"Cough, cough..."
Murphy coughed as he carried the suitcase back to the jeep.
Serika came running from somewhere. "Murphy, you're hurt!"
"I'm fine. The other guy got it worse, haha."
That Bombarda had hit hard, but Murphy was rather pleased with himself. His opponent had been an expert, yet he had still won!
That had been exhilarating! Absolutely exhilarating!
He was starting to like this feeling.
He had heard there had once been a secret dueling club called Silver Spears, which only accepted wizards who used aspen wands. He wondered whether it still existed.
Maybe he could write to Professor Filius Flitwick later and ask. Flitwick had been a dueling champion in his youth, so he should have some connections.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't help at all." Serika looked deeply guilty.
Just now, she had watched Murphy fight that strange man with magic like Apparition and the Disillusionment Charm. Though she had been frantic with worry and desperately wanted to help, she could not even see either of them clearly, much less join the fight.
In the end, she had only been an ordinary office worker. She had never encountered real combat.
Even if she had gone in, she would have been taken out in a single move. She might even have distracted Murphy.
"You don't do this for a living. I wasn't counting on you anyway. Come here, take a look at my back."
The clothes on Murphy's back had been blasted to shreds, and there was a huge hole in the body armor beneath. With Serika's help, he took it off.
He glanced at the steel plate inside the vest, which had been bent by the tremendous force, and suddenly felt lingering fear. The power had been truly terrifying. Without that protection, he might have been dead!
Even