It was at this moment that the young elf realized she was in real trouble. However, she played it cool and attempted negotiation.

“Aha-ahaha, you see, this isn’t what it seems to be. I’m actually a student of the magician who lives there, look I have a hat and a staff...”

“....”

“Ahaha, that reminds me, you saw me casting spells earlier today. See, I’m a real deal!”

“...Then...”, started the ninja girl calmly, slightly retracting her blades, “Turn me into a frog or something.”

An awkward silence followed. *A frog?* thought Agatha, as confused as she was afraid. *Is that girl mocking me?*

But no matter how she looked at it, there was not a hint of sarcasm in the foreign girl’s voice or facial expression. As cold as always, she was staring at the magician unblinking. She didn’t twitch, nor blinked, nor made any sound. Only slight movements of her flat chest betrayed that the mysterious girl was, in fact, a living person.

“Ahaha, if I saw you like that, I’d think you’re some kind of marble statue~”

“Compliments will get you nowhere.”

“Ehh, you got me. At least I tried!” faking embarrassment, Agatha scratched the back of her head. As she did that, she suddenly felt something wet touch her hand.

Slowly retracting he hand, she gazed at the tips of her fingers with horror.
They were stained by blood.

“W-what?”

“It appears I accidentally cut your ear. I apologize.” Uncharacteristically, the girl bowed, letting her gaze off the potential suspect.

If Agatha wanted to make a run for it, now would be the time. All it would take was a single blast of Dazzling Spray at point blanc, and then...
However, the little elf wasn’t in a state of mind to formulate such strategies. Having seen her own blood, she panicked and began rocking back and forth.

“Blood! It’s blood! I’m bleeding!!”

“R-relax, it really wasn’t that deep!”

“Bleeding!!!”

“I’ll...I don’t have any healing scrolls on me.”

“You barely have anything on you! But never mind that! Do you have any idea how sensitive elven ears are!? That means they have a lot of circulation. I heard of elves bleeding to death from ear injury!”

“I know, uhh...” slowly, the shinobi’s pale cheeks were gaining color “I don’t really know any such stories...”

Their frantic exchange came to an end when people inside the house went outside to check out the commotion.

Several men and women clad in light armors characteristics to shadow warriors of the far east. And...a blonde woman, seemingly in her twenties, wearing a long cape and a modest traveling cloak.
Despite looking rather ordinary, she alone commanded the greatest aura of authority in the group. Agatha knew all about it.

In this world, there were several attributes that defined what a person can or can not do. To a certain extent, these attributes could be trained and tended to change throughout an individual’s life.

Strength. Dexterity. Constitution. Intelligence. Wisdom.
And the final attribute...Charisma.

A mysterious ability that singled some individuals as fundamentally different than others. Thought to be mostly inborn, it was the only attribute that couldn’t be affected or trained in a conventional way. Those who scored deeply there were thought to be blessed, and destined for great deeds.

And Tabitha Journey, Agatha’s mentor, was an exceptionally charismatic person.

“What is going on here?” she asked in a gentle, soft voice, no different from the sound of autumn leaves swept by the wind...or perhaps a fine drizzle in the spring morning. The calming, hypnotic voice that mesmerized little Agatha so many years ago, and made her pursue wizardly studies....

“She was...”, the little ninja pointed at Agatha with her daggers and shrugged dismissively “Sneaking.”

“That’s not what I meant.” The drizzle hardened, and felt like it was about to turn into hail any moment. “What I want to know is...why is my cute apprentice bleeding?”

“Ah.”

“Mira!” barked a tall man who seemed to be the leader of the eastern group and pointed at the tiny blonde girl with his fist “What have you done!?”

“I...I...” For the first time, there seemed to be genuine emotion on her face. She took a few steps back and hid her daggers behind her back, her gaze shooting frantically left and right like some kind of cornered animal.

*That girl is afraid.*, realized Agatha, shocked at this sudden change in demeanor. Despite being rather anxious about blood spurting from one of her pointy ears, she felt that her ‘captor’ was about to be in very serious trouble.

Agatha didn’t want that. After all, this girl helped her with the slimes before. She didn’t seem like a bad person, the wound she caused her was most likely accidental. So…

After pondering the matter for but a few seconds, the magician decided to step in and save her new friend from certain doom.

“I’m sorry, I really did sneak around!” she whimpered and waved her staff around to catch everyone’s attention. “I heard some unknown people inside miss Ta...Journey’s home, and I thought it’s...robbers!”

“And you wanted to catch them on your own?” asked her teacher, the corners of her lips twisting into a half-smile.

Agatha gritted her teeth and stomped the ground in frustration. Her teacher loved teasing her, and now, just like on countless other occasions, the young apprentice couldn’t find a suitable retort to get back at her.

“Yes, yes, exactly that! A-anyway, about my ear...”

“Kogane.” The leader of the ninjas said a single word and glanced at a woman to his right.

She briefly returned his commanding gaze, then sighed and saluted. “So shall it be done.”

“Don’t move...” whispered Mira straight into her ear. This had the effect opposite to intended.

“Eek!”

“Don’t jump either!”

“When did you get behind me?”

*Ra*
*To*
*Din*

The adult ninja uttered these three syllables quickly and made a vertical motion with her hand. The scroll instantly vaporized, and a moment later, a blue light enveloped Agatha and Mira alike.

It felt soothing and pleasant, not unlike being warped in a soft blanket. Although it wasn’t the first time she was healed by a spell, Agatha never grew tired of this comforting feeling. She closed her eyes slightly and felt a gentle smile slowly creeping up her face.

Unfortunately, all good things must end. A painful tug at her previously injured ear quickly brought her back to reality.

“Ouch!”

“It seems healed, alright~” murmured Tabitha Journey, and laughed “Can’t help with the bloodstains though!”

***

After that, miss Tabi exchanged a few more words with the foreigners, and then they left. Agatha waved goodbye to Mira, but the mysterious blonde girl didn’t react.

“Hmmm...” pouted the elf, “Did she not see it?”

“Haha, you say the funniest little things.”, stated her mentor in an overly patronizing way, and patted her pupil on the head…adding insult to the injury. “You know who these people were, right?”

“Shinobi. Ninjas. A subclass or rogue. They are elite assassins and spies of the east...”, recited Agatha, and then gasped “Wait, so does that mean Mira kills people!?”

“No. At any rate, not yet.”

There was a bitter tone to miss Journey’s voice, and she shook her head sadly. Agatha knew the reason why: her mentor was a pacifist, and fundamentally opposed all needless killing. Thus, it begged a question...

“Miss Tabi...why did you host such dangerous guests?”