"Oh… well… your apology has been received, Your Highness."
The gold-haired girl raised one brow and then gave the blue-haired man a taxing look before shrugging her shoulders and saying in a dismissive manner.
"Would it be allowed for me to escort you toward the teleportation array?"
Magnus wasn't done talking, it seemed, as he asked after straightening his back.
"We're not going to the teleportation array, though?"
Melinda tilted her head and pointed out, not even considering going out of her way and providing any additional information.
"...in that case… would I be allowed to escort you to the…"
"We'll be going from this very spot, Your Highness."
The blue-haired prince appeared confused but tried to follow up the same line of thought, only for Zane to sigh at him, moving towards the side of the gate itself and taking out one of the wall bricks and revealing a strange device hidden inside.
With Magnus' sharp eyes focused on him, the monstrous man tinkered with the device for a bit before nodding to himself with satisfaction and stepping to the side.
*WHOOM*
The device shook and produced a buzzing noise - the next moment, it unraveled itself, extending into a thin rectangular frame taking up the length of a single gate wing.
While still buzzing, the area within the frame changed. First, it turned dark, as if it was somehow able to cast a deep shadow on the area behind it. Next, the shadowy area turned murky and then blurry until it finally changed into a completely different scene - still covered in deep shadow.
And like that, the Shadow Gate was complete right then and there.
"It's a new version. Despite appearing slightly similar at first glance, it has nothing to do with the ability of the Shadow Stalking Ripper Panther."
The monstrous man turned to the gold-haired girl and revealed with a bitter smile.
"Zane… whether with or without the Church's permission, I will erase the Deep Dusk Dullahan for you. For them."
Melinda reached out, touching Zane's elbow and tracing her hand alongside his forearm until finally reaching and sliding her delicate hand into his palm and promising in a hushed voice.
"It's okay."
Zane squeezed her hand back and nodded, his bitter smile changing into one filled with warmth.
"Let's go then."
Melinda propped the bundle she was skilfully holding in one arm and declared, motioning toward the shadow gate with her chin, without even the slightest intention to let go of Zane's hand.
"Stop! Where do you intend to take my sister!? I will not allow you to take her through some dubious…!"
"Your Highness. Shut up while the worst punishment you received is still only a harsh word or two."
The tall blue-haired prince stepped forward and called out in exasperation, agitated over the unconventional means of travel, but the monstrous man glazed over his shoulder and scoffed at him, clearly trying to hide his actual feelings on the matter.
Poorly, but trying nonetheless.
"Uuuu… Ghnffn… uuu…"
With her older brother frozen solid in place, Bjorki stepped forward and passed him, following Melinda, Zane, Catherine, and Ross.
Putting aside her uncontrollable sobbing, she was obediently listening to all the instructions without as much as appearing to attempt going against the gold-haired girl.
Despite looking as if there should be some sort of thin film separating the sides of the gate, passing through it was completely seamless.
"..."
As all five were on the other side, Catherine nervously glanced over her shoulder, unsure about what sort of action the crown prince of the homeland would take, but she could breathe out at ease.
The shadowy silhouette of Magnus Em'raldio was standing still back on the other side of the gate, clenching his fist in dissatisfaction but not taking any actual action whatsoever.
Since others stopped, Catherine could have looked around properly, intrigued by the fact that the device that Zane used was a part of the wall of an abandoned-looking building at the edge of some settlement, either a small town or a large village - at least in her opinion.
"Oh? We didn't go directly?"
"...?"
Melinda seemed just as surprised as Catherine, but she actually inquired about what was bothering her.
"That's right. Sarmi asked to have it removed for the time being since they are redesigning the place."
Zane chuckled and nodded before recalling.
"Redesign?! The whole place!? But it was so nice when we left it!"
Melinda called out in disbelief, looking up at Zane with a slight pout.
"If I remember correctly, it's the third time Tule convinced others to change the place. It's getting more and more advanced each time, although I can't help but worry that it begins to lean into dystopian architecture more and more with each iteration."
"...and you didn't mention anything up until now…?!"
The monstrous man added, and the distressed gold-haired girl grumbled.
"You wouldn't be able to witness it in the first place, so I spared you the heartache over the decision."
"...hmph…"
Zane pointed out with a cheeky smirk, making Melinda blush and look away in an attempt not to give him the satisfaction of seeing her flustered.
But even when acting grumpy, she moved closer, leaning into him as they began to walk out of the village without properly entering it.
"Shouldn't we… ask if she's okay…?"
With Zane and Melinda leading their group, the crying Bjorki followed them like a heartbroken duckling. As for the last pair, the hooded Pigkin Orc leaned down to the black-haired girl's ear and muttered, dropping the oinking without as much as batting an eye.
"D-does she b-bother you…?"
Catherine flinched and grumbled, suddenly upset for some reason.
"I… never seen a person cry so much… crying means that bad things happened or are happening, doesn't it?"
Ross backed off slightly before pointing out, wondering about Catherine's reaction.
"N-not ne-ne-nec-ne-necessarily. People can c-cry with r-relief o-or j-joy, too."
The timid girl got flustered and turned red over, stuttering more than was normal for her.
"I see. It doesn't look like either of those options in this case, though."
"...!"
Ross nodded but then added, making Catherine clench her fists and pout, clearly gravely upset at the situation to the degree that even the Pigkin Orc instantly picked it up.
"Oi."
The hooded monster's voice lowered as he leaned over the black-haired girl and reached his hand towards her.