Curse the Mainframe! 370 Not Hurt?

Dominique stared blankly at Elias, who was still carried bridal-style in his arms, utterly confused.

Not hurt?

Was he hearing things wrongly?

Suddenly, the worry and confusion warred within him, causing him to stop in place.

The magic that he'd gathered up to frantically dash out of the place dissipated, and he took the time to seriously study Elias, looking at the place the dagger was still inserted in the Cher's chest.

There was a helpless expression on Elias' face, and it was slightly sheepish, as if he was sorry that he had worried Dominique.

Elias carelessly plucked the dagger out and waved it in front of Dominique's face, showing him that he really was fine.

Dominique put Elias down, now more confused than ever. He could smell the blood in the air. That wasn't his imagination.

He had clearly heard the sound of steel entering flesh, but Elias wasn't hurt at all?

In this moment of confusion, he ripped apart the shirt that Elias was wearing. The buttons went flying about as he made to confirm that Elias wasn't hurt.

Elias stifled the unmanly squeak that was about to leave his lips, resisting the urge to cover himself like some maiden.

Uh… they were both male, so why did he suddenly feel an onset of shyness?

Dominique stared at the smooth, unblemished flesh that was presented in front of him. The man indeed wasn't hurt, and he didn't even have a scratch on him at all. But there was a small amount of blood on his chest where the dagger had went in.

For the time being, he ignored the physical look of the man's body, instead just meticulously checking him over for wounds or cuts.

He prodded the chest, but there was only smooth skin.

The dagger had gone in, but exited without making a wound? Dominique's hearing might not be as good as his Boss' but he was confident enough in it that he knew what it sounded like.

Yet, there was truly no wound on Elias. It healed that quick? Even Sins didn't heal that quickly! Unless there was someone who was a Support type who was skilled in healing, their natural regeneration was still slower unless they had many targets around them.

Dominique took the dagger from Elias' hand, staring at it. There was a bit of blood on it, but Elias indeed wasn't hurt. He frowned.

Elias hurriedly stopped Dominique before he did anything. The man looked like he was about to strip him to check that he was really unwounded everywhere else.

The Cher grabbed Dominique's hand, stopping him. Dominique stared at him with a frown on his face, breaking from its normal stoic looks.

"Elias." His tone was cold, like he would not take any dissent from the Cher.

"Dominique," Elias repeated just as dryly. "Trust me. I'm not hurt. At least, not any longer."

Dominique's frown didn't lighten.

The panic he felt earlier was much more than he had ever felt for anyone or anything in his life. It made him wonder how he had already gotten so attached to someone that he had just met.

Just because they were 'lovers' now, it was only in name.

How could this man just casually take a dagger like that for him?!

After all, they had only met a few scant hours ago. Yet, Dominique had been shaken when he saw Elias take the dagger for him.

Before that he'd been just taking Elias almost as a novelty in his life – he hadn't invested any deeper emotions into the man, just using him to satisfy his curiosity and interest instead.

Yet, there had been something that unravelled from the tightly wound spool that he called his emotions when he saw the man take the dagger for him without any hesitation.

Now, Dominique was a little lost on how to treat the man.

So, he hid everything as best he could. Before any more of the spool could unravel. He knew nothing about Elias.

Elias took the initiative to explain. "I'm a Defensive Magitype."

Just a few words from Elias shattered his composure just like that. Dominique glared at Elias. "So, you really did get hurt."

Elias looked a bit embarrassed. "Yes, but it wasn't to the degree that I could no longer withstand. And I'm not hurt anymore."

Dominique glared harder at him. For the first time in his life, what he really wanted to do was shake him and say, 'that's not the problem', but when he thought about Elias, who clearly didn't understand what he was feeling right now, he could only say, "Don't do it again in the future."

For once, he understood what Boss felt when he scolded him about how lightly he took his own wounds whenever he covered for Boss.

If Boss felt anything like how he did right now, then he was apologetic for it.

Elias tilted his head, confused. Why not? What if Dominique really couldn't take it? Would he have to stand aside and just watch it happen? He refused!

Dominique felt more annoyed when he saw this.

He had to keep a closer eye on Elias in the future. As a Meister, Dominique was almost invincible to those who were below him in ranks, but Elias wasn't.

"I'm a Meister. You aren't."

Dominique looked away, feeling a baffling sense of upset. No, this wouldn't do, he had to quickly get Elias to the Meister rank. Otherwise, he would not feel safe…

Elias stared at the man's frowning face, and he silently read between the lines. It meant that Dominique was worried about his wellbeing, right?

A soft smile crept up on his face, which Dominique caught.

"Why are you smiling?"

Elias shook his head. "Nothing."

Dominique frowned.

Elias got up, grabbing the dagger from Dominique. He wiped his blood off it, looking at it.

It wasn't a normal dagger, and the blade instead had a bit of a wave to it, and the handle appeared ordinary, but there was a hidden compartment that would allow for a small needle to be stored.

Prying it open, he noticed that the needle was the same as the one that had been shot at him by the orange-haired woman earlier. Making sure that he didn't prick himself, he tried to identify the poison that had been injected in the hollow of the needle, but there were no distinct characteristics.

Elias placed it back inside carefully.

Having taken care of the immediate problems, he walked towards Dallas Biggs, who was collapsed on the ground.

The main reason why he had infiltrated this place was because one, the man had taken an interest in him, and Elias had no intention of allowing a latent threat to hang around him to strike when he was unaware.

And two, the man had a similar last name as the person who had hurt his friend previously.

For the last reason, Elias was looking into possible leads about 'the company' for Alec, and this man was one of them.

Elias looked at his face, and he found that the man did not look anything like the man he had previously seen.

The last remaining vigilance in his heart relaxed a little. Reason two was out.

So, the man had only taken an interest in his craftsmanship and wasn't looking to harm him secretly, or he was acting on orders from 'the company'.

However, the longer he was here, the more inconsistent things he found. First, the people here all looked like they'd lost their souls, and secondly, the two women who had attached themselves to Dallas had not been ordinary at all.

Their actions spoke of training. Long, extensive training, at that.

In addition, the orange-haired woman had been able to deftly react and were decisive enough to abandon a target to team up shortly after she realized that she was not going to get anywhere soon with Elias.

Everything was very inconsistent with Dallas Briggs reputation as a wealthy noveau riche that liked to flaunt his wealth.

Right now, Elias was leaning towards Dallas Biggs being associated with the company.

Elias grabbed Dallas Briggs and dragged him by the foot to the man's bedroom.

Dominique glanced at him before he walked to the two women and secured them.

The Cher was just about to strip the man when Dominque appeared next to him, stopping him from stripping him.

Stunned, Elias looked at Dominique with confusion.

Dominique didn't say anything. Instead, he just silently stripped the man with great disdain written plainly on his features, dropping him on the bed.

He then wiped his hand on the bedsheet in disgust.

Elias smiled at Dominique, who huffed and turned his head away.

The bespectacled man pulled out some taut rope and quickly tied the man to the bedpost after ensuring that he would not be able to move.

Dominique's lips twitched in amusement when he saw this move.

Why did this seem wrong…

Elias was about to pull out a vial to wake the man up when Dominique handed him a set of clothes.

The two of them changed, and Dominique opened his mouth to speak.

"Do you need my help?"

Elias paused, stunned. Dominique's low, almost hoarse voice that was perfectly manly was replaced by a cool, refreshing tone that sounded a little sweet. It reminded him of those noble young men who had yet to see much of the world.

His lips twitched before he shook his head.

"No."

Elias' lips twitched again. His own voice had been changed into something discreet and hard to place. It would be hard to accurately recognize this voice. If they listened to a hundred males, it was possible that eighty of them would roughly match this sound.

Chapter end

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