A man desperately ran through the streets, carrying an unconscious person. The person in question had severe injuries as his head hung low, almost indicating his death. Dried blood, burned right arm, a broken rib, left leg and left palm contained bite marks, scratched left cheek and right arm.

If anything, it was impressive how he managed to stay alive with those damages.

The man carrying him understood the severity of the situation. “Shit! This can’t be fucking happening! I—“ he muttered under his breath.

Someone was near him. A woman accompanied him, distancing herself. She observed her surroundings, a tinge of blood visible on her palms. Although the woman tried to act calm behind the facade, she feared a possible future. Denying the current situation, the woman prayed that no such thing would ever occur.

After all, if it happens—what's the point anymore?

They both navigated the already known path. With utilizing the shortcuts present, they were able to lessen the amount of time it would take to arrive. The person being carried began breathing heavily, sweat forming on his face. He mumbled to himself.

Preoccupied with the task at hand, both of them never noticed his behavior. It went unnoticed as the person being carried stopped mumbling just as fast as he stared. In the cool night sky, dimly illuminated their figures as they briskly made their way back to an abandoned building.

When they finally arrived, the woman guided the man to a room. Following her instructions, he placed the patient down on a simple, cheap bed. Finally realizing the sweating of the patient the man raised his eye, turning to the woman.

“Andreana, isn’t his condition getting worse? Why is all of a sudden breathing heavily and sweating? The reason for this phenomenon? And a possible solution?” The man asked question after question.

The woman—Andreana almost snapped. “You’re asking way too many damn questions at once, Lipski! Just let me do my duty as a healer!”

She bent down, touching the patient’s forehead. Andreana clicked her tongue, running mana through her hand. Her palms shone a beautiful green light. Watching this the man called Lipski, paced around the room.

“Don’t you have other things to do?”

In response to her words, Lipski stopped, still fidgeting. “I can’t just abandon him like that.”

“Well, you aren’t doing much standing around! Go see how she is,” she sighed, shaking her head.

The patient’s condition appeared to be getting more stable. Or at least from the naked eye. While this reassured Lipski, his worries never disappeared.

“She does have a point. Standing around won’t do me any good. Plus, I should transfer her before she wakes up,” he muttered, talking to himself.

With a nod, Lipski headed out the room. His footsteps stopped right at the exit, not turning around.

“Please take good care of him.”

After that sentence, he left. He left without hearing her response, but that didn’t bother Lipski at all. He already knew the answer far too well.

Even though they argued with each other all the time…

And now, more prevalent than ever.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Yet that never stopped them from cooperating when needed.

He still trusted her enough to let her be alone with him.

She was definitely going to save him.

Searching room to room, Lipski briskly walked around the building. He found the unconscious attacker, grabbing them gently to not make them wake up.

“Ah, how much I want to punish you…” Lipski mumbled, hands twitching.

Refraining from doing so, he carried them towards another place. Exiting the abandoned building, he sprinted to the next location. There was no way he was going to take his sweet time.

Going through multiple alleyways, he left the sketchy part of town. Few people wandered around the area, not even one batting an eye of him carrying someone. With little to no distractions, Lipski found the way rather quickly.

Arriving, he encountered a demi human standing in front of a house, seemingly guarding it. This made Lipski’s eyes wide open in confusion.

“Huh? What are you doing guarding the place, Shinozaki?” he asked.

“Because a certain someone decided to leave his shift, I was forced to take his place. We wouldn’t want anyone to break in, right?” she responded, emphasizing a certain someone.

“Uh, yeah, sorry about that.” he apologized, fidgeting. “Anyways, can you let me in? I need to send her away.”

The girl, referred to as Shinozaki, stopped dead in her tracks. She scratched her fluffy ears, bewildered.

“Did something happen? It’s rare to see you actually own up to your mistakes.”

“I’ll tell you on the way, just open the door already!”

Seeing his desperation, she obliged, letting him. She followed him, handing the guarding duties to a certain familiar sky blue haired man. He shut his mouth through the entire exchange because he saw his opinion wasn’t needed.

Entering through the doors, they went through the house. Finding a way out, he made Shinozaki unlock it. He kicked the door open, much to the annoyance of Shinozaki.

“So what is causing all this stress I’m noticing?”

“Some unfortunate things happened,” he replied.

“Okay fine, if you want to keep it a secret then do as you please!” she pouted. “Though where are we going?”

“To The Gate to Enlightenment,” Lipski said.

“Huh? What is that?” A confused Shinozaki tilted her head.

“Rehabilitation.”

“Eh?”

Lipski found a hidden entrance on the floor, leading to a staircase. He went down, Shinozaki following closely.

She had a bad feeling.

Something isn’t right.

Underground, they stopped at a tiny room. Shinozaki had no idea as to why they stopped. Not asking, she decided to follow him. He opened the door, throwing the attacker on a bed.

He proceeded to undress them.

A female with bat wings laid naked on the bed.

“What!?” Shinozaki exclaimed.

“Don’t jump to the wrong conclusion! I just need to make sure if she has any injuries.”

Finding bruises from seemingly strikes, Lipski dressed the female in a cheap outfit, one made specifically for slaves. He then shackled her, making her wake up.

“W-where am I!?”

Grabbing her by the chains, Lipski dragged her towards an exit leading to somewhere else. He spoke briefly at Shinozaki, muttering words of advice.

“I recommend you to not follow me.”

He shut the door.

All Shinozaki could manage to hear was a few fragments of a conversation.

“…aster!”

“…u’re…n…im…”