"Feyn Senior, let's wait for the right moment," I said, already mentally reviewing my spells.

"Hmm!"

Why would Leona charge in alone so recklessly? If she’d planned this, why risk summoning a demon at all? Doubt gnawed at me, but I had no answers.

Leona shot toward the prison cart like a streak of light.

Two bored guards snapped alert, leveling their spears. "Halt! Who goes there?"

"Release my sister!" Leona was already upon them.

Seeing her sword, one guard hesitated, raising his spear to block. Leona swept it aside with her momentum, then slammed her heavy round shield into his head—*Thud!*—sending him flying.

The second guard finally reacted. "You’re dead!" He lunged. Leona deflected the thrust with her shield. Though impulsive, her footwork was precise, her swordplay swift. She dominated the exchange, forcing him back.

Feyn Senior and I watched from the market’s shadows.

Nearby soldiers drinking at a stall dropped their mugs, shouting as they grabbed weapons. "Intruder!" "Grab her!" "Kill her!" Five or six converged from all sides.

Leona fought desperately against the ring of blades and spears, swinging wildly to parry and slash. She was forced backward, step by step, until she stood before the cage.

"Leona…" Esther, the weakened witch, knelt inside, shaking the bars feebly. "What are you doing? What are you *doing*?!"

"I trust no one! I trust *nothing* in this world! I’ll save you with my own strength!" Leona shouted back.

"It’s impossible! Run! *Ah!* Watch out!"

The soldiers surged forward. Leona blocked frantically with shield and sword, countering with desperate strikes. But two arms couldn’t hold back so many. Spear shafts and clubs rained down on her arms, her legs.

One burly soldier pinned her sword and shield with his spear haft. Another stepped in—*Crack!*—a brutal fist smashed into the girl’s delicate face.

Leona crumpled. Then came the merciless rain of blows—spears, boots, fists hammering her small form sprawled in the dirt.

"*No—!!! Stop! Leave her alone, Leona! Don’t hurt her! It’s not her fault! It’s not her fault!!!*" Esther screamed from the cage.

Watching the thugs kick the fallen Leona, a cold light flared in Esther’s eyes. She thrust her bruised arms through the bars and chanted.

A bolt of icy blue light shot from the cage, striking a soldier. It erupted into a table-sized explosion of brilliant blue, hurling him backward.

Esther stepped back, aimed at the cage bars themselves, and fired again.

***BOOM!!!*** The cage shattered.

The soldiers recoiled, releasing Leona to surround Esther from multiple angles.

Esther targeted the nearest soldier and chanted once more.

***KA-BOOM!!!*** A blinding blue flash detonated at point-blank range, blasting him away.

But another soldier was already upon her. His sword bit deep into her arm.

"*Aaah!*" Esther cried out, clutching her wound.

The remaining soldiers swarmed in. Three swift kicks and punches felled the exhausted witch.

Two soldiers grabbed fistfuls of hair—Esther’s and Leona’s—dragging them roughly before the towering armored warrior. They forced the girls to their knees.

The warrior, thick mustache bristling, stepped forward. His iron-shod boot lifted Esther’s chin. "Filthy witch! Who is she to you?"

For a flicker, Esther’s eyes held conflicted emotions. Then calm settled over her face. "I don’t know her."

"Bullshit!" His boot slammed into her cheek. Bruising bloomed instantly; blood trickled from her lip. "Why would this little whore charge in like a madwoman to save you? I *heard* you call her name! Is she your lover?"

Esther’s gaze wavered. "No. She’s… just a swordswoman from Redfang Castle I’ve met a few times. We share no bond."

"*No bond?*" A soldier crouched, yanking her hair with a thick accent. "Then why die for you?!"

"*Talk!*" another roared beside her. "*What’s your real connection?!*"

Esther squinted against their shouts but held firm, her voice crisp and aristocratic. "I don’t know her. I *don’t* know her."

Beside her, Leona lay dazed, too battered to speak.

"I’ve seen enough," Feyn Senior murmured. Her crystal longsword hummed faintly.

"*No.*" I gripped her wrist. "Since we’ve watched this far… let’s see it through to the end."

"What?"

"Feyn Senior, I told you—we can’t rescue them yet. Their lives are safe until noon tomorrow. To justify defying everyone to save them… we must wait. We must wait for *her* to say the crucial words."

"They won’t kill them before execution, but… what if tonight those brutes…" Feyn stammered, unable to finish.

"*Unlikely.* They see witches as heretics—if they meant to violate her, they’d have done it already. And Leona? They won’t touch her before confirming her identity."

"..."

"Feyn Senior, dusk is falling. We’ll leave Sulia’s Shadow Bats to watch tonight. Let’s find lodging. Tomorrow… we end this." I turned away, refusing to look at the two girls being dragged and chained to the cart wheel. I walked toward the inn in the market’s backstreets.

Feyn Senior silently followed.