I can’t see their Systems!

  Somnu lowered the monkey cage down, reapplied the straw armor around his body and narrowed his eyes at the four new potential enemies.

  “Who is that?” The big bulky guy in the front asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “And why was he naked?! What a wacko.” The woman of the party looked with a brush of her hair, a frown evident on her face.

  “Ignore him, he’s just an idiot pervert who doesn’t know how to listen.”

  What?! That’s harsh, Lulu! I thought we were cool now!

  Mathros, along with the two other Sleepers standing in the back, stayed silent as they clenched their weapons.

  “Well, as I was saying…” The bulky guy took a slow step forward and raised both his arms up in surrender. “We mean you no harm. In fact, we’re here to help.”

  “Help?” Mathros asked, loading his slingshot with a small rock from his usual hidden storage.

  “Yep, by the looks of it…” The bulky guy looked around and nodded his head slightly. “A green lizardman and a pink and white bunny girl, you must be the Mathros and Lucy party.”

  “...”

  Are they pawns of John Doe and the Faceless Forager? Somnu questioned, looking closely at them, using both his vision, Fala’s eagle eye from above, and Naga’s ground vision from behind them after she snuck away. If they are, why can I see their faces? Are there pawns and followers of the Faceless Forager that don’t have the Unseen Personal Title? That complicates things…

  “You, though…” The guy acting as the leader shifted his sights to Somnu again. “You don’t seem to be either Benji or Almon… Where are they?”

  “...”

  “I see. Well, that’s unfortunate, you must have gone through a lot the past month and a half.” The guy, understanding the situation, gestured to his party. “Lower your weapons, let’s have a civil chat and we can tell you everything.”

  Even when he said that, the three he was addressing didn’t budge from their spots.

  The sound of firewood snapping under the flames of the campfire to the side overtook the silence. The gentle cold breeze going through the massive trees circling around the Sleepers made everyone’s clothes flutter, except for the one without clothes on.

  The two in the front… they look human… Somnu realized as he studied their features. Their outfits though…

  The big bulky guy had an imposing figure, reaching almost a two-meter height. His face was cleanly shaven with no signs of any wrinkles or scarring on his light bronze skin, making him look easily in his late twenties. Above his blue eyes, his brown hair was brushed backwards, almost looking as if he had used some kind of hair product for it.

  For his outfit, it simply looked like a black and white business suit. Except, it was clearly well-tailored and of high quality fabric. The only unusual thing about it, is that instead of the typical corporate suit look, there was a dark cloak hanging over his shoulders embellished with an intricate ornate motif.

  “Your mistrust is reasonable, I understand. Let’s start with some introductions.” The suited guy brought a hand to his chest. “I’m Henry.” Then he gestured to the woman next to him. “And this beautiful lady next to me is Carmella.”

  The most unusual one of these new arrivals was Carmella. As out of place as Henry felt, she made him look at home compared to her.

  “Hmph. Can we head back now that we found them?” She sighed, flicking her long, silky golden hair behind her, revealing the glistening ruby earrings that matched the eyeliner over her brown eyes, as well as the lipstick painted over her lips. It all only added to the softness of her slightly tanned skin.

  Her outfit only really consisted of two or so items, a long tight beige dress reaching down to her knees where it split open, the entire thing accentuating her curvy features. She wore long heel boots below it, while on top of her shoulders, a white fur-covered short cloak hung over it.

  If it weren’t for the big sword stabbed in the ground in front of Henry, and the golden dagger Carmella was holding, the two could have easily been mistaken to be heading for a high-end party, instead of traversing a grotesque swamp to look for some missing Sleepers.

  Not to mention…

  The two behind them haven’t even said a word or moved at all… Somnu noticed, waiting on their introductions.

  “The two behind me are just Black and Blue, they are mute, but brute twins that usually just keep to themselves so excuse them.” Henry added while picking up his sword and sheathing it in a holster around his waist. “Now, let’s talk.”

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  Only a moment was spared on Black and Blue, they were easily recognizable by their same color cloaks as their names. As in comparison to Henry and Carmella, they actually wore adventurer-like clothing that covered them from head to toe. While Somnu could barely see some skin on their faces through all the wrappings around their heads, he could at least confirm they didn’t have the [Unseen] Personal Title either.

  “Fine, we’ll hear you out.” Mathros finally relented and lowered his slingshot. “But first, give us a moment.”

  “As you wish. We’ll come back in 10 minutes.” Henry turned around and gestured to his party to retreat.

  “...”

  Carmella scanned Lulu and the rest one more time before following him.

  For his part, Somnu gave Naga a slight nod from afar, who immediately slithered away in their same direction.

  I’ll have to stay vigilant. Until I confirm they are an enemy, and followers of the Faceless Forager, I can’t just attack them without reason. There may be other reasons why I can’t see someone’s System that I still don’t know about…

  “Somnu.”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Heads up, brother.”

  “What? Why-?!”

  SLAAAPPPP!

  Somnu was suddenly jerked out of his thoughts, his left cheek quickly turning numb.

  ***

  What did I do…?!

  Somnu was forced to sit on his knees, his back naturally taking a hunched posture.

  “Did I not tell you that you shouldn’t do anything?!”

  Standing over him, Lulu crossed her arms and stomped her heavy feet.

  “I tried to do a good thing here…”

  “No one asked you to!” She brought her hand up, making him flinch away. A moment later, she lowered it again and turned away. “What if something had happened to you too?! How do you think we would feel?! I bet you didn’t even think of that, a real idiot pervert.”

  “...”

  “I knew you were up to something, but this was beyond even me, brother.” Mathros added from the side. “Are we not allies?”

  “... You’re right. I’m sorry…” Somnu dropped his gaze. “I acted on my own, I just wanted Lulu to get over her last active fear on this Layer and now that she has, she doesn’t have to worry about any more Restrictions until the Second Layer.”

  “Uh-huh, you should be glad she took out most of her frustration on that Nightmare Creature instead of on you.” The lizardman chuckled, his words making the scarecrow flinch in place again. “You got off easy if you ask me, brother.”

  Maybe I shouldn’t mention the Dreadbeast then. If they realize the situation was actually more dangerous than they believe it was… Somnu shook his thoughts out of his head.

  Thankfully, he had achieved his goal. Lulu seemed a little back to normal now, whether that was because of him or not didn’t quite matter. She had pummeled the Slipping Monkey to death using her bunny kicks alone.

  However, there were more pressing matters at hand now…

  “Let’s get back on track here.” Mathros narrowed his eyes at Somnu. “You think they could be…?”

  Even Lulu turned back around and waited for Somnu to give an answer, but she had a finger blocking her lips.

  “!”

  Shifting between his friends’ faces, Somnu realized what they were doing.

  They had no idea if the other party could listen in on them, and since they couldn’t use the same alphabet to write, they had to speak in code or familiar gestures.

  “... We can never know which fears a Nightmare Creature is based on until we beat them.” He mumbled, trying to think fast. “The only way to know if they have our active fears is if we are hit by any Restrictions…”

  Lulu’s face twisted in a frown, while Mathros held his chin as if trying to break down the code.

  “What I’m trying to say is…” Somnu cleared his throat for a moment, his cheeks turning slightly red. “Whatever monsters we encounter, we always have to be prepared for the worst.”

  “I see. That is truly some sound advice, brother.” Mathros nodded, his tone playing on sarcasm just in case.

  “You’re just saying obvious things now.” Lulu joined the fray, but the corners of her mouth curled up a bit.

  I’m not sure I like being made fun of even when it’s to trick an enemy… Somnu scoffed inwardly as he returned their smiles.

  Then he held up a finger in front of his own lips and closed his eyes.

  [Resonance!]

  He switched to Naga’s line of sight.

  ***

  This is… Somnu questioned Naga’s eyes for a moment. The ground? Why is she looking down…?

  He tried switching to the thermal vision of the serpent and back, something he had noticed was possible on the way back to his friends, but that didn’t reveal anything new.

  Instead…

  His familiar’s vision was fidgeting left and right, focusing on the soil under her while repeatedly hesitating to look up.

  Don’t tell me… is she in danger?! Did they notice her with some kind of high perception?!

  The scarecrow felt his heart beat faster in his own body.

  Then, Naga finally built up the courage to look back up.

  “?!”

  And some distance away from her, Black and Blue stood to the side, looking into the void of the swamp.

  While behind them, Henry and Carmella were a little too close to each other.

  In fact…

  Are they making out right now!? Seriously?!