小嫂子的味道

We walked side by side and soon left the alleyways and stepped out on the main road. By this time the sun had completely stepped down and the sky was dark. The snowfall was going on without any break as well. In short, it would be better to go back home as soon as possible.

However, the first thing we did was go to a medical shop and buy some healing potions for Ellyn. I paid for it with the reasoning that it was my mistake that I let this happen.

Once her tongue was healed I led her to where Anya and I had decided to meet after half an hour of searching for Ellyn. I didn\'t exactly know how much time had passed although I did know that I\'ll be a little late or just on time.

On our way, we decided that telling her about all this will make her worry for no reason and then Ellyn will also have to tell her the reason why they targeted her, so it was better to not tell her. Thus, we chose to go with the excuse that she really got lost and wasn\'t able to find her way back.

When we reached there I saw Anya standing there leaning against the pole of the lamplight.

The number of people in the market had lessened thus it was pretty easy to spot her. As we were approaching her, something which I\'d completely ignored until now occurred to me.

"We are going to tell her that you lost your way, but what about the stuff you bought? It\'s missing, right? How will we explain that?" I asked hurriedly.

"It\'s not a problem, both of us had our clothes in one bag and she was carrying them. So none of it is lost," Ellyn replied.

"Great," I said and both of us reached Anya.

As soon as Anya saw us she took a few quick steps toward us. "Where in the world were you Ellyn?" she said.

"I\'m sorry. I saw a dress which I liked so I rushed to that shop but then lost my way back, I tried to find you two but ended up in an even unknown area," she explained in an apologetic tone.

"I told you not to wander alone, didn\'t I? Do you know how worried I was?!" Anya said, her voice slowly twisting and trembling.

"I think she knows. You\'re crying, after all," I interjected.

"Huh? What\'re you talking about? I\'m not crying! I\'m really not…" she had to wipe her tears as they fell from her cheeks one after another.

"Yes, yes, I\'m here now. You there\'s nothing to cry for," Ellyn said as she gave Anya a light hug.

It took a while but she stabilized after a few minutes. "And why the hell did it take you so long?" she asked me.

"I was busy finding her. You won\'t believe how far away she\'d wandered," I replied. "Anyway, I think we should get going now. The snowfall is increasing, and Ainge might be starting to worry as well."

"Yeah, I know," Anya said.

All of us agreed on that, and we were on our way to head back when we remembered that we had not bought clothes for me. The only thing that I\'d bought was the cloak I had chosen.

Thus, it took us about an hour more to pick something for me. It took us this late partially because I wasn\'t able to choose something and in the end, Ellyn and Anya had to pick some clothes which suited me.

After all that was done, we finally set for home. By the time we were returning the snow had pilled up so much on the roads that our feet were getting buried to the ankle each time we took a step.

When we returned home, as expected, Ainge was angry at us for staying out for such a long time. All the blame was shifted to me—that it took this long because I was not able to pick the clothes and decide what I wanted—since the three of us had decided to not tell anyone about Ellyn getting lost.

I\'d say it was a fair decision.

Upon changing back into casual clothes we warmed ourselves in front of the chimney in the hall as we chatted about silly things. Saying \'we\' here would be probably wrong because I mostly listened.

Ron had also returned from his work and was there to talk to us, so I\'d say the time in front of the chimney till we waited for the dinner was not stale, as he kept us entertained.

***

Dinner was done and it was night. I was inside my closed room. Sitting on my bed I was staring at the pieces of a broken crystal in my hand. It was the remains of the crystal from Ellyn\'s pendant that those men put around her neck, I\'d picked it up before leaving.

At first glance, it looked like a magic crystal but what it did was the exact opposite of that. We\'d learned about this in our classes and this was the reason Ellyn was not able to resist those men when they captured her.

Rather than supplying mana like the magic crystals, this did the contrary and absorbed mana within itself. If added and modified with some custom magic spell it can make a pendant that can absorb all the mana of the person who wears it.

It weakens the user, and that\'s why Ellyn was not able to cast any spells when this was working on her. I had a theory that stated that the reason people of his world have superhuman physical abilities—measured in ranks or status—is because of the amount of mana present in their bodies.

So since this absorbed the mana of the user, their physical capabilities decreased as well.

To make sure of their success rate, my guess was that the first thing those men did was to put the pendant around Ellyn\'s neck.

I clenched it and then slid it inside the drawer of my desk. If used properly, this could turn into a great weapon to help me in the calamity.