In his excitement to reunite with the cats, Toz was about to forget the only thing keeping Yill from turning him into an ice cube. Thankfully, both Dyra and Yill seemed a little distraught, so neither of them took the opportunity to try and get Dyra out of his grasp when he was distracted.
Yill didn't seem to mind as she stayed behind when Toz pulled Dyra along with him to faster reunite with the rest of the cats.
Toz turned around the corner, a budding smile on his face. However, his face twisted in confusion at the unexpected sight, and he stopped walking.
A young spectacle-wearing man was walking while carrying four boxes, from which the sound of chains came. The boxes isolated the cats and Toz's inclination. Toz didn't know how such small boxes could have such a powerful effect, but his mind was occupied by something else entirely.
The person carrying the boxes was none other than Brunswick. Not only that, he was even wearing a black uniform, suspiciously similar to the uniform worn by the person on the Obsidian Kingdom's delegation, who threw out the platform in the Void.
Brunswick didn't look very surprised at the sight of Toz, but it seemed like he was also trying to keep a neutral face as he placed the boxes on the ground.
Toz didn't say anything to Brunswick. Since he had taken on that uniform, he had made his choice. Brunswick took a step back after placing the boxes on the ground, and he was about to use a token to open them up, but Toz was quicker.
Toz dissolved the boxes and the chains restraining the cats with Dissolution while Mindle took on the hostage.
Nil, Lucy, Scrael, and Asilean were stunned when their prisons melted away into nothingness in front of them. They only had a second to be worried before they sensed the restored connection with Toz. And when the chains followed in the boxes' footsteps, the four cats dove onto Toz, burying him in a happy reunion.
Toz felt slightly regretful as he asked the cats to stop. Thankfully, the cats understood since they quickly figured out the situation all of them were in and jumped down from Toz.
Toz and Mindle switched places to let the cats greet each other as well. However, one cat was a little less happy than the others.
Lucy looked at Brunswick with eyes that first showed a confused look and then a sad one as Brunswick intentionally ignored Lucy. Scrael hugged Lucy and brought him back to the others. She turned around and threw Brunswick a glare before continuing to ignore his existence.
The cats and Brunswick hadn't known each other for long, and there was nothing special tying them together, but the cats had still liked and gotten along well with Brunswick, especially Lucy.
Seeing him distance himself and side with the people who kidnapped and imprisoned them naturally hurt Lucy and the others' feelings. But they weren't angry or free enough to beat him up about it. They were still friends in some way, after all. And it wasn't like they couldn't understand why Brunswick made the choice he did. They just couldn't accept it. They were also busy with Dyra and Yill and the situation on that front, which, since it concerned their freedom, took priority.
The cats calmed down as Yill caught up to Toz and Dyra. Well, most of them did. Asilean didn't.
"You! What did you do to Taienra!?"
Asilean got in a ready position as he questioned Yill while rousing his magic.
Toz and the others had no idea about what happened after Yill knocked them unconscious, and they also hadn't had time to share their experiences, so Asilean was the only one who knew that Taienra had tried to fight against Yill. But he lost consciousness before he could see what happened. However, he knew that Taienra wouldn't simply retreat in the face of him in danger, which meant she would certainly have tried to defeat Yill.
Taienra might be strong, but after experiencing Yill's strength directly, Asilean knew that Taienra wouldn't be a match for her, even when she was at her best, much less when she was still recovering from the effects of her breakthrough.
Asilean naturally suspected the worst since he couldn't sense Taienra anywhere nearby. He knew he couldn't beat the answer out of Yill, but he couldn't stop himself from demanding an answer.
However, Yill only smirked.
"Oh, that whale? I guess you could say that she's far from here."
Toz was a little confused, but he realized that Taienra must have come to help Asilean when they tried to escape from Yill's grasp during the peace talks between Pirate Haven and the Alliance of Kingdoms. Since she was a friend and a valued member of their group, Toz didn't need to know anything more. He held up Dyra's hand again.
"Spill it."
"I would if I could. But I don't know where that whale is."
"Attitude."
Following Toz's word, a third finger dropped on the floor. Dyra was almost used to it by now, so she instantly sealed the wound with magic before it could bleed and cover the floor in blood. It also seemed like she had done it subconsciously since her gaze was focused on Yill.
"Granny, are they talking about that mutated Starry Sky Whale? The one you said you found swimming nearby?"
Yill had been glaring at Toz in frustration after he cut off another one of Dyra's fingers, but a pang of guilt flashed across her face as she looked at Dyra. Her expression changed into one of neutrality almost instantly, but it wasn't fast enough to escape Dyra's notice.
"Toz, was it? It seems I have to thank you for unveiling another one of Protector Yill's lies today."
Dyra changing the way she addressed yill from 'granny' to 'Protector Yill' seemed to have had an impact on Yill as she looked at Dyra with slightly sad eyes.
"Sorry, miss. I didn't mean to lie to you, but a mutated Starry Sky Whale isn't something that belongs to country bumpkin brats-"
"Her name is Taienra! And she belongs to no one!"
Asilean had enough of Yill and interrupted her while lashing out with his claws.
