Yeah, no. This wasn't something you were gonna avoid.

You quietly excuse yourself, claiming you had something to look into, and go out into the courtyard until you reach the people there.

Now less than ten feet in front of you, four students, though it was a stretch to call them as such since they looked older than you, surrounded an elvish girl. She trembled at the sight of the students, and looked at you with dread, doubtless thinking you were going to be yet another name in her long list of tormentors.

You didn't need your high perception to figure out what was going on.

In your experience, chance meetings between strangers, which only interest people for a moment, tended to happen before a word is said. This was the situation you were in, once again. Though it undoubtedly annoyed you, a greater part of your mind longed to finally get into a fight again.

Of these men; the second, third, and forth scummy-looking bastards neatly fit into a stereotype— as natural minions that would followers. You imagine you would be able to push them around and scare them off if you were confident enough about it; which you were.

However that choice was ultimately stopped by the presence of their 'leader'.

He was first of these guys. And he was, in contrast, foolishly arrogant and certain in his own understanding of things. In your eyes he was all but begging for a punch in the face. His entire demeanor fit into the role he was taking; spoiled, the type that always expected things to go his way, and one bad insult away from throwing a fit. The mocking smile and sneer slapped on his face completed the picture.

Said leader stopped hurling insults and threats towards the elf girl, squinting his eyes at you for a second.

"Huh, you got something to tell us, old timer?" Was what one of the underlings said. He was, again, clearly older than you. The immediate aggression his leader showed towards you, though it lasted a mere second, spread to the others; where they were once content to simply harass some elfish chick now shifted towards dealing with whoever dared threaten this victory away from them.

"Hey, hey!" The 'leader' of this group said. "There's no need to start on the wrong foot. We're just here, pfft, 'helping' this lady fit in. She looks like the type that needs a reminder of what her place is, don't you think?"

You could tell he wanted to be conciliatory, which was honestly pretty surprising, given how these things usually go. Though his act was ruined multiple times; the clear scumminess of his smile, and the perversely spiteful leer he gave towards the elvish girl, all pointed to something you were more familiar with.

Also the fact some of them clearly had some artifacts on their persons. Swords and wands with attack spells loaded in them, according to Appraisal.

You shook your head. "I didn't wanna get involved, but I can't let this sort of thing happen under my watch. If any of you are smart, you'll stop right now." You give them an out.