"You seem very calm about this."

"...."

In the Inn's dining room in the world of Ky'lar, Shija sat with his usual calmness, sipping herbal tea, while Boudica stirred uncomfortably.

"I don't understand why we have to follow the pace of that... thing."

She had grabbed a piece of bread, which she ate with thinly veiled anxiety. The discomfort was palpable, a mix of fear of Mireya and frustration over the forced servitude after receiving "discipline" upon arrival.

"Because he is our benefactor, and our contract is still in force."

Shija then wiped his lips with methodical neatness.

"Even more so in your case..."

"Hey, you bastard! What is that supposed to mean...?"

"Nothing, really... Just remember that if you try anything... I will personally take care of you."

After saying those words in a threatening tone with a flat, calm voice, Shija drank his tea, looking away.

"To tolerate is part of your obligation."

"..."

Boudica then fell silent, forced to swallow her pride and the rest of the bread.

(This bastard... Does he really know who I am...?)

The air had become charged with unresolved tension while the bandit soul in the warrior’s body remained on high alert following the swordsman's cold warning.

"¡¡SKREEEEEEEEEEÓNG!!"

But it was in that moment...

(¡¡WHRROOOUUMMM!!)

... That the moment of confrontation vanished.

(¡¡KÁ-ZHOOOWW!!)

When the sonic wail struck.

"Huh?!"

"What?!"

It wasn't a sound, but a tidal wave of psychic agony that attacked the nervous system directly.

"¡¡AARGH!!"

The pain was such that Shija let out a guttural roar that choked in his own chest. His normally impassive face contorted into a mask of unbearable pain, as if an unimaginable power were extracting his soul.

"AAAAAAAAGHHH!!"

Boudica, on the other hand, was hit with an even greater ferocity, letting out a shriek of pain while the toned muscles of her body tensed to the point of rupture and her mouth opened in a mute grimace of terror, letting out a thread of white foam.

(Bam!!)

In the end, both fell to the floor with a dull, simultaneous thud, their bodies convulsing while the Wail left them in a state of catatonic coma.

(They fainted!)

(Oh, no!)

(What do we do...?)

Thus, when the silence settled, some straw dolls who were playing innocently nearby approached, hearing the noise, and immediately tried to administer first aid.

"Well, just in time, little ones."

But they immediately stopped dead in their tracks upon hearing a telepathic voice that they recognized.

"That human seems incapable of resisting the wave of madness for much longer, unlike the swordsman. Therefore, to ensure her survival, take her to the basement."

Upon hearing Echidna's words, the innocent straw dolls, still not fully understanding the situation...

(I understand!)

(Basement!)

(Let's go!)

... Cheerfully nodding, they carried the unconscious Boudica toward the depths of the Inn's "basement."

Thus, the dolls, though diminutive in size, lifted Boudica with a strength that belied their adorable appearance. Their tiny arms clung to the warrior’s shoulders and legs, clasping with an unnatural traction.

(One, two, one, two...!)

(Careful...)

(Slowly~!)

With a joint effort, Boudica’s heavy body was lifted from the floor. It was like watching a group of ants carry a gigantic leaf. Their superhuman strength, one more manifestation of their cursed nature, allowed them to handle the weight without problems.

(CRAC, CLANG, CRUNCH, RASP)

But while the straw dolls carried Boudica through the Inn, a chilling transformation revealed itself around them, for without the presence of conscious beings to deceive, the Inn released its true form.

(SQUEAK, GRRRRR, CLANK)

The wooden walls groaned and twisted, the floorboards pulled apart with mournful moans, revealing not brick or plaster, but fibrous muscles and bony tendons that pulsed faintly beneath a skin of old wood.

(GRRR, GRUUUUM, HISS)

The windows, once innocent panes of glass, darkened and sank, transforming into sunken, malicious eyes that watched the interior with an unsettling stillness. The doors twisted into gnashing wooden mandibles, their metal handles becoming pointed, serrated protrusions from which breathing could be heard.

(PLOP, SHLLLL, SLUUURP)

The ceiling arched and curved, suggesting a gigantic spine that stretched toward the night sky. The floor, beneath the dolls' feet, now felt like rough skin, with the boards rising and falling to the rhythm of slow, heavy breathing. The oil lamps hanging from the ceiling swung like bony pendulums, casting dancing shadows that lengthened and shortened as the Inn's structure moved with a monstrous life.

(BAM!, WHUMP, THWACK)

The atmosphere became dense and oppressive, loaded with the smell of rotten wood, mold, and a metallic stench reminiscent of dry blood. The gusts of air that were once breezes now felt like cold sighs exhaled by the winding hallways, which seemed to narrow and lengthen at will, like living throats.

(It woke up!)

(Games later!)

(Yay~!)

The Straw Dolls, however, remained unperturbed. To them, this was simply the house's "fun" aspect, its way of playing while the "grown-ups" slept, so they continued their advance with their small footsteps oddly echoing, like the ticking of a wooden heart in the beast's belly. They navigated the twisted hallways and the stairs that now looked like broken teeth of a gigantic mouth, with the same cheerful unconcern with which they would play in a garden.

(We're here!)

Finally, upon reaching their goal, one of the straw dolls exclaimed while her companions dragged Boudica's unconscious body toward the basement entrance.

(THWACK!)

Once there, the wooden "mandibles" of the basement door opened with a resonant screech, revealing a tunnel of even deeper darkness.

(Let's go!)

(Hurry up!)

(One, two, one, two...!)

Whereupon the dolls, without a shred of fear, ventured into the abyss, carrying Boudica to her confinement, oblivious to the horror surrounding them.

Thus, the straw dolls entered the basement, which was not a simple storage room, but a conduit. The darkness was a tangible entity, thick and humid, and the dolls' lanterns only managed to reveal an oppressive and damp atmosphere.

The hallway was a nightmare in itself. The walls of damp earth and tangled roots twisted in cyclical patterns with piles of bleached bones and rusty ritual objects that seemed to have been digested and regurgitated by the earth itself.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!!"

As the dolls advanced, carrying Boudica, the silence was broken by a ghostly chorus. Desperate screams, distant lamentations, and incoherent whispers were heard, bodiless voices that seemed to come from the walls themselves.

(It happens here too...)

(It's the same as at home!)

(Another experiment...?)

But the dolls, nevertheless, whistled a cheerful lullaby, ignoring the chorus of condemnation as they moved forward.

"Stop, please! STOP!!"

Finally, the hallway opened into a vast subterranean cavern.

The air there was heavier, saturated with ozone and the acrid smell of metal.

"Help, help, help, help, help!!"

The cavern was illuminated by a greenish bioluminescent glow that came from veins of mold covering the walls, giving the place the appearance of a sick, giant organ where, in the center of the chamber, a crude black stone altar stood.

{SUBMIT, REPENT, BELIEVE}

Atop that pedestal sat Vrain, the brain, encapsulated in a jar, suspended within its glass tank filled with a slowly bubbling amber liquid, from which organic cables and tubes emerged.

"I regret it!! I AM SORRY!!"

In front of that brain, chained on the cold stone floor, was a woman.

"STOP!!"

Her figure, though visibly emaciated and dressed in loose, dirty clothes, retained a stoic dignity. Her skin was clear and smooth, with a light brown undertone that highlighted her beauty. On her dignified and well-defined face, framed by a delicate chin, her features stood out:

Well-defined purple eyebrows.

Fine, parallel double eyelids, with smoky purple eyelashes.

And penetrating golden-orb eyes that stared at the brain without blinking, filled with a mixture of defiance and torment amidst her suffering.

Her short hair, the exact color of the purple mist of dawn, contrasted sharply with the pallor of her skin.

(Poor thing...)

(She deserves it)

(She hurt Mom)

(Can't we help?)

The tragedy of her confinement was evident in her suffering: thick, rusty chains clung to her ankles and wrists. As she contemplated the brain in the tank, the woman bowed her head, and tears of pure blood began to roll down her cheeks, a silent testimony to the unbearable physical and emotional pain she was experiencing.

"Very well, little ones, now leave that human in the chamber and go play."

(Agreed!)

(Agreed!)

(Agreed!)

But, ignoring the whole "usual" scene, the straw dolls, following Echidna's order, approached the edge of the chamber, gently depositing Boudica's unconscious body at the feet of the chained woman, who did not blink or divert her gaze from the brain, trapped in a trance of torment.

"Plea... Please... Forgiveee...meee..."

That chained woman was Yuriel, one of the twin innkeepers who had been a test subject for Echidna following her silent capture at the hands of the ancient goddess.

"Why should I forgive you, dear?"

"A-aaaaaaaahh... You... Damned... Monster..."

That basement was not a mere dungeon, but the ancient goddess's "Testing Chamber." When Mireya's chaotic aura was released during Flora's birth, transforming the Inn into a monstrous living being, Echidna took advantage of the space's energy and malleability. Using her own archaic powers, she molded the subsoil into this cult chamber to continue a secret experiment that took years to achieve.

"I must admit that you have impressed me; after all, you are the ones who have persisted the most."

Yuriel and her twin, Helen, had been dragged here and subjected. Yuriel, chained in front of the brain, was not a simple prisoner; she was an object of research.

"You know, I was always interested in why, despite all the time that passed, my partner and I could never develop a priestess."

The truth was that this "experiment" had been discreetly ongoing for a long time, even before Mireya arrived in that world.

"The concubines have the highest probability of being priestesses, but they showed no indication of it..."

Echidna had been hunting. Subtly and without Mireya suspecting, the snake goddess had used her abilities to "casually" capture minor curses, wandering demons, and other high-potential energy beings that crossed Mireya's path in the previous world.

"But in no way could I use a precious concubine as a test subject, so I had to make use of other beings for testing."

Each of them had been subjected to compatibility tests, hoping to create a compatible priestess capable of channeling Mireya's power or serving her own ends.

"But despite the abundant divine energy, none ever seemed to emerge, even with my efforts to subtly suggest things to other beings in what they call a school."

The results, however, had been null. None were compatible.

"But in the end, nothing happened! That's why an idea occurred to me!"

Mireya's core was unique.

"To create a priestess."

Echidna smiled, looking at the most compatible ones to date in front of her.

"That's why you don't know how happy I was to be able to experiment so easily in this world without drawing attention."

Echidna's voice then traversed every fiber of her body, reaching the depths of her mind.

"However..."

But it was at that point that...

"... That they caused pain to my partner."

... Her tone turned icy, cold, and full of cruelty.

"They deserve punishment, right?"

Thus, the torment of Yuriel and Helen continued days later until Mireya's awakening.