Your consciousness slowly awakens—floating into the void. Darkness appears to have embraced you once again.

  The library seems to have disappeared, and that thing is nowhere to be seen either.

  The thought that everything had been a dream briefly passes through your mind, but… how could that have been a dream?

  Emotions that never belonged to you keep swirling inside you—seemingly merging with you.

  You can still vividly remember the feeling of your knuckles crashing against the door. The feeling of nails digging into your flesh still lingers. The last memory of a woman’s face is so deeply etched into your memory that you are unsure if you could ever forget it.

  The life of a stranger now fills the void in your memories so perfectly that you find yourself unsure if that person had always been you.

  Yet, somehow, the darkness seems to be dissolving all those feelings, calming your mind. It feels wrong, yet despite all those horrible memories, you somehow feel at peace.

  ????????

  How strange. Is something calling you again?

  Oh… you seem to be waking up.

  ? ?

  As your eyelids slowly open, the sight of the library greets you once again, but strangely that thing doesn’t seem to be around.

  You are seated on an armchair, and something fluffy seems to be supporting your head.

  Could it be a pillow?

  Turning around, you are surprised to find a cat curled around your head. Welo yawns as her shiny eyes slowly reveal themselves. Seeing you staring at her, she suddenly stands up—startled.

  「What the hell! Why are you so close?! Get away!」Welo screams.

  Why is she mad at you for being close after acting like a pillow?

  Gracefully ignoring your impertinent thoughts once again, Welo throws out an empty cough as she begins to speak:

  「Ahem… You finally woke up. Seriously, I was worried that thing was going to start all over again. It's so damn impatient. It was about t–」The cat abruptly stops her words as she stares behind you.

  The strange being now sits in front of your chair, gazing at you.

  Was it there before?

  It tilts its eyeless head, seemingly checking for something, before adorning its face with a crooked smile.

  The swarm of voices forcefully breaches your mind, more impatiently than usual:

  『Oh my, honored guest! You have finally regained consciousness.』Your head aches, as the words are seemingly crammed inside your brain all at once.

  『I was extremely worried! To think the story would be delayed by this much.』

  Is that what worried sounds like?

  From the chair’s arm, Welo glances at you—a pale expression on her face.

  Realizing your mistake, you quickly turn towards the strange being’s face, but unlike your worries, the strange being simply continues talking:

  『I sincerely apologize for the wait, honored guest. Without further ado, let us begin right away!』the strange being says, opening the dirty book now in its hands.

  It’s sending you back into that dark basement?!

  Fear crawls inside you, as your mouth thoughtlessly opens.

  Uh, what? No, wa–wait!

  The strange being’s head suddenly snaps horizontally, as it carefully gazes at you.

  Slowly, the world freezes as your consciousness fades, while your existence morphs into something else. During that brief moment, as your vision slowly turns black, a question can’t help but form inside your mind:

  Did your voice… make any sound?

  ◆

  How much time had gone by—since her mother had closed the entrance—minutes, hours, days?

  Selene couldn’t tell.

  Every second felt endless in that darkness—where no noise could be heard—where nothing could help her drown her thoughts.

  She had wept. She had screamed. She wanted this to be a dream. But… no matter how long she waited. She did not wake up.

  She could still hear them—the screams—they echoed in her mind. No matter how much she clutched her ears, no matter how deep her nails dug into her flesh… those damn screams… th-they just… didn’t stop.

  After failing to open the trapdoor—again and again—she simply… gave up.

  There was nothing more she could do. Her tears had long since dried. Her gaze—absent and dull.

  Her hands still clutching her ears, her nails now fused to her skin by the dried blood.

  The dirt from her father’s last touch still rested on her hair—untouched.

  That dirt was now the last thing her father had given her—the last reminder of his loving touch, the last memory of his smile—one he had used to mask his fear. A reminder of how she had run away and never turned back—of how she had left them there, while they wept in pain.

  As one speck slowly fell, it reflected in her eyes—forcing them to focus.

  If I had known, I wouldn't have dodged.

  If I had known, I would have stayed with them.

  If I had known, I…

  As regret gnawed at her insides—she slowly released her ears from her hands, tearing her skin as her nails separated from her flesh.

  It hurts.

  She stared at her hands, crusted in blood, the bones of her knuckles laid bare.

  It hurts, so much.

  She pushed herself up, slowly walking towards the trapdoor.

  My head hurts.

  My hands hurt.

  My chest hurts.

  Soon.

  She reached it.

  She weakly extended her hand forward—gathering every bit of strength she had left, for her last pointless attempt…

  Or at least it should have been.

  As she pushed it, the trapdoor easily opened—with a quiet click.

  Selene’s eyes widened.

  The indestructible wall that had kept her trapped, while her parents wailed.

  The object that had kept them apart, that had kept her in the darkness, drowning inside her own mind.

  The thing that hadn’t budged even after she struck it until her bones were exposed.

  The reason that had prevented her from dying with them. Had just… opened from a single push.

  Anger, rage, regret, despair, sadness—all the feelings that had been waiting to explode within her, swirled inside her mind, ready to burst out. But… nothing came. Selene simply looked at it, muttering:

  “Why now?”

  ? ?

  『Mh, mh.』The strange being nods—glasses suddenly on its nose. 『Why now, indeed! Such a nice question!』it exclaims excitedly.

  Welo suddenly jumps up from the armchair,awoken by its shout. 「What the– Why are you shouting? Wait… why are you wearing glasses? You don’t even have eyes!」Welo says, appalled by the strange being’s appearance.

  『Well then, to answer that question. Shall we have a change of perspective, honored guest?』the strange being asks playfully.

  「Who are you even talking to? That thing is still in the book. Wha—wait, don’t just shift–」

  Everything stops. The world blurs—as the dimension turns, like the page of a book.

  ◆

  In a beautiful, lonely house, surrounded by nature and hazy colors—a young woman moved busily inside. The summer heat permeated the kitchen—the wind blowing through the open door ruffled her hair.

  Drying her hands on her dirty apron, Lena gazed at the garden. In the distance, a beautiful tree stood tall—a young girl napping in its shade.

  That child of hers was quite lazy, always sleeping somewhere, saying she was ‘reading’. The only times she was awake were when she was woken up to eat and do chores, or when she practiced swordsmanship with her father.

  She had reluctantly allowed her husband to teach her. Even though she was worried about her getting hurt, seeing her daughter so happy to do something had convinced her.

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  Still, she felt that she shouldn’t let her sleep all day. Waking her from such a peaceful sleep always made her sad, but every time she thought of letting her sleep some more, a memory from the past resurfaced in her mind:

  Inside a small room, in that terrible place, her daughter sat all alone, her eyes murky—just like hers.

  She didn’t know why, but that memory always left her with the feeling that she mustn’t let her sleep too much. So, as usual, she mustered up her determination, and began calling for her.

  After a few shouts, and lots of patience, Selene finally entered the kitchen. Her hair was still messy, and the signs of the book that had been laying on her face remained on her cheek.

  Selene grumpily took the plates she handed her, and set the table.

  Seeing that the child had finished, she quickly gave her another task, so that she wouldn’t go right back to sleep.

  She wasn’t sure why, but for some reason the child seemed to be in a better mood as she headed out.

  ~~~

  The trapdoor closed as the face of her child slowly disappeared from her sight. The smile that had adorned her face as she headed to the garden was now replaced by a look of fear.

  The cries of her daughter echoed in her ears, before slowly fading as the trapdoor’s enchantment began to take effect. It would surely shield her until no danger was left.

  There was no time to waste. Lena hurriedly placed the carpet over the trapdoor’s fading lines.

  The family’s knights seemed to have found them. One of the servants that helped them escape must have been caught.

  The only thing she could do now was hope that one of the non-hostile factions had found them first.

  She took her husband's sword hanging in their bedroom as she headed towards the garden.

  Outside, a group of 12 armored men dismounted from their horses as they headed towards the man standing in the garden.

  A short man stood at the front of the group, his boots noisily hitting the ground as he headed towards the house’s owner. Looking at the man’s face, the knight dressed like a mercenary scoffed, while twirling the end of his mustache: “Sir Alexander, by the patriarch’s order, we have come to retrieve you and your family. Would you kindly follow us back to the estate?”

  “I have already told my father I would give up my title. I see no reason for me to return,” the brown-haired man said, his tone carrying an unexpected weight.

  “Tch,” the knight openly expressed his displeasure as one of his subordinates handed him an envelope. “As the contents of this letter state, we are required to escort you back to the estate the moment we come in contact with you,” the knight said, as he handed Alexander the letter.

  Lena quietly observed the situation from the doorstep. Since they were still willing to have a conversation, it seemed one of the neutral factions had found them. They didn’t appear friendly, but they didn’t seem openly hostile either.

  As she analyzed their intention, she suddenly felt an uncomfortable gaze—one of the knights had noticed her. His eyes were fixed on her from under his helmet. An uncomfortable feeling crawled on her skin, as she tightened her grip on the sword hidden behind her back.

  Something wasn’t right.

  Why are the knights dressed like mercenaries?

  “Like I have previously said, it does not matter if my father has ordered me to return. I have already given up all ties to the family. I do not wish to return. Now begone,” Alexander yelled with his strong voice.

  “But Sir, our orders are clear. We can't simply go back,” another knight retorted loudly from the side.

  “Mind your tone, knight. I might have given up my title, but I will not accept such disrespect,” Alexander’s voice thundered.

  Something didn’t fit.

  They seem agitated by Alexander’s refusal, but other than their disrespectful manners, they don’t appear to be preparing for hostile actions.

  Their positions are scattered, but they don’t seem to be trying to surround us either.

  Something was wrong.

  The knight whose uncomfortable gaze had been fixed on her, was now next to the commander who was discussing with her husband.

  Had that knight always been so near?

  Seemingly sensing her gaze, the knight slowly turned his head towards her. As those strange eyes gazed at her, that uncomfortable feeling rose inside her once again.

  That knight was wrong. That knight did not fit. That knight wasn’t right.

  Had there always been 13 knights?

  The knight’s mouth slowly twitched, crookedly turning into an inhuman smile, as its hand gripped the sword on its hip.

  Her perception of time slowed, as she began to run towards her husband, not even bothering to hide the sword behind her back anymore.

  “Alexanderrr!” Her voice stretched through the air, as she ran towards him, but the sword was too fast.

  ~~~

  Alexander’s eyes widened, as his peripheral vision picked up the silhouette of a knight he hadn’t noticed before. His right arm holding the letter instinctively moved back, as a sword headed towards it, but he was too slow. The sword sliced through 3 of his fingers in an instant.

  He quickly put distance between himself and the knight, while analyzing what had just happened.

  The knights that had seemed to have no intention to fight had suddenly turned hostile without any warning. While their behavior was rude, none of their body language had hinted that they were planning to attack.

  He was keeping an eye on every one of them, yet a knight he hadn’t noticed had managed to sneak right next to him and attack.

  As thoughts raced inside his mind, the knight he had been speaking to screamed—enraged:

  “Fuck! What the fuck are you doing? We were supposed to bring them to a secluded place and kill them while they were sleeping. Why the fuck did you attack him now!?”

  “Dammit, surround him! Thankfully, his hand is now unusable, even if he’s a paladin candidate, he can’t beat us all without using his dominant hand.”

  While the knights unsheathed their swords, preparing to surround him, Lena placed his sword in his left hand with a panicked face.

  He smiled at his wife—trying to reassure her—as he raised the sword in his hand.

  The knights rushed towards him.

  Even while using his left hand, countering the knights wasn’t proving to be too much of a problem. Deflecting one of the knights’ attacks, his sword pierced the knight’s exposed neck, drenching the sword in red.

  Freeing his sword by slashing the knight’s neck, he swiftly cut the arm of another knight, before kicking him away.

  It was strange. The group of knights was quite unskilled. Even while having superior numbers, they were still unable to use it to their advantage. At this rate, he would be able to win and sustain only moderate injuries, yet this feeling of uneasiness had been settling inside his chest since the fight had begun.

  While he was thinking, a sword stabbed towards him. Letting his right forearm be pierced, he stopped the sword by trapping it between his bones, before cutting the knight's head off.

  As he distanced himself and removed the sword stuck in his forearm, his uneasiness grew. It was too easy—something was amiss.

  When yet another knight fell, the uneasiness quickly turned into panic—he was forgetting something.

  He quickly checked the state of the battle. Three knights had died, one had been incapacitated, and the other 8 were starting to get agitated and were now hesitant to attack him.

  Uh?

  Weren’t there 13 knights?

  A scream echoed in his ears as he turned around towards his wife. Before he could even realize, a sword was piercing his stomach. With widened eyes, he tried to strike the knight in front of him, but his hand holding the sword had already been cut by one of the knights behind him.

  Blood flooded from his wounds. His head felt blurry, and his senses were starting to fade. As he looked at his crying wife with his hazy eyes, his vision slowly turned black.

  ~~~

  Lena pressed a cloth on her husband's stomach, as tears streamed down her bruised face. She had been able to stop the bleeding from his arms and was now trying to pack the wound on his stomach. Thanks to his strong vitality, the man was still barely alive.

  The knights moved busily, cutting the tree while building something, but Lena’s mind was in chaos, and unable to pay attention to their actions.

  She had tried pleading with them, and even attacked them, but the knights didn’t care, and she was too weak to be able to injure them.

  Stress muddled her thoughts. Unable to find a solution to the situation—she put all her energy into trying to keep her husband alive, but that too seemed to be pointless at this point. Even with her blurred mind, she knew that they had no intention of letting them live.

  Thankfully, they didn’t seem interested in finding Selene. Now she could only hope it would stay that way even after they got rid of them.

  Soon, the knights came to them. They grabbed her and her husband, and started tying them to a poorly made stake.

  Were they planning to burn them at the stake, so they could fault their deaths on pillagers or cultists? No one would probably even find out who they were after they died. Such deaths were common in times of war.

  As she gazed at the house with her murky eyes, regret filled her chest.

  Once again, I wasn’t able to protect her.

  ~~~

  “Fuck, it stinks!” one of the knights exclaimed, while looking around the garden.

  “That short fuck left and gave all the dirty work to us again.”

  “‘Go into the house and make it look like it has been pillaged!’ Could have done it himself, the bastard. Don’t you think so too, Beffa?”

  “Ahah, you’re right, William. That pig is always leaving all the hard work to us,” Beffa answered with a laugh.

  “You’re too carefree with it, aren’t you? Dealing with our comrades’ bodies, and removing any evidence is such a bothersome job. I didn’t sign up for this!” William exclaimed—annoyed.

  “Anyways, we have already dealt with the bodies. Let's go inside the house and get rid of anything that could let the family recognize them.”

  “So thorough, hehe.”

  “Hey, don’t make fun of me. Hurry!"

  The knights entered the house and began to search for relevant items, while causing chaos.

  “Uhm, that’s everything for the rooms. Let’s search under the carpet in the corridor. These kinds of houses usually have a basement there,”William said as he headed towards the corridor.

  But even after removing all of the carpet, no basement could be found.

  “Uh? Strange. A basement is normally built in houses like these.”

  “Maybe they cut corners to save money?”

  “I don’t think so. This house is pretty high quality. It's similar to the kind a wealthy merchant would live in.”

  “Pftt, what are you, a builder?”

  “Uh, my father built houses. Didn't I tell you that years ago?” William said with a displeased expression.

  “Ahah, I was joking. Don’t be so serious.”

  “...Anyways, it could be that they hid the basement with some kind of enchantment. That short bastard gave me a device to detect them. Let me look around,” William said, while taking a mirror-like device from his luggage.

  “Oh, found it!”

  The shape of a trapdoor slowly began to reveal itself, as William looked at Beffa with a smug look on his face.

  “I wonder what they might have hidden in there. Expensive stuff? Gold? It must be important for them to use such an expensive thing to hide it.”

  As William crouched down, reaching towards the trapdoor’s handle, he suddenly paused.

  “Something important… Hey, didn’t Sir Alexander have a daught–”

  A thud echoed in the dark corridor, as a head hit the ground—blood splashing against the walls. The headless body slowly melted—bubbling—as the other knight’s head snapped 180 degrees, its arm unnaturally turning behind his back, slowly placing its index finger over its lips.

  *Shhh*

  ◆

  As Selene slowly exited the basement, a disgusting smell instantly assaulted her nose. Covering her mouth with her hands, vomit quickly rose up her throat.

  After fighting the urge to puke once more, Selene continued heading through the corridor. The house was in a mess, as if it had been raided.

  On a nearby drawer, a glass jar with some water remained unbroken despite the chaos. Selene quickly emptied the jar in an attempt to push the vomit down her throat, but sadly, it had the opposite effect, making her puke once again.

  With her stumbling body, she headed down the corridor—the disgusting smell growing stronger with each step.

  This smell…

  Slowly, the doorstep came within her sight. No light was visible outside anymore.

  By the time she was steps away from the exit, the smell had become nearly unbearable.

  Fear overwhelmed her as she stared at the corner of the door. She couldn’t bring herself to look outside.

  She already had a feeling as to what this smell was—she simply wasn’t able to accept it, but even then—she had to look. She couldn’t simply run again. There was nowhere to run to anymore.

  One step at a time, she headed outside. Cold sweat poured down her forehead with each step.

  The chilling night breeze brushed against her skin, making her tremble. The burned smell was now so strong that even breathing through her mouth couldn't help decrease it.

  She slowly walked towards the place the tree she loved so much had once been. In front of her eyes stood the source of the smell. Two wooden poles stood tall, carbonized remains tied to them.

  Her sight blurred as she stared towards the burned remains. Her mind felt as if it had been covered in mud. Her legs crumbled—her knees hitting the ground.

  Her breath soon stopped inside her throat. The world wobbled and turned, as thoughts she couldn’t understand continuously formed and dissolved inside her mind.

  “A… Ahah aah aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” A broken laughter escaped her mouth, slowly turning into a scream. Her throat felt as if it was being torn apart, as the tears she thought she had used up trailed down her cheeks.

  Her cries blending into the darkness of the night.