Several minutes had passed since we realized Nakamura had died. They had been possibly the quietest moments of my life.
We all stared at his body, lost in thought and our emotions. Despite only knowing the guy for a few hours, I couldn't bring myself to accept that he'd been dead.
Though we'd seen many others die until now, this was the first time I'd actually "known" the person.
As it turns out, when someone you know, even just slightly, dies, you get a sense of bizarre surrealism. Almost as if the reality you'd been facing was nothing more than a vivid fever dream. One that I kept trying to wake up from.
I wasn't the only one, either. Takagi, Kamida, and the sisters were all distraught and acted out in their own ways.
Though emotions were still tense, the archer soon broke the silence. "What's this?" she asked, pointing to the dirtied bandage on Nakamura's leg.
Peaking out from his browned leg bandage were small but noticeable blackened veins. Veins that reemerged because Nakamura hadn't had the chance to reapply the medicine the doctor had given him.
'It's a wound; what's it look like?' is what I expected Takagi to say, but, despite being awake, he'd been practically comatose as he stared at Nakamura's body.
The one to step in and explain was Kamida. "It's a bite wound he'd gotten from some dogs. Might I ask why you care?" Though his voice was smooth, as always, I could somehow tell it wasn't without effort. Maybe it was because he'd stumbled over a syllable or that he was clenching his fists.
Either way, Kamida was definitely not as collected as his initial appearance suggested.
"Dogs..." she hummed to herself. "No reason, just concerned, is all," she then began to unfasten the binding pin holding Nakamura's bandage together.
With that gone, the cloth fell from his leg, revealing the gangrenous green pus-crusted flesh underneath.
Between the blackened veins, rancid ooze, dried blood, and decaying flesh, I was forced to avert my gaze. But, sadly, looking away wouldn't spare me from the smell. It was putrid, sour, and pungent enough to immediately permeate the air after being exposed to it.
My nostrils had been wholly consumed by the stench of rotten flesh.
The archer covered her nose and asked, "none 'o' ya would happen tah know what the hell this is, wouldja?"
Gaggin between his words, Kamida managed to utter "Green Blight" before staggering away in a fit of retching.
Likewise, aside from Takagi and the archer, we all frantically shambled toward the exit of the den.
Even Ayame, the one who'd cradled him into the afterlife, had to lay Nakamura's head to rest and follow us outside to avoid the odor.
Surprising us at the exit were the stares of the cloaked woman and the man-giant; they'd been standing in front of a scene I could only describe as pure "carnage."
I first noticed that quills were lodged within everything and anything nearby.
Everywhere I turned, there were trees that looked like they'd grown irregular and asymmetrical thorns. Even in front of us was a ground trapped by a field of embedded spikes.
I just stood in awe for a few moments at what I'd seen. I couldn't gawk forever, though, so I eventually turned my attention back to the two standing before us.
We shot them clear looks of distrust, to which they responded by standing at ease and without hostility.
The woman had stashed her hands and weapons concealed within the confines of her cloak. Likewise, the man-giant rested his hammer's head back into its default position on his shoulder.
Their poses at least gave the impression that they hadn't intended to kill us...yet. But who knew with this damn place?!
'We should probably talk about if we'll run or not.' I thought, looking at my allies. Sadly, that conversation would have to wait until we had a moment alone.
Though we hadn't known whether they were enemies or friends, Kamida still hadn't forgotten his courtesy. "Thank you," he bowed. "thank you for helping us!"
Following suit, we all performed the same gesture before returning back to the noiselessness of awkward silence.
Normally, I would've pried into these people. Like what I'd done to Weiser back at the tower, back when all this started, I would've questioned them without mercy. But now? Now I couldn't say a thing. I'd been too busy trying to come to terms with everything.
Luckily, Kamida kept on in my stead. "Might I ask who you three are?" he warily extended a hand of greeting, attempting his usual aura of amiability but falling short into slight awkwardness. Kamida's smile twitched with uncertainty, and he nervously rubbed the back of his head.
Irritatingly, the two ignored his question and his hand, opting to silently look us up and down.
"Could you please just tell us?" Ayame asked impatiently. "I can't take much more stress..." she sighed and drooped her head over in exhaustion.
The man and woman looked at each other; after she nodded and he shrugged, she began to speak. Like her "leaderly" demeanor, her words were efficient and to the point.
"Call me Mizuno, and this is Shrug," she pointed to the man-giant, to which he shrugged in response. She then gestured us to look toward the archer girl who'd still been studiously looking over Nakamura's wounds. "She's Suda."
'Wait, aren't those?...' I realized those names were most definitely of Japanese descent, something irregular as far as I could tell in our new world. Even so, I decided to remain skeptical and guarded. Something I hadn't done back in the manor.
Sadly, Kamida hadn't felt the same way as me, opting to question them about it instead. "It's splendid to meet you three!" Kamida exclaimed, breaking my thought and the tension. "Could I ask w-"
"Save it," Mizuno interjected, something I'd been grateful for, "questions come later, and we'll be asking them."
"Ah," Kamida quieted down and bowed, "I understand, Miss Mizuno."
Just as we'd finished our "friendly" exchange of banter, Suda came out from the den while brushing her hands against each other. On her face was an expression of obvious concern.
ραпdα Йᴏνê|(сòm) "News?" Mizuno asked flatly.
"It ain't good," Suda wearily replied, walking past us. "One of 'em kicked it, and-"
"His name is...was Nakamura!" I finally spoke up. Knowing that he'd been dead, I at least wanted his name to be recognized. He deserved that much after the help he'd given us and Sato.
The three looked at me, with Suda being the only one to offer an apologetic smile.
"Right, I'm sorry 'bout that." She bowed slightly in apology and resumed speaking. "Aside from Nakamura, it looks like two others are unconscious. The final person," she pointed to Takagi, "well, he's clearly in shock."
Mizuno sighed somberly, then shrugged. "Nothing we can do about that..." It looked as if she was genuinely regretful at Nakamura's death. Despite that, I couldn't help but thinking about how easily she brushed it aside. Like she'd been used to seeing the lives of innocents be extinguished in this unjust world.
But Suda hadn't been done, apparently. "There's another thing..." She raised a hand and took a loud breath of air. "I've got some potentially bad news."
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