Early in the morning.
In the corridor outside the room
"Good morning... Nana-chan~"
"Hiii!!!"
The moment Nana heard that sweet, familiar voice, she felt that her heart leaped outside her chest, stabbed itself with a knife one hundred times before jumping back inside, bleeding.
'Fuck!'
She knew that sing-song tone. She knew that way-too-cheerful-for-the-crack-of-dawn energy.
There was only one person it could be.
Jane.
Nana slowly turned, her body stiff as if she were a puppet and her strings were being pulled by a clumsy child.
And to her horror, it wasn't a hallucination.
Jane was standing there at the doorway of the room opposite hers, a wide, beaming smile on her face, her blonde hair in a ponytail that bounced with her every move. She was wearing a brand new hunter uniform, a tight-fitting black top, and pants that hugged her curves in all the right places.
"J-Jane?!" Nana stammered, her yellow eyes wide with disbelief. "W-What are you doing here?!"
"What do you think, silly?" Jane giggled, stepping forward and grabbing Nana's hands, her grip surprisingly strong. "I'm joining the Spiders Guild, of course!"
"E-EXCUSE ME?!" Nana's mind went blank for a second. "B-But... but... you can't..."
She trailed off, her eyes darting around nervously, trying to find the right words to say without revealing her secret.
"What? You think I'm not good enough?" Jane pouted, her lower lip jutting out in a way that Nana knew all too well meant trouble. "I'll have you know I've been training like crazy! I'm way stronger than I was before."
'It's not about that!' Nana wanted to scream. 'It's about you being a crazy, possessive stalker who can't wait for my lips to slip!'
But she couldn't say that.
Nana was 100% sure that Jane joined the guild just to be closer to her. And in a guild setting, with shared missions, dorms, and training grounds, that closeness would be suffocating.
She had no idea why Jane was acting this way. She knew the girl—Jane was her academy friend and one of the few who treated her with kindness. Nana still remembered the day she was almost raped by those thugs. If it wasn't for Jane...
She shuddered at the memory. If it wasn't for Jane's timely intervention, she would have been...
But now?
Jane was... Nana had no words. She was just... too much.
All of this started after that gate incident, and the moment Nana spoke the name.
Morgana.
"You are? That's great, Jane! I'm sure you'll do great," Nana forced a smile, her voice tight. "I'm just... surprised. I thought you'd join a more... support type guild."
"Nah," Jane waved a dismissive hand. "I want action! Adventure! I want to fight monsters and... and be with you, Nana-chan~."
Her blue eyes sparkled with a dangerous light as she said that, her grip on Nana's hands tightening.
"When I heard that this guild is a female-only guild, I just had to join," she added with a wink.
The Spiders Guild does accept men, but only under special conditions, and they won't be advertised.
For the public, they were an all-female guild.
Nana's mind raced. This was a disaster. A complete and utter catastrophe.
She needed to talk to her mother. Now.
But before she could make an excuse, Jane let go of her hand and took a step toward her room.
"I have to unpack my things, Nana-chan," she said with a cheerful smile. "See you later. Make sure to save two seats for us at the dining hall. Ella is joining the guild, too."
With that, she disappeared into her room, leaving Nana standing in the hallway, her body rigid with panic.
'Ella too?!' Nana's mind screamed. 'What is happening?!'
"That girl is interesting."
At that moment, Nyx suddenly appeared on the right side of Nana. Her white eyes were fixed on Jane's closed door, a strange, unreadable expression on her face.
"She has a strong desire for you," Nyx added, her tone neutral.
"Huh?... what do you mean?" Nana's voice was barely a whisper, her mind still reeling from the shock.
"She has a strong desire for you, Nana-chan," Nyx repeated, her gaze finally moving to her sister. "Her desire is so strong that it's almost... blinding. It's like a beacon in the night."
"A beacon of what?" Nana asked, her heart pounding in her chest.
"Of obsession," Nyx said, her voice dropping to a husky whisper. "She doesn't just want to be your friend, Nana-chan. She wants to 'own' you. She wants to be your everything."
She leaned closer, her lips almost touching Nana's ear.
"And she'll do anything to make that happen."
Nana shivered, a cold dread washing over her. She had always known that Jane was a bit... intense, but she never thought it was this serious.
"She... she wouldn't..." Nana stammered, her denial weak even to her own ears.
"Oh yes, she will," Nyx said, her tone leaving no room for argument. "She reminds me of someone I once knew."
Her white eyes clouded over, a flicker of old pain crossing her features.
"Blood never lies, she's really her granddaughter." She spoke those words only for her to hear.
"What did you just say?" Nana asked, confused.
Nyx didn't answer. She just shook her head, a sad smile on her face.
"Anyway, enough about that. You have a meeting with the other F-rank recruits. Don't want to be late on your first day, do you?"
With that, she vanished, leaving Nana alone in the hallway, her mind a whirlwind of confusion and fear.
Nana swiftly pulled out her phone and called her mother.
Pip!
"Mom, we have a problem. Jane and Ella are here."
"..."
No response.
"Mom, can you hear—"
"Ahh~" Her mother's response was a soft, breathy moan, followed by the unmistakable sound of wet, slapping flesh.
Nana's face burned. She knew that sound all too well.
"Are... are you busy?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"Yes, sweetie. I'm in the middle of a 'staff meeting'," Nora's panted voice came through the phone, laced with pleasure. "Greska is... ah~... 'reviewing' my performance. Can I call you back?"
Nana could almost picture the scene. Her mother, bent over her desk, her spider legs twitching as the half-giant pounded her from behind.
"No, it's urgent," Nana said, trying to keep her voice steady. "Jane is here. She joined the guild. And so did Ella."
There was a moment of silence, broken only by the wet, squelching sounds and Nora's muffled moans.
Nora knew that Jane was stalking her daughter, trying to find information about Morgana.
"I'm sorry, sweety, but I... ahh~... can't do anything about it unless she breaks a rule," Nora managed to say, her voice strained. "For now, she's just another recruit. We'll... ah~... We'll keep an eye on her. You'll just have to... hnng~... deal with it."
"But—"
"Look, Nana, I really have to go," Nora said, her voice tight. "We're... ah~... discussing a very important... hnngh... 'budget proposal'. I'll talk to you later."
With that, the line went dead.
Nana stared at her phone, her mind a chaotic mess, as well as her panties, as they were now soaked.
"Damn! She gets to have all the fun, and I get a blonde stalker," she pouted to herself, a wave of frustration washing over her.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She had to focus.
"I need a cock right now to blow some steam."
....
Inside the room.
Jane was humming a cheerful tune as she unpacked her things.
Her room was identical to Nana's, but she was already making it her own. Pictures of her and her family were pinned to the wall, her staff was propped up against the desk, and a small, intricately carved wooden box was placed on her bedside table.
She opened the box, revealing its contents.
An old compass, a lock of silver hair, a small, worn-out teddy bear, and a small golden needle.
She picked up the compass, her fingers gently caressing the cool metal. The needle didn't point north. It spun slowly before pointing directly at the wall that separated her room from Nana's.
The compass was an item Jane picked from her grandmother's collection when she was inside her secret vault. The compass has only one function: it locks on a target and always points to it.
And that target was Nana.
Jane was ready to do anything to get the truth from Nana, even if it meant using force.
"I need to test her blood," she whispered, gently picking up the golden needle.
The needle was made to draw a single drop of blood without the person noticing.
As for analyzing the blood, Jane has her necklace.
Testing Nana's blood wasn't necessary—Jane was simply trying to satisfy her curiosity.
However, if her necklace glowed red, that would be a problem.
Because the necklace would only glow red if the blood belonged to her and her grandmother.
"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it," Jane said to herself, her blue eyes hardening with determination as she put the compass and the needle in her pocket.
"For now... I'll play nice."