There’s a small animal in the room, and it isn’t Kuro.

Well, it’s actually a human girl.

But she behaves exactly like a scared small animal.

It’s not very surprising, though.

We were enemies not too long ago.

“So, he removed your curse himself…? Is he an idiot?”

I agree with Ignis.

He’s an idiot.

Anyone disagrees?

No?

Then I guess it must be true.

Mhm, democracy is good.

“H-he said… he would give me a stronger curse…”

And you were about to happily accept it?

What a horrible thing that charm is.

I bet you would even jump off of a cliff for him in that state…

Thank you for the anti-charm headband, Kat.

“But isn’t that curse what allowed you to summon Cerberus and the others?”

Instead of answering, Cana dropped down her head and stayed silent.

I could see her clenched fists.

I guess that means yes…

As far as I can tell, her summons were her friends.

Although she’s free from the curse, she lost something like her family in the process…

…

No…

They aren’t really gone forever, right?

She just can’t summon them anymore.

But it’s not like they are dead.

Right…?

“Well, cheer up… you are finally free, aren’t you?”

There goes Mable, rubbing her head and encouraging her.

But I think it has the opposite effect.

I mean…

Aren’t you the one she scared of the most?!

Look!

She jolts every time your hand touches her hair!

“By the way… how did you two find each other?”

“Oh I just happened to run into her in a guard post by the eastern gate.”

What?

How do you just ‘run into’ someone who is inside a guard post?

I’m pretty sure it isn’t some hangout spot.

That would be like meeting up with a friend inside a police station.

“My dad is a friend with one of the guards there, so I often stop by to say hi.”

Huh…

Right.

You have parents.

Where are they, even?

I have never seen them…

I’m sure somebody mentioned you were a merchant’s daughter…?

Are your parents traveling merchants?

“This girl tried to get herself arrested… can you believe that?”

…

Well, she healed me even though we were enemies, so I figured she was kind and caring.

But I guess she’s also quite conscientious and feels guilty for what she did under that charm’s effect.

It’s fine to be a little selfish, you know…?

“What?! Why?!”

Ah, Ignis.

A girl who felt no remorse at all for trying to kidnap and torture me.

Cana’s complete opposite.

“B-because… I…”

“It’s fine… you were being controlled. It’s not your fault.”

I don’t know why you are still trying, Mable.

You think she will think of you as a dependable older sister if you pamper her now?

She has seen your death glare back in the hospital, remember?

“But you sure are lucky to have escaped… did Spectre not chase after you?”

Right…

How did you literally outrun air?

And without your summons at that!

“I don’t know… she probably stayed behind…”

“Huh? How come?”

“I-I… I punched Matoto and then ran…”

…

A timid girl like her actually resorted to violence?

Well…

It’s not that surprising.

I would punch him too.

Heck, I would punch him more than just once!

“You punched him?! Hahahaha! That’s great! It’s perfect! Ahahaha!”

Ignis, I don’t intend to reprimand you for laughing at that, since it’s about punching ‘that guy’…

But holding your belly and tearing up is overdoing it, don’t you think?

“Ahem… Well anyway… this changes up our plans a bit.”

Mable gathers our attention and starts speaking again.

“First of all…”

…

Thirty-one sheep…

Thirty-two sheep…

W-

What?!

No, I’m not sleeping!

It’s just that…

Mable really likes the minute details!

I mean…

With Cana’s summons out of the picture, this is going to be easy!

Do we really need to overprepare this much?!

…

Huh?

I’m getting too cocky?

No, I’m not!

It’s called confidence!

“Now for the last thing… I don’t think she would pass as my guard like you two, so she can’t sleep in the dorms with me.”

Oh right.

She has nowhere to stay, does she?

“It’s fine! She can sleep with me here! We used to sleep together anyway!”

…

You always slept together?

That’s really…

…

No!

Stop!

Go away dirty thoughts!

“Alright then. That works.”

Mable nodded to herself.

“Well, it’s getting a bit late, so let’s dissolve this meeting.”

Huh?

When did the night fall?

I didn’t even notice.

Is it because I dozed off…?

N-no!

As I said, I wasn’t sleeping!

“I’ll be going then. Good night!”

Good night, Mable.

Don’t scare too many monsters in your dreams.

Mable opened the door and left after smiling at us.

Once the door closed I heard a sigh.

Cana’s entire being relaxed and she slumped down.

Right after that, Ignis sat next to her and hugged her.

“It’s fine… the big brute is gone now…”

…

Well, that’s one way to console her.

I can’t even refute the ‘big brute’ part.

Mable is the tallest one of us and she definitely qualifies as a brute.

“Ignis… I-Ignis…”

…

She started crying.

Did everything finally catch up to her once she relaxed?

“T-thwey… are all gone… sniff…”

They…?

…

You mean the summons?

“It’s gonna be okay…”

Cana clings to Ignis while she gently rubbed her head.

Huh…

They must have been genuine friends…

I thought they were just forcced to work together by the charm…

But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

This is quite heartwarming…

…

Why are you looking at me like that, Ignis?

Are you telling me to leave?

Am I in the way now?!

F-fine!

I’m gonna let you two have your moment!

Goodbye and have fun!

I sneaked outside of the room and closed the door behind me.

I then walked to the inn’s main hall and looked around the empty place.

Umm…

But it’s night.

What am I supposed to do?

I guess I’ll just wander around the city.

…

Kidnapper baiting?

I shouldn’t be as well known in this city, right?

Hmm…

Yeah, I haven’t done this in a while.

And it’s not like there’s anything better to do.

Let’s go then.

I exit the inn and start my night tour of the city.

Only some bars and inns are open at this time of the day.

And even those are relatively quiet.

It’s kind of creepy, actually…

The fog doesn’t help either.

…

Wait, fog?!

Could that be…?!

I tense up and look around myself.

It seems like all of the streets are enveloped in this fog.

There are no signs of anyone nearby.

…

I feel like I should return…

This could very well be this ‘Spectre’ girl…

…

But, at the same time…

I can’t sense anyone else around.

If this fog is Spectre, then she’s alone.

Which means, she’s here to just observe…

And if that’s the case…

I can just… let her.

Since she’s near me, her curse should gradually weaken.

I just have to keep my guard up in case she tries to attack.

…

I kept walking in silence, perking up my ears and nose for any tiny change.

But nothing happened.

The fog doesn’t seem to be moving.

She’s either very good at pretending to be a regular fog or I’m just overthinking everything…

Down a dark side street.

The perfect place for any attackers to show up.

One step, two steps…

I expect an ambush from above.

Three steps, four steps…

Or I can be surrounded, just like back in Buanna.

Five steps…

Maybe she will materialize with knife already on my neck.

…

I’m on the other side of the small street.

Nothing happened.

Well, that was anti-climactic.

I mean, I’m glad I wasn’t attacked but…

I want this farce to be over already!

Being holed up in this city sucks!

I want to go out and do some quests!

Hmm…?

Oh, looks like someone’s gonna come after all.

Not the Spectre girl or kidnappers though.

“Meow.”

Hello Kuro.

Where have you been all day?

Something quite surprising happened when you were away.

“Hey… Cana’s curse is gone… She came to us earlier today.”

“Meow, meow. Meow!”

Huh?

Why are you not surprised at all?

“Mreow!”

You want me to follow you again?

Umm, sure…

What do you want to show me?

Did you perhaps already defeat and capture Spectre and that guy?

Haha, yeah right…

But really, what is it?

I follow Kuro into another side street and see the scene of him knocking and meowing a secret password into a barrel.

The second time doesn’t quite have the same shock value, but it’s still astounding to see.

We crawl down the tunnel and into the secret cat hideout.

This time, there is no cat orchestra ready to burst my eardrums.

Kuro leads me deeper into the base and we arrive at…

The prison part of the cat base.

Come on!

Why here?!

I don’t like this place!

These caged people have glares almost as bad as Mable!

Kuro ignores me and walks to a special-looking cage.

Unlike the others, this one is shaped like a dome and has some wires running along its bars.

The cat gets close to it and waves his paw, creating fog inside the cage.

Huh?

Are you trying to create some ambient effect?

“Meow!”

As if activated by his voice, the wires running along the cage’s bars light up.

“GYAYAAAAAAH!”

And the fog lets out a loud scream.

A second later a shape of a person appears from within the fog.

A figure with long pale white hair falls down.

…

Umm…

Is that…

Who I think it is?

“W-what is…?!”

The figure stands up in a hurry.

Looking closer, it’s actually a really tiny girl, probably around eight years old.

And she’s stark naked.

“Y-you?! E-erhm… yooouuuuu…!”

…

What was that…?

Are you trying to sound like a ghost?

“Eh… w-why can’t I…?!”

She’s gripping the cage’s bars, panic visible on her pale face.

“Meow!”

…

Yes.

I get it, Kuro.

You captured someone who is supposedly even more dangerous than the final boss.

Good job.