"Mhm, yeah, that’s right. Yeah, we’ll be back out of hiding sometime tomorrow. Though, from what you’ve said, it does sound like it’d be tough for us to help you guys, so it’s unlikely that we’ll swing anywhere near by the towns," I remarked with a sigh.

"Yeah, that’s probably for the best, all thingw considered...but depending on how dire the situation gets, I doubt most people would care about who they get help from. At least, I hope that’d be the case," Responded Gior, sounding pretty skeptical about that even though he’s the one who said it.

"You and I both know painfully well that that’s just not true," I replied wryly as I let out a wistful sigh.

Today’s the 10th of April is, 2020, and tonight will be the last night that we’ll be spending in the Haven. It’s late in the evening right now, and I’d just called Gior to see if anything had changed on the surface.

And not much has...there hasn’t been any noticeable movement from the True Nobility after they attacked all the towns and the capital with powerful Monsters a while ago.

But of course, that doesn’t mean things have simply just gone back to normal. All the remaining towns and the capital have been surrounded by several powerful barriers, along with traps places outside around those barriers, and no one’s allowed to leave. The entire nation is effectively in a state of lockdown.

The only people who are outside of those areas are Knights tasked with guarding the borders of the nation, and according to Gior, they’ve reported a lot of unsettling movement to the east border of the nation, in the Dead Zone, which lies between the Dark and Light Continents.

It’s likely that the Light Continent are gearing up to attack the Dark Continent on a large scale extent. We haven’t had a full on war against them in several decades, but at this rate, a war will be an inevitability.

Most alarmingly so far, there have been multiple confirmed reports of intense border clashes to the east of Hematite, the northmost nation in the Dark Continent, and where a civil war has been raging even more fiercely and for a fair bit longer than the one here in Obsidian.

If the Light Continent successfully invade two Dark Continent nations simultaneously, we’ll likely be in for a major disaster, a war that could last for decades, possibly even longer. In a conflict like that, there’ll be no preventing an absolute mountain of corpses piling up, people will be killed by the hundreds and thousands...

"So, what do you plan to do once you come out of hiding from wherever you are now?" Gior asked me.

"Hm, I’m not entirely sure...maybe we should head for the east border. As I am now, and not to mention how powerful Izzy is, we should be able to do something, at least buy some time, if Light Continent forces really are knocking at our door...I haven’t made any concrete decisions yet though, I’ll have to discuss it with the others first. Oh, by the way, have there been any changes with my father?" I inquired in response.

"No, I’m sorry, but he’s still in a coma. His condition remains stable, however, there’s still no indication of when, or even if, he’ll ever wake up again."

Damn it...

"I...I see. Well, that’s too bad. Alright, I think that’s everything I wanted to ask you about...if there’s nothing else, let’s wrap this us."

"Sure, I need to get going soon too. I’ll send you a text if and when the True Nobility attacks again. Call it a hunch, but I get the feeling that it won’t be much longer before they make their next move," He warned me.

"I’ll keep that in mind. Okay, then. Talk to you later."

"Yeah, later."

As I hung up and began heading back down, I let out a strained sigh...I’ve really enjoyed staying here in the Haven for this last month, it feels like it went by in a flash.

Well, you know what they say, all good things must come to an end. And I mean, it’s not like this is goodbye, we almost definitely will visit them again at some point...but yeah, for the foreseeable future, it’ll be a while.

"You’re a strange one...why do you keep your emotions so closely guarded all the time? There’s nothing wrong with being honest about your feelings," Chimed in Azazel.

Okay, you’ve gotta stop responding to my private thoughts like that, at least pretend like you can’t hear them...and yeah, there’s nothing wrong with being openly emotional, I just...I just find it kinda embarrassing is all.

"Yes, that’s quite obvious. I find your mind to be quite fascinating...due to the fact that you originally came from a completely different world, you often don’t view yourself as a part of this world, almost unconsciously so. It’s as if you see yourself as an outsider."

Huh, never really thought about that...but now that you mention it, yeah, I think that’s accurate.

"You have affection for your family in this world, and yet, deep down, you don’t actually consider them your family. In your thoughts, you always refer to them by their names instead of ’father’ or ’brother’."

Alright, stop dissecting my thoughts in such detail, it’s kinda creepy.

"All I’m saying is that you should embrace the fact that you are a part of this world. Your friends and family certainly consider you as such, so there’s no reason for you to separate yourself in any way."

I don’t think I do...I mean, I’m definitely pretty involved in this world at this point. A lot of people know who I am, since I am technically a wanted criminal.

"That’s not the same thing, you know what I meant."

I just don’t see the point in this discussion...since I have my old memories intact and all, this life feels more like an extension instead of a fresh start, it’s not like I had anything worth mentioning in my old life, after all.

Mentally speaking, I’m a good twenty years older than I look, so that disparity is definitely a factor that’s played a part in my mindset. And I can’t deny that I do think of this world as a ’fantasy world’ sometimes...

"As a Demon, a being who’s existed for centuries, such a meagre disparity, a mere twenty years, is negligible at best."

True, but I’m a human, we’re lucky to live to about a hundred years or so at most. I mean, surely you’ve gained a new perspective on things after seeing some of my old memories?

Like the fact that God exists, for one thing.

"Honestly, I’m more bemused by the fact that you had sex with a God than the fact that such a being exists."

Heh, yeah, that was a pretty dope accomplishment, wasn’t it?

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