Vatel, Kaler, and Hullie spectated Hassandra and Toz as they had a silent stare-off. But Hassandra soon opened her mouth, breaking it off.
"Did we do something to upset you? You seem a little ungrateful for someone who just got saved."
Toz realized that the Lightning Rascals didn't have any ill intentions when they interfered and started fighting the two robed figures. They simply didn't know that Toz and the cats were acting since they wanted to be underestimated and captured. Toz was still upset at the chain of events, but he couldn't exactly hold their ignorance against them.
"I guess you could say that. But I won't hold it against you since there's no way any of you could know that we didn't need saving."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes. Is there anything else?"
Toz raised an eyebrow at Hassandra's reaction since she seemed to have taken offense at his nonchalant but still generous dismissal of their transgressions.
"...Alright, fine! I don't care about that. I just want to know how you figured out my magic."
Toz stared blankly at Hassandra until sweat began showing on her forehead from the intensity of her pleading gaze.
"I didn't figure anything out. If you want to hide your wires, hide them properly. That's all there is to it."
Hassandra naturally wasn't satisfied by Toz's answer.
"What–!"
But before she could question Toz, he held up a finger and interrupted her.
"Why should I explain anything to you?"
"Because we saved you from those two!"
While talking, Hassandra gestured in the robed figures' general direction in a slightly frantic manner.
"Didn't I just tell you we didn't need any saving?"
"Urgh! And we're supposed to believe that? I'm sorry we wounded your pride, but it looked like you and your cats were on the verge of getting clobbered by a few rotten corpses!"
Toz was a little amused at how it looked like Hassandra was so frustrated she wanted to pull her hair out due to Toz's obstinacy. But he didn't show it on his face as he continued to glare at Hassandra.
"Ever heard of deception? All of that was a part of our plan. A plan that you four ruined, by the way."
Toz looked at the other three in turn after he finished speaking. Vatel and Hullie were respectable to feel at least a little shame. But Kaler met his gaze with a defiant attitude.
"And? What was your grand plan that hinged on you dying?"
"Does it matter?"
"No. Just curious. If you're willing to die for it, it has to be quite the plan."
"We weren't going to die."
As he spoke, Toz realized that the robed figures were merely restrained, not unconscious, so they could still hear what Toz and the others were saying. Before he continued, he isolated them with a tiny bit of darkness magic that prevented sound from reaching them.
The Lightning Rascals noticed Toz use magic and got ready. And when two bubbles of darkness covered the robed figures' heads, they almost dove at Toz since it looked like he had killed their prisoners. If he did, he would have lost them a significant amount of contributions. And considering what he had just told them, it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to seek revenge of some kind.
However, Hullie stopped his companions before they could attack Toz.
"Don't. He's not doing anything to them, just putting a bag on their heads."
Toz was a little surprised at how quickly Hullie figured out what he was doing, but he chalked it up to Hullie being a skilled and experienced mage, despite his looks.
The others listened to Hullie's words and quickly calmed down. Though it looked like Kaler was less than satisfied with Toz's actions as she frowned while looking at him. Toz ignored her feelings as he spoke again.
"As I was saying, we weren't planning on dying. Those two thought we were worth a pretty ransom, so they wanted to capture us after wearing us out with the horde of zombies."
"Really? Where are you from?"
Since none of them would recognize where he was from, Toz didn't bother coming up with a lie.
"City of Growing Iron, Firebelt Kingdom."
"At first, they looked at each other, confused since none of them had heard of a City of Growing Iron in the Transcendent Realm. But Hullie quickly realized what the second part of Toz's sentence meant.
"You're from the Mortal Realm?!"
Toz knew that they would be surprised, but not as much as they actually got. Toz didn't think his identity as a native of the Mortal Realm was anything to be shocked about since the proxy war should be filled with people like him.
However, the Lightning Rascals weren't surprised about only his origin. They were shocked by the strength he displayed without having a transcendent faction backing him. They couldn't tell what level he was, but they were certain he wasn't at the ninth level. Maybe he wasn't even at the eighth level. Yet he still displayed incredible skill and power with his magic, especially how he was able to see through Hassandra's invisible string. That was something neither of them could do.
The Lightning Rascals were self-aware enough to know that they had a lot to thank their birth for when it came to the strength they had reached. But in front of them stood someone who equaled them or maybe even surpassed them in some areas. But without the same kind of support they had gotten during their lives.
After overcoming most of their shock, the Lightning Rascals realized something else.
"But then you're not worth anything!"
Hassandra, Kaler, and Hullie stared at Vatel with scorn when they heard what he said. Even if it was technically true, it was so incredibly poorly worded they couldn't help but be embarrassed to be close to him.
"S-sorry. That's not what I meant."
Vatel realized his mistake and earnestly apologized so Toz couldn't stay mad at him.
"You're right, though. But they didn't know, and I was planning on breaking free before they found out."
