Noroi paid no attention to the direct threat in her tone, lunging forward once more to continue the fight.

  His blade slashed toward her, dangerously close to Yamka's nose.

  But she clenched her other fist and delivered a direct punch to his face, knocking him to the ground.

  His body hit the earth with a dull thud, air bursting from his lungs as he lay still for a moment.

  A red line marked his cheek, and soon he felt the warm, metallic-scented liquid dripping from his nose in a dark crimson.

  Yamka began to advance toward his fallen body, dragging her axe slowly behind her, her eyes blazing with dark, ominous shadows….

  Sensing the tension rise sharply, Haruki rushed forward, placing himself between Noroi and Yamka, shielding him from her, before shouting loudly in anger.

  "This fight ends here!"

  He yelled at them furiously, frustrated by a needless, childish fight that had turned brutally violent.

  Looking at them with deep disappointment, he shouted again, scolding them.

  "What are you doing?! Do you intend to kill each other? Stop these childish antics! We're all here for one goal, to get out of this world!"

  Both of them stepped back at Haruki's furious outburst, as if he were scolding them, and though neither liked it, neither could deny the truth of his words.

  Yamka was the first to end the quarrel after Haruki's shout, throwing her axe onto the ground with a heavy clang, its weight making the sound resonate as a declaration of truce toward Noroi.

  Noticing her peaceful gesture, Noroi decided to extinguish the flames of their battle as well.

  His hand lazily pressed a button, retracting the blade back inside, and he turned his head completely to look away from both Yamka and Haruki.

  Haruki's lips curved into a smile as the conflict dissolved, and true to his nature, he nearly dubbed himself "the peacekeeper," proud of his accomplishment.

  Relishing the sense of control, he issued another order as though he were the leader of their little group.

  "That's great. Let's sleep tonight, and tomorrow we begin moving forward on this journey."

  Each of the three took their places, leaving distance between them, with Haruki in the middle like a wall separating Noroi and Yamika to prevent any further clashes.

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  Noroi curled up, Mini close to him and wrapped in his cloak, while Yamka lay on Haruki's right side, her arm under her head, her back to the boys, and her axe resting beside her in case of trouble.

  Haruki smiled, warmth seeping into him in that moment of peace.

  "Good night."

  The trio lay down that night, ready for sleep.

  The only sounds were the rustling leaves in the wind and the chirping of the world's nighttime crickets.

  They forgot, for a moment, that they were in this cruel world, surrendering to rest after a long, eventful day.

  Haruki gazed at the stars in the dark sky, thinking of everything since his arrival in this world, meeting Seraphine, reaching the market, escaping from monsters with Noroi, being caught in Yamka's trap, and finally, witnessing Noroi and Yamka's fight.

  Another exhausting, eventful day had passed, and there was no time to think of what had happened with his grandmother in his absence, or how she was managing without him.

  Each of them thought only of how to survive in this world.

  With the dawn of a new day, sunlight filtered through the branches as creatures awoke to begin their daily lives, and the darkness retreated to allow the morning light to shine on all in this world.

  The warm rays struck Haruki's closed eyelids, trying to force him awake to start his new day.

  Annoyed, Haruki tried to resist the light, but eventually surrendered and opened his eyes.

  He lifted his head and sat up slowly, stretching his limbs in every direction, yawning before running his fingers through his messy hair after sleeping on the grass.

  Looking to his left, he found Noroi still asleep, wrapped in his cloak like armor shielding him from the world.

  Then he turned his head to his right, only to find Yamika no longer lying in her place, the ground was empty, as though no one had ever been there.

  Haruki's brows furrowed in confusion at her strange disappearance, and he muttered to himself.

  "Where is she?"

  Haruki pushed himself up to sit, his face carrying an expression of confusion, wondering where Yamka might have gone this early in the morning.

  His gaze shifted toward the sleeping Noroi, wrapped tightly in his cloak.

  Haruki reached out his hand, his fingers clenching around the gray fabric of the cloak, and tugged hard, but Noroi held onto it firmly.

  He tried pulling again, yet Noroi's body didn't respond to his attempts.

  Haruki scowled when his efforts failed, then kicked him in the back, shouting.

  "Wake up!"

  Noroi sat up, his face darkened with anger and irritation; he hated being woken up.

  He turned toward Haruki, his eyes shooting deathly glares, before snapping back sharply.

  "What's wrong with you, idiot?!"

  Haruki's frown slowly faded, shifting into a small smile, as he spoke in a voice dripping with fake innocence.

  "Good morning."

  But that innocence only irritated Noroi further. Narrowing his eyes with a dangerous glare, he answered with deadly coldness.

  "There is no good in a morning that begins with you."

  Haruki gasped theatrically, placing a hand over his chest as though stabbed by betrayal, then shook his head in dismay.

  "You've hurt me…"

  Noroi rolled his eyes, exhausted by Haruki's childish behavior, realizing that arguing with him would be pointless, so he asked directly.

  "What do you want?"

  "Yami is missing."

  Noroi raised a brow and tilted his head slightly to check Yamka's spot, then returned his gaze to Haruki with an indifferent expression before replying mockingly.

  "Seriously?! You woke me up for that Viking?"

  The way Noroi spat out the word Viking made it sound like an insult, which caused Haruki's brows to furrow in annoyance.

  His voice grew sharper and more serious as he snapped back.

  "Stop insulting her. We're a team now."