Getting dragged from one thing to another seemed to have become a special talent at Aten's disposal — not quite at his disposal. Either it was good or bad, he was always in a new situation, never a dull moment with him.

If only this special talent worked with women, he thought.

Yet there she was, a woman (not really) by his side, shouting at the top of her lungs, and spitting on the guards in front of the mayor's tower. Behavior like that would be considered a felony, but considering the situation she and Aten were in, these little things were to be excused — at a limit, of course. That "woman" was just eighteen years old, yet she had the mind of an old woman. Aten was in disbelief on who exactly was the older one between him and her.

But that disbelief was merely for a moment. If anything, his mind dwelled on whether or not the, now infamous, "Ester Hafen" mansion was what the mayor claimed it to be. Aten had already witnessed a bizarre sight when he stumbled upon it. So the mayor's words weren't exactly out the window. As for the other details, he took them with a grain of salt.

'Let me through, I said,' Eeira tried to force her way back to the tower, 'He thinks "his" authority is gonna bend my knees… His authority means jack-shit to me. If you don't let me pass, I swear to god I will use this—'

'Doctors shouldn't use such language, right? Besides, I don't think we have much of a choice, so let's get to it. We have work to do, lady!'

Aten grabbed Eeira and took her away from the guards' sights. The girl was in an unspeakable state, both from the inside and the outside. Perhaps not really from the inside, Aten always thought she was mentally unstable so that would be nothing new. Although, her vulgarity is quite a surprise that he didn't have to witness. But, like usual, in the land of Eldria, always expect the unexpected, even from the people. Her appearance had become… something. The dirt on her bright dress was just the cherry on the top. Its color had been completely erased, the bottom part was almost ripped. When she walked out of her house that morning, she looked like a well-refined lady — at least from appearance. Now, however, she looked like one of those prostitutes they spotted earlier near the brothel. Just what exactly did the guards do to capture her, Aten wondered.

As they walked back to the town, Eeira still mumbled to herself, cursing the ever-living of the mayor.

'That goddamned imperial cocksucker!' She muttered loudly.

'Hey!!' Aten punched her on the head with so much force that the sound of the impact popped off. 'Language!'

She stopped in her tracks, while he continued on as if nothing had happened. Eeira's anger was simply gone, and its place was shocking. She couldn't believe that a man had just laid his hands on her.

'Did… Did you just hit me?' She caught up to him.

'I believe in true gender equality!' Aten responded with the utmost ease.

'True what?'

This was atrocious, she thought. Her upbringing was completely normal, and she had always been taught the traditional norms and values. Never should a man raise his hand on a woman, her mother once said, it was a great sin. Only the scum of the earth would commit such an act. But with what just happened, she realized that statement was held very little in this world. Unless, of course, she thought ill of all men, but she wasn't an airhead.

'Did I stutter?' Aten asked.

'I… didn't realize you were a man with no morals,' she said with disgust, 'And you call yourself a warrior?'

Aten smacked her once again, this time on the back, and immediately, she was pushed forward, 'Lady, I'm a technorunner. The people I work with don't tolerate morals. Also, keep your voice down, we don't want anyone looking at us.'

'Like… L-Like your statement wouldn't?!!'

'Okay, you can start cursing the mayor again,' he said, 'Don't wanna start an argument that'll never end.'

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Eeira swallowed her pride. She had no more power. The guards already did a number on her.

'Just like the mayor,' she muttered, 'A weird prick!'

'Yeah… talk about being ominous as shit…'

'What?!' She looked at Aten with confusion, who then proceeded to look away and pretended to be confused as well.

'Eh, what?'

'Ugh… fuck it! Why am I doing this to myself? I'll just sneak out of this town.'

Her walking speed noticeably increased as she was finally ahead of Aten by some distance. But Aten didn't care, he marched with extreme leisure.

'I wouldn't try that,' he called out to her, 'Place is probably heavily guarded now. You've seen what his mindset was like. He knows that we're gonna try to escape. Otherwise, why grant us this small freedom at all?'

It was greatly possible. The more Eeira thought about it, the more the possibility increased. There may very well be surveillance around the town for them already.

'Then…,' she hesitated, 'Then I'll take on that mansion by myself. And if I see you again within a ten-mile radius, I swear to god I will kill with that undead poison I extracted from you.'

'Why is it always a ten-mile radius?' Aten sighed, 'Nevermind… You can't do that as well, or maybe you can, if you wanna die.'

'Die?! You are seriously thinking of killing me? Is that's also part of your tru—'

'No, I'm not gonna kill you, you dunce,' Aten raised his right hand and showed Eeira his palm. It was shining brightly with a bizarre sigil in the middle, 'You know what this is, right? We're bound by a sigil, lady!'

'What? No no no! This can't be! How…? When…? Why?' Eeira was starting to have a breakdown, as she kept mumbling to herself.

'A sigil can be made in anything, it doesn't necessarily have to be executed through the traditional spell. I'm guessing it was the feast, that's the only plausible reason.'

'But I didn't eat anything…,' she looked at her left palm and indeed a similar sigil, bright as the one in Aten's hand, was in the middle.

'Yes, you didn't. But you did drink. That bastard must have anticipated that.'

'No… wait, you didn't eat anything.'

'I didn't… but now that I think about it, I did get drugged after I was detained,' Aten stood in the empty narrow street, working his brain to the brim to get the full truth, as there was still something missing.

'But… doesn't it require magik? Maybe this isn't a pure sigil…' Eeira was clinging onto any type of false hope.

'No, it's pure. I have seen enough to know. But that begs the question? If he used magik, then why the hell did he need you for? He could have just got whoever cast this accompany me. Hell, he could have had them do the job themselves. Why go through the trouble?'

Eeira was ahead of Aten in her line of thinking and was already heading back to the tower to get a proper explanation. She would do anything to get inside.

'Wait just a minute, you thick-headed woman,' Aten grabbed her from the arm, 'You can't just barge in there. And you've already tried. It's a lost cause.'

There was no response from her. She stood still, not even bothering to push Aten away.

'Listen… Eeira,' he sighed, 'I know you think I am the worst person to ever be stuck with you, and, personally, I think the same. But it is what it is. Shit happened, and now we're in the same boat. And we're gonna be stuck in that boat unless we do something, we move on. So, unfortunately, whether you like or not, we're gonna have to listen to what the mayor said. I know you're a "doctor," and you're not used to this stuff — neither am I, honestly, I'm not sorcerer — but you're not alone. You can use me as a meat shield if things go south,' he chuckled. Aten knew that Eeira had little trust in him, and this was his way to gain it, even by a little more, 'This was all my fault, so you can be damn sure that I'm not gonna let anything happen to you.'

None of that was a lie. Aten was being sincere for once. He sensed the distress in Eeira's demeanor from before, and he was trying his damndest to calm her down and stop her from doing anything rash that might get them both killed.

'Can you uh…,' Eeira spoke with a low voice, '... let go of… my arm?'

Although he was hesitant at first, he listened to her. Fortunately, she didn't instantly run off to the tower as he had expected. She just stood still, her head still down. Seconds grew longer in the silence, as he awaited any other kind of response from her.

Suddenly, she walked around and passed Aten towards the town, never once eying him. He followed behind her, and the awkward silence presumed.

'Never say that again, it would make anyone wince!' She abruptly said.

Aten was surprised for a second, 'Sure thing. I'm in no mood to argue.'

'So how are we gonna approach this mansion?' Her enthusiasm from way before was back.

'We are going to an inn. It's getting late, and a haunted mansion in the night isn't exactly a good combination if you ask me. Besides, you stink and you need clothes.'

'You are really not cutting back with that equality of yours, huh.'

'I say what I see. You wouldn't wanna end up getting embarrassed in the town with those looks, do you?'

'I could ask you the same question!'

'Lady, I always look like this, so there really is no real difference. And I'm a technorunner — at least I look the part.'

'Oh come on!'

For once, Aten wasn't in trouble alone. There was finally someone to accompany him, and together, they would help each other. The unlikely alliance grew even further, as the two were bound to death. However, they wouldn't let such a tragedy strike them down, and as so, they motivated each other in order to overcome this obstacle. Even if it was a haunted mansion.