[R1999] Short Stories' Collection

Mondlicht & Pavia (2): The Wolf and The Girl in Red Cloak

Every member who first entered Vertin's suitcase was all surprised by the vast space inside it. 

The first part of that space was a building that could expand and add more than 50 rooms for the increasing number of arcanists joining the Timekeeper's unit from time to time.

The other part was called the wilderness, which consisted of land, a magical lake, a few old structures and was surrounded by the water. 

With Vertin's permission, everybody was free to build, grow and decorate whatever they liked in the wilderness, as long as they didn't cause any danger to others.

That's why the current wilderness was a diverse combination of a ripe crop, blue flowerbeds, gloomy woods, stones, tents, a helicopter covered with moss, a working traffic light and so on. Even Baby Blue once compared its diversity with the Wonderland.

Right now, Pavia was enjoying his afternoon in the gazebo which was built by Druvis III and decorated with the help of Sotheby. This place was fully furnished with wood chairs, a round wood table at the center and some pillows. There was also a fine tea cup set, but they were now in the cupboard in the kitchen and only brought out when the girls held their tea parties.

Unlike some members who were shy or found it awkward to come in, he himself didn't mind using this spot for entertainment because there was no one claiming to be the owner of it after all.

Moreover, the gazebo was located inside the small wood created by Druvis III's arcane skill, so the shades and the quiet atmosphere here made it perfect for the man to do his things without being bothered by the noises outside.

...Although that advantage wasn't applied for today.

BANG

A silver bullet grazed Pavia's cheek as soon as he instinctively leaned his body to the left. Immediately, the man set down and flipped the round table to make a temporary shield covering his body.

Behind the table, his ears caught some quick footsteps that were getting closer to his hiding spot. They were quite light, which meant the attacker wasn't a grown-up man or woman and seemed to be more like a child to him.

After estimating the distance between them, he quickly left the table to avoid the next attack.

THWACK!

A sharp blade cut through the wood table, right at his previous hiding spot. It was long and curved, similar to the blade of an axe.

From his new position, Pavia could finally see the appearance of the culprit. It was a short black-haired little girl wearing a cloak that was as red as her crimson eyes.

A new face, but he remembered a few things that Vertin had mentioned about her.

'Extremely hate wolves and will kill them on sight, huh...'

Actually, Vertin had said the full phrase "big bad wolves", however, Pavia assumed it and "wolves" as one since he didn't see any difference between them.

While the girl in the red cloak was using her leg as a fulcrum to pull out the axe blade, the man smiled, revealing his white fang.

In the next second, his knife clashed with her axe.

CLANG

"Good reflexes, brat."

Pavia stared at her, his irises behind the lens shrinked.

"You have learnt to wear human's skin." 

As she spoke, the young huntress furrowed her eyebrows. The killing intent in her crimson eyes became more and more dense.