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n“Lady, what are you doing?”

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nMary’s voice could be heard from the outside, as the sound of the chair falling was quite loud.

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n“Nothing, I’m just stretching a little.”

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nConfused for a moment, I straightened my voice and responded with a calm tone.

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n“Lady, please don’t overdo it and be careful.”

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nThen I heard Mary’s answer from the outside as if giving up since she couldn’t stop me.

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n“Yes, I will. Haha!”

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nI answered in a natural voice until the end, and at the same time as Mary moved away, I hurried towards the balcony.

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nOf course, as I walked, I didn’t forget to put a silenced spell all over my room.

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nEven if a little voice leaks out, a very difficult situation will unfold.

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nThud~

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nI opened the balcony door in a hurry, grabbed the arm of a large man, and pulled him into the room.

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nOverall, he was much larger than me, and came to be pulled by me without any resistance.

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n“Sit comfortably for a moment.”

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nHaving left him on the sofa, I drew the curtains meticulously so that no one could see him from the outside.

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nAnd after I had locked the door, I approached the person still wearing the hood.

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n“Sigh…”

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nHe sat quietly in an awkward posture that I had let him sit in without any sound.

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nIn the three months I hadn’t seen him, Thane seemed to have grown a little.

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n“Why not sit down comfortably? Why are you sitting like that?”

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nI burst out laughing at his awkward posture and approached and sat next to him, not opposite from him.

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nThere was a reason why I sat next to him instead of opposite him as usual.

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n“You can take off your hood now. No one can see you here.”

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nAfter hesitating for a while, he quickly leaned back his hood slowly. As he turned his body slightly, his face became clear.

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nA scar on his forehead that was faintly visible through the pine-colored hair that fell down calmly.

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nA little droopy eyes, blue-colored gray eyes, and firmly bitten lips.

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nUnlike his large and firm body, even when he was fully matured, he had a face that had a faint and innocent look.

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nHowever, the most noticeable of them was a pair of dark gray ears lying quietly on gray hair.

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nUnlike humans, his ears were covered with soft-looking fur.

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nThe man whom I was going to meet with Yurgen today, and who belongs entirely and loyal to me,

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nBecause Thane was a beast.

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n✿

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nThe first time I met Thane was in winter four years ago when it snowed heavily.

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nIt has been half a year since I met Yurgen. That was when I was actually implementing my plan.

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nThe street was filled with laughter from people bursting into tears of joy, adorning the end of the year.

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nHowever, while there are people who have a pleasant and happy year-end, there are those who don’t even know what day it was today or what the scenery outside was like deep underground.

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n“Are you really going here? This is not a place for a lady to go.”

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nWhen I heard the name of the place we were going to, I bit my lips.

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nThe place I was going to was a fighting arena, where people’s lives were lighter than flies.

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nOf course, I didn’t want to come to this place either.

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nFurthermore, now that we do not have the power to publicly punish them.

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n“It may be cruel in your eyes. It’s a place where people die.”

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n“I’m not going because I want to go. There’s someone I need to find.”

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nBecause I won’t be able to bring it to you unless it’s today.

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nThe latter mumbled very softly.

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nEventually, Yurgen and I entered a shop with our hood on and our faces covered with masks.

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nAs I was only fourteen, my small body was temporarily changed using disposable artifacts.

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nOf course, they couldn’t see my face as it was, as I put illusion magic on both Yurgen and my appearance.

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nPerhaps, in the eyes of others, I would appear completely different from myself, as an ordinary adult.

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n“Welcome! For two?”

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nThe shop we entered looked like an ordinary restaurant. Like any other place, you can feel the loud atmosphere unique to the end of the year.

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nAt the owner’s question, Yurgen, who was next to me, held out a piece of black card without saying a word.

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n“Well, I’ll take a look.”

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nThe owner, who took the card, put it on the ring he was wearing on his finger.

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nThen, white letters appeared on the black card that had nothing on it.

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n“Oh, you’ve been a valued customer! Come this way, please.”

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nWhen he handed out his card to us again and walked along with the sneaky man, a staircase appeared leading to the basement.

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nThe stairs with torches in the middle were so deep that the end could not be seen.

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n“Just keep going down here. Have a good time then!”

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nThe man bowed his head politely and closed the door.

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n“They didn’t check our faces.”

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nI think I’ve come down about 20 stairs, Yurgen opened his mouth in a low voice.

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nNo wonder the man did not do anything other than check the black card.

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n“Because the card is engraved with magic. It’s impossible to manipulate it because it’s engraved with a different phrase every time, and others can’t even see the words engraved with magic other than that ring.”

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n“Where did you get this invitation?”

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n“That? Of course it’s fake. I made it.”

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n“…What? Didn’t you just say it was impossible to make it?”

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n“I can. So, don’t worry about getting caught, just worry about holding back your anger.”

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nHow many more steps did we go down after that? We finally opened the door at the end of the stairs when we arrived and went inside.

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nAn underground space deep enough to hide the sound of the ground.

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nThe shallowly decorated stage and audience seats appeared.

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n“This way, please,”

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nIt was a man in a neat waiter’s uniform that guided us.

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n“Here shake this bell when you need anything. Have a good time then.”

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nThe employee left with a brief explanation of this place.

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nAnd after a while, the light was concentrated in one place with the sound of fireworks exploding.

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nAs I followed the light, I saw a man floating in the air at an eye level similar to the seat of the audience.

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nThe man, whose face was covered with a mask, spread his arms in an exaggerated motion.

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n“Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the last day of the year!”

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nAs soon as those words were finished, cheers erupted from the audience.

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n“Please make it hot today, too!”

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n“Hey! When was the last time you were disappointed in our shop? As always, I hope you enjoy it today!”

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nPeople in the audience burst into laughter at the host’s witty answer, who covered his face with a mask.

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nThe approximately one hundred spectators, like the host, each covered their faces with masks.

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nTheir attire was all luxurious. At a glance, it looks like they have a lot of money and status.

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nAn appearance that could never be seen by ordinary people.

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nThere’s only one reason why such people covered their faces here, a place which was not even a masquerade ball.

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n“Let’s start the fighting competition!”

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nIt’s a difficult place to reveal your identity. It was no different from a criminal covering his face and committing a crime.

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nAs soon as the host finished his speech, the light that had lit the stage with a superficial light faded away.

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nGrowl~

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nShortly thereafter, we heard the sound of something… It was like that of a hungry beast.

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nI could hear people whispering to each other, and immediately a bright light lit the stage.

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n“Haha! It’s already hot from the start of today!”

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nStarting with a person’s voice, cheers and giggles erupted among the crowd.

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nOn the lit stage, a wolf as big as an adult man was running wild, shackled.

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nHis eyes and drooling muzzle, half out of focus, indicated that the wolf was now very hungry.

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nHe must have starved for a long time, not just a day or two, but he was distracted by hunger.

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n“We also went through a lot to catch this vicious guy. Isn’t it time to open today’s gun gate?”

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nThe audience sympathized with the host’s words coming from somewhere.

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n“Then there’s a predator, so it’s fun to have a warrior to deal with it.”

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nWith a thud, the light shone on the stage opposite the wolf.

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nA man with a shaky silhouette stood there, his face hidden in a sack and his body trembling.

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nIt’s probably because you can still hear this bloody sound even when your eyes are covered.

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nAfter a while, the sack covering his face was removed.

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n“…Crazy.”

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nAnd I couldn’t help but swear at the exposed face. A head with triangular animal ears and a rump with a tail.

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nThe identity of the person revealed in the sack was a cat beast.

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nA shapeshifter cat looking around, looked at the wolf growling from the opposite side and began to tremble.

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nEven a beast with better physical condition than a human could do nothing against a big wolf.

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nThe scene that followed was one-sided. I turned my head not to try, but I couldn’t stop the sound.

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n“…Disgusting bastards.”

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nI was complaining softly in a cursing manner.

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nToday alone, a feeling of helplessness that I felt several times came again.

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nThey don’t know how disgusting it was to see people gathered here to see these scenes.

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nIf even one of them was thrown into that situation, would anyone else be able to smile like now?

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n“Oh no, you can’t kill him.”

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nWhen the host made a light snap, the shackles around the wolf’s neck became swollen and pulled him with strong force.

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nThe wolf struggled and resisted, but the wolf soon disappeared into the wall of the open stage.

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nThe host only ordered the fainting beast to move inside as if carrying a bag, and then announced the next move with a cheerful voice.

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