It was a lot.

  So many things had happened within a span of a single hour or so, that everyone was still struggling to process it all.

  It was only natural that in that kind of situation, two people might disagree on one thing or another.

  However, Somnu was fully aware of his own shortcomings in that one hour, as well as what had come before, and even after it.

  The things he did, the person he had become, the words he had said…

  He was proud of none of it.

  And yet, he could only regret them to a certain point, because in the end, it had worked.

  He kept everyone safe, saved a woman from the prison she didn’t know she had been in, removed a killer before he took more innocent lives, and got one over on John Doe.

  Some of those were not morally acceptable, at least not to him, but the bunny girl had encouraged him to do it for the same reason he had begun to even consider them.

  To keep everyone alive, to protect and survive together.

  He simply hadn’t had the time to consider every angle, especially not what would happen after everything was taken care of.

  “...”

  SNAP!

  Being surrounded by the silence, dominated only by the snapping of firewood within the campfire, Somnu’s chest had only continued to grow heavier by the minute.

  Carmella had helped bring him back, and sat him down on one of the straw chairs he had made earlier.

  He had regained some of his energy to at least cover his dignity with some straw too. As for Grudgekeeper, while it was practically done with eating the corpses around, the scarecrow was not eager to put it on before making sure whatever blood was still on the inside was completely bleached and gone.

  His injuries, both the ones on the inside and outside, were quickly recovering after his recent levels up and the rejuvenation buffs Carmella had repeatedly sent his way.

  Unfortunately, as the bunny girl had pointed out, his eyes didn’t regenerate. The swelling simply subsided and allowed him to close his remaining eyelids to avoid making his allies uncomfortable.

  I have to consciously keep my eyelids closed… I never thought about how much effort it would take to do that. I’ve only done it to rest my eyes sometimes, but they always naturally opened again after a while… I wonder if it’s the same for everyone or if it’s just because I can’t sleep…

  “Master!”

  “!”

  “I don’t know what happened, I just fell asleep! Are you okay? I apologize-”

  “It’s okay, Fala.” Somnu reached up and found his bird companion as it landed on his shoulder. Giving her a pat, the corners of his lips curled up. “I’m glad you’re here. Looks like Naga is still out of it though.”

  Synching his vision with his bird as she leaned into his caressing palm, he could finally see everything around him again.

  The blond dress-wearing lady was offered another straw chair by the lizardman and sat almost exactly two meters away from the blind man.

  Mathros himself crouched down next to the campfire, preparing to barbecue the usual mushrooms after the water inside the pot finished boiling.

  The bunny girl was leaning on a nearby tree root, sitting on the ground with her arms crossed and her long ears hunched down. She completed the broken half circle they were all sitting in.

  “Why don’t you start by telling us what happened to your eyes, brother?” The lizardman fed the campfire another piece of wood before taking his seat on the rock not far from it. “I initially thought someone had attacked you, but since you didn’t say anything and there is no corpse here…”

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  “... It was me.” Somnu let out, immediately catching everyone’s gaze. “Some stuff happened with one of my Mementos and before I realized it, I had removed my eyes to resist its effects…”

  “...” Mathros furrowed his brow and dropped his gaze for a moment, then looked at his friend again. “Care to elaborate more?”

  “It’s a Memento that forces random visions on me, I don’t know how to control it, but I had to resist it before things would get worse…” The scarecrow explained, pursing his lips right after.

  He knew what saying the truth about that would do, but Somnu didn’t want to lie to his allies if they asked him directly. If he hesitated, it was only because Carmella was still around and he couldn’t bring himself to fully trust her as an ally just yet, even if he wanted to.

  “I… understand.” The Grodran explorer narrowed his eyes and poked the campfire a few times. “I’m sorry you had to do that for us, brother.”

  “Everyone is safe and sound, that’s all that matters now.” Somnu repeated his previous statement, then instinctively turned his head to Lulu, as if expecting her to come back with the same response, but she simply stared blankly into the fire.

  Then silence quickly took over once more. The chill breeze of the grotesque swamp pushed the rising steam away from the boiling pot.

  Mathros got up, removed the pot from the cooking grate and replaced it with some mushroom sticks.

  Every time he saw them, Somnu was reminded of corn sticks and how he used to enjoy them on a daily basis after a long day of work. He missed those days, even if the nights had been long and lonely, they had been peaceful.

  And yet, without everything that happened, he might have never met his allies, or gotten pushed to rekindle his connections with his siblings.

  It was an odd feeling, torn between the nostalgia of peace, or accepting the current circumstances and making peace with them instead.

  “I don’t want to eat that! We Lopinor don’t eat mushrooms, how many times do I have to tell you that?” The bunny girl rejected the first food offered to her.

  “!”

  “You have to eat something, Lulu.” Mathros looked around. “I couldn’t find anything for you nearby…”

  “I’ll just go find some grass somewhere else.” Lulu stood up to walk away.

  “How about some hay instead?”

  “?” Hearing his sudden offer, the bunny girl turned to the blind man. “Since when can you make that?”

  “Ah, it’s my second class, Strawman. I can make some Alfalfa hay to stitch myself up, but it should still work…” Somnu explained, using his [Hay Stitching] to produce a couple of Hay sticks, then held them up. “I hope these are okay. I can make more if you like them, or toss them if you don’t.”

  “...” The bunny girl looked down for a moment, then walked closer and grabbed them. The moment she bit into the first one, her eyes opened wide. “They’re… good.”

  “I’m glad.” Somnu smiled, then activated his skill again. “I’ll make some more to store for later then.”

  “... Thank you.” Lulu turned around and walked back to her seat, taking it again as she continued nibbling on her newly acquired food. Her gaze remained fixed on the fire in the middle.

  “Here you go.”

  “Thank you, kind lizard.”

  Mathros made his rounds, offering the other lady present some of the food he had cooked next. She took them with a smile, her soothing voice making the lizardman fix his hunched posture.

  “Brother?” Then, he turned to the blind man watching everything through a crow’s eyes.

  “I’m good, thanks.” Somnu replied, unable to eat a single thing after Grudgekeeper’s unending appetite. He still wasn’t sure he wouldn’t puke it all out even if he did eat, the thought of being full on corpses made him shudder and gag most of the time. “I’ll just take some water after you’ve cooled it down a bit.”

  Ever since coming to the Abyss of Lethe, and even during his short time in the forgotten land of Nirvia, Somnu had only consumed water, and never food directly. In a way, it almost felt fitting with his Aspiration Classes.

  “As always…” Mathros let out a soft chuckle as he walked back to the hot pot and bit into one of the mushrooms. “I’ll get that water ready.”

  Soon, the silence took over yet again.

  How can I bring this up properly… I don’t want things to stay awkward like this. The scarecrow thought to himself, furrowing his brows slightly. Should I just apologize and promise not to do it again…? But I can’t do that, I would be lying to them. I have no idea what the future holds, I just might have to do reckless things again if I have to…

  He was a scarecrow and a strawman, it was basically in his nature to act as a stand-in for others, in order to protect the weak.

  But it was that very thought that he knew he should never speak out loud. Not that it mattered anymore.

  “Brother, we have talked among ourselves.” Mathros finally spoke, breaking the agonizing silence.

  “What do you mean?” Somnu raised an eyebrow, keeping his eyelids closed. Almost on cue, he began hearing his own heart beating faster.

  “We won’t be going with you to Mirewalker Fort.”

  “?!”