Chapter 215: Discarded Hand (4)

Translator: RaidenTL

Chapter 215: Discarded Hand (4)

The knight who gave us this ring told us that showing it and providing his name would confirm our identity. Yeah, that was all he said.

But before I could even say who gave it to me, one of the knights recognized it. "That's a Verbal Message ring. And... it belongs to Sir Garfizel, who left to scout out one of the second-floor portals."

"Verbal Message ring...?"

When he saw my reaction, he chuckled. "Looks like you didn't even know what this was. Just wait. Whether your words are true or not will now be revealed."

When the knight twisted the jewel embedded in the ring, blue light leaked out and entered his body. The knight closed his eyes in silence as if to enjoy the afterglow. Then, about three minutes later, his mouth opened.

"The Corpse Collector is near the portal, huh?"

With that one sentence, everything clicked in my mind. Fuck, so that was why this was called a Verbal Message ring. No wonder he gave it to me when I hadn't even asked for compensation.

I can see why he wanted me to have it.

The knight named Garfizel had wanted to use me, someone he had run into by chance, to deliver information. That was probably why he told us about this place too.

"By the dark area, are you talking about the place where the monument is located?"

"Yes, head there. You'll be safe as long as you get there."

If the message ended up being delivered, that was good. If not, no harm was done. Still, he could have just been honest. Now I really felt like a sucker.

Why are there so many bastards in this world that treat people like puppets?

It left a bitter taste in my mouth, but the fortunate thing was that this ring confirmed our identities.

"Little Balkan, Bjorn, son of Yandel." I had never revealed my name to him but the knight said it anyway.

"Did that clear your suspicions?"

"It's safe to say you are not from Noark's side. Although it's unclear how you guys managed to get through their defenses on your own... come in. We will head to our temporary Central Headquarters to discuss this in more detail."

"Glad to hear that. Do you have a priest too?" There was no way there wasn't a priest here, but I was mostly just beating around the bush.

Fortunately, the knight seemed to understand what I was getting at. He noticed the state we were in and nodded. "Yes, I suppose you need treatment first." That was a bit of a surprise. I thought he'd be inflexible and insist the debrief came first. "Your comrades will be taken to a makeshift infirmary."

"...What about me?"

"The debrief comes first."

Ha, well, I guessed in some ways he could still be considered a gentleman. "I can wait, so go on and take a break."

"But...!" Missha protested my decision, but I silently turned my gaze somewhere else, to where a patient whose condition was more critical than my missing arm was lying.

"Is Daria okay?"

"I-I'm not sure. Rrraven used a curse-removal spell, but she hasn't woken up..."

"The priest will treat her. You should take her over there."

"...I'm sorry," said Erwen.

What was there to be sorry about? She was acting like she'd committed a sin or something. I smiled and patted her on the shoulder. Then I headed over to Raven for a brief exchange. "You are the leader when I am not around. I know ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it'll be tough because of your mana exhaustion, but I'll leave you to it."

"...Don't worry about the team. I'll take care of it. I may be worn out, but not as much as you."

Hmm, that line probably didn't sound right coming from a one-armed bastard, huh?

"If you're done, follow me," said the knight. "My subordinate will take your comrades to the infirmary."

"Okay."

After that, I was separated from the group and followed the knight inside their makeshift HQ. The sight I was greeted with was an unfamiliar one. The dark area, which was usually free of light, was all lit up thanks to the torches they had installed.

Looks like a temporary shelter.

If the outer area was composed of guards and adventurers, the inside was a bit different. Adventurers were packed inside the narrow passageway, all of them either sitting down or lying down to rest.

"There's no fog here."

"We've put a defensive magic circle in place."

"Defensive magic circle...?"

"Ah, you wouldn't know yet if you came from the outside. The fog is a poison-type dark spell, although it's not very potent considering the wide range."

A poison-type dark spell, huh? Was it Evil Supper, then? Since breathing it in didn't seem to cause any harm and there was enough of it to cover the entire first floor, I had assumed it had to be a fog spell cast solely to block our vision.

Just how many dark wizards did they grind for that?

A chill ran down my spine. What would have happened if we had decided to head to the remote outskirts and hold out on our own?

...We would've been fucked.

No matter how weak the poison, after a few days of exposure, symptoms would have appeared. Only then would I have realized what the fog was and started coming up with a countermeasure. And considering how late in the game that would have been, we would have had way fewer options.

"Hey, you, you can rest but stick to the wall."

"Ah, yes... Sorry."

We walked through that narrow passageway for about twenty minutes. Finally, the center cavern appeared. No, it would be more accurate to call it a square.

"...How did you do this?"

"We used wizards to demolish the nearby walls and expand the area. We couldn't accommodate everyone in a small space."

Huh. Was this military-style civil engineering? I supposed there was nothing you couldn't do when so many people were gathered. The cavern, which used to have a radius of about thirty yards, was now hundreds of times larger in size. The expansion contained barracks that housed different clans.

"Come in."

The knight brought me to a large barracks located in the very center. At the entrance was the flag of the imperial family of Rafdonia, and inside, I saw people having a meeting around a round table.

A meeting of the leaders, huh?

Although this was the palace barracks, it wasn't filled with just knights. Adventurers wearing the marks of famous clans were also present and passionately discussing something. There was a familiar face among them.

"Oh, you're—!" The woman looked like she had just seen a ghost.

I smiled viciously and said hello. "We meet again, Versyl Gowland." I didn't realize we would meet again so soon, either.

"...Don't worry about the team. I'll take care of it. I may be worn out, but not as much as you."

Hmm, that line probably didn't sound right coming from a one-armed bastard, huh?

"If you're done, follow me," said the knight. "My subordinate will take your comrades to the infirmary."

"Okay."

After that, I was separated from the group and followed the knight inside their makeshift HQ. The sight I was greeted with was an unfamiliar one. The dark area, which was usually free of light, was all lit up thanks to the torches they had installed.

Looks like a temporary shelter.

If the outer area was composed of guards and adventurers, the inside was a bit different. Adventurers were packed inside the narrow passageway, all of them either sitting down or lying down to rest.

"There's no fog here."

"We've put a defensive magic circle in place."

"Defensive magic circle...?"

"Ah, you wouldn't know yet if you came from the outside. The fog is a poison-type dark spell, although it's not very potent considering the wide range."

A poison-type dark spell, huh? Was it Evil Supper, then? Since breathing it in didn't seem to cause any harm and there was enough of it to cover the entire first floor, I had assumed it had to be a fog spell cast solely to block our vision.

Just how many dark wizards did they grind for that?

A chill ran down my spine. What would have happened if we had decided to head to the remote outskirts and hold out on our own?

...We would've been fucked.

No matter how weak the poison, after a few days of exposure, symptoms would have appeared. Only then would I have realized what the fog was and started coming up with a countermeasure. And considering how late in the game that would have been, we would have had way fewer options.

"Hey, you, you can rest but stick to the wall."

"Ah, yes... Sorry."

We walked through that narrow passageway for about twenty minutes. Finally, the center cavern appeared. No, it would be more accurate to call it a square.

"...How did you do this?"

"We used wizards to demolish the nearby walls and expand the area. We couldn't accommodate everyone in a small space."

Huh. Was this military-style civil engineering? I supposed there was nothing you couldn't do when so many people were gathered. The cavern, which used to have a radius of about thirty yards, was now hundreds of times larger in size. The expansion contained barracks that housed different clans.

"Come in."

The knight brought me to a large barracks located in the very center. At the entrance was the flag of the imperial family of Rafdonia, and inside, I saw people having a meeting around a round table.

A meeting of the leaders, huh?

Although this was the palace barracks, it wasn't filled with just knights. Adventurers wearing the marks of famous clans were also present and passionately discussing something. There was a familiar face among them.

"Oh, you're—!" The woman looked like she had just seen a ghost.

I smiled viciously and said hello. "We meet again, Versyl Gowland." I didn't realize we would meet again so soon, either.

"How are you... Did you find a wizard capable of teleportation?"

Of course not. Instead of answering, I waved my arm, which stopped at the elbow.

Judging by her expression, she seemed to understand what that meant. "...You got through there?" Versyl muttered in disbelief. After all, we had just cleared the route these guys had given up on. It seemed she hadn't expected us to succeed. "How did you do it?"

Well, I wasn't proud of it, but I'd used a method similar to hers. I discarded what I needed to discard, as per my priorities.

In the middle of my reunion with Versyl, a man interrupted and commanded silence. "Enough chitchat." So this guy was the big man here. "Sir Ergos, you should be on the frontline. What are you doing here? And who is this barbarian next to you?"

"I had something to report to you, so I temporarily left my post."

"Tell me."

"I have obtained Sir Garfizel's Verbal Message ring."

"...Sir Garfizel's?"

"Yes. This man is an adventurer named Bjorn Yandel. He delivered the ring to me."

When the knight handed over the message ring, the man activated it. After some time, he spoke, keeping his eyes on me. "I am Marco Elbern. I am the knight captain of the Third Royal Guard." It seemed he was finally interested in me. "I'm going to ask you a few questions. Can you answer them honestly?"

"...I will."

"First, if the contents of this ring's message are true, that means that the Corpse Collector is positioned north at the portal leading to the Goblin Forest."

Some of the adventurers at the table let out exclamations of "Corpse Collector!" but not loud enough to disturb the conversation. I didn't have to worry about them right now.

"What are you trying to ask?"

"Is this reliable information?"

"It's reliable. I did escape him, but I also engaged in battle with him for a brief time."

"You fought him? May I know what your rank is?"

"...Rank five."

When I revealed my ranking, the captain of the guards touched his chin with a strange look on his face. "If those words are true, it's safe to say that the man let you go."

"Probably." I readily admitted that. To be honest, the Corpse Collector seemed solely interested in blocking off the portal to the second floor. If it weren't for that, we would have had a lot of trouble getting away. "Are those all your questions?"

"No, one more. It sounds like just now you entered through the path assigned to Sir Ergos. Is that true?"

"That's right."

"I want to hear about that in more detail. Was there a way to avoid the enemy?"

"If there was, do you think I'd look like this right now?"

"...That's fair. Then tell me in more detail how you got all the way here. It may be beneficial to our strategy."

Although I had already sufficiently proven that I wasn't an adventurer from Noark, there wasn't a point in refusing this request and causing trouble. I explained the twenty-minute battle as concisely as I could. And it seemed it had been enough to convey what a desperate road we had just traveled.

"A moving story." Marco's gaze became a little friendlier. The clan members who were also listening to my story looked at me in fascination as well. "I see the qualities of a commander in you."

"How are you... Did you find a wizard capable of teleportation?"

Of course not. Instead of answering, I waved my arm, which stopped at the elbow.

Judging by her expression, she seemed to understand what that meant. "...You got through there?" Versyl muttered in disbelief. After all, we had just cleared the route these guys had given up on. It seemed she hadn't expected us to succeed. "How did you do it?"

Well, I wasn't proud of it, but I'd used a method similar to hers. I discarded what I needed to discard, as per my priorities.

In the middle of my reunion with Versyl, a man interrupted and commanded silence. "Enough chitchat." So this guy was the big man here. "Sir Ergos, you should be on the frontline. What are you doing here? And who is this barbarian next to you?"

"I had something to report to you, so I temporarily left my post."

"Tell me."

"I have obtained Sir Garfizel's Verbal Message ring."

"...Sir Garfizel's?"

"Yes. This man is an adventurer named Bjorn Yandel. He delivered the ring to me."

When the knight handed over the message ring, the man activated it. After some time, he spoke, keeping his eyes on me. "I am Marco Elbern. I am the knight captain of the Third Royal Guard." It seemed he was finally interested in me. "I'm going to ask you a few questions. Can you answer them honestly?"

"...I will."

"First, if the contents of this ring's message are true, that means that the Corpse Collector is positioned north at the portal leading to the Goblin Forest."

Some of the adventurers at the table let out exclamations of "Corpse Collector!" but not loud enough to disturb the conversation. I didn't have to worry about them right now.

"What are you trying to ask?"

"Is this reliable information?"

"It's reliable. I did escape him, but I also engaged in battle with him for a brief time."

"You fought him? May I know what your rank is?"

"...Rank five."

When I revealed my ranking, the captain of the guards touched his chin with a strange look on his face. "If those words are true, it's safe to say that the man let you go."

"Probably." I readily admitted that. To be honest, the Corpse Collector seemed solely interested in blocking off the portal to the second floor. If it weren't for that, we would have had a lot of trouble getting away. "Are those all your questions?"

"No, one more. It sounds like just now you entered through the path assigned to Sir Ergos. Is that true?"

"That's right."

"I want to hear about that in more detail. Was there a way to avoid the enemy?"

"If there was, do you think I'd look like this right now?"

"...That's fair. Then tell me in more detail how you got all the way here. It may be beneficial to our strategy."

Although I had already sufficiently proven that I wasn't an adventurer from Noark, there wasn't a point in refusing this request and causing trouble. I explained the twenty-minute battle as concisely as I could. And it seemed it had been enough to convey what a desperate road we had just traveled.

"A moving story." Marco's gaze became a little friendlier. The clan members who were also listening to my story looked at me in fascination as well. "I see the qualities of a commander in you."

"If I were one, more than half of us wouldn't have died."

"That's why I said 'qualities.' Your teammates are all alive. A great commander is not a person who makes the perfect choices. They're a person who makes the necessary ones."

It didn't seem like he was mocking me or anything, but I didn't want to talk about this. Even if it was a compliment, I wasn't that pleased about it. I changed the subject. "If there are no more questions, I want to go soon."

"I have one more question for you. The man you ran into at the end. Did he have a scar on his chin?"

A scar? "He did."

When I nodded, the knight laughed, amused. "I had my doubts since you spoke of an adamantium greatsword, but it was the Snake Knight."

"Snake Knight?"

"A bastard who stabbed his master's child and escaped to Noark. He's rather infamous, but I guess it was too long ago for you to know about him."

No wonder he used an aura. He had been a knight. And given how the adventurers around us were murmuring, it seemed he once had a bit of a reputation.

"Anyway, congratulations. Since you killed that man, your reputation will go up."

"My reputation, huh?"

"What, don't barbarians like that?"

You're not wrong, but I'm not like normal barbarians, you see.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with a good reputation. I had to get permission to enter the imperial capital of Karnon, after all.

"I like it if I return alive."

It wouldn't be too late to think about stuff like that later. It hadn't even been one day since the labyrinth opened.

"I've kept an injured man for too long. Go rest. Sir Ergos will tell you the rules of our settlement."

With that, I headed out of the barracks and, guided by a knight, headed to the temporary infirmary to join my teammates.

"Mister!"

"How's Daria?"

"The priest healed her and she's all better now. She is sleeping... But it's all thanks to you!" Now that her sister had been treated, Erwen had regained her composure and livened up again.

Missha came up and removed Erwen from my person. "Hey! Stop botherrring him and go away."

"Excuse me?"

"'Excuse me?' Can't you see Bjorn is hurrrt?"

"Ah..."

"Let me see. Are you okay? Is there anywhere else that hurrrts? You must be tired, getting called there even after all that. Let's go show your arm to the prrriest."

It looked like everyone else's injuries had been treated already, so I followed Missha to the priest. Oh, for reference, everything was free of charge because this was a wartime situation. All adventurers had to follow the orders of the king. This infirmary was probably a gathering of priests from a bunch of different parties.

"You won't recover your full strength for about a day, and it'll feel strange. I need to go treat the other patients. May the brilliance of the sun be with you."

With one heal, my arm grew back in just a few minutes. I once again realized how important it was to have a priest. If I had tried to heal myself with an advanced potion, it would have taken at least two or three bottles. This went beyond regrowing a severed arm—the higher the person's physical ability, the weaker the effect of a potion.

If I form a clan, I'll have to find a priest somehow.

After receiving treatment, I rejoined my teammates. "Raven, do you have any information on the situation here?"

"They assigned us a spot, kind of."

"Assigned us a spot?"

"Where we'll be sleeping from now on. We all received a map, and it looked like we were in an outer passageway, I guess because we got here late. I think the innermost part of the safe zone is already full."

I laughed silently at Raven's words. The innermost area was full of the barracks of large clans. Had they been assigned there because they arrived early?

"Anyway, let's head over there quickly. We have to take turns on guard shifts starting tomorrow."

Geez, it was like being in the military. Picking up on the tension in the air, a question suddenly came to mind. "...But where is Takelan?" Takelan Arvenon, a rank-five adventurer, had been the only other survivor of my plan.

As soon as I mentioned Takelan's name, everyone froze.

"Oh, him..." Raven tried to paste on a smile as she answered. "He left as soon as he got his assignment. Anyone who is here alone or in a team of two or fewer is used to fill vacancies in other parties."

"Really?"

Then couldn't he just have added himself to our team? The clans were moving as a unit too. There were a lot of teams made up of more than six people walking around, anyway.

When I expressed that, Raven smiled awkwardly. "He wanted to go. So you don't have to worry about it."

"If you say so." I nodded nonchalantly, but inside I was thinking, Something happened while I was away. An incident occurred. I didn't know why they were hiding it from me, though. Well, I could just ask Ainar or Missha about it later.

"Erwen, you're joining up with the Blue Wall Clan, right?" I asked.

"Yes... I d-don't want to but Daria said we had to... She said it could lead to problems down the line because of our contract."

Well, the contract was one thing but Daria probably also thought it would be much safer that way since Blue Wall included a whopping six parties. Of course, one of those parties had disappeared on the way here, though.

"Then we'll get going. Take care of your sister once she wakes up. And always be wary of your surroundings."

"Okay...!"

After leaving Erwen, we headed to our assigned spot. It was a passageway located on the outskirts and not even two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠yards away from the team right next to us.

"It's been a long time since I've slept on the first floorrr..."

Like the adventurers that we were, we spread our sleeping bags out on the floor without complaint and lay next to each other. All of us knew that we should be very thankful that we could even sleep like this.

Honkkk!

As soon as she laid down, Ainar started snoring. I didn't know why, but at the sound, I remembered everything I had to do: check out the loot from today, inspect the equipment that got covered in lava, and wash my body, which was soaked in blood and sweat. Oh, I should also look into what happened to Takelan. My to-do list was mountainous, even though we'd done all that work already.

Ugh, whatever. Do it tomorrow.

When I closed my eyes, the strength left my body. It was like I was sinking.

Just when my consciousness was slowly drifting away, I heard Missha's voice from beside me. "Bjorrrn, you did well today."

Then I heard Raven's voice from my other side. "Yes. You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠really went through a lot."

Abman also chuckled bashfully and added, "Get some rest, Yandel."

Honkkk!

Only then did it fully hit me that our exceptionally long first day was finally over.

"If I were one, more than half of us wouldn't have died."

"That's why I said 'qualities.' Your teammates are all alive. A great commander is not a person who makes the perfect choices. They're a person who makes the necessary ones."

It didn't seem like he was mocking me or anything, but I didn't want to talk about this. Even if it was a compliment, I wasn't that pleased about it. I changed the subject. "If there are no more questions, I want to go soon."

"I have one more question for you. The man you ran into at the end. Did he have a scar on his chin?"

A scar? "He did."

When I nodded, the knight laughed, amused. "I had my doubts since you spoke of an adamantium greatsword, but it was the Snake Knight."

"Snake Knight?"

"A bastard who stabbed his master's child and escaped to Noark. He's rather infamous, but I guess it was too long ago for you to know about him."

No wonder he used an aura. He had been a knight. And given how the adventurers around us were murmuring, it seemed he once had a bit of a reputation.

"Anyway, congratulations. Since you killed that man, your reputation will go up."

"My reputation, huh?"

"What, don't barbarians like that?"

You're not wrong, but I'm not like normal barbarians, you see.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with a good reputation. I had to get permission to enter the imperial capital of Karnon, after all.

"I like it if I return alive."

It wouldn't be too late to think about stuff like that later. It hadn't even been one day since the labyrinth opened.

"I've kept an injured man for too long. Go rest. Sir Ergos will tell you the rules of our settlement."

With that, I headed out of the barracks and, guided by a knight, headed to the temporary infirmary to join my teammates.

"Mister!"

"How's Daria?"

"The priest healed her and she's all better now. She is sleeping... But it's all thanks to you!" Now that her sister had been treated, Erwen had regained her composure and livened up again.

Missha came up and removed Erwen from my person. "Hey! Stop botherrring him and go away."

"Excuse me?"

"'Excuse me?' Can't you see Bjorn is hurrrt?"

"Ah..."

"Let me see. Are you okay? Is there anywhere else that hurrrts? You must be tired, getting called there even after all that. Let's go show your arm to the prrriest."

It looked like everyone else's injuries had been treated already, so I followed Missha to the priest. Oh, for reference, everything was free of charge because this was a wartime situation. All adventurers had to follow the orders of the king. This infirmary was probably a gathering of priests from a bunch of different parties.

"You won't recover your full strength for about a day, and it'll feel strange. I need to go treat the other patients. May the brilliance of the sun be with you."

With one heal, my arm grew back in just a few minutes. I once again realized how important it was to have a priest. If I had tried to heal myself with an advanced potion, it would have taken at least two or three bottles. This went beyond regrowing a severed arm—the higher the person's physical ability, the weaker the effect of a potion.

If I form a clan, I'll have to find a priest somehow.

After receiving treatment, I rejoined my teammates. "Raven, do you have any information on the situation here?"

"They assigned us a spot, kind of."

"Assigned us a spot?"

"Where we'll be sleeping from now on. We all received a map, and it looked like we were in an outer passageway, I guess because we got here late. I think the innermost part of the safe zone is already full."

I laughed silently at Raven's words. The innermost area was full of the barracks of large clans. Had they been assigned there because they arrived early?

"Anyway, let's head over there quickly. We have to take turns on guard shifts starting tomorrow."

Geez, it was like being in the military. Picking up on the tension in the air, a question suddenly came to mind. "...But where is Takelan?" Takelan Arvenon, a rank-five adventurer, had been the only other survivor of my plan.

As soon as I mentioned Takelan's name, everyone froze.

"Oh, him..." Raven tried to paste on a smile as she answered. "He left as soon as he got his assignment. Anyone who is here alone or in a team of two or fewer is used to fill vacancies in other parties."

"Really?"

Then couldn't he just have added himself to our team? The clans were moving as a unit too. There were a lot of teams made up of more than six people walking around, anyway.

When I expressed that, Raven smiled awkwardly. "He wanted to go. So you don't have to worry about it."

"If you say so." I nodded nonchalantly, but inside I was thinking, Something happened while I was away. An incident occurred. I didn't know why they were hiding it from me, though. Well, I could just ask Ainar or Missha about it later.

"Erwen, you're joining up with the Blue Wall Clan, right?" I asked.

"Yes... I d-don't want to but Daria said we had to... She said it could lead to problems down the line because of our contract."

Well, the contract was one thing but Daria probably also thought it would be much safer that way since Blue Wall included a whopping six parties. Of course, one of those parties had disappeared on the way here, though.

"Then we'll get going. Take care of your sister once she wakes up. And always be wary of your surroundings."

"Okay...!"

After leaving Erwen, we headed to our assigned spot. It was a passageway located on the outskirts and not even two yards away from the team right next to us.

"It's been a long time since I've slept on the first floorrr..."

Like the adventurers that we were, we spread our sleeping bags out on the floor without complaint and lay next to each other. All of us knew that we should be very thankful that we could even sleep like this.

Honkkk!

As soon as she laid down, Ainar started snoring. I didn't know why, but at the sound, I remembered everything I had to do: check out the loot from today, inspect the equipment that got covered in lava, and wash my body, which was soaked in blood and sweat. Oh, I should also look into what happened to Takelan. My to-do list was mountainous, even though we'd done all that work already.

Ugh, whatever. Do it tomorrow.

When I closed my eyes, the strength left my body. It was like I was sinking.

Just when my consciousness was slowly drifting away, I heard Missha's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠voice from beside me. "Bjorrrn, you did well today."

Then I heard Raven's voice from my other side. "Yes. You really went through a lot."

Abman also chuckled bashfully and added, "Get some rest, Yandel."

Honkkk!

Only then did it fully hit me that our exceptionally long first day was finally over.