“...Uwah.” Haruhiro covered his face with the hand in which he held his stiletto with a backhand grip. There was some sort of swarm of small creatures flying toward him. Bats? No. Bugs, maybe? In front of Haruhiro, Kuzaku started to make a fuss, swinging around the lamp he was carrying. “Wh-Wh-Wh- Whooooooaaaaaaa, i-i-i-i-isn’t this really bad?!” The light swayed violently. There was the unceasing sound of little creatures hitting the lamp. “Fwooooo, what’s goin’ on?” Yume shouted from the back. “—be eaten?!” Shihoru asked, her first words muffled and leaving room for multiple interpretations. Immediately, Merry replied, “They can’t be eaten!” apparently having taken the interpretation that it was a question on whether or not they were edible. Without missing a beat, Setora asked, “You know that?!” Merry didn’t answer. She probably didn’t have time to. That was how Haruhiro interpreted it. Kiichi the gray nyaa let out a frightening yowl. “I-It’s fine. It’ll be fine... probably.” Lowering his posture, Haruhiro offered reassurances that were like uncertainty incarnate, and tried to ascertain the nature of the little creatures. It really looked like they were bats that lived in the depths of this cave — no, not a cave, it was an artificial hole — and upon the entrance of Haruhiro and the others, they’d gotten surprised and come out. But they were a bit like cockroaches, too. Whatever they were, he had the sense, somehow, that they weren’t all that dangerous. Having been through hell more times than he’d have liked, his body responded to that sort of danger instantly most of the time. This had to be fine... Probably. For what felt like forty-five seconds, he stayed put. The swarm of little creatures seemed to have flown off, for the most part. Only for the most part, though. Not all of them. There were still one or two beating their wings and flying around. “They’re like something halfway between a beetle and a flying squirrel...” Kuzaku muttered. Oh, I see, thought Haruhiro. It’s all in how you say a thing. A cross between a beetle and a flying squirrel gave off a better impression than a cross between a bat and a cockroach. Kuzaku was the type to see the good side of things, which was the opposite of Haruhiro. That was a matter of inclination, though, so even if Haruhiro wanted to change it, he couldn’t. “Looks like it’s fine now, so let’s move on,” Haruhiro said. “Sounds good,” Kuzaku nodded. “Ah!” Yume raised her voice. “One of them critters, it’s gone and clung to Shihoru’s back.” “Eek...?! Y-You’re kidding! G-G-G-Get it off, please...” “Don’t make a fuss over something so little,” Setora chided her, and then tore the little creature from Shihoru’s back, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it. “There.” Seeing that, Yume let out a little cry of “Unyooo!” and covered her face with her hands. “There wasn’t any need to go and step on it, y’know.” You could’ve let it go...” “There’s one on your leg, too, hunter.” “Yikes! Meow, get it off! Ahh!” “...You just stomped on it real hard there,” Setora said dryly. “Weren’t you going to let it go?” “Murrgh. Come on, that critter, it was about to bite Yume, y’know?” “They suck blood, so be careful,” Merry said suddenly. “Not too much, though, I don’t think. But if they’re diseased, I can’t guarantee we won’t catch whatever they have.” Everyone went silent. Yeah. Well, who wouldn’t? That information sounded pretty important to Haruhiro, and he felt like maybe it would have been nice if she had shared it a bit sooner. However, saying that would require confronting his doubts about why Merry knew, and so, though he wanted to ask, it was too hard for him to do it. Stuff like this happened occasionally. When, as a result, he ended up feeling awkward, he might or might not have found himself wishing they had someone like that idiot, who was willing to bluntly say the things that were hard to say. “Aren’t we going?” Setora, one of the ones in this group with less social grace, spoke up. That saved him. Haruhiro and the rest moved on. The hole was about two meters across, and a little over two meters high. Kuzaku, being as tall as he was, was bent over a bit. Incidentally, the hole had been far narrower and lower at the entrance. Both of the walls and the floor were covered in moss or lichen, and there were mysterious mushroom-like or fern-like plants growing, and what seemed to be the dung of animals of some sort piled up, but it was nearly flat. This hole didn’t go straight, either. It would go down, and then turn. “There’s something here.” Kuzaku came to a stop, tapping his hand on the right wall. He brought the lamp closer. It looked like there was something resembling a door there. Haruhiro moved up and investigated. It was, indeed, a door. Not made of wood. Or of metal. It was a stone door. Even the handles and keyhole were made of stone. Haruhiro was a thief, even if he wasn’t a great one. He could at least tell that this was an unusual door. It wasn’t ostentatious in the slightest, but its entire surface was smooth, and of careful construction. “Wow, dwarves are awesome...” Haruhiro got out his thieving tools and started Picking. Carefully probing the inside of the lock, he came to understand its design. If he tried to unlock it, it wouldn’t be impossible for it to spring a trap, so he had to be cautious. Though, if the lock was metal, it might have rusted to the point he couldn’t do anything with it. Well, it took some time, but he managed to unlock it somehow. “It’s not locked anymore, but getting it open is still going to be a pain,” he said. “It’s made of stone and pretty heavy, after all.” “Me, I’ll do it. Haruhiro, you get back.” Kuzaku started to force open the stone door. Setora muttered something about, “Pure idiot strength...” “I’m built for this stuff. It’s my one strong suit,” Kuzaku said with a smile. Beyond the door was a four-meter-square room. There were shelves installed in it, and two large boxes left in the corners. These were also of stone construction. The equipment left out on the shelves was badly rusted, and it wouldn’t be of any use in its current state. The issue was what was in the boxes that were close to one meter tall and wide, with a depth of about eighty centimeters. Haruhiro closely inspected them. “I don’t see any locks, and no traps that’d spring upon opening them... I think, but honestly I can’t be that confident. Most likely, I can’t lift up the lids myself. I’m sure a dwarf could manage it easy, though.” “That’s my cue, huh.” Kuzaku passed the lamp to Yume, and went to put his hands on the lid. Haruhiro hurriedly stopped him. “No, listen, I’m telling you I don’t know if it’s safe or not.” “It doesn’t seem trapped, right? As far as you can see.” “Only as far as I can see, though. Even if it’s not trapped, there could be something weird inside.” “How do you feel about it, Haruhiro? In your gut, I mean.” “Hmm. I dunno if my gut can be trusted here to begin with...” “I trust it. If you think we’re good to go, I’m gonna go ahead and do it. If you say to stop, I’ll do that. Oh, and if something bad happens, I won’t have any regrets, okay?” Yume nodded. “That’s love, all right,” she said, though it was total nonsense. That made Shihoru burst out laughing, choke and sputter, and then Merry cleared her throat loudly for some reason. “Love?” Setora tilted her head to the side. The gray nyaa Kiichi was fondly rubbing his face against her feet. “Paladin, are you what they would call a homosexual?” “Nah, I like Haruhiro, but not that way. I dunno. Basically, I trust him.” “I’m amazed that you can say that so unabashedly.” “Huh? Is it embarrassing? Ohh. Maybe? I might be starting to feel a bit embarrassed now. But it’s how I really feel. I don’t want to lie, you know, and I don’t tend to. Well, shucks.” Haruhiro was starting to get embarrassed himself, so he wished Kuzaku would stop it. Kuzaku saying, “Aww, damn, this is really embarrassing. Whatever. I’m opening it!” then throwing open the stone lid was something he wished Kuzaku’d have stopped even more. “Ah! Kuzaku, wai—” “Whoa! Sorry, Haruhiro, but it looks like nothing happened?” In the box were a number of short swords, a shield, a helmet, and a small number of accessories. They were practically like new. From the look of them, they were good quality, too. The dwarves must have poured their souls into making these. It looked like Kuzaku could use the shield and helmet. The swords included a broad, heavy knife and a short sword, two daggers, and a strange knife with a wavy flame-like blade. The women could put on the accessories if they wanted to, and they could sell the rest. The question of where they’d sell them, and who would buy them, could be set aside for now. Thinking about it would just make things harder. Setora took the short sword and a normal dagger, while Haruhiro took the other dagger and the weird knife with the flame-like blade. Truthfully, the stiletto he had gotten so used to holding in his dominant right hand, as well as the knife with the hand guard he used in his left, had gotten damaged to the point where a little sharpening wasn’t going to be enough. It was a shame to do it, but he decided to throw them away in the name of keeping things light. For convenience’s sake, he named the dagger with the fire-like blade the flame dagger. Kuzaku could carry the wide, heavy dagger as a backup weapon. Other than that, there were spear tips and ax heads inside the box. If they attached shafts to them, they could likely be used as spears or axes, but they were bulky, so they’d have to leave them behind. “It’s a double harvest,” Yume grinned. “This went divingly.” “I think you mean a rich harvest, not a double one,” Haruhiro said. “How about a haul instead? Also, it’s swimmingly, not divingly...” While driven by a sense of duty to correct the way Yume talked, he saw Kuzaku about to open the second box out of the corner of his eye. “Whuh...” He was at a loss for words. “Huh?” Kuzaku opened the lid, then turned to look at Haruhiro. “Is something up? Oh...” “Now, listen, don’t just open it up because that feels like the thing to do...” “Something’s—” Merry looked up to the ceiling. Noise. There was a low sound. “Out of here, hurry!” Haruhiro shouted. Yume practically dragged Shihoru as she flew out of the room. Merry, Setora, and Kiichi followed. Haruhiro whacked Kuzaku on the back. “Come on, hurry!” “Haruhiro, I’ll be fine! Go on ahead!” “Listen, we don’t need to take turns! Come on already, we don’t have time for—Oh, crap!” The noise got louder. The whole room was trembling. The ceiling. The ceiling was coming down. Was that the kind of trap it was? “Wahhhhhh!” Haruhiro and Kuzaku rolled out of the room in unison. Immediately afterwards, the room came down all at once. “That was close! We nearly got crushed!” Kuzaku cried. “Kuzaku, it’s because you recklessly opened that box. This happened because you weren’t cautious...” “Hey, hey, Haru-kun, it’s still kinda weird, y’know. Like it’s rumble, rumble, rumblin’.” “Huh?! It’s rumble, rumble, rumblin’...?” Haruhiro was talkin’ like Yume despite himself. That ain’t the way I talk, he thought to himself. Ain’t isn’t something I say, either. “From deeper in...?” Merry furrowed her brow. That was right. This cave, no, this dwarven mine, this dwarf hole, which was like a natural hole that the dwarves had reworked to suit their needs, still went deeper. There were likely rooms other than the one they’d just been in, and there might be yet more treasure sleeping inside. However, like Yume said, there was an ominous rumbling coming from those depths. There was definitely something coming. Was it something big? “Run!” Haruhiro shouted. It was heartbreaking, but they’d have to give up on the treasure. Haruhiro sent his comrades on ahead, while he stayed behind. Kuzaku was shouting his name or something, but he just thought, It’s fine, you get going already. This isn’t the time to worry about other people. Run as fast as you can. Yeah, it’s definitely deeper inside. It’s coming from inside. It’s like, I dunno, a mass of rock? Like a huge rock ball is going to come rolling? I feel like I’ve seen that somewhere, or maybe I haven’t, but whatever. If we don’t run, it’s going to crush us flat. Naturally, Haruhiro ran, too, bringing up the rear. How close was the rock ball? Was there really a rock ball to begin with? Was it something else, maybe? Even if he turned back, it was pitch black, so he couldn’t see. It felt like the sound was getting closer. Yeah, that would make him feel rushed. If he were to claim otherwise, he’d be lying. That said, Haruhiro still had a little bit of his composure. But he couldn’t run any faster. Shihoru was in front of him, after all. He couldn’t exactly pass her. What was he going to do now? It was a quandary.   2. The Flames Waver with Hesitation This area now called the frontier had once been made up of human kingdoms with names like Arabakia, Nananka, and Ishmal. The elves, dwarves, and gnomes had prospered as a result of fostering cordial relations with the human race, but the orcs, kobolds, goblins and others were still driven out, persecuted, alienated, and thoroughly despised. For the orcs, in particular, it wasn’t just their bodies and physical abilities. Their intellect was in no way inferior to that of the humans, either. However, humans had built nations before the orcs, and spread out across the fertile land. Even when the orcs, driven by humans into inferior lands like the Nehi Desert, the Plateau of Falling Ash, and the Plains of Mold, had united into tribes based on blood relations, it was all they could do to survive. Around a hundred and fifty years ago, one calling himself the No-Life King had appeared, changing everything. Giving birth to the undead and expanding his power in short order had placed pressure on the human kingdoms. In addition, he had encouraged unity between the various orcish tribes, and set up a king for them. Before that, the humans had seen the orcs as no more than a savage race, more akin to beasts, and had looked down on them. However, once the orcs gained a king, they established the systems of a state rapidly, and, arming themselves, they began to invade the human realms. Forming a pact with the orcs, kobolds, goblins, and the gray elves who’d broken away from the other elves, the No-Life King established the Alliance of Kings, and boldly declared war against the kingdoms of the human race. The human kingdoms of Ishmal and Nananka were destroyed, and the Kingdom of Arabakia fled to the south of the Tenryu Mountains. Elves, dwarves, and gnomes were also caught in the bloody chaos of war. The elves relied on the natural barrier presented by the Shadow Forest, primarily fighting in self-defense, but the dwarves swung their swords and axes with a daring and resolution greater than that of any human, putting up a fierce battle. The famed dwarven Steel Ax Corps faced an overwhelmingly larger force from the Alliance of Kings at the Bordo Plains, never retreating as they put up a hard fight, but they were wiped out. The elves of the Shadow Forest were supposed to send reinforcements to help the Steel Ax Corps, but they were blocked by a detached force from the Alliance of Kings, and were unable to fulfill their promise. All of that aside, in the midst of the intense fighting, the dwarves dug shelters here and there, storing weapons, armor, supplies, and rations in them. These shelters, called dwarf holes, offered a place for the defeated dwarven soldiers to flee to, as well as bases to launch a counteroffensive from. During their journey east towards the sea, Haruhiro and the others had, coincidentally, found one such dwarf hole. Haruhiro and the others had been able to gain a number of the treasures the dwarves had tucked away there over a hundred years ago, but now had fallen for a dwarven trap. It wasn’t easy to survive those. “I’m seriously sorry about this.” Kuzaku was performing a kowtow. Haruhiro fed a branch into the fire, thinking, With a kowtow like that, you’ve got a long way to go before you’re up to the level of the legendary kowtow master. Maybe it’s better if you never do get to that level. I wonder if that legendary kowtow master is still alive and well someplace. Well, dead or alive, it’s none of my concern. Anyway, this fire’s kind of nice. Though we’re at a pretty high altitude, it’s summer, so it’s not cold at all. But a fire is still nice. It’s relaxing. “Well, yeah...” Yume climbed a nearby tree, dangling her legs from a branch, and looking around the area. It looked like she was relaxing and taking it easy, but she was actually proactively taking it upon herself to be a lookout. “Fortunately, nothing much ended up gettin’ lost. No one was hurt at all, either, so it went well, that’s what Yume thinks.” “Nah...” Kuzaku raised his face a little. “That’s only something you can say in hindsight. I think I really do need to reflect on my actions. Make things proper.” “Were you in a bit of an odd frame of mind?” Shihoru asked, nestling close to Merry by the fire. Kuzaku hung his head again, groaning in thought. Then, after a short while, he raised his face again. “Maybe? Like, ‘Oh, crap, it’s a dwarf hole! Maybe there are some super awesome weapons and stuff here!’ It was the first adventure-y thing we’d done in a while. I may have been excited...” “Are you a child?” Setora spat as she checked on the pot cooking over the fire. “...I’m a kid. ’Kay. Sorry.” “Even though you’re bigger than any of us.” “...Sure am. Whew. ’Kay. I’m not sure what to say.” “For a start, paladin, what is with the way you’re talking?” “Oh, the way I’m kind of polite? That’s what I’m aiming for, at least.” “You’re not polite in the least. It almost feels like you’re mocking me.” “You’re misunderstanding. ’Kay. Oops, did it again. Is this becoming a habit...?” Kuzaku had gotten out of kowtow mode at some point, and he was now kneeling and scratching the back of his head. What was Merry thinking as she looked into the crackling flames? She might have just been zoning out, but Haruhiro couldn’t help but imagine all sorts of things that might be running through Merry’s head. It wasn’t good to do that. He shouldn’t just make things up; he needed to talk to her and ask. Merry was right in front of his eyes, after all. That was certainly true, but... “Haruhiro-kun?” Shihoru called out, bringing Haruhiro back to his senses. “Uh, sure. What is it?” “I don’t think it’s right to ignore Kuzaku when he’s apologizing...” she complained. Haruhiro lowered his eyes. “Erm...” He rubbed his nose. “I didn’t mean to ignore him, though...” “I don’t mind. It happens a lot with Haruhiro.” “Huh? I ignore people?” “I usually decide to take it as, ‘Ohh, he’s mad. Uh oh. I’d better think about what I did.’” “Oh, yeah? So I do that... I never realized. Sorry. Ignoring people’s not good. If no one says anything, it’s hard to notice you’re doing it, I guess. Thanks, Shihoru. I’ll be careful not to.” “No, I should apologize,” she said. “I may have been butting in when it wasn’t my business.” “Not at all. I’m grateful to have you tell me anything. Hold on... Kuzaku, what’re you grinning for?” “Grinning? Was I? Well, you know how it is. I’m just glad we have you as leader.” “You’re doing a natural job of creeping me out when you say stuff like that...” “No way. It was creepy? Uh oh. I tend to say whatever comes into my head, y’know.” “What a loyal dog you are,” Setora snorted, removing the pot from the fire. The skewers lined up around the fire were nice and crisp. Setora pulled one out of the ground, sticking a piece of meat into her mouth. She chewed, then nodded. “Let’s eat. Hey, hunter, you come down here, too. Kiichi is looking around, so it’s fine.” Everyone gathered around the fire, eating Setora’s snail and mushroom soup along with the skewers of venison. The ingredients, including snails, venison, various herbs, and variety of mushrooms, had been gathered by Yume, Kiichi, and Setora. When they bit into the skewers seasoned with herbs, juice poured out, and it was simple but delicious. The soup had the deer’s organs in it, too, providing a thick broth. Even so, the herbs added a slight mugwort-like taste, refreshing like mint, the aftertaste was light. It was an unexpected flavor, but the second mouthful tasted better than the first, and the third better than the second, so Haruhiro started to get the sense it might be really, really good. “Setoran, you’re good at cookin’?” Yume, who seemed to be going for a speed-eating award, said, rubbing her belly after she finished. “Am I?” Setora asked, not sounding especially happy. “I do think that if I’m to be forced to eat something disgusting, I’d rather eat nothing at all. For something like this, you just prepare it in a way that won’t cause food poisoning, then adjust the flavor in a way that will make it taste better.” “I don’t think that’s as easy as you’re making it sound...” Merry muttered. “Right?” Yume said in agreement. “Even if Yume does it thinkin’, ‘Be tasty, be tasty,’ it ends up turnin’ out kinda weird a lot of the time.” “I don’t understand.” Setora tilted her head. “The taste of things is decided. There are no uncertain elements in how the flavor will turn out if you mix them in certain proportions, and cook or boil them. Incidentally, when you say you think, ‘Be tasty’... is that a wish? What meaning is there in doing that?” “Um, well, if you’re thinkin’, ‘Be tasty,’ it’s probably gonna turn out better than if you’re thinkin’, ‘Be yucky.’ Even if you do all the same stuff.” “If you truly do only the same things, no matter what you’re thinking, the result will be the same. Rather than think meaningless things, you would do better to focus on the process.” “...Hmm. See, the thing about that, you may be right, but...” “So, basically, Setora-san...” Kuzaku tried to help push the conversation forward. “You’ve got sense. Weren’t you just born with a superior sense of taste?” “I simply learned,” she responded coolly. “Identifying the tastes one by one. The same with combinations of ingredients. There’s little difference in what we were born with.” Whoops, it looks like the two of them are kind of missing each other’s point, Haruhiro couldn’t help but think. I mean, Setora was born into a family of necromancers, the House of Shuro, and she’s actually made a golem, and she’s also a master nyaa tamer. Her cooking’s good, too. Or rather, it’s not just her cooking. “Setora, you’re pretty good with a weapon, as well...” Haruhiro pointed out. “Have to be able to defend myself,” Setora explained as if it were nothing. “Swords, spears, bows, I can use most weapons. Nyaas are raised by onmitsu spies, so I’ve also learned some onmitsu techniques.” “You can do everything...” Kuzaku said, gaping, but Setora raised an eyebrow as if displeased. “I’ve not learned so much that I can proudly say I’m able to do those things. However, I’m sure I’d not lose out to the foolish samurai warriors and onmitsu spies of the village. That’s all.” “I feel like... that’s pretty amazing itself...” Shihoru’s face was twitching. “I guess you have a high capacity for learning,” Haruhiro said. “Yeah. Somehow, that’s the sense I get...” For Haruhiro’s part, he was just trying to vaguely sum things up, but Setora said, “No one has ever said that of me, and I don’t think it, either,” sounding upset for some reason. “Discovering unknown techniques would be one thing, but if there are people who have done them before, you need only observe carefully, and the key points will come to you on their own. If they practice those key points, anyone can reach a certain level.” “No, but still?” Kuzaku daringly continued to ask questions. “There’ve gotta be things you’re suited and unsuited to do, right? There have to be things where, no matter how much you practice, you never improve.” “You need only practice until you become able to do them.” “You picked all this stuff up with hard work like that, Setorasan?” “That goes without saying. You only get out what you put in. That is an ironclad rule.” “With the sword, too?” “Naturally, there was a time when I did nothing but swing the sword, even cutting into my sleep time. If I didn’t do that much, at least, I’d never get a feel for the hilt, would I?” “...Is that how it works?” “Rather than trying to learn the easy way, doing it the hard way tends to be simpler.” “Ohhh. Well, yeah. I can see that. Now that you say it, you may be right...” Kuzaku didn’t seem to be able to say anything to that, and he was halfway to crying. Most likely, Setora was right. She hadn’t said anything too out there. In fact, it was common sense. It wasn’t that you just needed to work hard; you needed to figure out the trick, and work hard in an efficient way. That was what Setora was telling him. Haruhiro couldn’t argue with that. But it’s the kind of thing we ordinary people can’t do, even if we wanted to. If we could do anything we set our minds to, anybody could be a superhero, right? But we’re weak, frail, or lazy, and can’t do things even if we want to. Sometimes, they’ll feel like, “Ugh, I’ve had enough. I don’t want to do anything.” I could explain to Setora that’s how people tend to be, but she’d just say, “Just do it.” Yeah. She’d be right. If you don’t do anything, nothing gets started, so the conclusion is you have to do it, right? “Don’t misunderstand.” Setora hugged her knees and looked away. “I think what I am saying is correct. But just because it’s correct doesn’t mean people will accept it. I know that from experience. Even so, I won’t bend from my opinion. If I lie about my own feelings, I’ll cease to be myself...” Haruhiro gulped. Yume, Shihoru, Merry, and Kuzaku were all surprised in their own ways, too. What? What? What? What? Out of nowhere? Why? Setora, why are you crying...? Haruhiro and Kuzaku looked at one another. What’s going on? I don’t know. What do you think we should do? I don’t know. That sort of silent exchange happened between them in an instant. We’re so useless at times like this. That was the shared conclusion the two of them came to. “Umm, listen, Setoran...” Yume sat next to Setora, rubbing her back hard. Yume, she’s the one to handle things at a time like this. As he watched, a little relieved, Haruhiro tried thinking about how Setora had been through a lot, too. Of course she had. After all, in the village, Setora had been a disgrace to the House of Shuro, treated as an outcast, living on the edge of the village with her nyaas. It wasn’t as if she wouldn’t have a few memories that might bring her to tears just thinking about them. Unlike Haruhiro and the others, Setora had a homeland. However, even if the village was her homeland, it might not be a place she ought to return to. Enba the golem had been like a friend to her, but she had lost him. Of all the nyaas she had been raising, now only Kiichi was left. It would be great if he could say to her, It’s okay, you have us, we’re comrades, you’re not alone, but Haruhiro and Setora’s relationship was a little complicated. No, was Haruhiro only thinking it was complicated? Maybe it might not actually be? Which was it, really? “You love that woman, I see.” That time, when Setora had said that to him, how had Haruhiro responded? He remembered thinking he couldn’t lie to her. If he recalled, he hadn’t said it outright. Before he could finish telling her it was a one-sided affection, or something like that, Setora had covered Haruhiro’s mouth with her hands. As if saying, “I don’t want to hear any more. Don’t say anything.” Haruhiro looked at Merry. Merry was still staring into the flames. She had no real expression. Merry suddenly reached out towards the flames with her right hand. Haruhiro was surprised and panicked. “M-Merry?” She didn’t act surprised, just slowly stopped her hand. Then, looking at her own fingers, she grabbed her right hand with her left. Then, after that, she turned to look at Haruhiro. “What?” “No, what was that, just now...?” Haruhiro was at a loss for how to respond. What’s gotten into you? You’re acting kind of weird, Merry. You’re concerned or worried about something, I’m sure. Talk to me. I’ll listen. I mean, I want to hear it. Why can’t I come out and say that? “The dead don’t come back.” He couldn’t get Setora’s words out of his head. Jessie. That bizarre man had said it. “This isn’t normal. It’s common sense that people can’t come back to life, and that’s a fact.” Right. That was a special event that happened under special circumstances. But Jessie had also said something else. That nothing had changed dramatically inside him when he’d come back to life. That there might be a little change, but nothing dramatic. Most likely, Merry wasn’t used to that little change yet. That was why she felt a little off, and might be confused. It was a transitional period, you could say. He was about to say it was nothing, trying to dodge the subject, when Kiichi rushed in from the dark of night. Setora pushed Yume away and stood up. Kiichi wrapped himself around Setora, meowing in a high-pitched voice. “It looks like Kiichi found something,” Setora said. “It would seem we had better get away from here.” “Kuzaku, put out the fire,” Haruhiro ordered. “’Kay!” Kuzaku stomped out their campfire. Everyone picked up their gear. They were ready to go in no time at all. “I hope we can sleep at least a little before dawn comes...” Shihoru said with a sigh, but from the wry grin on her face, it was clear she was half-joking. Even Shihoru, who was less physically fit as a mage, wasn’t so weak that this was going to get her down. They were a party of ordinary people