Although her thought process is sometimes a bit odd, she's actually a very smart little girl.
When she looked at Andrew again, her eyes were filled with stars, and against the reflection of her lingering tears, they emitted a sparkling glow: "That's great! Andrew, you're the best!!"
Only then did she break into a smile through her tears.
Andrew secretly felt a sense of relief in his heart: "Thank goodness, if this little girl kept crying endlessly, I really wouldn't know what to do... Anyway, thanks for not crying!"
As a Water Mage—well, actually not an Official Mage as of now, but more of an "apprentice tier," Andrew knew this after some events on the way back—anyway, as a Water Magic apprentice, Andrew's specialty now is extinguishing fires, dealing with issues unrelated to fire extinguishing and handling little Sophie was still a bit of a headache.
But seeing little Sophie's smiling face was truly a joy.
Not because of vanity or anything like that.
But in this Flame Realm where civilians are generally pessimistic, even numb, seeing little Sophie with her vibrant vitality and pure smile (though sometimes a bit silly), really lifts one's spirits.
"Huh, who is this young lady?"
Little Sophie shouted again.
She only just noticed Barbara's presence at this time, "Wow, she's really pretty! By the way, how did this young lady end up in the tent? Did you bring her back, Andrew?"
Andrew: "..."
Thinking of the task of taking care of Barbara, he decided maybe it's better not to leave it to little Sophie.
It felt hard to be at ease with that.
He couldn't help but turn his gaze to Aunt Sofia, and said, "I'm sorry, I should have explained the situation as soon as I got back... I have to go out again, could I trouble you, Aunt, to look after my friend here (pointing at Barbara), if it's possible?"
Andrew knew this concise request was somewhat asking too much.
But time was of the essence.
If delayed any longer, not only would the townsfolk of Wildfire Town suffer, but the temporary camp might also soon be caught up in it.
However, Aunt Sofia shook her head without hesitation, saying, "Sorry, I can't do it."
Andrew: "?"
Aunt Sofia's expression had changed unknowingly.
She was unsure if Andrew had any involvement with the rebellion in Wildfire Town.
Seeing Andrew's hostility recede, she had felt somewhat relieved.
Until... she saw the burn on Andrew's arm!
Little Sophie was too young to understand.
But Aunt Sofia understood: that injury was caused by incredibly strong Magic Flames!
"I remember Ivan seemed to have mentioned once: all Mages from the Magic Guild have flames with a certain 'toxicity.'
The stronger the Fire Mage from the Magic Guild, the more toxic their flames are."
Thinking of this, Aunt Sofia's face turned extremely unpleasant.
Because it explained the bizarre corrosive wound on Andrew's arm!
"Andrew, how did you get that wound on your arm?"
Aunt Sofia pulled little Sophie to her side, lowered her voice, and focused on Andrew, "Who is this girl anyway? Is the rebellion in town related to you guys? Damn it! Do you understand you might get us both killed! Andrew, did you... go to seek revenge on Grand Mage Hubert?!"
For a moment, Aunt Sofia had an impulse: to shout out!
To inform everyone in the temporary camp that Andrew and a stranger were here.
To distance herself from Andrew!
In truth, if not for the killing intent Andrew exuded earlier that had made Aunt Sofia cautious, she would have already done so!
As a mother, her thoughts were very simple:
Yes, you are my daughter's savior, and I will be grateful to you for life!
But if you are indeed going against Grand Mage Hubert, don't drag my daughter into it!!
"Aunt, you..."
Andrew instinctively felt that Aunt Sofia would not refuse him.
Although the cause of this incident was Hubert's pursuit of Barbara, which had nothing to do with Aunt Sofia or little Sophie.
But the Magic Thugs from the town would be coming over soon.
Andrew thought, I can't possibly hand over Barbara to protect the temporary camp and Wildfire Town myself!
Barbara belongs to the Warm Fire Commerce Association, which has always been friendly to civilians, unlike the dogs-eat-dog battles between the Magic Guild.
The best plan Andrew could think of to protect everyone was the latest fire extinguishing strategy: settle Barbara here, then go back to town to hunt; once he attracted attention, Barbara over here would actually be safe.
If all goes well, enough fire could be extinguished tonight, quickly accumulating enough strength to face Hubert or even kill Hubert!
If things don't go well... damn it, don't even consider that possibility!
It must go smoothly!
—That was Andrew's thought.
What he overlooked was: Aunt Sofia did not know what he knew!
Seeing Aunt Sofia's intense reaction, Andrew was stunned for a moment.
He then realized: perhaps he had oversimplified the matter.
Aunt Sofia then asked again: "How exactly did you get that injury? Did you go to confront Grand Mage Hubert? Did he injure you?!"
If possible, Aunt Sofia didn't want to drive Andrew away.
She truly hoped Andrew would give her a negative answer.