---

The guard's sudden coughs petrified us. We were unsure of what to do next.

The three lifeforms above us were barely moving. One's breathing was panicked, while the other two were strangely quiet.

They aren't dead but... their breathing is faint... Not slow enough to be breathing technique users. Though... you can't really detect them in the first place.

「Are there cells above us Virvir?」

「Y-yeah... yer sixth sense again?」

Melyn took the word right out of my mouth. She was swift to pick up on these subtleties.

「Since Ysolva isn't here, let's search for her starting with the cell block above us. Nowhere to go but up...」

「As much as I hate deviatin' from th' plan... I have t' agree with ya there...」

The stairs were located at the other end of the room. Going through the prison blocks gave me a general idea of the living conditions these children had to suffer through.

Piss-buckets, wooden bedsteads topped with a thin layer of straws, and even chains attached to the walls. The smell of feces and urine was most prominent when sauntering by the cells.

It was horrific. Inhumane was an understatement.

「We need to get them out of here...」

The thief girl shared my sentiments. Out of all of us, Melyn was perhaps the most outraged by this. I silently nodded as we made it up the stairs.

The second floor greeted us with another cell block, this time way more compact.

Thonvir was on tenterhooks upon setting foot in the room. He clearly wanted to move along.

「Virvir, what is this place? Why is it separated from the prisons below?」

「Uh... ya see... this facility is dedicated t' th' production o' Nixie dust... right?」

「Uhuh...」

「Th'prisons below are reserved for us orphans, while th' quarters above are reserved for th' hired crooks... makes sense yea?」

「What's with the pussyfooting Virvir? You can trust us.」

He walked over to one of the cells—housing two of the aforementioned lifeforms I sensed—and gestured us to come over.

We complied and bore witness to a sight I'd never forget. My ballistette hit the ground as soon as I registered the scene before me.

What... is this..?

「Mama... get up... please mama... get up...」

A despondent little girl. She lay against a barely conscious woman, shaking her constantly to keep her from plunging into a deeper trance.

What struck me the most was the mother's ghastly appearance.

A body emaciated and shriveled like a rotting plant and veins glowing a fluorescent pink. Her expression perpetually bordered on peerless euphoria and excruciating pain.

Rysef had warned me about the dangers of Nixie dust, but witnessing its effects firsthand chilled me to the bone.

If this was the drug sweeping the slum dweller community...

「Th'lass was experimented on. T' test th' drug's potency, th' bastards at th' lab would pump random slum dwellers with th' pink crap. Judgin' by her state, she has only a few hours t' live.」

「You can't be serious... Jesus...」

「I remember hearin' th' runt wailin' in th' middle o' last night. They probably put 'er with th' mother t' shut 'er up. I slept a lot better that night. Good t' keep th' brat in check.」

Clang!

Without thinking, I grabbed Thonvir by the shirt and pinned him against the bars of the cell. Hearing his heartless statements stirred me up for some reason.

「Zozo..!」

「What the hell's your problem!」

Melyn profusely shushed us as the boy shot an unapologetic stare at me. The situation was getting out of hand.

「What do ya think ye're doin' ya ninny?!」

「There's a limit to how tactless you could be you brat!」

「What's this out o' nowhere?! I never took ya fer some thin-skinned ninny! Since when did ya care 'bout words?!」

「Don't pretend you know me, kid. If that was Ysolva on the ground dying, could you say the same thing?!」

「Keep 'er out o' yer gob! We ain't 'ere fer these kids, we're 'ere fer me sister! And what happened t' stayin' quiet?!」

Busy with Thonvir, I failed to realize the footsteps from downstairs. Melyn on the other hand caught on immediately.

「Oi who's makin' all this noise up 'ere?」

The scraggly oaf from downstairs had woken up. He was dazed from his nap. I let go of the boy and quickly reached for my weapon.

「Melyn!」

「Yep!」

Instinctively, the thief girl zipped past us and drop kicked the poor soul against the sturdy wooden wall. He let out a yelp as his back violently made contact with the solid stone.

Schtunk!

I then accidentally pulled the trigger as I picked up my ballistette. The preloaded arrow went flying out of the damn thing.

Miraculously though, it hit the guy in the palm, nailing him to the wall like a quarter-assed crucifixion.

I stood there hunched, baffled over my stroke of serendipity.

「AAAAAAAAAAAAA—ack!」

「How many times do I have to shush you people?」

Melyn had rebounded off the floor and landed directly in front of the unfortunate watchman.

To gag him, she pushed her cudgel into his mouth and used her magic to expand it. It was completely lodged in his trap. I wouldn't have been surprised if his jaw had shattered then.

But that wouldn't have been desirable for either of us. After all, he was a direct member of this criminal organization who had some juicy inside knowledge in that noggin of his.

And the prerequisites for this knowledge? A working maw.

「Zozo! Nice shot!」

I stiffly turned to her—still stunned by the shot—and awkwardly simpered.

「Y-yeah... nice... shot...」

Throughout our exchange, Thonvir didn't bother chiming in. He simply walked off to the other side of the room and sulked.

Exploding at him like that wasn't a smart move on my part... What if he ran off with my handkerchief?

MMM..! MMM..! MMMMMMM.!

Back to the scraggly watchman.

I reloaded my ballistette and discreetly set it on safety. I didn't want to accidentally kill the guy before learning all about the place.

「Okay... take two. We have questions, and you have the answers. You're not so dumb as to not know where this is going, am I correct?」

I aimed directly at his forehead. Like that loudmouth brat, the man reacted the way you'd expect him to.

He was scared shitless.

「Now when we ungag you, the only thing I want to hear is the location of the kids. If you impart anything higher than 70 decibels, I'll pull the trigger and splatter your brains all over the walls. Quite easy to get, no?」

The ruffian vigorously shook his head as blood ran down the wall from his impaled palm. Answers were on the way.

---

「That's a weight off my shoulders...」

「You got that right Zozo! It's a relief they're safe!」

「Not exactly safe... but they are alive, that much is for certain.」

「Strange though, isn't it? How today out of all days they chose to have them working later than usual. Even the watchman was bewildered by the decision...」

「Perhaps the hands of fate are keeping us from rescuing these kids. Doesn't matter though, we're going to save them at all costs.」

The hired watchman spilled everything. just as I anticipated. Afterward, we knocked him out and snuck into the room next door.

No patrols in view.

Here we could formulate a strategy to pry the kids away from these black-hearted criminals.

Contrary to prior belief, this poorly built base of operations was more complex than we were led to think.

There were three sectors. One stretching to below the depths of the sewer system, one in the sewer system, and another hidden aboveground among the city.

To complicate things further, these sectors were interspaced with arbitrarily stationed guardrooms. The security, though laughable in some areas, was still very much a threat.

Now, while I was a lover of long-winded mazes and disorienting labyrinths, I was also a lover of saving time.

The plan was to use Melyn's mastery of stone and wood magic to open up a path directly to the production room, where the children were.

From there, all we had to do was run back to the entrance and make it to the streets. The Sentinels must've been on the lookout for us at this point.

「The kids should be directly in front of us from this room.」

「Roger. We'll need to sprint as we're carving out the tunnel. The only thing keeping the guards in the other room from us will be thin walls of stone and wood. When we reach the kids' room, we'll probably face a few hired thugs. Nothing I can't handle. What about you Zozo?」

「Are you kidding? I could take a hundred of these goons if I had to! Bring them on!」

She wasn't fully convinced but appreciated my gusto nevertheless.

「Thonvir, you almost outran Melyn, so this should be a breeze for you, right? 」

I turned back to the young boy—he was as sullen as before.

My mistake then was not apologizing for the confrontation we had earlier. He must've felt as though he was walking on eggshells.

But I was too blinkered to even notice it.

「It's fine. I'll be goin' on my own from now on. Wait fer me outside th' sewers.」

Melyn and I blankly stared at him.

「W-what do you mean Virvir? We've gotten this far, why should we back out now?」

「If ye're gonna cause a ruckus, then I rather rescue Ysolva meself. I'm grateful fer yer help, but now that I know where they are, there's no reason fer ya t' be here. We're too dysfunctional o' a team aren't we?」

「V-Virvir...」

I stepped in front of him, visibly annoyed by his sudden change of heart. He flinched, probably expecting me to hurt him in some way.

Not that I'd caught on at the time—I was too busy amping myself up for the raid.

「We don't have time for this Thonvir! Going by yourself is the single most irrational course of action you could take. Especially this far into the base!」

「Me? Irrational? I ain't th' one who's willin' to blast a hole straight to th' production room! Yer job here is done! Take a hint ya ninny!」

「Is this because of what I did to you back in the prison room? Because I'm not apologizing. You're the one who went out of line!」

「Then ye're no longer needed! If yer sights aren't set on Ysolva, an' Ysolva alone, then get th' hell outta here!」

He flounced out of the room without skipping a beat.

I cast my gaze over to the thief girl, who wasn't as clueless as I was.

「What's his problem?」

「Zozo... you're not very bright when it comes to social situations are you?」

「H-huh..?」

She patted me on the back as I sensed the boy disappear from my breathing technique's effective range. Thirty feet.

My objective had whittled away, leaving me absolutely lost.

「So Zozo, what does your sharp intuition tell you now?」

「Shut it! You heard the things he said! Are you telling me you're okay with them?!」

「I'm not. But it doesn't matter.」

「What do you mean it doesn't matter you two-sided—?!」

「He's just a kid. No different than you.」

I held my tongue.

She was right.

I had lost my cool over the frivolous statements of a child who was mentally years younger than me.

Lorenzo really couldn't catch a break. Left and right he was screwing up.

Be it because of the puberty he was re-experiencing, or the endless stream of frustration he felt, or even a combination of the two, he knew he was screwing up.

I was screwing up.

It wasn't an epiphany—it was more of a self-intervention. All I'd been doing up until now was fumbling through a fantastical world.

Surely, I needed a fantastical plan to make the cut around here.

Go back to the basics, Lorenzo. Don't lose your head. Remember what is key.

So, I took a deep breath and let it all out.

Information!

I plopped myself on the creaky flooring of this wooden room and crossed my hands. The thief girl was understandably confuzzled.

「Z-Zozo..? I'm not mad you know... you don't have to sulk as Virvir did...」

「Melyn, recount to me your abilities please.」

「E-eh..?」

I gave her a confident smirk. Beyond this point, was no emotions. Logic would dictate everything that happened tonight.

The DOs and DON'Ts of conceptualizing a battleplan. I revisited the method I'd use to strategize for dungeon raids and guild wars. Fitting that we were in enemy territory.

「I've been flubbing up a lot lately, and Thonvir's walkout made me realize why...」

「You're full of yourself but actually socially awkward?」

「Yes! Wait—no! I've been becoming too emotionally involved with people.」

「Mhm... socially awkward isn't far off...」

I ignored her nonchalant jabs at me and continued with my deliberation.

What we were about to pull off was quite possibly my most brilliant plan to date.

I'm coming for you Thonvir! And my handkerchief!

---