Being dragged away by someone by the back of my neck was never a pleasant experience, and I felt that every time it happened.

With my shirt taut and my slender neck bearing the weight of my heavy body, I thought anyone with a normal sense of decency would try to avoid this.

Of course, for some, it might be a romantic fantasy.

At least, it seems that someone is not me.

Really.

How can cats feel comfortable with such experiences? I’m just curious.

Wet, wet—
“Ugh, stop! Saelli! No, Saelli-sama!?”
“Shut up. Just keep quiet and follow me. While I’m being nice about it.”

How can this possibly be considered being nice?

Is this some kind of inside joke only monsters understand?

Crack, my back arched the wrong way, making a terrible sound that surely wasn’t good.

Meanwhile, I was in a ridiculous and uncomfortable position, desperately balancing with just the tips of my toes touching the ground while she held my neck.

It’s not voluntary, which makes it distinct from the tricks we perform.

Even the slightest misstep could lead to disaster.

If it weren’t for the forced flexibility I gained from mercenary life, I would have already tumbled to the ground and ended up a complete mess.

Of course, my current posture wasn’t exactly pretty either.

I was really grateful there was no one around.

They say if a person can look up at the sky three times a day, that’s a happy life.

That sounds nice.

I’ve achieved that at least once now.

“Ueeehhhh—”

Whoosh, whoosh, the landscape whizzed by in a blur.

Forced into a position where I had to look at the sky, I realized that the tidy shopping district had transformed into a place that seemed somewhat neglected.

We were on the outskirts of the city, at the very edge.

As buildings piled up thick and high, their shadows grew darker and wider, repeating the cycle of darkness.

If there’s a path that people favor, surely there exists a dark alley that people avoid.

We had stepped right into that shadowy place.

Whoosh!
“Wah!?”
“Hah…”
Now that we had reached our destination, was it necessary for her to still hold my neck?

As my body plummeted to the ground with a thump, I wasn’t expecting her to pick me up gently, but dropping me on the ground without care wouldn’t hurt anyone, would it?

And could she please stop looking at me like I’m some kind of parasite?

When she was being nice to Alice, I wouldn’t mind a fraction of that kindness directed at me, just a fraction of a fraction.

If I went to Alice to share this horrifying experience, she would show up from behind Alice and kindly take my head off while coldly detailing the cruel things that would follow—what a horrible fate that would be.

It’s too much.

The touch I hadn’t felt in a long time lacked any warmth that could be called kindness, reminding me painfully of my sad situation.

Worse yet, I was becoming accustomed to it.

Hiiing.
“…Hiiing.”
“What’s this ‘Hiiing’?”
Tap, tap.
Even when rotting, there’s a dignity, I suppose.

Even in this quiet alley with little foot traffic, only moss and plants growing on the walls caught my eye, and the absence of trash or waste made it quite evident that this was the capital of an empire.

Lying on the clean ground, I wriggled a bit every time her foot tapped me, counting the leaves of a nearby plant.

One leaf, two leaves…
“Stop sulking and get up.”
“…Yes.”
I thought I might die if this continued, so I quickly stood up.

Just like the saying that violence is closer than the law, Alice—my supposed protector—was far away while Saelli stood right in front of me.

Maybe due to not having enough to eat during my growth period, I was relatively smaller compared to my peers, yet in front of her enormous figure, I felt like a newborn kitten, all scrunched up.

She opened her blood-red lips.
“What did I write in the letter?”
The vertically elongated scarlet pupils flashed, glaring at me.

Looking into her eyes, I learned that one can curse with just a gaze.

You’re really angry, huh…

“…Saelli…san? It’s been a while—”
“—I asked what I wrote in the letter.”
“Hik!?”
Operation ‘Greet with a Smile’ failed catastrophically.

Borrowing the wisdom that one can’t spit on a smiling face, I attempted to twist my terrified face into something resembling a smile, but no matter how I greeted her, Saelli’s expression didn’t budge.

Saelli, she was the type of woman who would throw a fist first at a person with a smiling face.

I’m screwed.

Totally screwed.

That thought lingered in my mind like an unwelcome guest.

“You! Where are you taking that guy all of a sudden?”
“….Tch.”
But was there perhaps a lifeline sent my way?

Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of rapid footsteps echoed slowly from the alleyway we just passed through.

Was it following our trail, or was it Remi Akaia, gasping and running towards us with rough breaths?

I considered waving my hand to express my joy but lowered my hand slowly instead.

Asking her for help, the very person who caused this mess, would be the most awkward handshake of all time.
Ultimately, I had to find a way to navigate this life-threatening situation on my own.

The lifeline I hoped for turned out to be a bomb that would only complicate the matters further if I grabbed it.

“I told you…to keep quiet and not cause trouble…”
“Technically, it was ‘Don’t cause an accident’…but well, you know that. But why did you do that? Why is she with you?”
“…Um.”

Saelli’s inquiries pressed on me.

Honestly, I had plenty of excuses I wanted to make.

I was just leading an ordinary academy life, yet she was the one who unilaterally dropped Alice off with me.

Of course, I understood that something unusual had happened for her to entrust Alice to me, but this felt way too sudden.

Besides, Saelli didn’t even know that ‘Remi Akaia’ was involved with Muzeion.

But then again, considering the injury on Alice’s arm, I couldn’t completely reject her words.

“………”

I had neither the desire to deny nor to excuse myself, so I lowered my head as an apology.

“—Wait, you’re asking who I am, aren’t you!”
“You don’t need to know who I am. I don’t want to tell you.”

Did she sense that things were not going as planned?
Or did she instinctively feel that the Saelli standing before her was a key piece in the puzzle about Alice’s past?

Remi Akaia strode over, trying to force Saelli to face her by gripping her shoulder tightly.

Yank!
“……..”
“What the?!”
But Remi Akaia overlooked one crucial point—Saelli was not an ordinary person.

No matter how much strength she exerted, Saelli didn’t budge an inch.

She just glanced at Remi Akaia’s face, unfazed, as if she couldn’t care less about what Remi was doing.

That contemptuous gaze, like looking at an ant, even made me shudder, let alone Remi.

Remi shrank back a bit.
But as Saelli continued, Remi Akaia’s demeanor swiftly changed.

“It doesn’t matter. Either way, I’ll take Alice back.”
“—Huh?”
That chilling remark—who uttered it?

As if echoing from the greenhouse, I glanced at her and saw the life draining from Remi Akaia’s pupils.

Realizing those eyes were fixed on Saelli, I instinctively sensed a storm brewing.

Sadly, it was a storm without an eye, so to speak.

“Who is taking whom? Say that again.”
“I said, I’m taking Alice back.”
“…Hah, you think just because you’ve opened your mouth, you can say anything?”

Like a moon, her amber eyes shone.
Like the sun, her ruby eyes glimmered.

The gazes of the two, neither willing to concede, clashed with intensity.

“Hiiing.”
Life is always tough.

I crouched down, starting to count the leaves of the plant next to me once more.