“...” Tibaut was left speechless by the scene before him. For a moment he forgot about the pain in his right arm.

The woman had blue hair and had bags under her blue eyes. It seemed like she hadn't slept in a while but that was last on the list of his questions.

He clutched his arm and remained eternally thankful it didn't hurt anywhere the amount it did yesterday. It still pained him when he moved it but now he wouldn't be screaming on the floor in pain if a fight broke out.

He turned his attention back to her and was surprised to see a knife in her hand.

“I'm sorry for asking such a stupid question, Dolly. That doesn't have anything to do with you. I'll stop letting you suffer now.”

She looked unsure of herself but after a few moments of silence, she pushed the blade into the horse's neck. She wasn't adept with it as she struggled to slit its neck. The horse's struggling didn't help either but after a minute of gargled neighs echoing throughout the forest, it stopped moving and she pulled the bloody knife out.

She gave a long exhale and rested against the horse.

“If only I could have converted him.” She gazed at the horse's face “Would they go easy on me if I converted Dean and Turo? What am I saying, I'm not even sure if Ken has killed that guy yet. Ugh, why did I get chosen for guard duty? My magic is the only thing I have, take that away and I'm useless. Even with it, I'm useless.”

She began tearing up.

Tibaut looked completely thrown for a loop, observing her.

(“Hey, uh, red drake right? These guys weren't like, good people, were they?

Now you ask that?”)

Tibaut felt a pit form and had to lean against a tree lest he kneels over.

(“Oh, oh no. What have I- n-no it was self de- What am I saying I'm the one who showed on their property, it's totally my fault. Oh God.”)

He soon fell to his knees and held his head in his arms.

(“I didn't mean to kill-

I do feel I need to inform you who these people are before you start feeling any sort of guilt. (It was fun watching how he might deal with murdering innocent people but this would bog down my plans if he went through any mental turmoil at the moment.) )

(What are you talking about? Who the hell are these guys, foremost!?

Hmm, I'm not sure I'll do it if you take that tone with me.)

(“Please just tell me.”) He asked in a sombre tone.

(“I feel here is a good place to give you two pieces of vital information.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

1. These people were cultists.

2. You will be exploring the structure they've inhabited here.”)

(“C-cultists? What the hell are they doing out in the middle of nowhere? Wait, that dungeon somewhere in this vicinity, do they have this whole region under their control?”)

“(Pft) That's beside the point, focus only on exploring this structure. There's something I need to confirm.”

As soon as Tibaut had heard the word cultists, his conscience eased and he brought his eyes back on the girl. She wore regular clothing and non-distinct armour which is why he never considered the idea of them being cultists.

(“Huh, I guess that guy in black must be part of some special unit. Yeah, these guys were pretty weak so that'd make a whole lotta sense.”)

(“...”)

He felt a massive load fall off his shoulders coming to this realisation. He always hoped this was the case but seeing it with his own eyes nearly left him euphoric.

(“So we actually have a pretty good chance. Hell, with that Furor guy, those guys in black won't be too much of a problem.”)

He stopped this line of thinking when he realised he was getting comfortable with the idea of him not being there to help.

He gritted his teeth and flexed his pained arm. It was now or never. He looked to the girl and she laid on the horse with so much as an ounce of attention to her surroundings.

(“Gonna keep stalking her?”)

(“Shut up, I don't wanna fuck up now.”)

He took a deep breath and ran from behind the tree. A few metres of space was between them and she noticed the footsteps coming her way. She fumbled to take her knife out and quickly gave up on it, to aim her hands at him.

Tibaut aimed his fist for her face but stopped before it landed. She brought her hands forward to block his punch hopefully. The problem with this was, she brought them to her face after he stopped his punch. She closed her eyes but tears were running down her cheeks and she shivered like she had placed in a blizzard nude. She opened her eyes a few moments later, confused as to why she was still conscious.

Her eyes nearly popped out of her skull and she made a break for it. She soon tripped on forest debris and began desperately crawling.

She was less than 10 metres away.

Tibaut jogged over and grabbed her with his good hand.

(“You know...... this wasn't what I was expecting.”)

She quickly turned to face him.

“p-punch me.” She asked.

“Huh?”

“Just punch me as hard as you can on my right cheek. Please.”

“What? N-no.” He answered sounding unsure.

She looked to be on the edge. Tears streamed down her face and she had to choke out those words to Tibaut.

(“Ah, I believe Elizabeth spoke about them having a fake tooth that carries poison. Maybe she's afraid to break it herself.”)

(“...How long have you been in my head?”)

(“I believe she's working up the will to do it.”)

Tibaut looked at her and saw her begin moving her jaw around.

He quickly moved his hand into her mouth and reached around in it.

Sure enough, one of the teeth came out with a tug. He pulled it out of her mouth and tossed it into the forest.

“W-why?” She asked.

“I'm not letting you get out of this that easily.”

She yelped in fear and huddled against the floor.