The watchman hurriedly shook his head.
"No, no. Nothing. Uh, I need to inspect the barricade. If you'll excuse me…"
With that, he made a hasty retreat.
'Did I scam him out of his boots or something?'
Shaking his head in bewilderment, Sunny turned away and led the two newcomers deeper into the stronghold, searching for Nephis.
She was alone in a spacious room. Changing Star sat on the floor, wrapping herself in her white cloak, and stared at the wall with a distant expression.
These days, Neph was a bit strange. She had always been aloof and hard to read, but now, her usually indifferent face had become completely motionless. Her grey eyes had always been calm, but now, they seemed to be especially cold. Almost… empty.
Sunny had no idea what was going on with her.
'Maybe she hasn't recovered from using her Aspect Ability to its full extent, still…'
Clearing his throat to attract her attention, Sunny gestured to the giant man and the tiny girl he brought.
"Hey, Neph. I've recruited these guys."
She tilted her head a little and didn't say anything.
Sunny smiled.
"You must remember Aiko. She was the one on whose behalf you had challenged that Pathfinder, Andel. And cut his head off."
Then, he glanced at Aiko and narrowed his eyes.
The petite girl hurriedly said:
"Oh, yes! Thank you, Lady Changing Star. That guy was… uh... a real menace."
Nephis slowly nodded and said evenly:
"...You're welcome."
Then, she looked at Stev.
"...And you are?"
A wide grin appeared on Sunny's face.
"Oh. This is Stev. Stev is a very special guy. You see… he has a hundred battle-ready Memories stored in his soul core."
With that, Sunny patted Stev on the shoulder and said:
"...Basically, he's going to solve our weapons problem."