“Please come and see me too. I’m lonely,” Emilio said, waving his hand as I looked at him in surprise. I furrowed my brow and lowered my head before leaving the room.
If I went to see Lucia, I would automatically see him too.
It’s hard to be around someone who makes you nervous. I couldn’t help but complain.
“… Why is he and Lucia in the same place? Why didn’t they leave her with Denny anyway? That way, it would be separated by gender.”
In fact, why are men and women being held together when they are supposed to be treated with respect? I had my doubts.
“Well, you’ll understand when you see where we’re going.”
“Where are we going? Where Denny is?”
“Yes.”
Paolo said with a subtle expression. I didn’t really understand, but I decided to follow him and see for myself.
The gloomy stone corridor was still as cold as ever, and it felt like my heart was freezing. However, the fact that there were people passing by occasionally meant that Paolo’s companions really lived here.
I thought it must be tough for them.
As they passed by and saw Paolo, they looked at me with knowing expressions. Some looked at me with a mocking face, while others looked at me suspiciously.
Most of them were young people, but occasionally there were middle-aged people mixed in.
I had a feeling that there were more men than women, but there were also a fair number of women.
However, I didn’t feel like they were all on the same page. Some seemed motivated, while others seemed to regret something. They all surely knew that what they were doing was a criminal act.
As I watched them, I wished that at least one of them would stop doing this.
Eventually, we arrived at a place where the sun didn’t shine much, and we stopped in front of a sturdy-looking door.
“We didn’t originally use this as a makeshift prison, but it has the thickest walls, so we ended up using it.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
I tilted my head in question to Paolo’s response. He didn’t answer and opened the lock as if he had made up his mind. There was a cage inside that looked like Lucia and Emilio had been put in.
The cage was double-layered, with a small cage inside a large one, in a strange state.
In addition, the inner cage was quite damaged. It wasn’t rusted or damaged due to aging, but it was bent in various directions. I was momentarily surprised, but relieved when I saw the person sitting there.
“Denny! I’m glad you’re safe.”
“…! Lady Lorraine, I’m glad you’re safe too.”
As soon as she noticed me, she came towards me with the force of ramming into the cage. No, she was practically ramming into it. The impact shook the cage violently.
“I’m fine. I slept in a proper room and I’m getting food… But, is Denny okay?”
“I couldn’t protect Lorraine-sama. At least, I’m thinking of escaping from here and going to pick her up, but this cage is quite sturdy… Please wait a little longer. I’ll figure out how to break it soon.”
“B-Break it?”
I didn’t quite understand what she was saying, so I looked at Dennis’ cage and then at Paolo. He answered while looking in the opposite direction,
“You understand now, right?”
His expression was tense as if he thought he would be killed if their eyes met. Certainly, Dennis now looked like a wounded beast with gleaming eyes, disheveled hair, and a haggard face that had become sharper, so I could understand his feelings.
However, I wondered if it was only the fear of her appearance that caused such a reaction. Before I could ask what he was planning to do, Paolo grabbed my shoulder and hurriedly moved me back.
“Please step back a little. She’s going to attempt to break it.”
“E-Eh, wait, Denny?”
Before I could ask what she was planning to do, Paolo grabbed my shoulder and hurriedly moved me back.
Immediately after that, there was an incredible sound.
It made a noise that was incomparable to the shaking from earlier, and the cage shook violently. It repeated several times, and I had to cover my ears because it was so loud. If I didn’t, my ears would have gone crazy.
“…Hmph, still not enough.”
Dennis’s voice echoed, and the ear-piercing sound stopped. I stared at Dennis in amazement and tried to remember what she had done.
I remember her headbutting and tackling, hitting things with something she took out from somewhere, and doing various things. In other words, all the bent iron bars scattered around were her doing.
——I-It’s amazing…she’s not human.
“I’m sorry, Lorraine-sama. It seems like it will take a little longer.”
“U-Um…don’t push yourself too hard.”
It wasn’t going to take just a little longer; Dennis was going to break before she could break the cage. I grimaced and thought about how to stop her.
“No, this is nothing. Please don’t worry. Being sturdy is my forte…”
Even if she says she’s sturdy, there must be a limit.
While thinking that, I looked at Dennis’s condition and couldn’t see that she was really struggling. I wondered why that was, but I said:
“That’s impossible. I understand how you feel and I’m happy, but this happened because of me. If I had followed Denny’s advice at that time, we wouldn’t have had to do this…”
I had been wanting to say this to Dennis since it happened.
After this happened, I didn’t just sit around doing nothing. I thought about it so much that my head felt like it was going to explode. The conclusion was that there was almost nothing we could do now.
And all of this happened because my judgment in trusting Paolo was wrong.
“I’m sorry. It’s because of me that you followed me…I won’t trust my judgment anymore.”
“Lorraine-sama, that’s not true! It’s because I let my guard down…”
“It was a trap. I don’t think I could have handled it. It’s my fault for believing in Paolo.
“…Hey, I can’t just let that go.”
I heard a voice protesting from behind.
“Please come and see me too. I’m lonely,” Emilio said, waving his hand as I looked at him in surprise. I furrowed my brow and lowered my head before leaving the room.
If I went to see Lucia, I would automatically see him too.
It’s hard to be around someone who makes you nervous. I couldn’t help but complain.
“… Why is he and Lucia in the same place? Why didn’t they leave her with Denny anyway? That way, it would be separated by gender.”
In fact, why are men and women being held together when they are supposed to be treated with respect? I had my doubts.
“Well, you’ll understand when you see where we’re going.”
“Where are we going? Where Denny is?”
“Yes.”
Paolo said with a subtle expression. I didn’t really understand, but I decided to follow him and see for myself.
The gloomy stone corridor was still as cold as ever, and it felt like my heart was freezing. However, the fact that there were people passing by occasionally meant that Paolo’s companions really lived here.
I thought it must be tough for them.
As they passed by and saw Paolo, they looked at me with knowing expressions. Some looked at me with a mocking face, while others looked at me suspiciously.
Most of them were young people, but occasionally there were middle-aged people mixed in.
I had a feeling that there were more men than women, but there were also a fair number of women.
However, I didn’t feel like they were all on the same page. Some seemed motivated, while others seemed to regret something. They all surely knew that what they were doing was a criminal act.
As I watched them, I wished that at least one of them would stop doing this.
Eventually, we arrived at a place where the sun didn’t shine much, and we stopped in front of a sturdy-looking door.
“We didn’t originally use this as a makeshift prison, but it has the thickest walls, so we ended up using it.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
I tilted my head in question to Paolo’s response. He didn’t answer and opened the lock as if he had made up his mind. There was a cage inside that looked like Lucia and Emilio had been put in.
The cage was double-layered, with a small cage inside a large one, in a strange state.
In addition, the inner cage was quite damaged. It wasn’t rusted or damaged due to aging, but it was bent in various directions. I was momentarily surprised, but relieved when I saw the person sitting there.
“Denny! I’m glad you’re safe.”
“…! Lady Lorraine, I’m glad you’re safe too.”
As soon as she noticed me, she came towards me with the force of ramming into the cage. No, she was practically ramming into it. The impact shook the cage violently.
“I’m fine. I slept in a proper room and I’m getting food… But, is Denny okay?”
“I couldn’t protect Lorraine-sama. At least, I’m thinking of escaping from here and going to pick her up, but this cage is quite sturdy… Please wait a little longer. I’ll figure out how to break it soon.”
“B-Break it?”
I didn’t quite understand what she was saying, so I looked at Dennis’ cage and then at Paolo. He answered while looking in the opposite direction,
“You understand now, right?”
His expression was tense as if he thought he would be killed if their eyes met. Certainly, Dennis now looked like a wounded beast with gleaming eyes, disheveled hair, and a haggard face that had become sharper, so I could understand his feelings.
However, I wondered if it was only the fear of her appearance that caused such a reaction. Before I could ask what he was planning to do, Paolo grabbed my shoulder and hurriedly moved me back.
“Please step back a little. She’s going to attempt to break it.”
“E-Eh, wait, Denny?”
Before I could ask what she was planning to do, Paolo grabbed my shoulder and hurriedly moved me back.
Immediately after that, there was an incredible sound.
It made a noise that was incomparable to the shaking from earlier, and the cage shook violently. It repeated several times, and I had to cover my ears because it was so loud. If I didn’t, my ears would have gone crazy.
“…Hmph, still not enough.”
Dennis’s voice echoed, and the ear-piercing sound stopped. I stared at Dennis in amazement and tried to remember what she had done.
I remember her headbutting and tackling, hitting things with something she took out from somewhere, and doing various things. In other words, all the bent iron bars scattered around were her doing.
——I-It’s amazing…she’s not human.
“I’m sorry, Lorraine-sama. It seems like it will take a little longer.”
“U-Um…don’t push yourself too hard.”
It wasn’t going to take just a little longer; Dennis was going to break before she could break the cage. I grimaced and thought about how to stop her.
“No, this is nothing. Please don’t worry. Being sturdy is my forte…”
Even if she says she’s sturdy, there must be a limit.
While thinking that, I looked at Dennis’s condition and couldn’t see that she was really struggling. I wondered why that was, but I said:
“That’s impossible. I understand how you feel and I’m happy, but this happened because of me. If I had followed Denny’s advice at that time, we wouldn’t have had to do this…”
I had been wanting to say this to Dennis since it happened.
After this happened, I didn’t just sit around doing nothing. I thought about it so much that my head felt like it was going to explode. The conclusion was that there was almost nothing we could do now.
And all of this happened because my judgment in trusting Paolo was wrong.
“I’m sorry. It’s because of me that you followed me…I won’t trust my judgment anymore.”
“Lorraine-sama, that’s not true! It’s because I let my guard down…”
“It was a trap. I don’t think I could have handled it. It’s my fault for believing in Paolo.
“…Hey, I can’t just let that go.”
I heard a voice protesting from behind.
