Arriving in Dina's room, Tony was rather surprised by the chaotic mess. He glanced around several times, then shot Dina a look.
"If you've got something to say, say it," Dina growled, holding his gaze.
"To be as direct as possible... Are you a dog or a human? Because between the food, the clothes, the water — if that is water — I'm starting to have doubts," Tony replied, eyeing her suspiciously.
Clearly irritated, Dina walked toward the bathroom.
"Just reassure me, that is water on the floor, right? Because if it's something else, that might be a problem, you see," Tony added with a half-smile.
Dina slammed the door behind her and began to wash.
Despite the mess, Tony went to sit at the desk. He picked up an old book and started looking for honorific names… if any still remained.
After five minutes of searching, he hadn't found a single one. He then wondered what an honorific name might even look like. An idea — a name — came to him, but he stopped dead in his tracks. That name could very well belong to one of the gods. And taking that risk was unthinkable.
He went back to flipping through the book, instead searching for descriptions of those entities. As expected, he found several: [-------], [-------]... He read them silently, then forced himself to forget them immediately.
The man who had written the message didn't know what honorific names were, Tony thought.
Then it hit him: the page he had destroyed didn't just contain their true names — it was probably the whole book. Tony burst out laughing.
"Ah AAH! Guess I've gotta burn the whole damn book!"
He stood up, placed his hand over the book, and whispered:
"Black fire."
Dark flames wrapped around the book, letting nothing escape.
Dina, just coming out of the bathroom, saw the scene and shouted:
"What the hell are you doing?! That book's important for the war! With it, we could've learned things about them!"
She ran toward Tony, but he stopped her with a sharp tone:
"I suggest you stop right there."
Dina froze. Around her, several tiny black dragons circled slowly, menacingly.
"Let me make it clear: anyone who reads this book is my enemy," Tony said coldly.
"What the hell was in it to make you react like that?!"
"You don't need to know. The only advice I remembered — and I'm following it now — is: don't read everything you see. It can have serious consequences."
A minute later, the book was gone. Even the ashes had vanished.
The dragons around Dina disappeared. Tony sat down, visibly relieved.
"By the way, Dina… I wanted to ask you: what's your rank?"
"Rank seven," she muttered.
"I see. And yet, you can barely stand up to me," he said with a smirk.
"That's because it's only been a week! But once I'm fully adjusted, you'll be the one begging for mercy."
"Okay, we'll see. But for now, maybe the most urgent thing would be to clean this room, don't you think?"
They started tidying up.
"Was this a battlefield or what?! All this food and clothes on the floor," Tony mumbled.
From Dina's expressions as she cleaned, Tony realized she hadn't been the one who made this mess.
After more than an hour, they were finally done.
"Damn… an hour for one room?! That's ridiculous," Tony said, out of breath.
Lying on the bed, Dina was thinking the exact same thing.
Tony suddenly stood up and headed toward the door.
"Well… since I kinda tortured you, you can ask me for help later, for anything. As long as it's reasonable."
"Wait! You're just gonna leave like that?! I'm sure you figured out I was being harassed. You should be hugging me, asking if I'm okay… I mean, not to brag, but I'm pretty hot. Even if most guys think I'm crazy, tons of them would kill to have me in their arms!"
"Yeah, you're hot. But I don't care. How can someone allow themselves to be harassed during a war and not do anything about it? In a dangerous situation, those same harassers will use you as a shield to save themselves."
He continued, more seriously:
"But if the one being harassed is stronger than them, they'll start kissing her boots, pretending to be friends… Until one day, they need her help and she says no. Then they'll leave her to die. Maybe I'm rambling, but one thing's for sure: you've already paid them back, haven't you, Dina?"
He walked out, leaving her alone.
"And I'm the one he calls crazy… But he's not wrong," she whispered with a twisted smile.
That night, two girls in neighboring rooms screamed the whole night. The next day, they claimed Death had come for them… and tortured them before leaving.
Hearing their sweet screams, Dina fell asleep, quite pleased with herself.