Progression

"Pretty little thing, don't you agree~?"

Medea, with his nose covered in bandages, hummed happily despite his two missing teeth, leaning back in a chair and looking at the letter that he was holding above his face.

"There has been an outrage. Calling for all the nobles to gather without even a word of mention about the royal wedding that was originally supposed to happen then caused many to question what was going to happen. There have been some nobles who had already left their territories so as to not be late for the occasion and not quite happy about the idea of it becoming something else.."

Rune, who didn't move from her spot, down on one knee the same way she delivered the letter, believed that to be her cue to add her opinion, and so she did.

"Good job. "

"Everything else is going according to your predictions, too. I am in awe of your…"

Medea acknowledged Rune with a nod, which apparently prompted her to speak up again - although this time, the black-haired man leaned in and pressed his index finger against the spot where the disguised girl's mouth was.

"Here you are again. Do you want to become an animal that much? Shall we have it your way, then?"

"...eh…?"

Medea tilted his head and sighed, causing Eune to let out a confused yelp.

Although her making a sound was more so because she didn't notice the black-haired man's movement until her lips were already sealed…

"If something went wrong or is about to go off course, I want you to report it to me first. Then comes the usual report about my dummy, and then your own concerns, if there are any. At no point you are required, expected, or implied to praise me. Leave those for my dummy. She's starved for compliments."

"..."

And then he actually explained what his expectations were, loud and clear, making the woman stare at him in stunned silence.

"Do you understand?"

He then even asked in a gentle voice!

"Y-yes."

So she answered. She was stunned, but she did answer.

And then…

"That's a good girl! Who's a good girl? Yes, you are~ Yes, you are~"

"!?!?"

Medea began to vigorously pat her head and even stroke her under her chin while proactively praising her, throwing Rune off so much that she completely froze over, unable to react in any way except staring at him.

"Good. Deliver my new instructions, and make sure my dummy will not respond to that summon. Tell her that I will bring her a gift if she listens. You are free to take down anyone who would try to make do otherwise."

"..."

The black-haired man instructed, using the last contact with Rune's body on raising her chin so she would look straight at him… and then simply turned around, walking towards the room's bathroom.

"...?"

"!"

Before entering, he turned around and raised his brow at the woman who was still there, which caused her to flinch and hurriedly make the stealthiest exit she was capable of at the moment.

In the bathroom, the black-haired man pulled out a green marble out of a silver pellet casket, took off all the bandages, and stared at his swollen and discolored reflection.

"Hmhm~"

He even smirked and hummed in amusement before taking out a handkerchief with his very own missing teeth that he then grabbed and forced back into his gums, causing a lot of bleeding.

*crack*

Without as much as making a single sound, Medea reached for the green marble and crushed it, keenly observing the unleashed spell coil around and sip into his body, reducing the swelling, mending the flesh and teeth back into place, and clearing the bruises.

As he returned to the empty room, Medea focused on the second letter that Rune delivered to him.

This one wasn't an official one the royal family issued, although it came from a palace.

As he broke the wax seal, Medea spread the parchment and was greeted by a hastily written note.

[What you hate the most won't happen, but the main one insists on awakening to an audience.]

Just a single sentence.

Just a single sentence that would not make little sense to Medea if he didn't have Zorivia tell him all about something she described as another world and a certain game.

Of course, it could all be a coincidence - a lucky accident, a sign of madness that got validated by the most bizarre fate.

The thing was, Medea's concept of -coincidences- was a tad different than normal people's…

And he was eager to make this strange chain of events work out in his favor.

"...~"

Then, the black-haired man walked out of the room and into the streets of a sleeping city.

"..."

After a bit of searching, Medea found what he was looking for.

…and even though he was seeking it, he still was having a hard time accepting that it really was there…

Because he certainly wasn't in Daakvillan, and yet here it was.

A shady pawnshop on the corner of the entertainment district.

The shop seemed to be big from the outside. Still, after entering it, one would immediately feel trapped – only three steps from the door stood the massive counter blocking the rest of the way – and the counter and the ceiling were connected by a grid of thick iron bars, with a small hatch that the transaction could take place.