Part 3

A biting cold froze Knight to a halt. The icy mist sent shivers down his spine. He breathed white clouds, the floor crunching as the girl landed on the cold rock.

The ladder was in their view, yet the tunnel was different from yesterday. The cold that bit at their flesh riddled the cave with frozen bodies. The chilling scene was the product of the chaos the duo heard on their way.

Freezing spikes jutted out of the ground, each one plagued with crimson blood. The walls were missing lumps of rock and were riddled with icy cracks.

Knight’s body was frozen. It wouldn’t move with any effort. The chilled tunnel didn’t ooze death, but for all he knew, an icy death was waiting for him atop those ladders. Knight was frozen but,

“M-Master,” a warm voice called out, “we’ve come this far, I-it’ll be okay.”

This warm voice melted away his fears, his body cracking the ice that froze him.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

With the girl’s declaration, Knight crunched the icy floors, moving forward.

Passing the crimson ice and chilled bodies, they reached the ladder with the biting cold failing to stop them.

Though just as Knight was about to climb the ladder, he hesitated, ‘that monster…was that the cause of this?’

Knight was worried, he didn’t know whether he should check or just climb.

Looking down the frosty tunnel he came to the conclusion he should climb. If the monster wasn’t the cause of the icy-mess then it would surely be frozen as well. If it was the cause, however, what good would checking on it do?

However, before he could place his hand on the icy ladder, a voice echoed in his head.

"How could you?! Take the girl first!" 

“Doesn’t matter…” he muttered to himself.

"It does! I can hear what you are thinking, idiot. Her life should come first, " The voice revealed its intrusion on his thoughts.

"And would she matter more than me?" he inquired.

"That's...obvious."

"Sorry. It isn't obvious to a guy like me, " 

"…well, you can lift her up so she can get to the next floor quickly. Makes sense for saving time,' She said, changing her reasoning.

“Whatever then…” he sighed, ignoring the change in reason.

“What is it, m-master?” the small girl asked as Knight’s internal quarrel ended. 

“Nothing... But jeez, we really need to sort that stutter out,” Knight exclaimed.

“S-Sorry! I will sort it out, t-trust me! Eee, I keep doing it. I’m sorry!”

“No, no.” Knight sighed, resting his head in his hand, “I didn’t mean it like that. Don’t be sorry.”

“S-sorry, master! I won’t be s-sorry then,” she apologised.

“…” deciding to ignore the apology he moved on to climbing the ladder, “anyway, come here and I’ll lift you up the ladder.

“Wah? Y-you can go first, m-master,” she replied, embarrassed at the thought of being lifted like a baby.

“I would like to” he muttered, “but no, come here and I’ll lift you.”

“…” she blushed, “I’m…sorry for being so r-rude but…”

“But?”

“I…I don’t want to…” she said, before bowing, “I’m sorry!”

‘Damn, what’s caused her to say sorry for everything? At least she’s actually asking me for things now I guess.'

“…S-Sorry!” the girl apologised again. “I’ll take any punishment you give me.”

“…What?”

“Punishment, I’ll take anything," The girl repeated.

“HUH?!” Knight gasped, wondering what was up with her.

" Don’t ignore her! Tell her it’s okay," The voice snapped him out of bewilderment.

“Right...Er, you don’t need any punishment” he finally said.

“B-but I went against you.”

“*sigh*, and I’m saying you don’t need any. You can tell me you don’t want to do something; it isn’t a bad thing.” He reassured the innocent girl.

“But…”

“No, buts. You will be wrong sometimes, but that’s just a case of pointing it out. Don’t hesitate if you think there’s a better way of doing things, I’ll listen”

“…So-”

“Just don’t say sorry!”

“…Oh, I’m S-”

“I said DON’T! If you say sorry one more time then I will give you punishment.”

“Sorr-okay…”

“Oh, don’t drop the master, though,” He pleasantly asked.

“Sor…Okay, m-master,” she obeyed.

“Ahhh,” relishing in the name he got back to the previous topic, “Now, you said you didn’t want to be lifted up the ladder?”

“Mm,” she nodded.

“Right, for reasons I have to. What’s your problem with it?”

“…” the girl flushed.

“Go on.”

“It’s…embarrassing”

“And why is it embarrassing?” Knight inquired with a slight smile at the girl actually talking and stating her wishes.

“There are…m-multiple reasons…” the girl replied, beating around the bush.

“Which are?” he continued.

“I-I don’t want to look like a baby…”

“Err, no one will see you, don’t worry.” He said, brushing off her first reason. “Next reason?”

“…” her face went beat red.

“Go on.” 

“Y-You’ll be able t-to…”

“I’ll be able to…?” Knight pressured.

“No!” She cried, crossing her legs and pulling her loose t-shirt down. Knight followed this action.

“...Oh,” Knight let out as he was the realisation of what she didn't want to say, struck him. "OH."

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…Err, you could....maybe hold it in place whilst I lift you?” He asked.

“…P-Promise not to look.” She asked, meeting his eyes and for the first time, not looking away.

“What kind of guy do you think I am?” he defended himself.

“So, is that a no, m-master?”

“Yeah, I won’t look.” He replied instantly.

 

*          *          *

 

“Y-You didn’t look, did you m-master?” the girl asked with Knight finally climbing out of the frosty tunnel.

“No, I didn’t.”

“L-lie…”

“What?!” he cried, “I didn’t!”

“M-Master, you d-did.”

“…Yeah, I did,” he admitted, “But it was accidental. Plus, I didn’t see anything anyway.

"Pervert," another voice echoed.

“Oh, shut up and tell me what to do.” Knight snapped

While Knight and the voice bickered, the girl stood confused. After all, it appeared like Knight had every now and again been talking to himself as if having a conversation with someone in his head. Well, this was true of course, but to the girl, he looked partially-insane.

“W-Who are you talking to?” she asked.

“Oh, err, you won’t understand but you’ll find out when we escape.”

"R-Right...” 

"So, know where I go now?" Knight asked the voice.

"No. I can’t see where you are, only know what you are thinking."

“Bloody brilliant,” he sighed.

The room was made of black stone bricks, presumably made from the black rocks mined in the tunnels. Four sconces gave off an orange glow, lighting the arched roof. The room was bare save for one wooden chair and two wooden doors with iron fittings. The barren room didn’t even have windows.

Even in this room, the cold followed, white-clouds still appearing with every breath. Though unlike the tunnel, there was no ice to be seen.

However, as Knight walked to one door, he noticed something.

The gaps that separated the door and the wall were filled blue. That was undoubtedly ice. As knight touched the iron handle, the cold bit his flesh.

There was a reason it was iced off and Knight didn’t want to know why.

“Follow me then we’ll go through the other door.”

A tunnel, slightly warmer than the room lay beyond the door, still bare like the room. Yet, at the end, an archway led to the next area, which was carpeted red.

As Knight and the girl walked upon the soft carpet, they realised something odd. No sound could be heard

The room had the same bricks as the other, but it was the parallel walls were decorated in paintings. The paintings all showed a pompous-looking man either with the finest of gold or a selection of girls.

The girls were a variety of races including cat-girls, demon girls and what appeared to be humanoid dragons. Though they barely resembled females. However, every one of the females had one thing in common – they all wore a worried expression. And on others, the snobbish man was even choking the women.

‘Why would this guy want to be pictured like that?’ Knight wondered. After all, it was a painting, not a picture, and this guy chose to put them up.

Shaking this thought off he chose the largest of three archways and walked through.

The walls were white stone and the edges of each brick were filled with gold. Two huge rose-stained windows were fitted next to the great door made out of something similar to dark oak. The floor was filled with beautiful red carpet like the others, but was defined by the marble floor it didn’t reach. What struck Knight the most was the grandiose double stairs. The red carpet which matched the marble stone perfectly was but a side-dish when you saw the pure gold railings. It was undoubtedly built with the most majestic grandeur compared to the other rooms.

Yet, what caught Knight’s attention the most was the huge painting above the staircase.

It was the same man that was in the others yet on his lap was a young girl with silky blue hair kept together by an over-sized red ribbon. The most eye-catching feature was her big gold, endearing eyes.

“W-What?” Knight turned to the girl, “That’s…that’s you!”

“…”

The girl didn’t reply. Actually, it seemed that she couldn’t reply. The frightened expression she wore when she first met Knight had returned. She was scared of what would happen if she spoke. She had finally broken out of her shell that her scars had forced upon her. Yet, now her scars had reopened.

"Don’t!" the voice called out. Yet, it was in vain.

“Why are you on there, with that man?” Knight asked the scared girl.

A few tears trickled from her eyes, followed by the girl desperately wiping them. She was trembling as she sniffled, ready to start wailing.

“Why are you crying?” Knight asked, ignorant of her feelings.

The girl didn’t wail, she kept that in. Though no amount of effort could keep her tears from bursting the banks. With tears now flooding the floor, the girl ran, pushing past Knight and escaping through the archway under the door.

“I’m sorry!”

Even now the girl didn’t stop apologising. It didn’t matter if people caused her immense grief, she would always apologise.

Knight simply stood there in response, confused by her sudden outburst.

He looked back at the epic painting. He noticed the pained look on the girl’s face and the sly smile worn by the man. He immediately realised that could be the reason for the way she acted, and he idiotically brought it up instead of ignoring the painting.

“Why... Why haven’t you said anything?" he muttered to himself. "Why haven't you told me to go after her?" 

"Because this is something you needed to figure out yourself. Now go and get her!"