"Um... Mr. Lycaon and Miss Rina are waiting for us outside the Hollow. They've already made all the necessary preparations, so you don't have to worry about anything else..."
Corin rattled off her answer in one breath, then finally let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully, she hadn't sounded too awkward. She wondered if Mr. Zane was satisfied...
They'd met before, and yesterday she had interacted with him as a client and agent, but this was the first time they were truly working together. She wanted to leave a good impression—not just personally, but also on behalf of Victoria Housekeeping.
"Alright. Let's move."
Zane nodded, then glanced at Ellen and added,
"Top student, stop zoning out. If we hurry, we can still catch the next ride."
Ellen's expression shifted again, the calm she had just regained slipping away. She was already regretting her earlier actions.
She had provoked him first, and in return, he had beaten her down—then kept after her, pressing the attack, refusing to let her go.
And she had already yielded!
But she kept her complaints to herself. The three of them quickly regrouped with Eous at the video store before heading toward their destination.
...
Some time later.
Dusk fell.
Inside Ballet Tower, deep in the Hollow.
"Ugh... do I pick circuit control or heavy lifting? One's mentally exhausting, the other's physically exhausting. Hard choice."
The housekeeping team suggested splitting up, and Ellen was left struggling over her assignment.
In the silence of the tower, even whispers carried, so her words naturally reached Zane's ears.
He glanced back at her, raising a brow.
He remembered her fiery spirit last night when they intercepted reinforcements—full of fight, nothing like the listless girl in front of him now.
Wait... was she just putting on a show for him then?
And indeed, she was. Ellen had been motivated by a desire to repay him, so she had forced herself to show off. Without that factor, she'd probably just be slacking.
"Sigh, I'll take the power room. At least I'll be with Corin—no need to worry about posture complaints."
Ellen gave a resigned sigh, settling on her choice. If she went with Lycaon, he'd nag endlessly about her stance.
"Your reasoning is... questionable, but for team balance, it's a good choice."
Rina, the head maid, commented softly. At the mention of combat strength, several pairs of eyes naturally shifted toward Zane, who was leisurely "sightseeing" nearby.
If he hadn't stated outright that he wasn't joining the mission, he probably could've gotten them to the rooftop in a dozen different ways already...
Noticing their gazes, Zane looked back in confusion but didn't think much of it. Soon after, the group split up according to plan.
As for Zane...
He remained a free agent.
When the others were gone, the tower fell back into silence. Zane stood alone in the darkness, steady and calm, as a faintly eerie atmosphere spread through the halls.
Something was moving out there.
The cold air was enough to make one's skin prickle, and the darkness only amplified the sense of dread.
In that moment, Zane felt like a lone survivor swallowed whole by some monstrous beast of shadow.
His eyes lowered slightly, resting on the drifting Ethereals in the distance. He paid no mind to the dark, instead recalling something he had read.
Some Ethereals could disguise themselves as humans—so lifelike it was uncanny. He had never encountered them before, but the one in the distance looked to be of that kind.
He was curious.
But before he could think further, a sudden wave of disorientation washed over him. A chill seeped into his body, pulling him back to the present.
Then, a sharp, icy female voice whispered into his ear.
She was singing a folk song. The quiet around him made it unbearably clear, and because she was so close, it sounded piercing.
"Seven little dolls... five of them went together..."
"...the iron box roared away... two remained behind..."
A faint crimson glow stirred in the dark.
"...Five little dolls... one slipped away alone..."
A thin, eerie laugh followed—muffled, distant, though it seemed to come from right beside him.
"...No way home to be found... no companions left at all..."
"Four little dolls... one... fell behind..."
"...Gold and Silver blind the eyes... greed steals their lives..."
Another laugh rippled out—this time sharp and clear, like the clinking of Dennies, crisp and unnatural.
The song pressed on.
"...Three little dolls... one hides in a ruined tower..."
"...A shabby room offers fleeting shelter... bones will rot for ten thousand years..."
"Two little dolls... one loves to fight..."
"...Cleverness turns against them... on a narrow path, they meet their foe..."
A chill grazed Zane's neck, as if someone's breath brushed directly against his skin.
"One... one little doll... one little doll..."
"...Good... evil... in but a thought... tears fall, never to be reclaimed..."
With the last "look back," the song ended. The voice vanished, lleaving only its echo lingering in the hollow tower. The cold, however, remained, clinging to him.
"Hard to look back..."
Zane murmured softly, lowering his gaze.
Just then, a subtle pressure touched both his shoulders, moving steadily.
From the corner of his eye, he saw it: a hand with a metallic sheen resting firmly on him. The cold around his ear sharpened, seeping deeper.
And then came laughter.
It was melodic, almost beautiful—yet it churned the gut with unease. For Zane, so close to its source, it was almost unbearable.
He frowned, recalling something he'd read in the video store about the twins.
If he met them... perhaps he could share a dance. That way, at least, his death would look dignified.
The cold bit harder.
Zane raised his hand and pressed it against the one gripping his shoulder. The touch was frigid, unnaturally hard.
He felt the hand stiffen in surprise—it hadn't expected him to respond.
Zane smiled faintly, tightening his grip on the supposed "delicate hand" as if he were holding a lover's fingers.
Then, in the next instant—he wrenched it forward and smashed it down with brutal force!
Boom!
The ground cracked open.