Sezel stayed locked in the cage, a chicken in a coop, waiting to be slaughtered. He was all alone, his gaze fixed on the humming, steaming machines in front of him.
It was already night time, and everyone had gone to their usual shift of harvesting Spirit Essence. There was no one inside the underground Sanctuary at this time except Sezel and whatever it was that lurked on the other side of the curtained stage.
Sezel was worried about Mari. Up until yesterday, she had the puppet to protect her. But now, she was alone, with the puppet destroyed, and Vesta's promise to take care of her was not something he could rely on.
He knew, with a certainty, that she would soon get busy harvesting the Spirit Essence, forgetting about everything else in the world.
He sighed, a long, weary exhalation of helplessness. "What else can I do?" he murmured to himself, his voice low. "Let's have a little faith in her."
