“I feel dreadful,” Alicia groaned as she propped herself up with an arm.

“You’re awake!” Cyg said, almost falling out of his chair. He spun around to face her. “You were out for two and a half weeks.”

“I was?” she replied, rubbing her eyes. Everything hurt, and her body felt heavy.

“...What’s the last thing you remember?” he asked, testing the waters. Merry was outside the house, and thankfully they had this moment to themselves.

“I remember you stopped sending any signals all of a sudden, and then I passed out.” She examined herself for a second. “What is this sensation? Has she done something? It reminds me of what happened after our half-successful escape attempt.”

“From what I can see, she left some kind of message for herself on your soul. What’s going on with the familiar contract? Is it compelling you to do anything?”

“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t call it compulsion. It’s more like... the hint of suggestion. That I stay right here and rest.” Alicia tried to stand up, but she couldn’t even get off the bed. “How did you hide the message then?”

He poured her some water from a pitcher he brought up. “I hacked up your soul until it was illegible. Apparently it worked, but I also put you in a coma. Sorry.”

Alicia pursed her lips but shook it off. “Don’t be. It worked, didn’t it? But if I’m better, that means whatever you did would be going away soon, which means she’ll find out sooner or later.” She held the cup with both her hands and took a sip.

There was a brief window of opportunity where they would able to attack, when Alicia was healed enough to move around but not so well that she’d alert Merry.

Sitting backwards in the chair, Cyg placed his arms on top of the backrest. “Are you able to use magic?”

“...Good question.” With plenty of focus, she lifted the cup into the air. It wobbled a little, but it held for a good while before she decided it was enough. The simple task left her breathing harshly. “This is troubling... I don’t think I can control the breastplate for you as well as usual.”

The thief rubbed his temple. “Don’t worry about it, just focus on getting better. If anything, I’m happy I didn’t do any permanent damage, and that you even got to wake up at all before she found out,” he said, “I’ll keep an eye out to see if Merry ever figures something out about us, but given the situation, I don’t know what else we can do.”

“Stuck between a rock and a hard place,” she pointed out, “This contract is biting us in the behind yet again.”

“It is what it is—I’ll go get Merry.”

Alicia blinked. “Hold on, you said it’s been two and a half weeks? Does that mean you went through two loops already?”

“Nope,” he replied, “She didn’t even go after me once.”

After a few pulses on their paired gems, Merry came flying over right away, practically leaping over the stairs to get to Alicia. The witch gave her apprentice a big hug and a kiss on the forehead, surprising her with the outpour of affection.

“Thank goodness,” Merry said, checking over Alicia’s soul. “I was worrying, but I think you’ll be back in perfect shape after a few weeks.”

“Sorry for making you worry,” Alicia replied.

“It’s nothing, but it was amusing to see the role reversal with you and Cyg as patient and caretaker.”

“That happened?” Alicia hummed. “I see you warmed up to him while I was asleep.”

She chuckled. “I bet you’re starving after all this time. Cyg, can you help me prepare?”

The thief nodded. “On it,” he said, heading downstairs.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Merry took a few minutes to catch Alicia up on what she missed. The apprentice didn’t comment much, mostly nodding and staying silent, more concerned about what she was going to do next. At the end of it, she felt just as lost as Cyg. They would need to come up with a better strategy despite the last attempt requiring everything they had.

The witch sensed her discomfort and decided to let her rest, going downstairs. He was in the middle of preparing a cut of venison when she joined him in the kitchen

“We should keep things light,” Merry told him, “Just in case her stomach isn’t feeling up to the task.”

“Got it,” he replied. They passed ingredients around and finished preparation, and Cyg let the witch handle the cooking, of which there was little to do. Taking a break at the table, he asked, “So, I opened the puzzle box the other day.”

“You did?” she asked turning her head. “Did you cheat?”

He snorted. “No way. I just had practice with them before. That said, it took me ages to realize the magic portion of it. A little unfair, if you ask me.”

“It was a gift to an apprentice I had a long, long time ago. I left it in the room as something for guests to play with, but I didn’t expect anyone to solve it, so I never bothered to explain what it was.”

Leaning forward with his elbows on the table, Cyg said, “There was weird writing on the paper inside. Was it from him?”

There was a light frown. “What did it say?” The thief retrieved it from his room and handed it over, and she read it while her frown deepened. Shaking her head, she gave it back. “It appears so.”

When he sat back down, he was unsure of whether or not to press the issue. “...Going by your reaction, I’m guessing it’s private?”

“We disagreed on something, and we parted on bad terms. We were like water and oil, if I had to compare,” Merry said with a sigh, “But, that’s often the case.”

He paused for a second. “Sorry, it looks like I made you dredge up some bad memories.” Cyg could barely remember her clearing the closet when he first arrived. She must’ve thought him to be a good enough replacement at first. The picture forming in his head was full of holes, but the outline was clear enough. It was something neither of them could rectify, not anymore.

“Don’t worry about it,” she replied, “What are we if not walking tapestries of scars?”

“Personally, there are some I’d rather never have.”

“If we could, I’m sure many would choose to never be hurt at all.” Merry turned back to take a better look at him, causing him to shift awkwardly. “This is entirely unrelated, but Cyg, can you do me a favor? We’re running quite low on supplies, but I’m still not that willing to leave Alicia alone.”

“...Sure?”

“I’ll need you to go into town at the end of this week to do some shopping. Can I leave it to you?”

When he first heard that, Cyg thought he was dreaming. “...You’re trusting me with that?” He hadn’t openly pried into her other secrets this loop, but it was still something else. “I mean, I came to you because I messed up robbing someone. Aren’t you worried I might run away with the money?”

Merry taste-tested the food. Perfect. “You seem to have gotten awfully attached to my dear apprentice, so I’d wager you’d be inclined to return. I don’t know—would that be something I need to worry about?”

He chuckled. “Okay, you got me. I’m good at haggling, so I’ll make sure to come back with more coin than you’d expect,” he said, adding, “And not because I’ll steal anything.”

“Great! It’s settled then.”

The witch plated Alicia’s lunch and got ready to bring it up when Cyg stood up and said, “Can I bring it to her? I want to talk to her about something. You know, ask her if she wants anything from Murkwell.”

With a smirk, she noted, “Stealing the opportunity to get closer to her, are you? I’ll have you know that I won’t entertain any silly romances in this household.”

He groaned. “It’s not like that...”

She studied him for a bit longer before handing him the tray. “Alright, go on ahead. Don’t bother her too much, will you?”

“Thanks!” he said, taking it and heading upstairs.

The witch left without even glancing back, now free to do whatever it was she was busy doing. Cyg double-checked to make sure she was out of earshot while Alicia picked at her food. She was simultaneously starving but too light-headed to eat, so she went at it slowly. Meanwhile, he explained what he had been told.

“That’s wonderful!” Alicia said, “...I think?”

“Maybe this is a sign she doesn’t intend on disposing of me anytime soon, but there’s still whatever she did with your soul,” he said. They’re on a burning fuse whose length they can’t even see. “I was thinking—this would be the perfect time for me to investigate the archmage’s tower.”

“Archmage Orin? Alone?” She placed her fork down. “That’s absurd, he definitely would’ve guarded it somehow; you won’t make it in or out alive!” After all, you don’t get to live long enough to be called an immortal without having defensive measures. Not only that, but his mana can’t cross the threshold of the domain by itself, meaning he can’t swap back in an emergency.

“It’s the only chance we have to see what is going on with the spell circle. I can’t imagine who else the damn disembodied voice could be, and this is our chance to figure out what he wanted us to do!”

She bit her lip. “Are you serious about this?”

“There’s no better person suited for this than me, right?” said the thief.

Alicia sighed and rubbed her brow with her hand. “You’d better come back in one piece, alright?”

“I promise.” He brought a half-closed right hand to his left shoulder with his palm facing down.

“An oath...?” she said, scoffing. “I’m not sure about doing that given you’re in the middle of breaking your previous one.”

“Hey, it hasn’t broken yet!” he replied, grinning, “My word is still as good as gold.”