"And to do this… I need to get to that place… The Vèiger."
The words still echoed in Cesar's mind like distant thunder. That name—that cursed name—couldn't have been just some bedtime tale spun by his grandfather.
He shook his head, struggling to gather his thoughts. Confusion clouded everything.
"The Vèiger? What is that?"It was all he could manage. He knew the name, but hearing it here, now, had shattered his grip on reality.
Lefelob's expression shifted. The faint smile that had played on his lips a moment ago flickered—and faded. His hand loosened slightly on the guard's shoulder.
Cesar's voice dropped to a whisper."I thought it was just something my grandfather made up…"
Lefelob froze. The change in him was instant, as if a wire had snapped. His eyes locked on Cesar with sudden intensity.
"What did you say?" he asked, his voice low and sharp.
Cesar shifted uncomfortably, feeling the ache in his legs from standing on the cold stone steps for too long. He looked down, speaking almost to himself.
"My grandfather used to tell me a story. Always before bed… it was a story... he spoke of... he spoke of the Vèiger."His voice cracked near the end, heavy with uncertainty.
A long silence stretched between them.
"Your grandfather…" Lefelob began, barely above a breath."He knew of the Vèiger?"
"I don't know." Cesar's reply was quiet, almost ashamed."It was just a story to help me sleep…"
He trailed off, staring into the dark stairwell above. The walls felt tighter now, the air heavier.
Confusion twisted inside him, boiling into frustration.
"Why am I always the last to understand?" he muttered bitterly."Why is everyone keeping things from me?"
Shock. That was all Lefelob could feel in that moment.
However, those questions—so naive, so disarmingly honest—had pulled him back from the edge. The fire in his eyes dimmed, his gaze settling. Slowly, a faint smile returned to his face.
"I didn't think you'd know that name," he said quietly, "Maybe I was wrong to mention it at all…".
His voice trailed off, as if he hoped that would end the conversation.
He tightened his grip around the guard's neck and turned to resume the climb. But he didn't get far.
"I want to know more."Cesar's voice cut through the dim stairwell like a blade. The air, which had just begun to settle, grew tense again.
Lefelob halted.
"You don't need to," he said without turning, his voice low but firm. "Trust me. You're better off not knowing."
But Cesar was already unraveling.
"Why?!" he snapped. "Why am I always in the dark? Why can't I know what's going on?"
Lefelob sighed, shoulders sinking. He could hear the storm building in Cesar's voice, the pain behind the anger.
"Because it's dangerous," he said, more gently now. "The kind of knowledge the Kormanys would kill for. Or worse. If they even suspected you knew about the Vèiger, they wouldn't show mercy."
But Cesar wasn't backing down."I don't care," he said, breathing hard."I need to know. I need to know why my grandfather told me that story. It wasn't just a tale, was it? Not if you're standing here confirming it with your own mouth."
His desperation filled the narrow space. Lefelob stood still, silent for a moment.
Then his voice rose, sharper than before.
"I'll tell you—" He cut himself short, even interrupting Cesar's voice, exhaling slowly. He was losing control. He couldn't afford that. He softened his tone, just enough to sound reasonable.
"But not now. This isn't the time."A pause."Later. I promise."
It was a lie—a small one. But he hoped it would be enough.
Because deep down, Lefelob understood. The hunger to know, the need to understand what had been kept hidden for so long. He understood it all too well.
And yet... this wasn't just about Cesar anymore. There were truths even Lefelob wasn't ready to face.
Cesar fell silent. Whether it was Lefelob's lie that soothed him, or simply the weight of something far greater than himself, even he couldn't say. But for now, he let it go.
Lefelob turned back toward the stairs.
"Come on," he said quietly. "We're nearly on the first floor."
The sound of their footsteps returned, echoing softly in the stone chamber.
The guard, too, had fallen quiet. No more sobs, no more resistance—just a stunned, vacant stare, as if the conversation between the two had pulled him somewhere far away.
He likely hadn't recognized the name.
The Vèiger.
To him, it was probably nothing—a word lost in the dark.
[•••]
"I swear... If you take that hallway, there's a trunk at the end—with a book inside. It has all the passwords. Please, I'm telling the truth..."The only voice breaking the silence of the corridor.
Fear had returned to the guard's eyes. His trembling hand pointed toward a narrow hallway just off to the side—one Cesar and Lefelob had almost passed without notice.
"Stop crying," Lefelob said coldly. "I told you: give us the password to the next door, and you'll be free."
They had reached the first floor. Like the ground floor, it was a long central corridor branching off into smaller passageways. But here, the doors were metal—some ajar, spilling dim light into the otherwise shadowed hall.
"Cesar, check every room. I'll try to find the way up to the second floor," Lefelob said, glancing around, visibly uneasy.
Something didn't feel right. Could this truly be all there was? This... empty?
"Got it," Cesar replied.
He stepped to one of the heavy doors and pushed against it.
"Damn, these things are heavy…" he muttered, straining as the weight shifted.
The hinges let out a long, high-pitched shriek that echoed through the stone halls.
Lefelob froze—not because of the noise, but because of the silence that followed. No footsteps. No alarm. No guards rushing to investigate.
Could the castle really be this deserted?
"Just a table in here... Wait—no, there are shelves too. Lots of papers scattered across the desk," Cesar called out from the room.
"Take all of it," Lefelob replied quickly, still scanning the hall. "Anything could be useful."
He had just reached a large metal door at the far end—heavily reinforced, and unmistakably the entrance to the second floor.
He turned back toward the guard, sword still in hand.
"Go on. Open it."The blade hovered near the man's throat.
Seconds passed. The guard didn't move.
"Did you hear me?" Lefelob asked, irritation creeping into his voice.
A whisper. "I…"
The guard's voice was barely audible—shaky, broken.
"I don't know the password…" he finally admitted, eyes wide with panic.
Lefelob narrowed his eyes.
"You're trying to be clever with me?"
The tip of his blade traced the underside of the man's chin. Then the dam broke.
"I don't know!! I swear, I don't know this one!" the guard cried, sobbing openly now."I gave you a password—I helped you already! Please, I'm begging you, don't kill me… I don't know! I really don't…"
Tears streamed down his face, each sob louder than the last. His body trembled—not from pain, but from sheer terror. And despite everything, the hall remained deathly silent.
Cesar leaned out of the doorway, still clutching the stack of papers he'd gathered. One by one, they began to slip from his hands, fluttering silently to the floor. But he didn't notice.
His eyes were fixed on the scene unfolding at the end of the corridor—eerily similar to what they'd witnessed below, at the entrance to the first floor.
The trembling guard. The sword. The same fear, the same pleading.
Lefelob caught the look on Cesar's face—and the terror in the guard's voice. Something in him shifted.
With a sharp exhale of frustration, he lowered his blade.
"Useless!" he spat, fury bleeding through the words.
He shoved the sword back into its scabbard and stepped back. The guard blinked in disbelief—then, without warning, turned and bolted down the corridor.
No words. No thanks. Just panic.
Cesar and Lefelob stood frozen, watching the figure vanish into the darkness.
His footsteps echoed for a few moments…Then faded into silence.
It would be the greatest mistake Lefelob made that day.
He didn't realize it yet.
Cesar spoke, his voice low.
"Lefelob…"
Lefelob didn't meet his gaze.
"Stay calm," he muttered. His voice sounded different—muted, tired. Almost… ashamed. "I would never have actually killed him."
[•••]
He could barely breathe. The vastness of that floor seemed to drain the last remnants of strength from his body.
"I have to warn them… all of them…" the guard whispered hoarsely, staggering forward, desperate to find the others stationed nearby.
The floor wasn't deserted. The guards were there—just too far to hear. Or perhaps... perhaps they had heard those strange sounds—the creaking door, the muffled voices—but dismissed them as nothing more than echoes in the stone.
Then, at last, he reached them.
He burst into a chamber on the far side of the floor, nearly collapsing from exhaustion.
"Intruders!" he cried, chest heaving.
"What?" one of the soldiers exclaimed, straightening in alarm—likely the commanding officer of the group.
"They're near the entrance to the second floor," the guard panted, eyes wide with urgency.
The general was on his feet in an instant.
"All units—up! Now!"
A scramble followed—armor clinking, weapons unsheathed, chairs scraped across the floor.
"Sir," a young soldier asked quickly, "should I alert the second floor as well?"
The general paused.
"No," he said firmly. "Not yet. We don't know what kind of threat we're dealing with."His tone was steady—but his eyes betrayed concern.
No alarms were sounded. Not yet.
The plan was simple: catch the intruders by surprise. Eliminate them swiftly and silently. If they failed… then they would call for reinforcements.
The strange silence that had once ruled the corridor was gone now.
In its place came footsteps—light, cautious, calculated.
Furtive. Deadly.
Cesar and Lefelob still heard nothing.
[•••]
"Lefelob… how do we get to the second floor?"Cesar's voice echoed faintly through the corridor as he glanced around.
Lefelob didn't answer. His jaw was tight, his mind still clouded with frustration from letting the guard escape.
Wordless, he moved toward one of the heavy doors and pushed it open with effort, the metal groaning like stone on stone.
The quiet returned. Too quiet.
There was a tension in the air—thick, suffocating. Something was wrong.
A threat was near. Hidden. Waiting.
Lefelob paused at the threshold of the room, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the hallway beyond. A long corridor stretched out in front of him—an endless void of darkness. A corridor that felt watched.
"Lefelob…?" Cesar called again, voice uncertain. He still sensed nothing. But he could see it on Lefelob's face—the stillness, the focus, the way his hand had quietly moved to the hilt of his blade.
Cesar's heart began to pound.
A sound. A faint rustle along the far wall. Barely audible.
Just a breeze? But where could wind come from in a place sealed like this? Lefelob wondered.
More sounds followed—soft, subtle, but growing steadily. Too rhythmic to be random. Too deliberate to be harmless.
Then, suddenly—
"Cesar. With me," Lefelob commanded in a low, urgent tone.
He had seen something—or sensed it.
Cesar didn't ask questions. Fear had already taken hold of him.
He rushed after Lefelob, eyes straining to see whatever it was his companion had detected—some flicker of movement in the dark, some shape hiding just beyond vision.
And somewhere in that darkness, a voice whispered:
"It's them."
It was the escaped guard, crouched in the shadows with his comrades.
"They don't look very strong. Young... Inexperienced…" another guard murmured.
A pause. Then the cold, quiet voice of command, it was the general:
"Ready to attack."
Lefelob drew his sword the instant he heard the whispers.
"I heard you. Come out!" he barked into the dark.
Dozens of guards surged forward from the shadows. They didn't hesitate.
Three of them lunged straight at him.
Cesar froze behind Lefelob, heart pounding.
Lefelob moved like a shadow. He leapt into the air, his boot slamming into the face of the first attacker. Landing on the side wall, he kicked off, twisting midair just enough to evade the second guard's blade by inches.
"Cesar!" Lefelob shouted. "There are too many—grab my hand!"
Cesar reached out, but time seemed to stretch—the moment suspended between life and death.
His hand felt too slow. Too far.
His strength was leaving him. His vision dimmed.
"Maybe I shouldn't have come here."
"Maybe Grandfather... maybe Yuusaba was right."
Cesar's arm trembled. He could feel himself slipping into the dark, surrendering.
"I'm sorry... Grandpa... Yuusaba…"A whisper—soft as air, but filled with weight.
Then—a hand. Strong. Steady. Pulling him up with raw force.
Lefelob had caught him.
Light flared in Cesar's eyes. The world snapped back into focus.
He planted a foot on the head of one of the guards beneath him, pushing off to gain momentum.
Time seemed to slow.
But it was real. Lefelob had him.
And then—they were running.
Guards swarmed the corridor, but Lefelob's speed and precision carved a path. With a tremendous leap, he reached a part of the hall untouched by the chaos.
As they fled, Lefelob glanced back—and for a split second, locked eyes with one of the guards. With that guard.
The guard's face was filled with fear, confusion.
Lefelob's face—cold. Unforgiving. Burning with silent rage.
"Shit! Don't let them escape!" the general barked, finally reacting to the impossible speed of Lefelob's maneuver.
Cesar hit the ground, legs nearly buckling—but he kept running.
Side by side, the two fled down the corridor, breath ragged, hearts pounding.
And behind them—dozens of footsteps, chasing fast.
There was no way out.
The entrance they'd used to reach the first floor had sealed behind them—locked tight.
They ran, fast as they could, their boots thudding against the stone floor. But the guards were gaining. The sound of footsteps behind them grew louder—closer.
Gunshots cracked through the halls, echoing like thunder.
"Cesar—there! That hallway!" Lefelob shouted, veering sharply into a narrow side passage—the same corridor the terrified guard had pointed out before fleeing.
Cesar stumbled. "Lefelob!!" he cried out.
Lefelob spun around. His blood turned to ice.
"Cesar!!"
He lunged back, grabbed his companion's wrist, and pulled—hard.
Cesar crashed into him, and together they tumbled into the narrow corridor.
Darkness swallowed them. The guards' footsteps fell away.
Silence.
Had they lost them?
Lefelob caught his breath, pressing against the cold stone.
"They're not chasing us anymore…" he muttered, eyes narrowed in confusion.
Seconds passed. No voices. No steps. No shots. Only silence.
"Don't tell me they were ghosts…" Cesar said, half-joking, half-afraid.
Lefelob didn't even glance at him.
"No. They're calling for backup," he said, voice tight. "Move. Now."
They pushed deeper into the corridor.
But the questions tugged at Lefelob's mind: Why? Why call for reinforcements when they had the numbers? Why pull back when they clearly had the upper hand?
He forced the thoughts away. Later.
The hallway ended in a wall—and at its base, an old wooden trunk.
"A trunk?" Cesar blinked.
"Looks like that guard wasn't lying after all…" Lefelob muttered, kneeling in front of it.
It looked ordinary enough—no visible traps, no strange locks.
He opened it.
Nothing.
"Damn it…" Lefelob snarled, slamming his fist into the wall beside it.
Then came the sound—wood splintering, something shifting above.
"Oh, shit!" Lefelob cursed, eyes going wide.
Sand began pouring from the ceiling in a sudden torrent, flooding the hallway.
Without hesitating, he grabbed Cesar and vaulted toward a gap that had opened in the wall beside them—barely large enough to squeeze through.
They tumbled inside, just as the trap sealed behind them.
Breathing hard, Lefelob scowled.
"What a stupid trap… Who puts something like that in a place like this?"
"Uh… Lefelob?" Cesar said, staring upward.
He was pointing toward a thin crack in the ceiling, a slit of light breaking through. Lefelob followed his gaze, leapt up, and peered through the opening. And froze. His voice came out barely above a whisper.
"What the hell…"
Beyond the crack—A vast chamber.
"The second floor..." whispered Lefelob.
Rows and rows of rusted cages. And in them, people. Dozens. Maybe more. Silent. Trapped.
Staring back.