Something I had barely noticed when the woman arrived was her hat, a straw hat like the ones several people in my village used to wear. When she took it off and held it in her hand, we could see her brown hair, tied up in a bun.
The woman had barely started to follow the Elder when Ophelia appeared. She was already walking towards us, with a smile... Mocking, perhaps? It didn't matter, as soon as the other woman saw her, she stopped, waiting for The Leader to approach.
"Wow, I didn't think you'd come so quickly," said Ophelia, standing a few feet away from the woman.
"I had to. You made me lose too much money, my own time, and my staff's time," she replied in an angry tone.
All of us who were near the two women began to feel a great pressure coming from the woman with the tied-up hair. The pressure wasn't even directed at us, but it was so great that in a few seconds we fell to the ground, clutching our chests and doing our best to breathe. The only one who didn't seem affected was the old man, who was standing near Ophelia.
"Hey, don't you think you should stop? Look what you're doing to my students," Ophelia said, pointing her finger at us.
After looking at us over her shoulder, we no longer felt the pressure on us, which allowed us to breathe freely.
In addition to being surprised by the pressure the woman could exert, I was also surprised when I saw that the boys I had seen for the first time were already standing, brushing the dust off their clothes.
"Come on, we can talk calmly and without disturbing anyone in my office, Hyeol," Ophelia approached, putting her arm around the other woman's shoulder.
"...Just give me one reason not to cut off your filthy hand," Hyeol said, her teeth clenched as she conjured a black spear with a red tip in her hands.
The leader just smiled at her, patting her on the shoulder before walking beside her toward her office. "By the way, haven't you gotten any smaller?" she asked, without looking at her.
None of us could help but let out a small laugh when we heard Ophelia mocking the woman. Our laughter was short-lived, as we were all hit in the face by a stone.
"Did the rock float out of nowhere?" I asked myself, rubbing my nose.
I assumed the woman had done it, as there was no way the rocks could have been kicked or pushed into our faces.
As I held the rock that had hit me, I could see the newcomers approaching, with the redhead in front.
"Since they're not here, tell me, who are you?" asked the boy with hair covering his face.
<<<<<>>>>
"Oohhhh... so you were found by Victor and Alaric," said the redhead. "By the way, where are they?"
"They left on a mission a few weeks ago," replied Oswin.
We had gone to the dining hall to meet the new arrivals. According to what they told us, they had been here for a long time and had been on a guard mission. They had gone really far and it took them three months to complete it.
"Do you also provide escorts? I thought you only explored or went to dungeons," I said, remembering how I met Alaric and Victor in the forest. And the older ones after invading a dungeon.
"Of course, we've done several missions like this," the pink-haired girl told us.
The redhead and the pink-haired girl had each told us their names. The boy was called Auren and the girl was called Feyra. In addition to their hair color, we discovered something else incredible. They both had small red horns. The reason we hadn't seen them was that they were covered by their hair.
"Are you from the demon race?" I asked them, reaching out to touch their horns.
"That's right, my father is from the demon race," said Auren, leaning over so I could touch his horns.
"My mother is," replied Feyra, hitting my hand and preventing me from touching her horns.
Along with them were also kids with some animal features and a boy with ears longer than Ryna's. But except for Feyra and Auren, there was no one else from the demon race.
As we continued to get to know each other, we heard a loud bang coming from outside.
"What was that!?" I shouted, running with the others.
"It came from the Leader's office," Goon-woo shouted at me.
Along the way, we had met up with the others, which made us wonder who had caused the explosion. I also began to hear several metallic bangs and squeaks moving around the place, ending at the entrance.
When we arrived, we saw Ophelia with a long, thin sword, facing Mrs. Hyeol. With each blow, small explosions occurred that pushed us back even though we were far away.
"Why are they fighting?" I asked, covering my face with my arm to protect myself from the wind.
"Ah, this is normal between them," one of the elders replied.
I don't know when he appeared beside us, but for some reason...
The loud explosions continued as the Elder spoke.
"You asked for it!" Hyeol shouted before kicking Ophelia in the stomach.
Somehow Ophelia had blocked the kick with her sword, before striking back, only to be blocked by Hyeol's spear.
We thought the fight would end quickly, but even after hours, it continued. In the end, the entire floor of the place was shattered. Both leaders were covered in cuts that were dripping blood.
"That should have calmed them down. Help me take them to the infirmary," said the old man.
The leaders were about to strike one last blow before being interrupted by the old man, who held both weapons with his bare hands.
"When did he appear there?" I thought, approaching Ophelia and helping her walk.
Neither of them needed our help, as they pushed us aside and started walking to the infirmary.