Heavy breathing.

Vision blurring.

Stomach rumbling.

But I can’t afford to stop running.

It’s been at least one whole day since I escaped him.

I thought Spectre would chase me down, but nothing happened yet.

In reality, I should have been more concerned about the wildlife.

No matter how cute, bears are still dangerous.

If I wasn’t as good at climbing trees, it would have already been over for me.

“Guh…”

But I know he will come back for me one day.

I’m sure of it.

I know him more than anyone else.

He’s coming for me.

I need to hide.

…

But how?

How can I hide from Spectre, someone who can enter closed rooms like it was nothing?

There’s only one solution I can think of…

“Are you okay, miss?!”

I’m lying on the ground in front of the city gates, exhausted.

The guards stationed here just saved me from a herd of goblins, who were chasing after me.

How come they are so nice to someone like me?

Even after everything I did…

“Come on, can you stand?”

But this is wrong…

Why are they helping me?

“A-arrest me…”

A weak voice leaves my mouth.

A plea to put me in a place that should be safe from them.

And what’s more…

It’s where I belong for what I’ve done.

“Huh? What are you talking about? Come here, tell us what happened.”

But they ignored me…

And brought me to their post instead.

Why?

Just arrest me!

I’m a criminal!

I couldn’t gather enough energy to say it out loud.

Or to resist being carried inside the guard post.

But even after the guard put me down on a chair and sat down nearby.

“Don’t worry miss, you are safe now.”

You don’t understand…

I won’t be safe as long as he’s still alive…

“Arrest me…”

“Hmm? What did you say?”

“PLEASE ARREST ME!”

I finally gathered enough energy to shout it out loud.

But… a second later, while staring at the shocked guard, my eyes began tearing up.

“I… I’m… a criminal, s-so please arrest me…”

Why does my stomach cramp up when I say it?

I’m such a coward…

I can’t even accept the punishment I deserve without fearing it.

“Calm down miss… I don’t know what you did, but I’m sure it wasn’t serious enough to lock you up for it.”

Of course it was!

I helped that maniac!

I kidnapped Ignis for him!

I injured those slave traders when we picked up Spectre!

How is that not serious enough?!

“Alright, look here.”

The went to a cupboard and grabbed a white plate before putting it in front of me.

“Just touch it and channel your magic into it. If you really are a criminal, then we’ll know.”

I see…

It’s one of those…

With that, there should be no mistake then.

I touch the plate and channel my magic just as he said.

The plate lights up and some red text appears on it.

“… what… is this…?”

He probably really believed I’m making fun of him.

But with this, he can no longer say I’m innocent.

“Kidnapping… stealing… even wounding innocent people…?”

Yes…

All of it is true.

Now… arrest me…

The guard looked at me with a serious expression.

I couldn’t help but avoid his gaze and hold my arm.

I’m going into prison now.

I’m scared…

This country doesn’t have slavery, so I won’t become a criminal slave…

But what if my crimes were severe enough and I’m executed?

I don’t want to die…

…

It’s better than being his slave…

But I still don’t want to die…

Suddenly, the door flies open and someone comes inside.

“Heyo, Bert! Hmm…?”

A girl with red hair, wearing a school uniform.

I have seen her before…

It’s that one…

The girl who defeated Fenrir with just a random stone.

Our eyes locked.

I remembered when I last met this person.

Those eyes could kill with a mere look.

I’m… going to be killed now.

I froze up.

Even my breathing stopped.

My demise was imminent.

“Hey, don’t just barge in here! I’m in the middle of something, you know!”

“… oh! There you are!”

The girl smiled sweetly and walked over to me.

It felt like death coming to reap my soul.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere! … sorry, what did you say, Bert?”

She turned around to the guard and adressed him.

“… you know this girl?”

“Yeah, she’s my friend! Wait… why are you here? Don’t tell me you did something bad!”

And then she turned back to me and pinched my cheek, pulling me out of my daze.

“Well… yeah, look at this.”

The guard showed her the plate with my criminal record.

“What?! What’s with this broken thing?!”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, this is just exaggerating! Since when is inviting a friend over called ‘kidnapping’?!”

“Huh… is that what it really means? But I was sure…”

“What? You really thought a timid girl like her would be able to kidnap someone?!”

She pointed at me and the guard’s eyes followed her finger.

I instinctivelly averted my gaze.

“Well… not really, but the plate…”

“Didn’t this happen in the past already? Like when those two kids took candies from each other and it registered as theft?”

“… you’re right. But what about the ‘wounding innocent people’ part?”

“Ugh… you know, calling a pillow fight ‘wounding innocent people’ is just stupid. You might as well call tearing a map ‘destroying the world’!”

“… I see. But then, why did your friend insist on being imprisoned herself?”

“Whaaa? Why did you do that! You are really too harsh on yourself for such details!”

I couldn’t keep up with what was happening and only let out some incoherent noises as my response.

“Come on now! Cheer up!”

She put her hand on my head and rubbed it.

“Well? Can we go then? Or do you insist on imprisoning an innocent girl due to your broken plate?”

“Fine, fine. I get it.”

The guard then turns to me.

“Sorry about scaring you, miss. And be careful the next time you go out, alright? These goblins are more dangerous than they appear.”

“Huh?! You went outside without me? How dare you!”

She said such things in a playful tone while dragging me off of my chair.

My feet still felt tired, but I was forced to follow her.

Together, we went outside of the guard post and went inside the city.

And then…

She put her arm around my shoulder and whispered into my ear.

“Your curse is gone, I take it?”

That style of speech reminded me of Spectre and my body shuddered.

I gave a weak nod to answer her.

“Good… so the charm is gone as well, right?”

I nodded again.

“Very good… let’s meet up with the others now.”

Even if I wanted to say no, I couldn’t.

With her arm around my shoulder, we slowly walked through the streets.