Bow opened her eyes to see the sun glaring at her from above.
Her whole body felt weak. The grass hitting her skin felt very uncomfortable and itchy. Even the sunlight shining down on her felt wrong on her skin. So she got up into a sitting position.
“W-what? What’s… going… on?”
The last thing Bow remembered was running away from the corpse, falling down, and then passing out.
“Poison.”
Bow looked at the source of the voice to find Kairos sitting down on her right, massaging his own head.
When she looked to her left, she found her brother also sitting down, closing his eyes.
But she couldn’t find Pips anywhere.
After a few seconds of not finding her owl, she started to panic, but then she felt something nudging her legs.
It was Pips; she was rubbing her head against Bow’s leg.
Bow breathed a sigh of relief; she’d been afraid that something bad had happened to her animal companion.
“Good. You’re all awake. I was worried for a second.”
It was the half-halfling from earlier. He was offering a glass of milk to each of them.
“I think this will still make you feel better.”
She was suspicious, but even with her condition, she knew that it was irrational.
If he wanted all of them dead, there were better ways to do it than poisoning them further.
There was also the taste of milk in her mouth, so she definitely drank the milk when she was unconscious.
Bow took the glass of milk, drank it, and felt… the same as before.
“Did you feel your condition improving?”
Bow shook her head, and the others also did the same.
“I guess one of Victor's theories was right. For each person, there is a limit to how much the milk can heal every day, or maybe longer. Sorry, I don’t think I can heal you today.”
“It’s fine. Lucks, you’re fine, right?”
“Yeah. I’ve told you like five, no, six times!”
“Good, good.”
Five minutes passed without anyone saying anything.
All of them were exhausted, but Kairos broke the silence just as Bow was close to falling asleep.
“We should head to a settlement to rest. Staying here any longer will be too risky.”
Bow groaned, but she knew Kairos was right.
Kairos was standing up, and Ursag followed suit. But when Bow tried to stand, her legs gave out.
Thankfully her brother caught her, and without her consent, Ursag put her on his back.
“I… could…”
“Don’t be an idiot. You know what my Skill is; I’m much better off than you.”
That was true.
It was just embarrassing to be the only one carried while everyone else walked.
“The nearest place to rest would be River Village. But it’s very likely that the demon was there.”
Everyone turned to look at the half-halfling boy.
I think his name is… I don’t know, I don’t remember.
“If you’re asking if there’s a demon there, yes, there is. But you don’t have to worry. It’s being handled."
Bow was suspicious, and she knew that Ursag and Kairos were, too.
“Brother, Norm is telling the truth.”
Oh yeah, his name is Norm. I remember now.
“Okay. But is it safe if we stay there? And can you come with us if we don’t want to go there?”
“Yes! Norm told me that there is a cute baby goat there! We have to go!”
“Wait, what? You trust him?”
Bow couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Just like that, Kairos’s suspicions were gone because his little brother told him that Norm was telling the truth?
Even if Lucks had a Skill to tell if someone was lying, he couldn’t be over level 20. He was a fucking kid!
Judging by how Norm was riding a magical beast, he was at least level 40 or had a really good Class.
The power gap was simply too wide to take Lucks’s words seriously.
However, her question went unanswered, and she looked at her brother, who stared back at her.
She could tell that Ursag was also thinking the same thing. Kairos was too trusting of his younger brother.
Love could blind you, and it was not always a good thing.
“I don’t know. But if you stayed at my house, you should be safe. There’s only one extra room though, and it doesn’t have a bed, just a mat. And for coming with you guys… no, I can’t do that. You guys are more than welcome to stay there, though.”
“Okay. We’ll go with you if you’ll have us.”
Just as Bow wanted to protest, Ursag beat her to the punch.
“I don’t think coming with him would be a good idea. Getting away from here is the safest and smartest choice.”
Kairos shook his head, and pointed at Bow, who was being carried.
“The nearest settlement is a village that is six hours away by horse, and our horses are dead. With our sick bodies, it would take days to reach it, and we'd probably already be dead before we get there. Not to mention, I don’t think there is anything there that could heal us. The only option we have is to wait for Norm’s Skill to work again.”
“Can Norm just deliver us the milk while we’re on our journey?”
It sounded like a good plan at first, but after thinking for a second, she found that her brother’s plan was quite dumb.
“That would require us to also trust Norm. That plan only makes us more vulnerable because we don’t have anyone who could protect us when we are sick.”
It was a good point. But there had to be something much better than going to where a demon—or worse, demons—might be when they weren’t even healthy.
Every single thing she could think of required them to trust Norm. Because ultimately, they needed him to heal them.
“Is there… no other… choice?”
Speaking was hard, and that unfortunately answered her own question.
“There are two options. First, we stay at Norm’s house. It’s the safest option, but we could also encounter a fate worse than death. Us willingly entering his house could be the requirement for activating one of his Skills. The other option is to kill yourself.”
Bow bit her lip.
If she was alone, she would probably pick the second option.
The stories of demons that she’d heard ever since she was a kid made the second option the sanest one.
She wasn’t suicidal, but she would kill herself in a heartbeat if she was about to be captured by a demon.
The only issue was, she was with her brother.
If she chose to kill herself, then Ursag would also do the same.
But I also don’t want Ursag being tortured or turned into a cockroach or any other horrific thing a demon would do to him.
“So, you choose to live? Even though your younger brother could be experiencing a fate worse than death if he goes there?”
It was blunt and also quite rude. But that was Ursag for you.
Bow would usually stop him before his mouth could land them in trouble, but she was too weak to do that now.
“I chose to trust my little brother.”
“It all… boiled down… to trust, huh?”
Trust that Norm was a good person. Trust that Lucks could figure out whether Norm was lying or not.
Both of them were strangers to her. That meant her trust in them was zero.
When she looked at Norm on top of the massive bull, he was… playing with Pips?
When did she get there? And since when was she so trusting with strangers?
Norm also seemed to be paying no attention to their conversation. He was busy petting Pips and talking to her.
It could be just a ruse, but if it was, it was a really good one. It looked really genuine.
She immediately made her decision looking at the scene. Someone who Pips like couldn’t be a bad person.
It was the same logic that she criticized Kairos for in her head. But it was Pips, she was a smart girl.
“Kairos… I think we should trust, Norm.”
Even though she already made her decision, that didn’t mean that she would ignore her brother’s opinion.
If her brother was adamant that the best option was them killing themselves, she would follow him.
“Okay, fine. But if you’re wrong, I'll remind you about this every time we argue.”
Bow couldn’t help but chuckle.
Even in this situation, Ursag was still insufferable.
“If I’m right… then…”
It was starting to be hard to keep opening her eyes. But she refused to sleep.
She was the only woman here, so she was on guard more than usual.
There were a lot of stories when a group had only one woman or man in it. None of them were good for the odd ones out.
That was why any lasting adventurer team was usually filled only with the same gender.
Because men and women can be… pushy after a life-or-death situation. Annnddd because love problems always cropped up in mixed-gender teams.
Also, the punishment for rape was always a death punishment. They called it monster extermination, but everyone knew the truth.
In her entire life, it only happened once that she could say happened near her. But the fear still remained.
Bow knew her fear right now was irrational.
One of them was her brother and a fucking kid. She didn’t fear them at all.
She also didn’t fear Kairos.
For days she had seen him spoiling his younger brother, so it made it hard to fear him. Even though he could quite literally kill her in one second.
Norm… also looked quite harmless.
She knew what he could do, but he just had a good vibe.
It was hard to not trust him when he felt like a… a… friend? Best friend?
I don’t have any close friends, so what do I know?
When someone was high-level in a Class, it would affect how people saw you. That was not to say their appearance changed, it was just a feeling you had in your soul.
She knew the chance of them doing something to her was basically zero. But being really weak like this, surrounded by men with no woman in sight, she couldn’t help but fear for her own safety.
It was irrational, and she hated herself for even feeling this way. But… but…
What’s wrong with me?
However, no matter how much she tried, she ultimately fell asleep.
Maybe, it was because of one of her Class, [Strong Sister] and her brother’s Class, [Strong Brother].
Because even though she felt fear, at the same time, it felt comforting having her brother near her.
When he felt his sister fall asleep, Ursag’s guard was immediately up.
Except for the kid, everyone here was stronger than him. So, he knew it was useless to fight back if one of them tried to kill him. But even though he would definitely lose, he wouldn’t die without at least drawing blood.
They already agreed on going to Norm’s barn first before going to his home. Because apparently, it was much safer there right now.
It had been five minutes since they started walking, and Ursag was at the very back, looking to see if any of them moved suspiciously.
If they tried to surprise-attack him, it would come from the front. That meant he would be the one getting hit, not his sister.
Five more minutes passed and his suspicions only grew.
The way they moved was just too suspicious.
He couldn’t explain it; it was just his gut feeling.
After another thirty minutes passed, Ursag wanted to run away.
The only thing stopping him was that he’d already agreed with his sister to go with them.
He wouldn’t go back on his word.
If she was awake, he would argue that they should go back, but he couldn’t wake her up.
It worried him, but he could still feel her heartbeat so he at least knew she was still alive.
Ursag didn’t trust them, but he trusted the agreement that he made with his sister, so he kept following them even though every part of his body was telling him to attack them first or just run away.
When he saw the wall in the distance, Ursag breathed a sigh of relief.
“We’re here! Thank you for showing me the way. I hope Victor won’t realize I was gone.”
Norm’s voice was cheerful, but Ursag couldn’t help but think he was hiding something.
When they arrived at the gate, Norm just walked right in and they followed soon after.
The guards didn’t stop them. They didn’t even say anything; they just looked at them.
It was a bit creepy, but maybe the guards were close to Norm.
But when he entered the village, Ursag realized that everyone was also staring at them.
Norm was still riding the bull and walking past them like there was nothing wrong going on.
Ursag still followed Norm, and the staring never stopped.
If it was just that, he could chalk it up to the people in the village not trusting strangers.
But every time they passed by, all of them stopped what they were doing.
Adults stopped talking, children stopped playing, and even babies stopped crying.
All of them stared at them with hate.
It was bizarre, and it made him think that there was something wrong with Norm.
Maybe he did something that made them like that? Is Norm a bad person? What did Norm do to make everyone stare at him and the people who were with him?
When they arrived at the other side of the wall, the guard there also didn’t stop them.
This time, Ursag saw that the guard didn’t look friendly at all; they looked at them with hatred in their eyes, just like everyone else.
Are they afraid of Norm? Is that why they didn’t do anything except stare at them with hatred? Should I kill him?
As more time passed, killing Norm felt like the right thing to do.
But how could he do that when he was carrying his sister on his back? It would be risky, but it was the right thing to do.
He could just leave his sister on the ground for a bit while he went and killed Norm. It was the right thing to do.
There was no way he would live if he did this, but it was the right thing to do.
“[Equip].”
A huge axe appeared in his hand, and his torn leather armor was replaced by a new one.
He walked slowly towards Norm, because it was the right thing to do.
Norm was getting off the bull.
He would definitely die because of this, but it was the right thing to do.
The bull was looking at him.
He didn’t think he would succeed, but it was the right thing to do.
There were only a few steps between them.
Norm looked like a child, but it was the right thing to do.
Ursag was in front of him, looking down from above.
If Norm died, there would be no one who could heal his sister and she would probably die, but it was the right—
“AHHHHHHHHH!”
Running to the nearest rock, Ursag bashed it with his head.
His aura was turned off, so his head immediately started bleeding. But it felt good.
Before he could do it again, he could feel someone trying to stop him.
He tried to get out of their grip, yet he couldn’t.
That didn’t stop him from trying though.
“KNOCK… ME… OUT!”
His bones were starting to dislocate, but before he could damage his own body more, he felt something hitting his chin from below, sending him flying into the sky.
“Hmm, I might have hit him too hard.”
Looking at Ursag lying unconscious on the ground, Kairos felt regret for what he had done.
It was the only thing he could think of to stop Ursag from hurting himself further and Ursag also told him to, but he might have hit him much harder than necessary.
Thankfully, Ursag was still alive, with maybe a bit of brain damage.
Nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a good healing potion.
“Do you know what the demon’s ability is?”
Norm was still staring at Ursag, mouth hanging open, not hearing anything Kairos was saying.
His little brother shook Norm around, snapping him out of his shock.
“You just send him flying.”
“Yes, and can you tell me what the demon ability is?”
At first, he thought Norm didn’t know anything about the demon’s ability, but seeing Norm’s reaction over the last minute made him change his mind.
Kairos also suspected the demon had something to do with why he hadn't asked the questions he should have asked.
The milk heals gradually over time, but I'd guess the healing effect is strongest right after someone drinks it. That was why my mind felt clearer than before.
“I think Victor said that it was mind control? Like controlling thought and emotion. I don’t fully understand it to be honest.”
It didn’t surprise him, because that was also what he thought.
Kairos looked at his little brother; he seemed fine. That could be because he spent only a little time near the corpse.
“Why didn’t you tell us before we entered the village?”
Norm looked away, and his face started turning red.
“Ehhh, I forgot?”
“I see.”
The demon Skill worked on him. That meant even though the milk could cure mind manipulation, it wasn’t perfect. Probably because the milk had a limit on how much it could heal per day or longer, and it didn’t make the mind its top priority.
If the person who had the Skill was still affected by the demon, that meant he should drink the milk when he was at full health.
Is this really the best path?
At some point, Lucks was playing with a baby goat.
It was adorable.
Kairos really wanted to take a picture of it right now.
Just like always, I could only trust in Lucks. He was, after all, a [Lucky Survivor].