Lone was surprised to have gotten through to Grimsley and not Gilbert but this was a good sign. The fact that someone had answered the call at all meant that they weren't all dead, which was the worst-case scenario in Lone's mind.

However, as the conversation went on Lone's joy quickly turned into a mix of anger and worry. "So you don't know if Gilbert will live?"

Grimsley had detailed how they had been attacked by the four dukes and escaped by using the Djinn's wish when Gilbert received a near-fatal wound.

"Aye, Laddie. Not got ah clue. Ah did what a could, mind, but 'e could 'ave an internal infection or might nae 'eal fast enuff tae save 'imself fae the internal bleedin'. All we can dae noo is 'ope fae the best," the utterly exhausted Grimsely answered.

Lone bit onto his finger hard enough to draw blood as he muttered, "Milindo... I'll wipe you off the map for this, one day."

Little did he know Grand Guildmaster Sarah had already ordered the adventurer group, The Seven Deadly Sins, to do something very similar to his thoughts.

"Anyway, enuff aboot us, Laddie. 'Ow're ye an' the wee lassies? Make it oot awright?" Grimsley asked.

"Yes, not before killing the king though. He came after us, I monologued to him how much of a foolish and incompetent man he was then I ended his life. I also reached D-rank. Yay me, right?" he answered with fake enthusiasm.

"What?! A mere demi killed His Royal Majesty?! Impossible! He's lying!" a voice unknown to Lone screamed through the orb.

"Grimsley? Who was that?" Lone asked in both confusion and worry. Had they been taken hostage by someone loyal to the crown?

All Grimsley had explained was that he and Shana were a bit beat up but alive and he'd detailed Gilbert's horrific condition, he hadn't told him about their new 'friend'.

"Ah pest, that's who," Grimsley answered. "Ah wasnae particularly specific when ah made the wish tae the Djinn, so naw only did it teleport us over ah fookin' ocean, but it also brought one ah the dukes wae us. Thank the Primals the cunt cannae swim, eh?"

"Which duke?" Lone inquired.

"Ah coudnae gae ah fook les- Duke Grindol, you barbaric dwarf - Oi! Anymere cheek ootta ya an' ah'll nae reforge yer sword when ah can, do ya understand me, laddie?!" Grimsley yelled through the communication orb.

Lone smiled wryly. 'The duke's probably older than you are, Grimsley. Calling him 'laddie' is a bit...'

Regardless, the duke agreed and then politely asked once more if it was actually true Lone had killed the king.

Not seeing any reason to explain himself to a speciesist duke, he simply said 'yes' and nothing more. He and Grimsley then chatted about their plans - Lone's to go to a dwarven stronghold and Grimsely's to build a ship - and then they ended the call.

Lone reached into a pocket and pulled out what Grimsley had left him before they parted ways in the Holy City of Ranton. It turns out that the grumpy Stone Dwarf had decided to gift him with his pair of steamforged glasses.

Lone played with the various lens a bit placidly as he muttered, "Grimsley said that the nearest stronghold of Krieg Moor is disconnected from the Farwinds - the road that connects all kriegs... That means no easy travel from one end of the continent to another..."

He sighed. "He also mentioned they've been dealing with strange phenomena and are a bit testy towards visitors right now though he doesn't know much else since he only had a single contact there while staying in Milindo... Perfect... Still, it's wiser to try and find refuge there for a time. I can only hope we don't get mixed up in whatever issues they're facing..."

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Lone yawned strongly as the hours slowly ticked on by. He was too tired to train but too restless to relax. He couldn't even appreciate the fact that the sun was slowly setting and the wasteland was gradually getting cooler.

Suddenly, he heard a sound from his left and then a massive impact hit his side. He'd been hugged and was being squeezed rather tightly by an adorable little creature. "Hi, Soph," he greeted.

The girl had teleported onto the roof and tears were streaming down her face as she burrowed into Lone's shirt. "I saw- You- Dungeon- Sophie's memories- The blood-"

Lone stayed quiet as Soph cried her heart out and mumbled words endlessly and a bit incoherently. Eventually, she calmed down a bit.

Still crying though no longer sobbing, she grabbed Lone's hand and said, "Bath and sleep. You need both."

Lone smiled wryly. "The first I can do, the latter... I can try. I trust you're watching our surroundings?"

Soph nodded cutely. "Mmm. By the way! I, uh, I don't forgive you or Sophie yet! I was asleep for so long... It was cruel..."

"It was for your own good," Lone protested as he allowed himself to be dragged towards the roof hatch which led down into the fort.

"I can decide that on my own. I may be childish and emotional, Lone, but this personality is over 600-years-old. I'm not a kid, regardless of how I act or look most of the time," Soph said with a pained tone.

Clearly, it had affected her knowing how little Lone and her other side trusted her in such a serious situation. 'Did you and Lone really think I'd instantly try to save him from the prison? I'm not stupid! Stop thinking I'm stupid! ...'

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Sophie didn't answer mentally as she usually did for she couldn't find the right words to reply while she dealt with her guilt.

Soph quickly led Lone to the fort's bathroom and spent the better part of 2-hours properly getting every last bit of blood out and off of his body. Of course, she gave extra attention to his tails, especially the new tail and ear tips.

They used to be pure gold but now after Lone's awakenings the ends of his fluffy limbs, as well as his ears, looked like they had been dipped in sky-blue paint before then being dipped into void-black paint, only the second dip was shallower.

At the same time, Sophie had got Lone to summon Kyuubi and she also bathed the baby fox since the poor thing - much like Lone and Sophie before her - hadn't been cleaned in a very long time.

Not long later the small family of three were sitting on their king-sized mattress in the fort's master bedroom. "Is Breena doing okay?" Lone asked as he settled into the bed and tried to bask in the sorely-missed sensation of a comfortable place to lie down.

Soph nodded. "Mmm. Her breathing is stable and she's sleeping soundly."

"That's... That's good," Lone answered. "So... Unique Magic: Barrier Magic? Is it as simple as it sounds?"

Soph cocked her head to one side and held her chin as she said, "Well, yeah? Um... It's like, a branch of magic? like lightning, fire or water. I can freeform create basic barriers at will for a low MP cost but I can't do anything special. No, uh, skills or anything. I think I need to develop them myself. I never used this when I was alone for all of that time... Well, uh, not alone, but, I never used it. Sophie did before I existed..."

Lone smiling wryly, picking up on her tone but he chose to try to brighten the sudden shift in mood. "Of course a unique skill would be special. That sounds amazing. I can think of a lot of applications for barriers assuming it's as versatile as I think it i- Why are you give me that look?"

Soph was pouting fiercely as she started at Lone. "No. No testing, no experiment, you are going to sleep! No arguments either! I refuse to let you hurt yourself anymore by talking about my new skill. You need to rest."

"Haha, fine, fine. I'll try," Lone laughed as he flopped down and pulled the covers over himself. "Care to... keep me company first before I drift off?"

Soph's expression was instantly flushed red upon hearing Lone's suggestive tone. "Idiot... Kyuubi's here..."

Lone grabbed Soph and grinned as he pressed his forehead against hers. "Kyuubi's a baby fox, what's the harm? It's like keeping a cat in the room, besides, she's sleeping." He leaned down and gazed into her eyes deeply. "Change into your adult body, please."

"Geez..." Soph could feel her entire being heating up. It had been a long time since they'd done it, after all. "At least let me get into something, uh, cuter first... T-To set the mood..."

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Faces surrounded Lone. Youthful yet deeply disturbed faces.

"Why..."

Blood poured out of their mouths like a river as they spoke to him.

"We respected you..."

A creeping feeling of dread was overwhelming Lone as he stood still in terror and listened to the scratchy, pained and innocent voices.

"Lord Ninetails, why..."

Their closed eyes peeled open to reveal blood-filled sockets.

"I don't want to die..."

Fear and hate consumed the young expressions as crimson began pouring out of their noses.

"I don't deserve this..."

The vicious red liquid flowed freely from their ears as they stared with their intent at Lone's naked mind accusatorily.

"Why did you kill us?"

They all asked that question in unison and Lone tried to respond only to find his voice missing.

"... Why?!"

Lone's torso flung up as his eyes widened. His breath was heavy and he was covered in sweat. "The voices and faces again... Fuck..."

He looked around and noticed that only he and Kyuubi were still in the bed. He scooped up the sleeping fox and hugged her to his head, wrapping his face in her softness. "Ha-ah... I wonder if I'll ever get a good night's sleep again. What do you think, Kyuubi?"

"Kyuu..." was the only response he got from the softly snoring animal.

Lone guessed he'd only been out for maybe 3-hours, pathetic as that was. Still, it was the only sleep he'd gotten in days so he was thankful regardless of how unhelpful and unhealthy it was.

He busied himself by getting dressed and he then quickly went to check up on Breena. The girl was still sleeping soundly though she was tossing and turning a bit as she did.

Clearly, she too suffered from bad dreams though likely not to the level that Lone did, which was relieving.

Lone grabbed a snack from the kitchen then found Soph sitting atop the roof, a small transparent green circle appearing and disappearing in front of her outstretched hand.

"Unique Magic: Barrier Magic?" Lone asked as he squatted down next to her.

The girl nodded. "Indeed. Soph is asleep, by the way. We are practising the usage of the unique skill as we stay on watch. You awoke earlier than we expected."

"Ah. You're not using your 15-year-old body so I couldn't tell it was you, Sophie," Lone said. "I couldn't sleep."

"That is a lie. It is just that something forced you to awaken," Sophie said plainly. "A nightmare, we assume? We have experienced such hardships before." A distant look entered Sophie's eyes. "That is why Soph exists."

Lone smiled faintly. "Sadly, I'm not really an expert on creating a separate personality that is essentially another person."

"... Is it the torture?" Sophie asked.

Lone shook his head. "Killing the demi kids."

"Ah... In our case, it was being chained to a wall for 200-years," Sophie said, trying her best to sympathise with her lover. "... Lone, Soph and us... we both care for you deeply. If you need to talk, we will listen."

"Thanks," Lone answered. "That means a lot to me, really. I don't think this is something that'll go away though with just some chatting."

"Of course." For once, Sophie wasn't being rude or snarky in any regard.

She truly empathised with Lone's pain and it, in turn, pained her as well. 'Love... how double-edged. He makes us feel so warm and pleasant just by thinking of his face but also, knowing of his mental scars and the fact that he cannot sleep soundly due to them... it burns our heart... We should remind him of our feelings so he knows we share his burden. P-Perhaps he didn't fully understand what we meant when we confessed to him in the forest...'

"L-Lone," Sophie called, suddenly straightening her spine seriously as she turned to stare into his now multicoloured-eyes - the colours being gold, blue and black.

Staring back curiously, Lone replied, "Hmm? Yes?"

'Curses! Why is he so handsome!' Sophie twisted her neck and looked the opposite direction as she muttered with a flushed expression, "W-We love you."

"Huh?" Lone was a bit shocked at first upon seeing how embarrassed she obviously was before he laughed and grabbed her head before pulling her in and kissing her hair. "I love you too."

"F-Fool..." Sophie immediately regretted expressing herself once more. Being kind and loving certainly was a challenge of endurance and perseverance, she felt.

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For the next day, Lone, Soph, Kyuubi and Breena relaxed before Lone retrieved the fort. They quickly moved on from the Estoplian Wasteland, teleporting through it and walking when necessary to conserve Soph's MP.

At one point Lone had suggested that Soph should simply use the mana orb Sophie had taken from the now-dead crown prince of Milindo, but she insisted that it would be wasteful since they seemed to be in no immediate danger.

Both Soph and Sophie had instead suggested that they tried to experiment with the tool to see if it could help Lone with his MP seal. He agreed and put that on the list of things to do once they were safely settled into Krieg Moor.

Speaking of the dwarven stronghold, after a few days of peaceful travel, the group of four had arrived at their destination. Before them lay what was once a valid entrance to the greater Farwinds known as Krieg Moor.