After stuffing his face with more horse meat than the average person eats in a lifetime, he began tying her limbs up.

“Don't try to wiggle away while I'm sleeping or I might change my mind about killing you.”

She nodded her head.

“D-don't worry, if I tried to escape using my magic I'd probably freeze my hands.” She said, almost oblivious to how pathetic that sentence was.

“...”

He continued tying her limbs up. With no more belts that weren't his left to use, he cut up the reins of the horses using her knife and used that instead.

(“You forgot about her magic, didn't you?”)

He did. With how docile and frankly, pathetic she was, the fact she was one of those that tried to kill him earlier was a distant memory.

Tibaut gagged the mouth of the other man and tied him to a tree.

He lay down on the forest grass and felt himself fade away.

----------------------------------------

As he woke up, he felt a body of warmth beside him.

(“I swear if I open my eyes and see-”)

He opened his eyes and saw Agnes snuggled against him. He sighed and pushed her away. She rolled on her face and jolted awake.

(“I thought you'd love something like that.”)

(Yeah, if she wasn't a cultist.”)

“Huh?” She said groggily. “Ugh, what time is it?” She attempted to get up but was stopped by her bindings. “Oh right.”

Tibaut pulled out her knife and cut her free.

“Lead the way.” He said.

She rubbed her wrists for several moments and reached her arm to his to pull herself up.

“It should be pretty quiet until it comes into view. C-can I ask a question?”

“Start moving first.”

She turned around and quickly began walking.

(“If I'm going to do your bidding, it'd be best to conserve some energy. So walking it is.”)

(...)

(“No snappy response?”)

(...)

The voice was hushed compared to yesterday.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

“Uh, this is unrelated to my question but are you okay? You've been mumbling to yourself a lot.”

“Don't worry about it. (Shit I was that loud?)" His cheeks reddened thinking about how he appeared to her. "Anyway, ask your question.”

“Well, uh, do you mind if…. Nevermind.”

They continued walking in silence for several more minutes.

----------------------------------------

“Hey Liz, what's the big idea?” Tina asked.

“What big idea?” She responded.

“Sending that guy away by himself? Didn't you watch him? What the hell was the point of me watching all those days you left if you just sent him off anyway!?”

“Ah, that's what you're mad about.” She responded.

Lily sighed and lay down in Tina's lap. “Quit it, Tina. You keep bringing it back up every few hours with a different argument. Do you secretly like the guy- Guh!”

Tina showed no restraint clutching the little lady's throat. “Don't say anything you'd regret. Besides I'm just mad Elizabeth sent him and him only. Why couldn't I have done it? I've been getting stronger lately, besides you already know if a woman with looks so much as sneezes his way he's finished.”

“Give it up Tina, even I can see is making you sound desperate.” The other woman in the carriage responded. She had jet-black hair tied into a ponytail and was of average complexion.

“Shut up, Nora. You just want to make me sound desperate because you're too embarrassed to talk to that little boy you have feelings for.”

“Boy? Pft, I wonder how it must feel giving guys shit because they don't want to deal with a man with tits.” Nora replied.

They glared and scoffed at one another.

Elizabeth watched as they argued but only had one thing on her mind. (“Should I kill myself to talk to her? Maybe she might forgive me if I explain the situation. After all, a God possessing someone would be big news and might cause problems within some churches.”)

She had toyed around with this idea after Tibaut left.

“Hey Elizabeth, but seriously, are you sure it's okay? I mean what if-”

“Stop questioning her. Besides, she said he was sent to a base of theirs with weaker security.” Nora interjected.

“Correct. It's unfortunate but we can't afford for our plans to be derailed by any unseen factors.” Elizabeth added.

(“Thankfully they bought our excuse. I do think Furor was a bit ham-fisted in his anger but it worked regardless.”)

She was in a long-sleeved shirt as opposed to the sleeveless shirt she usually wore and had a glove on to hide the wound she suffered from trying to use her magic. She had also modified her hairstyle as well. While this was a new look no one felt the need to question it. It was just a change in fashion from their perspective.

(“Damn, I felt I could do it as well. How much longer must I train before I can handle my magic again?”)

They were about three days away from reaching the dungeon and moods were higher than she expected, considering one of them had left.

----------------------------------------

They had stopped to take a break and Tibaut could sense Agnes was antsy about something throughout their journey.

“Alright, say what you want to.”

“Huh?”

“You wanted to ask a question, right? Then ask it already. It's annoying seeing you so jittery.”

“Oh, um, okay.” She took a moment to compose and breathed in deeply. “could you maybe think of taking me with you when you escape?” Her words were soft but they nearly took Tibaut off his feet.

“Excuse me!?”

“So it's no good then.” She quickly responded.

“No, I'm just-" He tried to regain himself. "Why would you want to leave?”

“Well it's not like I wanted to be here in the first place,” she responded.

“Huh? Didn't you join on your own terms?”

“No, well, I believed in the religion but I was drafted since I was unmarried.”

“Drafted!?”

“Y-yeah.”