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Kim Hajun looked down at the unconscious person he was carrying. He wasn’t a part of the Virtuous Hand, so why in the world was he helping Mary transport her victims into the Virtuous Hand’s residence? He was his own person, a very busy man, and with the changes made to the tower, he had to take advantage of it and obtain certain hidden pieces before anyone else.
“Why do you look so glum?” Tafel asked, raising an eyebrow at Kim Hajun’s blank expression. She was standing in front of a portal, the one that Mary and her helpers were tossing the unconscious people through. “The Virtuous Hand was taken over by Mary. It’s not the same organization as it was in your prophetic dream anymore.”
Kim Hajun nodded. Like the demon said, the Virtuous Hand wasn’t the same organization. It was stronger now too, and somehow, they already achieved one of their main goals. They didn’t like regulations, and requiring advancement exams to move on to different parts of the tower was a major issue to them. Now, those regulations were gone. Would the tower still be able to survive when the Oebu Sin showed up? It was hard to tell.
“My liege!” a voice said, drawing Kim Hajun’s attention to the side. His eyes widened upon seeing the three-headed chimera that had ambushed him, and he lowered his head to make full advantage of his hood, obscuring his face from view. “Are these prisoners from your latest conquest?”
Mary turned her head towards Joe, and the chimera knelt on one knee—which was tough for him because his legs were the size of an elephant’s—and closed his eyes in return. “Yes,” Mary said. “They’re from another tower. Make sure they remain nice and healthy, but don’t let them escape.”
“Yes, my liege,” Joe said, speaking through his long-nosed-bat head. “As you command.”
“Also, I found Kim Hajun,” Mary said, causing all six of the chimera’s eyes to open wide. “He’s my friend’s subordinate, so I punished him without killing him.” She pointed at Kim Hajun, who had stiffened. “He’s right over there.”
Joe turned his torso around such that his owl head faced Kim Hajun dead on. The chimera’s snake head contorted to get a look at him as well. “May I ask how you punished him?”
“Sure,” Mary said and crossed her arms over her chest, looking Kim Hajun in the eyes—well, she would be if he dared to meet her gaze. “I beat him. Vur healed him. We repeated the process.”
“I witnessed it,” Tafel said, leaning over to get a better view at Joe. Unlike when she had first seen him, Joe was wearing heavy, plate armor, and he even had helmets for each of his heads. “His punishment was harsh, but he doesn’t have lasting physical damage—with Vur around, it’s hard to do that to anyone.”
Joe blinked at Kim Hajun. “I see,” the chimera said. “Then we shall bury the hatchet with him today despite his barbaric killing of Jackal.”
“Right,” Mary said and leaned forward. She grabbed the unconscious person Kim Hajun was holding—the last prisoner—and tossed him through the portal. “The two of you do that. Tafel and I have other plans.”
Tafel’s horns stopped glowing as the portal disappeared. She looked at Mary. “You mean dinner, right?”
Mary nodded. “Since Vur is sleeping, is he going to be joining us?” the armored woman asked as she led the way out of the residence, leaving Kim Hajun and Joe behind to sort things out by themselves.
“Of course,” Tafel said and rolled her eyes. She placed her hand on the wooden tablet. “Vur always joins for dinner. After all, it’s when we talk about our day and stuff.”
“I was under the impression he sleeps all the time,” Mary said as an amber glow enveloped her vision. “Then again, he does love food.”
The light faded from Tafel’s and Mary’s vision, and the two women found themselves back at the residence. Tafel blinked and looked around as she made her way towards the familiar clearing where an unfamiliar pile of frozen bears lay. The demon shifted her gaze onto Vur, who was sleeping on the ground in his human form. Lindyss was sitting in her rocking chair, and beside the cursed elf, there was Ashley and her fluffy white dog.
“What did we miss?” Tafel asked, raising an eyebrow at Lindyss.
“Vur woke up because he was hungry,” Lindyss said. “So, he went to get dinner.” When Tafel looked at Sir Selddup and Ashley, Lindyss continued. “He dognapped Puddles because the dog’s a gourmet, and Ashley went with them because she has attachment issues.”
Question marks appeared over the Light Lord’s head as she turned her head and stared at the cursed elf.
Lindyss ignored Ashley’s gaze. “Vur also provoked an alliance of bears, captured them, and forced the tower into giving him a residence to store them in,” the cursed elf said and glanced in Vur’s direction. “I almost forgot; he also listened to the dog’s advice and removed the restrictions on traveling to different floors of the tower.” Lindyss nodded. “Other than that, you didn’t really miss much.”
***
In a pitch-black cave, a dragon lay on its back with its limbs splayed. Floating above its head, there was a large stone monument floating before its eyes. The monument didn’t emit any light, but its surface was illuminated with letters that only the dragon could see. The dragon’s eyes rolled in the darkness, reading the contents.
Thump.
The dragon ignored the thumping sound and flicked its eyes upwards, causing the letters to scroll upwards and out of the monument, replaced by newer ones that came from below.
“Volearden? Are you there? There seems to be a problem.”
The dragon lying on its back heaved a sigh. “Come in,” he said. “It’s open.”
A sphere of light encroached into the room, highlighting the silhouette of Volearden’s figure. Behind the light, a yellow dragon poked his head into view. “There you are. Why is it so dark in here? You should turn on some lights.”
‘’Quit your nagging,” Volearden said, shifting his eyes to look in the yellow dragon’s direction. “What’s the problem?”
“Well,” the yellow dragon said. “Our food source, the bears, well, a newcomer dragon broke the rules and hunted them all willy-nilly, and now Bearacles is gathering all the bears to flee the tower.”
Volearden stowed his monument and sat up. “A newcomer dragon, eh?” he asked. “I wonder if they’re from Erde.”