Ichi didn't know what to do. He went to Rikya that evening, hoping to somehow force her to let go of Syon and Myon as prisoners. And yet, he failed. Miserably.

In the library there were towers of thick books beyond measure. Satou stood over Ichi like a monolith. Fubuki lied among them ripped apart by dull golden metal thorns, Ichi himself was full of them. He couldn't move. His energy shields broke from Satou's magic easily. He took her too lightly. Rikya stood behind Satou looking coldly on Ichi.

"This, this is how it ends, I thought we were, come on, I-"

Ichi's sputtering made Rikya's gaze colder.

"What are you doing? You freed two assassins after my life, then you come and beg me for help? If Satou wasn't here, I would have kept quiet and played nice, but now, I don't need to."

Satou felt the weight of the white sword in her hand. She shook it at Ichi.

"Thanks for this. I could never have killed a druid, even a newbie like you, if I didn't have such a powerful weapon. Really, I'd like to let you live, but it's too much risk, you know? I'm thinking of my future."

Satou's tone felt somber, Ichi's beating heart told him it really was the end. He couldn't believe it. He really didn't know what he was doing, he knew that! He knew that! Yet, despite all this- His voice floated out over the two little girls.

"Eh~ so... this is how it ends? This is stupid. Always, always stupid. Chasing dead ends, looking for a way out, never feeling like I won even when I won. Even got a castle and maids and it still ends like this. Even learned I was some special druid, and still, it ends like this. Rikya, I thought you'd never betray me, but, yeah that was just because you were a little girl." Ichi started laughing, coughing out blood on the ground. "I'm stupid. I'm so stupid. There never was any hope, was there? I walked right out of that village, and still, all I achieved, for everything I did, was to earn a death like this!"

Rikya's face twitched. She looked away, then walked slowly out of the room. The maid Wavr gave Ichi's body a smug look as she followed her not-Master away. Satou ruffled her hair over Ichi's body.

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"Should I finish it? Dying takes a long time. I've got better things to do."

Ichi grunted.

"You won't even bother waiting for me to die? I did give you that blade. You owe me."

Satou tossed the blade from hand to hand as she looked at the ceiling.

"I've never killed anyone before."

"You just killed Fubuki, that counts."

"Isn't she a robot?"

"Robot maid," Ichi corrected her.

Satou whined.

"Ehhh~ this is pretty uncomfortable. If I stab you to death, I might feel like in the future I've done something immoral. Already, I'm worried. I'll look back for the rest of my life from time to time, thinking what I could have done. What a waste of time and energy."

Satou sat beside Ichi. The minutes drew on as silence filled the library. Hundreds of arcane books towered over the little girl and the dying young man. Satou played with her blade, poking at a book's cover, making little holes with the point, being careful not to cut through the whole book. These might be expensive, after all, from what Rikya said, they had value, secrets to powerful magics were contained within. Ichi bled out beside her. She let his blood stain the books red. She felt it was only proper to allow him that much.

"You dead yet?"

"You're... so impatient."

"Killing is so boring. Next time I kill someone, I'll make sure they aren't someone I owe."

"... glad you learned something."

Ichi's body untensed. Satou waved her finger underneath his nose to make sure it was done. She nodded.

"I'm good." Satou said.

She left, thinking to herself about her next move. First, Renya would die. Too unpredictable. Lived in a big black dome, that can't be good. Then, Myon and Syon? Satou worried about them. Maybe the maids could help? Worst case scenario, she might have to take Rikya and run. Either way, the fight would be a dirty one. She doubted she would survive. That, and Oni passed word to her that the Burncastles were gathering to mount an attack on this place.

It would probably be best to leave right away, if she thought they could escape Myon and Syon.

Of course, Satou's thinking was entirely based on the idea that Myon and Syon had regained their magic and weren't still bound. If they were still bound by her Rulebinder, then they wouldn't be any more trouble than a regular human. Satou laughed.

It couldn't be that easy. There's no way. She'd be stupid like Ichi if she thought like that.