HARDER!

SOLVEIG

What the hells was she supposed to say to that?!

"I-I-I-I-I... hehehe... uhm..."

Solveig's stutter was warranted, okay?! What was she supposed to say to someone whose people she had, in the very distant past, more or less genocided and turned into subservient, unthinking slaves?!

"Maybe you're just... hallucinating?"

"Lying is beneath someone as skilled as you."

"It's been a while since I've been put under pressure like this, alright?! Plus, you're literally twice my size!"

"It doesn’t matter. Take your time.”

"But the answer... is, well... unbelievable."

D'Igoll's jaw was welded shut.

"You have this look about you."

E-E-Eh?!

"It is intoxicating. Deadly too."

EHHHH?!?!?!?!

"When you speak of yourself, perhaps other people don't notice. But I do."

"And what is it y-you notice...?"

"You've seen things. Combat, maybe. You read this very room before you stepped into it, the same way I did. You are… maybe were… a soldier. That's why I marked you in the first place. The way your head is always on the lookout. The way you hate to be idle. The way you want information, almost hungry for it. It reminded me of my... it reminded me of my own."

D'Igoll's nostrils flared.

"Logic compels me to suggest you're from the Quadrant. You have the eyes of a killer." The demihuman paused. "And yet, you seem harmless in disposition to us."

"HEY!!!"

“It’s not a bad thing. You act the same way, whether you have a demihuman in front of you or not. Which means… perhaps… you can tell me a few things.”

"I-If it’s about my history… I've promised the Duke... not to reveal too much about my history here. Nup! Off limits!"

"I see."

D'Igoll breathed slowly through his nose.

"If you can't tell me why..."

D’Igoll let the silence stretch.

Solveig braced. So did the rest of her companions.

"Then tell me how."

Cain perked up. "How convenient that you stand to gain more from this than anyone else."

D'Igoll sighed. "Do you understand my position at all?"

"Top two in the whole school?" Rolli offered.

Everyone turned to give him a look. Everyone except D'Igoll, who didn't so much as blink.

"I will tell you: it is precarious. I am the only one holding my fellow demihumans to account right now."

Bobby nodded gravely. “Some of the demihumans from D’Igoll are only held back because of him. If he’s out of the picture…”

D’Igoll looked at her grimly.

“So I ask again: is it possible, however much, you could give me some advice. How do you defeat someone that is specifically engineered against my kind?”

“...You want to fight against the Quadrant better.”

D’Igoll nodded.

Solveig smirked. “I can just… show you.”

“Truly?”

Cain hissed. “You’re gonna face him in the Arena sooner or later. You want him to win?”

“There’s plenty of ways to kill a Furstock.”

The entire group looked at her mortified.

“You can’t say that…”

“That’s a slur…”

“M-Master is… racist?”

“A-Ah. Most assuredly not, Bobby! I’m the Great Hero, after all!” Solveig adjusted herself. “But I can show him the most common ways the people who do it usually do it.”

D’Igoll softened.

“Then it is settled. Thank you very much. I trust I will speak with you soon?”

“Tomorrow. By the lake, six a.m. sharp.”

Cain shivered.

"Ah. That early? Very well. I look forward to our meetings."

D'Igoll walked off, and the way he did it was regal, every step landing like it had been rehearsed. But partway across the room he paused and looked back.

"One more thing."

"Yeah?" Solveig said.

"I trust you to keep this in confidence." He lowered his voice. "Last night, Richard approached me. He asked me for some information about you. I don't know why. I refused, flat out. He probably thinks I'm against him now, and that I won't tell you any of this. But of all the people I'd rather not fail, you're near the top of the list. Just keep the Finance Club out of the equation. Please."

"W-Will do…"

He turned and left for real this time.

Maybe Rick was the conspirator. He'd have the resources for it, and he'd sought her out at the Grand Opening Ceremony, hadn't he? Maybe that hadn't been a coincidence after all.

Agh… her brain was going to explode.

\\

ISOLDE

“Harder.”

Come on… damn it! WAS DREAMWALKER EVEN TRYING?!

“HARDER!”

The door to Isolde's chambers had been locked for hours. If she had it her way, a little while longer.

Bruises were already blooming along her throat where Solveig's arm had held.

Dreamwalker hovered a pace back from her, hands raised, trembling, not to strike but to plead.

"Dreamwalker. Dreamwalker, Dreamwalker… Why did you stop… hehe...?"

"M-Master... I don't... I can't!"

"HIT ME!"

Isolde's voice cracked on the second word.

"I must pay for my actions. To lose, to a girl like her, in front of everyone. I need to remember the pain. I need to remember what losing feels like so it never happens to me again! HIT MEEEE!"

"NGAAAH!”

Dreamwalker's whip came down at last, shaking so badly the blow barely landed, and even that was enough to make the creature whimper as if it were the one who'd been struck.

Isolde felt the tears come the more she felt the whip lash against her bruised, reddened, bloody skin.

Things got clearer, eventually.

In fact, she had never reached this much clarity in her LIFE.

Solveig was an element in her grand equation she mustn't introduce lest the output is utterly and completely RUINED!

If this were to go on… she wouldn’t be top dog any further.

Then not only will she be within the clutches of House Blackmore’s… Corrector…

She’d lose Cain to that usurper.

Isolde needed advantages… whatever she could get.

She thought to Seren… her schemes…

Her offer.

Was she really going to do this?

The future of Hrafen and Illustria were at stake at the hands of this destabilizer.

And if the price was right…

She wasn’t about to say anything. Much less commit to anything.

But at this point…

Isolde would be willing to try anything.

Her mind flashed back to a certain foreigner, before she stepped on the stage for Grand Debate.

ANYTHING.