A halo materialized inside an empty room.
Slowly, Kasuka's eyes opened and she sat up, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings.
Her hand landed just right beside her eyebrows, the wounds had already mysteriously been patched, not even leaving a scar behind.
"..." A shame. A scar would've been nice...
It's unfortunate that the level 2 of 'Self Healing Constitution' was strong enough to immediately cleanse her body of any impurities, diseases included.
Well, that was all her doing... but no one else needed to know that!
400k down the drain!
But no worries! It is called investment for a reason!
At first, Kasuka was worried that perhaps only one level wouldn't be enough, but after milking Arius Squad... she suddenly had more than enough to upgrade the 'Self-Healing Constitution'!
They are such a consistent source of Points!
'Arius Squad, I love you!'
Putting that aside... Kasuka still needed to put her second plan into action. Of course, she witnessed everything from start to end!
From the moment she 'fainted' to the moment Beatrice noticed her 'unique' body... she was awake to witness them all!
Truly! Nothing could see through her acting!
Ah, I guess the 'Halo Switch' did kind of help... but it was mostly me!
Muahaha!
"Finally awake, aren't you?" A female voice called out from behind Kasuka.
Hearing it, she flinched slightly and turned her head slowly.
"Long time no see. Didn't expect to see you again so soon." Beatrice said, a creepy smile pasted on her lips.
This caused Kasuka's body to shudder slightly before she caught her bearing and stabilized her emotion.
"...Why are you here?"
"My, my, that should've been my question to you. What makes you feel so confident of yourself that I would spend as much as a single energy to meet you?"
"Look around, this is my office. You're the one that intruded."
"I'm sure you already recognized it earlier, why play dumb?"
"..."
Right. After all, there's no place inside Arius District that are more distinct that Beatrice's office.
A single glance and you'd suddenly realize, 'Ah, isn't this the madam's office?'.
That's simply how things work inside Arius District.
"Karumi Kasuka. If I remember correctly, you should be 8 years old this year, am I correct?" Tapping her fan against her chin rhythmically, she tilted her head slightly, as if to show that she wasn't certain of her own words.
"...Right."
Of course, Kasuka knew that was merely a show she was putting on.
"I never knew that such a valuable asset was so much closer than I thought. You made me feel like all my preparation for that princess was entirely useless."
"As it turns out, you're much more compatible."
"Due to that, I have a deal I wanted to make. How is it, are you interested?"
---
Saori waited just right outside the Madam's door with her bated breath, anxiety gripped her heart tightly.
She really wanted to stay calm, she had been trying to calm herself since the moment she stepped foot out of the door.
But no matter what she did, the fear just won't leave her heart. Instead, it was becoming more and more pronounced.
Now that she had sent Kasuka to Madam, there's no longer anything she could do. At most, she could pray to the gods that nothing bad would happen due to her decision.
It only took a couple of minutes, not enough time for anything significant to happen. The sound of a door creaking resounded just beside her.
Hearing this, Saori immediately got back on her feet and looked towards the door in anticipation and fear.
Who would come out of that door?
Would it be Madam, the source of her dread... or would it be Kasuka?
Although she didn't say it outright, Saori wished that it would be the latter. Perhaps Kasuka would walk out of that door unharmed.
She might laugh a bit before downplaying the things that she went through, but she'll say she's fine.
Even after facing a temperature that could kill someone immediately, somehow Kasuka held onto her own lifeline.
A temperature of 41°C is nothing to scoff at.
A normal person wouldn't be able to just ignore the limpness they felt on their limbs.
Their legs would feel like jelly, headaches would consume their mind 24/7.
Combining it with a head injury... Somehow, it felt like a miracle had occurred for Kasuka to not have kicked the bucket.
Step Step
"...!" It was a light footstep!
The madam's footsteps wouldn't make that noise!
'Kasuka!'
After what felt like an eternity since Saori sent Kasuka to Beatrice, a brown haired child walked out the door, unharmed.
Her head was clean, her clothes had changed. There doesn't even seem like a scar was left behind.
Instead of the previously dirty jacket the instructors had provided, Kasuka now wore black leather jacket that reached her thighs.
Her body seemed plump, as if she never once starved before.
"Saori?"
Kasuka's voice caused Saori to freeze.
"Ka...Kasuka..."
"What is it? Why are you looking at me like you've seen a ghost?" Tilting her head slightly, Kasuka questioned Saori's appearance which looked like she had just scavenged through an abandoned building in under 2 minutes.
Of course she would.
Saori's appearance was no less worse than how Kasuka had looked previously.
Her cap had flown away somewhere when she was running towards the madam's office.
Her clothes had a tear here and there from the fact that she had almost walked into a barbed wire.
Had she not taken into consideration the fact that Kasuka was right on her shoulders, she would've just jumped over the barbed wire.
Alas, she couldn't.
Due to that, she had to take a longer way here, causing her to waste precious time.
Her eyes were practically blood shot.
If it wasn't for her face which looked like she was holding back tears, Kasuka might've wrongly accused her of being a ghost!
'Girl! I know I exaggerated my condition a bit, but can't you take care of yourself more!?'
Well, Saori couldn't be blamed. In fact, this simply made Kasuka happier.
Kasuka smiled seeing Saori's condition after she thought about it a little bit longer.
'...Heh. My effort wasn't in vain.'
"Here." Spreading her arm, a soft smile was pasted on Kasuka's lips, her eyes forming a crescent. "I'm all fine. No need to worry anymore. The madam took care of me, see?"
Almost as if she was trying to prove her words, Kasuka thumped her head using her fist twice.
It took a while but finally, Saori looked convinced.
"Y-your stomach. Is that also healed?" Hesitantly, Saori asked as her gaze dropped over to Kasuka's clothed belly.
"...You also discovered that? You're more competent than I thought..." Kasuka's smile fell slightly, but she still kept up the lamenting appearance, as if it couldn't be helped that she was caught.
"No... Actually, yes. I've known for a while now." Saori lied as naturally as she breathed.
The reason was simple. Perhaps, if Kasuka knew that Saori had discovered her unhealed injuries earlier, she wouldn't be hiding them again in the future.
Somehow and someway, neither of Kasuka's injuries had turned out for the better.
Both of them knew this. Kasuka knew that Saori was lying, but calling it out immediately wouldn't do her any good.
It might even cause distrust between them.
On the other hand, Saori never would've imagined that Kasuka was the one that orchestrated everything.
From the injury never becoming better, to catching an absolutely risky gamble with some diseases, even experimenting on herself to make her seem as miserable as possible.
All was merely a scenario she enacted.
And now... Kasuka had given all the credits to Beatrice.
Since Beatrice was originally the main villain of the Eden Treaty arc, building connection with her was quite a pain to think of a scenario for.
But fortunately! The Arius Squad had actually led her straight to the red woman's office!
What a great way this event had turned out to be!
Originally, she would've at least waited a couple more months before she could naturally be called upon by Beatrice.
Perhaps, if she wasn't lucky enough, she'd never be able to meet with Beatrice, moreover alone inside a room.
And that contract Beatrice proposed... The deal was absolutely in her favor.
Although it might've seemed like an adult was taking advantage of a child, in reality, the child was the one in control of everything!
Get that, you red woman!
Kasuka doesn't actually hold that much of a grudge against that woman. But it can't be helped, that woman did make the Arius Squad suffer so much to the point of becoming fugitives with no chance of turning back to the good side.
That won't happen now!
The only one that could make them suffer is me!
Me and me only!
What? Physically torture them?
I'll take it in their stead!
It was clearly written on the contract!
That woman, she really thought I didn't know that she wasn't the one that healed my injury...
Heh.
You'll feel satisfied for now.
But one day, a time will come when you'll finally realize-
I am actually worthless~
Kasuka winked at the nonexistent camera in the darkness.