But Jenny rely stared at her with an indifferent expression.
"If you continue being this weak and refuse to stand up for yourself..."
Her voice had been calm and emotionless.
"You will definitely suffer."
Lana had nodded eagerly back then, still overwheld with gratitude.
"I’ll try my best."
Jenny simply scoffed.
The sound irritated Lana slightly.
"What?" Lana couldn’t help asking.
Jenny crossed her arms.
"You’re still too kind."
Her tone remained blunt. "You’ll keep getting bullied. And one day..."
Her eyes looked straight into Lana’s.
"You’ll die at the hands of your bullies."
Those words had instantly ignited anger inside Lana.
"Who are you to judge like that?"
Jenny chuckled lightly. "At least soone who is in a better position than you."
After that encounter, Lana had been furious.
She began ignoring Jenny completely.
But sothing had changed inside her.
Maybe it was Jenny’s harsh tone.
Maybe it was the way those words wounded her pride.
But from that day onward... Lana began fighting back.
She still got beaten. Many tis.
Her body often ached so badly that she could barely stand.
But through those fights, she learned sothing important.
Strategy.
How to defend herself. How to avoid attacks.
When she occasionally joined missions with other rcenaries, she carefully observed everything around her.
Even when people mocked her, she endured and kept learning.
Slowly, she began mastering small but valuable skills. Scouting. Observation.
Reading people’s expressions.
It was during that ti that Lana truly developed her ability to understand human behavior.
Her keen sense of observation had been born in those brutal days.
One day she was beaten again.
As usual, Jenny appeared afterward to apply dicine to her wounds.
It had almost beco a routine.
This ti, however, Lana finally asked the question that had been bothering her.
"Why are you doing this?"
Jenny paused while applying the dicine. After a mont she replied calmly,
"Because I see my past self in you."
Lana frowned. "Your past self?"
But Jenny didn’t elaborate.
Instead, she stood up and extended her hand toward Lana.
"Do you want to join my rcenary team?"
At that mont, it felt as if soone had thrown a lifeline toward Lana while she was drowning.
Joining Jenny’s team helped her move from the most unstable period of her life into sothing slightly more stable.
From then on, she wasn’t alone anymore. She finally had teammates. People who fought beside her.
People who supported each other during missions.
But fate had been cruel. One by one...
Every single one of them died.
The mories felt like dark shadows pressing against Lana’s chest.
She slowly closed her eyes and released a long sigh.
Those days had been among the darkest monts of her life.
And the reason she had never sought out those forr teammates after reincarnating...
It was because so of them had awakened power only through suffering. By interrupting, she would take away their chance to awaken power.
She didn’t want that.
Mr. Crow, watching quietly through their ntal link, gradually understood the story behind Lana’s feelings.
A trace of pity appeared in his gaze as he looked at her.
Lana finally opened her eyes again. "Anyway..."
Her voice sounded calm now. "If fate allowed us to et again in this life..."
She paused slightly.
"Then there’s a favor I must repay."
Even if she knew it would never truly be enough.
With that thought, Lana took out a small talisman from her pouch.
She stared at it quietly for a long ti before glancing at the clock on the wall.
The ticking sound grew louder in the silence.
When the clock finally struck midnight... 12:00.
Lana activated the talisman and pressed it against her body.
In an instant, her figure faded from sight.
She had turned completely invisible.
Then she placed another talisman on Mr. Crow.
After briefly discussing their plan through the ntal link, they quietly left the room.
Their first objective was simple. Find Jenny’s room.
Fortunately, that wasn’t difficult. Lana already had a strong suspicion.
’If soone is mistreating Jenny...’
Her eyes darkened slightly.
’They wouldn’t give her a comfortable room.’
People like Daniel would never openly display cruelty.
Instead, they would hide it behind normal appearances.
The place would look ordinary on the surface....
But the living conditions inside would be worse than those given to animals.
Sure enough, Lana eventually found Jenny’s room.
It was located at the farthest corner of the ground floor, almost hidden away behind a narrow corridor that rarely seed to be used.
The mont Lana approached the door, a foul sll hit her nose.
The air there felt damp and stale, carrying the unpleasant odor of mold, sweat, and sothing rotten that had seeped deep into the wooden walls.
’So this is where they keep her...’
Lana’s eyes darkened slightly.
She lifted her hand and knocked on the door. The sound echoed dully through the quiet corridor.
Inside the room, however, there was no response.
Ten seconds passed. Lana chuckled softly.
Her voice was calm but carried a faint threat.
"Jenny, if you don’t co out..."
She tapped the door lightly with her knuckles. "I’ll have to break this door open."
Her tone remained relaxed.
"And when that happens... you’ll definitely regret it."
Inside the room, Jenny was hiding beneath a thin blanket made from rough fabric.
Her heart jumped violently when she heard the voice outside.
For a mont she thought it was her grandfather.
Her body stiffened with fear and she imdiately sat up.
But when she carefully opened the door after hesitating for several long seconds, she froze in place.
Standing outside was Lana.
Lana smiled gently.
"Hello."
Jenny blinked in surprise.
Her fingers tightened nervously around the edge of the door.
"What... what do you want?"
Her voice was cautious, and beneath that caution there was a clear hint of worry.
Lana imdiately noticed it. She couldn’t help smiling faintly.
"I’m here because I discovered sothing."
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "And I want to confirm it."
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