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Author’s note:
Keep in mind, I will intentionally be referring to Nicole as Reid in this chapter.

Setz downed the cheap alcohol from the cracked glass in one go. The girl from Horton Corp remained unconscious on the floor while being tied to the chair.

She was breathing, though, so she was still alive.

“Klon, I gotta go piss.”
“Stop drinking so much.”
“Oh 𝓯𝓾𝓬𝓴 off!”

He opened the door and headed for the toilet ahead. It wasn’t connected to the sewage system, however, but instead made use of a hole dug underneath.

It was a run-down house they bought as a temporary shelter, so it was out of the question for it to have something so expensive.

He unzipped his pants and started pissing down the hole.

“Whew, getting stuck with the watch duty all night sure sucks.”

While making such idle complaints, he started violently scratching his nape of the neck. He did that because he felt a bug or something similar crawling up there. Bugs like flies were a common occurrence in pit toilets like these, so he didn’t really think much of the itching he felt. However, that decision proved to be fatal.

That sensation suddenly revealed its true identity and strangled him.

“Agh, gah!?”

He was then fiercely pulled back and glued to the door. However, the door didn’t even flinch and remained shut.

“Aghack-”

He wanted to scream, but his strangled throat only managed to leak groans. Not to mention, it continued to strangle him without letting up even a bit.

The thread—one made of steel—coiled around his neck had dug into his flesh without leaving any gaps for him to insert fingers in. The thread kept being pulled back through the gaps in the door…

“Ga—ha…”

And finally, strength left his body. He was dead… Yet the thread didn’t cease its advance until it eventually lopped off his head.

With a thud, his head continued rolling until it fell in the toilet’s pit and disappeared. A moment later, his body too crumbled down.

“That’s one.”

Nicole… Nay, Reid unfastened the thread tied to the anchor that was hanging from a tree. He had tied a steel thread to the anchor and lifted it up onto the roadside tree beforehand. Then he twined another thread around Setz’s neck from behind while simultaneously linking it to the anchor’s thread.

Thus by dropping the anchor, the threads would dive into Setz’s neck and cut his head off.

However, the sound it made as it fell spread through the dead of night; other inhabitants must have heard it too. But that too could be used to lead the target to his desired location.

“On to the next…”

With those words, he left through the window and headed for his next target.

Klon and Joey who were continuing their watch-keeping heard a heavy dropping sound from the outside. They were in the middle of a card game, but they stopped what they were doing and exchanged looks.

“Hey, what was that sound…?”
“Oh, you heard it too, Joey?”
“Setz is taking his time too.”
“It’s too early to jump to conclusions… But see what’s going on outside. Oh, would be nice if you check on Setz too on your way back.”
“Huh? Ah, right. You keep watch on that girl. If its some rescuers…”
“Yeah, they would be heading here.”

Joey put on his sword and headed for the entrance. He walked through the dim corridor and opened the door.

As expected, only the dark townscape spread beyond it, with some magic street lights. No, there was something else, a pile of rocks under the roadside tree.

“What is that…?”

He took a step outside to inspect the strange rock formation. But then, something grazed his legs. At the same time, he felt something on his neck too.

“Ah!?”

He leaked a small voice and tried to pull his leg back, however, he failed to do that. Both his neck and legs got bound at the same time, then it pulled on his legs from behind making him fall face-forward.

However, the constrains on his neck prevented him from falling to the ground and he remained suspended diagonally.

“Agh, gha-ah—”

Joey squirmed, trying to somehow get the thread off his neck. However, his legs were pulled behind so he failed to fix his posture. The threads on his legs and his neck were connected while running through the second floor’s window frame.

In other words, it was his own weight that pulled on his legs now. Getting out of this position by himself would’ve been a difficult task.

“Gah, 𝓼-𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓽…I-I have to…”

He squirmed his hands and knees trying to reach the ground, but the threads adjusted according to his movements and got in his way. Eventually, he started desperately reaching for the threads underneath.

At the same time, a figure approached him. It was a little girl wearing a black robe. Her face was dyed black with soot, her silver hair alone shining in the black of night.

“Hr…Hrelp—”

He reached out to her for help. But the girl—Reid had not even the slightest intention of doing so. Instead, Raid drew the sword and raised it overhead. And that was the final scene for Joey.

Klon stood up from the chair and waited for Joey’s return without lowering his guard. He had yet to return, which made it certain that something was wrong.

“Tsk, how did they even find this place? In any case, I should let Balde and Gale—”

In the middle of his speech, he heard a clatter from the window.

“There you are!”

He clearly heard that sound given how vigilant he was. He pulled out his sword and stabbed it through the wooden sliding window.

Along with piercing through the wood, he also felt his sword stabbing the flesh. Moreover, he even felt it digging into bones.

This attack should have proven fatal. Judging so, Klon started grinning.

“Dumbass, thought you could get behind me so easily? Think again!”
“Really? I would say it was easy enough, though.”

He heard a loud voice reverberate inside the room where he and the fainted girl should’ve been the only ones left. It was a voice more beautiful and louder than the kidnapped girl’s.

And then, a cold beam pierced his chest. That cold, ruthless metallic sensation robbed his life.

“H-How…”
“The one outside the window was your comrade.”

He slid open the window with his trembling hand and then he saw it. Joey’s corpse was hanging down from the second floor.

“𝓕𝓾… 𝓕𝓾𝓬𝓴…”

Muttering his final swear, Klon’s body went limp and collapsed on the floor. He started convulsing, which was proof of fatality. At this stage, not even Maria could heal him.

“This makes it three. Two to go.”

The remaining two should have been asleep now. It would be wiser to inspect this room before that, Reid thought.

He first decided to check Matisse’s condition. While she was indeed breathing, she might still have been in a critical condition.

His inspection showed that while her body had received serious damage, her head was almost intact.

“The Interference System isn’t really specialized for healing… Crimson One, Ultramarine One, Gold One, Curing Light.”

Interference System was specialized for meddling with the performance of weapons and bodies. However, healing wounds didn’t fall in that category. At best it could move the broken bones or dislocated joints back to their original positions.

It was only as effective as a massage but still better than nothing. Hearing her breaths calm down a bit, Reid heaved a relieved sigh.

“It might be dangerous if I don’t take her to Maria soon… But I have to put that off for now. I can only ease her posture now so she has to hang on.”

Reid laid her near the fireplace and covered her with the blanket that he found in the corner. That way, her body would stay warm.

Following that, he inspected the nearby chest and found a ring, scroll, and a dagger inside.

“I’ve no idea what these things are… No, I do know about the scroll.”

Based on the magic circle drawn on it, he guessed that it was a Magic called Ignite. Perhaps they planned to use it as a trump card when they snuck inside the Treants’ territory. As the Treants’ bodies were similar to dry trees, they were very weak to fire.

Seeing that, a new plan popped up in Reid’s mind.