"—!"
Gil made no effort to mask the irritation in his voice. On the other side of the shadows, the figure flinched, hesitated for a brief moment, and finally stepped forward.
He wasn't the only one whose patience was wearing thin. After the Scholar's long speech and the unexpected arrival of their two new companions, Kuro and Greg also wore visibly annoyed expressions at this latest interruption.
Beside them, Orphée observed the scene with an amused air, while Hugo was content to just stand there, his gaze blank, completely uninterested in the newcomer.
After a moment, the silhouette took shape in the gloom. It was a petite young woman with an anxious look.
She had curt auburn hair,a a youthful look with a little bit of baby fat and a air of the little sister next door.
Gathering all her courage under Gil's dark glare, she took a deep breath, abruptly bowed at a ninety-degree angle, and blurted out in a trembling voice:"Thank you so much for what you did!"
At those words, Gil's mind went completely blank.
Dumbfounded, he remained silent. Around him, total confusion reigned. Kuro immediately stared at him, her brow furrowed as if asking: Where did she come from? Do you know her?
Greg looked at him with the exact same perplexity, even though he knew full well that Gil hadn't spoken to anyone other than them since their arrival.
Even Orphée, sitting with his chin resting in his palms, watched the spectacle as if attending a fascinating play.
Looking the young girl up and down to make sure he had indeed never seen her in his life, Gil let his irritation melt away, replaced by deep hesitation.
"Uh... do we know each other?"
The girl straightened up, her cheeks slightly flushed.
"No, we don't. But... thank you for the warning you gave in the arena. Many of my friends and I would be dead without it."
"Ah!"
A collective look of understanding washed over the faces of the small group—with the exception of Hugo, who still didn't understand a word of the conversation.
Gil, on the other hand, seemed neither flattered nor particularly happy to be thanked.
Turning his head away, he replied in a completely flat voice:"No need to thank me. All I wanted at that moment was to throw a big wrench in the gears and ruin the show for those bastards. Don't overthink it. Besides..." His gaze drowned in the shadows for a moment, turning darker. "We can't really say I helped you guys. On the contrary, you could almost say that if we lost so many people, it's because of my instructions, right?"
A bitter smile stretched across his face. But surprisingly, despite her frail stature and timid appearance, the young girl showed remarkable tenacity.
She shook her head briskly.
"No. We were supposed to be reduced to a quarter of our numbers by now. It doesn't matter what your intentions were or whether you cared about saving our lives... The result is there: your actions helped us. And that's why I came to say thank you. It's on my own initiative. No matter what you think, I wanted to thank you for what it changed for me. It's as simple as that."
Caught off guard by her disarming logic and unfiltered sincerity, Gil lost his footing. Left speechless, he shot a desperate look toward his companions, silently begging for help.
Discreetly, Greg held back a laugh seeing Gil so unsettled. Even Kuro raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. At the side, Orphée let out a subtle whistle: since he had met Gil, this was the very first time he had seen him in such a state, utterly unable to talk back.
Realizing he wouldn't get any help, Gil glared at his allies.
Bunch of traitors, I'll deal with you later.
Sensing other people's emotions had its drawbacks.
Against schemers and manipulators like Mao, it was easy for Gil to spot bad intentions and react accordingly. But faced with someone driven by such pure and direct motives, he was completely at a loss.
Bringing his remaining hand to his face, Gil shook his head to brush off his discomfort.
"Alright, alright... I get it." He still insisted, refusing to believe anyone would approach him without an ulterior motive. "You said what you had to say, but you didn't come just for that, did you?"
Once again, he was wrong. The young girl straightened up gently.
"Yes, that's all." Then, hesitating a moment before turning around, she added in a low voice, "You know... as for the others, please don't hold it against them too much. They're just looking for a scapegoat to vent their frustration, and you're unfortunately the target they found."
Gil's expression instantly hardened, replaced by a facade of indifference. Thinking about all those ingrates who, like the Scholar, gloated over his situation didn't affect him anymore.
"Don't worry about me. You, on the other hand, try not to die. What's your name, by the way?"
The girl gave him a soft smile.
"Arya. My name is Arya. And... I know I said that was all, but..." She winced with an embarrassed air. "Please don't hold it against Helena too much..."
Gil tilted his head, his gaze blank.
"My leader," Arya quickly explained. "The head of our group."
Understanding immediately who she was talking about, Gil's face turned icy cold. Sensing the abrupt shift in the atmosphere, Arya offered an apologetic smile.
"I'm not making excuses for her. It's just that she can be a bit harsh at times... but she's really good to those she considers her own. Just... don't get into a fight, okay?"
Gil let out a cold laugh.
"That depends on her. As I've already made clear, as long as she leaves me alone, I won't bother picking fights with her crew."
Letting out a sigh mixed with both relief and sadness, Arya nodded. Suddenly hearing her name called from a distance, she gave a final wave to the group before disappearing into the darkness.
Watching her walk away, Gil couldn't help making an observation to himself: this place was definitely populated by strange ones, that was for sure.
Between Orphée, who kept watching every interaction like a play; the giant Hugo, who didn't even flinch in the face of death; Kuro the stoic, off whom everything seemed to slide; Greg the laughing oaf, who had already forgotten the punches he had just taken; the bastard Scholar; not to mention Helena, with her unknown motives; and now Arya... who had come just to thank him.
Truth be told, those masked guys in cloaks certainly knew how to pick their targets... while carefully omitting, of course, to include himself in this parade of weirdos.
But looking at those around him, especially his two earliest allies, a sudden and inexplicable wave of unease washed over him.
It was a sticky, sickening feeling, hard to put into words—a sense of déjà vu paired with a bad omen scratching at the back of his mind, refusing to leave him alone.
Sensing his inner turmoil, Kuro broke the silence.
"Is something wrong?"
Gil's initial instinct was to reassure her and pretend everything was fine. But he quickly reconsidered. Given everything she had done in the arena and the support she had shown so far, she deserved honesty.
Hesitating for a second, he confessed in a low voice, "I don't really know how to explain it... but I have a very bad feeling."
Kuro raised an eyebrow. Without going into detail, Gil explained that his bad feelings had a nasty habit of coming true. Rather than doubting him, Kuro asked no further questions; she simply nodded and fell deep into her own thoughts.
Overhearing their exchange, Greg scratched the back of his head. Not quite knowing what else to add, he offered a rational explanation:
"Maybe it's just anxiety about tomorrow. It probably won't be like today. In a place like this, you never know what to expect, so it's normal for your nerves to be shot."
"Or maybe," Kuro added in a flat tone, "it's the weight of responsibility that comes with leading our little misfits crew."
Gil stared at her with wide eyes before bursting into a short, incredulous laugh.
"Is that humor I hear coming out of your mouth?"
Seeing Kuro's face remain as stoic and marble-like as ever, he let the comment slide.
A short distance away, Orphée and Hugo were content to just listen in silence.
Looking at all of them gathered like this, Gil finally realized where that suffocating feeling was actually coming from.
It's the same...
Sure, as Kuro had pointed out, acting as the de facto leader weighed on his shoulders. But if he was being completely honest with himself, what terrified him most was the horrifying parallel to his recent past.
This scene... this group dynamic resting together... all of it brought back the brutal memory of the vision he had experienced earlier.
Those people laughing, talking, hoping... right before the slaughter.
A shiver ran down his spine. Shaking his head to dispel the dark thoughts, he tried to smother the panic rising inside him.
"No..." he whispered under his breath, desperately trying to reassure himself without much success. "No... We survived the arena. We're not like them."
But the feeling didn't leave.