Maria Goes Into Defense Mode

A sudden gust blew into the room, along with the remnants of the door. I reflexively held down my skirt, and I didn’t forget to hold down my friend’s clothes either. Nice job, me! It was probably just a coincidence that none of the shards of wood hit us. Everything happened so fast.

“Lucia!” a voice yelled. The one who ran in, pale as a ghost, was the same person who broke the door—my incredibly handsome guardian knight. But the only thing he was looking at was his beloved. I might need to have a serious talk with him about whose guardian he is. Okay, I’ll do it later.

“...And the Sacred Maiden!?” Celes gasped. His eyes widened as he saw me, but that only lasted an instant before he pointed his sword at the pervert cowering on the floor. “You attacked the Sacred Maiden!?”

He was finally acting like my protector, but his deduction was wrong. The man didn’t attack me, he attacked Lucia. But telling that to this lovesick idiot would be a pain, so I tried to stealthily pull Lucia’s blouse back together before he noticed. That didn’t get past him, though. It seemed as if his stupidly high specs kicked in just when I didn’t want them to, and he was watching me as he squared off with the pervert.

“...You bastard!” he snarled.

Between Lucia, who was unconscious, my actions, and the pervert on the floor, Celes was finally brought to the right conclusion. His expression this time was different. The way he swung his sword made even me freeze with fear.

“Shield of Light!” I yelled.

It was a miracle I even had time to cast my shield. To be honest, I was actually surprised by how quickly I was able to respond. Wow, I’m doing good. I’ll get Lucia to praise me later. I’ll brag to Ed, too. Yep. After deflecting Celes’s sword, the Shield of Light shattered like glass and disappeared. When I’d practiced it at the Academy, it could normally take multiple hits, but he would break it in one shot... How strong is this guy? So scary. But this wasn’t the time for me to be scared. I didn’t want Celes murdering people right in front of me, okay!? I might’ve been all for attacking the pervert earlier, but when someone else does it, I calmed down surprisingly quick.

“Forget killing him, saving Lucia comes first! This shady merchant was showing off some dangerous drugs, so it might be that! They were ‘something lamp’ and ‘something knife’!”

Mentioning Lucia had a dramatic effect on Celes. In an instant, he looked calm again, sheathing his sword and approaching the pervert. He grabbed the man’s shoulder and arm, and with a dull crack, the pervert started screaming. He deserved it. Maybe I’ll step on him later.

“What happened!?” exclaimed Reynard as he rushed in late, seemingly having heard us. He looked kind of like he wanted to say something about the state of the room, but he was calm enough to start working quickly. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d be able to handle hot-headed Celes alone, so I was glad Reynard came.

“Lucia, Lucia!” I cried out. Relieved by Reynard’s entrance, I went back to clinging to Lucia as she slept, worried. You could feel the chill coming from Celes as he looked at the buttons ripped from her collar. But I didn’t have time to deal with this lovestruck idiot. So, go Reynard!

Reading the room, Reynard asked Celes for a situation report. “This man works here at the inn, does he not?”

“I believe so. He’s probably also the serial rapist who’s been terrorizing Amarith...” Celes replied with a sub-zero tone. Scary.

Reynard apparently decided to ignore Celes’s frigid demeanor, and checked on me instead. “But Sacred Maiden, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine. Wait, why am I back at the inn? I was kidnapped, and drugged... Then I woke up to this. What happened?”

Anyway, I’m the Sacred Maiden, right? Try to remember that, Celes!