The keys glimmered under the light of the lantern, and Cecil blinked rapidly. She was hesitant, bending down to pick the keys up and it jingled noisily.

"Veau, th-this is..."

Veau had already laid back down on the bed, and he waved his hand in the air, as if telling her to move on. “You need me to say it out for you? They are the keys to your freedom.” 

“No, that’s not what I am--why are you helping me?” 

“No reason.” 

Cecil was bewildered, nevertheless, finding Hana was her priority now. She hastily unlocked the door, pushing it open and stepping out. She stared at Veau, opening her mouth to utter words of gratitude. 

She suddenly recalled Veau saying he hated hearing the words “thank you”, making her shut her mouth.

“You are still here?”

Cecil cleared her throat, turning around and walking on, until she heard the weak voices behind her, imploring her. 

“He-help me, please.” 

“Someone save me.” 

“Save us.” 

“Save me, please. I don’t want to die.” 

Cecil turned back around, her eyes growing wide. They weren’t the only ones locked up in the dungeons. 

***

Hana stared blankly at the dishes on the table in front of her, her hands remaining at the side, not moving to take the utensils to eat. 

“Hana? What’s wrong?” Leonaut asked, chewing on his food and he nudged the dishes closer to Hana, swallowing the food in his mouth. “Eat.” 

Hana crossed her arms across her chest, looking away. 

“You are not eating?” 

“Not hungry.” Hana harrumphed. 

Leonaut sipped on his drink, smirking. “Are you afraid we poisoned the food or something? Our cooks aren’t like that, they wouldn’t dare do that if they wanted to live.” 

“You are the bad guys, you kidnapped me and Cecil,” Hana huffed. “I am not hungry, and I will not listen to you.” 

At that moment, Hana’s stomach growled in defiance, and Hana glanced down at her tummy, pouting. 

Leonaut leaned in, resting his chin on his hand as he observed Hana. “The Hana I know would eat because she is hungry.” 

“I will only eat if Cecil is here with me,” Hana pouted, unhappy. “If my best friend isn’t here with me, I will not do anything.” 

“But if I bring her here, the two of you would try to escape again.” 

“Of course!” Hana nodded.

Leonaut laughed at Hana’s honesty. “Too bad, I don’t want that to happen.” 

“Why?” Hana questioned, blinking innocently. “Why do you want to keep us here so badly?” 

Leonaut leaned back, stunned at the sudden question. The smirk dropped from his face, and he frowned. 

“Or is it Cecil that you want to keep here so badly?” Hana probed, leaning in this time. 

The frown on his face deepened. “Wh-what?” 

“Because Xue likes Cecil,” she stated, standing up and pointing at Leonaut. “And you are Xue as well! So, you like her, and you want to keep her here!” 

Leonaut’s face twisted, her words making him experience a myriad of emotions. Those words, and what he was feeling, it didn’t sit well with him at all. 

“Boss!” someone cut into their conversation. “We are planning to start a pit fight with the mountain wolves, wanna watch and bet on it?” 

Leonaut turned, and his comrade noticed the odd look on his face. 

“What’s wrong with your face, boss? Why do you look like that?” 

“Nothing,” Leonaut glanced at Hana once more, before clearing his throat. “Who even started the pit fight anyway?” 

“Kuro.” 

His face darkened when he heard that name, knowing he was the same guy that sneaked into the room while Cecil and Hana were out cold. 

Hana sat back down, pouting, pushing the dishes away. Her stomach growled in protest, and she resisted the urge to wolf down the food. 

“I’ll watch, go on ahead first.” Leonaut waved his comrade away, standing up and walking to Hana’s side, grabbing her wrist. “Let’s go, Hana.” 

Leonaut didn’t feel comfortable leaving Hana alone. He wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted Hana by his side, or he was afraid Hana would run off and help to free Cecil from the dungeons. 

“Where are we going now?” Hana asked, discontented. 

“To watch a pit fight, with mountain wolves.” 

“A pit fight…?” Hana tilted her head. “What’s that?” 

“Something good.” Leonaut smirked. 

***

Cecil unlocked the last remaining jail cell, and the hapless man stumbled out, thanking Cecil profusely. Cecil remained indifferent, but on the inside, she felt disturbed. There were almost a dozen people trapped in the cells, and all of them seemed to be civilians. 

“How did you all end up here?” Cecil asked them.

“Thank you, milady, thank you. We were robbed and taken here.” 

“By Leonaut? He kidnaps innocent people like you?” 

At the mention of his name, all the civilians shivered, the fear reflected in their eyes. 

“It’s not him, but his people, they asked him if I can be brought back here for...fun.” 

“Yes, it was the same for me, his people dragged me back here.” 

“He…he doesn’t care if we are kidnapped or dead, he lets his subordinates do whatever they wish.” 

Cecil observed the wounds on their bodies, her expression solemn.  

There was a woman among them that had a large gash on her leg, and the wound seemed fresh. Cecil tore at sleeves of her dress, walking towards the woman and wrapping the torn part of her dress around the woman’s wound. 

The woman gasped, tears welling up in her eyes as she thanked Cecil, bowing repeatedly. 

“Don’t need to,” Cecil patted her shoulder. “All of you need to be tended by a healer as quickly as possible.” 

“Thank you!” 

“Stay here first, I will come down to bring you all out once it is safe.” 

Cecil coaxed them back into the cells, and she sighed heavily, walking onwards to find the exit to the dungeon. She passed by Veau’s cell, pausing and watching him still lying on the bed. 

Veau sensed her presence, rolling his eyes. “If the bandit comes running back to find the keys, you have to deal with that on your own.” 

Cecil proceeded to use the keys on the cell door, and Veau slowly sat up from the bed, observing her curiously. On her fourth try, she unlocked the cell door, pushing it open as it squeaked. 

“What are you doing?” Veau lifted his leg onto the bed, smiling lazily. 

“You said you hated the word “thank you”, and so to express my gratitude in another way…” Cecil gestured to the opened door, her voice lukewarm. “Even though I know you can escape anytime you want to.” 

“Is everyone from your world as interesting as you?” Veau raised his eyebrows.

Cecil stiffened, his tone sounded as if he was really eager to travel to her world to explore. Cecil knew how powerful Veau was, and travelling across dimensions didn’t seem so far fetched. 

Cecil immediately shook her head, but she halted.

Hold on, they say the more you say no to something, the more the person would want to do it.

Cecil quickly nodded in the end. “That’s right, but you will grow bored eventually, so don’t bother.” 

Veau hummed in agreement. “Finding your world sounds like a huge effort either way, it’s not worth my time. Having one of you here is enough.” 

Cecil forced a smile, nodding. 

Yes, please! So don’t ever bother to travel worlds even if it is possible! 

What was the author thinking creating such a character that is overpowered until this extent?!

Veau suddenly stood up, shocking Cecil, her heart thudding against her chest. 

Veau was an eccentric character, and from the few interactions they had so far, she knew Veau was rather capricious too. She wasn’t sure if he would suddenly change his mind and decided to jump worlds.

“The chicken should have been stewed well by now.” Veau muttered out, summoning out a portal with a wave of his hand, walking into it. 

Just like that, he was gone.

However, just to be safe, she called out to the system in her head. 

“AI500.” 

[ At your service, Cecil Lan. ]

“I’m...safe right? No travelling of worlds and no collapsing of worlds or warning?” 

[ There are no messages for you at the moment.
You are in the safe zone~ ] 

Cecil placed her hand on her chest, staggering back in relief. 

“Oh right, Hana!” Cecil gasped, turning as she started to run around, looking for the exit. 

***

Hana was unwillingly dragged by Leonaut to the pit fight area, and the scent of stale blood lingered in the air, making her scrunch her face as she covered her nose. She was asked to sit down on a chair next to Leonaut, and Leonaut patted her head, smirking at her.

“Stay here.” 

A small frown creased her forehead and she watched as Leonaut left, her eyes wandering around, still covering her nose. Hana could feel a sense of dread in her heart the more she looked around. 

In front of her was an arena and a cage surrounded it, obviously to stop anyone from getting in or out. She could see the blood stains everywhere on the ground of the area and on the metal bars of the cage. The bandits were surrounding the cage, sipping at their drinks as they laughed heartily, tossing coins into the air and eyeing Hana wickedly. Some had even allocated seats by the cage. 

This area didn’t make Hana feel good at all. 

Hana stood up, wanting to leave quietly when someone grabbed her wrist. 

“I thought I told you to stay put,” Leonaut pulled her back, forcing her back down on the chair. “You’ll be seeing something good soon.” 

“I-I don’t want to stay here anymore.” Hana said, a hint of fear in her blue eyes as she stood back up again. 

Leonaut grabbed her wrist. “Do you remember the bad guy on the same bed as you earlier?” 

Hana nodded, struggling to extricate her wrist.

“He did something he shouldn’t have, so now, he is getting punished” Leonaut looked down at the cage, his eyes glinting dangerously. “Because that’s what you do to bad guys, right?”  

“I’m scared,” Hana shook her head, her blue eyes imploring Leonaut. “I don’t want to see anything, I will go back and eat instead.” 

“No, not yet, Hana.” Leonaut smirked wickedly, not letting Hana go. “He will pay for what he was planning to do to you and Cecil earlier.” 

“No!” 

“Start the fight!” Leonaut hollered.

The doors to the arena opened and two men strode in, pushing in two cages, one of them was the man that tried to take advantage of Cecil and Hana earlier. Once he reached his destination, he stopped pushing the cage and inside the cages were wolves, snarling and snapping at the cages. 

“Hey, hey hey, shut up!” he kicked the cage, causing the wolf to turn more aggressive. 

He then took the whip from his hand, swinging it as it cracked across the ground. The sound immediately caused the wolf to whimper, cowering back into the cage. 

“Stupid dogs.” 

Hana observed the scene in disbelief and sadness, she knew that the wolf had experienced the pain of being whipped before. Moreover, with how it was trapped in such a small cage, Hana couldn’t bear to look on, glancing away. 

“Release the wolves!” 

The wolves were quickly released and the two men backed towards the door. Leonaut gave an inconspicuous nod towards one of the men, and he nodded back, disappearing through the doorway. The moment he did that, the doors closed and the other man was left behind in the arena. 

He started banging on the door, yelling at the people to let him in. The rest of the bandits above were laughing at their surbordinate’s misery, knocking their cups with one another as they gulped their drinks down. 

“Hey, hey! I’m still in here! Let me out!” 

Leonaut watched the scene with a satisfied smirk. “You’ve always abused the wolves and disobeyed me, now, you can die by the same wolves you abused.” 

The wolves didn’t start fighting each other, they were eyeing the same target. There was a vicious look in their eyes, and the man spun around, taking out his whip and he swung it onto the ground. 

“Do-don’t you dare come closer, I’ll whip you to death!” 

Hana staggered back, shaking her head, flinging her captured wrist up and down. “I don’t want to see this! I don’t need to see this! Let me go!” 

“Why are you so scared, Hana?” Leonaut asked, patting her head and she recoiled away. “It’s not you in there, and he is only getting what he deserves.” 

Hana whimpered, glancing back and forth between Leonaut and the man in the cage, who was getting cornered by the wolves. The whip did nothing to scare them anymore, it was two against one. 

“No, no! I really don’t want to see this! Please let me go--”

The wolves bared their teeth, lunging for their prey and the sounds of his pained screams pierced the air. Along with those screams, sadistic laughter accompanied and Hana felt tears welling up in her eyes, her body trembling slightly as she didn’t dare to look at the gruesome sight.

She quickly blocked one of her ears with her free hand, a pitiful whine escaping her lips. The screams grew louder and louder, burrowing into her mind, just like that time in the field where she saw Xue slaughtering people. 

Leonaut soon realised something was wrong, releasing Hana’s wrist and frowning in concern. “Hana? What’s wrong?” 

Hana felt her breathing growing quicker, and she looked up when she heard her name. She was starting to hyperventilate and in her blurry vision, she saw Leonaut as Xue. She reached out, grabbing both of his arms. 

“Xu-Xue, please don’t do this! I’m scared, I’m really scared!” 

Leonaut stilled, his face growing cold. 

Leonaut immediately pushed her hands away, snarling. “I am not Xue, and don’t ever call me Xue!”

Those words and his cold expression made Hana tremble even more, and she hugged herself, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her breathing was worse than before, and she couldn’t see clearly anymore.

Xue would never show me such a cold look. 

...he isn’t Xue...

Hana fainted.

Leonaut widened his eyes, catching Hana in time before she hit the ground. 

“Agh!” 

The door to the upper levels flew open, and Leonaut shot his head up, seeing one of his subordinates flying through the door. He landed on the ground, groaning as he clutched his stomach. 

Standing in the doorway was a raven-haired woman, panting heavily as she clutched at her bloodied arm. She lifted her head up, her eyes immediately catching the red-haired woman in Leonaut’s arms, her frown deepening. 

“Leonaut,” she approached Leonaut, her voice filled with suspicion. “What did you do?” 

***

《 start 》

Don't call me Xue.

I am not Xue.

I am never Xue.

I am not him, and he is not me!

I will never do what he do.

I will never behave how he behaves.

I will never like Cecil Lan...like he does.

...I just met her...and yet, I cannot get her out of my damn mind.

《 stop 》