***

“Hehe… Me, please buy me, Master!”

“A-ah, no! Please buy me. I can do it! I will do better!

“I’m better than them, I will…”

“P-please save me! Ugh…”

After an uncomfortable meal, they arrived at the Nurturing Room with Reinhardt’s magic.

As soon as she stepped into the room, Valletta’s body stiffened at the sound coming from all directions.

She roughly expected it, but this place was worse than she expected.

As soon as the light seeped into the dark space, she heard wailing and begging here and there.

Valletta’s face contorted at the terrible cries and the terrible smell of medicine that seemed to make her mind fuzzy. The smells seemed to be the sweet smell of a flower, then it was the awful smell of garbage, and sometimes it split in two.

As Valletta staggered as she stood dazed, Reinhardt clasped her back tightly with his arms and made her stand upright.

“Master, open your eyes properly and look ahead. Master wanted to see this, right?”

At the whispering voice in her ear, Valletta blankly blinked her eyes.

She should raise her head, but she can’t. A buzzing voice echoed in her mind.

Reinhardt stood in front of Valletta, bent down, and glanced at her.

‘A bad quality hallucinogen.’

It was a common drug used to destroy the minds and enslave ordinary thinking humans.

Reinhardt was accustomed to this kind of drug, having often been attacked by Count Delight without Valletta’s knowledge.

But she wasn’t.

Honestly, he didn’t want to bring her to this place. But at the same time, he wanted to show her this reality.

This is the result of his lowly desires.

Reinhardt laughed at himself. He hated that she showed sympathy to something other than himself.

He had never enjoyed sympathy in his life, but he wanted her sympathy badly.

He wanted Valletta, who was desperately trying to throw him away, to look after him.

Reinhardt stroked Valletta’s forehead with his thumb as she gasped and gasped.

Valletta, who seemed to be having difficulty breathing, changed in an instant. It was easy for her to knock out the guards outside.

Even if she didn’t have Reinhardt, Valletta could sufficiently summon spirits to have the upper hand.

Since it was not the Magic Tower, Valletta can summon higher spirits without cumbersome summoning circles.

“I really wish you were… a person who couldn’t do anything.”

Reinhardt whispered, just like that night.

If only Valletta was powerless, dumb and a pretentious person with a sense of justice, she would have been much more easier to handle.

If she would ask him to save someone, he would have listened no matter what.

“You’re the only one who can use me…”

Reinhardt’s words became unclear.

His hand clasped Valletta’s nape and quickly fell off. He can’t kill her.

‘If I were going to kill you, I would’ve killed you back then.’

The day he killed Count Delight, Reinhardt refrained from killing Valletta.

Now he can’t kill her no matter what. Thus, he wanted to be her dog.

A being who is forgiven by its Master for the rest of its life because of its loyalty.

However, Valletta never commanded Reinhardt. She didn’t want anything from him. She didn’t call his name, except when he stumbled.

But she was still the only one who didn’t avoid his gaze.

Reinhardt kissed her forehead, which he rubbed once with his thumb.

A light flashed, and it seeped into Valletta’s forehead. Valletta’s hazy pupils began to re-focus.

She blankly blinked her eyes.

Her long eyelashes blinked two or three times, then slowly regained their focus.

“I’ve blocked the poison coming in from the outside. You won’t feel dizzy anymore, Master.”

Reinhardt smiled beautifully with a face that seemed to melt away.

Valletta, whose mind was still dazed, touched her forehead and nodded her head absent-mindedly.

‘… Crazy. What the hell is this?’

Her head was spinning and it felt like she was about to go insane. Other than that, Reinhardt looked pretty good.

She glanced back at him and opened her closed mouth.

“Are you okay?”

She had only thrown out those words, but Reinhardt’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“… Are you worried about me, Master?”

Valletta kept her mouth shut when she saw Reinhardt smiling brightly without hiding his joy.

Why is he smiling so prettily?

Valletta flatly shut her mouth and turned her head.

She wants to clap her hands for her past self who didn’t get fooled even though she was being openly seduced with his face.

“First, we have to do something about this air.”

Valletta turned her head and scanned the smoke-filled interior.

It had iron bars like a prison and several people were locked in it. There were more than one or two of such prisons.

‘Shall I call Jin?’

His wind seemed like it would be enough to make the air inside dissipate.

But at the same time, she was reluctant, as she had never properly called, cared and had given order.

“Just give me your order, Master.”

Reinhardt said, making a flicking gesture with his finger.

“It’s okay.”

Reinhardt’s face hardened when Valletta rejected his offer. He slowly lowered his hand.

“Then there is nothing I can do.”

While he was still smiling brightly, he showed a look of disappointment.

Valletta glanced at Reinhardt and shook her head. She doesn’t have a lot of power, so she can’t think of anything in particular.

She can’t help it even if she gets cursed at one more time.

Valletta sighed and opened her mouth.

‘… No, there is no need to summon a higher spirit, right?’

Valletta’s pouty lips clung to each other again.

Think about it. She was only going to ask it to let the wind blow inside to clean the air, but calling the higher spirit was a waste of energy.

It’s not because she absolutely didn’t want to hear Jin’s nagging.

“Sylph.”

As she called the name, a whirlwind appeared in front of her eyes.

It was a very small whirlwind compared to when Jin appeared.

Judging from the glow, she thought Sylph would soon come out, but the whirlwind suddenly went out.

“… What?”

Valletta’s gaze turned to Reinhardt.

Reinhardt shook his head.

Seeing her narrowed gaze, he shook his head again, feeling like it was unfair.

“It’s not you?”

“… Dim-witted Master, I’m upset. Anyone can see that the connection was cut off from the other side, how can you doubt me?”

Valletta shut her mouth at Reinhardt’s words.

He had said that he didn’t kill the summoning, so she couldn’t add anything more.

She rolled her eyes and opened her mouth again.

“Sylph.”

This time again, there was a whirlpool but it went out.

It didn’t even shine this time. Valletta crossed her arms as if it were absurd.

“Sylph!”

This time the vortex did not even appear. Valletta felt a little miserable now.

She looked back at Reinhardt, but his arms were crossed and he had already turned away.

It seemed like he was upset for being doubted.

“… Jin.”

She put his name on her lips as she recalled the sharp eyes of the hawk.

A whirlwind appeared and glowed, and then a huge, colorless and transparent hawk was summoned.

As soon as he was summoned, his beak widened and his eyes flashed, full of things he wanted to say.

‘… Uhm. I shouldn’t have done this.’

Valletta regretted it for a moment.

She just didn’t know if it would have been better if she had asked Reinhardt. When she thought about what she was about to go through, she felt a little sad.

-You cold-hearted thing! You ungrateful thing! You unkind thing!

As soon as he was summoned, Valletta frowned at the incessant voice.

***