What the hell was that ......?

Something's wrong. This Aria guy was properly restrained. I've never seen anyone get out of them.

We'll figure that out later!　This is the only way out of the basement. We can't let him escape.

　Lasse closed the entrance door tightly.
　There is no way out of the basement without going through this door.

　Of course, there would be no windows, so unless he had some special item, this should buy him some time.

　If Pete is right, the opponent is a child, and can be easily twisted and crushed.
　It was a pretty easy job, except that the target of the blowgun was small.

"Pete, take charge and see to it. I'll stay here and keep watch.

"...... Oh. Okay.

　It was Pete, the one who had captured Aria, who was to go and check the cellar.
　Aria was not armed, so if she had escaped, she was no threat.

　So, he chose a nearby hatchet as his weapon of choice.


...... Huh, you're hiding something. I underestimated you too much just because you're a kid.

　Pete's soliloquy echoed quietly on the stairs leading to the basement.
　It seemed that ever since he had met Aria, he had been looking down on her.
　He hadn't expected anything like this to happen, so he had to deal with it on the spur of the moment.

"Hey, you're here, right?　Come out quickly.

　When they arrived in front of the basement, Pete boldly summoned Aria.
　Instead of a large basement, he chose a long, narrow staircase as the battleground.

"Did you close the door?

　As they had expected, Aria had escaped from her restraints and was not carrying any weapons.

　Why does she care that the door is closed?
　I was somewhat curious about that, but I couldn't keep asking back because there were other factors that bothered me more.

"How did you get out of those restraints?

"I don't know. And then you brought your brother, and I broke them.

"...... Well. That's the worst time to run.

　Pete's words about running away made Aria look at him strangely.
　She doesn't seem to understand the meaning of that word deep down.

　She looks as if to say, "Why should I run away?

"Never mind. There's nowhere to run...?

　By the time Pete looked at the hatchet and then back at Aria, she was already gone.
　There was no sign that he had gone back to the basement.

　Then where did she go?
　As soon as I turned my head to look, the answer came to me.

"When did this happen?

　Aria was behind Pete.
　It was as if she had moved down a narrow staircase unnoticed.

　She reflexively grabbed her hatchet - or tried to.
　Somehow, the hatchet she had been holding is now in Aria's hands.

Bad luck. You should hate your brother.

　Perhaps out of pity for her unlucky brother, Aria takes Pete's life so that he will not suffer.
　Even a man-made hatchet was somehow strong enough to withstand Aria's strength.

　Pete's senses, delayed by the "spatial grip", disappear before the pain arrives.

"Pete!

　Realizing something was wrong, Lasse ran down the stairs and entered Aria's line of sight.
　At the same time, Lasse's gaze is met with a horrific scene, and he is in no condition to remain calm.

　By the time he tried to join in, it was too late.

"Oh, it's you!

"You little...!

　The poison dart that Lasse fired slowly passed by Aria.
　It was too fast for a normal human to even react, but for Aria's eyes, it was fast enough to put her to sleep.

　Even if she climbed the stairs step by step, from Lasse's perspective, not even an afterimage would remain.

　Aria, who was easily in time, ended the fight by breaking his neck without any trouble.


(...... I'll leave the rest to Bern. I'm tired of this.)

　Aria thought about taking the two corpses to Bern, but she didn't have the energy to do that anymore.
　She took a step back to the castle to at least report the incident.