The devastated state of the area around the lake itself evoked a strange feeling of sorrow, how just one night had been enough to destroy a place that might have existed for hundreds of years.

  He raised his hand to his hair, trying to untangle the knots in his scattered black strands before pulling his bag, which was resting nearby, onto his lap.

  He opened it and took out a worn piece of paper, about the size of a hand, along with an old-fashioned charcoal pencil.

  Noroi ran the tip of the pencil over the first four sentences one by one,each having been shaded with charcoal, leaving only two sentences unshaded.

  The tip of the pencil stopped at the sixth and final sentence, and Noroi drew a dark line over it before folding the paper in half, putting it back into his bag along with the pencil, and closing it tightly.

  He leaned on his right arm to push his body up onto his feet, his shoulders slouching forward lazily.

  He moved from his spot with a blank expression drawn on his face and both hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket, stopping beside the powered-down mechanical figure.

  Its screen was black, and its robotic arms rested motionless at its sides.

  Noroi bent toward it, pulling his hand out of his pocket to press his finger against the button located at the back of its metallic head.

  It took a while before the robot's glass screen lit up in blue, and then all its parts began to hum with energy, its gentle face appearing to greet its owner with a smile.

  Noroi whispered to Mini.

  "Good morning."

  Mini's body trembled slightly before its systems activated, lifting it upward to hover in the air before its owner.

  It looked around at the ruined place, not recognizing it as the same location it had seen before being shut down.

  Then it turned back to Norouzi, displaying a question mark on its screen and emitting incomprehensible robotic sounds, as if asking what had happened.

  Noroi raised his hand to scratch the back of his neck, just below his hair, casting another glance around before answering Mini's question.

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  "We got tangled up with a level-six monster, and that stubborn Viking insisted on handling it alone."

  Noroi's ears caught the sound of grass rustling directly behind him, so he turned his head, glancing over his shoulder to see what exactly had moved, only to find that it was none other than that idiot, Haruki, who had woken from his slumber.

  Haruki's eyelids fluttered lazily as he gathered his arms, which had been sprawled in opposite directions, before squinting his eyes to adjust to the sunlight, then opening them fully, the traces of sleep still clear on his face.

  As Haruki moved to sit up, the small bird that had been resting on his chest slid off and landed directly in his lap.

  Tomoi woke up from the fall, standing on Haruki's left thigh and chirping in a series of short, quick sounds, expressing his annoyance and anger at Haruki for ruining his sleep so carelessly.

  Haruki laughed at the small pink bird but played along with its tantrum, raising his hands in surrender and apologizing to Tomoi playfully.

  "Hey, hey, I'm sorry, my friend."

  The bird pecked at Haruki's head, attacking his side, but to Haruki the blows felt more like gentle tickles than any real assault.

  Haruki's body shook with laughter at Tomoi's cute antics.

  He raised his hand and placed it in front of the pink bird's head, stopping it from charging and pecking again.

  Between his laughs, he said.

  "All right, all right, I'll wake you up properly next time."

  "Stop playing around, we have a lot to do today."

  Noroi's cold voice drew the attention of both Haruki and Tomoi, his chilly tone freezing them in place.

  The laughter died in Haruki's throat, but a teasing smile spread across his face as he said mockingly.

  "Oh, good morning. I didn't notice you there. Have you ever tried working as a ghost in a haunted house? Believe me, they'd hire you instantly."

  Noroi clenched his teeth together as Haruki burst out laughing at his own sarcasm.

  Noroi raised his hand, forming a tight fist as he spoke in a cold, threatening tone.

  "Looks like you're asking for death today."

  Haruki bolted away the moment Noroi took a single step forward, darting off to hide behind Yamka, using her as a shield between himself and Noroi.

  He shouted in dramatic panic.

  "Yamii!"

  Yamka woke to the sound of Haruki's loud scream and the commotion around her.

  Her body shot upright into a sitting position, fully alert and ready for battle, her hand had already reached her axe and wrapped tightly around its handle.

  "What's going on?"

  Haruki slid behind her back, placing both hands on her shoulders, his brown eyes barely peeking out from behind her as he hid in fear from Noroi's murderous glare.

  He pointed a trembling finger toward Noroi and said .

  "He wants to kill me!"

  Yamka's guard fell instantly, her grip on the axe loosening the moment she realized there was no real danger nearby.

  Her cautious expression melted into a tired frown, her lips heavy as if begging to close again.

  She waved her hand lazily and said in a drowsy tone, followed by a long yawn.

  "Alright, good for you."

  She just said anything in an attempt to brush off Haruki's nuisance and go back to sleep.

  But even with Yamka's attempts to shrug Haruki off, he wouldn't leave her alone or let her go back to sleep.

  He started shaking her violently while shouting.

  "I'm telling you, he wants to kill me!"