Hmm? Why do these two look like they've seen a ghost?
I thought about it for a bit before quickly deciding that the easiest way to get a clear answer was to just, ya know… ask.
"Anything wrong with my face? Or what, are you scared of me or something?"
I grinned along with the joke, delivering my perfected form of the 'Amicable Innocent Smile'.
It's a wonderful technique, perfectly suited to complement my already unassuming, youthful appearance.
If nothing else, this should be enough to make them relax; after all, how could such a small little guy with the kindest smile known to mankind possibly bring them any harm?
Though, the technique's name could use some work…
"N-no! Of course, we have nothing to be afraid of with you by our side, savior."
The two dumbstruck men briskly shook their heads.
Good, good. But why are they still trembling?
Eh, must be the shock of battle wearing off.
"Glad to hear. Anyways, lemme cut to the chase - what the hell was happening here before I showed up?"
I was on my way to the training grounds. Certainly didn't expect a bunch of weirdos to appear in the way.
Worse still, they seemed to be having some sorta grandiose showdown, and I interrupted them without getting master's permission.
Suddenly, I brought a hand to my mouth, mortified.
"Oh no, I'm so screwed!!"
The two trembling men flinched at my sudden move, and the one who seemed to be of a higher rank, judging by the sheen of his armor that remained despite its wrecked state, spoke with evident concern:
"Is everything a-alright? Another ambush?"
"Man, I wish. But no - it's something much worse."
Their expressions turned gloomy to match my own.
I took a deep breath and spoke, voice low to build some tension for the big reveal:
"I'm gonna get railed by my master for missing today's training session."
"…"
"Ah, I mean that figuratively of course! Don't get any wrong ideas."
"...…"
My extremely serious asnwer left them speechless, creating a rather awkward atmosphere.
"Well, I can just hide for a couple days… A couple weeks? Yeah, that's probably the move."
It seemed the two were still too out of it to say anything in return, so I took the initiative.
"Anyways, what are your names?"
Yet for some reason, they shut their mouths once again. At that, a dangerous glint briefly flashed within my eyes.
Ugh, this is getting annoying. Should I just kill them..? Wait, no. Master would nag my brains out if I killed innocent people again.
Still, I did need to figure out why these two were so dead set on keeping their silence.
Dunno if it's worth mentioning, but it didn't cross my mind - even for a second - that they could simply be too flabbergasted, so the gears in my brain began to spin in search of a different explanation.
Finally, a realization came.
Hah, I must be an idiot. Of course they'd be reluctant to reveal their names! I must look suspicion as hell, interrogation them out of nowhere.
With those thoughts, I opened my mouth once more:
"Want me to assign you some generic like names 'armored guy one' and 'armored guy two'? I can do that, if you're worried about revealing your identities."
I felt pretty amazing with my deductive skills right there and rubbing my nose in pride.
However, they didn't seem all too thrilled with my suggestion.
"No, it's alright. We're Stone Cauldron's warriors - our whole unit is. Or what's left of it… I'm Nagi. The temporary commanded in charge."
The guy's - Nagi, I think he called himself? - words were accompanied by vigorous shaking of his head, as if the idea of being called 'armored guy' was completely unacceptable.
"And I'm… Lloyd. Just Lloyd, sir."
I turned my head when another weak voice, coming from the second man whose state was real awful, chimed in to introduce himself.
Should I be hurt that they only started talking when I offered them their new names?
Well, what's good is good is good, right? Better that than a pair of mutes.
I nodded, content with how things were going.
"Okay, that's great and all, my dear friends. But I do gotta ask something."
"Friends..? Since when…"
I thought I'd heard some rather unpleasant words from Nagi, but I masterfully deluded myself into believing I'd misheard him.
"What the hell is a 'stone cauldron', exactly? Is that, like, a legendary artifact? Or some sorta corny moniker for your little entourage?"
"…What?"
"..?"
I was met with four saucer looking, comically wide open eyes.
"Okay, there's definitely something in my face, right?! That's the second time you've stared now!"
They quickly threw their hands in the air in denial, worried about getting on my bad side. Which was odd.
I mean, I showed them the highest display of kindness and benevolence, so why on earth are they acting all scared?
***
My thinly veiled interrogation took a while, as I was woefully unaware of the worldly events that transpired over the past five years.
That was right - five years had passed since my integration into the human society.
Though, could it really be called proper 'integration'? I only spent a couple weeks living in Nether's territory before eventually setting out to, well, escape the consequences of my actions…
Meh, turned out great in the end, didn't it?
I looked back at the many corpses, apparently belonging to two groups of warriors from opposing sides, and stared at them for a long while before eventually turning away with a regretful click of the tongue.
These would fill my stomach up nice and good, but… Tsk.
Not today. Not yet.
I ignored the incessant growls which reverberated in my mind, urging me to turn back and swallow the deadmen's fresh essence, and instead offered a short prayer to the fallen men; one that had been drilled into my head by master.
Or rather, my persons version of it;
"They lived without fear, and died all the same. Godspeed, motheruckers. May you rest in peace."
*Cough*
Nagi's dumbfounded voice echoed behind me.
Surprised that I sent your combat partners away so respectfully? Heh, I'm like that.
I didn't really understand the point of such gestures, but I couldn't go against master's wishes. Not without receiving a beating, at least.
The old bastard always knows when I lie, as I'd painstakingly learned over the past few years.
Anyways, I should probably stop badmouthing him, before he shows up out of nowhere.
Just as I finished that thought, a shiver crawled down my spine and I whipped my head around, scanning the surroundings.
Surely not… Right?
It was only after I was absolutely certain that there was no presence of master nearby that I exhaled a sigh, simultaneously feeling relief and shame.
My paranoia's only gotten worse. Goddamnit, why do I have to be so afraid of some old fart?!
Haah, Just you wait, master. Your cherished student will beat you to a pulp, when the time comes.
Either way, 'now' wasn't it.
After that heart stopping experience was over, I forcefully shifted my thoughts to something a bit more positive.
Namely, a meeting with an old friend that was scheduled for a month from now.
Thing is, I didn't leave Nether on my own. I parted ways with Kaela, as we had our own matters to attend to - but Rennie stuck to me like glue, insisting that we were inseparable friends now.
Despite my outward complaints, I was secretly very pleased to have her come with.
Having experienced a true bond with another human for the first time, loneliness became rather hard to bear.
It was that very sorceress that I would be meeting again within a month's time.
There was one more person, whom I wished to meet more than anyone in the world, but it was impossible at the moment:
Never thought I'd say this, but I really miss Kaela's annoying voice. Better be alive and well, ya piece of shit.
During our final goodbyes, I made a promise.
I assured Kaela that, were she to die in some ditch without my notice - I'd uproot her grave and devour her remains myself.
All I could hope for now was that my outrageous threat, said solely to mask the whirlpool of emotions burdening me at the time, had successfully deterred her from doing anything too reckless.
For a split second, a dark shade dropped over my eyes as I recalled the time I'd spent with my fist ever friend - but I quickly shifted focus, finding the pang of regret in my heart too uncomfortable to endure.
Is that really all I can do now? Just keep distracting myself from anything that stings to think about? What a joke.
And yet I did just that, finding another source of distraction in mere seconds.
Fortunately for me, there were plenty of things to look at.
For example, the two fools quite literally tumbling behind me.
***
Nagi couldn't stop catching surprise after surprise at every word that left Ori's mouth, an through the occasional glance he threw towards Lloyd, Nagi could tell that his battle companion was going through the same ringer of emotions as himself.
At first, Nagi felt like he was being lied to in the most blatant manner imaginable, but he'd eventually formed a different opinion of the mysterious kid:
Rather than a spy, or perhaps a member of a secret force sent to help Nagi's unit overcome its peril, the truth was even more unbelievable:
He's a recluse. A freak of nature.
Ori genuinely had no idea about the war between Stone Cauldron and Coralridge, much less so about Nagi's or Lloyd's identities.
In other words, he was the picturesque example of a hidden master, unconcerned with worldly matters; only training filled his mind, as was clear from his constant mutterings about how much of a beating he was bound to receive from his master.
Who could his master possibly be, if even someone as ridiculously strong as Ori find his fearful?
The thought was not one Nagi wanted to entertain any longer.
Regardless, that more or less covered their initial exchange… But it certainly didn't explain how he'd ended up in this situation!
Him, Lloyd, and around a dozen other Stone Cauldron warriors were being unceremoniously hauled inside their very own supply cart - thought it's been emptied of its supplies to make room for the people that now filled it.
Crammed, even.
This cart is meant to hold a week's worth of rations, not thirteen critically wounded soldiers!
Still, Ori had somehow managed to make Nagi's predicament even worse.
Because, despite Nagi's absolute disdain for the idea, he was left with no choice but to get carted by… By that 'thing'.
Sepulcher, Ori called it, though Nagi had never witnessed one of such proportions before.
With a rope tied snugly around its neck, it happily followed the crazy kid; the cartful of near-lifeless bodies, Nagi's of course included, tumbled across the rocky terrain right behind Sepulcher.
It was fair to say that this was the most ridiculous 'steed' that had ever been used to move a cart, bar none.
Every bump sent jolts of pain through Nagi's body, but he didn't complain.
He would've, under normal circumstances, but these were as far removed from normal as one could imagine.
A stupidly strong kid, and his tamed demonic beast. Plus, Nagi was not fit to fight, what with the injuries.
And so, he kept his complaints to himself and allowed fate to take its course.
Still, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak - they were going to reconnect with one of Stone Cauldron's camps within a few hours.
They'd left said camp to go on their reconnaissance, prepared to return with some sweet intel.
But instead, we'll be coming back one foot in the grave, and with an extremely suspicious individual in top of that… Wait, are we just leading a demon straight into a human's den?
A bad premonition crossed Nagi's mind, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it.
Recalling the conversation he had with Ori leading up to this point, he felt even less confident about whether it was a good idea, to direct the crazy kid towards his camp.
When Ori told him to lay out the way, Nagi inquired as to why he'd want to go into a camp full of people who could very well be hostile towards him.
His answer?
"What are you talking about, ya dimwit? Haven't I told you already? I gotta hide from master!"
It an unbelievable reason, and yet Ori's expression was utterly genuine as he spoke, not a hit of lies held in his gaze.
Ugh… What's done is done.
All Nagi could do now was pray that the crazy kid wouldn't cause an uproar as soon as he showed up.
Oh, and needless to say - his prayers were left unanswered.
No, it would be more accurate to say that they'd been grotesquely twisted one eighty degrees the other way.
***
We've reached the camp.
The events following my visit were too interesting to brush off, but all of that can wait.
For now, what matters is whom I'm here to meet.
I shoved a veil concealing the entrance to a tent aside, revealing a man sitting in the center.
The man was the actual commander in charge of this Stone Cauldron division, unlike Nagi and his puny unit.
He met me with a threatening gaze, a serious expression on his face.
My expression was serious, too. Well, it was.
Up until a certain point when I finally scanned the man's appearance up and down.
Now, being gentle with my words is of utmost importance here, since he's a big shot, so I'll describe his, uhh, 'distinct features' in a respectfully roundabout way.
The man looked regular enough, at least starting from the feet and up to his jawline.
But that's where things took a slightly ridiculous turn:
His nose… His beak? Well, let's just say he could peck somebody with it.
Unable to hold myself together any longer, my shoulders twitched, once.
And then another time. And then several more times, eventually turning into a full on shake.
Shorty after, my voice joined in.
"Ah. Hah… Ahahahahaha!!"
"…"
I burst out laughing, so hard that tears streamed down my face as I clutched my stomach.
The two guards stationed beside the commander froze.
As for the commander himself - his face became unreadable.
"Whew, Haah… Haah, wow…"
It was only then, after catching my breath, that I'd realized what I'd just done. I suddenly froze in place with a mortified expression.
Like four statues, the four of us remained silently unmoving.
The silence was heavy, almost palpable.
Wait, maybe the commanded ain't too offended? He looks like a serious guy, so there's a good chance he took it well.
With those thoughts, which I didn't fully believe myself, I slowly raised my eyes to meet the commander's gaze.
"…"
Yeah, no… That ain't gonna fly.
His expression was absolutely terrible.