anwhile, in an abandoned, ruined building sowhere in Ravah...
"Hah." Lola scoffed, her hand cupping her cheek as she squatted on the ground. She blinked, her eyes gleaming with a mix of amusent and confusion.
"This is quite easy," she humd. "But I guess doing it the second ti is easier than the first."
Because before her — tied up inside an abandoned establishnt in another town — were n who claid to be spies from a different region. What truly amused her wasn’t what they claid to be, but who they were.
At the very least, she recognized their faces.
"Just kill us," one of them roared, letting out a nervous laugh. "But you’re not getting away from this. Our boss from Ashkar will kill every single one of you. You’re dead at, bitch."
The other guy smirked malevolently, looking at her with nothing but malice.
Instead of responding to his threat, Lola asked calmly,
"Where’s the other one?"
"Huh?" Both n—beaten and bound—stared at her in confusion. Their eyes flickered, necks stiffening for a brief mont.
How did she know they had another companion?
Lola chuckled. "Weren’t there three of you?"
"No!" they shouted in unison.
The speed of their denial only confird her suspicion. They were lying again.
"Seriously..." she humd. "How did people like you beco such terrible liars?"
Atlas lied to her too, but that was because he lived an honest life; he was genuinely bad at it. Then again, she could say that only because she knew her husband inside and out. To others, it would take ti to distinguish Atlas’s truths from his lies.
After all, he wore the sa expression whether he was telling the truth, lying, or joking.
"Aren’t you Bellemonte n trained to cut off your tongues rather than give up information?" She mused, rubbing her chin. "That’s what the Order’s protocol says."
She didn’t know whether that actually happened. She’d never seen it herself, and so far, no one in the manor seed to be missing a tongue.
As Lola muttered to herself, the two n frowned.
"Did you just say—" one of them stamred. "Did you co from the Order?"
Lola snapped her gaze to them. "Mhm."
"Oh, god." The other man sighed in relief, suddenly looking at her as if she were a savior.
The first man relaxed as well, as if he’d forgotten he was tied up with kerosene soaking his clothes.
"I don’t know you, but you have to help us," one said quickly. "Untie us—now!"
"Yes," the other urged. "Hurry!"
But Lola didn’t move.
Instead, she scrunched her nose and squinted at them.
"What?" one scoffed, noticing her hesitation. "What are you doing? Help us already!"
"Well," she said, puffing out one cheek, "you did say you were spies from the other governor." She tilted her head. "How do I know you’re really the guys I ca here to rescue? Besides, you sll like gasoline. What if you catch fire and I get dragged into it too?"
Both n stared at her in disbelief. Their jaws dropping.
She was the one who recognized them, and now she was believing the lie they’d told her?
"Are you screwing with us?!" one of them shouted. "Stop ssing around and help us!"
They struggled against the ropes, panic evident in their movents. Just monts ago, they had been certain they would be burned alive.
Then Lola—and her "new friends"—had arrived.
That part was true.
Lola and the group she’d coerced into helping her ca here after hearing sothing was going on. Thanks to the captive leader she’d questioned earlier, gathering information had been easy.
"..." Lola watched the two n struggle in silence, as if they’d already accepted that she might not help them at all.
After a mont, she inhaled and tilted her head.
"I’ll help," she said, making them freeze. "But first, you answer ."
The n exchanged uneasy looks.
"Why are you really here?" she asked, brows arching. "Why did you end up in Ravah?"
They didn’t answer.
Instead, they watched as Lola slipped her hand into the side pocket of her cargo pants.
When she pulled it out, she was holding a lighter.
Slowly, a smile curved onto her lips, her eyes narrowing with sothing sharp and dangerous.
"You do know I can just report that I found you dead, right?" she giggled. "Don’t worry. As long as it doesn’t affect the Order, there’s nothing to worry about. But if it does..." She tilted her head. "Then take this secret to your graves."
The n swallowed as she flicked the lighter open, a fla dancing to life.
She moved the lit lighter sideways, making their breaths hitch.
"So?" she humd. "What business does Bellemonte have in Ravah? What deal went wrong to land you in this ss?"
Hesitation flashed across their faces. Their lips pressed into thin lines.
They didn’t want to answer.
They knew that whatever the Bellemonte had reported to the Order was likely an edited version of the story. Sothing that would justify deploying Zorken’s elite forces.
As they weighed their options, Lola spoke again softly.
"Fine." She nodded, standing up. Her eyes lingered on their pale faces and widened eyes. "Hah."
Without another word, she turned away and walked a few steps. She stopped beside a gas container and kicked it.
Fuel slowly spilled, creeping toward the n.
Lola flicked the lighter again, producing a small fla. Slowly and deliberately, she tilted it.
"Bye," she whispered, her grip loosening.
"Wait!" one of them shouted. "They wanted to kill us!"
Lola paused. "I know that. Don’t you have sothing else to tell that I don’t know yet?"
"When the negotiation between Bellemonte and one of the three regional bosses went south, they decided all Bellemonte n had to die," the man blurted out. "Our goals didn’t align in the end!"
"Oh?" Lola tilted her head, still holding the fla. "And what goal was that?"
The n fell silent again.
Finally, one of them spoke in a low voice.
"You have to help us," he said. "What I’m asking is... don’t send us back to Bellemonte."
Silence filled the abandoned building.
Then he added, with a voice barely audible,
"I’ll tell you everything, but let them believe we’re dead. Because our boss..." He swallowed. "He might kill us once we’re ’rescued,’ too."
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