‘’There isn’t anyone here…,’’ Rosa said as they walked through the hallways of the castle together, annoyed by the torches attached to the walls and the lack of lighting, as well as because there was no living soul around the floor they were on, and they couldn’t hear footsteps from above. For Yohiro it felt like everyone had simply vanished into thin air, for Hiona and Rosa it felt like something was up. A normal person would think ‘’Why’s this place empty? Is this king an idiot?’’ while Hiona was thinking ‘’Where’s he hiding them? Up on his own floor as a last resort?’’ They were walking around the floor, giving them all a severe feeling of deja vu, or rather it was like they were reliving a dream, only it looked more medieval and less army base-like.

Proceeding upwards and upwards up the floors, there was no one, not a single person that would try and stop them, which was peculiar with it being a castle with the king himself occupying it. Of course, however, the king wasn’t being thoughtless; he had called for all of them to retreat to the highest floor and wait in front of his bedroom, both for the sake of none of them dying easily and to protect him and his daughter. Among those mercenaries and helpers stood Daron, dead in front, holding a tome in anticipation, knowing he would have to use it along with the blade he had hidden under his sleeve; he was scared to death, needless to say, considering he was left to lead a group exceeding fifty people in a rather tight hallway, but he was a reliable lad, readying himself for the worst. He had ordered the special mages to gather at the very back with their summoning magic ready and the ones using elemental magic behind him. Unlike them he had received a special tome from the king as a gift for his efforts, though he had to give it back after the operation was over. With it he was convinced he couldn’t lose at any cost, since it was hand-written with spells supposedly beyond a weak human body, meaning Daron had to train himself to be able to even use it twice before having his body become unusable.

Approaching the upper floors, Clous opened his eyes grumpily, much to his surprise finding himself of Yohiro’s back. ‘’Good morning!’’ Yohiro greeted him, once again inappropriately considering the situation. ‘’Seeing as we’re climbin’ up…master cheated and we got on with it?’’ He assumed in his haze, thinking the same as Rosa, meaning both of them had clearly been influenced by Hiona a significant amount. ‘’We won fair and square, thanks to you and me, though, not because Hiona went and kissed Makuhi and his brothers,’’ Yohiro explained to him as he rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had heard Yohiro’s words correctly. ‘’You called her Hiona?! Also, you won?!’’ Clous shouted at him, putting more importance on him dropping the master status when referring to the woman he was so afraid of. Yohiro’s smile turned upside down the very moment the subject took a turn towards Hiona.

Although Clous noticed Hiona scratching her head violently, he didn’t know what to make out of it, also noticing Rosa who sucking on her fingers just to make sure she wouldn’t start bleeding from nails all of a sudden. ‘’The hell...did I miss with you lot?’’ Clous thought as he laid his head on Yohiro’s back, taking advantage of his efforts and overall choosing to be lazy. ‘’By the way, Clous, your tome is with me. Do you want it back?’’ Yohiro addressed the fox in a more serious tone. ‘’Ah, yea--’’ ‘’I’m asking if you want the same tome given to you by Hiona; do you still want that?’’ Clous’ eyes widened slightly, ‘’What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? Don’t tell me you’re growing into one of those edgy brats!’’ He slapped Yohiro’s head, with him not budging. ‘’Wouldn’t it hurt to continue using it…?’’ Rosa and Hiona turned their heads as they noticed Yohiro stop in his tracks.

‘’You’re getting on my nerves! Explain, runt!’’ Clous demanded as he jumped off his back, noticing that Yohiro’s hands were shaking angrily. ‘’Wouldn’t Yugashi...feel ashamed?’’ He let out, making Hiona grit her teeth as Clous stepped back after having been left speechless. ‘’Wouldn’t it hurt your heart, too? What about the kids? Wasn’t it her fault at the end of the day…?’’ Tension began filling the corridor quickly, Hiona not noticing she had began hurting herself by scratching her head with it bleeding consistently and the blood reaching her forehead. ‘’I just...don’t want you to cr--’’ ‘’Shut up, Yohiro…’’ Clous interrupted him, staring at his exposed chest, intentionally trying not to make eye contact, ‘’I won’t shut u--’’ ‘’You don’t fucking know anything!’’ Yohiro shook slightly as he heard those words, ‘’You’re just some damn newborn with no common sense! You’ve got no right lecturing me! The only reason you’re alive right now is ME, so don’t...poke your nose into everything!’’ Rosa’s eyes narrowed as she realised it wasn’t her place to interrupt. ‘’I’m not poking my nose into everything! I just want to help YOU!’’

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‘’With what?! The hell’s there to help me with?!’’

‘’How’d you know about the old man?! And the kids? Did master tell you, bastard!’’

‘’Are you that socially unaware that you need to know everything, huh?!’’

Clous went on, not giving Yohiro a chance to rebut as he grabbed him by the throat suddenly, scaring the young boy. He quickly started coughing as Clous began tightening his grip without realising the immense pain Yohiro was in, his words turning into insulted screaming and spit. Yohiro’s eyes began to close as he gagged on his saliva, struggling to get Clous’ hand off him with his two own, finding it impossible as his hand had become like an iron pole; completely unmovable. ‘’That’s enough, Clous. Let go of him,’’ Hiona placed her hand, bloody fingers and all, on his throat, poking him with her barely attached nails. The fear Clous began experiencing was worse than that of getting beaten half to death, worse than the one on the train to the castle, worse than even a few years back. This time it felt like Hiona was planning to kill him, not just threatening to do it. However, the crude fox ignored it, the grudge was too strong for him to let go, watching with both sadness and pleasure as Yohiro lost the strength in his arm. ‘’Don’t disobey me…’’ Hiona told him, grabbing his own throat and pulling him up, causing Clous to drop Yohiro on the ground, leaving him to vomit on the castle’s floor, sweating from the fear and pain, not even noticing the marks Clous had left on his neck, looking like someone had tightened a rope as tightly as they could.

Despite all that, Clous tried to escape his master’s hand, not yet satisfied with the damage he inflicted on the boy who could have expressed himself more suitably. ‘’When I let go, you’re going to sit down and apologize and keep apologizing until I tell you to stop. If you don’t, i’ll kill you on the spot and feed you to a back alley dog…!’’ She told him, staring at him with disgust and anger, watching him drop his arms down, gasping. ‘’You wouldn’t dare, Hiona…!’’ Yohiro turned towards her in a quiet, weak tone with his eyes full of tears from the vomiting and his face looking pitiful overall. ‘’How many times have I proven that I don’t mind killing each on of you? Why wouldn’t I do it…?’’ She looked down on Yohiro, looking almost like she was hurting, herself.

The poor boy stood up, using his knee for help, looking Hiona dead in the eyes while lacking the ability to look at her with an intimidating look. ‘’If you kill Clous, I’ll be the one to kill you.’’ He told her, not noticing the bit of saliva dripping from the side of his mouth at all. His words sounded like a joke to all of them, taking a few full seconds to register. It was a similar thought for them all: Someone threatening Hiona with murder, which sounded ridiculous on all accounts, but the boy meant it fully, not breaking the eye contact between them. ‘’Yohiro, y-you should know your plac--’’ ‘’And if I don’t take you seriously, kill Clous and then kill you, what would you do in that case, Yohiro…?’’ Hiona somehow smiled even in this kind of situation, though looking more annoyed than happy or pleased. Looking like he had met the dead end, Yohiro inhaled a good amount of air and exhaled. ‘’You can’t and won’t kill me; after all, I came from The Tree,’’ he replied, keeping his composure as much as possible despite his heart that was about to jump out of his chest from the tension and murderous intent coming from her. ‘’Do you genuinely believe I care? Next time I could go there myself, destroy their entire gallery and steal the treasure again. You’re nothing, nothing at all!’’ Hiona yelled at Yohiro, leaving his eyes completely empty, the liveliness fading away from them slowly but fast enough to not get any attention. As that happened Yohiro failed to notice that Hiona herself seemed nervous for some reason. What she claimed was not wrong; she could do that, but it still felt as if she was uncertain, to the point of her hand shaking and beginning to loosen the grip on Clous’ neck, surprising him and Rosa. ‘’If I’m nothing, kill me right now…’’ The air suddenly began to feel thin for Hiona; she had began feeling like the one being threatened, even though her claims were completely serious and possible. Right? He raised both his hands up to the side of his body, basically inviting her to attack him. His voice sounded unenergetic and tired, with a grain of fear in it, but his heart was beating way less slower than before, which confused even him.

‘’Kill me, then. Show me how series you are...''