Alive

I was certain I died

" Thank goodness "

Julett exclaimed while hugging me with Jan ,she was being as calm as she could but even I could tell that she was holding back a lot of emotions from her shaky voice and her trembling body

" Damn you ! I thought you really died there !"

Jan , being one of his closest friend, this scene of him almost crying was very strange to me and rather embarrassing, men rarely cried for other men after all

Thena :" Ah "

Merwin :" H...huh? { The dagger }

Sunip & Ginj simply looked at the scene with their jaw dropped dumbfoundedly ,Mina & Nemu were the same

Riv :" What just happened?? "

Ginna :" (smiles) I don't know but (pats Riv's shoulder ) it's a good thing that happened "

The Demihuman Archer looked at Ginna with a dumbfounded look

{ I thought she didn't like him ,but yeah } " I can't deny that "

† IRON SWORD †

Things are quite awkward right now

" {For a party of adventurer my passengers are... awfully quite} (sighs) {Must be an early sign of disbandment} "

The carriage driver of the carriage that the half of party rode on, (they splitted up in 2 carriages)and thought to himself feeling bad for the party

On this carriage Julett, Jan ,Thena ,Nemu ,Mina and Chris sat under a very awkward atmosphere

Chris :" { Why are they all keeping silent like this?} So...can anyone tell me how I survived? "

Thena and Julett looked at eachother for a moment but before they could say anything Jan beat them to the punch and replied

" You didn't "

Mina :" (sighs) Always so straight forward "

Chris :" Huh? "{ I didn't? }" Jan what do you mean ?"

Mina :" Chris ...you see "

Jan :" We don't know we found your ( got hit by Julett's elbow on his ribs ) ACK!! "

Julett :" Chris...actually we are not sure how you survived as well ? "

Chris :".... Weren't you there when I woke up ? "

Thena :" Umm you see ... "

With that Thena slowly explained how they found my dead and decayed body and how they found my sword and how I transformed back into human form from my dagger that was a gift from my late father who was even poorer than me

And yes

" That sounds rather.... "

It sounded really insane

Jan :" Look (brings out Chris's dead body that was wrapped in white cloth from his spatial pocket) "

[ Living things and weapons that are sentinent can not be stored in spatial pockets ]

Chris :" Mmm { is this...}(anxiously) this is ..."

Jan :" ....{I feel bad about this but I think he needs to see this }( uncovers the cloth and revealed the decayed yet recognisable body ) "

Nemu :" Gosh { It's still hard getting used to that } "

The others simply observed Chris and waited to see how he would react seeing his own dead body

Seeing his body that he trained and looked after for 16 years decayed and dead infront of him ,the boy didn't know what to say ,the only thing he felt there was confusion and disbelief

" This feels strange "

Without minding the rotten smell and decayed look , Chris touched his dead body's decayed face to verify if this was really real and indeed the cold and sticky feeling of decayed flesh confirmed that he did indeed died

The realisation was followed by tears dropping from his eyes

" I..I died , guys...(looks at the others with a pale and frightened expression) I di.. "

Before he could finish however , Julett hugged him tightly,she seemed desperate to not let him finish his words

" I'm sorry... it's all my fault Chris "

The others all kept silent at the scene, and Chris didn't even move from his position not did he resisted his leader's hig which he usually would out of embarrassment ,he could stay still there, processing what he just realised and encountered

" A..ah "

" You are not dead ,you are still here aren't you? "{ It's all my fault }" And about your current state, I will take full responsibility to find out what has happened to you (stepped back and grab him by his shoulder and looked at him eye to eye) ,I know I have failed you but please can you trust me once more so I can help you? "

It was strange, unbelievably so, I died yet I am here being told that I'm alive, however as strange as it is I can be certain that right now she is infront me again helping me with her words and actions, wiping my tears away I grabbed her arms and pushed them back gently and looked at her eyes, I replied

" I'm in your hands then leader "

Thena :(whispers to Mina )" Can you feel the air between them right now ?"

Mina :" I sure ca- "

Julett :" Say another word and I'm breaking someone's rib "

***

After the journey back to the capital Julett took me straight to the guild and had a talk with the guild master to explain my condition and situation so that they could withdraw my death certificate that they had already made ,and since the guild master was her uncle who is a <Supreme II> ranked magician, he could be trusted

The rest of the party and Julett thank and a paid the other adventurers who they hired to help them clear the dungeon while I was told to wait in the guild's lodging used by the guests of the guild

However since they took my dead body that had my spatial pocket on it ,we didn't incur any loss as we sold the monster cores that remained in it, thankfully

The next day as strange as it sounded I buried my body near my mother's grave at the back of my house in the outskirts near my residence

Julett and Mina came by with Jan today at my house for the first time to help me with the burial, I honestly objected to them coming here outside the capital walls where the Revs resided especially Julett who was an Urd

But alas here they are, in my house

As I planted my grave stone , I started to carve my name with a stone chisel

Julett scolded me seeing me write my own name saying that it was wrong when I am still here living but I insisted on it and manage to convince her after saying that "This is a proof of my loyalty to the Reddrake party and you our leader"

And Julett hearing my words for some reason just stopped talking to me for a while until we got back in the house , Mina told me that she was just embarrassed but was very happy with my words so I didn't pursue the matter further, I then made them tea back in the house but said tea probably didn't taste like tea to them

And while drinking the tea we began discussing ,Mina suggested that we should consult a magician who specialises in spirit arts about my case ,Jan on the other hand suggested that we go to an magic blacksmith who specialises in ego weapons as from their words I transform back to my human form from a dagger, Julett however suggested that they should go to their family's personal wizard who specialises in curses and spells

And in the end the choice ended up with me agreeing to go with Jan and then Mina's suggestions, as much as I trust Julett I didn't want to get involved with her family and her father's reputation with boys that associate with his daughter closely don't end very well

So we decided to go through with their suggestions on the next day

End of chapter