Several thoughts on how the man lost his arm ran through Chise's brain. Did he lose it in war? Was he tortured and lost an arm because he didn't give out secret information? Or did someone decided to experiment on him? Too focused on Kurogane's missing arm she didn't notice the young man's presence.

She jumped when an unfamiliar voice spoke, letting out a yelp before she lost her balance and landed on the floor with a hard 'thump!'. The total number of times she fell had gone up by one.