"Jurei Lozo," Dok said with smile on his face. He seemed to enjoy it. "I like that name. what do you think Kisharu, quite the unique name, right?"
Kisharu didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on Lozo. He could barely see his full face, only his dark eyes that hang over the nurse's shoulder.
"So, is this what you what, Lozo?"
Lozo remained quiet.
Kisharu could hear his breathing even though he was a distance away. It was tensed and unsure. Expected. Anyone in that situation would be. But other than his breath, Kisharu could hear something else. It was coming from outside.
They were footsteps. Many of them and sounded like they were in a hurry.
"Hurry up!"
"There is more from where that came from."
"Where's Dok!"
The noises sounded.
'Tch! This kid?' he thought.' Just how much does he know?'
"So, tell me Lozo, how are you even planning to run away. The surveillance here is…"
"The security around here has dwindled to a point where you rely on nurses to keep guard. Normal nurses." Lozo interrupted." Whatever it is I'll use it to my advantage."
"Normal nurse's?" Kisharu asked curious for his choice of words.
"Non-Harmatia nurses. It quite easy to tell by just how they look at you." He answered.
"So why not escape earlier. Why wait and be in a situation like this? We are obviously stronger than you." Kisharu continued.
Lozo's eyes swayed to the side then drifted back to Kisharu.
"…"
"I needed to see Hinari again before I left. Even if just a fragment of her. "He answered, his tone void of joy or excitement.
"And I wanted to know where my current power stands compared to you two. Data for when I decide to come back."
"You think you can out run us?"
Lozo exhaled. His muscles got tense, especially his legs.
"No. I wasn't aiming for it to be easy. I want to barely escape this place."
Kisharu's stance had been on high alert since Lozo drew the hair-pin and held it to the nurse's neck. A single twitch and he would be on Lozo like a predator on its first prey in a while.
But now, weirdly, he relaxed. He threw on a black coat and steadied it. He looked to Dok and asked.
"Have you seen enough?"
Dok looked back to him surprised. "What do you mean?" he said tilting his head trying to point at Lozo.
"Enough of this charade Dok. Make you decision now. Mora isn't that patient." Kisharu retorted the attempt his attempt to play dumb.
Lozo looked down on them confused. What were they talking about? Who is Mora?
As the questions formed Lozo felt a presence loom behind him. He blinked. Dok was standing by the pillar – alone. Where did the other guy go?
Then it hit him. Behind me.
But the realization came too late. Lozo jumped to the side landing on one of the seats along the escarpments of the Hearth room. He looked back to where he had been standing. The nurse was gone. The only thing left was her hair-pin in his hand.
"Sorry for the trouble, miss." Kisharu said dropping the nurse close to where the bandaged girl and her nurse were.
"Don't worry Lozo." Dok said looking at Lozo who was startled like a cat that had been suddenly woke by cold water.
"We just want to talk."
…
A while later Lozo's nurse and the bandaged girl and her nurse left the Hearth room, not before Lozo's nurse gave Lozo one of her stinging side eyes. In the room remained: Lozo, who was still mounted on the chair like a scared cat, Kisharu, who was pocketing and hoisting his body by the pillar and finally Dok who was trying to have Lozo lower his guard.
"I told you we just want to talk." Dok said.
Lozo just stared. He was cautious. Who wouldn't be after a person just speed blitzed behind you with you even knowing.
Dok sighed and decided to have a sit. He walked to one of the few cushion seats that surrounded the pillar and sat down.
"For a person younger than me you are quite perceptive, Lozo. I bet that skill has helped you a lot in your past. That's good and is actually the reason I wish to talk to you. You know… before Mora gets here." Dok began.
"Also, I've told you not to be cautious of me, I just want to talk. But I doubt you'll trust my word and so I'll sit like this. With my back facing you." He said crossing his leg and getting comfortable in the cushion seat.
Kisharu looked towards Lozo then back at Dok. Lozo's guard seemed to have lowered but based on the grip he had on the hair-pin not so much.
"Okay, now since that's out of the way I'd like you to confirm something for me. The thing that led you to request for this situation even though there were easier ones."
"I had assumed that you had started plotting your escape from the moment you woke up and your earlier silence was a way to mislead us. Even after you said her name for the first time, I thought you were just pretending. As such I'd like to ask for your forgiveness. As a doctor I should have noticed the pain you were in and tried to help you and not resort to blackmail."
He paused for a while.
"But my idea of you trying to escape wasn't entirely wrong, was it? Only that it came earlier from when you really did start. I'm guessing a few days before your first request."
"And that brings me to the main matter at hand. "
"You're an Harmatia. Possibly having an affinity to earth and a second one too. "
At the back Lozo watched as Dok build his profile on thin air. He needed to get out of there fast or he would get the chance to… ever.
"The dirt marks on your clothes weren't you playing with mud, were they? They were a test. A test whether you could still muster your affinity because that was what your first plan hinged on." He continued.
"But you realized you couldn't and developed a new one. "
"You picked out your weapon." The hair-pin jingled.
"Got back your mobility," Lozo's muscles coiled." And choose a day to enact your plan. Today."
"And what of it?" Lozo asked anticipating the worst. An attack.
"Tell me Lozo, why did you pick this day?"
"Or maybe… you didn't choose. You let us choose when you asked for your final request, to see Hinari."
"So what? You figured out my plan. I'm still going to escape." That was a lie and Lozo knew it. He had gotten a too far from the door they had come in through than he had intended to. Him getting out of that room was going to be by sheer luck. Or something else.
As his thought assessed the futility of escape, Dok rose from his seat and turned to Lozo. His eyes no longer had that joyous glimmer that they usually had. They rose and locked on Lozo.
"I'm glad to see that my dissection was a success but I have yet told you the reason I'm still talking to you right now."
"Then what is it? Why do you waste your time here when there are others who need your help right now?"
Dok exhaled. Then he spoke.
"Well, that's because I'd like you to join my squad Lozo."
"I Pan-Dok of Himo village, ask Jurei Lozo to join my family, House Himo, to serve and protect the kingdom under it." He asked with a slight bow.