And quickly got dragged away, being placed into a rather forceful hug by the blonde woman.

  “Oh, little Aggy here used to stop by my old village all the time to read some books, isn't that right Aggy?”

  She quickly released her and flicked her arms when Agnes used her magic. “He'll find out eventually.” She whispered to the woman.

  Both squared up to each other, neither woman looking ready to back down. They both wore nasty faces. Tibaut couldn't hear them but they whispered things to each other under their breaths. But if the usually timid Agnes was acting like this, they must be very familiar with each other.

  “Are you two friends?” He asked.

  “No!”

  “No!”

  They answered simultaneously.

  “This woman is in her twenties yet still dreams about princes on white horses taking her hand when she doesn't even look good enough to be a concubine.” She shouted.

  “Last I checked you were the one that joined us because you thought you could use a change of pace in life when you had a cushy job as the village seamstress. I'd take looking like this any day than being a stupid bitch like you!”

  Agnes shouted back.

  Tibaut felt the temperature of the room drop and separated the two, managing to calm them down.

  “You two should ease up a bit.”

  “Fine.” The blonde said.

  “S-she started it.” Agnes weakly responded.

  As he looked at the two women sitting on beds on opposite sides of the room, he remembered words from their earlier argument.

  “Wait a second so you're not from here? (If she isn't then she probably doesn't have any stakes in this.)”

  “If you're curious, I'm from Lochdale but moved here after you saved me. If you'd like, I can show you around if you are interested in a trip.”

  “No thanks, I don't think I'm well-liked there.”

  She was curious what he meant by that but he quickly moved past that. “What do you think about the rabbit stuff going on in the village?”

  “Huh?” She couldn't help but be surprised at such a mundane question. (“Sigh, getting to have a conversation is a start. He does seem like a nice guy but if he's anything like that Ezekiel bastard, I would have wasted my time in this village for nothing.”)

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  While she had always wanted to show her gratitude to Tibaut for saving her, if he was a bastard, she wasn't going to waste her time. The only reason she stayed in this village as long as she did was because… well the old village chief let her stay without requesting anything shady, but when she got back on her feet, the murmurings of a kind redheaded man kept her in the village. Without that, she would have left for far more interesting scenery months ago.

  She snapped out of her thoughts and remembered the current topic.

  “Well, everyone here hates them. It's ingrained in them, as if under a spell. But I guess Barclay might be the reason for that. I don't think anyone here is as old as him, so he probably shaped the people here more than they think.” She answered as if only now putting serious thought into why the villagers were the way they were.

  Agnes pouted as Tibaut gave the blonde woman his attention.

  “Also, if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?” He asked.

  “It's Aine dear. (Hmm, now that I see him, he looks kinda young. Has some manners too, plus that nice red hair, I wonder if he's a noble.) And if you're wondering, I'm closer to your age than that overgrown girl is.” She pointed to Agnes with a smirk. “But I'm far more mature if you-” She had a few pebble-sized pieces of ice thrown at her, landing directly in her respectable-sized bosom. They smoked like dry ice and they certainly felt like it too.

  She quickly scrambled to get them out and took her shirt off in a hurry with Agnes quickly covering his eyes before he saw anything. As soon as the pieces of ice fell to the floor, Aine looked ready to brawl.

  “ENOUGH!” Tina shouted.

  She sprung over to them, grabbed both women and gave them a little tasing for their troubles.

  She quickly covered Tibaut’s eyes and shouted at Aine to put her shirt back on.

  “Don't you two feel ashamed acting like this over a man!?” She shouted.

  “Wha- Listen sister, you're acting like the kid would have died if he saw a pair” She used her hands to emphasize her breasts. “It's that bitch over there who you need to deal with.”

  Agnes seemed a bit nervous and shyly looked away.

  “Tina, I don't see what their beef has to do with me.”

  “Don't worry dear, I think she's just projecting,” Aine said in a rather haughty tone as if trying to annoy the Amazon.

  The room was in a mess, with parts of the room frozen, other parts with electric burns, and all the beds turned over. Hiding behind one of these beds was the pair of J and Tyler who looked like they witnessed a war.

  “I'll… be more careful with my words next time.” Aine looked untouched, which was frankly a miracle. Both Tibaut and Agnes had frizzled hair from a little of Tina's magic, with Tibaut also sporting a black eye, while Tina sat away from them at the end of the room. She had a busted lip and looked at Aine with venom.

  “Aine is it? Let's see how tough you are without that redhead around.” She also had some ice dust on her but that was made in reaction to her punching Tibaut. She ran her thumb against her throat and looked her straight in the eyes.

  With those words in mind, Tibaut decided he'd keep a close eye on Tina whenever she left the house.

  Agnes had a mattress on top of her, but with how busy she was catching her breath, he decided to leave it on her.

  He flipped a bed back on its side and the pair sat down. “Tina's, uh… don't try to annoy her, please. She's not as… gentle as Agnes.”

  Aines nodded and they continued what they spoke about from earlier.