Shine was about to head back for Nain.
"I keep forgetting — I need to find a way back to my own world, and fast. But my soft side is sitting here worrying about her. And today Shine proved it again — he's trying to become my master. I really do regret not choosing the water magician. I won't make that mistake again. He's taking advantage of my weakness." The Sin inside Jhed was feeding him all of this. And there was truth in it — turning back after coming this far made no sense. Besides, no one had asked Nain to come along in the first place.
Jhed clenched his fist. Fear was holding his mouth shut. But somehow, he forced himself.
"Listen, Shine. I'm going to—" He was about to finish when figures appeared in the distance, moving toward them.
They were getting closer.
Jhed looked. Four people — one girl and three boys. The girl held a magic staff, a pointed magic hat pulled low over her face. One boy, roughly Shine's age, carried a bow across his back. A broad-shouldered man had a spear hanging from his back. And walking ahead of all of them was a boy with a sword sheathed at his hip.
All four came up to Jhed and Shine.
"Hey — what are you two doing here?" the sword boy said. He sounded a little on edge.
"We're passing through. Heading to Pariharlas," Jhed said.
"Oh — sorry for snapping. We thought you were here to pick the flowers." The sword boy relaxed.
"So — why are you going to Pariharlas?"
"We need to meet Harles," Shine said.
"But Harles is imprisoned. And going there is dangerous," the sword boy said.
"Dangerous. I hate that word," Jhed thought.
"Sorry — I never introduced myself. I'm Maruls. This is Metye, that big guy is Asfer, and she's Uni." Maruls said. "And your names?"
"I'm Shine. This is Jhed."
"Is he your son?" Metye asked. The bow on his back shifted as he tilted his head.
"Absolutely not—" Jhed said loudly. His eyes flashed.
"No — he's my friend," Shine said with a smile, placing a hand on Jhed's shoulder.
All four of them looked like adventurers.
"You're all adventurers, aren't you."
"Yes. We protect this flower forest. People keep coming through and picking the flowers, so we were given this mission to guard it." Asfer said.
They all seemed like decent people.
"Is there a village or town nearby? We need to pick up some food," Jhed said.
"Jhed — we need to go find Nain," Shine said quietly in his ear.
Jhed ignored him.
"Yes, there's a town — we live there. Come on, we'll take you." Maruls said.
Jhed fell into step behind them. Shine stayed put for a moment — Jhed had just brushed him off entirely. But there was nothing he could do. He followed.
Watching this, something became clear: whatever that room had taught Shine — think only of yourself, not others — he'd unlearned it after getting out. And now Jhed was teaching it back to him. For all his power, Shine hadn't killed the zombie monsters, hadn't done anything decisive in Mariana either. Just talked big. Maybe Jhed had a point.
And so they walked on with the four adventurers.