Shadow Slave

The rest of the way to the tall hill did not take a lot of time. With Nephis leading the way, taking all the right turns at all the right places, there was no need to explore the labyrinth and backtrack after encountering a dead end. Additionally, there were no scavengers around.

In fact, they could have moved ever quicker if not for Cassia, who walked slowly even with the help of her staff. Guided by the golden rope, she carefully explored the ground ahead before taking each step. The uneven paths of the crimson forest were not an ideal surface for a blind person to walk on.

Sunny didn’t say much, periodically casting an incredulous glance at the strange pair. No matter how he looked at it, Cassia seemed to be dead weight. Perhaps it was cruel to say, but in the merciless reality of the Dream Realm, misguided kindness was a sure way to end up dead.

Before meeting and observing the girls, he still had hope that Cassia’s terrible Flaw hid an unexpected and powerful Aspect. But from what he saw, it wasn’t the case. If she couldn’t even walk properly, what kind of power was there to hide? Nothing could outweigh the ruthless fact that the blind girl couldn’t protect herself, and thus would only drag her companions down.

One had to be a fool or not fond of living to allow that to happen. So… which one of these descriptions suited Nephis? Somehow, he felt that neither did.

The sunset was not far off when they reached the hill. After climbing it and approaching the massive growth of coral, Nephis dismissed the golden rope and immediately summoned it again. This way, it was untied and appeared in her hands in a neat bundle.

‘Ah. So it’s a Memory.’

Sunny wondered what qualities the magical rope had. Soon, his curiosity was satisfied: right in front of his surprised eyes, the length of the rope suddenly began to increase. Soon, it was thrice as long as it was before.

Nephis calmly tied both ends of the rope into loops and then threw one of them into the air, accurately coiling it around a prominent protrusion near the top of the coral pillar. Then, she tested if the rope would hold, swiftly climbed up and waved from above, giving Sunny the signal to follow.

After hesitating for a second, Sunny approached the rope and grabbed it.

He couldn’t help thinking that this would be the perfect opportunity to cut his head off. With him helpless while climbing and Nephis standing on the top of the pillar… yeah. The vivid picture appeared in his mind.

‘Stop being paranoid!’ Sunny thought, trying to calm himself down.

It’s not that he was sure of Changing Star’s impeccable moral qualities. Instead, he was certain of one thing: if Nephis really wanted to kill him, she wouldn’t have needed to wait for an opportunity. She could have just cut him into ribbons whenever.

Simultaneously scared and reassured by this though, Sunny nimbly climbed up and joined Nephis at the top of the coral mound. He then turned around and watched curiously, wondering how Cassia was going to get to them.

The blind girl dismissed the wooden staff and approached the rope. Then she caught it in a hand, traced it down to the loop at the end, and placed her foot inside. As soon as she was done, Nephis grabbed the rope and started pulling, lifting Cassia little by little until she had reached the top. She only had to grab Nephis’s hand and make a step to join them.

‘Huh. Efficient.’

The coral mound was much larger than the circular stone platform of the giant knight’s neck. In fact, it was almost like a small island. At the highest point of the island, hidden behind some coral blades, the girls had made a little camp. There were piles of seaweed to sleep on, strips of scavenger meat drying under the sun, and a firepit.

Sunny pointed to the makeshift firepit.

“Was it you two nights ago? I’ve seen an orange light in the distance.”

Cassia’s face darkened.

fire. But it turned out to be a really bad

Nephis sighed.

an

“Why?”

blind girl touched her hair and turned

attract monsters. We were attacked by scavengers first. And then…

have to: the memory of

that he was lucky to meet these two when he had. If not, he was certainly going to make a fire tonight to roast

“Uh. I see.”

sky and cleared her

We still have time before the

fire. Cassia simply sat on a pile of seaweed and waited. Not knowing

while, he

in my rucksack. Do you have

Cassia smiled.

“Yes!”

extended an arm to him. A second later, a beautiful bottle made

I have. It’s

the glass bottle and looked at it with

huh? Sure

“Thank you.”

drank the cool, delicious water. Indeed, no matter how much he drank, the amount of water inside did

“Is it really endless?”

her hair

turn it upside down and let the water flow, it will stop in half an hour

making the fire. Without looking up, she took Sunny’s rucksack and opened it. Immediately, the soul shard rolled out. The tall girl looked at it, then at Sunny. Then she put the shard

answer. But Nephis did not ask. So, he pretended

Getting drinkable

smiled, pleased by

time, the sun was beginning to approach the horizon; a loud rumble came from somewhere beneath,

where the skies were already

come all the

the

night. In the day, most of them seem to

an idea of why there weren’t a lot of monsters in the labyrinth in

should have seen it — the tall