The Crimson Magister

The woman looked at Aqua with pure confusion, and both were silent for minutes, the silence was so deafening that Aqua had to say the first words.

"As you can see, I was not an enemy" Aqua raised her hands while giving her a gentle smile as the elven warrior finally regained consciousness.

Signs of fear and doubt could be seen on the elven warrior's face but she could tell that she was mostly confused.

Aqua stretched her hand to the elven warrior offering her a helping hand.

The woman hesitated for a moment before grabbing Aqua's hand and accepting the help.

"Why did you spare me, what do you want with me!?" the woman asked with clear suspicion in her eyes as Aqua pulled her back on her feet.

Aqua sighted at the question once again, she was getting tired of being regarded with such suspicion, even in her past most people she came across were suspicious of her when she only wanted to help" It was not my intention to fight you, you were one to attack me first without provocation"

The woman made a hostile expression as she took up her guard ready to continue fighting but still giving Aqua the benefit of the doubt "I know you are working for the enemy, inquisitor!"

'Again with the inquisitor title, I have no idea what that even means' Aqua thought, but she had time to ask questions later, she first had to clear the misunderstanding between her and this warrior that attacked her.

It was true from her point of view, she was attacked for no reason and had no reason to spare this woman but she still did, Aqua incinerated people who threatened her life before but she still showed mercy.

Normally this woman would be a pile of ash but she was still spared, it was perhaps because she was one of the elves that reminded her of her dear home that was lost so long ago.

The truth was far simpler, this woman was just ambushed by a group of very powerful fighters, and from what she could tell her lady was kidnapped right under her nose.

A guard who failed their duty would usually commit suicide out of shame, and yet this woman stood here, exhausted and broken but still alive.

Perhaps if Aqua hadn't appeared at the exact moment the elven warrior would have been lying next to the others, but not by the enemy's hand.

She couldn't blame her for being distrustful and hostile towards her, no perhaps she should introduce herself to the woman, if they exchanged names perhaps the hostility would drop.

As she was deep in thought she noticed the woman slowly trying to reach for any kind of weapon before stopping as Aqua gazed at her.

Aqua crossed her arms as she shook her head before saying "No, no let's drop the hostility, I am not your enemy you can trust me on that, why not start with a proper introduction?"

Warrior eyed her with suspicion before answering "Why would I ever trust an inquisitor, you are the enemy of our kind and you are a traitor to all of elven kind!"

What the woman said was interesting to Aqua, while she spoke with suspicion and hostility she still gave Aqua the benefit of the doubt.

'So these inquisitors are something akin to the divine exterminators that hunted elves in my old world' Hearing this made Aqua sad, but what ticked her more is that she was compared to that scum, she needed to correct this misunderstanding as soon as possible.

Why was her kind always hunted like this, Aqua did not know but she wasn't able to save her kind in the past, part of her wished to change that and yet she found it hard to care for most of the elven race, she didn't even know where to start with fixing of the issues.

For all the power she obtained she still did not know so much, but there was one thing she could be sure of, almost everything bad that happened to her and her kind was the fault of the divine.

She was sure it was because of them that elves in this world were being hunted like this.

Whenever the divine were involved in anything, without fail it would end up badly for mortal races.

Aqua shook her head before replying "You will have to trust me, if I was one of the inquisitors it would seem you would have already been dead, and yet you are alive, I even healed your wounds"

As Azure checked her body the words the elf before her were true, she was fully healed, but she still didn't know who this girl was.

The elf before her dressed in a way that not many elves except more wealthy ones, her clothes were made of incredibly high-quality materials.

No matter how much she wanted to trust her she couldn't, she was just too suspicious, and yet the girl did not show any hostility to her.

Azure decided to give her the benefit of the doubt as she finally dropped her guard before declaring "I am Azure Hallowshield, sworn shield of the royal family and captain of the Royal Honor Guard"

Azure thought about if she still deserved to call herself the shield, or even her rank of the captain, she lost all right to it after losing her dear friend to those bandits.

But if the girl in front of her was willing to help her rescue the princess, this could be her final act as the shield.

Azure gave a deep bow before letting the girl in front of her speak.

'So her name is Azure, it's a pretty name and it seems she was quite important' Aqua thought for a moment before speaking "I'm Aqua, the Crimson Magister, but you can just call me Aqua" Aqua gave Azure a slight curtsey, as she did not want to mess up the etiquette too much even if she did not care about it.

'Crimson Magister, I have never heard of that title before, and certainly not in the elven Kingdoms.' Azure thought to herself but she let it go for now as her mind was full of one thought.

What Azure wanted to do the most was to rush to her liege and rescue her or at least retrieve her corpse in the worst-case scenario, but if she wanted to have any chance, she should have someone reliable to count on.

The girl in front of her seemed powerful but she did not trust her at all, but no matter how much she did not trust her she didn't have a choice.

If she was caught alone, she would be overwhelmed quickly and dispatched before she could do anything as the enemy proved when they ambushed her that she alone was nowhere strong enough.

She gave the girl in front of her a smile before answering "It's an honor to make your acquaintance lady Aqua."

Aqua smiled lightly before answering "Likewise lady Hallowshield"

Azure thought of a way to interact with the girl in front of her, despite the gentle appearance she remembered how she couldn't even land a hit on the young elf before collapsing, she did not want her as an enemy even if she was suspicious and yet if she wanted to harm her she would be dead.

She tensed up as the young girl gazed at her with a small blush on her face before looking down and seeing that she was almost completely naked, with only ruined scraps of clothes remaining on her.

Instinctively she covered herself with her hands, even if she was not ashamed of her own appearance, even with the current mark of Misfortune decorating patches of her skin she was still proud of her body even if her assets were modest at best.

'I still should cover myself up, even now I should at least keep some dignity' Azure thought as she scanned her surroundings for anything she could use to cover herself.

What amused her the most was how the girl in front of her was blushing, she did not expect someone as powerful as her to be that sensitive to the naked body.

This made her suspicion of the girl drop quite a bit, and yet doubt was still present.

"You are acting like you have never seen a female body" Azure smirked before turning her back to Aqua and slowly approaching one of her fallen comrades.

"Forgive me, for failing you," Azure said with sadness showing on her face, knelt in front of the dead knight.

She really did not want to defile them, but it was a necessity, she carefully removed the heavy armor pieces and putting them aside, she moved to one of the fallen casters and ripped parts of their robe, wrapping herself in the cloth before putting on the Armor of her former comrade and turning back to Aqua.

She smirked a bit before asking "Better? Are you still flustered"

Aqua shook her head trying to hide a blush on her face before answering "No, you are just pretty so I was lost!"

It wasn't many times she had someone compliment her, but it did feel nice, Azure smiled gently as she finished putting on the last strips of the armor, it didn't fit her the best but it would have to work.

Azure brushed off the remaining dirt and dust with her hands from the armor before speaking "I know we met in a bad situation, and that you have no reason to trust me, but could I ask for a Favor?"

Azure swallowed her pride, or what was left of it, and spoke to the young elf before her, even if she declines helping her she still couldn't afford to miss any opportunity to find her friend.

Aqua casually replied with a serious expression "What is it that I can do for you lady Hallowshield?"

Azure had a worried look on her face for a moment " I saw how powerful you are, and I want to request your assistance in the rescue of Princess Sheira"

Azure took a deep breath before continuing speaking "Of course, you will be rewarded for your service, so what do you say lady Aqua?"

Aqua smiled warmly before answering "Of course, I will help you, I won't allow people like them to harm our kind, but we don't even know where their encampment is"

Aqua knew exactly where the camp was, but she also knew that the princess would be safe until they reached their selling point.

While in the unlikely event she is killed, her spell would activate, shielding her from any harm while she is resurrected.

In truth, she did not care much for most elves except special ones, like the kidnapped elven princess and the woman in front of her.

Why she did not rescue an unfortunate elven princess even when she could, the reason was simple, Curiosity.

Aqua wanted to see what Azure would do while searching for her friend, and in addition, she was curious about why would the attackers need her, taking out the band at this moment would be bad as it would most certainly not resolve the issue of the princess being hunted.

'I could investigate it myself, but someone whose duty is to protect the victim is still alive, and the last thing I want to do is deny her'

Azure's mood visibly improved as she got the affirmative answer "Then let us go, we can't waste a single moment"

Azure took one of the swords from the site of battle as she approached her new companion.

She turned her head towards the site of battle once again, gazing at the loss she suffered.

'I will have to come back to bury my comrades' Azure had a sad look as she thought about how many of her old friends and subordinates she would have to bury.

But it was not something she could afford to do right now, as doing proper rites would take too long.

"Forgive me" She gave a bow to her fallen comrades before turning back to Aqua.

Azure hoped that their corpses wouldn't rise as undead with a lack of proper burial, but she made a vow to herself that she would do proper rites as soon as possible.

Azure curtsied in front of Aqua for a moment before both elven women rushed deep inside the forest in search of the traces of the attackers.