“This is horrible...”

“Is this where the body of that thing was being assembled?” the Otherworlder asked. He had already heard that some wizards from Blume had come over and disposed of the body of the Snake God.

“It is,” Vera whispered.

The Otherworlder and Vera carefully walked around the literal field of corpses in different directions. The manic look on their cold faces and the nasty wounds on their hearts and necks were enough to make even the most veteran of warriors wince and flinch.

“You know... when I was covering your wires with the illusion spell…” Vera’s voice was meek again. Her eyes remained stuck to the many corpses on the ground.

“That Holy Water guy, he said that my great grandfather was one of the most trusted followers of that snake god.”

The Otherworlder’s ears perked up at her words. He thought he would have to push a bit to get her to speak, but she did it on her own.

“I see...” the Otherworlder answered back, still walking around the corpses.

“He said the snake god had saved many people from the war-filled time during the founding of Angnarmarak, and that only them and the kingdom were left at a point.”

The Otherworlder nodded and stepped ahead, going past the line of bodies to the small rock used as a makeshift boulder, where Holy Water had kept his exoskeleton and given the speech that led to this scene in front of them.

“And that the only reason it died was that my great-grandfather betrayed what was that time’s Blume, going as far as stealing the name.”

A glint caught the corner of the Otherworlder’s eyes. He slowly bent down and picked up an emblem-like object. The Otherworlder touched its rim and flipped it around. It felt ancient to the touch, with many inconsistencies all over its structure. Engraved on the emblem-like object...

“What do you think?” Vera slightly raised her eyes and looked at the Otherworlder. “Is my family really one that blossomed out of betrayal?”

... Was the crest of the Blume family with a snake coiling around it. The Otherworlder closed his eyes.

What did this mean?

What was this pointing to?

There was avoiding the truth by asking such questions.

After thinking for a second, the Otherworlder took in a deep breath and covertly placed the emblem in the pockets of his coat. He walked back over to Vera and grabbed her hands.

“Vera... look around you. Look at all of them, all these people, all these wounds, all these deaths, all these sacrifices. This is what that man caused. This is what he was capable of. A maniac, a cultist, a deranged lunatic. That guy wasn’t a divine preacher of some ancient god, Vera. He was this. An insane mass murderer.”

Vera held her breath at the Otherworlder’s words. She knew all this herself. In fact, such a doubt would have never bothered Vera with no solid proof. It wouldn’t have bothered Vera. That’s why she was so bothered by it.

“Vera,” the Otherworlder said. “You have nothing to make up for. You did nothing wrong. Don’t be bothered by a lunatic’s story.”

Though not completely, Vera could feel a large part of the weight on her shoulders be lifted away from the Otherworlder’s words. Doubt remained in her heart, but in such a vulnerable state, even the words of just one person made all the difference. And these were the words coming from her best friend and the one who saved her from the edge of death.

“Yes... you’re right.” Vera nodded.

It seemed she would still need some time to part with the feeling of something being wrong.

If she had found the emblem... the Otherworlder could only imagine how shaken she might be then.

He knew from the beginning that Vera was not similar to him. She was originally from a world of peace, so much so that when she learned of Vera’s treatment over here, she almost broke down and when faced with the situations Vera had created for herself, she was even considering the path of ending her life.

No matter what happened.

The Otherworlder could never show her what he had found.

Never.

After looking around the corpses for a few more seconds, Vera hardened her expression and turned her gaze away from them.

“Shall we keep going?” the Otherworlder asked.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈

The Otherworlder and Vera soon left that room and made their way through the tunnels again. Having addressed this, the next thing on the Otherworlder’s agenda was to find the Sanguine Snakes.

“Vera, how did you find those guys?”

“Oh, I helped them out of the prison.”

“Right, I was thinking we should go there too.”

Vera nodded and led him ahead. The two of them passed through the tunnels, going off in the directions Vera had taken when she ran away from Holy Water’s bullet barrage.

It wasn’t long before they reached the end of the tunnel to a familiar room with water gathering at its bottom and fungi of all kinds growing on its walls.

“A week in here...”

“I hope something like this never happens again.”

Familiar voices talked to each other near the prison cell in the underground channels.

“Haha, I guess this is the life of adventurers after all! It was definitely scary, but not our first time being locked up.”

The Otherworlder’s eyes widened again at their words. ‘Not the first time, huh...’

Just then, Vera nudged his sides with her elbows. She gestured at him to go out into the room with her eyes. When the Otherworlder hesitated, she pushed him ahead.

“Ah!”

The Otherworlder lost his balance, his feet fell into the water and he slipped face-first.

-Thud!

“Fuck, sorry,” Vera whispered from behind, but she still did not show herself.

The Sanguine Snakes all turned to their sides to see the fallen Otherworlder. They were too stunned after seeing a guy walk in and drop to the ground to go out and help him.

The Otherworlder placed his hands on the ground and lifted himself back up. He still hurt a fair bit all over his body, so his push-up was quite sloppy, but he managed to stand nonetheless.

“Uh... you...”

Wiping away the dirt off his forehead and dusting off his coat, the Otherworlder took in a deep breath and met eyes with the Sanguine Snakes.

“You’re alright!”

“When did you come back!”

“Ooh! You were so cool!”

Another surprise hit the Otherworlder when the Sanguine Snakes welcomed him with wide smiles and worried words.

‘Why?’

He wanted to ask it. He wanted to think he was fine now. But how could he just do that?

Instead of answering their concerns, the Otherworlder bent a whole ninety degrees from his waist. The Sanguine Snakes stopped speaking at the Otherworlder’s sudden bow.

“I have no excuse for abandoning you all back there,” the Otherworlder said in a calm voice. “I don’t expect to be forgiven, but please know I regret my actions. I am sorry.”

Silence filled the room for a few seconds.

“H-huh?” Vollrath tilted his head in confusion.

“That’s what this was about? Man! You’re quite the cutie at times eh bro?” Aida giggled in exasperation.

“Why are you apologizing? Didn’t you come back?” Liesl awkwardly dismissed the Otherworlder’s apology.

The Otherworlder slowly lifted his gaze up and looked at the Sanguine Snakes. Only Eilhard hadn’t said anything yet. The young priest had his gaze shifted away. When the rest of the Sanguine Snakes stared at him too, he awkwardly turned towards the Otherworlder and scratched his cheeks.

“... Just don’t expect me to call you ‘sir’ anymore.”

The Otherworlder pursed his lips together and raised his body back up again. It was strange, just how easily they had forgiven the person who abandoned them. They said he came back, he distracted Holy Water and fought the Snake God, but none of it was for them.

‘Is this, what good people are like?’ He wasn’t sure.

Averting his gaze, the Otherworlder turned back on his heels. “I’ve apologized, so I’m leaving.” The Otherworlder left those words behind and took off from the prison room.

“Hey wait! Are you being shy?!”

“No way! Come back!”

The Otherworlder unhesitantly got out of the prison cell and rushed into the tunnel. With his gaze still facing away, he passed by Vera and slowly made his way towards the exit.

Vera watched him go with a mischievous smile on her face. “You’ve found some good people for friends.”

“They are definitely not my friends. No way in hell.”

“Haha, slow down! Wait for me!”