"Hey! Who the hell are you?"
The buxom female warrior, Vera, held her two-handed greatsword across her body, its tip pointed straight at Cui Ciyou, and demanded an answer.
Her eyes were as sharp as a hawk's, fixed firmly on this uninvited guest.
Her whole body radiated a fierce, unapproachable air.
Cui Ciyou ignored her question.
Instead, he looked with interest at the men and women who surrounded him but dared not approach.
Cui Ciyou wore a smile that could almost be called gentle.
"I'm just an ordinary adventurer passing through."
"I saw someone kidnapping a child in the street, so I stepped in. That's all."
"Kidnapping...?"
Vera frowned and glanced at the Beastfolk girl still sleeping on the bed.
Then she looked at her three companions lying on the floor and snorted.
"Utter nonsense. We in the Rescue Corps would never stoop to something like that!"
He spread his hands, feigning innocence.
"Well, that's strange. I clearly saw these three sneaking all the way here with that sack over their shoulders."
"If that wasn't kidnapping, were they playing some new kind of game?"
His words left Vera momentarily speechless.
Of course she knew what Buzz and the others had been doing.
But how could she explain something like that to a stranger whose background she knew nothing about?
"Enough talk!"
Vera clearly wasn't the eloquent type.
Unable to win the argument, she simply thrust her greatsword a little farther forward.
A pale blue-green glow of Battle Aura suddenly lit up the blade.
"I don't care who you are. You barged into our base and hurt my companions. Unless you give us an explanation, you aren't leaving here in one piece!"
"Sis..."
Her younger sister, Shera, timidly tugged at her clothes from behind and urged her in a quiet voice,