Ariana

'I had my doubts, but now I'm certain. Those people weren't randomly kidnapped' thought Alex with a serious expression behind his mask.

'Maybe they want people who can use mana for their experiments?' Alex wondered, guiding the three clouds of smoke to land softly on the ground to avoid disturbing those inside.

He briefly considered the levels of the captives before dismissing the thought. 'Whatever, that's not why I'm here,' he decided as he straightened his back.

Amelia, who was behind him, stepped forward to stand on his right. Observing this, Anita also stepped forward to position herself on his left.

'I'm relieved that this mask hides my face,' Anita thought, grateful that the mask concealed the embarrassed blush on her face.

Meanwhile, Alex cleared his throat to capture the attention of the captives. However, none of them raised their heads; all remained fixed on the ground. Undeterred, Alex cleared his throat once more, the sound resonating through the somber chamber. Still, no one lifted their heads.

He scanned through the captives, searching for the nobles, and quickly identified them sitting in groups of at least thirty people in a corner of the chamber. Their gazes were also fixed on the ground.

'It's quite amusing to see the mighty and arrogant nobles being fearful and as docile as lambs,' Alex sneered under his mask.

Averting his gaze from the nobles to focus on everyone, Alex paused for a moment, then began speaking.

"Greetings to all of you," he said, his calm and soothing voice reaching every ear. "I know that you can hear me, even though you may not show it. I understand it might be due to the suffering or witnessing you've endured here. Either way, there's no need to worry any longer. From now on, you are free."

The moment Alex's words resonated in the chamber, a wave of whispers swept through the captives. For the first time since their abduction, people from all walks of life, whether nobles or slum rats, began conversing in hushed tones among themselves.

Yet, nobody dared to move, fearing that this could be a trap set by the Night group members, so, despite the wide-open door behind Alex and his assurance that they were free, all captives remained seated on the ground. Each one waited for someone else to make the first move.

Several minutes dragged on, and still, no one budged. The captives continued their whispered conversations, casting glances at Alex and the open door.

'Haa, we are just wasting time here, I-'

Just as Alex was about to warn them that they needed to hurry before the Night group members returned and prevented their escape, footsteps echoed in the chamber.

Observing the source of the footsteps, Alex spotted an adorable little girl with luscious deep green hair and slightly tattered clothes approaching them.

The moment his gaze landed on the little girl, Alex felt a bubbling rage simmering within him.

'Those fuckers went as far as capturing a child?!' Alex thought with red eyes behind his mask.

Even though he wouldn't say that kidnapping adults is any better, Alex felt that doing so to a little kid like the one right in front of him was just inhuman. Coupled with the memories of his own daughters being kidnapped when they were littles, it was normal for Alex to be enraged right now.

Taking a deep breath, Alex forced himself to calm down and concentrated on the little girl standing just before him.

"Um, Mr. Smoke, is it true what you said? Can we leave this place?"

'Cute,' Alex thought. He wanted to pat the little girl, but seeing a hint of wariness in her eyes when he moved his hand, he abstained from doing so. Instead, he kneeled in front of the little girl and said with the most gentle voice he could muster:

"Yes, from now on, you are free to leave."

"Yay!" The little girl exclaimed and jumped happily.

"What is your name?" Alex inquired, patting the adorable little girl's head now that she didn't seem as wary as before.

"Tehehe, I'm Ariana!" The girl said with a wide smile, thoroughly enjoying the head pat from Alex.

'Hm? That name sounds familiar. Where have I heard it before?' Alex wondered as he affectionately ruffled Ariana's hair. "Are your parents here?" he asked after a moment.

"No, I was brought here alone," Ariana's lively eyes dimmed at the mention of her parents.

Just as Alex was about to say something to cheer up the cute girl, her eyes regained their previous liveliness. "You don't have to worry about me, Mister Smoke. Now that I'm free, I will go find my parents right away!"

"You do that," Alex said in an encouraging tone as he ruffled her hair. "Though you need to wait for the others. You are still too young to go on your own."

"I told you not to worry about me, Mister Smoke." Ariana stepped back from Alex and raised her two arms to show her muscles. "See this! Ariana is very strong!" She said as she flexed her arms.

Seeing the young girl trying to show off her muscles, Alex couldn't help but smile endearingly.

"Indeed, Ariana looks really strong," Alex nodded his head. "But Ariana isn't strong enou-"

Alex suddenly shut his mouth when he noticed something he didn't pay attention to earlier, thanks to the cuteness of the little girl. And this thing was her level.

'Level 3?' Alex thought with a stunned expression under the mask.

Indeed, now that he was focusing on it, the little girl was one of the few people here who had attained level 3!

'How? She doesn't look like she is over ten, yet, she is in the same realm as Anna,' Alex's eyes narrowed. 'This kid is an anomaly.'

"You finally realized that Ariana is very strong, huh?" Ariana said, hands on her waist and a proud smile on her face.

Seeing the little girl boasting, Alex's serious expression vanished, and he chuckled, "Okay, okay, I accept that you're really strong, but it's still dangerous for you to leave alone."

"Thank you for your concern, mister, but Ariana can go alone! Nothing will happen to me!"

"Your-"

"Nuh-uh, you said that we were free to leave, so you can't stop me unless what you said was false!" The little girl uttered those words loudly enough for everyone in the chamber to hear.

'She speaks in a childish way and acts like a child, but her intelligence is surely not that of a kid,' Alex smiled wryly when he sensed the shift in the atmosphere after Ariana spoke.

'Now, if I refuse to let her leave alone, even though it's what she wants, others might take it as if everything I said was false,' Alex glanced at Ariana and sighed, 'the fact that she is stronger than most of them is another problem.'

If Alex refused to let the kid go because she was "weak," even though she was at level 3, then what about those who were at level 1 or 2? Wouldn't he be saying that they were also weak?

In truth, Alex wouldn't normally give a damn if a random level 1 decided to leave alone. The only reason he was trying to stop Ariana was that she was young; otherwise, he wouldn't even waste his time on her.

However, the captives didn't see things like that. For them, Alex was trying to use their "weakness" as an excuse to keep them here. It was an illogical thought because if that was the case, then why would he tell them that they were free in the first place? Unless he was a demon who relished giving hope just to shatter it right after. After spending weeks here, barely eating anything, rational thinking wasn't the forte of those people.

Alex took a deep breath and sighed, "I would prefer if you stayed, but I can't force you to stay." Alex stood up and took a step to the side. "You can go."

"Thanks, mister smoke. I will definitely repay today's grace," Ariana bowed at Alex and then bolted out of the chamber.

Turning his head to glance at the other side of the door, Alex could see Ariana running in a very childish way.

'She is fast,' Alex thought before turning his head back when he heard footsteps approaching.

'Oh,' Alex raised an eyebrow in surprise when he saw the thirty or so nobles approaching him, led by a young woman with dirty blond hair.

Stopping right in front of Alex, the noblewoman asked, "What do you want with us?"

'I suppose even if they're arrogant cowards, they still have some brains,' Alex sneered behind his mask.

***

"Tsk, their meddling messed up my plans; now I have to infiltrate another Night base," Ariana, the adorable little girl, clicked her tongue in irritation.

"Still, that man's voice, I've heard it somewhere, where?" Ariana tapped her finger on her chin as she walked through the forest.

As she pondered where she had heard the voice, the image of a young and handsome boy with silver hair flashed in her head.

"Wait," Ariana came to a sudden stop, "Theodore's son."

The more she recalled how the man's voice sounded, the more certain she was of her deduction.

"Interesting, very interesting, I hope he isn't as naive as his father," Ariana said, then she thought of something, or rather someone, and burst into laughter.

"I wonder how Astarte will feel when she learn that I had encountered her little lover here."