Vermis is staring at his severed hand in the floor and inspecting the chopped arm. The cut was clean, to my surprise. Seems his HP went down too fast.
"S-shut up! I will… I will kill you, you arrogant piece of shit!" He screams, angry at my comment about his build, while his insects are keeping him from falling on his butt.
I believe that is the only reason why he has not fallen, he is moving like he has no balance, but not going down. Those vermin he is using for movement are well trained.
"Y-you managed to cut his hand…" Leiva says in disbelief.
"He is a pushover… his two spiders were stronger than him." Karina explains. "He was talking about putting weak people back in their places. What a joke."
I look at my hand for a second, still impressed that I became this strong in this short period of time. Maybe I am stronger than normal humans?
But that adventurer, Gunther, was too strong, using a sacred god level spell like that… no, this guy is weak. I should not let myself get carried over just because I can defeat someone with this ease.
"Well, nice meeting you." I say and prepare to cast a spell.
Vermis starts to run away. With the help of his insects, he throws himself inside of the building.
Shit, if he escapes, it might not be good for me! That clan will know what I did! I start to cast spells, but he is managing to get out of their way thanks tot he nature of his movement.
I go after him when…
"Where the hell are you going?! You need to secure Leiva!" Karina grabs me by the back of my kimono and doesn't let me continue the chase.
"If he says what happened today to his clan it could be dangerous!" I explain.
"I know! But they might come back for her!"
She is right… If I just go after him it would be dangerous for Leiva, who is my objective. But that guy is going to reveal what happened here and I will be more actively hunted.
I just hope they don't send someone Aurelia or I cannot take on.
I turn towards Ash as I remember he is injured and… he is gone.
Where did he go? Only the teachers are here, standing up and checking on the ones that are injured.
I had some questions to ask the old man. Like why is he hunted by a lich? And why did he worry so much about this teacher?
I sigh and get close to Leiva, who already went to check on the hurt teachers.
"Is everyone else okay?" I ask them.
"Just a bit roughed up, but we are safe. Only Mark and Lana got hurt when they tried to stop them."
I suppose those are the names of the magic user and weapon teacher.
So in this world they teach how to defend yourself in schools? I guess that is a required skill in a dangerous world if you think about it.
I help round up everyone. Seems all the teachers are okay and the students were out of the school already or managed to escape. It didn't take long for some guards to appear.
"First the commotion at the park and now this!" One of them screams. "Someone must be behind all of this!"
If they knew I was involved in both situations I might be a suspect. I better keep a low profile.
Meanwhile, I try to keep an eye on Leiva.
When the whole situation slowly gets sorted out, I see her getting away from the group and out of the school, sneaking away like she does not want to be seen.
"You know, I heard a vulpin was fighting the skeleton that appeared in the park." I heard one of the guards speak.
I cover my mouth with the sleeves of my kimono, as if that would make me hard to recognize. How many vulpins are around here? Unless we count Lazuli, who should still be around town, I cannot say I am hard to recognize.
I follow her. When she is out she stops for a few seconds, looks back at the school, while I hide myself on the entrance. I manage to see her expression while I peek out with my ears flat so they are harder to see.
She seems sad, and makes a fist with her hand, placing it in her chest. She is making the expression of someone making a hard choice, and one that she does not want to make.
…
"Keep an eye on her." I say to Karina.
She moves away and I follow immediately. I don't approach and keep distance, just to not make my move until later, when it is a better opportunity.
She looks back from time to time, but thanks to my lower stature, I can hide behind groups of people and small street decorations.
I guess it is an advantage, but I still don't enjoy having lost centimeters from this transformation.
When we take distance from the school, I approach.
"So, where are we going?" I ask when I am close enough.
"Ah!" She screams and zaps the wand she is holding in her hands, hidden with her other arm!
A cold ball hits me in the face and throws me a few meters. What I know next is that I am seeing the sky.
It hurts… not that much, but I still got hit with a strong force.
"W-what are you doing here?! Are you following me?!"
"That is what I get for trying to be sneaky." I comment while I stand up. Some people are looking in our direction.
"Explain yourself! You appear… and now they find me when you just happen to stroll into the school… What do you want with me?! L-leave me alone!" She is still in a defensive position, holding the wand in front of me.
"I am not trying to hurt you." I answer, trying to keep calm even when she did the equivalent of shooting me in the face with a gun. "I need to know what is happening and why did they follow you? The Alberta clan is not a group to want to be hunted by."
"Can you shut up? And now you are in this mess also… sigh…" She takes a few moments to think, looking at the ground. "S-stay away from me! It is for your own safety!"
"No, I cannot do it. Now you are part of an investigation I am running. I was going to ask you about something, but I see my suspicion was correct." I get up. "I know a safer place to talk, please, come with me."