Trapped... Again

"Name...?"

"Ryan..."

"... That's not your name..."

Fuck.

[Don't falter, he's only bluffing.]

"It is."

"... Why are you here?"

"Hunting."

"... And your weapon?"

Shit, this guy is hellbent on killing me.

"Lost."

"... What?"

"I lost it while trying to escape a high-tier mana beast."

"... A high-tier mana beast...?"

"... Yes...?"

"... In Arten's safe zone?"

[You fucked up.]

...And then...

...It all went dark.

...

...

...

"Hahh!" I gasped softly as I regained consciousness.

'Huh...? Why can't I see anything? What's happening?' I thought, as I could hear voices, yet my vision was stark black.

Hold on... a blindfold?

"!"

I remembered—I got knocked out.

[You're up.]

How long was I out?

[Two hours.]

... Where am I now?

[In danger.]

Crap.

"Where did you find him?" I heard a voice say.

"Just a few steps away from here. He was sneaking around the camp," came the response. It was the bastard who knocked me out, but something was wrong with his tone. It was too... soft.

Hm.

"So you knocked him out?" I heard a different voice ask, a girl this time.

"Well, he looked like bad news, and it seemed he was tailing us," the guy responded, his tone still strangely... soft.

What the hell?

"Hmm, but why didn't you just kill him? Why bring him here?" The girl's voice was cold, uncaring, and it sent shivers down my spine.

This is bad. This is freaking bad.

"Well, that was my intention at first, but I noticed something strange about him."

"What...?"

"At first, I couldn't sense his mana, so I thought perhaps he was just extremely skilled at hiding it. But..."

Suddenly, I felt a tug on my wrist. I could have resisted, but I chose to remain still. I didn't want them to realize I was awake.

From the softness of the hand holding my wrist, I guessed it was the girl.

"Yes, something isn't right with him. It's as if..."

"He doesn't have mana...?"

"Yes."

"But... that's not possible, right?"

"I don't know. It's abnormal. Well, just... do whatever you want with him. We need to get moving. We still have a long way ahead of us."

"Why are you in such a hurry? It's not like we can get in any faster by rushing."

"Ugh... You can't be too careful, especially with that bastard participating."

"Esmeris."

"Don't say his name. It irritates me."

Suddenly, I felt a very strange sensation. I realized I was in serious trouble.

"WAIT!" I screamed, unable to hold it in any longer.

"Oh... I thought you were going to keep pretending to be asleep," said the girl in a disinterested voice.

"Don't kill me..." I pleaded, already aware of their motives. They weren't going to let me go freely. And if my guess was correct, I probably knew who that girl was.

Which only made this situation worse.

"Why should we?" she asked as I felt a sharp, cold metal press against my neck.

Crap! How did I end up like this?!

"You're headed for the Artens raid, right?" I said quickly, but I felt more pressure being applied to the blade on my neck.

"WAIT! Just listen to me!" I cried, praying they wouldn't kill me for no reason.

I haven't even done anything to deserve this!

"Who sent you?" the girl asked.

"No one... I'm also headed there. I just happened to cross these parts by accident!" I replied quickly.

"Then why were you lying?" the guy asked, his voice cutting through the tension.

"I didn't know who you were, so I thought it would be safer to keep those details to myself," I said in a rush.

"... Kill him," the girl said, her footsteps receding from my earshot.

"I CAN HELP YOU GET THE CHRONOS LOCK!" I shouted, tossing my last card on the table. If this didn't work, I was screwed.

"...WHAT?" I heard, but then—

"ACK!" I cried in pain.

Damn it!

I'm really going to die here.