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  Fuck, my eyes hurt.

  The acid from Emilian’s attack must’ve melted through the bandages and some of it got in my eyes. [Darkvision] was all but useless; I tried my best to stumble about to the place where Skaris and I were supposed to meet. I must’ve looked reaaaal suspicious. Dressed all in black cloth, stumbling about the dark with my hands like a blind man.

  Damn, this wasn’t going to leave permanent after effects was it?

  I was already blind in one eye. Did I want to live out the rest of my life in MSS as a blind adventurer? Granted, there were ways to circumvent that. But it would severely limit my choices in what Cores I could take.

  ‘Stop telling yourself nonsense, get to Skaris and pour some healing potions in your eyes.’ I told myself.

  Well, healing potions were nice and all. But Emilian gave me the sense that she wasn’t just your run of the mill assassin. That acid, it acted mighty fast. It probably had some kind of burning or blinding property built into it. It wasn’t just healing that I need, but some kind of status cleansing effect. And that was Priest territory.

  Fuck, all the priests in this Camp hated my guts. And if they launched an investigation –which was only a matter of time– would they even keep their mouth shut about this?

  The darkness at the edges of my vision kept creeping in closer and I fought through the burning sensation to keep my eyes open. God, it was so hard not to blink. But pain is a familiar friend by now and I fought through it. This type of pain was a walk in a park compared to what Coum showed me was possible.

  …Where the hell was Skaris?

  BOOOOOOOOOM

  Just as soon as I thought that, there was another explosion from somewhere behind me. No doubt from the ships. Thanks to [Sticky Flames], Skaris’ flames would continue to burn long after he left. And considering the volatile materials that were onboard the ship, it was a matter of time until everything went up in flames.

  BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

  Another one.

  But it did nothing to remedy my situation.

  There was a subtle shift in the air. The sensation of being the only soul that was awake in the middle of the night was invaded by other presences. It’s like when you’re alone in a room but you suddenly feel like you’re not alone anymore. That’s your subconscious picking up some subtle clues. The blow of the wind, maybe the scuttle of a dollar bug or the buzzing of a mosquito. Either way, I knew it when the camp began to stir –the lonely night of subterfuge coming to an end as adventurers, priests and sailors began waking all at once.

  Damn it. I really could not be caught here.

  Where the hell was I, anyways?

  The ships lay to the east from the camp. In between the ships and the camp were the supply zones, where we kept all the lumber and other miscellaneous items that might come useful for repairing the ship. And then the camp could be divided into three sections. The Auxiliary forces, the Priests and then the main adventurers all the way to the west, directly protecting the camp from the monster that lay inside the island.

  Skaris and I were supposed to meet at the supply section. Did I miss it?

  Slowly, the stinging sensation around my eyes began to disappear.

  And with it, my sight.

  Shit.

  Think, Han. There’s a way out of this. Just stay calm and-

  “Over there! Fire!”

  “THE SHIPS ARE BURNING!!!”

  “SOUND THE ALARM!”

  “Water! Someone get Water! Wake up all the Mages! Everyone with a Water-based Mana Circle! Get them! Now!”

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  Shit, people were coming here. The Crow Totem alerted me that people were heading right this way. I didn’t have a lot of time. I had to hide somewhere. I was too suspicious and people would ask questions. What could I-

  “Slaveborn?” A feminine voice said the name I came to associate with myself.

  I froze, not recognizing the voice. Definitely not someone from my party. It belonged to someone I knew, that was for sure. The question was, was it friend or for?

  Suddenly something yanked me off of my feet and there was a sense of weightlessness for a brief moment as I was tossed in the air. Then there was a light pressure on my stomach and I felt the blood rush to my head and feet. I was being carried over someone’s shoulder.

  “Damn it, Slaveborn. What the hell are you doing here?”

  Oh it was her.

  …I think I could trust her. So I held still.

  The sensation of weightlessness left me as she put me down on the ground. There was the weight of her hand on my chest. There was something for me to lean back against too. She must be looking over the corner of one of the supply tents, having carried me behind it.

  “...Wassshhh schhaattn.” I mumbled, but it came out muffled. I was trying to say ‘Was scouting’ but it was weird. Not right. Something was all wrong with my mouth.

  “Don’t talk. Your face…” She trailed off.

  More footsteps passing by us. My eyes might have melted off, but the corneas or whatever part is responsible for sensing light was partially intact. There were dim bulbous glows of light that passed by my vision, marring the dark mist that surrounded me.

  “Baaaa?” I was asking how bad.

  As usual, she didn’t try to spare my feelings. “Your face has melted off. Your eyes are just empty holes and your mouth is sunken in. I think the bottom part of your jaw has… burned.” I heard her swallow. “By the Ancestral Spirit, there’s no blood. It burned through blood.” She took another deep breath. “It’s still melting.”

  I grunted. The adrenaline of the fight, the chase and the ensuing hide-and-seek was slowly wearing off. But my body had produced enough to stave off the pain for now at least. However her descriptions sent a myriad of emotions running through me, and the foremost among them wasn’t fear. It was kind of a sense of satisfaction.

  I figured out Emilian’s build. And with it, I had a better grasp on the Kojisa Family’s capabilities too.

  …Was that really the right thing to think about in this situation? What was happening to me?

  Who the hell was I becoming, even?

  “You need healing, Slaveborn.” She said sternly.

  I shook my head. “Hhhhng.” ‘I’m ok.’

  When I tried to get up, she put a hand on my chest and pushed me down.

  “Listen to me, you need help.”

  “Nnnngh.” ‘No, I don’t.’

  “Yes you do.” She sounded frustrated. This wasn’t like her. I knew she was smart, but not this… this caring. She was supposed to be callous. Almost careless. Then again, she was always on the loyal side.

  And that loyalty is precisely why I wanted to get away from her.

  Yet, that thought was smothered by the very hand that was on my chest. It reminded me of the times that we shared. It was… warm.

  Back then, she had been a comrade. Someone who had been with me through thick and thin. In the Orc Slave barracks, in the dungeon where I met Oung for the first time, when we fought against two-different types of Boss-class monsters with nothing but a single Core to our name. She was there when Clover ascended into a Kagura, chosen by Oung. She had been there when I was cast aside by Clover, her choosing to go with Arione who could give her a better life and a better chance for survival than I ever could.

  And now, she was here.

  It was a near thing but I managed not to give in.

  “Bbbbbmssss mmmm.” ‘Promise me.’

  “...Promise you what?”

  I turned towards the direction of her voice. If I had eyes, I’d be trying to get a certain message across. But she was a warrior, just like me. She wasn’t dumb. A lot of times she kind of acted like it, or people assumed she was. But I knew. I knew the real her. She knew how to weigh the pros and cons of a bargain, and could surmise what people wanted.

  That’s why she reached out to me in that cave with the Dokkaebis, forming an alliance with a human who had nothing but a sack of magic stones.

  So I just stayed that way, pretending I could see her fidgeting.

  “...I promise you, Slaveborn. That I’ll do my best. Nothing less. But I can promise no more than that.”

  If she promised her best, it meant her best.

  She’d die trying to keep her promise.

  That’s how Barbarians are like in this world.

  So when Lety put me over her shoulders, I didn’t resist. Instead, as the acid seared into my face and continued to leak down my sinuses and reach my internal organs, I fell asleep wondering how the hell Clover would react to all this.

  When I regained consciousness, there was arguing.

  “-suspected of treason, do you have any idea of the danger you brought to our doorsteps with this move, Lety?”

  “He needed help.”

  “And he has his own party to give it to him.” Oh, I knew this voice well. It was Clover.

  And she was livid.

  Kind of felt good to be honest.

  “You can’t just bring Lock to our tent after finding him out there, stumbling in the dark and wounded. Zenom is on a witch-hunt right now, Lety.”

  “He needed our help.”

  Clover’s voice turned fierce. Heated, even. Venomous. “Lety, you’re my friend. But you made a mistake here. Lock is obviously responsible for the ships blowing up and Zenom will get to the bottom of this. You know it, I know it.”

  “Maybe he will, maybe he won’t.” Lety’s voice was nonchalant and that seemed to piss off Clover more.

  “Why do you always do this?! When I’m trying my best to keep us alive and out of danger?! You always come in and ruin it! Don’t you see that everything I’m doing it-” Clover was shrieking and I was a bit surprised.

  Yeah, Clover was always on the emotional side. A little unstable, especially after her travels with Arione. But she had always been composed. Calm. Keeping her cool and that worked for her. She was a lot more formidable when she kept quiet with that strange mysterious Kagura-vibe she had going on. But something that Lety did, more than she said, in combination with her attitude made Clover blow up.

  I kind of hoped they had some kind of [Silence] type field around here because if Clover kept yelling like that, they were going to find me.

  “It was the same time in the Delirious Forest with Arione. I told you not to antagonize him, you antagonized him. I tell you again and again, not to get too close to Maria. She’s a freaking Scion. Just because you fight next to her doesn’t mean she becomes your best friend.”

  “Arione is a coward mage with no sense of honor.” Lety said right back, with a little bit of her own poison in there. “And Maria is a member of our party. A comrade.”

  There were footsteps and then silence. I think Clover must have stepped closer to Lety. Like real close. I could hear their breaths mixing and intertwining and not in the hot way. In the tense, about to explode into violence way.

  “If they are our comrades, then why did you bring Lock here?”

  Lety didn’t answer.

  “He’s not a comrade. He’s not a part of our party. He’s not even useful to us in this situation.” Clover’s voice turned pleading. “Lety, why would you do this?”

  Again, Lety didn’t answer.

  Clover let out a frustrated grunt and walked away from Lety. Or so I think. It’s hard to make good use of my [Hearing] when half my face is melted off.

  I could get Clover’s point of view. I mean, I appreciate Lety bringing me here. I guess in hindsight, Clover is the best choice to heal me. If she healed me, she definitely can’t go to Zenom and spill the beans. Because the moment she did, I’d tell him all sorts of unsavory things about her. For one, I doubted that they knew that she was a Kagura. Oh, they knew she was a Priestess of Oung. But a Kagura? Someone who had the power to revive the Religion of Oung and wield real power in Zimmskar?

  Yeah, the Church isn’t going to let that fly.

  So Lety did me a favor. Yet…

  From an adventurer’s point of view, she made a mistake.

  And I was more than willing to capitalize on it.

  That is until, Lety finally spoke.

  “Because he’s my friend.” Lety finally said.

  “And I won’t leave him behind a second time.”