Nightmane lit up the room as he entered. With a slight scent of blood coming from inside, the cramped room looked more like a dungeon. Filled with various equipment whose purpose is nothing else than cause pain, a normal person would have been disgusted by the sight of it..

“You can go now.”

“Yes, sir.” The underling bowed and left, only leaving the girl behind.

'Let's see how long you can keep that blank look on you.' It was possible for one who has lived inside a bubble to not know the implication of being brought here. Nightmane thought that was certainly the case, as he confirmed that she wasn't broken.

'She is really like a doll.' It wasn't just her inanimate face. Her white skin, glossy hair, and even her blank eyes... If an artisan created such a doll, it would definitely have been a masterpiece.

“Beautiful.” He held her chin and looked deeply in her eyes. Although they showed no sign of emotion, light reflecting in her iris made them look like a glowing emerald.

'I can't wait to see them filled with tears and despair.' He turned around to pick a tool. Since she was a sheltered girl, a weak torture would have been enough, but due to how she irritated him by not showing her emotions, he wanted to try something more severe.

However, before he could decide on what to use, he felt a excruciating pain in his eyes as his vision went black.

“Arrgh!” He screamed, trying to understand what just happened.

'Nobody should have been able to enter without permission!' Not only the access to the underground facilities was prohibited for outsiders, there was no way someone could enter this enclosed room without him noticing. The sound of the door opening would have resonated throughout the room, and with all things considered, there was no way he wouldn't have noticed an intruder.

“Who is it?” He used his nose to find the culprit, yet no other smell than the girl could be felt. The conclusion was obvious. However, he had turned away from her, and it should have been impossible for her to attack his eyes from behind.

“You damn brat!” He shook off the conflicting thoughts. It was just a surprise attack, and even though he couldn't see anymore, he could easily handle a weak human girl.

“Did you think some puny trick would work against me?” He punched towards her. Unlike humans, werewolves had an extremely developed' sense of smell, and his movements weren't as disturbed by the lack of vision.

'She dodged it?' However, the punch didn't connect. He remembered the incongruousness he had felt earlier, and instinctively realized he had to take it more seriously.

“Consider yourself dead!” He growled, and focused his mind on the flow of mana. A little girl shouldn't have been able to dodge his attack, let alone hurt him. The only possibility was that she had enhanced herself using mana. It was the proof that Nightmane had properly recognized the little girl as an enemy, but he had no doubt that there was no way she could escape now.

“There you are!” He punched towards where the girl was located. Noticing her trying to step sideways, he threw another punch from his other hand.

“You sneakly little brat!” However, the punches wouldn't connect. While he was more used to handling an axe than fighting barehanded, werewolves were excellent brawlers by nature, and a little girl going toe to toe against him should not have been possible. He could sense clearly where she was, yet he was getting completely overwhelmed in speed, and he refused to accept that fact. As he kept throwing punches in frustration, one thing crossed his mind.

'Why isn't anyone coming?' He had been shouting, and the brawl was loud enough that his underlings from the outside should have noticed, and would have come in rushing. However, there was no sign of that despite all the noises.

A chill ran down his spine. He didn't want to admit it, but the fact that he hoped for someone else's help meant that he had realized the difference between them.

“Don't mess with me!” The mana he could feel was definitely that of the little girl from earlier. In his desperation, he kept trying to punch her, while his complexion went pale.

'Is this a trap? Is she an assassin sent by the humans?' However, that didn't make much sense. He should have been already dead if she was an assassin. More than anything, someone at that age shouldn't be able to match him, let alone a human.

He started frantically throwing objects around him. Even he didn't know if he was trying to hit her with them, or he was trying to get noticed by his underlings outside. He kept rampaging like a mad werewolf, like a pray driven in a corner. When he lifted an iron maiden that was twice the size of the girl, he noticed.

'Where did she go?' He had lost track of her. But he didn't even have time to look for her, because the next moment, he felt acute pain in his right arm.

“Aaargh!” He tried to grab his arm as he growled.

He could hear a thumping noise. He couldn't feel his arm anymore. All the evidences pointed towards one fact. However, before he could accept it, he felt the same pain on the opposite side of his body.

He didn't even have time to groan. Pain in his legs followed next, and he felt himself falling on the ground.

He was bleeding severely from where used to be his four limbs. As a trained warrior, Nightmane was confident he could fight on until his death. However, there was nothing he could do anymore having lost all his means to resist.

“You bitch...” As his consciousness started to become hazy, he murmured in resignation. It was then he felt a soft hand touching his face.

His mind became clear, and he noticed the blood stopped spilling from his wounds. In his confusion, his vision also returned to him.

He was laying down on the ground without any limb, and he could see the girl covering his cheeks with her small hands.

'It's so soft.' With an unbecoming thought to the situation, he realized.

'So, her being a light mage was true.'

“Why did you heal me?” The girl didn't respond. In the middle of incomprehensible series of events, Nightmane stopped thinking.

Her hand moved up to the top of his head, and tried touching his skin under the fur. He had no idea what she was trying to do, but her movements were certainly not random.

'I knew she wasn't broken.'

Unlike before, her pupil was directly facing him. He realized that her attention was only then fully focused on him.

'She is like a kid playing with a toy.' He thought as she looked as if she was looking for something.

'Have I been the plaything all along?' His struggle just now couldn't even be called a fight. He wasn't even close to getting a grasp of her movements. In fact, she had never seen him as an opponent, as the way she cut his limbs was simply an act to neutralize him.

Starting from the top of his head, her hand touched him head thoroughly. Having lost his spirit, he couldn't do anything but watch her.

'Those hands are so small and soft.' His assessment of her at first sight about how she must not have done any hard labor was reasonable.

'How did it end up like this...' He thought while feeling her hand move to his ear. After knocking lightly on his head, she started putting her finger inside his ear.

“What?” There was no response. Instead, even though her finger reached a point where it shouldn't be able to advance any further, she kept pushing it in. He started feeling a sharp pain and instinctively tried to shake her away.

“No, stop!” However, she was holding his head with her other hand. As if her soft finger has transformed in to a blade, it kept digging in deeper.

'Am I going to die like this?' As he thought about it, her blade was piercing through his skull, and his consciousness faded.

Nightmane was sleeping on the lap of a small beastman girl. She was his little sister that he used to live with in the slum back then. Although he tried so hard to earn for both of them to live, she ended up dying from a disease that should have been easily curable. It was such an unreasonable world, but at least now, they could be together in the afterlife. When he thought that, his little sister started slapping his cheeks.

'Why?' Despite his question, she kept slapping him

“Stop it!” When he managed to muster his forces, his vision came back. He was in the torture chamber, and the one slapping his cheeks was none other than the noble girl he had brought.

“Am I alive?” He remembered her piercing through his skull. He thought for sure he died from it, so he tried touch his head to see if it is intact.

'Oh, I don't have an arm.' As he realized it, he also noticed that the girl had resumed her weird behavior. After prodding his cheek, she moved on to his mouth.

'Is she inspecting my head's structure?' A chill ran down his spine. When he thought about it, the way she was poking was just enough to feel his bones. Was what she did just now by piercing the skull through his ear in the same line of thought? How did he even not die back then?

'She is capable of using light magic.' He knew that very well, but it shouldn't have been possible to be brought back to life from that. His brain was damaged, and he had never heard about someone capable of restoring it in such a small period of time. To begin with, light mages were supposed to be weak since their temperament tended to avoid fighting, so she who easily handled him in combat couldn't be one.

In his confusion, he sensed her hand moving down to his neck. His instincts screamed dangers, and he struggled to get away from her.

“Stop now!” However, it was all in vain. Tightly holding his head with her other hand, she poked his neck a few times before slamming it down with her small fist.

“!!!!” His voice didn't even come out as inside his neck was broken until his bone. Even though neck was a relatively weak part of a body, it couldn't be smashed so easily by such a small fist. Yet, being unable to breathe, he could only accept that he was going to die once again.