“Be, Bale oppa...”

Tie flinched involuntarily.

But the scream continued.

Raul turned anxiously to Basto.

“...Let’s hurry!”

The five of them, including Tie, quickened their pace.

The farther they moved along the fence, the louder the screams became.

“That roof — the brown one!”

Adeline cried out softly when she spotted the stable.

Raul and Enzo nodded and quickly circled around to the back.

Nimbly vaulting over the fence, they grabbed onto the wall and began climbing onto the roof.

“A-ah... sa, save me... hhk... please...”

The pleas from inside grew clearer.

Tie, her eyes wet, buried her face in Basto’s shoulder.

At that moment, Enzo gave a short whistle from the roof.

There were no guards nearby.

Basto and Adeline nodded and climbed over the fence.

Raul and Enzo leapt down simultaneously to the opposite side of the stable.

“Lord Bale!”

But in the next instant, both froze.

Basto, Adeline, and Tie, who had run around the stable, widened their eyes as well.

“Ha... what, did you really come to save me?”

Inside the stable.

Bale, one hand shackled in chains, rose to his feet.

And in front of him—

“U-uaaaah! Let go... p-please...”

A knight whose leg Bale was gripping let out horrific groans.

“Bale oppa!”

The moment Tie saw him, she hurriedly slid down from Basto’s back.

Running through a pile of hay, she rushed to Bale.

“...Kid?”

Bale was covered in blood.

His face was swollen so badly it was hard to recognize him, one eye bloodshot.

His body was also torn with wounds.

Especially his right wrist — as if he had tried to tear the chain off himself — looked severely damaged.

Bale quickly hid the mangled wrist behind his back.

“Ki, kid. It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

But Tie couldn’t say anything.

She only looked at him through tears.

Fine?

He was covered in injuries.

Tie bit her lip and moved past him.

Running to the stone wall, she began pulling at the chain fixed to the stable.

“Kid. You...”

Bale’s surprised voice came from behind.

But Tie, tears falling, pulled even harder.

“Let’s go. Let’s go back to the inn ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ quickly...”

From the moment the knights took him away, she had suspected it.

That Bale might be hurt.

But seeing him like this, she could think of nothing else.

“You’re badly injured. We have to treat you...”

Her legs gave way, and she sank to the floor.

“Wait. I’ll try!”

Raul snapped back to himself and ran over.

He struck the chain with his scabbard with all his strength.

But it didn’t budge.

Bale muttered,

“Useless. We need the key. That’s why I was searching them.”

He nodded toward the knights lying on the ground.

And there was more than one.

“There were four. I knocked out the two closest first, then the others jumped in on their own.”

Basto shook his head.

Bale was unexpectedly skilled in close combat.

He didn’t overpower with strength — he won with agility and speed.

“Kid, don’t cry. Hm?”

Bale approached Tie and tried to coax her.

“You heard the screams on the way here? Those weren’t mine. They were the bad uncles’.”

“Uu, oppa is hurt too! They said the one who gets hurt is stupid! Oppa is stupid! Idiot! Stinky puppy!”

“...Yeah. I’m a stupid stinky idiot. So don’t cry. Okay?”

But Tie couldn’t stop.

With a sorrowful face, she gently touched his shackled wrist.

“Can’t it really be removed? Oppa, you won’t be able to run away...?”

Bale fell silent for a moment, then asked quietly,

“If we remove it, will you stop crying?”

Tie nodded.

His gaze turned serious.

“Then we’ll cut it off and run?”

Tie’s mouth fell open.

Deep shock filled her eyes.

“C-cut it off...?”

“Astie, someone’s coming!”

At that moment, Lucarion ran up from where he had been surveying the area.

“They must have heard the scream. There’s more than one or two.”

Enzo and Raul’s faces darkened.

They had already dragged over a large stone, intending to smash the chain’s fastening point in the wall.

“That’s enough. Move aside.”

Basto, who had remained silent until now, stepped forward.

Everyone looked at him in confusion.

Basto passed Adeline and stood before Bale.

Soon he grasped the chain with both hands and took a short breath.

“...Huh.”

In the next moment, veins bulged across his forehead and the backs of his hands.

And then.

Cr-r-r— the thick iron chain snapped apart.

“...Y-you’ve got to be kidding.”

Bale stared at Basto in disbelief.

“Ba, Ba, Basto?”

“What did I just see...”

Raul and Enzo stood like statues.

Lucarion, leaning against the wall beside Adeline, murmured with interest,

“Acceptable.”

Basto dusted off his hands.

“Let’s go.”

He quickly turned his back to Tie and dropped to one knee.

“Tie, climb on.”

But for some reason, Tie did not climb on.

She was looking around strangely.

By then, everyone else had already exited the stable.

“Tie, quickly.”

Basto urged again.

But Tie did not move.

She was staring at something.

“Tie!”

The girl tilted her head.

Inside the stable.

In the right corner, where a pile of hay lay.

The spirit who had led them here was standing there.

“Uncle Basto.”

“Tie, I don’t know what’s there, but there’s no time!”

“That’s not it.”

The spirit moved his lips.

With a sorrowful, desperate expression.

Tie frowned.

She couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“There they are! Grab them!”

A squad of soldiers appeared from around the corner near the stable.

Upon seeing the members of Agavert, they quickened their pace.

Each armed with whatever weapon they carried.

“Tie!”

Basto grabbed her hand.

But Tie—

“Tie!”

She suddenly yanked her hand free and ran into the corner of the stable.

“The will! The will!”

At her shout, Lucarion, Bale, and Adeline, waiting outside, turned.

Tie shouted again,

“The will is here!”

And began frantically scattering the hay.