Laila-onesama and Rose-onesama, who were placed in the same class as Lumine, were chosen as group leaders for the practical training at Babel, leaving Lumine all by herself. Instructed by Laila-onesama to wait until she finished, Lumine stayed behind in Babel's ground-floor entrance hall—until a chilling realization struck her.
"It's not here! It's gone!"
The carved wooden doll she had kept by her side without fail for the past several years was nowhere to be found.
(Where did I lose it?! Lumine, think!)
Urging herself on, she desperately tried to gather the scattered threads of her memory.
"I left it in the classroom yesterday!"
That was it! Yesterday, because of that experiment with the Babel researcher, she had put the pouch holding the wooden doll into her locker and gone straight home. Normally, she would never have forgotten it. But she had been so anxious about today's special class placements that she hadn't been able to think straight. After all, Lumine didn't yet have the confidence to get along in a class where she didn't know a soul.
She could easily make it in time if she waited for onesama to finish her business and went with her. She tried to reassure herself, but dark premonitions—like the fear that someone might throw it away—flashed through her mind, leaving her utterly restless. Driven by overwhelming anxiety, she decided to leave a message and go retrieve it on her own.
Lately, she had been walking to school by herself anyway, so there shouldn't be any harm in just running back to fetch something she forgot.
Lumine sprinted off toward Ouboro Academy.
"Thank goodness. It's here."
The pouch containing the carved wooden doll was right inside her locker.
She grabbed the pouch and checked the interior, but—
"It's not here! N-No way!"
The carved wooden doll that belonged inside was gone.
In its place sat a single folded sheet of parchment.
Written upon it were the words: If you want this doll back in one piece, come alone to the location on this map without telling a soul.
Panic flared in Lumine's mind.
That carved wooden cat doll was Lumine's greatest treasure. She couldn't even remember who had given it to her, but for as long as she could recall, it had always been with her. Through every hardship and sorrow, that doll had brought her comfort.
Yet it was only precious to Lumine; to anyone else, it was nothing more than a battered, ordinary wooden doll. There was no conceivable reason for anyone to steal it.
What should she do? Should she return to Babel and ask for onesama's guidance? But if she did that, and they burned the doll in retaliation—
"N-No!"
Losing that doll was out of the question! Anything but that! Just imagining it made her feel as though her heart was being torn to shreds.
Fastening a leather belt equipped with a sword and a knife around her waist, she shoved a small, nail-like spike into her pocket. The Helner Family was a martial lineage. Lumine, too, had been taught the bare minimum on how to defend herself against thugs.
"I'm getting it back, no matter what!"
With that cry, Lumine ran toward the marked location.
The designated spot was a dilapidated mansion tucked away in the southeastern corner of Babel's Sixth Ward.
Men in black stood guard at the mansion's entrance. After stripping Lumine of her sword and knife, they ordered her inside.
She was led directly into a grand hall.
Several more men in black lurked in the corners of the room, while an imposing, brutish man with short hair and a square jaw sprawled arrogantly across a sofa. A foul sensation, like insects crawling beneath her skin, washed over her.
She recognized those eyes overflowing with murky, dark greed. They were just like her father's. They held the exact same color as that incarnation of avarice who had leapt at the main family's overtures, demanding a marriage between Lumine and Roman, and threatening her gentle onesama.
"For real?! She actually came waddling all the way here for a piece of junk like this!"
A bucktoothed upperclassman sneered, twirling Lumine's carved wooden cat doll in one hand.
She was surrounded by grown men. Under ordinary circumstances, the timid Lumine might have cowered in terror, unable to do a thing. But—
"G-Give it back!"
She was on the verge of losing that doll forever. Driven by sheer desperation, she lunged forward, but a man in black seized her from behind, pinning her arms.
"You've got a lot of nerve, you little brat!"
The bucktoothed boy strutted over and drove a kick straight into her stomach.
The wind was knocked out of her instantly, followed by a dull, throbbing pain. He kicked her again and again.
Desperately twisting her body, Lumine took the brunt of the blows with her forehead. As her consciousness wavered on the brink of fading—
"Give it back!"
She drove the small spike concealed in her left hand deep into the arm of the man in black holding her down.
"Gah!"
The moment his grip loosened, Lumine threw a punch squarely at the bucktoothed boy. Snatching the wooden doll as it slipped from his fingers, she bolted for the hall doors.
"You idiots! Guest!"
At the short-haired, square-jawed brute's shout—
"Heheheh! Right away!"
A gaunt man in a hat materialized right in front of Lumine. Grabbing her by the collar, he hurled her effortlessly to the floor.
"You fucking bitch!"
His face twisted in rage, the bucktoothed boy scrambled up, rushed over, and kicked Lumine again.
Pain flared through her body, but Lumine curled up like a turtle, clutching the wooden doll tightly against her chest.
"Gah?!"
Suddenly, the bucktoothed boy went flying across the room.
"Young master, we can't have you damaging our merchandise any further. You'll ruin such a fine little beauty."
"Wh-What the hell do you think you're—?!"
One of the other boys from Ouboro Academy started to shout, but a man in black slit his throat from behind before he could finish. A spray of crimson blood erupted into the air.
"Eeeeeek!"
Piercing shrieks broke out among the academy boys.
"Shut your mouths. Understood?"
Intimidated by the terrifying grin of the short-haired, square-jawed brute, the bucktoothed boy and the others nodded frantically through their tears.
"Now then, you sent word to that brat Kai Heinemann, right?"
At the sudden mention of that name, Lumine's heart leapt into her throat.
"Yes, sir. He's been notified."
The man in black's prompt reply sent a wave of frantic dread crashing over her.
"What are you planning to do to him?!" Lumine screamed.
He was weak. Far and away the weakest student in all of Ouboro Academy. If he came to a place like this, they would slaughter him. Just picturing it made the hair on her arms stand on end.
"Kill him, of course. Seems your little boyfriend is hated by quite a few folks in this city. A hit was put out, and we, the 'Black Stake,' took the job. Well, our main prize this time is you, though."
"M-Me?"
Lumine choked out the word. Naturally so. She had no earthly idea why people like this would ever target her.
"That's right. Somebody out there wants you. Kai Heinemann is just a bonus on the side. Easy pocket money, basically."
"Because of me... he's going to die?" she muttered, dazed.
"Exactly! That brat Kai Heinemann is gonna die, and it's all your fault. Hey, Guest, you can neutralize that magic item he's got, right?"
"Heheheh! But of course! Someone of my caliber can crush a little trinket like that as easily as wringing a chicken's neck!"
The gaunt man in the hat laughed in a grotesque, mocking tone.
"Stop screwing around!"
He was going to die. As the dreadful reality took shape on her tongue, an intense wave of nauseating panic washed over her again and again.
"Oh, I like that fire. Getting me all worked up. Maybe I ought to violate you right in front of your precious boyfriend. Hey, Guest, haul her over to that bed!"
Licking his lips, the short-haired man barked the order.
"Heheheh! With pleasure!"
The gaunt man approached Lumine, grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, and dragged her over to the bed in the corner, tossing her onto the mattress.
Flung onto the bed, Lumine scrambled frantically to escape, but the short-haired brute pinned her down from behind.
"Struggle all you want. It won't do you any good!"
With hands as thick as logs, he ripped Lumine's jacket to shreds, exposing her undergarments to the cold air.
"No..."
It was agonizing. Because of Lumine, he was going to die. Anything but that. And now, this repulsive piece of filth who planned to murder him was about to defile her. The sheer indignity and powerlessness of it brought hot tears streaming down her face.
"Come on, let's have some fun!"
The short-haired man reached his hand toward Lumine's chest.
"No! No! No! Save me, Kai-niichan!"
Just as Lumine shrieked with everything her lungs could muster, a deafening roar shook the room. And in the very next instant—
"Get off."
With that commanding voice, the massive frame pinning her down vanished, and Lumine found herself scooped into an embrace.
"Kai... niichan?"
"I'm sorry. I'm late."
The mere sight of his gentle, youthful face brought an overwhelming rush of relief.
"—!"
She threw her arms around him, burying her face into his chest. In that instant, all the terror and despair she had bottled up burst like a broken dam, and she wept uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry. You must have been terrified. Lumine, rest for a little while."
As he gently stroked the back of her head, her consciousness softly dissolved into a pure white mist.