Strictly speaking, none of the hallways here in the sanctuary actually connected.
It was Azalie who had told her that. In reality, however, all of the hallways were connected, and you could get anywhere you wanted to go from any other location. It was an obvious way to build the place for the Celestials who had created it—it was more convenient this way. Because it made sense, they did it that way. That was all there was to it.
But for those who didn’t know how the passageways connected, it was a labyrinth with no exit. In the present, when there were no Celestials, the place was just barely managed by a group the sanctuary called priestesses, and no one could disobey them.
If you were to fight in the sanctuary, you had to be certain that you would win. That was what Azalie had concluded.
“In other words...” Leticia muttered as she raised both arms, trying to tolerate the men conducting a rough search. “You’re telling me to control myself?” The thought was absurd enough to make her burst out laughing, though all that came from her was a slight snort.
Azalie stood next to her brazenly, as if she were the one performing the search herself. Leticia told her, “I’m always calm... I’ve been calm since you called me. I’m calm now, just as I have been this whole time. I haven’t complained a single time despite the complete lack of any decent information you’ve been able to provide me.”
“Is that not a complaint?” There was a slight shadow of doubt in Azalie’s eyes as she spoke.
Leticia didn’t miss that look, but she didn’t show Azalie any pity either. “Well, I don’t know if you could call it a legitimate complaint. I’ve been insane for some time now—”
“As far as I can tell, you’re sane.”
“That’s the problem. I killed someone! How can I stay sane...?” Leticia grumbled as her final weapon was pulled out of a secret compartment in her combat gear—a metal rod hidden near her wrist.
There were two men searching her. Well, it was somewhat questionable whether they could be considered “men,” but they had the shape of human men anyway. The only difference was the way their green eyes shone. But when their search was concluded and their fingers, stretched out to find any small hidden implements they might otherwise miss, returned to their original length, the glow in their eyes faded.
The two Red Dragons nodded silently and faced the other two in the room.
There, two similar dragons surrounded Heartia, who was in casual clothes. It was the first time Leticia had seen him in five years, but they hadn’t had a chance to say much to each other yet. He still looked like he didn’t quite understand what was happening.
I wonder if that’s true... Leticia thought, stealing a glance at him. He looked like he was staring off into the distance. He might be a lot calmer than I am. She wasn’t even sure herself who she was quipping to.
The room was completely white and contained nothing but walls and a floor. There wasn’t even a door. Either it was made that way because they had nothing to hide or because it hadn’t even occurred to them to do something so tasteful as decorating. Since it was a facility where nonhumans lived, maybe it was natural that it seemed unnatural to her.
On the white floor lay several more human inventions—weapons like knives, wires, and even a shortbow. When she thought about how they’d all come from the inside of her combat gear, Leticia couldn’t help feeling vaguely frustrated.
Fight? These weapons wouldn’t even scratch the skin of the dragons before her.
Leticia raised her head and looked at Azalie. Her little sister. No, to be more accurate, they were cousins, though they had been raised like sisters. The Red Dragons hadn’t even attempted to touch Azalie—either they already knew that she was nothing more than a spirit, or they could tell at a single glance. Though when Leticia looked at her, it was hard to see her as anything other than a normal living person.
After a long silence, Azalie responded to her. “You’re able to remain sane, Tish, because you’re doing something that is absolutely necessary to us. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s just lip service.”
“Sure. But living is lip service. When you get to be like me...you understand that.” Azalie indicated herself. It wasn’t like there was any sort of mark there, but Leticia didn’t argue.
While they were chatting, the weapons at their feet disappeared. It happened with no warning, without anyone touching them or anything. It was obviously some sort of sorcery, but Leticia wasn’t able to divine any sort of spell composition. Some Glyphs in the floor must have activated or something. The Red Dragons disappeared similarly, without any sort of parting words.
Leticia made up her mind and said, “Heartia...”
But he didn’t seem to have heard her. He was just staring vaguely forward, the same way he had while he was searched. But there was nothing in the direction he was looking save for the wall.
Leticia gasped and rounded on Azalie. “What did you do to him?! You didn’t break your promise...”
“I didn’t. I’m not controlling him,” the Chaos Witch quietly asserted. “I don’t have the capacity for something like that.” The hand at her chest fell, limp. “I’ll keep my promise. Even if there’s some mistake, you and I will be the only ones to die. Heartia and Krylancelo will be fine... Forte too. I don’t know about Colgon, though. His actions are out of my control.”
As she spoke dispassionately, Leticia watched her, something like hatred burning in her chest. “I won’t let you die either,” she snapped. “Or me, for that matter. You’re going to atone for everything you’ve done. Even if it’s not possible for you to atone for it all, I won’t let you disappear until you’ve done it. Otherwise... I just feel too bad for Master.”
Azalie didn’t say anything in response. But she’d gotten worse at pretending to be unaffected than she’d been before—when she was alive. Her eye twitched, her gaze unsteady. She couldn’t hide the reaction.
It was an expression Leticia had seen before. She thought back to that dark garden in the Imminent Domain. At the face of the man who had burned to death after Leticia’s fingers had pointed his way.