Killian raised his head, locking eyes with her honey-brown eyes. Her face was so closely that he stopped breathing on impulse.

"Evelyn..." he looked away, heat rising to his head. "...too close."

She smiled softly, stepping back twice. "You looked pale. Did something happen? What did the angel say?"

"Nothing." Killian breathed out, rising from the ground. "I was just thinking out loud—"

"Now you look red." Evelyn jumped in, squinting at his face. "Are you sure you’re okay?" she asked again.

Killian couldn’t reply to that, he only massaged his face hoping the heat would disperse.

She inhaled sharply and placed a hand on his forehead. "George said you were fine, but you aren’t, right? Were you acting tough again?"

He only smiled.

Evelyn hummed, dropping her hand from his head. "You seem fine. Are you just overwhelmed? Those girls are energetic, aren’t they?"

He nodded calmly.

She waved her phone in front of him, while pulling him back towards the arena. "I have the perfect remedy. A playlist. You have started using the headphones, right?"

Killian snapped his head to his right side and the headphones weren’t clipped on his garter. His mind raced for a possible place he kept it.

"Uh, yeah..." He couldn’t remember where it was. He stepped away from Evelyn, moving backwards. "You should go ahead. I’d be right there."

"Hmm, you don’t want the playlist?" Evelyn asked, her voice dropping a little.

"No, no, I definitely want it. I just forgot something... else." He spun on his heel and walked to the only location he had been apart from the arena. He checked his inventory, and confirmed he never unconsciously sent it there.

"It should be in that room then." The room he had met the newbies and gotten their information into the files. "I’m so careless—"

BASH!

His feet slid to a stop. He looked towards the dark hallway where the sound came from. Soft whimpers came from the direction and then small sobs. A line creased on his forehead.

"Bullying? Who the hell is in there!"

"Oops," a small voice said.

Before Killian walked into the light, a light switch was flipped on. A small-sized preteen girl stood cutely, staring at Killian with big green eyes. She rubbed her knees together.

"It’s not... what you think... Leader-sir."

Killian’s eyes widened in slight horror at the bloodied face of Jane, who he just saw laughing with her opponent, against the floor. Jane sobbed gently, lying on the ground helplessly.

His eyes dragged back to the harmless looking girl.

"Why did you do that to her?" his voice dropped.

The girl’s eyes softened, looking like that of a puppy who was rejected snacks. She glanced at Jane with pity, and her shoulders dropped.

"I just... I don’t know... it’s just..."

Seeing her hesitation, Killian started closing the distance. He couldn’t understand if it was an accident but the injury looked too bad to not be intentional.

Also, it was only one sound he heard yet the damage looked like it was multiple blows. But the small girl couldn’t have the strength to do something like that.

"I just..." the girl looked up at Killian who now stood above her, waiting for her reason. She looked small and apologetic as he stared down at her from that angle.

But then— 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Her eyes expanded and the corners of her lips stretched in an uncanny stretch.

"I just thought she would look good that way." A crazy expression remained on her face.

The whiplash hit Killian hard enough he moved away from her.

The girl cackled loudly, twirling her small finger around her tightly curled hair. "Don’t you think so, Leader-sir. Jane who couldn’t win a single match. She definitely looks good being blasted in the face."

"..."

Killian crunched his teeth realizing. It must’ve been a sound wave she used to cause that damage. That was why he only heard a sound.

"You must be crazy—"

"Even if you’re a foreigner," the girl’s face straightened immediately, her gaze shifted to that of a condensation. "Do not speak to me in that tone." her small voice warned. "Within Amega, there are rules to follow. I am her superior, so what I do to my person is only my business."

Killian pressed his lips together.

’That is true. The Amega region is strong on culture and hierarchy.’

’I hate when it is abused like this but I shouldn’t overstep my role.’

"There will be another match for those who lost their first round." He said to her. "Jane can still recover."

"She had better recover." The girl said flatly. "Life already leads women of Amega two to zero, so if she doesn’t want to get sent to an old man for marriage, she should properly get into the academy."

The girl brushed past Killian, walking gallantly towards the arena. He turned to Jane, and noticed the tears streaming down her eyes.

He stooped down beside her, and handed her a healing strip.

She was too weak to receive it so he carefully placed it over her broken nose. He stooped there silently before speaking.

"Just rest. Even if you never get to the academy, you can still be a Warden."

Jane slowly shook her head, she forced her lips to move and whispered. "I will be... forced to marry a relative."

Killian’s shoulders lowered. He looked away from her face mixed with blood and tears.

It was harder for Wardens in a region that didn’t consider worshipping the Goddess or protecting their realm as important.

He had nothing to say to console her. He also knew he didn’t have the power to offset a culture of many years, so he rose from the ground.

"I hope everything works out for you then."

Jane said nothing. Killian moved away.

’Everyone has their own problems. This sucks.’

He returned to the arena, after taking his headphones. He had found the item at the exact seat he had been in the last room. The girls had settled somehow and saw Shania looking annoyed.

"She must have worked hard to get them to keep shut."

Shania exhaled when she saw him. "Don’t leave again or they will just go crazy. We have to control them together."

Killian flinched, wondering how that was his fault. Shania sighed, while picking the next names on the list. Killian didn’t listen as she called the names for the next match.

Two people stepped forward.

He narrowed his eyes at one of them- the crazy girl he had just seen. He moved towards Shania to stop the match immediately.

With the injury she caused with one sound wave, she was definitely stronger than the other newbies. She was also brutal.

Just then, the audience erupted in a cheer that froze Killian in place. Shania also looked excited as she raised her arm, not noticing Killian beside her.