Contract of Submission with the Enemy - Chapter 24
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A downpour drenched the training ground as if the sky had opened up. Rité remained tied to the wooden post, soaking wet from the rain.
She hadn’t eaten anything since the previous night, having given all her food to Maud. Her throat was parched, and her stomach ached from hunger. She had used much of her strength and abilities to help him escape, making it worse.
Rité closed her eyes and lifted her head, opening her mouth to catch the rainwater. It trickled into her mouth, the drops making her closed eyelids flutter.
She had often quenched her thirst with rainwater since childhood, so this was nothing new. She didn’t know when she might have another chance to drink, so she needed to hydrate however she could.
The heavy rain quickly filled her stomach with water. Rité let her head drop again, her turquoise hair falling over her face like seaweed.
As evening approached, the sound of footsteps squelching through the muddy training ground reached her ears. The footsteps stopped right in front of her.
“Rité.”
At the familiar voice, Rité slowly lifted her head. Before her stood Aster, dressed in his uniform but without an umbrella.
His usually neat gray hair was drenched, and his uniform clung to him, soaked. It was unlike his usual appearance and demeanor.
There were no subordinates with him, so it was just the two of them in this space. The sound of the rain masked their conversation from anyone who might try to listen.
Aster and Rité stared at each other as if they were the last two people left in a ruined world.
Finally, he spoke quietly.
“I have one question. Is that commander really so important to you?”
She didn’t understand why he was asking, but she answered honestly.
“…Yes.”
“But not more important than your sibling, it seems. You let him go and chose to stay here.”
“…”
Rité didn’t respond, but Aster understood her silence as confirmation. He was the only one who knew her innermost, unyielding desire.
Aster slowly raised a hand and reached toward her face. Rité flinched and turned her head away, but he gently placed his thumb on a wound on her cheek. It was a wound she had received while fighting soldiers to buy time for Maud’s escape.
Without healing the wound, he tucked her fallen hair behind her ear.
“The most important thing in a partnership is ‘trust.'”
“…”
“But it was me who broke that trust first, by testing you.”
Rité looked up, puzzled, and her eyes widened slightly at the sight of another key.
“Lieutenant General Russell has decided to give you another chance. It was hard to convince him. I hope you don’t betray my trust this time.”
Aster inserted the key into the lock binding her to the post and released her. As soon as she was freed, Rité collapsed forward. He quickly caught her.
She pulled herself up and stepped away from him. No matter how much pain she was in, she didn’t want to have physical contact with him or rely on him for support.
“Follow me.”
Aster walked ahead, and Rité stumbled after him barefoot.
They arrived at an old warehouse. As Rité stood uncertainly in the dark, Aster coldly instructed the guards.
“Tie her hands.”
The two men by the door lowered their rifles and approached Rité, cuffing her hands. These were special cuffs used for Awakened individuals.
Feeling threatened, Rité turned to Aster with wide eyes.
“This is the opportunity you’re giving me?”
“Yes. Listen carefully now.”
As Rité glared at him silently, Aster spoke calmly.
“An assassin never begs the enemy for mercy, no matter the situation. They never ask to be spared, unless it’s to make the enemy drop their guard.”
Rité stared at him with trembling eyes, wondering if he was so shocked that she had begged him to spare Maud.
“In that sense, your strategy was successful. You achieved your goal with me.”
Rité tried to speak, flustered by the word ‘strategy,’ but Aster interrupted coldly.
“But you failed to escape. If an assassin can’t escape, they die.”
Rité clenched her teeth and responded.
“…I know. You taught me that brutally enough.”
Aster smirked.
“Then you understand quickly.”
The guards dragged her inside and connected the cuffs to a chain on the wall. As Rité slumped to the floor, Aster dropped a key just out of her reach.
It was a situation both similar to and different from when he had dropped the key in the torture chamber the previous day.
He bent one knee, leaned closer, and spoke softly.
“From now on, your life is in the hands of this key, not mine. If you can’t escape from here on your own, you will die. This is both a punishment for letting the enemy escape and your new mission. The deadline is before sunrise tomorrow. The moment the sun peeks over the horizon, I will set fire to this warehouse without hesitation.”
Rité’s eyes widened.
“One more thing, I’ve heard that among all forms of pain, being burned alive is the most excruciating. This conclusion was consistently drawn from countless spies who had been tortured. Just in case it might help you, I deliberately didn’t treat your wounds. This time, too, don’t hesitate to use any means necessary to achieve your goal.”
Aster leisurely stood up, locked the door, and left the warehouse. Rité grunted as she stretched her legs, trying to drag the key towards herself. Her hands were cuffed to the wall, leaving only her legs free to move.
“That damn Aster…!”
Rité cursed. He had deliberately dropped the key just out of her reach, calculating the exact distance to make it difficult for her. It was chilling and irritating that he knew her body’s range of movement so precisely, even though such information was crucial for an agent.
Rité closed her eyes tightly and stretched her legs as far as she could. It felt like her arms and legs were being torn apart. Finally, her toes touched the key, but she couldn’t pull it towards herself. The restraints were special cuffs for the Awakened, making it hard to use her abilities to cut them.
Rité focused, trying to create a weapon. Every attempt broke the weapon against the chains, but she kept trying again and again. She lost track of time, engrossed in freeing herself.
When she looked up, faint light was seeping through the gaps in the warehouse. The sun was rising.
Fear gripped her. That single ray of light brought not hope, but despair. Smoke started to fill the warehouse, and heat spread rapidly. Rité shivered and gave up trying to use her abilities to free herself. Even if she were like Aster, her abilities wouldn’t develop so suddenly.
‘Think. You have to think.’
She took deep breaths, calming her racing heart, focusing solely on her thoughts. Ironically, the faint hope that Aster, who had driven her into this corner, wouldn’t actually kill her was a huge mental support.
Rité’s eyes flashed open as she realized something. She stretched her legs again, focusing her ability on her toes. She managed to create a sharp weapon at her toes. Though it soon fell off, she repeatedly created it, gradually dragging the key towards herself.
Finally, she grabbed the key and calmly unlocked the cuffs on her wrists. It was extremely awkward and difficult with her hands tied behind her back, but time was running out. Coughing in the smoke-filled warehouse, Rité focused on unlocking the cuffs. After persistent effort, she freed herself and urgently ran towards the door through the thickening smoke.
She shoved the key into the lock, but the door wouldn’t open. In frustration, she violently twisted and turned the key in the hole. Then, the key broke inside the lock.
“Damn it…!”