Leyna and Mo…? He knows them?!

  Somnu’s eyes shot open at Henry’s mention of his siblings. That could only have meant…

  “They are here? At this Mirewalker Fort?!” Without realizing it, the scarecrow had taken to his feet, causing the straw chair to fall behind him. “Are they okay?!”

  “Last time I saw them, yes.” Henry answered calmly. “As safe as one could be when trapped along with a hidden murderer inside the walls.”

  “...”

  “Somnu?”

  Noticing his frown and clenched fists, Mathros stood up and took a step closer. Behind him, Lulu leaned forward on her chair, her eyes darting between her friends and the new party.

  Somnu couldn’t tell them about his siblings being in the Nightmare Realm already, or that they had been in grave danger the last time he saw them through a random vision.

  They had no idea about Leyna and Mo’s existence until now, but that didn’t matter to them.

  Both Mathros and Lulu knew what it meant.

  “Sorry guys, I have to go-”

  “Shut up!”

  “!”

  “What she said. We’ll all go.” Following Lulu’s lead, Mathros slapped his friend on his back before he could find an excuse to refuse.

  While Henry let out a slight chuckle at the comradery, Somnu’s face was still twisted in a frown.

  If they come with me… both Lulu and Mathros will become more targets for John Doe to murder just for his amusement or simply to get into my head again… Or worse, he can possess them, and get inside their heads… What should I do? I have to get to Leyna and Mo, Mr. Emberlyn’s granddaughter too… The scarecrow’s thoughts wandered back and forth, then finally, he raised his head to look at his comrades’ determined gazes. No matter what I say, these two will not take no for an answer.

  “What are you looking at us like that for?!” Lulu clicked her tongue, sitting back on the chair and crossing her arms. “I thought we cleared this up earlier already.”

  “Yeah, we did.” Somnu let out, releasing his clenched fists and relaxing his face. “I’ll be counting on you guys to help.”

  “Finally.”

  “Of course, brother. Leave it to us!”

  Whether they come with me or not, it just means I have to protect them too. Somnu affirmed to himself. From John Doe, from the Faceless Forager and his pawns, and from any Nightmare Creatures or Sleeper who dares to threaten them… Just like I’ll protect the ones I still have to reunite with, I’ll protect Mathros and Lulu too!

  After all, that was the job of the scarecrow.

  “I assume we will be heading back to the fort soon, then?” Henry added while standing up from his seat. “I still want to hear about what you went through, but we need to go pick up our own stuff from some distance away. You are free to join us now, or wait here. It doesn’t make much of a difference for our route to the fort.”

  “Sorry for our behavior so far…” Mathros trailed off, looking down at his palm for a moment and raising his head back up. “We’ll wait for you here. We still need to prepare on our end as well.”

  “In that case, I’ll leave Carmella here in your care. She’s been a bit tired from our journey, especially in those heels.” The bulky guy gestured to the side, ignoring the woman’s questioning eyes. “I expect you’ll take good care of the lady?”

  “It would be our pleasure.” Mathros nodded his head, reaching forward and shaking Henry’s hand as he learned humans do. “Good on you to think of your comrades like that.”

  “Heh. Well, we’ll be back in a few hours. Get some sleep in the meantime so we can head out immediately.” With a slight snicker, Henry walked out of sight with Black and Blue on his heel.

  “...”

  Carmella, on the other hand, without having received a single word of farewell or even a simple glance, plumped herself where her party leader had just been sitting. After making herself comfortable, she turned to Somnu and stared right in his eyes.

  “You. Fetch me water.”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Excuse you?! I’m not your damn slave!

  “Fetch it yourself, tramp.”

  “?!”

  Instead of the scarecrow, Lulu was the one who shut down the guest.

  “Some hospitality.” Carmella clicked her tongue, looking away.

  “I’ll boil some fresh water for you, then cool it down.” Mathros held up a finger and had some air swirl around it. “The rest of you should prepare for bed. It was still my watch anyway.”

  While everyone went to work except for Carmella, Somnu made sure to send clones of his familiars after Henry and company. That way he could keep an eye on them while pretending to sleep.

  In the meantime, he made himself useful, creating a bed and chair out of straw for the new guest, even when no words of gratitude came back.

  Instead, he kept getting random cold chills running down his spine. At first, he had thought they could be a Nightmare Creature with some new active fear, but he quickly realized the cause.

  It almost seemed like a raging fire was surrounding Lulu’s body as she glared at him from time to time. Only when he rubbed his eyes and looked again did it disappear.

  I must be having hallucinations again… I haven’t been resting much… Not that I had done that at all since the fight with the Dreadbeast… Well, no rest for the wicked, huh? He chuckled to himself, recounting the words of his Personal Skill.

  “Say…”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Why are you naked?”

  “...”

  In the brief moment where both Mathros and Lulu were out of ear shot, Carmella posed the question that was likely on her mind since she saw him.

  “Well?”

  “... I was hot.”

  “!” Carmella’s eyes widened, her mouth remaining half-agape. “In this cold breeze?”

  “Well, you could say I’m sort of naturally hot-blooded…” Somnu scratched his cheek while looking to the side. Surprisingly, he seemed able to hold the conversation without fidgeting.

  In fact, ever since he met Mathros and the others, he felt as though he had improved his people skills again somewhat.

  Even so, he could only make excuses regarding his attire for now. Grudgekeeper was still devouring a Dreadbeast corpse.

  “Hot-blooded, huh?” Carmella suddenly stood up, and unbuckled the furry cloak over her shoulders. “Liar. There could only be one reason why you haven’t even flinched at the cold breeze so far.”

  “!”

  “You’ve already ranked up, haven’t you?” She asked, walking slowly towards him.

  Reflexively, he began to hesitantly step backwards away from her, but she kept up his pace, quickly getting closer.

  “M-me? No way, I’m still… a Dreamer.” He lied, on both accounts. He never was a Dreamer, but Halfshade, and now a Dreadbound.

  However, none of that mattered to the lady approaching him. She slowly reached for her hair and flicked it back, then gently traced her glistening red lips with her index finger.

  “It took me a minute to realize, but you’ve been trying to hide it, haven’t you? That you’re a Savant.” She got closer, finally managed to entrap Somnu between her and a tree root. “I reaaallly like a man of power, you know?”

  This chick…

  Somnu felt the smooth touch on his arm, even her figure began to push against his already naked body. He couldn’t stop the rapid beating of his heart, or the heat from rushing into his head.

  She had seen right through him. He had continued to act dumb following his idiotic entrance and first impression. He put on a front, acting harshly like an amateur by not giving them chairs at first, carelessly revealing his power over straw to show naivety, and even blurted out questions with genuine enthusiasm in a tense situation to seem less intelligent.

  And somehow, despite his efforts, the cold breeze gave him away. Even though he had mostly wrapped his body with straw, he had to take it off at times due to how itchy that makeshift armor made him feel.

  Now, not only were his plans void, but a lady was making blatant moves on him. However, he knew it wasn’t because of any charm he had, or any power he possessed.

  This chick is using me to make her boyfriend jealous, to get back at him for leaving her here… She wants to get his attention… Somnu thought, feeling his seducer caress his neck, and making him swallow unintentionally. She doesn’t care what he might do to me because of this… And if I stop her here, she’ll use it against me…

  “What do you say we have some fun together?” She asked, bringing her puffed lips closer to his, whispering softly. “I won’t let you sleep all night…”

  She thinks she can use me… Then I have no choice. I’ll use that to my advantage instead! The scarecrow made up his mind on the spot, then took immediate action.

  “!”

  [Distorted Fallacy!]

  Somnu watched as Carmella enjoyed kissing the wind between them, fully believing that it was him who went in for it, even taking control of the moment.

  Then, he used [Hollow Gaze] to change his demeanor, taking a chance that she would be high level as well and instead of fear, she would simply see a sudden shift in his personality.

  After all, her revealing dress didn’t protect her much from the cold breeze either.

  Then, before her shock subsided at his sudden actions and change of demeanor, he grabbed her by the side of her neck and brought her closer to him, close enough to whisper in her ear.

  “Good job noticing. If you want to see the real me, meet me later behind that big tree behind you.”

  “...”

  No sooner had he delivered his message, the scarecrow caught her as her knees suddenly gave out and she fell into his arms. The heat of both of their bodies warmed the other from the same cold breeze which uncovered them both.

  And yet, only one of them still had a mask on.

  “But you’ll have to do something for me first.”