Chapter 199: Interlude: Michelle
Michelle approached the tall beastkin man sent to investigate the destruction of her former way out of the city. Unlike most wolfkin, he had richly red fur and a rather gangly appearance. The only parts of him that seemed fluffy were his head and tail, but no, Michelle would not be tempted.
"Hello, I’m Ca- Lieutenant Michelle Tomcot," she greeted stiffly, offering an equally stiff arm for a handshake. She met his eyes and for some reason found a sense of familiarity in that purple gaze, which seemed slightly hostile... Or perhaps she was misreading the wolfkin. She’d never had to deal with those specific beastkin much.
"Kiryu Nasumi," the wolfkin showed his clawed hand apologetically, without shaking her hand.
After a moment, Michelle let her hand drop. If he didn’t seem keen on making friends, then she would be as professional as she needed to be.
"Did you learn anything?" she asked, looking at the precise shear that had passed through the ship at an angle, carving it and her hopes of waiting out the Heavenswar in comfort to shreds.
"Well, I have an answer for why the wards didn’t work," Mr. Nasumi said, with an awkward pause.
Michelle placed both of her hands behind her back. "Don’t keep me waiting."
"Well, whoever cut through the ship didn’t do it with magic," he said.
"That can’t be true," Michelle scowled. "I saw the beam of light myself."
"The wards would have activated if the beam had any magic in it," Mr. Nasumi continued. "So it’s not that magic wasn’t used, but more like what the magic created wasn’t magic itself. Like the difference between magic fire and true fire."
A scoff escaped Michelle’s lips. "What do you know of fire?"