Cheating, lying, deceiving…

  Somnu had decided to rely on these underhanded tactics to reach his goals, to win.

  In order to become strong enough, to be able to protect those who he cared for, his straightforward and naive nature would only hinder him here.

  He didn’t have the time to entertain testing that out either.

  First, his physical body was in a deep coma, close to being brain-dead. As one of the visions Veilbinder’s Diadem showed him, the doctors were considering pulling the plug on him.

  Second, the Nightmare Creatures are on track to break through the boundaries of reality, making everyone in the waking world their new prey.

  And to make matters worse, the siblings he wanted to protect were now in the Nightmare Realm too, being eyed by both the serial killer and the deceitful deity Somnu was after.

  If the scarecrow was not going to become smarter, more cunning, he would stand no chance against his enemies.

  After all…

  “We all played right into their hands… like puppets on a string.” He finally spoke, sitting in a circle around Benji’s remains.

  To his left, Lulu was wiping down her kinsman’s white and blue fur, cleaning it all from the blood that had covered it. The bunny man’s resting face almost seemed too peaceful now.

  In the meantime, Somnu had created burlap bandages and was feeding straws to the small fire Mathros was working on to the right. The boiling water from a nearby swamp was beginning to whistle as the pot the party had with them released steam. This had been the second pot, the first was being used by Lulu. Everyone was keeping busy while listening to Somnu’s story.

  The scarecrow had chosen to trust these two. It hadn’t been a simple decision based on the idea of friendship or duty.

  Lulu and Mathros had saved his life twice, and kept him alive through his long black out.

  If he were to choose allies to join his mission, there was no one he would trust more.

  Not his siblings, not Mr. Emberlyn’s granddaughter, not even the last knight of Nirvia himself. They all knew the old versions of Somnu, the corrupted and the scared versions.

  However, the bunny girl and the lizardman knew a different one, a new version. The one that’s strong, reliable, and now, a killer.

  Even after he had told them he killed Almon, they stayed. They didn’t treat him any differently. Lulu had let out a sudden sigh, crouching down with heavy breaths. Mathros had narrowed his eyes with a slight frown, then closed them in silence.

  For a moment, Somnu had believed their short time together would be coming to an end, but instead, they had chosen to hear the full story.

  That’s what led to their current situation, having already run through the most important points.

  “By they, you mean the followers of the Faceless Forager?” Mathros asked, splitting wood with his bare hands and putting them aside with the rest.

  “Yes, Almon himself wasn’t responsible, he wasn’t even in control of his own body. It’s John Doe who killed Benji…” Somnu paused, glancing at Lulu from the corner of his eye.

  “...” For her part, the bunny girl kept tending to the body in front of her, the expression of melancholy on her face never wavering.

  “John Doe…” Mathros repeated the name, then clenched his fists and looked up. The embers of the fire in front of him lit a new gleam in his yellow and red eyes. “So that’s who we go after. There is no way I’m letting the memory and spirit of those who believed in me fade into nothingness… I don’t care who I have to get through, I will get them.”

  “For Benji…” Somnu dropped his gaze to the remains.

  “And for Almon.” The lizardman added. “You might have killed the body, Somnu, but you didn’t kill the spirit.”

  “What are you…?”

  “The death of the body is far too trivial when compared to the demise of the spirit.” Mathros narrowed his eyes slightly as he traced the faint scar on his neck. “If what you said is true, Almon fought back in the end because of you. His despair had been conquered by the glimpse of hope you allowed him.”

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  “!” The scarecrow’s eyes widened, a tightness appearing in his chest. “Don’t…”

  “You should be proud, Somnu.” The lizardman affirmed, despite his friend’s plea. “You protected Almon’s spirit.”

  “...” The scarecrow clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

  It wasn’t that Somnu hadn’t considered that angle, he had simply ignored it in his mind.

  Almon wasn’t allowed any last words, he couldn’t have said any words of gratitude to his savior. However, he had entrusted him with his grudge, and almost transferred his Memento to him as a keepsake.

  In that sense, those were far more valuable than words of gratitude. Somnu knew that, but…

  I shouldn’t… I can’t allow myself to feel okay about this… He thought, his fingernails beginning to reopen the scars in his palms.

  “Let’s start with Almon’s remains for now…” Mathros stood up and finished the small funeral pyre with one last piece of wood. It couldn’t have been more than a meter in radius. “Somnu, you should do the honors.”

  Somnu looked to his side, at the four remaining limbs of Almon’s body that the crow’s clones had retrieved for him before keeping an eye around for monsters. After a moment of silence, he got up and picked up the remains slowly one by one.

  Glancing back, he saw Lulu continuing her task without interruption.

  He didn’t say a word, and turned to the explorer next to him instead. After a mutual head nod, he reached down and put the remains at the top of the funeral pyre.

  Hunching down next to him, instead of grabbing some firewood from the already lit fire behind him, the lizardman took out two clean stones from a Memento Somnu recognized as [Discoverer’s Pouch], and then sparked it all into flames. The straws the scarecrow added in made it all spread in a matter of seconds.

  “We’ll avenge you too, Almon. I’m sorry we couldn’t do more for you, not now, and not when you were suffering right under our noses…” Mathros offered his words, lowering his body in the process and laying down head first on the ground. “I’m sorry…”

  Somnu recognized the gesture, the lizardman had done it before when apologizing to him too, likely something unique to the Grodran race.

  Perhaps the nature of beastfolk had allowed the two around Somnu to accept what he had done, he had no understanding of the societies they came from. Nonetheless, they had the same feelings as him, and that’s all that mattered.

  “?”

  Although reluctant, Lulu walked up and stood next to Somnu and Mathros. She looked at the one she wanted to blame for it all as he burned, or what had remained of him. Her swollen eyes were narrow, and no words came to her shaking lips.

  Instead, Somnu took a deep breath, before slowly exhaling it back out.

  “You can rest now, Almon.” He looked straight into the burning remains. “We know, we see it. We see you.”

  The words were left floating around the flames, quickly overshadowed by the cracking of wood and sparks of ember. The rising heat from both the small campfire and the funeral pyre seemed all but useless against the cold breeze of the grotesque swamp.

  Somnu had explained what had happened to the others, but there were many things he had kept to himself instead.

  He had told the truth. An incomplete one, for the full story was too dangerous a truth.

  He naturally had told Lulu and Mathros about his new rank up, the death of his mother, Almon’s possession by the murderer responsible, and the one behind it all, the Faceless Forager.

  Even to his friends, Somnu couldn’t bring himself to reveal the deep secrets within him. Not until he knew the full implications they had.

  The fact that he couldn’t sleep, the ability to see not only the stats of others, but also random visions from either the past, present or future. He couldn’t mention the forgotten realm of Nirvia, and everything that happened there. Not even the truth behind his own System being different from theirs.

  Telling them those things felt as though he would be putting them in some unforeseen danger. Not to mention most of those things were his own problems to deal with, and had nothing to do with neither Benji, nor Almon’s passing.

  I shouldn’t involve them more than they have to… Even when it comes to John Doe and the Faceless Forager, I have to make sure to protect Mathros and Lulu from them. He glanced to his left where his allies stood next to him. I owe them too much, especially Mathros… And as for Lulu… Somnu turned back and looked at the other remains waiting for their turn. I made Benji a promise I don’t intend to break.

  Feeling the eyes of the others on him, the scarecrow rubbed the back of his neck.

  “Shall we…?”

  “Yeah, It’s time…” Mathros turned to the bunny girl. “Are you ready, Lulu?”

  “...” With slow, monotone steps and a blank stare, she walked toward the body of her childhood friend. She took out her Dream Catcher perfume bottle and dabbed it a few times over his white and blue fur. “Yes… he’s ready…”

  Hearing her utter those words in that tone, along with the demeanor she had assumed since he revealed the truth, Somnu clenched his fists.

  I’ll keep my promise to you Benji… I’ll protect her.

  [A Memento is responding to your aspirations!]

  “...?!”

  Somnu’s eyes widened at the sudden pop-up message.

  Don’t tell me…! Benji?!

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