Side Yunha: Melissa

1

“And there they go.”

Melissa cackled a short laugh, careful in not attracting any attention to herself. She walked around the ruins of the recreational block and watched as the guardsmen finish off the fiends.

Eventually, she came across the old guildmaster who lay helpless on the ground. That obnoxious, loud-mouth Hakan had taken the man’s katana and crouched next to him as if to keep watch.

“Oh, Melissa!” Hakan shouted, his face bloody and his voice ragged. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

“I’m glad you are too,” Melissa said. She looked down at the guildmaster and the man simply stared at the ceiling as if dead inside. “What happened? Did you beat him?”

Hakan grunted. “Would that I could. I don’t know what happened. After Cashim destroyed those gemstones, this old bastard suddenly went limp and unresponsive.”

“Huh, that’s weird.”

The old guildmaster will be fine. In a few hours he’ll be back to his original self completely confused why he did what he did. He will be sent back to the headquarters down at Keslahir and face whatever punishment he deserved. Even if he wasn’t directly responsible for them.

“Still, why did Cashim and Recesa run away like that?” Hakan said. “I get that they stole Yunha’s treasure and destroyed it, but… they even took an injured Serdan with them. And now they’re lost in the Everdark. I would’ve defended their actions.”

“Defended?” Melissa said.

“Oh, uh…” Hakan sighed. “You’ll probably hear more about it later. Keslahir had a big hand in this whole operation.”

Melissa did her best to look confused. When more guild members came to check on the guildmaster, she made sure to not get in their way and left.

Melissa eventually found herself near the stage. She looked up at the hole on the ceiling and cracked a smile.

It was super obvious Yin was a contestant. Melissa had suspected it for the longest time, but the way he broke near the end and even announced his win condition was… really funny.

Still, Melissa didn’t think there were more arbiters interested in what happened to the Everdark. And to think one of them sent three… the Dark Knight, the Sun Singer and the Warrior.

She had no idea they were contestants too.

I wonder what their real names are. I hope we cross paths again.

“Melissa, is that you?” a voice shouted from nearby. “You’re safe!”

Melissa turned around and saw Hesina going down the performance stage to get to her. She must’ve been so worried since Melissa completely disappeared during the fighting. It was simply too much work to interfere.

“Sina!” Melissa shouted, painting her voice with worry. She ruffled her black hair a bit, then adjusted the giant witch hat on her head. “I can’t believe you made it! I was so worried!”