Seraphine coughed. She had tried to disassemble the rock wall as gently as possible, but it still produced a lot of dust. Thankfully, the cave walls around them seemed to be intact.
Once the rock wall came down, they could see a softly glowing barrier enveloping a group of huddled children, protecting them from stray rubble and large stone pieces.
They approached the children cautiously. However, noting the magic circle drawn on the cave ground, Seraphine held Armand's arm to prevent him from taking another step. Instead, she crouched down to meet the children's eye level.
The children looked to be under ten years old. There was a mixture of boys and girls, all with terrified but hopeful looks on their faces. One of the seemingly older girls, who placed herself at the front in a protective stance, met Seraphine's eyes. Her large brown eyes were trembling as she forced on a brave face.
Seraphine smiled gently. "Hi there, what's your name?"
"..Emma."
"Emma, my name is Seraphine. Would you like to come over here? We're here to take you home."
Emma's lips quivered. "Really? Are you really going to take us home? That man...he said no one will come and save us."
"That's not true. This older brother and I are here, aren't we? This is Armand, he's a holy knight. He'll protect you."
"A holy knight? From the temple?" The children started murmuring; their eyes shone with excitement. At times like this, a holy knight's noble reputation was useful.
Armand smiled and also crouched down. "Yes, that's right. Look, it's a holy barrier, can you see? Emma, could you take everyone across?"
Emma shyly nodded. The children slowly untangled themselves and walked across the magic circle, led by Emma. Fortunately, it did not seem to activate, although Seraphine had expected it after sensing its flow of mana. She did not want to take the risk of exposing variables such as Armand and her being in contact with the circle. She noted the peculiarity within the arcane composition, but she set aside her observation as the children remained a priority.
Sensing that help had actually arrived, the children were so relieved that most of them started to run towards them, wailing. Seraphine swiftly cast a soundproofing spell right before half of the children nearly tackled her onto the ground. Beside her, Armand also got his hands full as he hugged and soothed the children.
Relieved to feel the small, beating hearts and warmth of the bodies around her, she let out a sigh.
******
After the children calmed down, they took them back to the small chamber near the stream and sat around the arcane ember to warm up. Some of the children immediately fell asleep due to exhaustion after swallowing water and snacks. Seraphine bundled them in extra blankets she pulled out from the sub-space storage to prevent hypothermia.
They quietly discussed the situation and their options.
"We should teleport them back immediately. A lot of them are in poor health; we can't afford to delay." Seraphine said in worry.
Armand nodded. "I agree. How long does it take to prepare the teleportation circle?"
"Hm... for 6 children and an adult, it would be around 2 hours."
"...an adult? What do you mean?"
Seraphine shifted uneasily. "I think...I'd like to stay here and explore. If you go back with them..."
"Nonsense." Armand's tone was cold as he cut her sentence curtly.
"I'll be fine..."
"No." Armand's tone was calm but final. "I know you're strong, Miss Seraphine, but I can't honestly let you make that decision in good conscience."
Stubbornly, she stared at him. "There are many clues we must have missed in our hurry. If I do a bit of information gathering..."
Armand cut her off again. "We can go back to investigate after we ensure the safety of the children." And then, in a slightly gentler tone, he continued. "Also, there may still be more attackers outside. I'd need your help to protect the children."
"..."
Seraphine did not respond to his statement. Armand stole a glance and found her stubborn expression almost funny.
Seraphine sighed. "Fine. You're right, I'll come with you. It wouldn't change the 2-hour mark that much. But instead..." She looked around, and, finding the place appropriate, walked to a corner.
Taking out her folded steel fan, she pointed its end towards the ground and traced a magic circle. A bluish-silver light shimmered at its end, etching a perfect circle.
"Are you drawing a teleportation circle?" The circle seemed a bit small for 8 people.
"Not to send us outside, but to send us back here. It's for 2 people only and half the magic, so it shouldn't take me long."
That made sense. Teleporting with one magic circle, especially for multiple people, required a great deal of mana and mental imagery. One needed to be absolutely certain of their destination, even if they had been there before. Assigning a location coordinate would help, but there was no way of knowing that in such a place. Having two magic circles, each at the origin and destination, took out the mental imagery requirement.
A couple of minutes later, she was done. The children were still fast asleep. Seraphine re-focused her attention to prepare for the larger teleportation circle. She walked towards the centre of the room and started to trace it from the middle.
Armand stood up and watched her working from the side. Slowly but surely, the magic circle took shape.
"....it looks a bit different from the magic circle inside the room the children were trapped in." Armand murmured to himself.
Seraphine lifted her head, but did not respond so as not to disrupt her spell. She thought that Armand truly deserved his reputation as the youngest Holy Knight Commander. Even during that chaotic situation, as a non-mage himself, he managed to figure that out.
The circle was one of the reasons Seraphine wished to stay behind. She had seen that kind of sinister arrangement before, and if she was right, she knew who was behind this. Looked like the old woman Istaroth knew it too.
Armand sensed a change in breathing patterns and saw that Emma was awake. Clutching the blanket with her hand, she peeked at Armand and Seraphine, noting the large magic circle taking shape on the ground. Armand smiled and spoke in a gentle tone.
"Don't worry, the big sister here is making sure we can get back outside as fast as possible. How are you feeling, Emma?"
Emma coughed a little before answering. "I..I'm fine. It's not as cold anymore."
"That's good."
Armand slowly approached her and crouched down. "Emma, can you tell me how you ended up here?"