The next afternoon.
After eating her fill, Annie heard Elena tell her about what had happened on the roof the previous night. Thinking it sounded kind of fun, she insisted on going to find Clare and Laki to ask what had happened and whether they had found the man-eating monster.
However, to their surprise, from the elevated terrace they saw that Clare had somehow already been wrapped in bandages from head to toe and brought to the double room at the inn where the two men were staying. She lay motionless on one of the beds, looking half dead.
Annie found the sight curious, while Elena was horrified. Naturally, neither of them dared to dawdle. They hurried straight to the inn, intending to check on Clare and ask what had happened.
"Hm?"
"You two?!"
To Annie and Elena, who followed behind her, it was a surprise to find that the two city guard officers who had led the inspection of them the previous day were also in the room.
Of course, they were also the two men who had fought Clare and Elena the night before.
"Thank goodness!"
"Annie, and..."
"You're in this city too?"
When Laki saw Annie and Elena arrive—recognizing Elena at a glance despite her ornate armor—he was just as surprised. He hurried over to them, cheering as if he'd found someone he could rely on.
But he was quick-witted enough to stop himself from calling Elena by name in front of outsiders.
"Clare?"
Elena, however, didn't care about that.
"!!"
She took two steps forward and saw the state Clare was in. Then she glanced at the two men, who seemed injured as well, and assumed they had hurt Clare. A surge of anger welled up inside her, and she turned to face them, ready to