17 Invasion

"Derrick is not stupid. Just wait it out, he will definitely.. realize his mistakes in the future," Estelle consoled Minerva.

Even though the elder had lived for an astounding amount of years, hurtful words were still hurtful.

In face of a society that condemned you constantly for being alive, what could you do?

"Hope so! It would not be in my favor if he continues doing that forever. I've grown attached to Sierra, you see~" Minerva looked unaffected by everything.

"Indeed,"

Engaging in small talks, they were soon interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Enter," Estelle responded.

"Young lady, the lord wishes to see you," Lylia slowly closed the door upon entering and reported the news.

"Father? Now?"

"Yes. The lord had informed that the matter was urgent," Lylia curtly said.

"...Alright, tell him I will be there in a moment. You can go back now,"

"Understood, young lady," Lylia withdrew herself from the room, leaving the two.

Estelle glanced at Minerva, who casually waved her hand about. Estelle took that as a signal for her to acquiesce to her father's demands and nodded.

Estelle got off the sofa and left the room with a dejected face. She mentally prepared herself to be scolded.

The contents of the talk would probably not be that far from how it was improper of her to drag Minerva around with her during tutoring.

Not long after, Estelle successfully arrived in front of Alan's study. Giving the large doors a gentle knock, she only entered after receiving an "Enter" command.

Inside, Alan was sitting on the reclining office chair. He eyed his daughter with a stern look before letting out a sigh. It was unknown as to what the sigh meant, but Estelle's guesses were all for the negative reasons.

"Estelle, I had wanted to inquire about-" Alan's words were cut off by a loud, eardrum - shattering bang that invaded nearby.

Instinctively shielding herself, she cast a large barrier, making sure the membrane included Alan in it.

She knew that her reaction time was undoubtedly the faster one between the two of them.

Perhaps enacting such a high - ranked barrier was too excessive, especially when her father, who had never seen or even known that she was capable of doing so was currently present in the scene.

But then, what was she supposed to do?

Her father would have been caught off guard. He did not specialize in offense, he was more well suited to literature and paperwork. Although when compared to others, he had better means to protect himself from danger, the explosion was too close for their own comfort.

Screw laying low, if your own safety was at risk, why the hell would you still lay low?

The greenish barrier protected the room with prominence as none of the explosion's aftermath connected with Alan's study room's interior.

Not giving her a chance to slack off, another explosion soon followed. The surroundings that weren't covered inside Estelle's barrier had long turned into rubble. Small rocks and dust were now intermingling in the air.

[Earth affinity mage?] Estelle had launched a scanning magic and detected an abnormal power source only a 100 meters apart from them.

[Minerva, where are you?] Estelle contacted the crimson - haired Witch.

'It's not a human. It's a monster. Be careful. You are with Alan, right? Get Sheila while you're at it, I'll take care of the ones downstairs.' Minerva responded with calm. As if she was used to these kinds of scenarios, Estelle could hear her voice instructing the others downstairs.

This made Estelle feel a sense of ease, even though this unprecedented event was happening right before her.

The faint rumbling coming from the first floor made her heart beat with anxiousness as she could feel the mansion she called home falling apart.

[Monsters?]

"ROARRRR!!!!" A deafening roar, followed by a series of grunts and growls reverberated against the walls and created echoes all over the place.

'Remember the Intemerata? The Plains? These guys belong to there. Some call them 'The Strays'. There are not many of them, so I don't know why the hell they're here, but we don't have time to ponder upon that now. Take care of it, we'll converse later. I'm almost done with evacuating, meet me downstairs when you're done. Bring Alan and Sheila with you.' Minerva responded.

The roar must have been a marching chant, because right after the echoes ended, the room was blasted with another set of explosion.

"Holy hell, take your chill pill and go to sleep," Estelle maintained the everlasting barrier before a dangerous thought flashed across her mind.

Her mother!

Estelle widened the coverage for her area scanning skill, extending her search to Sheila's rooms and further beyond.

In her mind, she could feel a power source lighting up inside the room, but several abnormalities were starting to approach said room.

Saving the matriarch was not the real problem, how she was going to do it in front of her father was the question.

"Uhh... father, you are in a dream," Estelle smiled as she created a space rift and connected it with the space beside Minerva.

She kicked Alan's figure, who appeared to be in a trance, into the glaring oval gate.

[Sent him to you. Going to get mother now.]

'Wow, another dead weight! Well, actually, no but.. Tch, doesn't matter.' Minerva complained, but later on corrected herself.

Estelle was already right beside her mother by this very second.

How?

Space rifts were godly as long as you have visited the destination previously.

Screw running in a frantic state, you can just cheat the way and teleport! Near or far, it doesn't matter.

"Mother!" Estelle jumped out of the space rift and ran to her mother.

"Estelle, you- ngh!" Sheila grunted in pain. Only after redirecting her attention to her mother's lower body parts was Estelle able to find the source of the pain.

Her right ankle had a stone embedded in the vulnerable parts, which explained perfectly why Sheila was down on the floor and could not move.

Just by looking at the wound, Estelle grimaced. Having the tendency to imagine the wound inflicted on others be applicated to you as well was not easy. She hurriedly crouched down beside Sheila, mobilizing her mana to remove the stone.

Sheila was not capable of using healing magic, so Estelle was sure she had to step in.

She was able to detect bone fracture and excessive skin trauma. The blood flow had been clogged by the stone. When Estelle removed the object, blood immediately came spurting out of the wound.

Sheila, who cringed in pain, firmly gripped at Estelle's forearms.

Estelle knew that she had to work fast. Examining the wound one last time, she concocted her healing progress.

"Mother, this is all a dream," Repeating the same phrase she said to her father prior to this, she placed the stone carefully on the floor and cast a high grade healing spell right after.

The disfigured flesh quickly regenerated. To her favor, she had discovered the injury rather early, so Sheila had not suffered too much. The stone's placement also worked in her favor, as it didn't let a lot of blood come seeping out. Even for healing magic, blood was not able to be recovered and could only be assisted using a body strengthening magic, which Sheila wasn't too adept in.

The stone was probably the result of the barrage of debris that flew about thanks to the intruders. One of them might have hit Sheila by chance, although it was rather unlucky that it injured the essential bodily part for movements.

"Estelle..?" Sheila was taken aback, but years of living as a Duchess had sharpened her perception and decision making skills.

It did not take much for her to realize that this was a dire situation. Her daughter possessing powers of unknown origins should not be the primary question right now.

After giving her ankles a few stretches and turns, she was all ready to escape the scene.

"..!" Sheila was once again shocked by the existence of a space rift. Not even high court magicians could perform this magic, let alone a five year old noble child!

"A dream, a dream, I say! For now, let's just rejoin with Minerva," Estelle comforted Sheila by gently running her small hand through the adult's back and contacted Minerva once again.

[Minerva, I'm heading to your location.]

'Okay. You revealed your power?' Judging from how fast Estelle resolved the matters, Minerva concluded that she must've shown it to both of her parents.

[Not all, but yeah. What could be more important than safety?]

'Sure enough.'

After appearing right in front of the crimson - haired beauty using a space rift, Estelle immediately joined the two parents together and clasped her hands.

The so - called monsters were still busy wreaking havoc to whatever object touched their eyes.

"So, mind explaining from the very start?" Estelle probed, glancing at the rampaging creatures in discontent.

Minerva, who was now completely calmed down and on the upper side of the battle whistled as she shot down another monster with ease.