The soft rhythm of Kimi’s lute is heard from the back porch of Rumi’s house.


    “Are you not mistaken, sir? Jorge, who used to be in charge of that one big poppy field? What…. Ah, sorry.” Elise, who was sitting on the mat, was bewildered.


    “I’m pretty sure. Even though his face is half damaged, it’s really Jorge.” Raymund responded. “And he’s also used a dragon again, though not as big as before. Maybe the size is not up to one-fifth from its predecessor.”


    “So, what should we do, sir?” Yua asked while reading the thin book her master gave her. The kunoichi was practicing a new skill.


    “Our n is straightforward, and you will carry it out tonight. Erbau said the construction must stop immediately.” Raymund exined. “So, first…”


    “Someone’sing.” Kimi interrupted Raymund’s words. The petite elf stopped ying her lute and noticed a hunchbacked old man opening the house gate.


    “Rumi, I’m in!” The old man came in carrying a y te.


    “Please, Aji!” Rumi replies from inside the house. “Don’t worry,dies. Aji is a good person. He won’t do anything to you.”_.


    “Hi, sorry if I disturbed you girls.” The man with slightly messy gray hair waved his hand and came to Mona. “Good afternoon, good girl.”


    He knelt down with some difficulty, then ced the te in front of Mona, who was speechless in confusion.


    “It just so happened that my neighbor caught a partridge.” Aji chuckled, then rubbed Mona’s head. “Well, even though he sold it very expensive. But, it’s worth it for you.”


    Elise approached the old man and was somewhat surprised to see the te’s contents. It was pieces of boiled chicken that had the bones removed, looked fresh, and still had a little smoke. It was clearly new meat.


    “In the past, Aji had many dogs. He was very good at training them.” Rumies out of the house and starts to exin. “The kids here love to y with the dogs too.” The woman then chuckled. “Many say that Aji never got married because he was too busy caring for his dogs.”


    Mona studied the old man’s face for a moment, then began to eat voraciously. Aji’s smile immediately widened. He then looked at Elise. “It seems we have the same talent, Miss. I can feel it. We love animals so much and can understand them that they want to hear us.”


    “I don’t think it’s quite like that, sir.” Elise Grimaced. Her ability was a gift from the god of nature, not because she really loved animals.


    Yua squatted near Aji, smiling back. “Well, I’d be delighted if I could see your dogs, sir.”


    Aji’s smile suddenly faded.


    “In the past, we had a lot of farm animals. However, all of them were taken to feed the construction supervisor’s dragon.” Rumi sighed. “And once the livestock ran out, they started taking pets. Cats, dogs, and so on. I have seen many times the owners cry when their pets are snatched away. And they say it’s better than giving humans to dragons.”


    Aji wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. “They did take my dogs, but it’s possible that they weren’t eaten right away but kept for stock…”


    “I’ll try to save them too, sir.” Elise chimed in with conviction.


    The old man started sobbing. “Please, I’m not sure they’ll treat my dogs well.”


    “One more motivation to beat them,” Yua added.


    “I’m done cooking.” Rumi looked at the orange twilight sky. “You girlse in and have dinner. You can alsoe with us, Aji. At least to improve your nutrition. You look very skinny.”


    Although still in tears, Aji chuckled. “I’m just here to apany this child.”


    ***


    Night had fallen, and Raymund’s servants were preparing to raid the construction site.


    Yua knelt in the corner of one of the rooms, looking at her shaking hands.


    “If you can’t, let me do it,” Elisemented in a cold tone.


    The kunoichi shook her head, clenching her fists. “No, I have to do this.”


    “Yes, we have to do this.” Kimi joined in. “I’ve been thinking about the function of the giant statue. As we expected, it will be used as a golem to kill many humans.”


    Yua looked at the petit elf while frowning. “Why?”


    “Just like the cursed armor, the statue will suck the life energy of living beings,” Kimi exined. “But maybe in a more brutal way.”


    “Like stepping on them and crushing them with that golem’s hand?” Yua widened her eyes


    The petite elf just nodded, still not showing any meaningful expression. Meanwhile, Elise’s body trembled slightly.


    “If that’s the way it is, humans will die far more and faster.” Raymund hissed. “We really can’t allow this.”


    ***


    Raymund’s servants infiltrated the construction site by passing through the forest trees. As soon as they saw a guard patrolling with a torch, Kimi used her Resonance in silence magic, making the noises there disappear.


    Elise was about toe out of hiding, but Yua patted her on the shoulder. The kunoichi pointed to herself as a signal, then she left instead.


    She crept behind the guard, who looked confused because he didn’t hear the sounds of the insects in the distance anymore. He didn’t notice as Yua crouched behind him, then slit his throat from behind, forcing him to fall to the ground.


    The kunoichi froze, looking at the corpse lying covered in blood. Slowly, her breathing began to get heavier.


    “Don’t be influenced by that, Yua.” Raymund tried to calm the female ninja. “What you are doing will have a huge impact on humanity, to defeat the Scarlet Wizard.”


    However, Yua still froze.


    Elise came to the kunoichi and held her best friend’s hands. The female warrior said quietly, “It’s okay.”


    “If you really can’t do this, you can stay,” Raymund added.


    Yua took a deep breath, looked up, then gave her master a thumbs up.


    “Are you sure?” Raymund still had his doubts. “Okay then, continue this mission.”


    Yua nodded slowly. The three Raymund servants then went to the construction camp with Mona.