[ The Administrator ]

Part II Chapter 40 - Responsibility

***Lynett***

Ah... I'm tired. My legs are aching and I can feel my heart beating through my chest. Getting down that hill is more physical than I thought. I'm not even going up, I'm going down, so why is it so exhausting? How can people say exerting yourself feels good? I hate feeling tired like this. Exercising releases endorphins? What a load of bullcrap. I guess I'm really not cut out for sport after all.

Finally reaching the valley, I let a long sigh of relief escape my mouth.

"You okay, Cotton?" I asked the young girl at my side.

Cottontail nodded, her face impassible.

Why am I even asking? She's not even sweating one bit. I'll just comfort myself pretending it's normal since she's a spirit.

The camp probably wasn't too far from here, but since we couldn't hear any voices in the distance, we set out again on our way.

"Cotton?" I called.

"Yes?"

"Do you know where we're heading to?"

"A slavers' camp," the fox girl responded.

"That's right," I confirmed, "a lot of mortals will be there."

"I know."

I marked a pause, carefully studying the fox girl's expression.

"How do you feel about mortals?" I asked.

"I think they're fragile," Cotton replied immediately, without having to think about it, "but quite prolific. A good compromise for their survival since they don't live long."

Such a bland response. As I thought, although she doesn't particularly disdain them, she doesn't feel any sort of attachment for them either. They are simply disposable beings in her eyes.

"Cotton, when we get there, don't do anything rash," I ordered. "Follow my lead. No matter what happens, do not pay attention to the mortals. Do not talk to them, do not attack them. Just... Let me handle this, alright?"

The fox girl did not reply immediately. But after a few seconds of reflection, she accepted my order.

"Alright," she complied, not questioning my intentions.

Good. She's not very talkative, but at least, she's obedient. She's much easier to handle than Yoko, I don't think she'll cause any problem.

After walking for a few minutes, there were finally some changes in our surroundings. Cottontail was the first to stop. Then, right after her, detecting an unknown mana, I realized that we weren't alone anymore.

"Someone's here," the fox girl said.

"Yeah, there are two of them."

Since the strangers hadn't noticed our presence yet, I turned to Cottontail, for one last rehearsal.

"You remember what I said, right?" I inquired.

Cottontail nodded.

"Don't talk, don't attack, don't do anything rash," she replied, "just follow your lead."

"Good, and who am I?"

"Aileen."

Perfect.

My eyes set on the direction of the two strangers, I took a deep breath.

"Let's go."

◊◊◊◊◊◊