The three kidnapped victims almost leisurely walked down the empty, dimly lit hallway. They had been roaming around for a while with Alira using Narrate on the walls and structures every so often to guess where they should go, but still hadn’t come across any cultists or anyone at all.

  The longer they walked, the stronger sense of déjà vu she felt. “You’re sure we aren’t stuck in place like last time again?” she whispered to Raine as the two walked up front with the girl following a few steps behind.

  Raine only gave her a slow blink.

  “Um,” Dera called. “What are we doing again? Sorry, it just doesn’t look like you guys are trying to find a way out...”

  Alira glanced at Raine, hoping he could take care of this, but he only looked ahead, acting deaf.

  Just my fault for expecting anything from the ‘my words are something you can’t afford’ protagonist...

  “There were three of us siblings,” Alira began making things up. “As you can see, it’s just him and me right now, so we need to find our youngest before we leave.”

  “Ah, I see. It’s truly a pain to be split from your sibling, isn’t it?” Dera’s shadow extending from behind nodded. “What does she look like? I could help you find her.”

  Alira’s feet almost came to an abrupt stop at that, but she quickly caught herself and kept on walking. Her finger reached for the small coin pouch tied to her side.

  I never said it was a ‘she’.

  Was it a fluke, or did Dera know more than she was pretending to?

  Is she a Fellsworn pretending to be a victim? Or is she someone who purposefully became a victim like us for a reason?

  The second case was obviously more favorable, though maybe not by much, depending on the reason itself.

  Alira thought about what she should do. Mana was as good as non-existence here. That drastically lowered their fighting strength since Raine’s main capability remained his magic, and she wouldn’t be able to use Xia’s flame as a last resort.

  She had about half a dozen Lia crystals for emergencies, but she’d rather save them to use Xia’s healing in case the Corruption value climbed too high. Either way, it wasn’t enough mana to give her the confidence to face Dera head-on if they needed to.

  They could use Alchemy, but if Dera was a Fellsworn, they would still be screwed because of Corruption. Not to mention, she wouldn’t be the only Fellsworn around when it came to that. Time and Healers were the only things that could recover a lightly corrupted soul, and they had enough of neither.

  Use Narrate to figure her out first? For that, she needed to pick the right moment to get the right information. Finally, Alira decided that Dera wasn’t a threat, at least not for now, before she accomplished whatever her goal was being here. She just had to be careful that that goal didn't conflict with hers.

  Alira’s footsteps slowed down, and she turned her head to look at Dera over her shoulder.

  “Really?” she asked, her voice flat. “Just now you asked me to lead the way out, but now you’re offering to help me find her. How will you do that exactly? You know about this place or something?” She let just enough suspension taint her voice.

  “Alright. I’ll be honest. I actually know my way around, thanks to my Role,” Dera said quickly enough.

  A classic answer. Whatever unexplainable could just be filed under a unique Role’s abilities with so many that had yet been recorded. Alira would agree that it made a good excuse.

  Alira sighed like an unamused rich mother-in-law who had seen through the scheming woman her son was dating. “You know. I’m not a fan of beating around the bush. We’re here for business, and I can tell that you’re the same, so drop it, will you? Do you want to work together? If not, try to stay out of our way, and we’re cool.”

  Dera laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. “I was wondering how long you plan to continue this and keep up that clueless act. You aren’t very good at it.” She regained her calm composure and said with a light smile, “Whether we work together should depend on whether we can work together. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  She looks comfortable.

  Alira noted from Dera’s demeanor. Dera said she knew her way around, but she didn’t just know this place. She carried herself around like she’d walked down these identical passages countless times, like this was home, and she was making her way from the living room to the kitchen.

  Deciding to trust her judgement and instinct that the girl behind her was most likely a Fellsworn, Alira could guess the reason why they hadn’t come across any other cultists. Did she order them to stay put? If she had the authority to do that, Dera was most likely a high-ranking cultist.

  “We’re here to make a deal,” Alira said. “One I’m sure will go through. We would have already gotten over it if they didn’t split us for some reason.” Raine didn’t so much flinch or bat an eyelid at her bullshit. His uncaring nature sure came in handy.

  “With your kidnappers?”

  “Yes,” Alira said, “with the Fellsworns of Mother.” At her words, she saw Dera’s shadow stagger for a moment.

  “You know,” Dera said.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Well, obviously. I told you we came here for a deal.”

  “What kind of deal? You don’t seem interested in becoming a Fellsworn since you...you know, didn’t let that happen to the boy just now.”

  “Do I have to tell you that? But since that’s the first thing you ask, instead of yelling at me stupid for dealing with them, I’m taking either you don’t care, or you aren’t against Fellsworn business at all. Am I right?”

  “...Yes. I don’t really care who I’m taking from,” Dera’s voice was small but firm. “A deal. I’m also here for one. So I should make sure your deal won’t go against mine.”

  Alira turned to give her a reassuring nod. “I’m pretty sure it won’t. We’re here to exchange something. An artifact for an artifact.”

  “What artifact do you want from the cultist?”

  Alira cracked a smile. “You’re not asking what artifact I’m giving.”

  Dera shrugged, the movement somewhat unnatural with her shoulder tense. Alira couldn’t help but wonder if Dera, and in turn the cultists, already knew about her—the girl who snatched Hollowed Mirror right out of their hands.

  “Anyway,” Alira said, “it’s an artifact for alchemists. I’m sure followers of Mother have no use for anything alchemy, so they’d surely trade for mine. I have a good one.” She placed a finger over her lips in a hushed gesture and used her first Narrate on Dera at the exact moment.

  [ Artifact for alchemists. Dera takes a good, long look at the young hybrid girl before her, but can’t see anything past the desperation in the girl’s bright green eyes. She’s seen similar perseverance in her own eyes. She knows exactly what artifact the girl was talking about—that one junk the fledglings have recently brought back. But how does the girl know about it? ]

  Alira didn’t feel relieved at the fact that her guess was correct. Rather, her heart had raced, and she struggled to keep her composure at the fact that Dera was exactly who she guessed. Seeing how she called the Retrievers fledglings, it seemed her rank was even higher than Alira had expected.

  Keep calm... We aren’t in a clash yet.

  “You know a lot,” Dera said for a moment of silence.

  “I know more than just a lot,” Alira said with a smirk, hoping it wasn’t too stiff on her face.

  She knew about the artifact from the time Raine had raided and looted a cultist den in the novel. It would become an extremely useful artifact later on, one that could help Raine a great deal in breaking the duke’s bind, but as of now, it was as good as useless until he became an Elite Alchemist.

  Lillian’s the priority, but I won’t say no to some bonus loot along the way.

  “Sounds like we can work together after all,” Dera said with a decisive look on her face. “As you said, I purposefully got kidnapped so I can make a profit from the kidnappers.” She touched her fingertips to form a diamond with her hands. Then, she extended her hand, and a closed scroll emerged from her open palm. “While I’m not busy picking things up, I work as a cartographer. My Role lets me see this place in an overhead map. I know exactly where they keep the artifact.”

  A dungeon crawler, except the dungeon was the home of arguably Staywes’s most dangerous Fellsworns. It was a good setup, especially since it seemed to be something she’d just come up with—one that sounded believable and reasonable enough. Alira might have believed that if Narrate didn’t already tell her everything she needed to know about Dera.

  “What do you want?” Alira asked, and she continued before Dera could answer, “Finding my sibling is still my priority. Help me find her first.”

  “If my guess isn’t off, they probably took her to the furnace,” Dera replied.

  Alira gripped a handful of her skirt when she heard that. Of course, they took her to there where she’d be rebirth—she knew that, but having the acting Fellsworn before her confirm it wasn’t so pleasant.

  “I’ll take you there—”

  “Good. Get movi—”

  “—after we’ve visited the artifact storeroom. You find and take the artifact you want, and in return, give me the artifact you were planning to exchange with the Mother’s children. It’s the same, right? You deal with me instead of them.”

  A trap. One so painfully obvious.

  The problem was that she had no reason to disagree unless she didn’t trust what Dera was saying. Alira sure didn’t, but if she didn’t play along with the cultist’s game, what would stop the woman from simply taking what she wanted?

  Alira extended her hand out for a handshake. “I’ll give you the artifact after I’ve gotten bound with the artifact and unite with my sibling. Try anything, and neither of us will be happy with the outcome. For your information, I’ve bound with the artifact and can turn it to dust with a thought.”

  { Won’t you hesitate to lose me, too, sweetie? How heartless. }

  Fuck. That scared me.

  Alira swallowed a shriek that almost came out of her throat, having totally forgotten about Xia being here, thanks to how quiet he’d been the entire time. This certainly wasn’t the first time he’d speak out of nowhere, and she had every right to suspect that he did it on purpose every time.

  Though that spike in her heartbeat had helped calm her nerves in a strange, most likely unintended way.

  Dera stared at her hand for just a beat before she gave a dry laugh. “Yeah, no. I’m not letting an alchemist touch me. That’s one way to get some sneaky cast on yourself.”

  Alira shrugged. “I tried. Lead the way, Lady Dera.”

  “You haven’t told me yours yet,” Dera said as she walked past Alira, their shoulders brushing.

  “Li. And that’s Ra. He doesn’t talk much, but he’s a good boy.” Alira remembered it wasn’t really necessary to make up names since Dera probably already knew, but she was already Li, and Raine was already Ra.

  Dera laughed as the three walked down the hallways in the opposite direction. “Let me guess. Your sister’s name is La?”

  “How do you know?” Alira said with a hint of fake surprise. She flicked two cards behind her, the cards sliding across the floor without a sound. “Are you sure you aren’t here for me?” she probed.

  “...I’m just a girl trying to make a living. I admit you do look like you’re worth something, but I’m sure if you’re worth more than artifacts.”

  Alira mindlessly kept the casual, nothing conversation going with Dera as they took turns around the corners with more certainty than they’d had before. The entire time, her focus was fully on the cards she’d left behind and her connections with them. Her hands tingled with sweat beneath her gloves at the inevitable chase and run they would be doing soon enough.

  At least I have a clue about where we should run...

  Since she was using Narrate on the structures with the intention of being guided to Lillian, she knew the ‘furnace’ was somewhere in the direction they’d been heading.

  Dera stopped before a door, and Alira’s feet froze at the same time.

  “It’s warm?” Alira muttered. When she saw the faint breath of mist as the two with her looked back, Alira knew the warmth wasn’t quite real.

  { Yeah. It is warm. A sticky, clingy warmth. Feels familiar? }

  With Xia’s input, she was now sure that she wasn’t imagining it. It was the same sensation as when she bound with Hollowed Mirror. One thing was for sure: beyond the door was an artifact, one strong enough to make its presence known when she couldn’t even see it yet.