Don’t Concern Yourself With That Book

“… What?”

However the woman replied me immediately by nodding to herself and whispering in a thick voice.

—If it’s you, I believe you won’t willingly abandon me.

Boom.

My head shot up in surprise at the loud sound. Cracks began forming on the ceiling.

And the person who was watching me from afar raised their head.

“Ah…”

The person slowly lowered his long sword before smiling at me. In this space where there was no wind blowing, his black hair swayed. His long toga fluttered. His lips that were drawing a fascinating smile parted before whispering towards me.

—Ashley.

With a gentle expression, Castor raised his sword once again. He then shifted his gaze and smiled.

—What do I mean to you?

The moment the tip of his sword pointed towards the cracks, my dream ended.

***

“Damn it, are you awake?”

Someone whispered towards me softly. I woke up within the afterimages of the dream.

“W-Who?”

When I shot up, something brushed against my face and tickled me. It was someone’s red hair.

“How could you ask that right after you wake up? Shouldn’t you stay calm?”

I spotted a woman looking down at me. A very gorgeous-looking beauty stared at me with an eyebrow slightly raised. I thought I had gotten used to it. But had I ever seen anyone this pretty excluding Rebecca?

“Ah.”

As I pondered over it for a while, I realised. This was someone I had not seen in a while. The man who looked like Dane who bumped into me along an alley. It was the woman who was with him.

“Why are you here?”

“Hm, there’s a lot to explain but I should say it as briefly as possible, right? My lover betrayed me. They sold me to this place.”

The woman who tilted her head smiled skillfully.

“So, as soon as you woke up?”

“I found myself here.”

“It’s dangerous here.”

Out of relex, I grabbed the woman’s shoulders and exclaimed.

“This is a kidnappers’ den. You might not believe me but it’s a dangerous place. The man who knocked me out used poison on me.”

The woman who stared at me shouting urgently, tilted her head before smiling and saying.

“Damn it. I thought you’d have some difficulties understanding the situation since you just woke up but you’ve adapted faster than I thought you would?”

The woman laughed at whatever she found humorous before leading me to something behind her back.

“Alright. Shall we escape from this dangerous place?”

When the woman straightened her back, the rattling of the necklace around her neck reverberated.

Would someone who was kidnapped be this calm?

The red-haired woman strolled around the room alone and observed meticulously. Her luxurious clothes and glamorous jewelry moved lightly as if they did not tickle at all.

After a while, I decided to follow her only to find out that the condition of this place was serious.

“First things first, the front door is impossible. I tried opening it and it’s locked.”

“So, it is locked.”

The room was filled with dust as if it had not been used for a long time.

The shelf in the room had been broken and one side of the ceiling had crumbled making the air in here gloomy and ventilation uneven.

“Is this perhaps a door too?”

After careful examination, we discovered a small door hidden by a huge wooden barrel and the shelf. The woman looked at it and nodded.

“You’re right? It’s a door.”

The woman pondered over something after seeing the door before taking out a long stick from somewhere.

“Move out of the way.”

Clang.

She thrusted it onto the door and once she noticed that it worked, she simply tossed it away. But the stick was now half broken before she spoke.

“Listen to the sound. It’s nailed shut.”

“… Will it be difficult?”

“The nails were probably worn out too?”

The woman grinned.

‘What the hell is this?’

Her movements were sharper than I thought. My questions only grew when I realised that her actions did not suit her luxurious clothes.

‘Were we really just left here?’

Before I realised it, I was searching through my skirt. But there was nothing to look for.

‘My diary.’

I could vaguely remember the items from my bag pouring out. My things, where did my things go? It should have been here. No longer able to stand from the anxiety, I fell to the ground. It was then I felt something heavy at the end of my mantle. When I felt around the inside of my hood, I touched something familiar.

‘Don’t tell me.’

When I hurriedly lifted my hood, something large fell.

“Impossible…”

It was the diary. When I flipped it, I noticed the familiar writing on the cover. I recalled the passing words.

—Take care of it preciously.

Was the voice in my dreams you? I scoffed. At least once, I had thought about dropping it into a river or tearing it apart dozens of times but was it a good thing that I did not? I smiled vainly before opening the diary.

I checked just in case but there was no major change. In other words, it was not midnight yet. Or perhaps I did not notice the small changes.

But I was sure of one thing.

That I would never lose it again in the future.

“… Just as I thought, I can’t throw it away.”

It was a little sad.

There was a lull in our conversation for a while. There were results to our efforts. A way out was made after knocking on it diligently. It was small enough for one person to pass through.

“It’s a doggy hole.”

“Yes, it’s a doggy hole.”

This was the short stick’s limit.

“It’s kind of weird to bring it up now but should we introduce each other? I’m Marissa.”

“I’m Ahn.”

“Ahn. That’s a pretty name.”

The woman placed the long rod down. Marissa curled her eyes and smiled.

“Does your name have any meaning?”

Blinking, I slowly shook my head.

“No.”

For some reason, I kept thinking of her name. It just lingered in my mind. Perhaps it was because it was a good name for someone as rough as her.

“Don’t you feel stuffy with your gloves on?”

“Hm, this? It’s alright.”

She raised the hand that was wearing gloves before patting my head and letting it go. Despite exposing other parts of her body provocatively, she continued to wear gloves. It was a strange combination.

“I’ll say what’s on my mind honestly. I hope you won’t get too disappointed with me, my dear.”

“… My dear?”

“Yes, my dear. Do you see that hole? That size is the most this tool can do. I don’t have any other tools and you can tell too that I won’t fit into it.”

Marissa mentioned lightly before placing her hand on her waist and turning away slightly. My eyes did not mean to drift there but I nodded without realising it when I spotted her bust size. Even if it were not for her chest, she was also very tall. The hole was too narrow for her to enter.

“I’ll have to head in. And what do you want me to do once I’m inside?”

“Wow, it’s nice to see that you understand what I’m saying. You’re better than any other man I’ve met. You’ll look cute if you smile more.”

“Don’t joke around. I need to head back quickly.”

“What? You’re so closed up. I’m liking you more and more.”

Marissa pulled the corners of her lips before smiling.

“Say what you want to say.”

“Well, that’s good. The sooner we escape, the better. I think this is the layout of this place.”

Marissa formed the possible floor layout by gathering the fragments of the shelf. It looked like the floor plan of the building but it was much simpler than that. Then, she unexpectedly began a well-informed explanation.

“We are probably in the basement. Based on the construction materials mainly used here, I think we might be on the 2nd floor of the basement?”

I was amazed by the information that came out of her continuously. It was as if she had looked around the place herself. In the end, I continued to glance at her suspiciously.

“Who the hell are you?”

“A capable woman?”

Was she laughing at my light comment? I narrowed my eyes thinly.

‘I can’t say that I’m not suspicious of her.’

Since our goals matched each other’s, I thought it would be best to cooperate with her for now.

“Anyway, you understood right? Most cells like these are usually locked from the outside.”

I carefully looked over at the blueprint that Marissa drew before giving a small nod.

“So I should head to the next room and open the door to this room?”

“Yes. That hole is the food pipe. It leads to the next room which is the surveillance room. They used to send me my meals through here. They don’t use it now seeing as how the tube has collected dust. So, the room next door is probably empty as well.”

It was quite reasonable to assume that security here was loose since no one came running to find out what was behind the loud noise that just now.

I nodded before finally asking what I had been curious about.

“But why are cellars locked from the outside in?”

“Simple. Look at the both of us.”

I glanced at Marissa before looking around the room. I thought of something.

“Don’t tell me.”

“Yeah, they use it to specifically lock people in. I’ve been trapped in some place like this before. Is this enough to explain why I’m so knowledgeable?”

After noticing my expression, Marissa smiled. With a mature expression, she whispered softly.

“Usually ‘pimps’ would use such a room to kidnap women.”

The woman continued to smile as she spoke.

I could guess her circumstances from the hints she was giving me but I would not have known if she had not told me anything. I decided not to judge her. Instead, I would focus on what I could do.

“I’ll try to see if my body can fit.”

I thought it would be possible for me to fit into the hole but Marissa tapped on my shoulder. When I turned my head around, she looked proud.

“This is a big issue. You neither laugh nor cry. It would’ve been cute if you at least cried.”

“… Because I didn’t grow up in a verycomfortable environment.”

I was sure Lord Ray would be worried about me by now.

“You’re loved now, right?”

“… You can tell?”

She nodded.

“People who talk about their scars are one of two kinds. They’ve either given up or they decided to face it.”

It reminded me of Lord Ray. Someone who did not laugh nor frown too obviously. He might be frowning as we were speaking. I wanted to see him smile unintentionally with that face of his at least once.

“I have to hurry.”

I folded my skirt roughly before lying down and crawling through the hole. Now, I was only slightly bigger than my original body so the hole was not too small for me but it was uncomfortable.

I winced before saying, “it would have been nice if I had been in my original body.”

I must have been struggling for about 10 minutes. When I finally reached a large space, it was the empty room adjacent to us just as Marissa said. When I grabbed the handle, the door opened easily.