“Ignis betrayed me…?”

“Yes…”

Matoto looks really mad.

What should I do…?

I ran here as quickly as I could after waking up.

I’m exhausted…

I can’t do much more to help now…

“… did that Nina girl do anything?”

“I… don’t know…”

She could have, but I have no proof.

Matoto fell into a deep thought.

I haven’t seen him look this serious in quite a while.

He looks so handsome like this…

“Masteerrr…”

A gust of chilling wind blew by me and a cold hand materialized on my cheek.

I froze up in shock, even though I should be used to this already…

“Spectre? What is it?”

The one Matoto addressed was the ghastly girl, whose head appeared right next to mine.

Even though Matoto gave her that name based on the curse she received, her behavior matches it as well…

“Why don’t we just kill that girlll…? She’s dangerouuus… It’s not worth trying to capture herrr…”

I hate when you whisper into my ear!

Why do you do that if you aren’t even talking to me!

P-please go away!

I felt exhausted just a second ago, but now I’m all up on my feet!

“Keh, you might be right… but it makes me want her even more!”

“Theeeen… let meee handle herrr…”

Stop playing with my hair and rubbing my waist!

Please!

I’m gonna faint!

“No… I’m not gonna send you alone. I sent Ignis last time and this is what happened!”

“But masterrr… I’m not as carelessss as herrr…”

Aaah…

Finally separated from me…

Thank you…

“I know that… but she might be hiding more tricks up her sleeves. Moreover… I bet Ignis already leaked the location of our base.”

Matoto then looked at me.

“Go get some rest quick and then we’ll relocate.”

“Y-yes!”

As per his commands, I leave the throne room and make my way to the resting area.

Unlike the throne room, which is quite large, this room is barely big enough to accommodate the one bed in here.

It’s the bed Ignis brought with her when she joined us.

Like the chair in the throne room, it’s very extravagant.

Finally, I get to rest…

But not for too long.

We will need to move before Nina finds us…

Ugh…

I thought she was a nice person…

But those eyes of hers…

They were the eyes of a cold-blooded murderer.

She would have killed Ignis if I hadn’t intervened…

…

And then, instead of thanking me, Ignis slapped me away and said she wouldn’t return…

What happened to her?

How could she just betray us like that…?

I always knew she was the loud and irrational type, but…

…

“Tapi…”

I summon Tapi and hug her closely.

She lets out a soft growl before snuggling back to me.

This is something I always do when I’m nervous or stressed.

It helps me relax.

…

I’m afraid…

But afraid of what?

That she finds us here and kills Matoto?

Yeah, that’s it.

But…

That’s not all.

There’s something else…

Ever since I met Nina for the first time…

There was something in the back of my mind, nagging me.

This…

Uncertainty.

What did she do to me…?

Am I going to turn on Matoto just like Ignis did?

I don’t want that…

…

Speaking of Ignis…

I wonder what happened to her afterward…

Did Nina kill her?

Torture her?

Imprison her?

…

I feel bad…

I had the chance to save her.

If I noticed there was something wrong sooner, I could have caught her and ran away much faster.

Not to mention, after Ignis pushed me away, I stared like an idiot for so long…

Long enough for Nina’s backup to arrive.

What were these cats, anyway…?

How could the black one conjure weapons out of thin air?

…

“Cana! Let’s get going!”

!

“Y-yes!”

Looks like that’s enough resting…

Time to go.

…

“This is…”

“Our new base… Well, it’s better than nothing.”

In front of us is a big tree with a hole in its trunk.

The bark is colored dark green and is in the process of rotting.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it suddenly crumbled down.

“I’m sorrrrryy masteeer… I couldn’t fiiiind anything beeeterrr…”

“It’s fine. We just have to reinforce it from inside and it will be perfect.”

Despite its appearance, it’s not a bad spot.

Since it’s in the middle of a swamp, people won’t stumble upon it by chance.

And the venom toad habitat is quite far from here as well, so it’s relatively safe.

“Well, let’s go inside and settle down.”

We proceeded to walk inside the tree.

There actually was a tunnel leading into a small cave system.

It seemed to be something a giant mole family would dig up.

Big enough for us to walk through without having to bend our knees.

But there were no giant moles anywhere.

They must have abandoned this place for some reason.

After cursing the rotting tree with something that was supposed reinforce it, Matoto turned to me.

“Cana. Do you want to get stronger?”

A sudden question thrown at me.

“Y-yes…?”

After yelping out my response, I realized what Matoto meant.

Whenever I summon Fenrir, I collapse.

That means, I’m always a burden when that happens.

And that’s just not acceptable…

“How much do you wish to be stronger?”

“I… if I could get stronger and be more useful, I would do anything!”

Matoto gave me a warm smile.

Almost as if he was praising my enthusiasm.

“Then, let me try something.”

“Huh?”

He got closer to me and extended his hand.

“I’m better at this now… so, I’ll give you a stronger curse.”

A… stronger curse?

That makes me feel a bit uncomfortable…

But I’m sure it will be alright…

…

Umm…

Thinking about it…

I thought Matoto can’t modify a curse once it’s set in place.

Moreover, two curses can’t be placed at the same time…

Which means…

…

Huh…?

What…

Is this…?

Something in my mind just… switched.

It feels as if I have always had a closed box in my head.

And now, it flung open.

The man, who I always felt affection towards…

Now looks like my mortal enemy.

Someone I want to punch as soon as I see him.

Why…?

What is this anger welling up inside me?

“And… removed…”

Ah, I see…

He removed my curse.

And along with it, the loathsome charm.

I’m…

Free…?

No…

Not yet…!

He’s going to curse me again!

I can’t let him do that!

“And now the new one…”

A loud crack reached my ears.

It came from my fist hitting his face.

His body fell over and blood spurted from his nose.

I’ve punched him with all of my accumulated anger.

The anger that was always locked away by the charm.

“MAAAASSSTEERRR??!!”

Spectre materialized her entire body and kneeled over the unconscious Matoto.

I stood there, staring at them as my fist still shook.

“YOUUUU! WHAT ARE YOU DOOOING?!”

Her ghastly screech pulled me back to my senses.

I have to escape.

Before he wakes up, I need to run away.

Far enough so that he won’t catch me.

I don’t want to get cursed again.

“GEEET BAAACK HEEERE!”

I ran.

Sweat covering my face and ragged breath.

But I didn’t look back.

I knew there wouldn’t be any point to that.

Spectre probably stayed with Matoto to make sure he’s going to be alright.

But even if she didn’t, I wouldn’t see her chasing me.

That’s just how her curse operates.

I can’t see the wind.

“Nightmare!”

I found the opportunity in between my breaths to summon nightmare.

…

But nothing happened.

It took me a second to realize why.

My curse is gone.

The same curse which allowed me to summon my friends.

It’s gone now.

“T-tapi… Shade… Cerberus… Fenrir…”

None of them responded to my call.

They are gone.

Forever.

Upon realizing this, my vision blurred with tears.

But I didn’t stop running.

I wiped off my tears and continued going.

I didn’t know what direction to go in.

I simply ran ahead.

Away from my tormentor.