[Scene returns to the wooden cabin…]
“I’m going to patrol the perimeter one more time to see if there’s anyone else. Tina, keep an eye on that little prisoner.”
Stella couldn’t stand the stuffiness inside and pushed open the door to leave.
Soon after, the wooden door holding the little prisoner creaked open a crack.
The blue-haired, single-ponytailed loli set down simple black bread and water. Her cold, clear eyes stared calmly at Nuo Ai’er.
Little Nuo Ai’er was obediently curled up in the corner, looking dejected and gloomy, her head hanging low. She seemed especially weak and pitiful.
“Cough. Time to eat.”
Tina’s voice remained cold and flat, with no extra emotion. She gently placed the tray on the floor in the center of the cell.
“Mmm…”
Nuo Ai’er heard the sound, slowly lifted her head, and softly responded.
The white-haired little loli took small steps over to the tray and sat down.
Seeing Nuo Ai’er like this, Tina hesitated for a moment, then couldn’t help but speak up.
“Hey, after being interrogated like that, anyone would have compromised. There’s no need to keep feeling guilty about betraying your teammates.”
‘In Tina’s mind, Nuo Ai’er’s current depression must be entirely due to guilt over betraying her teammates.’
‘That’s the natural assumption.’
But upon hearing this, Nuo Ai’er just shook her head slightly, her small face still tense.
“It’s not guilt… It’s fear…”
Tina was a little stunned. “Fear? What are you afraid of?”
‘Does she mean she’s afraid I’ll keep whipping her?’
‘Even though Tina herself really likes tying up cute lolis, she has no interest in torturing Nuo Ai’er right now.’
‘After all, this cabin doesn’t even have a torture chamber or anything. It’s completely unappealing.’
“I’m afraid of my teammates…” Nuo Ai’er answered weakly.
At these words, Tina was completely frozen.
‘Afraid of her own teammates?’
‘After being captured, imprisoned, and whipped, this little loli isn’t afraid of the enemy—she’s afraid of her own teammates?’
“My teammates… they’re honestly all a little abnormal.”
“If they find out later that I leaked information to the enemy… I might get seriously punished, boo hoo…”
Nuo Ai’er couldn’t help covering her small face.
Tina: …
Watching Nuo Ai’er’s terrified expression, the shock in Tina’s heart grew stronger.
‘Could she be…’
‘Tina originally thought she was the only one in hot water.’
‘Forced to call people she didn’t respect “Big Sister,” obeying the Guild Master’s domineering orders.’
‘Caught between a rock and a hard place—leave and die, or stay and suffer. Surrounded by abnormal people…’
But now, hearing Nuo Ai’er say this…
‘So she’s not the only loli like that!’
‘Are the little lolis in the enemy guild also being bullied by their teammates?’
In that instant, a strange sense of shared empathy quietly sprouted and spread in Tina’s heart.
Tina, who had intended to leave the cell after delivering the food, stopped in her tracks.
She didn’t leave.
“What kind of people are your teammates?” Tina asked.
Nuo Ai’er looked up at Tina, who was suddenly pressing for an answer.
“Huh? Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
Tina was instantly at a loss for words.
‘She couldn’t just bluntly say—”Because I empathize, my teammates are super abnormal too, so I want to hear your story to feel better about myself. We’re the same kind of loli, right?”‘
‘No way she would confess such private, fragile thoughts to an outsider.’
Tina instantly hardened her mouth, her tone turning cold and forceful again, putting on the air of interrogating a prisoner.
“What does it matter? You’re a prisoner. I ask, you answer. That’s enough.”
Seeing Tina’s deliberately aloof and awkward demeanor, Nuo Ai’er couldn’t help but slightly curl the corners of her eyes and secretly smile.
‘Nuo Ai’er: Dumb loli, you took the bait, ♡’
‘She already knew everything. She deliberately brought up teammate matters just to get Tina-chan hooked.’
‘By the tenth attempt, Nuo Ai’er already knew that this blue-haired loli had tons of pent-up stress inside.’
‘She looks cold and distant, but inside she’s sensitive and delicate, desperately craving resonance.’
Nuo Ai’er rubbed her little belly and spoke in a soft, coaxing tone.
“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you… but can I finish eating first? I’m really hungry…”
Tina: “Fine.”
For a while, the cell fell into brief silence.
Nuo Ai’er obediently lowered her head and quietly ate her meal in small bites.
Tina: …?
Tina noticed something off.
‘Nuo Ai’er’s eating state right now… is too strange.’
‘It’s just a simple coarse meal, but she’s eating with unusual solemnity.’
‘Her expression is ridiculously serious…’
‘It’s like a warrior about to head to the final battlefield, eating her last meal before death.’
Tina: ‘Is this really necessary?’
Tina was speechless. ‘Nuo Ai’er is acting like she’s about to go into battle (annoyed).’
‘She just can’t understand this little loli’s brain.’
A few minutes later.
Nuo Ai’er finished every last bite of food, drank all the water, and cleaned up the entire meal spotlessly.
She put down her utensils, slowly sat up straight, and began to take deep breaths.
She took several deep breaths in a row, steadily adjusting her state. Her eyes gradually became focused and sharp.
“… Do you really have to be so serious?”
Tina stared at her increasingly ridiculous actions, a huge question mark hanging over her head.
‘Too strange.’
‘Really too strange.’
‘It’s just a simple question about her teammates. What is she so nervous about?’
‘Or… is she preparing something?’
Just as Tina was full of doubts and about to speak up and ask—
Boom!!!
A deafening explosion suddenly rang out. The front door of the wooden cabin was violently kicked in from outside.
“Ah?!”
Tina had absolutely no mental preparation. She trembled all over from the sudden, terrifying noise.
She instinctively whipped her head toward the door. Her pupils instantly contracted.
‘The black puppet is here…’
‘It’s already at the cell.’
Tina’s mind went blank in an instant. All her strength was drained.
The puppet’s oppressive pressure made her legs go weak. She fell to her knees with a thud, not even having the strength to raise her arms in defense.
The shadow of death was right at hand.
The black puppet moved swiftly and decisively. Its blade slashed straight down at the limp Tina!
“Danger!”
Just as the cold light was about to land on Tina—
A small white figure leaped out!
Having anticipated the puppet’s movement, Nuo Ai’er exploded with all her strength in an instant. Without regard for anything, she launched herself forward, her small body crashing violently into the collapsed Tina, rolling them both to the side in one fluid motion.
The icy blade cut through the air, grazing their hair as it slammed heavily into the wooden floor.
The thick wooden plank was instantly split with a deep gash.
Narrowly, Nuo Ai’er had perfectly dodged that fatal blow!
“Hah… Not bad. Dodging is pretty easy after all.”
Nuo Ai’er lifted her eyes slightly and smiled at the black puppet.
Her gaze was full of confidence.
‘Here we go…’
‘Nuo Ai’er had tried and failed so many times.’
‘After numerous black screens and restarts, she had already gathered enough intel.’
‘So now…’
Nuo Ai’er: ‘Now, I’ll take you down without dying even once.’