Awaiting soft rains(An extra's novel)-Chapter 87: Dungeon

"Good."

Alice nodded her head, as though expecting that answer. She left the bedside, walking right next to me before placing her hand on my shoulder.

"We need to leave. Now. She..."

The woman, now girl, pointed at Ramona’s body.

"...will be given a proper burial. But not before this is all over."

There was a dissonance in my mind, seeing a young girl be so nonchalant around a corpse, but knowing it was a paragon behind that face.

Still, I replied.

"Understood."

Right then, I felt an odd pressure surround me, like I was underwater. There was a growing sensation that I was sinking into something.

Yet before I could orient myself to any of it, I was back in reality, standing on solid ground. Only, my location had changed.

Stark, white lights beamed down the sterile corridor I found myself in. It was all blindingly white, completely windowless, with the only visible exit being a white door at the very end.

Alice removed her hand from my shoulder, reminding me of her presence.

’We just teleported, didn’t we?’

Though I wasn’t exactly sure if teleportation was the right word for it. It felt different.

I shifted my attention back to my surroundings.

"Where is this?"

Alice replied simply.

"The dungeon."

’Dungeon?’

I couldn’t remember writing anything of the sort in the Academy. But then again, it wasn’t exactly shocking for an Academy of this standing to have one.

In the end, I hadn’t designed every little detail of the setting.

Alice began moving towards the door, and I could only silently follow behind her, still guessing at the reasons she could’ve brought me here.

I had a slight inkling.

It wasn’t long before we reached the door. The intercom buzzed, then a voice came through.

"State your name and purpose."

I could swear I saw Alice’s forehead twitch in frustration at the voice, yet it was gone the next moment. She cleared her throat before speaking.

"There are limits to my patience, Bukayo."

A light chuckle came through the intercom before the voice behind it continued.

"Oh. Alice. Almost didn’t recognize you there. Who’s the squirt you brought along with you?"

"Just open the door."

"Right. Give me a sec."

There was a hiss, then the door slid open. It was only after it slid open that I noticed how thick it was.

’It’s got to be at least a meter.’

I couldn’t even begin to guess what sort of metal it was made from.

Behind it was a brown-skinned man dressed in a grey shirt and slacks. He sat on a plastic chair, playing a game of cards with a robot at the reception desk.

If his name hadn’t clued me in on his identity, then his buzz cut sealed the deal.

He was one of the Academy’s paragons. Not on the same level as Alice or Kaito, but he was a paragon in his own right.

The man looked up from his game as we stepped in. There was a smile on his face.

"Do you really like acting as a teenager? This is like the fifth time I’ve seen you in that disguise. You know, if I didn’t know any better, I might’ve gotten the wrong idea."

Alice neatly sidestepped his entire provocation.

"It’s good to see you, too, Bukayo."

The man dropped the cards in his hand before turning to face us properly. He still had an easygoing smile on his face.

"Come on. Don’t be like that. You know I’m just messing with you. I rarely get any visitors around here; five in a week is a new record. Grounds for celebration, even."

He wasn’t exactly a normal person.

Alice nodded noncommittally.

"Mhmm... Have you tested our prisoners?"

Bukayo deflated at that.

"Tsk... You’re no fun at all."

He sighed before getting up from his seat, patting his robot’s head, and moving towards one of the two corridors connected to the reception room.

"Follow me."

Alice moved, and I followed her lead.

The walls of the corridor were lined with wide panes of transparent glass; behind each lay a white, empty cell.

On the way, Bukayo shot me a glance before looking back at Alice.

"I understand coming to check the monsters. But why bring him along?"

For once, Alice took him seriously.

"I need to test something."

"Hmm..."

The man looked at me with renewed interest. When I raised my head to meet his gaze, he flashed me a smile while tapping his biceps.

"Hey there, kiddo. You can call me Bukayo, or Captain Bukayo. I run the entire security apparatus for this joint."

Alice let out a soft sigh.

"No need to brag to a child."

"Ha... I’d hardly call that bragging."

I could’ve corrected them, saying I wasn’t a child. But in my nigh-infinite wisdom, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

Soon enough, Bukayo came to a stop. The cell beside us was occupied. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Strewn carelessly on the ground behind the glass pane were three bodies. They had no items restraining them, nor any visible wounds on their bodies. Yet I couldn’t stop an inherent sense of disgust from rising out of me at the mere sight of them.

Their limbs had been twisted unnaturally, as though their bones weren’t even present. Arms were wrapped around each other, with their wrists and palms tied together into a knot. It was the same case for their legs.

There were no wounds present, yet it almost physically hurt me to look at them. Although no sound travelled through the pane, their faces were enough to speak to the sort of agony they were in.

Alice shot Bukayo a look, to which he merely shrugged.

"Don’t worry. I only did that after confirming their identities."

"And...?"

"They are skinwalkers, obviously. What do you take me for?"

Bukayo almost looked betrayed. Almost.

Alice didn’t reply to his question. Yet something told me she didn’t put it past him to do that to humans. I wouldn’t put it past him, either.

’His powers were related to bones, right?’

"Open it."

The witch kept her gaze trained on the monsters on the ground as she spoke. She turned to look at me.

"We need to test your abilities on them."

I knew it.