Chapter 22: The Love-Brain Young Lady

Screams and the sound of people fleeing erupted like a boiling pot of oil.

In an instant, the bustling Bird and Flower Market fell into total chaos.

“Monsters! So many monsters! They’re crawling out from underground!”

“Quick, run!”

“Call the City Guard! And, and the Inquisition!”

The frantic crowd was swept up in panic, shattering the previously leisurely atmosphere.

Mephia immediately turned sideways, shielding Tia behind her in a safer position.

Her golden eyes sharply scanned the direction where the monsters were swarming, and she spoke quickly and clearly.

“Tia, it’s dangerous here. You go back first, I—”

Before she could finish, piercing screams and the heavy *splash* of something hitting the water came from the narrow canal connecting to the market.

Immediately after, someone shouted:

“Someone fell into the water!”

“It’s a little girl! Quick! Save her!”

“Save her! Why isn’t anyone saving her?!”

The crowd was in a frenzy.

People on both sides of the canal stood there hesitating, their gazes vacillating in fear between the rampaging monsters and the churning river water.

They wanted to go down to save the girl, but the hideous roars of the nearby monsters made their legs weak.

The instinct for survival was gradually overriding the courage to help.

Most people only shot a panicked glance before continuing to flee in the opposite direction.

If they jumped in to save someone now, they might have to face monsters the moment they climbed back onto the bank.

Right now, time was the most important thing if they wanted to stay alive.

Mephia’s brow furrowed.

She seemed to be weighing the situation, but in the next second, a pale blue figure beside her suddenly charged forward.

*Splash—!*

Water splashed high into the air.

“Great! Someone went down to save her!”

“Wait, isn’t that Lady Tia?!”

“Heavens, the Young Lady jumped in?!”

“…The Young Lady is so cool!”

“Wait, come to think of it… does the Young Lady even know how to swim?”

That last question was like a cold stone thrown into the brief hope that had risen among the people.

The answer to that question was very obvious.

“Glub… Help…!”

In the water, Tia thrashed around twice.

Not only did she fail to reach the struggling little girl, but she herself began to sink as her thick, heavy skirts soaked up the water.

She choked on several mouthfuls.

Her cries and slender arms were quickly swallowed by the river, leaving behind only helpless bubbles.

Mephia’s gaze sharpened.

She moved almost the instant Tia began to choke.

She didn’t even take off her Inquisitor’s Greatcoat.

Her body was like a white arrow shot from a bow as she precisely reached the spot where Tia had fallen and dove into the river without hesitation.

Water splashed again, but this time was completely different from the first.

A few seconds later, Mephia swam back to the shore, one arm around the unconscious Tia and the other dragging the terrified little girl.

By this time, the monsters had not yet swarmed toward this area.

After handing the little girl over to the people who had rushed to help, Mephia quickly laid the semiconscious Tia flat on the ground.

Professionally checking the breathing and pulse of the daughter of a Count, she folded her hands and began to press hard on her chest.

After several compressions, Tia’s eyes remained tightly closed.

Her face was pale, and she showed no signs of waking up.

She needed artificial respiration.

Mephia fell into a moment of hesitation.

To an outsider, giving mouth-to-mouth to this breathtakingly beautiful Young Lady would be a pure reward, but Mephia did not seem to think so.

Just as she wavered, an enthusiastic market auntie nearby saw through the situation.

She pushed through the crowd, rolled up her sleeves, and shouted at the top of her lungs:

“Move aside, girl! Let me do it! I know how. I’ll give her mouth-to-mouth!”

Mephia took a step back, clearly agreeing to the offer.

However, no one noticed that at that exact moment, the eyelids of the girl lying on the ground twitched slightly.

Just as the auntie leaned in and drew closer…

“Cough, cough—! *Blegh*… cough, cough, cough!”

Tia suddenly turned her head and coughed violently, spitting out several mouthfuls of river water.

Her chest heaved, and her eyelashes trembled as she slowly opened her wet eyes.

She was awake.

Seeing this, the auntie sighed and could only silently return to the crowd.

Tia also breathed a secret sigh of relief and shot a hidden glare at Mephia.

Mephia didn’t notice any of this.

Her attention was focused on the City Guard and the other Inquisitors who had arrived.

In a short amount of time, they had formed a defensive line, surrounding the monsters that were causing chaos in the Bird and Flower Market.

However, the sounds of battle there continued, and the roars of the monsters did not cease.

Flicking her longsword, Mephia prepared to leave to deal with the monsters.

But just then…

“Wait… wait…”

A weak, watery voice came from behind her.

Tia propped herself up and sat.

Her soaked hair clung to her cheeks and neck, and her pale blue dress clung to her body, outlining her slender silhouette.

She looked exceptionally miserable and fragile.

She looked at Mephia’s tall, straight back as she was about to leave.

Her voice carried the slight tremor of a survivor and a clear sense of dependency.

“Was it… you who saved me?”

Mephia paused her steps.

She turned her head slightly, her profile looking cold and sharp.

Tia hugged her own arms tightly, trying to make her voice sound less shaky, even attempting to add a bit of her usual lightheartedness.

“I’m all wet, it feels so bad… How about you come home with me to take a bath and change into dry clothes? Anyway, look, the City Guard and the Inquisitors are all here…”

She pointed to the official forces that were gradually bringing the situation under control.

At the same time, she coughed twice, her fair cheeks flushed with a sickly red.

At this moment, she looked so pitiable that no one could resist the urge to protect her.

Except for Mephia.

Mephia turned around completely.

Her gaze swept over Tia’s dripping hair and pale lips, then looked past her at the battle between humans and monsters still unfolding in the distance.

She shook her head, her tone calm and flat as she stated a simple fact.

“They can’t handle those monsters.”

Then, she walked toward Tia and knelt on one knee, interlacing her fingers with the girl’s right hand.

As the girl watched with a confused and shy gaze, a wisp of pure Magic Power flowed through their bodies like a warm current.

The water stains on their dresses evaporated into a fine white mist at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In just two or three seconds, their clothes were dry and clean again, as if they had never touched a drop of river water.

“If your clothes are wet, a single spell solves it.”

She looked at Tia again and reached out to stroke her right cheek.

“It’s too dangerous here. You should go back first. Be good.”

After saying that, she didn’t stay any longer and turned toward the battlefield.

Tia was stunned for a moment.

Then, she blankly touched her own cheek, as if the warmth Mephia had given her still remained there.

With a faint smile, she watched Mephia’s determined back.

Her voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a hint of playfulness and an indescribable softness as it drifted through the damp wind.

“Does this… count as you worrying about me?”

Mephia’s footsteps faltered, but she said nothing.

Her figure vanished from Tia’s sight.

Making a love-brain Young Lady listen?

It didn’t seem to be a difficult task.