Fuck.
I suppose it was too much to hope they hadn't taken notice of Penguin at the auction.
"We didn't think much of it at first," Baugh said. "It wasn't very effective against that Destabilized Artifact after all. But that dragon form in the video that's circulating now? That was something else."
What? Wait...
Did they think that Penguin and Gléonwon were the same creature?!
I didn't even know how to feel about that! If I said that they weren't, I'd put Gléonwon in danger, and if he kept thinking they were, he'd keep going after Penguin!
"So," Baugh continued when I just stood there clenching my fists and not answering. "Where is it and how did you get your hands on it?"
I gritted my teeth. Baugh's knife was right at my throat and Llewellyn was up ahead fighting what looked like ten or more people at once. Could I get my sword out or throw a jet of Water at Baugh before he cut my throat?
There was a sudden loud noise and… THWACK—Baugh went down like a sack of potatoes.
What the—?
I looked up and saw that Gilded had hit him hard with a chair. He looked supremely pissed off.
"I told you I'm not going to bring you back from the dead again, so will you stop with this bullshit?!"
Ah, shit. I didn't want to keep owing him!
"Keep an eye on him!" I told him, and materialized my Moonlight Sword, rushing to jump into the fight.
Behind me, I heard Gilded curse.
I got there just in time to neutralize one guy and hit another one in the shins as he was about to dive at Llewellyn.
Five minutes later, Llewellyn had taken down every last one.
"Looks like we owe Gilded the second briefcase now," Llewellyn said, neutrally. "That was good chair work."
He was not wrong.
"Let's tie them up," I said instead, exhaling.
What were we even supposed to do with them anyway?
"One moment," Llewellyn said, purchasing something from the shop. "I'm not wasting my good rope on them."
Oh. Uh. Well.
I didn't want him to use that rope either.
"Don't forget this asshole!" Gilded called from where he was standing.
Right!
One of the guys stirred. I knocked him out again.
Now that we had the rope, Llewellyn and I started tying them all up.
"You could have tied him up yourself," I told Gilded, going back to tie up Baugh too. "What did they want with you, anyway?"
"I don't have rope with me and, once again, I don't have access to the System Shop!" Gilded said. "And how would I know what they want?! I tried so hard to keep a low profile and not get involved with the System, and after meeting you two, I keep getting dragged into fights! And now I have the whole System Access Alliance after me, too!"
…I suppose that was true.
"Alright, alright," I said. "I'll do it."
Just as I was about to reach them to tie Baugh up—
Baugh moved.
It all happened in a split second.
Baugh took a gun out of his jacket, pointed it at me, and fired.
…Time slowed down.
There was no way I was going to be able to avoid it.
I saw Gilded's eyes widen in shock and heard Llewellyn shout my name.
I couldn't—
I was really going to—
Then Gilded's arm shot out in a throwaway motion and the bullet was flung hard to the side, missing me by an inch.
Time sped up again.
Fuck.
Penguin burst out of my wrist in his fire fox form with a shriek of war.
In the split second that followed, Baugh was enveloped in flames and… burnt to a crisp.
I saw his shocked expression from within the flames; then he was gone so thoroughly not even a speck of ash was left.
I staggered.
Fuck. That had been insane, but— I was alive.
I was alive.
Llewellyn had leapt in the air to reach us, but Penguin had acted before he could get there. Through the bond, I could feel Llewellyn's surprise, anxiety, and relief, all at once.
Meanwhile, Penguin had turned back into his penguin form mid-air, screeching angrily for a few seconds, before cowering on the ground with his head tucked under his flippers, shaking hard.
It reminded me of when I'd found him in my flat and how he'd scooted into my downward palm, shaking.
Fuck. I rushed to him.
"Well, that's one way to handle it," Gilded said, scratching his head.
He'd been closer to Penguin and was now kneeling down next to him, patting him gently.
"You did great," he told Penguin. "He shot to kill."
Penguin was still shaking.
My heart was pounding. I scrambled over and dropped next to him, picking him up.
"Hey, hey. It's okay. Gilded's right." I patted him. "You're safe and we're all fine too, see?"
Well, except for Baugh, but... He'd been the one putting himself in a situation where it was either him or me, so… I was glad it'd been him.
Besides, he'd wanted Penguin. I wasn't about to lose sleep over him or dwell on what had just—
Fuck. I was still shaking a bit.
Penguin let out a feeble cry and burrowed deeper into my chest.
Damn. I managed to calm down a bit, but I wished I could feel Penguin through the bond the way I could feel Llewellyn. How bad was it right now?
However, even if I couldn't feel him properly, maybe I could do something else?
I didn't know if this would work, but I expanded to the Magic Field and wrapped my Magic around Penguin.
After a while, that seemed to be doing something because he slowly stopped shaking and just chirped weakly, rubbing his head against my chest.
"Huh," Gilded said, narrowing his eyes at me. "First Blood Magic and now this? Looks like I underestimated you."
I was too worried about Penguin to focus on whatever that meant.
"There, there," I told Penguin. "Shh, it's okay. You saved my life, you know? A second longer and he'd probably have shot again."
Penguin chirped, a bit teary.
Ah, damn it. How could I make him feel better?
"Well, anyway," Gilded said, standing up and wiping his hands, not looking even remotely perturbed. "That's what happens when you bring a gun to a Magic fight."
"You literally brought a chair!" I said.
"Semantics."
Anyway. I mean, I was still alive, so… I couldn't really complain.
I took a shaky breath.
"That was crazy," Phelan said from the door. "You're lucky that the few customers we had today all ran away, and that this place isn't exposed on the high street."
He was right. Laws around death following a magical attack, especially if in self defense, were clear, so I doubted we'd be in trouble—more so since Llewellyn was involved. Still. If anyone had noticed Penguin, we might get more people after him.
"Are there any cameras around here?" Llewellyn asked.
"No," Phelan said. "We took care of them when we got the place. The only close ones are down the road but Shea keeps them looped."
Llewellyn nodded.
"What do we do with them?" I asked, looking at the pile of unconscious men. I'd made sure they were all knocked out, but… what now?
Gilded dusted off his torn jacket. "I'm not leaving witnesses who can describe my face to the rest of their little club and send more after me."
He waved a hand. The pile of bodies lit up red for a second, then… vanished.
"…"
"What did you do to them?" Llewellyn asked, frowning.
"Mildly cursed them," Gilded said with satisfaction. "Don't look at me like that. It's nothing lethal. If they try to inform anyone of what happened here, they won't be able to speak or write. Then I teleported them off somewhere. Possibly a dumpster in Paris, if I got my aim right. I didn't check the coordinates. Anyway, they're gone, which is the whole point. I'm leaving now."
Well!
Anyway. Baugh was gone and so were his men, one way or another. I refused to feel bad about any of it.
Except for…
"I seem to owe you again," I told Gilded with a sigh.
"Here," Llewellyn said, shoving the other briefcase into Gilded's chest. "Take this too."
Gilded let out an oof, then eyed it.
"More of the same," Llewellyn said. "No need to look so skeptical or to open it here."
Whether Gilded believed him or not, it wasn't clear. He didn't open the briefcase but still ran some magic over it, likely to make sure it was safe. Then he seemed satisfied and put it away.
"Looks like this hasn't been a complete waste of my time after all," he said, perking up slightly. "Please, don't try to meet up with me again. If you need to thank me, send a voucher."
And vanished.
Well.
"Go and take care of Penguin," Phelan said. "Shea and Yuè Zhōu are coming to help put the pub back together so no need to worry."
Llewellyn frowned, seemingly unhappy with this, but Phelan waved us off.
"It'd be more difficult if customers come and find you here."
"We could equip concealment?" I offered.
"No," Phelan said, shooing us off. "I'll see you later," and closed the door of the pub in our faces.