Web of light. Part 2

"What's going to be number three, colleague?" Meruhi smiled tightly, but it was obvious that she was proud of her daughter. And Malcolm decided, showing the operator "two" on his fingers.

"Get ready!"

"One of the minor Shi."

"And that's not too much," Mother Kues suddenly became serious. "Children..."

"One "two" is quite possible for them." The "Scottish Baron" smiled politely.

Once again, two figures appeared on the battlefield: light, flexible, airy silhouettes, and deliberate smoothness of movement. The younger alves. Which immediately proved the advantage of intelligence over brainless strength and speed — a shield of dust and air successfully deflected Alexander's fireball into space, and immediately, taking off, struck... according to the Kues. He tried to hit her. Because the young sorceress, it turns out, was waiting for this: the classic Japanese blow-on-the-counter with the same air and stones literally sawed through the left figure, forcing the victim to expel his last, heart-rending scream from his lungs... very similar to the female one. Malcolm Jr. also made no mistake: an ice arrow pierced the second figure and literally pinned it to the ground: the temperature difference of the ice desublimated from the humid December air was enough to freeze the still-alive Shi to the ground. More precisely, still alive. The "elf" is just over a meter tall and has the proportions of a child: a head larger than a person of that height should have, huge black eyes ... an excellent adaptive appearance that allows these two spirits to successfully survive most meetings with people... and some male magicians.

"Don't kill... please..." The spirit suddenly spoke clearly, causing the boy, who was already ready to throw the second arrow, to lose his way. Exactly one second was how much the wounded target "bought" for itself, and then it, along with the "arrow", exploded into familiar smoking fragments.

"I'm sorry, reflex." Kues, who came up to Alex, who dispelled the spell, even put her hand on his shoulder — the younger Malcolm looked so upset. "I was taught that those creatures that speak should be taken out first. A dangerous opponent, especially for us."

The boy's mood began to improve rapidly — he started talking about something with Merukhi's daughter, but Khamish's discontent only intensified. Damn it! The little witch made a guy by all accounts. Not only that, but also not at the expense of superiority in strength, which is the most insulting thing! The willingness to kill is to kill quickly and efficiently, that's what the Japanese woman demonstrated. The product is, so to speak, a face. Yes, for such a girl, a hundred years ago, a quarrel could have been unleashed from the heels of the Old Families — moreover, the age, so to speak, has already come up. A black warm dress with a long skirt quite clearly indicated the presence of secondary sexual characteristics... and young Malcolm, no, no, and even glanced at these "beautiful hills." Damn, it's not the right time for all this fuss!

The Malcolm family, an old Scottish magical and chivalrous family, has been chronicling the Island since the end of the thirteenth century, when the land was granted to his ancestor as a reward for clearing the surrounding forests. Forests, huh! Fields of heather and rocks are all that remains of the mystical splendor and diversity of Old England... this is if you don't go into reservoirs. And into the swamps. And into the underground tunnels. Yeah, and to the catacombs under London. In short, magicians will not be left without work. Especially considering that there have been no more uncovered "hollow hills" on the territory of Albion in the entire history than the hills themselves... and more and more shelters continued to be found even now. Moreover, the damned creatures even improved their skills, effectively disguised themselves, and showed all the signs of socialization... They almost supported the Irish Resistance! chi-childbirth... And the Redbeards, too...

The "supernatural" situation in good old Britain was slowly but surely heating up — the number of skirmishes and problems grew year by year, the mages from the National Patrol doubled their number — and this is not counting the volunteer Squad deployed from thirty-nine Old Families, the families of noble magicians have not yet forgotten what they swore to their monarchs. And in such a situation, it was not very convenient to get involved with a renegade Japanese clan. It seems that while everyone is fighting, some people are running their own business... moreover, Malcolm had no one but himself to put in the "squad" from the Hemish Family. For the Old Families, the Jinguji clan, which was clearly trying to get into the number of British Families, was considered a bit "not a cake" — just a hundred and fifty years of a half-eyed family, and already there... That's apart from the amount of property and the steady flow of artifacts from the east to the Island and Europe. And artifacts are not just about money. These are the lives of weak magicians and the effective "fencing off" of problem areas and zones. The government of the European Union did not want to hear about any mysticism, only the strengthening of the Vatican and the Church was missing in the local soup with dumplings — oil, gas, Islamists and other entertainment of civilized Europeans. The government's demands were accompanied by financing and preferences — tax and land, but remove this headache as well, and the Jingujis are rapidly getting richer. And the matriarch of this impressive clan has a marriageable daughter growing up... and Alex has also managed to make friends with a witch! Clearly, it is worth indicating your intentions, as the squabble will begin immediately. The alienation status will be lifted from Ji... and stick it to the Malcolms. No, to lay hands on such a treasure as the daughter of the head would be simply wonderful... but they won't understand, sir, especially since marriage with a change of surname and descent is not even considered. And this is again a violation of traditions...

So Hamish "paused" without indicating his position in front of the guest, and she, in turn, without offering anything, took advantage of the opportunity to arrange "screenings" for the young baronet and draw conclusions from what happened at the training ground. There was no doubt that such "courtesy visits" would take place not only with them — after all, Kues was not studying in a vacuum, and she had enough British friends from the Academy. So it will be possible to decide in three or four years... The main thing was not to be late if the heir did decide, because it was clear that Kues and his son were close friends. Both were slightly "turned" on the research of the nature of magic — an analogue of theoretical physics for the mystical field. This subject was puzzling, abstract and philosophical... and it had about the same significance as the fundamental research that marked the beginning of the "atomic" era of mankind. Kues and Alex were both already engaged in science — their childish naive interest in the mysteries of nature was transformed into good scientific researchers, since the work was dusty and very honorable.

Malcolm realized that his son was "caught" when he caught the latter looking at photos of the younger Jinguji: during the filming, they made a whole bunch of them, and during the year the students actively "clicked" each other and posted on all kinds of Facebook. I even had to specifically raise the firewall in the school network and turn on the forwarding on the nearest cellular repeaters, otherwise especially advanced kids, having created the first "lamp" in their lives, tried to immediately post a photo online and brag. Children... They're the only problem. But there is nowhere without children. If only Bella were with him... They wouldn't stop at one child! And Merukhi has an amazing figure. For forty-year-olds. And you can't tell that she's over twenty-five. I just want to offer to spend the night in the castle... But you can't. Damn traditions and damn long ears are always ready...

"What a stylish place you have here!" Kues looked around with interest, trying to cheer up her friend who had slipped back into melancholy with funny comments. Dad had already conducted a light debriefing with him, and the results turned out to be much less comforting for the young heir to the barony. And a girlfriend, too... Kues... She showed such a clear class that it's a shame to look into her eyes!

"Hey, can you hear me?" the girl waved her palm in front of the guy's face and brought her face closer. "I'm saying, stop worrying about nonsense."

Alex's cheeks turned pink — the girl handled her personal space quite freely, and if she was in a hurry, she could grab her hand if a friend "slowed down". Nothing like that, just a temperament. But it feels good!

"I'm not w-worried." he tried to deny it, but it didn't do much good — Jinguji didn't believe him. Which she demonstrated by making a skeptical face.

"Boys! You're always causing problems. Well, they didn't train you like they did me, so why worry?.. Oh, well. What you won't do for friendship. Let's organize our "Squad" after the holidays!"

"How's that? The squad is already quite there."

"You freaks! Not from adults— but from children! We have a lot of goonies who would just like to fight, and if you offer them the idea of learning how to defend themselves, it's the right way!"

"Actually, they don't teach combat magic at the Academy..." Alex drawled, trying to remember if there was a ban on "combat" training.

"They don't teach... They stopped after World War II." Kues demonstrated commendable elaboration of the issue. "And dueling is prohibited, as well as fighting. But no one forbids you to create a circle and train yourself. And there are even halls with protection and a shooting range. At the same time, let's see what all the "Papuans" have learned in their Pampas!"

"That's how they'll show it... and they don't know a damn thing."

"They know something. And knowledge doesn't lie around on the road. And in six months you will please your father! At least I'll fix your reaction problem" the Princess has given her word!

Kues puffed out her cheeks comically and looked "proudly" at the younger Malcolm. Well, he could only agree. Moreover, this way they can be together for a little more time. There was a sweet ache in the pit of the guy's stomach...

..And Kues, staring out the window, was no longer smiling. The mother came to Albion instead of taking her daughter to Japan. And she also clearly hinted that the girl should think about European holidays. What's going on back home? She didn't even ask about Amakawa, as she had noticed last time that her parent was quite annoyed by this topic. Yu-kun, how is he? Goes to a regular school, does her own childish things and doesn't know about any magic? Is this really life?

Well, if nothing can be done, you'll have to put your worries out of your head and learn. Be strong. To kill the spirits. Don't turn your back on the enemy. Mom will be proud of her daughter!

"Malcolm! You boasted that you had Druid texts in your library!"

Admiring the girl standing by the window in the slanting, rare winter sunlight falling from the window, he could not immediately return to reality.

"And he didn't brag about anything! They are there. And you can even watch it before lunch! Let's go!"

Part 3.

Kuzaki's family had to arrange with Rinko's aunt to send a minibus to pick us up in order to transport all their daughter's friends. Since there was a minibus at the springs not just for beauty, but to carry people, and now is the season, we left inconveniently, at one o'clock in the morning. The driver wasn't particularly happy either, but he was friendly. However, the degree of happiness increased dramatically when we put Kaya in the front seat. Not just out of the goodness of my heart and to distract the driver, but in order to look carefully at the sides in the headlights — you never know, she will remember a familiar slope or find out something else. In general, while the guy was talking, squinting in the direction of the brownie, thoroughly retelling the principles of the internal combustion engine (zashiki-varashi was really interesting), we settled in the bus cabin wonderfully and with full dedication... They staged a poker battle! Well, what about it? You also need to rest sometime. We also invited Rinko's parents, but seeing me being torn to shreds by these furies, they decided to knock out the weakest player first, refused under a plausible pretext and dozed off in chairs all the way. I don't think you'll be surprised if I tell you that I was left without a single chip in just an hour? Then the girls looked at each other, moved their heads together and, after whispering about something, staged a card fight among themselves — it seems that the dispute was again revolving around the "checksum" of the chips. Heh, it's just been half a year since that birthday party story... but it seems like three years! It's amazing how compactly the "event feed" can fit in such a short period of time as a year. It hasn't even been a year since Rinko and I met Hiroe... what can we say about the fact that two Yokai are traveling with us, and we don't feel a bit surprised. However, the fact that Rinko's "friends" are not just people, except for us, no one in the car knows... otherwise, I don't know if Kuzaki's ancestors could have slept so sweetly, leaning back in the back seats, hehe. On the other hand, I seem to have already become quite imbued with the "Amakawa ideology" and habitually consider my two companions not as "potentially dangerous non-humans", but as "intelligent with enhanced capabilities". A kind of "living weapon" that looks like cute girls in a peaceful life. And no psychological discomfort! In general, if we divide the degree of danger, then the first place is generally for Hiroe. Our "director of analytics" possessed truly terrible weapons — brains and the appropriate skills! The ability to understand and analyze a person's actions, the ability to make predictions based on a built model with a high degree of reliability and in given circumstances. Besides, manipulating people, and now, by the way, not only them, which she is not shy about.

In general, in many books, and in manga, the line is often drawn that the Main Character suffers from his weakness if he is physically protected by strong comrades... And he suffers especially much if he is protected by women. Well, I don't know. In my opinion, it's better for the same Shizuka to go into battle, knowing that at the right moment the snipers covering her will not run out of bullets and batteries and that there is a base behind her where she can and wants to return. It's better than me admiring others by personally blowing enemies to smithereens, not caring about the rear and security. Perhaps that's the whole point — it's difficult to perceive a set of personal characteristics of an intelligent being as a strength or weakness. Actually, it's kind of a stupid tendency to talk about "power." The criterion is benefit! And speaking of benefits, taking into account the interests of all stakeholders within my sprawling vassal team could become a problem in the near future — it is necessary to provide conditions for everyone and find compromise solutions in case of conflicts (or objectively take the right side), and I cannot bow out. That is, I can, if according to the manga, Yuto uses clones in battle (oh Kami, it was necessary to send a contact fighter against the Kyubi flamethrower shooter!), but I doubt the ability of "clones" to transmit information like the "shadow cheat" from Naruto... In short, I need to find a HR specialist, or better yet, lay the foundation for a team, and I had the right person in mind who could pick such a team for me. Or recommend it.