Kaede stepped back as Luna stood before the door. She was doing breathing exercises for a good minute before slowly reaching for the doorknob. Swallowing her anxiety, she slowly opened the door.


    “H-Hello?” she said softly before slowly walking into the room with her hands up. “I-I come in peace.”


    True to the upgrade on her power, the trio were indeed dealing with four children, with an equal ratio of male and female specifically; a male angel complete with white feathered wings, a female ratkin sporting a human face, and a seemingly regular male & female pair of humans. Their clothes were that of peasants though they weren’t ragged by any means in fact, they were rather clean for a bunch of children trapped inside this realm.


    Hell, even their hairs, especially the angel’s medium cut white hair and the ratkin’s long medium brown hair, were so clean and pristine that I bet they’ll reflect light when I shine a flashlight at them. That’s not to say that the short purple hair of the female human and the short, almost crew cut, light brown hair of the male human were bad, they were just as well-maintained.


    Going back to the action, the angel and the male human took a step forward as the two girls hid behind them. The angel was yelling something in Russian but I totally forgot what he was saying, not like it matters since Luna could not understand a single word from him either.


    Luna slowly dropped her arms. “A-Are you al-”


    The angel immediately threw a chair at her.


    “W-Wait!” Luna exclaimed as she crouched and covered her head with her arms. “I-I’m not gonna hurt you.”


    The angel responded in Russian before throwing another chair at her. Of course, Luna jumped out of the way causing the chair to fly past the door. Nathan quickly turned to Kaede who already conjured several icicle daggers.


    “Hold.” he said, raising both his hands in a stop motion.


    Kaede squinted her eyes as another chair flew past the door.


    “She’ll be fine.” he added, swallowing part of his anxiety.


    Inside, Luna continued to plead her case with the kids though the angel’s reply always included an object being thrown her way. This exchange went on for a few minutes with Luna showcasing a surprising amount of stamina to be able to dodge all of the projectiles thrown her way while Nathan was quite… preoccupied with an increasingly impatient Kaede.


    Then… A break happened. After running out of liftable objects to throw at Luna, the children retreat to one corner of the room, the boys shielding the girls with so much courage.


    “It’s ok.” Luna spoke softly, approaching slowly. “I don’t want to hurt you.”


    Both boys grunted as the angel used his magic to grab a broken piece of a wooden chair. The human boy caught the wooden piece before brandishing it at the young lady.


    In response, Luna stood still and raised her hands. “Ok. Ok. Please calm down. We’re not going to hurt you. Do. You. Understand? No. Hurt. Not. Monster.”


    Both boys responded in Russian before the human charged forward and began hitting Luna several times with the wooden piece.


    The young lady instinctively shielded her head as the boy was just going to town with her to the point that the young lady had to crouch into a bracing position in an attempt to limit the damage.


    Hearing the commotion inside, Kaede raised her icicle daggers before taking a step forward.


    “Hold on!” Nathan said, blocking the way. “Let’s not escalate the situation.”


    “Your friend is being attacked inside.” Kaede replied, taking another step. “I can hear her being hit with a blunt weapon. We must act or is your pride too great to the point of risking your friend’s life?”


    “I’m nowhere near as prideful as you, that’s for sure! But I’d like to believe that Luna will pull through!”


    Kaede grumbled for a moment before brandishing her icicle daggers. “Do you think you can stop me?”


    Nathan sighs as a response. “Maybe. Maybe not. But I’d be damned if I don’t try.”


    The young man then brandished the scissors at Kaede. I’ll admit that I chuckled at the scene. Those scissors would have done very little to impede the very determined Kaede. It was amusing to see a young man who knew he had little hope of besting a spellcaster like her. His bravado actually made me reminisce of a bygone era in my life… How naive and bold I was in my younger years… And stupid too.


    Luckily for everyone involved, the ratkin stepped forward. Though the angel tried to stop her, she placed her hand on his arm before lowering it. She shook her head and spoke to the angel for a moment.


    As the two started a dialogue, the human boy stopped his attacks and joined the conversation from time to time. There was some back and forth between the three while the human girl simply stood behind the ratkin like a shy puppy. Luna noticed this change and slowly lifted her head though I doubt she understood a word, she seemed to have enough perception to feel the atmosphere.


    “U-Um…” she said, standing up slowly with her hands still raised in a surrender pose. “P-Please we’re… not… here… to hurt… you. Friends. We are friends. We’re here to help.”


    She then mimed holding up a shield before turning her back on the children. If I was her teacher, I would give her a grade of 75 for her attempts. They were good enough to pass a simple message along but, in the end, that would depend on the recipients and the kids were quite confused. I’m not even sure they even realized what she was trying to mime.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    The ratkin approached the young lady, eyes filled with curiosity. She tried reaching out her hand but the rodent mystic took a step back. In turn, Luna pulled her arm as the unmistakable sound of a grumbling stomach echoed around the room.


    Oddly, there was a three-second pause amongst everyone, as if that single grumble was some kind of omen. Or at least that was what I thought within those three seconds as the children all turned to the purple-haired one, who was seemingly so embarrassed that she crouched down and covered her stomach with her legs and arms.


    “Oh!” Luna uttered, remembering the bowls and pot from earlier. “Are you hungry?”


    She then brought out the chocolate bar from her pocket and stretched her arm forward. “Here. Food. Yum. Yum.”


    The children turned to the young woman once more. They looked at one another as the ratkin began reaching out for the chocolate bar. Immediately, the boys, in a rather aggressive tone, said something to the girl, stopping her attempt mid reach.


    “No. No. Uh…” Luna said as she turned to her two companions standing against the doorframe. “Nathan. You have more of these chocolate bars, right?”


    “What?” he replied, turning his attention from Kaede to the young lady. “Oh. Right. I have a few more. Yeah.”


    With a nod, Luna turned back to the children before taking a bite off the chocolate bar. “Mmm. Food. Good. Yum.”


    The ratkin then spoke to the angel with a much more gentle tone as Luna took another bite from the chocolate bar before repeating the words she spoke earlier. The human boy then stepped forward and joined the conversation. There was a back and forth between the three while the human girl hid behind the ratkin, stomach still growling. Eventually, the human boy pointed to himself as he quickly turned to Luna and snatched the chocolate bar from her hand. The angel tried to reach out to the boy but the human had already taken a bite.


    It started out as a few slow and methodical chews before getting faster and faster. The first bite took him around twenty seconds of chewing before he swallowed, the second took half that time, the third cut another half, until he was devouring that chocolate bar as if he was the one whose stomach was growling a moment ago. He then turned around and, with teeth filled with chocolate, he smiled and seemingly gave his approval to the other children.


    The ratkin, with the human girl in tow, approached Luna and reached out their hand, seemingly asking for another. In turn, Luna smiled and nodded. “Nathan. Give me three bars but move slowly.”


    “Right…” Nathan replied as he complied with Luna’s command. “... Here.”


    Flashing her best smile, Luna offered the chocolate bars to the three remaining children. The ratkin and the human girl accepted it but the angel was still apprehensive to which the human boy was more than happy to take his share.


    The tension in the room was almost gone though the angel still had his guard up but as he watched the other children enjoy their snacks, his stomach couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous as it made its opinion known to all in the room. The sound of another grumbling stomach caused the children to chuckle for a moment as the angel grumbled in embarrassment.


    Luna chuckled for a moment as she asked for another bar from Nathan, who already had another bar at the ready. “Here. Come on. Don’t be shy. It’s good.”


    The angel still continued to hesitate until the ratkin grabbed him from behind and pushed him towards Luna, all the while speaking something to the boy. Now much closer to his stomach’s object of envy, the angel stared at the bar for a good two seconds before the ratkin grabbed his arm and proceeded to guide his hand towards the food.


    With his hand hovering over the chocolate bar, the angel grabbed it and took a tiny bit off it, chewing it ever so slowly with his eyes closed. Upon swallowing that tiny portion, the angel finally dropped his guard and began munching on the chocolate bar. Though he tried to hide it, if you look closely in his eyes, you can see the absolute joy in them. I mean, what child would reject sweets right?


    With the situation diffused, Nathan turned to Kaede with a smug look on his face. “See?”


    Kaede frowned and closed her eyes before letting out an annoyed sigh. “... Fine. However, we must still find a way to make contact with Command and regroup with Tacio-san.”


    “We’ll get to that but for now, let’s keep this atmosphere up for a bit longer.”


    “... I will give you all five minutes.”


    Kaede then walked back towards the hallway where she sat down and meditated.


    “Huh…” Nathan muttered to himself. “Didn’t peg you to be a buddhist. Then again, given your personality, no one would.”


    As the children finished eating their respective chocolate bars, Luna stood up and pointed to herself. “Name. Luna. Luna. What is your name?”


    The children looked at one another for a moment before the ratkin stepped forward.


    “Nataliya.” she answered as she lightly tugged the human girl who was still hiding behind her.


    “...S-S-So-So-Sofiya.” the human sheepishly said before hiding behind Nataliya again.


    Luna then turned to the boys who were still hesitating though Nataliya saw to that. For all intents and purposes, this ratkin had become the children’s representative of sorts. After about a minute of conversation, the two boys finally face the young lady.


    “Mikhail” the angel answered, followed by the human. “Sasha.”


    Luna smiled and nodded as the tension in the room eased. She had about a minute or was it two of relief before her senses triggered again. “Ha! No!”


    Nathan turned to the young lady. “Luna? What’s up?”


    “Those things are coming!”


    Right on the cue, the building began to shake as Kaede ran inside the room. “Get ready! The Lost have returned!”


    “The Lost?” Nathan responded, conjuring a fireball. “It’s those monsters, right?”


    “Yes!”


    “Alright. Looks like it’s time to rock!”


    Realizing the danger, Mikhail and Sasha joined Nathan and Kaede in barricading the hallway. Cabinets, tables, chairs, these furniture formed the bulk of the various makeshift cover and barricades that plug the hallway. They impressively coordinated their efforts and finished up the makeshift barricades in less than five minutes despite the language barrier. The four then position themselves on the far end of the hallway, close to the door that led to that dead end room with the girls.


    Speaking of the girls, Luna positioned the ratkin and human towards the corner of the room closest to the door. She then crouched down and closed her eyes, putting all of her concentration in sensing the incoming threats.


    “Ten are about to break down the main door!” she said as the building shook. “They’ll be by the door in that playroom soon!”


    Kaede readied her icicle bow, Nathan conjured his fireball, Mikhail floated several random light objects around him, and Sasha picked up a wooden board as the creatures began violently banging on the door.