The rest of the bloodbath went quickly, and Moerae found that although she herself sustained no injuries, there were too many Yoma about for her to protect the villagers from. Protecting the line of previous game-players didn’t go as well as the Claymore hoped; she’d lost one human, who’d been dragged off into the bloodbath, and another had sustained a fatal-looking bite to the shoulder that took what seemed like both flesh and bone.

“My child!” a father was wailing to the sky as Moerae flicked the blood off her blade. 

The wail cut off, and shuffling noises could be heard. Looking over just in time, the Claymore narrowly dodged the charging human, eyes wide as she watched the man huff, saliva and snot gathered over his face. His eyes, though, were livid with life — and rage.

“You! It’s your fault!” the man shouted, a trembling finger pointed at Moerae. “It’s your fault my Margot was killed! Why didn’t you do your job properly?”

The girl blinked, understanding that the accusation was directed at her, but not understanding why. Were humans all so unreasonable? The man was accusing her in an attempt to find someone to blame other than himself. He’d been the closest one to his daughter, and he was the one who’d failed to shield the girl from the attacking Yoma, yet it was now Moerae’s fault somehow. 

[i]I failed to cut down all the Yoma, yes,[/i] she thought, sheathing her sword as the man yelled in anger, preparing to charge again. [i]But I’m not omnipotent, and there’s no one to blame except the Yoma, and perhaps the world that we live in for being cruel.[/i]

The man ran at her, but Moerae was faster, dodging out of the way before her even finished his first step. But the man never finished; Raynald stepped back, a hand frozen at chest level as the human dropped, landing in a heap at the rank two’s feet.

“A firm hand is all you need to deal with them,” he told Moerae, dusting off his hands. He waved to the other Claymore. “Ansgar’s making his own plans again, and you should probably listen. You’re in them.”

Hearing Raynald’s words, Moerae quickly pinpointed where Ansgar was — it wasn’t hard since the Claymore in question exuded Yoki when he didn’t care enough to suppress it, the monstrous energy rolling off him as easily as light off the sun — and ran over, arriving within seconds. 

Ansgar was currently up in Gideon’s face, threatening the man. Moerae caught her name somewhere in the exchange — Gideon was to team up with her? What for?

“Oh, Moerae,” Ansgar said, an easy grin on his face as he sauntered over. “Don’t feel insulted that I’m getting you a bodyguard. It’s just that you’re new and rather inexperienced, and I have to make sure that you don’t die on me. The last female — well, she was no fun. Weak — almost as weak as a human,” he said, shrugging. “I got bored of her quickly — what fun is trying to tame the meek and submissive? — but you — you’re stronger, aren’t you?” he said, the same grin on his lips, except wider now. 

Moerae dodged out of the rank one’s way as he approached, mouth set in a hard line. This, she recognized. It was surprising to see that even the rank one was affected by such animalian qualities, but at the same time Moerae wasn’t too surprised. Many a Claymore retained unfavorable traits after their transformation, and Ansgar was evidently among them. 

“The organization didn’t order such an action,” she said flatly. Ansgar narrowed his eyes briefly, then relaxed again, his grin returning.

“Well the organization isn’t much fun, is it?” he asked, laughing at his own joke. “Well, I say this meeting is dispersed. Nice seeing you all, and meeting you, Moerae,” he said, waving a hand as he walked away. “See you all again — if you don’t get offed first.” With that, the rank one blinked into the wind, gone.

“I’d love to say that you should just ignore the idiot,” Raynald said, breaking the silence, “but you’d both best follow. Ansgar’s known for his temper, and his strength gets the organization to overlooks many of his unreasonable actions.” The rank two paused, sighing. “Good luck to the both of you.”

The rank two walked away as well, as did the rest of the group. Some cast curious looks as the left, while others looked rather amused at the whole thing.

[hr][@lazarus]