surprise, Lily frowned. "Rose and Miss Camilla have nothing to do with this. I can do magic."

"Lily … I give you my word; you or the others won't get in trouble," Oz tried to reason.

That caused the girl to frown even more. He had thought he was pretty good at speaking with the youngsters, but perhaps he'd misjudged his social capabilities.

The girl started muttering and wiggling her hands. Oz thought it might have been a social tick as she tried to come up with a lie, but then she looked at him sternly.

"I can do magic!" Lily declared and opened the palm of her hand.

Oz couldn't help but gasp. Floating in her opened palm were three tiny sparkles glowing with a silvery light. It looked exactly like the night sky stars as if she'd plucked them directly from the heavens.

The boys cheered at the demonstration while Oz found himself muttering a silent curse. This situation had certainly just gotten complicated.

***

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There! I can do magic! Lily thought fiercely.

She didn't want someone to ignore her accomplishments, and she certainly did not wish for Rose or Camilla to suffer the consequences of her own actions.

Oz hadn't said anything. Perhaps he didn't believe her enough, so Lily gave a bit of a show as she caused the three Starlight stars to swirl around in her palm.

"Bloody hell! That looks like magic to me…" Oz mumbled, barely audible to Lily over the cheering boys.

"See, I can cast spells," Lily redeclared. "And I used magic to defend myself from Tim. Nobody else had anything to do with this."

"Okay…" Oz sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I believe you. Let's get back inside and… Report this, I guess?"

Lily couldn't help but frown now. Oz had seemed so reliable before, but now he was floundering. Was the situation that unreasonable for him?

"Can you walk back? I'm going to need to carry Tim," Oz asked as he gestured his thumb to the unconscious Leonia.

Lily nodded and began the somewhat awkward walk back to the city. Tim's unconscious form was on Oz's back while the boys looked like they were marching in a victory parade.

Why did it have to come out like this… I wanted to admit I had magic in a much more prepared situation. Stupid Tim!

Some of the younger boys kept asking Lily about magic, but she didn't want to speak with them. She'd somewhat retreated into her shell after this debacle. To get them off her back, she cast Starlight to distract them by making it swirl around a bit, which amused them greatly.

"Er… Can you turn off the magic when we return to the city?" Oz requested. "I'd rather avoid the questions from the public. If you don't mind."

Some of the boys complained about that, but Oz convinced them they needed to keep Lily's secret. Meanwhile, Lily kept trying to rehearse what she could tell Margit. No doubt the woman would be angry at such a secret coming out, not to mention that there had been a fight.

I really hope Tim takes all the blame… Sure, I shot magic at him, but he attacked us! I have the marks on my arm to prove it!

The older boy who'd tried to save her also had visible marks on his neck. He looked somewhat relieved and kept shooting nasty glances at the unconscious Tim.

When the other guards questioned Oz, he simply mentioned that there had been a scuffle near the forest. Which seemed to get them off his back. Lily didn't know whether to be relieved that they didn't press the issue or upset that they barely gave a damn.

In almost no time at all, they had reached the orphanage, and Lily could feel her nerves and doubts festering in her. She'd come no closer to her reasonable explanation to Margit.

"Can… Someone fetch Margit, please," Oz requested. "Don't mention magic or the fight; just tell her Oz wants to see her."

Two boys saluted and rushed off together. Others wandered off, either from boredom or hunger since it was probably dinner time. Lily's stomach grumbled at that thought, reminding her she'd spent much energy.

I'm going to get fat… My stomach keeps talking… Lily thought with embarrassment.

The familiar sight of Margit eventually came to the front door. She seemed pleasantly surprised until she noticed Tim, causing her expression to immediately turn sour.

"Tim!" Margit cried out with concern. "What happened?"

"He's just unconscious… Some minor burns. Can we talk about it inside ?" Oz asked.

"Burns !?" Margit replied, shocked.

"Inside . Please, Margit!" Oz repeated.

"Please…" Lily added in a hushed whisper.

Margit finally noticed Lily and seemed about to fret about her disheveled appearance. The woman must have put two and two together as she suddenly went silent and agreed to talk inside.

Once inside, Margit directed Oz to a spot to drop off Tim. Even if it wasn't serious, he still needed to be seen. Lily was glad, as she didn't want to be in the room when he woke up.

I'll be eternally grateful if I never see him again for the rest of my life!

Then Margit led them to another room to discuss the events. She requested most of the boys who stuck around to leave, only requesting two of the eldest to remain and corroborate the events.

Once everyone sat down, Oz was the first one to break the ice, "So… Tim's been hunting gremlins and decided to attack the other boys and Lily here."

Margit looked flabbergasted by that revelation, "Tim? I thought his violent streak had finally stopped…"

"I think it came back when Rose left…" Lily answered in a whisper.

"I… See…" Margit replied, looking disturbed. She placed a gentle hand on Lily, "Are you okay?"

"My arm's bruised… But otherwise, just a few scrapes," Lily answered honestly.

Margit wasted no time checking Lily's arm, carefully rolling her sleeves up to see the whole picture. When she saw the results, she looked deeply troubled and disturbed.

Oz recounted the events in silence. The boys added their own agreements to the retelling. Then, it finally came to the moment Lily had been dreading.

"And then Lily stopped him," Oz replied.

"How?" Margit asked in astonishment.

"Magic…" Lily whispered, barely audible.

"Sorry, dear, can you speak up?" Margit requested.

"I used magic," Lily repeated a little louder.

Margit blinked a few times before apologetically smiling and gently rubbing Lily's shoulder, "Of course you did, dear…"

"Umm…" Oz mumbled sheepishly. "She's telling the truth. She used magic. Fire magic mostly, considering the burns."

Margit stared at Oz as if he'd suddenly sprouted a second head.

"Fire magic? But Lily…" Margit paused. "Are you sure it wasn't some alchemy or something? Maybe Rose left some fire in a bottle or something?"

"No, Rose and Camilla had nothing to do with this," Lily answered.

"Yes, Lily really did magic!" one boy replied.

"It was amazing! She saved the day!" another added.

Margit still looked like she wasn't buying it. You could practically hear the gears turning as she tried to devise a reasonable explanation for the events.

Lily sighed. She'd kept herself infused with Mana ever since the encounter, having not released her almost death grip on it. Her hands were cupped together like one might do to keep a trapped critter from flying away. Inside was a Starlight star.

She wasn't sure if it was due to the encounter, but her Astral affinity seemed to be working overtime. Sure, she'd grown highly familiar with the Starlight spell, having cast it successfully with two variations and under vastly distinct circumstances. But now, it seemed almost like she could command it to happen—just like Rose.

"Margit…" Lily said, grabbing the woman's attention.

"Yes, dear?" Margit asked, a little shaken.

"I can do magic," Lily said, uncapping her hands and revealing the brightly glowing star that began to rise up as if freed from its prison.

Margit audibly gasped, the boys grinned, and Oz chuckled nervously.

And Lily? She felt oddly free, like the star she'd just released.