When I woke up, the sun streamed in through the closed double doors of my apartment room. I slowly leaned up in bed, stretching until a joint or two popped. At this moment, my mind drifted back to the incident last night. I had made Ayumi suffer—suffer for the second time. The last time this happened was back at Catherine's house. Back then, I had made her suffer during her first spirituality lesson. The only way to stop it was for me to pass out or lose consciousness.

  My head was currently pounding behind my eyes, radiating through my entire skull. This caused me to lean back in bed, wincing slightly as I closed my eyes again. I laid like this for about five minutes until I heard the sound of the door opening to our apartment. Shinso walked in, carrying a wooden tray of food. It wasn't that much food, but it was surely enough to get me moving.

  "The kitchen didn't have much; they blamed it on the current shortages," Shinso complained, setting the tray on my bedside stand.

  I noticed that Shinso's sheets were messy, and his pillows had been discarded to the floor. This boy had woken up early to get me breakfast. My face flushed softly as I struggled to sit up, reaching for my fork. The moment I touched the metallic surface, I recoiled in pain as the object fell to the ground. Shinso's eyes softened as he lifted my chin.

  "Can you eat?" He asked.

  "I grabbed the fork... but it hurt for some reason." I didn't know why that had happened; it made my stomach churn slightly.

  Shinso slowly knelt down and picked up the fork, stabbing it into a hard-boiled egg. His expression remained etched with concern as he slowly brought the eggs to my lips. The moment the fork touched my lips, it felt like pure fire on my skin.

  "That hurts!" I winced.

  "Huh..." Shinso looked at the fork in his hands. It shimmered in the sunlight, reflecting a silverish hue.

  When he flipped it over, he saw words engraved on its surface: "Property of Chalice Culinary Industries. This fork is made of silver."

  "Nothing seems wrong with the fork," Shinso commented.

  His gaze drifted up to me, and he sighed softly. "Has this ever happened before?"

  I shook my head. "No."

  Shinso fell silent for a moment. Suddenly, an idea seemed to flash through his mind.

  "Stay here."

  As Shinso moved out of the room, I finally laid back down, sighing softly. "Umbridge..." I called out.

  "Yes?" the illusory figure manifested in the corner of the room.

  "Why did it hurt to touch the fork?"

  "At Order 8 silver can scar the skin. It's traditional for all corrupted entities to be susceptible to silver."

  My eyes widened. "What?"

  The Umbridge shook their head in remorse. "As you advance, you gradually lose your human traits and appearance. Why do you think you already have horns and wings?"

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  "So if I were to become powerful enough to get home, I'd be unrecognizable?" Realizing this, I couldn't help but feel my heart ache. If my mother were to see me again, she'd be terrified and probably disown me.

  Shinso entered the room again. This time, he carried a small bowl of oatmeal. He put it on the bedside table and looked at me again.

  "See if you can eat this."

  I shook my head, smiling self-depracatingly. "Unfortunately, I can't really... touch silver for some reason."

  "Is it because of the Apocalypse pathway?" Shinso asked.

  My eyes widened and I felt a rush of fear course through my body. My blood ran cold, freezing my skin. Shinso knew about the Apocalypse pathway?"

  My gaze darted to the Umbridge, speaking mentally. "How the hell does he know?"

  The enigmatic figure in the corner remained silent for a few seconds, mentally parting their lips. "I told him."

  "I thought that would corrupt him! Didn't you say so yourself back at the restaurant?!"

  The Umbridge huffed out through their imaginary nose, speaking with remorse. "He wanted answers after Ayumi suffered and you passed out. They both still want to help you, but they needed the information beforehand."

  "Ayumi..." I remembered what happened last night—making her suffer and submit to corruption for a short period of time.

  At this moment, Shinso seemed to remember something. His eyes widened as his body shot up, running to the door.

  "I gotta collect potion ingredients with Humphrey!"

  "What about me?" I grumbled, loosely folding my arms over my chest.

  Shinso paused, his hand inches from the doorknob. He looked back at me, his expression softening. "Maybe eat the oatmeal like soup, like... tipping the bowl back or something?"

  My brows furrowed. "Is it that important? What if I spill it all over myself and it burns me. What if it stains the sheets and I can't call for assistance?"

  Hearing my words, the indigo-haired boy scoffed, making his way back to the bed. He ran a hand through my disheveled hair, patting me on the back.

  "You'll be fine; I trust you to not be a total dumbass."

  ...

  Shinso unfolded the note in his grasp, looking over the ingredients one more time.

  ? cups of Hemlock Spider Blood

  1 cup of water

  3 grams of Wollpip Tree bark

  1 eye of a Stone Golem

  Humphrey walked beside him as they approached the border of the kingdom, greeting the gate that led to the forest. The border garrison troopers immediately approached them, but they didn't question Humphrey's status among the Pollinators. They let the gate open without much protest, allowing the duo to pass.

  They walked in silence for a while, neither end saying a word or asking a question. Eventually, they came to a halt when the snow beneath their feet parted, revealing a cobblestone trail in the fork of the woods around them. Humphrey took the initiative, looking back to Shinso.

  "Hemlock Spiders are nocturnal creatures, and they don't usually dwell during the winter months."

  He raised his head, looking up the trunk of the tree that ascended countless feet above the skyline. Pressing a gloved hand against the dark-colored bark, he sniffed the air, making his nose twitch.

  "I hope you can smell it."

  "Smell what?" Shinso felt the tiny hairs on his skin rise upon hearing the eerie, sudden sentence.

  At this moment, the watch in Shinso's pocket buzzed violently. The boy turned around instinctively, leaping back. When he turned around to gaze at the attacker, he saw a spider the size of a large dog, its carapace and abdomen covered in slick yellow hairs. The tips of the spider's eight long legs had razor-sharp claws, and its numerous eyes radiated with a malevolent vigor.

  "I-is that it?" Shinso habitually raised his guard.

  Humphrey nodded, looking at the creature before him. He reached into his satchel, taking out a blade with a green hilt. Countless symbols and markings in the hilt lit up with a bright emerald light. The spider reared its front fangs, lifting its legs in an attempt to make it look bigger than Humphrey. Instead of feeling fearful, the man simply smiled, running at the spider.

  "You're just gonna charge in head on?"

  Humphrey didn't reply, swinging his knife at the spider. Even with one functional eye at the moment, he still possessed almost pin-point accuracy with attacks and defensive maneuvers. He felt the edge of the knife grace one of the spider's legs, allowing a viscous, almost jelly-like blue liquid to seep out of the incision.

  With a final blow, Humphrey raised his knife and planted it into the center of the spider's cephalothorax, only removing the weapon when the animal stopped chirping and squirming beneath the weapon.

  "May the Mother grant you a merciful death," Humphrey whispered with a hint of finality, removing the knife and tucking it back into his holster.

  Shinso stepped forward, approaching the corpse of the massive spider splayed in the snow. The way the azure blood seeped into the surrounding snow reminded him of a snow cone back in his home reality. Humphrey reached into his satchel, taking out a small vial. He dipped the vial into the hole he had cut in the spider's cephalothorax, scooping up enough blood to fuel for the potion.

  He looked back at Shinso, smiling as he tucked it away from view. With the wave of his hand, Humphrey made roots and foliage emerge from the ground, snaring the spider's limp body and pulling it under into the soil.

  "She shall rest with our Good Mother," Humphrey recited an honorific statement, looking off into the distance.

  He fell silent for a few seconds, his lips parting only a few millimeters. "If we move quick enough, we can make it back by tomorrow morning."

  "W-what?" Shinso's eyes widened. "Y-you're saying we'll be away all day?"

  "Is that a problem? If you're worried about your friends, we can always send help."

  Shinso's face flushed a little, his cheeks turning a light pink color. He sighed internally, feeling the pocket watch buzz in his pants. At this moment, a revelation crossed his mind, amplified and supplied by both his own instincts and the potions.

  "If I want to keep him safe, I have to be brave enough to leave him, even for a small while."

  "But what about Catherine and Carter?"

  Humphrey looked down at Shinso, sighing softly. "With their powers restrained, they're both not threats to us."

  "You talk about them like they're enemies of everyone. I've sat and ate with them; they're good people. Just because you messed up things in the past doesn't determine your present. Everyone knows that."

  "Do you really know?" Humphrey emphasized.