The mind attack must have driven her insane. It was a good thing that Lady Cassia would be able to help her, too.
A few days later, Yutra escorted Rit to receive the treatment.
Later, he was surprised to see her again. Rit was free of the shackles, wearing unassuming civilian clothes. She gave him a polite bow.
"Awakened Yutra. Uh... sorry to bother you, but I am still a bit confused. Oh, I am Rit, the new hire. Tegrot told me that you'll show me the ropes?"
Yutra blinked a few times.
"Right. Sure. Welcome... aboard?"
He hesitated for a few moments, then asked:
"Say, you wouldn't know anything about an infernal prison camp hidden in a lightless abyss, right?"
Rit gave him a dubious glance.
"Sorry, but what the hell are you talking about?"
Yutra coughed.
"No, nothing. Right, have you already written the letter? If not, let's take care of that first.'
***
Yutra, Tegrot, and Rit were sitting on alloy crates in the generator room. In front of them, a case of synthetic beer was already half-empty, with empty cans assembled carefully into a neat row.
"How long does a shift last, anyway?" Synthetic beer had a limited effect on Awakened, but Rit was slightly slurring her words. She was a real lightweight.
Tegrot took a sip, then sighed in satisfaction and shrugged.
"A couple of weeks, I think? On average. It depends, really, on what you get exposed to. Yutra had to guard a very talkative patient once, so he got wiped after only three days."
Rit gave Yutra a dubious stare.
"Really?"
He frowned.
"How should I know? I don't remember.'
Taking a big gulp, he added an empty can to the row and sighed.
"You know what I miss? Monster meat."
His two pals scowled at him. Yutra grinned. "I know that every Awakened is sick of it, but me? I can never get enough. My wife and I actually met during our solstice, so as soon as we Awakened, she went out of her way to make sure that we only ate natural food. Ah, but I really like the taste of monster meat.'
Tegrot and Rit glanced at each other, then simultaneously shook their heads.
"Hey, Rit. I think Yutra is contaminated. He's spouting insane things. Should I report him to Lady Cassia?"
At the mention of Song of the Fallen, Rit's usually harsh eyes brightened.
"Lady Cassia! I met her today. She's so... So..."
Tegrot nodded.
"Yes, She is."
Yutra could not help but nod, too. A silly smile appeared on his face when he remembered his own interactions with Lady Cassia.
"To our lady!"
The three of them clinked their cans together and drank from them happily. "Although... she would probably be cross with us if she caught us drinking on the job: The three of them looked at each other with concerned expressions.
Eventually, Yutra shrugged.
"Well. Good thing she hasn't caught us then. What she doesn't know can't hurt her, right?"
Tegrot nodded.
"Right. We should destroy the evidence, though"
Rit reached for another can.
"Yeah. We should hurry up and eliminate this entire crate, for sure..."
***
A few days later, Yutra escorted a patient to the treatment room and waited in front of the door.
When the treatment was over, he entered the cell, intending to take the patient to the discharge crew. To his surprise, though, the man was unconscious — Lady Cassie was slumped on the chair, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
When she lowered her hand, Yutra froze, awestruck.
This was the first time he saw their lady without her usual blindfold. He had expected her eyes to be white and cloudy, but they were clear and of a breathtaking blue color instead.
Her eyes, just like the rest of her, were breathtakingly beautiful.
It was a good thing that Lady Cassia's beauty was so heavenly as to seem unreal. It was as if she existed in an entirely different world from mortal men like Yutra, and because of it, he could only regard her as a sublime being. Someone too sacred to be touched by the dirt of the world.
Otherwise, he would have to remind himself that he was a married man every time he saw her.
Noticing him, Lady Cassie pulled up her blindfold and sighed.
"He fainted after seeing me after the treatment. I am sorry, Yutra... I will have to trouble you with dragging this man to the discharge team."
He bowed lightly.