Of course, his whisper was easily heard by everyone around. The Sleepers stared at him in confusion.
Sunny tilted his head a little and opened his eyes wide, as if shocked by something.
"What? You think I should kill them all? I mean… isn't it a little bit over the top? I should give them a chance to apologize, at least."
The leader of the hunting party took a step forward and said in a low, growling voice:
"What are you mumbling about, rat?"
Sunny looked at him with scorn and dissatisfaction.
"Hey, I was talking to my buddy. Can you please not interrupt?"
A wide, dangerous smile appeared on the tall man's face. With a sigh, Sunny turned to him and said:
"Alright, if you insist. You guys have offended my dearest friend, Nephis of the Immortal Flame clan. She and I are very, very close. So I'll give you one chance to apologize for calling her a… well, you know. If you don't, say goodbye to your lives."
The older man stared at him for several seconds, then suddenly raised his head and laughed.
"Oh, that's a good one! Have you heard, guys? This tiny weasel will give us a chance. How generous! Should we be generous too, huh? What do you say? The boy is sick in the head, after all."
The other five Sleepers were not sharing his enthusiasm. One of them smiled darkly and said:
"No, chief. I think we should just kill him. Put the poor fool out of his misery, you know."
The Sleeper that had collaborated Sunny's story before, meanwhile, was frowning again.
"Wait, guys… he's one of Changing Star's people, remember? The original group, I mean. They had survived two entire months in the Labyrinth on their own. We shouldn't underestimate th…"
However, the leader interrupted him with a contemptuous scoff.
"I heard that Saint Nephis carried two useless sacks of shit on her back all the way to the castle. The bitch is fond of taking care of weaklings, right? That delicious little friend of hers is blind, for god's sake! I'm sure that this one is no better."
Then, he turned to Sunny and grinned.
"I tell you what, rat. Give us all your Memories, and we'll be generous enough to let you live. "
If an Awakened died, their Memories disappeared with them. The only way to get the Memories was to make the owner transfer them of their own free will. However, whether or not that will was affected by coercion or torture didn't really matter. At least not to people like these.
Sunny blinked.
"So you're not going to apologize?"
The tall man grinned.
"I think not."
Sunny sighed.
"Oh well. So you want my Memories, eh? I have a few. Let me think… uh… how about this one?"
Lowering one hand, he summoned the Parrot Rock. It immediately appeared on his palm, looking as boring and ordinary as always.
The leader of the hunting party frowned, not taking his eyes away from Sunny's face. Despite his crude exterior, he was paranoid and careful. Years of experience had taught him to never lower his guard.
A moment later, the rock spoke:
"Behind you!"
That was the most basic of tricks…
The tall man grinned, still looking Sunny in the eyes.
"Do you really think that I would fall for…"
However, before he was done talking, the blade of the kunai hit him from behind, penetrating the back of the man's skull and killing him on the spot.