Because Everyone Here Is Like You

The name was utterly unfamiliar, yet somehow felt fated. It left the woman in the cell dazed.

Even when the person whose secrets she meant to steal opened her cell and came right up to her, she still could not fully shake it off.

A-Li did not want to be like this.

She knew perfectly well what state she was in.

But the emotions that had suddenly surged up from deep within her heart and memory were beyond her control.

"If you can't remember, that's all right."

"Because I can help you remember."

Arata easily saw how moved she was, and he had no intention of letting the opportunity pass.

He bent down until their eyes were level. The moment their gazes met, crimson bloomed in his eyes like roses, and a black Magatama appeared in each pupil.

His voice, so close to her ear, drew A-Li's scattered focus back. The mission her leader had given her rose sharply in her mind.

Their eyes were inches apart.

This was the perfect moment!

Perhaps the only moment!

Even the name that had shaken her fell to the back of her mind.

Her pupils shifted slightly.

For the village, she had no choice.

But his next words stopped her just as she began to act.

"My advice?"

"Don't make any sudden moves."

"Otherwise, you won't be the only one destroyed. He will be too."

That simple threat froze A-Li's subtle Hand Seals before she could complete the first one.

She could not even understand why a name that had stirred something in her had made her abandon the village's mission at such a critical moment!

This was her one and only chance!!

As for the threat of death?

Her life was meant to be devoted entirely to the village.

That had been