Binary Soul

> Guard Captain Olboun PoV <

I finally recovered from missy's dreadful attack.

Lil' Ellie is particularly brutal.

Okay, calm down me.

Time to show off the dignity of my office!

"Well as I was tryin' to say.

That lil' incident a few weeks ago raised a lot of fuss.

A great big somethin' falls out of the sky and what do those folks do?

Complain. About ol' Crackhead here. I mean she probably saved their freakin' lives." (Olboun)

I shake my head in disbelief and give a shrug.

I look at the girl in question with a calm expression.

"So ya crushed a church or two, big deal! No one got hurt and the crown's footin' the bill so we're all good.

It's just a K-12 violation, so at most we were gonna hold ya fer a days." (Olboun)

She's been blamed fer worse and it's always hot air.

The investigations are always a waste of time and resources.

But protocol says we gotta at least pretend we’re lookin’ at these cases.

"Anyway, we confiscated yer stuff fer ya since the inn complained. It's in the usual place." (Olboun)

I glance down at the documents on my desk.

Ugh, I have to finish this paperwork by today.

"Actually Olboun, I had one more thing to talk about.

I'm going to register Ellie as my disciple in the guild, can you processes the papers?" (Crackhead)

"Ohoho! Is that so?" (Olboun)

This troublemaker finally a friend!

Or should I say, as expected of 'the city where anything can happen' ?

Maybe she'll finally be able to settle down.

Haha, such a day won't come though.

"Alright, gimme a sec." (Olboun)

I dig around my desk fer the right form. It's just a few short questions but it's important fer immigrants.

* * *

After about ten minutes, the results are....

------------------------------------------------------------------

Background confirmation form BG-K

Name: Ellie

Race: Felis

Sex: F

Age: 17

Hair: Blue

Eyes: Red / Blue

Special features: Cat-like eyes

Birthplace: Unknown

Father: Unknown

Mother: Unknown

Siblings: Unknown

Spouse: None

Known affiliations: Kiressara mil Quasse

Previous offenses: None

Character evaluation: Unexpectedly mean. Merciless. Good kid overall.

Inspector: Guard Captain Olboun, Runetap

------------------------------------------------------------------

Yup, nothin' out of the ordinary.

Actually, I never heard of these 'Felis' fellas. Maybe she fell out of the sky too? Well it's none of my business anyway.

I put my stamp and signature on the document and hand it over to lil' Ellie.

She looks it over and stares at me with doubtful eyes.

"... is this okay?" (Ellie)

"Is what okay?" (Olboun)

"Well, some of this is a little..." (Ellie)

"Ah that, it's fine. This is Runetap ya know? We get kids like ya all the time.

Nobody really reads these anyway, they just look at the stamp.

Besides, me and Crackhead will back ya up if someone complains." (Olboun)

My word carries a lot of weight ya know? If I say yer a "good kid" then nobody will mind it.

I got an eye fer people, and I can tell Ellie and Crackhead treasure each other.

I'm curious about her face, but I'm not going to ask her to remove that mask. Might be some horrible scars underneath.

"He's right, Ellie. It's pretty hard to confirm all that stuff anyway.

I don't agree with the 'Character evaluation', but it's THIS person, so just let it slide..." (Crackhead)

"Urk, Crackhead, please, spare me from any more today..." (Olboun)

This girl backs me up with one sentence and ambushes me with the next. She's harsh like usual.

Well, I know she doesn't really mean it. Probably.

"By the way, Olboun, could you stop using that awful nickname already?!" (Crackhead)

Ah, it's this argument again.

I can't help it ya know, it's already a habit.

"I agree with Kira. That nickname is rude." (Ellie)

Ellie backs her up as expected, huh?

What's with that monotone though?

Oh? Actually...

Hmm, that one's not bad.

It's oddly fitting. Let's borrow it.

"All right, then how about I call you K-" (Olboun)

The words freeze in my throat.

No, actually, they were caught.

By Ellie's iron grip.

She's crouching down on top of my desk.

When did she even-

"Hey, Old Boisterous Uncle." (Ellie)

Her voice is dripping with ice.

What is this pressure?

"There's a limit to being cocky." (Ellie)

T-t-those eyes!

The vertical pupils are narrowed into thin lines.

It feels like they're staring into my soul!

"If I find out you dared to sully Kira's name with that filthy tongue-" (Ellie)

She holds up a small black blade.

Where did that even come from?

"-or that you called her anything other than 'Madam'-" (Ellie)

She presses the flat of the cold blade against my cheek.

"-then I shall immediately remove the offensive organ." (Ellie)

Cold sweat is pouring out of me.

This girl is serious!

"Are we clear?" (Ellie)

"Y-y-yy-" (Olboun)

It's hard to breathe! I can't answer! I'll be killed at this rate!

"Are. We. CLEAR?" (Ellie)

"YES!" (Olboun)

"Good." (Ellie)

I'm released, but my breathing won't calm down.

Ellie jumps off my desk

"Come Kira, let's go get your stuff!" (Ellie)

"Hiii! I mean, okay..." (Crackhead)

She calmly walks towards the door.

As if the previous atmosphere was a joke.

What's wrong with these people?

"*cough cough* Hey! *cough* Hold on a second! *cough cough*" (Olboun)

Are they planning to just leave after that?

I may be easy going but this is too much!

"Hey! Cra-" (Olboun)

*Ffwit THUD*

Something just flew past my head and embedded itself into the wall behind me.

"MADAM! I MEANT MADAM!

I'M SORRY! I GOT COCKY!

IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN SO PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" (Olboun)

I reflexively groveled.

I'm bowing my head so low I think my neck will break.

I don't dare look up.

I can feel those eyes crushing my heart.

"Good." (Ellie)

*Slam*