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Kel's sword dropped instantly, and she bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud.

A witch? That was the best they could do?

At the bald man's comment, the third soldier, a lanky man with long reddish hair tied back in a loose ponytail, finally piped up.

"Err.. can boys be witches?" he muttered to his companions.

"I don't know! But how else would you explain this?" the bald man boomed in reply, holding up their other comrade's smoking arm, a bubbling scarlet burn stretching from his wrist to his elbow.

The potato-nosed man, wincing under the bald man's bullish grasp, grumbled, "Are you sure it's not just the sword? I mean-"

"It's not the sword!!" The bald man shouted, his face turning red with exasperation.

The other two soldiers exchanged glances with each other and shrugged, clearly unconvinced of the man's ridiculous explanation.

Seeing their reaction, the bald man clenched his jaw. "Are you two saying I'm wrong, huh? You honestly think I-"

"If you're done arguing here," Kel yawned as she leaned on her sword, "can we get back to what we were doing?"

She was almost sad to put an end to the brilliant comedy show.

At her words, the potato-nosed man flinched, shrinking behind the other two. Apparently, the searing hot blade had been more painful than Kel anticipated.

Or these guys were just a bunch of wimps.

She highly suspected the latter option to be the case. Especially given how the men all shivered under her gaze, none of them willing to step forward to protect the others.

It was a bit disappointing that she wouldn't be able to practice her new technique for longer, but the three soldiers all looked like they'd given up already.

Trained soldiers? Dangerous? She thought back to Mr. Thomas's previous words.

The three bumbling fools in front of her seemed more like weak-hearted lowlifes playing dress up with their master's uniform. No self-respecting warrior would allow a small trick to bring them to their knees.

After the weak-hearted men in question spent more time than necessary nudging each other and exchanging apprehensive whispers, Kel rolled her eyes and raised her sword. Would she have to attack them again just to hurry up their decision-making?

Immediately noticing the glimmer of the moving blade, the potato-nosed man and ponytail man dove behind their boss.

Is this why the Dragon Emperor made such a reputation for himself? Kel wondered, unable to stop herself from grinning at the amount of power her tiniest movement held over these men.

"Eh, let's forget it," the bald man declared, slowly backing away from Kel. "We've got what we need for now, so I say we-"

He gulped as Kel took another step forward.

"I-I say we let this kid off the hook for now."

"Yes, Sir!" The other two recited in unison, scrambling toward the door.

With a couple flicks of the stolen sword, the farm boy sent all three of the supposed 'Serin soldiers' sprinting down the road, likely to wherever they'd left their horses.

Kel could have easily stopped them (and probably subdued them singlehandedly), but she was sure Mr. Thomas wouldn't appreciate her creating a lengthy brawl in his home just because she was enjoying herself.

Not that there was anything left undisturbed by the trespassers in the first place.

Surveying the mess around her, Kel thought it was strange that the men hadn't appeared to have actually taken anything. The bald mustache did say they got what they needed, but had they actually gotten anything?

Her question was answered a few minutes later when Mr. Thomas hurriedly hobbled into the house without so much as bothering to tie his horse up outside.

"Haaa," the man sighed, his eyes landing on one particular piece of parchment out of the entire mess strewn on the floor. "Looks like they've found me again."

Her hand still raised in a greeting that had been entirely ignored by Mr. Thomas, Kel followed his gaze to the paper. The first thing she saw was a seal with a black dragon in the top corner. Below was a rough sketch that could have been the likeness of just about any man and, below that, large letters that read 'WANTED'.

"What is that?" Kel asked uncertainly, walking up next to Mr. Thomas.

"I suppose I might as well tell you," he murmured, crinkling the paper in his fist with a huff, "since I dragged you into this mess in the first place."

A shiver ran down Kel's spine as she stared at the wrinkled obsidian colored dragon still visible outside Mr. Thomas's palm. She'd dreamt nightmarishly of a similar document many times, one with her likeness and description above the bold, terrifying letters.

She gulped.

"... it's a hunting order. Right?"

Mr. Thomas's eyes widened for a moment before returning to their normal droopy state.

"It is," he nodded, hesitating a moment before adding, "Those men have been commissioned by the Dragon Emperor to hunt me."

Although she already knew the meaning of the paper, Kel was still taken aback by the man's words. The Dragon Emperor, Calix, had given the order to hunt this crippled man? For what reason?

"Can I ask.. what you did?" she said carefully.

Becoming an enemy of the Serin Empire was not an easy feat. Considering the empire was in the middle of a war and those soldiers were still dispatched to look for this man meant his crime was even more serious.

Mr. Thomas, seemingly harmless with his disabled leg and pretty little daughter, could be extremely dangerous.

"Nothing as grand as you're imagining," Mr. Thomas answered with a snort, waving a hand. "I was just an ordinary palace guard."

His eyes dropped to the ground again, a certain darkness settling over his absent gaze.

"A palace guard who happened to be on the wrong side of a war.