Jia Xichun (before battle)

... You have returned, young master.

Yep. Good evening, Xiren.

Xiren bowed wordlessly in that same detached coldness we sensed earlier.

She did not seem at all excited about her master's success today, nor did she appear to be concerned about him.

A letter has arrived for you, young master Baoyu.

…….

You didn't even try to hide the fact that the envelope was tampered with, did you?

My responsibility was to deliver the letter...

To protect its integrity was not one of my obligations.

Hong Lu, are you sure she's your maidservant?

It's okay~

She's not wrong.

Xiren, Xiren! Can I ask you something? Jia Ling promised to play a rock tossing game with me, but I can't find him anywhere.

Ah, that's… uh…

Umm, uhm… well, let's see. How many numbers have you learned so far, young master?

Xiren and I learned up to ten!

Mm, then he'll be back after one hundred nights' sleeps. Sleep ten nights, ten times, then that's one hundred nights.

Woah, that's so cool~ Xiren, you're so smart!

Aw, it's nothing. It's something we all learn growing up.

Xiren. I slept ten times ten nights, but I still don't know where Jia Ling's gone.

…….

… Did I say that young master Jia Ling was to return?

Mhmm, you said he'll be back after one hundred nights.

Oh…

One hundred nights is hardly enough, young master.

It will take at least a thousand nights.

Given what they did to him.

I see.

You're smart as always, Xiren.

Young master. It's been years, but young master Jia Ling's body is still decaying.

He has lost control of over half of his body.

…….

… Even after he was fed the Boluses I'd sent him...?

I was told to relay that your Boluses were useless, young master.

The decay reached his brain, and I overheard the other servants gossip that it is impossible to recover from such a wound.

The body is functionally dead. Death would be preferable, in fact.

So give up your naive hope and forget about him.

…….

You're... always so smart, Xiren.

<…….>

I will now read the letter, Executive Manager.

<Uh? Ah, right. Yeah.>

As I stood there pondering, Outis walked up to the front with the letter in hand.

... This is from Manager Saude.

Hello everyone, heard you managed to pass the first round.

I wrote this letter before I heard the news, actually. You wouldn't even be reading this letter if you hadn't passed.

The heck...?

But let's save the celebrations for later. The real game starts in round 2.

The other candidates must've been making alliances, strategies, sharing information about the next round...

... meanwhile you guys stumbled around, aimless and alone, before returning to your lodging. And here you are now, reading my letter.

Is she... watching us from somewhere?

But not to worry. For your team specifically, round 2 doesn't require much strategizing...

... because it'll be messy and continuous battle after battle.

So battle on, as you always do.

Huh?

It's what you do best, right?

H-hold on...

I would like to go into more detail in this letter, but I'm sure this letter will be - and has been, most likely - intercepted by someone from other candidates' clans or coalitions.

So, in order for you to obtain our objective, you have to rely on what you have learned and gained so far: your intuition and fearlessness.

Like I said earlier, we have but one purpose.

Contextual clues suggest that the 'one purpose' is implied to be 'come in second place and obtain the Golden Bough'.

Well, that wraps everything up, then. Oh, one last thing...!

Shameless curs who have rested their eyes upon the contents of this letter without authorization shall be struck down with a curse of misfortune that lasts generations upon generations; ne'er shall they ever be successful in any endeavor regardless of nature -

<The bottom part of the letter's been torn off, huh...>

What a way to end a letter...

So... does anybody know what to expect in round 2? That letter really didn't help with anything at all.

... It would be better to learn the exact rules on-site and hear from the organizers themselves.

It is likely that there are forces who already have their eyes and ears on us.

... Executive Manager, there is someone by the door.

Right on cue, eh...

Mm~ I don't think that's what this is.

<…!>

Dammit, you! Grab your weapons, prepare for batt -

Despite our rush, the person by the door was none other than Jia Xichun.

She wore an expression that we had grown quite familiar with by now: an interesting combination of annoyance and disappointment.

Why do I ever expect anything better from you anymore?

So you're just opening your front door to anyone, without even checking who knocked? Just like that?

Uh, I thought you were done talking with -

Ha ha ha, yeah, we can be pretty heedless from time to time.

Mm~ But I don't think anyone who's intending to kill us would have the decency to stand and hesitate in front of my door wondering if she should knock or not.

…….

Earlier, in round 1...

You had yourself killed in front of Jia Mu and big sister Yuanchun, didn't you?

And revived yourself in front of them too, I presume...

... Yeah.

Why even go that far, huh...?

What's gotten into you, brother? Family Hierarch, really? Why now, why all of a sudden?

I can tell, just from that look on your face...

... that you couldn't care less about becoming something like the Family Hierarch.

Is that... really it? That they told you to do it?

Xichun, imagine, just for the sake of it. What if, juuuuust what if, like, what if... our actual goal isn't to come in first place?

... Do you seriously expect me to believe that?

Ha ha... right? Totally. Heck, I wouldn't buy that either...

Anyways...

I'm not here to ally or parlay with you. I am never, ever doing anything like that with you again, brother.

It'll be nighttime soon, you know.

And your room's always been so dark because you barely let so much as a ray of moonlight in.

Seems like she's warning us that we'll be visited by some... uninvited guests soon.

Yeah. No way they're letting you, a sudden, unforeseen variable, spend the night in peace.

<But didn't they warn us earlier that round 2 candidates are prohibited from hurting each other...?>

... I see. The only thing that matters is the exact wording of the law, not the spirit of it.

Right. They won't intervene as long as a candidate's not trying to kill a fellow candidate, literally, with their own hands.

So don't trust anyone, even your maidservants.

…….

Thanks for coming here in person, Xichun.

Tomorrow, we'll be... we'll really be enemies.

I know it's too late to change anything... but tomorrow...

Jia Xichun stumbled over her words, trailed off, then turned around and left as though she swallowed what she wanted to say.

…….

When she expressed a wish to visit you herself, I made three attempts to talk her out of it.

It was highly impertinent of someone of my station to advise against her three times, yes, but...

... I implore you all to know that her choice to come here was not an easy one.

... I know this question can sound a bit nosy, but... are things okay over there?

We will face the trial to the best of our abilities.

I wish with all my heart that our paths will not cross tomorrow.

And I share his sentiment.

I wish not to ever bring harm to them, nor they to us in turn.

Well, when's anything ever gone as we wished, eh...?

But Heathcliff sounded just as uneasy.