Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist? Editor: Weasalopes

「Awaken.」

The moment Aur snapped his fingers, the light returned to Radico’s eyes. The clothes he ripped off were repaired, but her limbs remained restrained just in case.

「What? I ..」

Radico looked around her with confused eyes. But when she saw Aur she stopped dead in her tracks, and her face went so red that steam could almost be seen puffing from her head.

「Wa, wawawawawawa ?! What!? What’s going on !?」

Only then did she finally realized that her limbs have been restrained, and tried to break herself free from her captivity, to no avail of course.

「Don’t panic. I’m not going to harm you.」

Aur said, bringing his face closer to hers.

「But only if you won’t try to hurt us.」

「Kuh, I won’t, I won’t! I’ll never do it, so just let me go and get your face away from me!」

Aur was surprised that she could still mouth off to him like that even after all the hypnosis he put her through. If she knows about Froro and what she is up to, then it would be best to assume that she also knows about the curse associated with Aur’s contracts.

However, is should still be pretty easy to manipulate her into promising that she won’t harm him. Unless, of course, she just so happens to possess a Skill that nullifies the effects of curses as well.

「Aw shucks, I was specifically told not to make promises with anyone! And not to talk to strangers!」

Radico started panicking.

「S-Say, what would happen if I told you that I can’t make any promises right now?」

「I don’t really care, but in that case your body will have to remain trapped just like it is now.」

「Oh, is that so? Oh geez, what should I do? This is troubling, so troubling, what should I..」

Seeing as Radico was slowly losing her cool, Aur placed a hand on his forehead and closed his eyes. If this was all an act meant to deceive him, then her acting skills are way beyond the comprehension of human intelligence.

「Oh well, I don’t want to hit Aury anyway.. so I promise!」

「A, Aury?!」

「Huh? Wait a minute? How do I know Aury’s name?」

The memories from when she was under hypnosis were being magically repressed so that she couldn’t remember them, but it was possible for her to remember superficial things such as names. What was the most surprising, however, was not the fact that Radico managed to remember Aur’s name, but rather that she was so bold about the way she called him.

「Do not worry. I’m going to release you now.」

「Hm? Oh yeah, please do so.」

Aur snapped his fingers, melting the part of the wall that was Restraining Radico’s movements, releasing her. As soon as she was free, she assaulted Aur.. by hugging him.

「Yay! ? Now I can finally cling onto you like that, Aury! ?」

「Wait! Stop it! Do you want to crush me, woman?!」

Even with his Invisible Labyrinth magic active, Radico was still able to bypass its protection in order to hug him. His best protection, something that even Sarnak’s sword was unable to put a single scratch on, now was silently screaming in agony, and Aur screamed as well, feeling as if the bones in his body were about to snap.

「Ah!, Oh, s-sorry about that. Guess I am just a tad bit too strong for my own good, huh?」

She hurriedly let him go while making such an excuse. Looks like she is not aware that she’s harming others with her strength, therefore that would-be assault did not violate the promise between them. Was that what she was aiming for, or was he reading too much into it?

「Now then, Radico. There is something I want to ask you. I’d be happy if you could answer honestly.」

「Sure thing! Go ahead and ask me anything!」

Her positive reaction got him genuinely confused. He himself told her that the better he’s going to make her feel the more she will like him, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are still enemies. And besides, that suggestion was supposed to be a more subconscious one. Was there a reason for it, or is Radico really that simpleminded? Something was telling Aur that the odds were fifty-fifty here.

「Radico. Why did you come here?」

He looked at her as if he wanted to drill a hole through her with his eyes alone, which made her stiffen inadvertently.

「Hey, so..」

That lasted for a short moment, after which she declared with a determined look:

「About me.. can you just call me Radi, Aury?」

She was determined to ask him something as trivial as that?

「All right, fine. R.. Radi? Can you tell me what did you come here to do?」

Aur barely managed to force those words to squeeze through his throat without getting angry.

「Yup. I was ordered to come here.. to kill that lassie over there.」

She simply pointed her finger at Froro and answered.

「Why?」

「I dunno. Lady Fruct just told me to do it.. Ooops...」

Radico tried to cover her mouth, but it was too late. She has already spilled the beans.

「Fruct..?!」

Upon hearing that name, Froro was so astonished that her eyes almost shot out of their sockets.

「You know who that is?」

「Fruct is..the maid who used to take care of me.. but.. why would she.. why..?」

Judging by Froro’s reaction, she must have trusted her quite a bit.

「Maybe.. this is some kind of mistake.. it has to be..」

Shaking her head, Froro looked up at Aur’s face. She didn’t want to believe that Fruct wanted her dead, but..

People will betray you without fail.

That is what Aur is thinking, even after Froro tried to tell him hat it is not always like that. This is what Aur has chosen to believe.

「That is certainly one of the possibilities.」

He simply said so.

「Eh? So.. do you believe me? Or not?」

「The question should be: do you believe yourself or not?」

Aur said to Froro, who was blinking her eyes in a frightened manner.

「There is too little information in the first place, so is it possible to make a sound judgement in such a situation? There is a good possibility of false information being given to us.」

「Oh, Aury, I’m not lying!」

Radico squeezed into Aur’s arm, pouting.

「I know that, but you may have been fooled as well.」

「Oh, that’s right!」

She was easily convinced by Aur’s words. In other words, she doesn’t really trust Fruct.

「I don’t know why would she want to kill Froro like that in the first place. If she wanted to kill her, she had many occasions to do so.」

Froro is convinced that it is certainly true. Before meeting Aur, she was just a slave, so if somebody wanted to kill her, that was the best moment for doing so.

「Yes, that’s right..! If Fruct wanted to kill me..」

「Well, I don’t have anything to deny it. Maybe she just didn’t do it because that would have been too much of a hassle?.」

Aur said bluntly to Froro, who had a bright expression.

「Mmm! So which one is it !?」

「Do you know? Because I don’t know, either.. No. But you have to be prepared for everything.」

Froro wondered if she was being teased, but Aur’s expression was serious.

「Prepared.. for everything..」

「I told you before. Don’t trust people. They will betray you without fail.」

Aur once again said the words which he has repeated so many times before.

「I should have been more vigilant. Everyone should have been more careful. Then sure this wouldn’t have happened.. don’t waste your time thinking such thoughts. They will only cloud your judgement.」

Understanding the truth behind his harsh words, Froro glanced at Aur. She still couldn’t believe that Fruct betrayed her. But whether she liked it or not, it was a simple fact now.

「Be prepared for everything, and keep doubting everything.」

But even so, Aur didn’t hold any of it against them. He said that both of them are necessary, and that just one won’t be enough.

「That.. would be the most effective way for our safe survival.」

「Yes, Aur!」

His disciple nodded cheerfully. There was no longer any hesitation in her eyes.

..no. She was prepared to get lost as much as possible. Because no matter how complicated the maze may be, as long as you follow its paths you will never be truly lost.

「You’re so cool, Aury!?」

「H-Hey, don’t hug him out of the blue like that!」

Aside from Froro, who hugged him with her heart filled with determination, he now had to deal with Radico’s embrace, which could easily kill him if he wasn’t careful, as well.