Audrey suddenly sprang upright like a jack-in-the-box. Her sudden movement was so startling that I actually had to stagger back in surprise.

'Why does everyone wake up like that?!' I thought as I rubbed my chest, trying to get my startled heart to calm down.

For a few seconds, Audrey seemed disoriented and confused. Her eyes darted around the dark campsite, unable to focus on anything as she gasped for breath. However, when they landed on me, her brows furrowed in even more confusion. "…Cedric?"

I smiled, waved a hand, and said really casually, "Hello."

"Where am I? What happened? What are you doing here? Wait… I'm alive? How am I alive? How did I…"

Audrey was rambling in a frantic panic when I suddenly interjected, "Whoa, okay now, chill. One question at a time, please."

Audrey's breath was still ragged and shallow. Then after a few seconds, it began to steady as she forced herself to take a deep, shaky lungful of air.

She took a quick look around before returning her gaze to me. "Where am I?"

I pointed to the forest. "The forest leading to the Puppeteer's Grove."

"What happened?"

I scratched the side of my head. "I'm supposed to be asking you that."

"What are you doing here?"

"On my way to the Puppeteer's Grove, of course."

She paused and looked down at her left hand as if checking for something. "I'm alive?"

I shrugged and gave her a dry look. "Obviously…"

She looked back at me with an even more bewildered expression. "H-how? How am I alive?"

I raised a hand casually. "Well, I brought you back from the dead."

"Oh…" She tilted her head back in understanding, but then, just a second later, her eyes went wide. "Wait… you did what now?"

"I paid a heavy cost to bring you back from the dead."

When Audrey kept staring at me questioningly, I finally exhaled and added, "It's thanks to my bonded ability."

At this point, Audrey's eyes finally broke away from me. She seemed to be deep in thought for a moment. Then, all of a sudden, she raised her hand and pulled back her sleeve, revealing the tattoo of an owl.

"Toki?" For the first time since waking up, a smile finally appeared on Audrey's lips. She looked away from the tattoo to me. "You also brought him back?"

At that moment, the tattoo on her arm began to evaporate like thick smoke that coalesced beside her until an old, short, fat man with a gray beard and a gentle, weary face took form.

"Little Audrey!" Toki exclaimed as he reached out to hug the young girl. "I'm sorry I let you die. This old man is truly sorry."

"It's not your fault, Toki," Audrey whispered in a voice that cracked with emotion as she hugged him tight.

I watched them reminisce for a while, then cleared my throat to draw their attention.

When they turned to me, I asked, "Do you mind if I ask how you died?"

Both Audrey and her bond turned to face me. After a few moments, Audrey lowered her eyes and began fiddling with her fingers. "After crossing the veil, we woke up in the territory of the Burning Castle, which isn't too far from this desert," she said, pointing toward the sands. "We fought off the creatures there and quickly began our trip toward the Puppeteer's Grove. But along the way, somewhere in the desert, we ran into a pair of twins. They weren't cadets from our bastion, so I didn't recognize them. When I asked, they said they were from the Bastion of the Somarian Pride."

Hearing the name of that bastion seemed to trigger something in me.

Audrey looked up sheepishly and continued, "One of them seemed to be almost dying of thirst, and asked if I had some water with me. I did. So, I helped her with a pouch of water from my haversack."

She paused and reached to her side, suddenly searching for her bag.

When she couldn't find it, Toki cursed. "Damn those bloody witches!"

Audrey sighed and looked back to me, then continued. "When I was getting the pouch of water back, the long nails on her fingers grazed my hand. At the time, I thought it was probably an accident, but soon after, I couldn't breathe and I suddenly began to lose all feeling in my limbs."

She shuddered at the memory. "I've never felt such pain before. It was like my very blood was turning into shards of glass. Since it happened so suddenly and unexpectedly, neither Toki nor I could do anything about it until I finally succumbed to the poison."

Audrey trailed off as she rubbed the side of her arm. "I have no idea why they suddenly attacked us…"

I stared at her briefly after she finished, then sighed as I recounted Yami's words to her. "Not every dominant in this realm right now is here for the same goal, Audrey. You need to be wary of everyone, especially those from the other bastions."

I reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. "But for now, you can trust the members of this party."

Audrey looked around at the others as they slept close to the fire. Her gaze lingered on Dion, who was snoring loudly enough to shake the air. After a moment, she turned back to me and nodded, a small sense of relief finally showing on her face.

I then continued tiredly, "In the meantime, welcome to the party. I'm exhausted, and since you are one of us now, I'll be handing the remainder of the night watch over to you."

"Huh?" Audrey blinked, looking surprised. "Shouldn't things like me joining the party be decided by the leader?"

"Yes," I nodded as I stood up and covered a yawn. "And I've decided that."

I turned away from a bewildered Audrey and headed toward the fire. I pulled my sleeping bag from the inventory, dropped it on the ground, and collapsed into it. Then, I muttered into the padding, "Talk to you more in the morning."

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