Chapter 307: Chapter 307 : No Child Should Speak Like That (But She Tried To Blow My Head Off)

The fight continued as Jax watched the two girls in action.

Lavinia was playing with her enemies. Slicing their throats with short daggers and precise movements that looked more like a dance than combat. Every kill was clean. Every step calculated. But nothing about her fighting told Jax why the system had flagged her level as beyond his reading.

Then there was Delphine who was taking out her anger on the poor monsters. One troll had more than fifty arrows sticking out of its body and was laid suspended in the air because the arrows themselves had become its platform. Pinned to a tree like some grotesque art installation.

Delphine even deliberately missed a scared goblin that was trying to flee. Instead her arrows hit the same tree behind Jax over and over and over until the trunk gave way from the impact and started falling directly on top of him while he was busy writing scores on his sheet.

She did it on purpose. And had a smile to prove it.

But her efforts went to waste when Jax casually walked out of the trajectory without even looking above him. As if falling trees were just Tuesday for him.

He said while still writing. "Minus ten for Delphine. For that precision."

She clicked her tongue and moved toward him. Without looking at his face she said. "You won’t be lucky next time."

Jax ignored her.

She added. "I don’t know what trick you pulled to survive my mother for now. But soon your luck will run out."

Jax switched from emotionless to teasing in under a second. "I didn’t pull any trick. It was your mother who sent me back to the academy herself. She even prepared her royal carriage for me. Along with breakfast."

He shrugged. "Maybe she liked my company. But I would like to apologize for refusing her advances. I know she might want me to be the king when she becomes queen. I know she wants me to be your new father."

Delphine’s fist was shaking.

"But I would have to refuse all of that. Just because I have already pledged my loyalty to someone. I have already been marked."

Delphine clenched her jaw and walked away. "Keep that filthy mouth running, Professor. I’ll bury you so deep that even the one you’ve pledged your precious loyalty to won’t find enough of you to mourn."

After some time, the horde of weak monsters was cleared by the two girls easily. The ground was littered with goblin parts and troll remains.

But as soon as the last fleeing goblin took a blasting arrow to the back of its skull, its dying scream echoed through the forest. And that scream brought something unexpected.

A tiny dragon child.

[An illustration of her has been attached in the comments.]

She looked around five or maybe six years old. Peeking from behind the bushes. Completely scared and exhausted. Her little body was trembling.

Jax caught her hiding and noticed the tiny visible leg poking out from the leaves. It was bleeding.

Seeing Jax stare, the other girls followed his gaze and found the child. Whose expression shifted from fear to anger. And that anger was growing with every step Jax took toward her.

Athanasia spoke up for the first time. "Don’t be stupid, Professor. It’s dangerous to go anywhere near that child."

Jax ignored her and continued walking.

The child said with those angrily adorable eyes. "If you take one more step I will blast your head off."

Jax kept walking. A green mana ball shot from the child’s tiny hands directly at him. He dodged it without breaking his stride and reached her in seconds.

The child squeezed her eyes shut in fear. But Jax was already on his knees, tying his handkerchief around the bleeding leg.

"No child should speak like that. And violence is a big no-no. Understand?"

The child protested in confused anger. "What are you doing?!"

Jax stood and pulled out an emergency healing potion from his inventory. "If this potion works in this world, your injury should heal in a few minutes."

The child refused immediately. "I know it’s a poison! I know you’re here to kill me or abduct me!"

Seeing the opening while her mouth was wide open from yelling, Jax tipped the bottle and filled her mouth with the potion.

She struggled. Gargled. Tried to spit it out. But Jax closed her mouth with one hand and pinched her nose with the other so she would have no choice but to swallow.

After a few seconds of struggling for air, she swallowed it.

Jax let go and said. "There we go. See? That wasn’t nearly as hard as you made it out to be."

The child went into full dramatic mode, checking her body as if the potion had dissolved her limbs. "What have you done to me?!"

Jax said casually. "Poisoned you, obviously. Now you will die in a few seconds."

"Eep—!" Her tiny hands were frantically patting every part of her body.

"I can’t feel my legs!"

"Don’t overreact. That’s just the healing potion doing its job. Remove the handkerchief and check for yourself."

She followed his instruction and watched her wound stitching itself shut right in front of her eyes. Her face froze into a perfect O shape.

Jax said. "You will be perfectly fine now. So drop the tantrums and follow me. This dangerous place is not for a kid to be roaming around."

The child folded her arms showing full stubbornness. "I won’t fall for your traps! I know you will hand me over to that bastard king or stab me in the back like everyone else does!"

Jax said. "Fine then. I will take my leave since you still don’t trust me even after I used a valuable resource on you."

He turned. "Also, you can feed your tummy with the dead monsters we left behind. We brought our own yummy food."

At the mention of food, her mouth betrayed her completely. Hunger shining in her eyes so clearly it could be read from space.

Jax vanished from there. The four girls followed at some distance. Except Lavinia who was walking inches from Jax.

She said. "Professor, isn’t leaving that adorable little doll all alone in the forest a bit rude?"

Jax said. "Don’t worry. I know exactly how to deal with stubborn children. Give it a moment. She’ll either be following us or calling out to join."

Jax had been reading childcare novels recently. He had picked one up from the library just because he wanted to be a better father in the coming time. And his perspective about children was changing because of it.

He was waiting for her voice. And it finally came. But not the way he expected.

A scream tore through the forest. "Leave me, you bastards!"

Jax turned instantly. In the distance he saw a group of paladins on horseback. They were forcefully holding the child while suppressing her magic with binding runes.

One paladin said. "Finally caught this rat. Now let’s return to His Highness."

A voice cut through the forest like a blade. "Sorry to interrupt. But you can’t return unless you hand that girl over to me."

Jax stood in the clearing. Alone. Against fifty-plus armored paladins.

Another paladin said. "Are you trying to protect this witch?"

Jax was confused. "Witch?"

The paladin answered. "This isn’t a child, sir. She is the Witch of Eternity. The prophecy being who will bring this world to ruin."

Jax looked past the paladins at her face. Pleading. Tearful. A child who had been running from the world since before she could understand why.

He said. "I won’t say it again. Leave that kid. And I will leave you unharmed."

His grip tightened on his sword. "I already have enough sins on my hands. I don’t need another family left without a father. A husband. Or a son."

-x-X-x-

[A/N: Big thank you to Allen_Beavers, Leo_Muhammad, Philip_McEvoy, Outsxder, tony_adams_4787, Ordici_T, Jut_Beanz and Mario_1359 for the golden tickets, your support genuinely keeps me going! 🔥

Also Jut_Beanz really said golden ticket wasn’t enough and threw in a car gift on top 😭 thank you so much, appreciate you! 🙏

(👍🏻ᴗ _ᴗ)👍🏻]