Cecillia looked at Laen, dumbfounded. “Didn’t I say I was completely alone, why would I lie about that?”

“N-no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way,” The boy said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “We just thought that since they were behind you that you were part of their group. I just didn’t think that my father would’ve known them.”

Cecillia nodded slowly, completely understanding the two’s position. She, an unknown girl in the middle of a forest with a large group of people behind her couldn’t have been any more suspicious. However, Cecillia was only disappointed in herself for not noticing their presence earlier. If she had, though, would the situation be any better?

“Well I’m glad things worked out,” Cecillia said as her head turned up, hearing the footsteps of the father approaching. Blackie growled softly and lowered his head a tad little.

“Father,” Laen said, and the hunter gave him a grunt of affirmation before his gaze landed on Cecillia.

The man stared at her for some time as Cecillia tilted her neck to the side. She was a little apprehensive of the man, both from the frown on his face, and the earlier strength displayed in the battle, but there was little else she could do at the moment.

‘What’s this guy’s deal,’ Cecillia thought, as he continued to scrutinize her. It was lowkey starting to become creepy. ‘Maybe he wants me to speak first?’

Though as she tried to find something to say, the man made the first move.

“Laen,” he finally spoke. “Give her your cloak.”

‘Give me his cloak?’ Cecillia thought.

She looked down at herself to find the white blouse she had arrived with in tatters. The fabric was singed black at its hem while dozens of holes lay scattered randomly. Whilst on her back she could feel the cool breeze grazing against her skin as the blouse’s remains did little to protect her modesty.

‘Ah, I didn’t even notice.’

The boy seemed to have just noticed as well as his cheeks turned a faint shade of red. He unbuttoned his cloak and cast his eyes downward as he held his arm to Cecillia. She took it gratefully with a smile, and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“Thank you,” she said, feigning ignorance at the boy’s embarassment.

The boy blushed deeply this time as he muttered something under his breath before his gaze started to roam listlessly.

“Well,” the father said, drawing Cecillia’s attention back to the man. “Shall we continue where we left off?”

Cecillia furrowed her brows. “Why should I be answering all your questions? Don’t you think I have questions of my own?”

The man glared at her and narrowed his eyes, taken aback by her words.

“And what makes you think that you’re in a position to demand anything?” he responded coldly. “You heard those people, they were slavers and you were their target. Without me, what do you think would’ve happened, girl.”

Cecillia inwardly winced, it was hard to refute the man’s words, but that didn’t mean that she would just reveal everything to the man. No, some things had to be kept an absolute secret.

“Alright then, I’ll answer whatever you ask of me…” she trailed off as she answered, “But I just have one condition.”

The man paused for a second, “Which is?”

“Who are you, and why did that woman call you Captain.”

The man’s face darkened considerably at the mention of the word ‘captain.’ His face filled with a motley of expressions, he seemed angry, bitter, and perhaps most of all, regretful. He looked down at his sheathed blade, inspecting the pommel hesitantly.

“Yeah father, who were they?” Laen chimed in, curiousness obviously seeping through his expression.

The man opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He repeated the notion several more times before he finally spat out a sentence.

“...They are mistakes from a lost past. Do not worry about them, Laen, they are nothing more than mere slavers now.”

Cecillia knew that there was more to the story, but pressing him on the matter now would lead to nothing. What mattered was that he had completely dodged her question like a politician.

She let out a heavy sigh and shot a glare at the man. “Hey, don’t I deserve to at least receive an answer back?”

The man matched her piercing stare with one of his own as he studied her, and she had no idea what was going on inside of his mind. It was as if his face was like an angry, blank slate of stone, she wasn’t able to read it at all. It made her slightly uncomfortable, but she too had an almost perfect poker face from dealing with the press. Therefore she assumed that they were probably thinking the same things.

“Doran,” he said curtly. “Former Captain of the Red Knights.”

Cecillia raised a brow, “What are the Red Knights?”

The man didn’t bother to answer and only scoffed in return.

“Your condition has already been met. Now fulfill your end.” Doran said harshly. “How and why have you come to this forest?”

‘So it’s going to be like that,’ she thought. It was unfortunate that she wasn’t unable to pull any more information from the man, but the question he asked was even more so. Just how would she be able to explain that she was from another world, let alone the reason why she arrived here if she didn’t know the answer herself.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Cecillia placed a finger on her lip and quickly created the best answer she could. A bullshit one.

“Well, I’m not too sure about that myself,” she said nonchalantly, pausing to look up at the man. His eyes were as cold as ever, but she continued. “I woke up here yesterday, and I can’t really recall my past. But I know that I have to go to Windhaven.”

The answer itself wasn’t actually completely bullshit but rather was a half-truth, but the risk was there by gambling away her only solid information she had.

“Windhaven?” Laen perked up from the side. “Dad, you said we’re going there right?”

Doran gave a small nod. “Yes, we will stop there to re-supply.”

“Then can’t she come with us?”

Cecillia and the father frowned at the same time. For her, there were two conflicting feelings. The first was that if she were to go with them, then she’d probably lack the freedom to act on her own. And moreso, her safety wouldn’t be guaranteed. The other was that she was glad that the boy didn’t seem to be pestering her with questions as much as his dad.

‘While this… Captain Doran,’ she squinted her eyes. ‘What are you thinking of?’

“Laen, I’ve already told you she’s dangerous,” he scolded, his tone laced with a threat.

“B-but she’s only level five.” The boy stammered. “It would be easy to you know—” he paused, glancing at Cecillia. “—To kill her….”

Cecillia rolled her eyes, “It’s fine. I don’t need your guy’s help, I already have Blackie.”

She pointed at the Twin-Tailed Wolf not too far away as the two male gazes followed, its sleek fur bristled beneath their combined gazes.

[Twin-Tailed Wolf - (Level 7)]

After the fight it seemed that the wolf had leveled up only once, contrary to her shooting straight up to five. With the wolf, and the ability to grow in strength artificially with the power of the system, she wouldn’t need any help.

Although, it seemed that the man was seriously considering the prospect. Doran turned to look at her, his cold gaze softening just a little.

“There’s a merchant caravan we’re guarding, If you want you can ask to go along with them to Windhaven. If they let you,” he said indifferently.

‘Oh now we’re getting somewhere.’

“A caravan?” Cecillia asked, interested. “Like the ones drawn by horses right?”

Doran gave her a blank look, then shook his head, obviously annoyed.

“What else would a caravan consist of?” he muttered.

‘Okay dude, chill. At least I know there aren’t any cars in this world.’

His words just about confirmed it, she was in a fantasy medieval like world with a futuristic-type system interface that granted powers through stat-points. If someone had told her there was this kind of story out there before she arrived, she would call them crazy.

“Alright. So this caravan… let’s just assume they let me come along with them,” Cecillia started. “What will I be doing? Is it like a free ride, or —”

“You will have your duties,” Doran cut in. “Nothing comes free, do well to remember that.”

Cecillia nodded, as expected it would come at a cost. But if anyone asked too much of her, she wouldn’t hesitate to go off on her own. For now, though, she was more than happy for the opportunity.

“Father, can she help guard the carriages with us? I’m sure with her magic, it’ll be a big help,” Laen suggested.

“You’re right, it isn’t a bad idea,” he said before quickly looking over Cecillia. “That is if she had her magic.”

His gaze narrowed and Cecillia started to feel that something was off. She immediately pulled back but Doran’s form flickered and his hand clamped down on her wrist. She tried to escape from his grasp, but it was to no avail. The difference in strength was just too much.

Almost instantly, Blackie started to snarl, barking as the man turned to face the beast. However, Doran didn’t flinch back in the slightest. Rather, a wave of pressure exuded from his body and Cecillia started to feel that there was a heavy weight pressing against her lungs. She remained calm, but she couldn’t control her body as her nerves started to panic.

Several seconds passed until Blackie surrendered, pressing her snout to the floor as she saw her master’s predicament. And just like that, the weight disappeared. Cecillia released a sputtering cough but the man’s hold on her was like a titanium shackle. There was simply no escape.

“Why didn’t you use your magic against the wolves that attacked you?” Doran said in a low voice. “You say you only have one class, but there aren't any traces of mana leaking from your body. And with you saying that your level is five, I doubt you have any idea on how to control your mana.”

‘Damn, so he knew this whole time,’ Cecillia quickly thought. Then again, how was she supposed to know that bodies would leak the energy called mana. No one thinks of themselves as a battery—her eyes widened—she could speculate about that later.

“My mana was sealed. I can’t use it,” Cecillia said bluntly. “Now can you let me go?”

Doran’s grip slightly loosened, and Cecillia ripped her hand free. She saw Blackie rising from the corner of her vision, but waved her hand. Right now, she couldn’t afford for the wolf to mess this situation up.

Cecillia watched as the man’s eyebrows slanted downwards while Laen had already let out a shocked gasp. She hadn’t expected them to react in this way, afterall it didn’t seem like such a big deal to her.

“So you don’t have any magic?” Laen asked, confusion brimming in his eyes. “But how, for someone to completely seal your mana—”

“They’d have to be someone extremely powerful,” Doran finished with a scowl. “This person probably sealed her memories as well.”

His expression was more than sickened at this point as he rubbed the temples of his head.

“Girl,” he said. “Do you know how much longer the seal placed on you will last?”

Cecillia pursed her lips, but the system information already came up before her.

Afflictions:

[Mana Corruption - (12 Days 19 Hours)]

[Divine Seal (XX) - (12 Days 19 Hours)]

“Just a little under two weeks,” she said.

The father cursed, the sound unfamiliar to Cecillia.

“Indeed, whoever has done this to you was beyond cruel,” he said, a tone softer than everything said earlier. “You likely won’t regain your memories from before.”

Cecillia blinked, and didn’t react for a couple seconds. Laen and his father took her silence as her coming to terms with things, acceptance, if they would.. Although, what was going on inside her mind was the complete opposite. She hadn’t lost any of her memories at all, this was just a huge misunderstanding, but it most importantly served as one of her greatest cards. With this hand, she had direct access to their pity it seemed.

“I won’t get my memories back?” she said, a false hint of desperation in her voice.

As the words came out of her mouth, she almost gagged and covered it up with the notion of her clearing her throat. Never would she understand how the celebrity actors were able to act the way they did.

“Most likely not,” Doran said grimly. “You might receive bits of information, and habits formed with your body will stick but anyone else who had their mana sealed for any period of time, weren’t the same person afterwards.”

Cecillia cast her gaze downwards, feigning despair but there certainly was a real sense of sympathy for those who suffered that fate.

“It’s really that bad, father?” Laen asked, and Cecillia suppressed her laugh. “She can’t get her memories back?”

Hearing their concerned conversation over her assumed predicament was honestly quite hilarious. The whole atmosphere had changed once she had mentioned the fact, and although she didn’t like being pitied, it was much better than being placed under extreme suspicion.

“No,” Doran said candidly. “There’s nothing we can do to help her.”

Cecillia felt the boy’s gaze on her and could feel the emotions he wore on his heart. For someone so young to be so mature, honestly she was impressed—even if this was all just a huge misunderstanding—

‘—It worked out in my favor so…’

“Father, then do you think whoever caused that incident several days ago did this to her?” Laen said, looking up towards a certain part of the forest.

Doran’s head turned very slightly to the side.

“There’s definitely a connection, she must’ve seen something she shouldn’t have…”

He trailed off then looked directly at Cecillia.

“And had this done to her.”

A dark, gloomy look fell over Laen's face. “Is there really nothing we can do?”

No,” he said and a thin bitter smile crossed his lips. “All that is left is a mage without mana.”