The Author's POV

Vrr— Vrr—

"Hmm?"

Waking me from my slumber was a low buzzing sound coming from my right side.

It was quite subtle, reminiscent of a bee's buzz. Needless to say, it was fairly annoying.

Opening my eyes slightly and lowering my head towards the direction of where the buzzing sound was coming from, my sight soon paused on the communication device tightly held in my right hand.

Vrrr— Vrrr—

The buzzing sound continued, and as my mind cleared up, I could feel my hand vibrate slightly.

'How long have I been sleeping for?'

My thoughts felt groggy as I propped my body up with the aid of the wall.

'Since the communication device is working, they should already be done by now…'

Lowering my head and turning the communication device on, I spoke in a thick, hoarse voice.

"Hello? You guys done already-"

—Ren!

The moment I answered the communication device, Waylan's voice sounded from the speaker, cutting me off.

His voice was quite loud and sounded a bit panicked. Instantly, my head sobered up and my brows furrowed tightly. My body tensed slightly.

"What happened while I was gone? Did something go wrong? Did the enemies perhaps have a secret weapon that we were not aware of?"

Many possibilities rushed through my head as my heart sank.

Thinking of all the possible things that may have gone wrong while I was asleep, my previous relaxed attitude completely vanished as I prepared for the worst.

—What are you talking about?

"Huh? What do you mean? Did something go wrong or not?"

But it looked like I was overthinking too much as Waylan's words allayed my fears.

—No, everything is fine. I'm only calling because we were worried that something happened to you. You just left out of nowhere, without even telling us what you were going.

"Ah…"

'Right, the dampening system was back on and I couldn't quite tell them that I was taking a nap.'

Smiling wryly, I scratched the back of my head.

"Sorry about that… I was taking a nap. Since I couldn't participate in the fight, I figured that I may as well just go to a random room and sleep. I was gonna be a burden anyway."

Silence.

Once my words faded, I was met with total silence.

Even though he wasn't present at the moment, I could vividly imagine Waylan opening and closing his mouth, speechless, trying to find the right words to say.

It might have looked amusing to an onlooker, but I was feeling a bit guilty...just a little.

The silence continued for a brief moment before Waylan repeated.

—…A nap? Did you just say…that you were taking a nap?

with incredulity. As though he couldn't quite comprehend what I just

good guy that I was, I nodded to confirm my

what I said.

—Y…you…

find the right words to say, Waylan fumbled before eventually giving

I don't have the slightest idea of where you

bit harsh, no? I was just taking a small

know what? I give up. Where are you? Send us

me

with the aid of a small device, I quickly sent Waylan the location of the

message, lowering my hand to stare at the

me a moment… Ah, yes, I've

Need something else from

again slid down and propped my hand over my

anything else,

a couple of seconds, in a

thank you for your hard work. Had it not

Not like I did everything myself anyway." I tiredly said, closing my

a total of three hours. This was clearly not enough as my mind was still

Soon enough, someone should come to pick you

my eyes stinging slightly from the

see you

"Mhm…you too."

turning off the communication device,

***

the raging war that took place on the outer walls of Henolur came to a halt as the demons stopped their assault

knew what had happened, once Gervis, alongside the others, returned and announced the end of the war, everyone in the city

point of concern was the fact that the demons had still not fully retreated, but they had stopped attacking and even showed signs of giving up

and even

the war, although brought great suffering, had also strengthened the bonds of those who participated in it. They all held each other

in Henolur, on a round table, were six hooded

saying that on your way to the dampening system you encountered

figures spoke up

Have you told the others about her…? Or, do only you guys know?" The hooded figure asked, his tone containing

also where we met her… But

hooded figure asked. His serious tone made the atmosphere on

don't recall wrongly, she was S ranked. Her injuries

a complex frown on his face. He lifted his face slightly,

of Caïssa: Ava, Hein,

were talking about was

paled slightly, but he was able to recompose himself quite

carefully worded his reply, "She's extremely dangerous. You

we're not that

Leopold and

she?"

taking a small sip of

a little before

chin, Ren had a thoughtful

opened his mouth, deciding to ask directly. He

so hard about? You

his head, a sly

too familiar with the smile, Smallsnake raised his hands

No, I'm against it! Whatever you're planning, I'm totally

asked, his smile

you? What

others, or to be more precise, Leopold and Hein, grew

the direction of

seen it plenty of times. Whenever he smiles like that, you should know