Pregnant?! You gotta be kidding me! Somnu’s mouth was stuck half open as his thoughts raced. How is that even possible?!

  “Seriously?!” Lulu’s face twisted into a disgusted expression.

  “Brother…”

  ““Master?””

  “Um, guys, you’re misunderstanding here!” Somnu took a step back from all the gazes on him and tried to explain.

  However…

  “No, you’re the father now dear!” Carmella jumped through Lulu’s barricade and interlocked her arms with the scarecrow’s. “You’ll take responsibility now, right?!”

  “Hey! Stay away, we haven’t made our decision yet!” The bunny girl charged after her.

  “Lulu, wait. Let him explain first.” Mathros stepped in and put a hand on his rash companion’s shoulder. Then, he turned to the scarecrow with an expectant gaze. “Brother?”

  “...”

  Somnu’s borrowed vision moved from one ally to the next before hunching his back slightly.

  “You’re not making this very easy on me, Carmella…”

  “Well, you can handle it right?” She winked at him, despite his new blindness. “Being a father, I mean!”

  Did she somehow realize I can see through my familiars? She can understand them too… Somnu thought, then let out a long sigh. “Stop misleading them, everything that happened was basically in your head. I wasn’t even there, so there is no way-”

  “Old news! Who cares about that?” Carmella pushed her body closer to his, but stopped when she noticed a murderous gaze land on her from both of Somnu’s shoulders. “!”

  “Based on what you said, you’re pregnant in the waking world?” Somnu tilted his head slightly, considering some possibilities. “Assuming you’re not lying, that is.”

  “I wouldn’t lie to you, dear!”

  “Okay, first things first! Some ground rules!” Somnu gently pushed Carmella’s shoulder away from him, freeing his other hand. “You keep at least a two-meter distance from me at all times.”

  “What?! Why?!”

  “Because I said so, now get.”

  “!” Carmella’s eyes suddenly widened, then quickly beamed into a big smile. “Ah! I see!”

  “No, no! I’m not being playful here, just stay away!” Somnu added, stepping away from the lady.

  Even if he had to be extremely careful with how to handle her, there were things he definitely needed to avoid.

  And having her constantly touching him and coming onto him wouldn’t help anyone, the thought alone made him shudder in place.

  I need to be extremely vigilant here… She’s pregnant in the waking world too, that’s a whole lot of messed up. Wait, does that mean she’s not pregnant here? Is that how it works? Somnu sank into his thoughts again. What am I thinking, it doesn’t change anything! Is this my vow of celibacy? Yes, it is!

  “So, do we kill her or not?! At the very least she should not come with us!” Lulu voiced her thoughts as per usual, her Personal Title of [Unboud Paradox] never wavering, but her decision already seemed to have done so.

  “...” Somnu turned to Mathros with his head, and even though the lizardman furrowed his brows at the eerie sight of his friend’s face, he still nodded.

  “I won’t resist or push for you to take me, but you should know one more thing before you make your decision, dear.” Carmella crossed her arms below her chest and lowered her gaze.

  “Right…”

  “What the bunny girl said was true…” The lady narrowed her eyes. “I’ve killed anyone I was told to kill…”

  “See? There is no way I’m traveling with someone like that!” Lulu cried out with a click of her tongue.

  “Carmella, was it?” Mathros stepped forward and held out his right hand. “Can I see your hand?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Hey, don’t look at me! I don’t have your hand!”

  “But…”

  “Just do it…”

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  After looking for his permission, Somnu eventually gave in.

  She’s crazy… What's next? A marriage?!

  “Hmmm, I see.” Mathros let out after examining the lady’s palm for a moment.

  “What do you see? I don’t really believe in that stuff…” Carmella asked, retracting her hand.

  “Someone once told me that we all hold our very spirits within the palm of our hands.” The lizardman said, then looked down at his own palm where his compass was etched. “He naturally meant figuratively, but I’ve come to be able to see people’s true nature from their palms alone.”

  Instinctively, Somnu lowered his head to look at his remaining palm, but quickly realized he had no eyes again. He might need to get used to that, as he did with his missing left arm.

  Did he look at everyone’s palms while taking care of us for a month? I wonder, Did Almon’s seem good…? He questioned. Or is he just making this up?

  “Get to the point, Mathros!”

  “Always in such a hurry… I believe that her spirit isn’t too bad, Lulu.” The lizardman exclaimed, closing his palm into a fist. “Although redemption might not be attainable any time soon.”

  “...”

  “What does that even mean?! She killed innocent people, but she’s good?! Give me a break!” Lulu turned around and stomped away. “I’m over this, you’re all crazy. First he comes here without eyes and doesn’t explain anything, and now you turn a murderer into a good person.”

  “Lulu, hold on for a minute-”

  “No!” The bunny girl cut Somnu off before he could interject, turning around and pointing at him with teary eyes. “Because you told me! You told me this plan wouldn’t put you in any danger! And look at you now! You can’t even see without Fala or the serpent’s eyes! Will they even grow back?! I bet they won’t! Just like your arm!”

  “... What do you want me to say?! Things didn’t go as planned! In the end, we’re all alive!” Somnu felt an unusual irritation grow within him. For some reason, he couldn’t take this one sitting down. “We’re all safe and we can keep going! That’s what matters!”

  “No! No, it’s not! Look at you! How’s that safe?!”

  “Hey-”

  “Don’t.”

  Just as Carmella decided to jump in to defend the naked scarecrow, Mathros stopped her.

  “I don’t care about my eyes or my arm, Lulu! They’re just that! A body part I can live without! I can still see and my straw arm works just as fine! If I could give the rest of my limbs for Benji and Almon to be here, I would in a heartbeat!”

  “That’s not fair! You can’t…” Lulu paused, biting her own lip and drawing blood. “That’s just not fair…”

  Crow-Shit… It all just came out… Somnu clenched his fists, turning his head to the side and halting [Resonance].

  He realized the consequences of his words.

  Both Mathros and Lulu had likely been thinking the same thing too.

  Somnu gave his eyes and his left arm to protect them. Despite having just lost his vision and being unable to use more than one weak skill, he still pushed himself through all his pain to come here and face John Doe himself.

  All because of them, because of how weak they were.

  Everyone grew silent for a moment, the munching of the henchmen’s bodies to the side remained the only constant. The world could burn, freeze, or simply disappear, but Grudgekeeper could still find something to munch on without a single worry about the circumstances around it.

  “Let’s go back to the campfire…” Mathros finally said, urging everyone to change scenery. “We’ll talk more there after I brew some tea and cook some mushrooms.”

  “I’m done talking!” Lulu kicked the ground beneath her feet as she made her way back.

  “Brother?”

  “Right behind you…”

  Giving him a nod then narrowing his eyes slightly, the lizardman began walking back.

  ““Master?””

  “Not right now, you two. Give me some time.”

  As much as he wanted to spend the remaining precious time with them, Somnu let his familiars rest away from him. One flew to a nearby tree root and the other slithered away towards where Grudgekeeper was still consuming corpses.

  “What’s her problem? You saved them, kept them safe despite how much of a burden they are-”

  “They’re not burdens!” Somnu shouted in Carmella’s face as she stepped closer to him. “They’re my friends! Now step back!”

  “... You’re angry, I understand.” After a momentary shudder, Carmella sat down in front of Somnu and tied her hair in a ponytail. “I’ll stay with you.”

  “Dammit! You’re old enough to understand, and you’re a human, so I’ll just tell you!” Somnu clicked his tongue and turned his back on her. “What you feel, it’s not real! It’s called Stockholm syndrome! Or at least some kind of messed up version of it…”

  “...”

  “That guy saw you as an easy mark, used his powers to bind you to him and control you as his subject. If I had to guess from what he said, his Aspiration Classes had to be CEO and Master…” He went on, breaking it all down without catching his breath. “You felt trapped, and you had no way out, so you had no choice but to accept him and do whatever he said, even believing you were doing the right thing!”

  “Stop…”

  “Only until I broke his illusion with my own you were able to resist him! And now, when you’re free of his control, you immediately attach yourself to me! What kind of messed up past would lead you to do that anyway?! Stand on your own two feet!”

  “Just sit down…”

  “You know, I knew someone who was in a similar position as you, but he resisted! That’s right, he didn’t give up, didn’t give in! And In the end, with his own will and power, he resisted! He didn’t accept his fate, even if it meant his death! And I… I killed him…”

  THUD!

  “Get off me!” Somnu let out, trying to break free from Carmella’s sudden tight embrace.

  In his panic, he ignored the noise of the System in his head, using his own voice.

  “You lost too much blood. You’re lightheaded and can’t think straight. Relax now…” The ethereal voice whispered in his ear, numbing his mind. “Go to sleep…”

  “!”

  Suddenly, he lost all the remaining energy in his body. This time, it was he who fell into her embrace.

  However, as his consciousness wavered, only one question remained.

  Would he finally be able to experience sleep?