"Hey, sorry if this sounds insensitive, but we should get a move on." Nate urged the two wounded men, huddled on the ground next to the old man's corpse. "More wolves might come."

About a dozen minutes had passed since the battle ended and Pig had already mentally informed him that the woman was now resting in the village. After commanding the orc to come to him, Nate had been waiting patiently as the two mourned.

Nate knew the feeling of having a friend die in front of you. In his life of crime, he'd met plenty of shitty people, but there were some good ones there too. People who were like him. Ones who didn't want to live their lives that way, but had no other choice but to do so.

All of them were dead, though. Nate had personally seen some of them die. He'd held some of their bodies as they breathed their last. On some occasions, he'd even had to end their misery himself, since living would just be suffering for them.

Nate understood their grief. Even though they probably didn't know each other back on earth and had spent only a few days together, the hardships they all experienced together during that time had definitely forged strong bonds between them.

And the stronger the bonds, the more they hurt when they snapped apart.

Nevertheless, they couldn't stay here.

Although he'd used the wolves as a reason, the wild beasts weren't the actual problem. Nate could easily deal with them.

The problem came with the large number of wounds the two men had. Nate had to get them treated immediately.

Although Brent was relatively more well-off than Hugo, who was openly bleeding in certain areas, he still had several gashes on his arms and legs.

'They should have a number of points saved up, but there's no way they can buy a healing pill.' Nate sighed, feeling helpless. 'Guess they'll have to settle for good ol' fashioned bandages. The improvised kind.'

Brent looked up in alarm as he remembered what situation they were in. "Y-you're right..."

"But we can't just leave the old man's body here, can we?" Hugo looked at the corpse with reluctance, but then his eyes filled with resolve as his limbs surged with power. After standing up, he tried to heave the corpse onto his shoulder but was stopped by Nate.

"You're injured. Let me do that," he said as he swooped down before Hugo could say anything else.

"... thanks, bro." Hugo sadly chuckled as he thanked Nate. "For this and the thing earlier. We would've been goners without you."

"Yeah... th-thank you very much...!" Brent also looked at Nate with a face full of gratitude.

"You're welcome." Nate decided to accept their thanks as he started to walk in the direction of the village. He'd never get lost since the beacon he sent to the sky was still there. "You should also thank that girl you were with. She's the one who told me where you guys were."

"Oh, Ari?" Hugo's eyes widened as his lips formed a relieved grin. "So she's safe. That's good."

"Mm." Brent nodded as he sighed. "Three out of f-four of us survived made it. Uncle Sam... was the only one."

Seeing Brent's forlorn expression, Hugo slapped him on the back while holding back his own tears. "C'mon. That guy would've been proud. You know how much of a grandpa that old codger was... he'd be happy that he was the only one that had to go."

"You're... y-you're right." Brent's lips formed a melancholic smile. He gently push Hugo's hand away when the big man tried to help him up. "I can walk... I think."

"Suit yourself." Hugo shrugged as he began limping forward to follow Nate, but stopped when he heard a thump behind him.

Brent collapsed to the ground as soon as he stood up. The exhaustion had caught up with him when the tension in his body was released due to the relief he felt.

"Hey!?" The big man dashed toward Brent as he exclaimed worriedly.

"Relax. I think he's just unconscious." Nate, who'd turned around when he heard something fall, was reassured. He sighed as he looked toward the distance, where Pig was stampeding over to them. "We'll just wait here for my servant to come. Rest for now."

"Servant...?" Hugo echoed in confusion and then nodded. "Alright. Actually, I feel like passing out too..."

As soon as he'd said that, Hugo also collapsed to the ground in a heap.

"Welp, that's three bodies now..." Nate sighed again as he laid down the old man's corpse gently on the ground. He'd just have Pig carry them all.

'Hugo said the young woman's name was "Ari"? That means she's the sixth member of the party in Miyu's vision. All the members are here.'

A smile crept onto Nate's face as he thought of how this ordeal would soon end.

'Wait for me, Mom.'

----------------------------------------

Back in the village, inside one of the many vacant houses, a person named Freddie, who was apparently a paramedic, was trying his best to treat Hugo and Brent's injuries with what they had on hand while a man and a woman watched from the side.

Nate nudged Miyu with his elbow as he brought his lips closer to her ear and whispered, "Are these the people in your vision?"

"Ah." Miyu resisted the urge to squeal when she felt Nate's breath tickle her ears. She replied, "Yes. That's definitely them... except for the part where they're full of wounds."

"Good." he nodded in satisfaction. "What about the young woman? Have you seen her?"

"Yes. She's the one I saw..." Miyu replied as a frown crossed her face for a moment. Her future self didn't like Ari very much, so Miyu unconsciously had some prejudices toward her.

Nate noticed the change in Miyu's expression, but was too busy thinking about something else to worry about it.

'Finally...'

All of the people Miyu saw in her vision were finally assembled.

Of course, Nate didn't think that they could reach the end with just the six of them. But just having the complete cast of characters set his mind at ease.

He was also satisfied by what he saw during the fight, which assured him that they really would be useful in battle.

Hugo left little to be mentioned. He was more than two feet tall and was a mass of muscle. He didn't even have a proper weapon, but he was able to do well by just bashing wolves with a shield. Nate also assessed that he was a decent person from what little interaction they had.

He could be wrong, of course. However, Nate trusted his gut when it came to people. It hadn't failed him too much.

As for Brent, one would normally think him unreliable, but the fact that he stood his ground when things got tough left a deep impression on Nate. To him, an ally's capabilities didn't matter if they would just leave you when you needed them most.

Nate regarded Brent highly because of this.

A lack of experience and skill can be filled up, but you couldn't change someone's nature so easily.

'As for Ari...'

Honestly, Nate didn't blame her for running away.

He'd seen the empty quiver of arrows on her back when he saved her, so she at least tried to help before running. Or rather, she ran away because she no longer had arrows. With her meager strength and lack of a proper melee weapon, she wouldn't have been able to contribute much even if she'd stayed.

Nate didn't look down on her capabilities because she was a woman, but rather due to his personal assessment.

Unlike Miyu, Ari didn't have a body that was trained through martial arts. She certainly looked quite physically fit, but that wouldn't be enough, especially since she was a young woman.

Ari looked to only be in her teens. Or barely out of it. Her limbs looked like they had some muscle to them, but they were still thin and frail, characteristic of an ordinary girl.

So despite what she did, Nate's opinion of her didn't lessen that much.

The problem was her current mental state.

'I only caught a glimpse of her, but she's obviously quite depressed...'

To Nate, it was apparent that Ari felt guilty about leaving the men behind. Especially since one of them actually died.

'Hah... it seems she actually has a conscience then. But in this case, that's working against her.'

Guilt of that magnitude wasn't something that just disappeared.

'Luckily, Hugo and Brent didn't seem to resent her, judging by how relieved they were to hear that she was safe.'

She would need the reassurance of those who survived to heal her emotional scars.

Time was also essential.

But that was the problem.

'I don't have time for that, dammit.'

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Right, I'll get going then," Nate said to Miyu before turning around to leave.

"Hm? Where are you...?"

"I gotta piss."

"Oh..." Miyu responded in monotone as she brought her attention back to the two patients.

Seeing her like that, Nate internally heaved a sigh of relief.

'I have to do something about Ari...'

Nate opened the door and stepped outside, where Pig and Wolf, the wolf he'd turned into a zombie, were waiting for him outside.

'And I don't think someone like Miyu will like what I'll do.'

"C'mon, you two."

As Nate walked across the village, he massaged his face and practiced his best smile.

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Shin Ari's Perspective

"Urgh..." Ari groaned as she hurled out her latest meal, which wasn't much, to be honest. Just some water, nutrition bars, and a few berries that the others had given her. The food and water meant to nourish her were now nourishing the bushes she'd regurgitated them onto.

'My stomach...'

Ever since she saw Uncle Sam's corpse get brought in, her stomach had erupted with agonizing pain. It was worse than when her father used to beat her.

'Uncle Sam...'

The old man was the first person she met after getting sent to this place. He was a bit boisterous and uncivilized from time to time, but Ari found him likable. She'd never had any good experiences with older men, so her interactions with the good-natured old man felt very fresh.

It also made her temporarily forget about how horrible of a person she used to be.

Eventually, they found other people along the way, then decided to travel together.

'Cuz why not?' Uncle Sam had said as he welcomed Brent and Hugo with open arms.

Their small band of lost children would've been helpless without the old man's extensive knowledge and experience with traversing forests.

He had apparently been a survivalist.

Ari didn't know what that really meant, but she did know, that whatever he said they could eat didn't cause diarrhea or food poisoning.

He even got water by doing something to a weird tree, which Ari still couldn't understand.

She, Hugo, and Brent were really fortunate when they encountered the old man.

If their good luck wasn't obvious at that point, a strange message even appeared in the sky, telling them exactly where to go.

But their good luck eventually ran out when they encountered a large pack of ten wolves. Things got even worse when more gathered.

Eventually, her arrows ran out. After picking the recurve bow in the white room, she was sent to the forest with a mere twenty-five arrows.

As one of the girls in the running to participate in the Olympics, her archery was naturally top-notch. Every arrow had taken a wolf's life.

But what could she do when she ran out of arrows?

Nothing.

She didn't have any melee-combat training or anything like that. The best she could manage was a decent kick.

'Th-that's why... it makes sense that I ran away... right? Nobody can blame me!'

Ari's hands tightened into fists as she wiped off the traces of vomit left on her lips.

She felt disgusting.

Every time she remembered that kind old man's body being brought in here by the red monster, she felt repulsed at herself and her actions.

'If... if I stayed... maybe to throw some rocks or to swing my bow around... maybe he wouldn't have...'

Ari's nails dug into her palms as she was haunted by such thoughts.

Voices whispered in her head.

That it was all her fault. That Uncle Sam died because of her. That Hugo and Brent were in that state because she ran away by herself.

She felt her stomach churn as she retched, only for nothing but air and drool to come out.

"Haah... haah..." Ari panted as she held her knees to keep from falling to the ground. She felt dizzy. Maybe from all the barfing. Perhaps from the lack of food in her stomach. Ari didn't know, and she couldn't care less.

She just wanted the guilt to go away. To feel better.

Most of all... she just wanted someone to tell her that it wasn't her fault.

As if to answer her wish, a deep but playful voice spoke out from behind her.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh!?" Ari turned around in surprise, being met with the sight of a familiar man.

'Ah... it's him!'

Even if he was without his armor and weapons, how could Ari forget the face of her savior?

'H-he's more handsome up close and his figure is...' she couldn't help but think, despite the situation. 'I heard some of the people around me call him "Nate".'

From what she'd gathered during her short time in the village, Nate was the de facto leader of the people gathered here. He was also the person who made the message in the sky.

Ari hastily wiped her mouth and tried to fix up her hair before she put on her best smile while dipping her head gratefully.

"This is a bit late, but thank you very much for saving me."

"Oh, don't mention it." Nate smiled and waved it off before holding up a bottle of water and a sweet roll wrapped in plastic. "I brought you some food."

"Uh- I already--"

Grumble~

Before she could deny it, her stomach decided to expose her hunger.

Nate chuckled good-naturedly as he gestured toward the vacant house that was recently assigned to Ari. "Let's head inside."

"...yes." Ari's neck burned red in embarrassment as he followed her savior into the house.

----------------------------------------

'H-he's watching me...' Ari nervously thought as she ate the sweet roll, that, after eating nothing but berries and wild grasses, tasted like heaven.

After handing her the bottle of water and the pastry, Nate sat down on the chair opposite of hers and said nothing else. He'd just quietly sat there while openly staring at her.

Ari's normal response to someone doing that to her would be to promptly tell the man to fuck off, but Nate was her savior.

Even though she acknowledged that her personality wasn't very good, it still wasn't shitty enough that she would bite the hand that fed her.

Besides that, it didn't feel bad. Being stared at by such a handsome Oppa, that is.

'I guess the "creepy threshold" is lower for handsome guys?' she mused as she watered down the sweet roll with some water. 'Or maybe that's just me.'

It seemed that Nate was just waiting for her to finish her meal, since he spoke the moment she put the bottle down on the table.

"Still hungry?" he asked.

Ari shook her head. "I'm fine now."

'I'll just puke it all out anyway-- huh?'

That was when she realized that her stomach had stopped aching.

Before she could investigate this baffling fact, her thoughts were interrupted by Nate.

"I don't think we've introduced ourselves formally yet." Nate smiled warmly as he held out his hand. "My name is Nathaniel Spencer. Everybody just calls me Nate, though. You can do the same."

"Eh- ah. Yes." Ari was a bit surprised by the sudden prompt to introduce herself, but she recovered quickly and did so respectfully. "I'm Shin Ari-- or rather, Ari Shin. Once again, thank you for saving me earlier, Mr. Nate."

"Sure sure." he waved it off as he smirked mischievously. "But why are you suddenly using 'Mister', and whatnot?"

"Well... that's because I have great res--"

"But didn't you call me 'Oppa' earlier?" Nate teased. "I kind of liked the sound of that."

"...fine." Ari's lips couldn't help but form a smile as she turned her face away. "Please stop teasing me, Oppa."

"Pfft."

"And what are you laughing about? Oppa?" she tapped the table while pouting, a little annoyed.

"Nothing~" Nate chuckled when he saw Ari's reaction. Then his expression morphed into one of relief. "I'm glad you feel better."

"Huh?" Ari's head tilted in confusion.

"You've been having a hard time since you came back, right?" Nate stood up and moved his chair to sit closer to Ari. "You were even vomiting all over the place, so I'd better not sit in front of you..."

"So you did see that..."

"Well, it was kinda hard to miss the smell." Nate chuckled wryly as he tapped the tip of his nose while sitting down.

"Urgh..." Ari groaned in embarrassment. Then she glared hatefully at Nate. "And I didn't vomit all over the place! I only did it on those bushes outside."

"Of course." Nate nodded, but his expression teased that he didn't believe her at all.

"Grr..." she growled in frustration. She couldn't help but reach over and playfully pinch him on the shoulder.

"Hey!" Nate yelped a little as gently slapped her hand away.

"Ahahaha!" Ari couldn't help but laugh for a while.

It wasn't like their interaction was that funny.

She just felt like all her worries were flying away with every giggle, so she chose to laugh and laugh until she couldn't do so anymore.

Eventually, her breath caught up to her and she had to stop.

That was when the scene of Uncle Sam's body being brought in flashed through her mind again, causing her to clutch her head and begin to tear up.

When her mind felt like it was sinking back into depression, a comforting hand rubbed her back.

"There there..." Nate said, as he filled his eyes and smile with warmth. "It's okay now."

Ari felt the floodgates open when she saw Nate's smile. It was just like how he smiled when he saved her in the forest.

It was the smile that told her that she would be safe.

She lunged forward and hugged Nate while crying, causing the front of his shirt to be soaked with her tears.

Nate just received her without saying anything, continuing to pat her back while stroking her hair from time to time.

Any other time, Ari would've rebuked herself for letting a stranger she'd literally just met a few hours ago touch her all over like this.

But she just really needed someone right now. Someone to comfort her, listen to her and tell her the things she wanted to hear.

Nate felt like he could be that person, so she clung to him desperately.

"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked in a soft voice. "Just anything you can say. I just want to better understand how you feel."

Ari sniffed as she looked up and met Nate's tender eyes. She nodded before unloading all her feelings on him. Through the tears, Ari recounted what she'd experienced even as her voice trembled.

She told Nate about how she was saved by Uncle Sam's knowledge and kindness. How he sacrificed himself for them.

And how she'd left them to die.

Finally, how she was saved by Nate.

"I see..." he rubbed her head while digesting the story he heard. "So... you feel guilty, right? About the old man's death."

"..." Ari's shoulders shook and her breath got caught in her throat. She couldn't say a word as her head drooped back down to his chest.

"Hmm... Actually, I think it's admirable that you think that way." Nate raised her chin so their eyes could meet again. "I know a lot of people who wouldn't bat an eyelid over something like this."

"... really?" she asked, feeling hopeful.

"Yes." Nate smiled reassuringly.

Feeling embarrassed, Ari buried her face in his chest again as a question burned in her heart.

She felt like Nate would agree with her. Like he would take her side.

Even if it would make her sound like a shitty person, she wanted to ask it.

Surely, Nate would set her mind at ease, just like he'd been doing since a while ago.

"Then..." Ari's arms hugging Nate tightened as she hesitated to ask. Ultimately, she couldn't resist doing so. "I-it wasn't my fault... right?"

"Hmm..." Unexpectedly, Nate didn't answer her immediately this time. He hummed as he thought of his answer, Ari's back slicked with eat due to her anxiety.

However, she reassured herself.

'He... he's on my side...'

She never expected him to crush her hopes by using a frosty voice that sent chills down her spine.

"Perhaps it is your fault, Ari."

"!"

Her body trembled in his arms as she heard his answer.

As her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach, Ari didn't dare to look up to see what expression Nate was wearing.