Chapter 69: Are you Her?

“Are you sure it was a good idea to come out here? It is outside the city zone, after all.”

“Ugh, stop your whining, I am trying to sleep.”

“…Whatever.”

She began meditating, trying to form a core, but the pain overwhelmed her and she failed… again. “FUCK!!”

“Oh my fucking god, Jolly, shut the fuck up!”

“Sorry, I am trying to make a new core, but I keep failing. At this rate, I will not be able to use mana again.” She looked at her hands, the expression on her face soft.

“Maybe that is for the best. Now let me sleep.” She did not even bat an eye, even though Jolly was clearly feeling bad.

“You are a jerk, I do not know how a nice guy like Vell put up with you.” She crossed her arms, looking annoyed.

“Says the prostitute.”

“…You know I did not do that out of free will, so why are you being so mean about it?” She showed signs of crying, but Kana still did not care and just lay there, quiet. She sniffled, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. The quiet was almost worse than Kana’s insults.

’Why did I have to be stuck with someone like her?’ She got up and began walking off. Kana sat up, looking at Jolly walking away.

“Where are you going?” Her tone was sharp but laced with mild curiosity. She watched Jolly’s back, her figure slightly hunched as if she were trying to shrink away from the world.

She did not stop. “Anywhere but here,” she muttered, her voice trembling. “You can stay here and sleep all you want. I will figure things out on my own.”

She watched her go, a frown creasing her brow. “You are not going anywhere,” she said, her voice flat and hard. It was not a question, it was a command.

Jolly stopped, her back still to Kana. She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. She was tired of being controlled, tired of being treated like dirt. A surge of anger coursed through her. “Watch me,” she retorted, finally turning to face Kana. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, but they held a spark of defiance that had not been there before.

Kana, seeing this, rose to her feet, her expression unreadable. She took a step towards her, then another. “You know I cannot let you do that,” she said, her voice low and dangerous. “I still have not forgiven you.”

“Forgiveness? Why would I need your forgiveness? You know I was being mind-controlled, I did not do any of those things on purpose, but despite knowing that, you continue to treat me badly, as if you are innocent.”

She clenched her fists harder, the next words felt stuck in her throat. “You are not innocent, you are just as guilty as I am. How many shady missions did you complete for the association? And you talk about Vell, about how we betrayed him and how he was mistreated, but this was all you… you are the cause of everything that happened to him, it is your faul-” Before she could continue, Kana appeared in front of her, punching her away into a tree.

The impact knocked the air from her lungs. She crumpled to the ground, clutching her side as pain radiated through her body. Her vision blurred for a moment, but the anger within her refused to be extinguished. She coughed, struggling to push herself to her knees, glaring up at Kana with fire in her eyes.

Kana stood there, her fist still clenched, trembling slightly. Her face was a mask of controlled fury, but her eyes betrayed a flicker of something else—regret, perhaps, or shame. “You do not know what you are talking about,” she said, her voice low and dangerous. “Do not you dare talk about Vell. You know nothing!”

“I do!” She spat, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth. “You think you can punch the truth away? That you can silence me like you silence everything else you do not want to deal with? Just yesterday, you told me about how you saw Vell but did nothing, why?” She coughed up more blood, her body in so much pain, but she endured it. “I will tell you why. It is because you are a coward, Kana! A fucking coward!”

“I SAID SHUT UP!” She lost control of her emotions and attacked her. Jolly covered her face, bracing for impact, but nothing happened. Her attack was blocked by a monster that proceeded to punch Kana away. The monster then turned to Jolly, looking her in the eyes.

“I heard you two talking about Vell. Who are you?” The monster’s voice was filled with a bloodlust that made it hard for both of them to breathe. Kana thought through the fear and attacked with a kick, but it was countered in a way that was too familiar to her.

’It cannot be.’ She attacked again, this time she went low, aiming for the monster’s right side, and when the attention of the monster went to the right, she spun her body, changing her attack to a kick aimed for the left side, but it was easily caught. ’N-No way.’

“Hmm, the way you move, are you perhaps master’s pupil?”

“Mast-” The monster raised her up with one hand and slammed her into the ground, knocking her out. The monster then turned to Jolly, sniffing her and spitting in disgust.

“You have a foul smell, what have you been doing with your body?” Jolly clenched her fists but did not respond, how could she? “Regardless of that, tell me how you know Vell.”

Her breath hitched in her throat. The mana coming off the monster alone sent shivers down her spine.

“I-I… We… We know him,” she stammered, her eyes darting between it and the limp form of Kana nearby. “We used to… ah. We are his friends.” It was a simplified version, leaving out the parts about the association, betrayal, and the lingering sense of guilt she carried.

The monster tilted its head. “Friends?” it sneered, the word dripping with skepticism. “You reek of dishonesty. And that one,” it flicked its head towards Kana, “she has hatred in her heart, that at least is somewhat similar to him, but I still doubt you two are important to him. So I will ask you again… who are you two?” Its mana filled the area, suffocating her.

“…He goes around with a girl named Yenna, right? I know her, we were in the same team, please believe me!” It deactivated its mana, and she fell on her arms, huffing, trying to take in as much air as possible.

“Speak… she told me about what happened to her… are you perhaps Jolly?”

Her blood ran cold.

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