Chapter 98: A Choice

Ralph, who’d taken off his helmet during Peace’s explanation, pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So, Pariah, let me get this straight... You have a Trait that makes you grow stronger simply by killing — your body changing after you’ve killed a certain number of things. All of that... came from those changes. You also get stronger by devouring corpses and Wisps, but you can’t earn Resonances. You can, however, acquire Traits. Your teeth are weirdly strong, allowing you to bite through most natural materials. Eating Spirit Stones has the same effect as drinking a potion... In what situation did you even think to eat one in the first place? Ahem... And your body can transform between three different states..."

Peace nodded with a dubious yet satisfied expression, even removing the brace from his knee and kicking his leg to demonstrate that it had healed.

Clenching his teeth, Ralph half-shouted:

"Was all of that supposed to give us solace?! It makes you sound like even more of a monster!"

’Gah!’

Clutching his head, Ralph stomped his foot against the ground.

"It’s truly impossible to trust you!"

Dita spoke up.

"What if... what if he’s one of the Night Parade? Only, he’s still sane. To the point where he might not even know he is one."

Peace’s eyes shot towards Dita.

"Wh-what?"

Studying Peace’s face, Dita added:

"I mean... that’s really the only explanation. Not to mention I’ve already seen him completely lose it once."

Peace frowned.

’Oh... oh no.’

Ralph grimaced.

"What?"

"We were fighting a Blood Warden, and he went berserk... mindlessly charging at it and even eating bones off the ground."

Peace desperately defended himself.

"I already explained why! Aggressor. Aggressor!"

Ralph shook his head, ignoring Peace’s pleas.

"The possibility that he’s one but doesn’t know it seems the most sensible... given what we know."

Peace stammered:

"H-hey! Don’t come to a conclusion like that without me!"

"Welp, kid, we might have to kill you after all. Never know when you might lose it."

’Gah! An even worse conclusion!’

Waving his clawed hands frantically, Peace said:

"Now hold on a second! Don’t I get a say in this?!"

Ralph laughed, pointing his sword at Peace.

"Haha! Relax, kid... I was merely joking."

’With that look in your eyes? No the hell you weren’t!’

"Huh...?"

Flipping his blade around, Ralph sheathed his sword.

"Didn’t I tell you already? I found a use for you far greater than my hollow vengeance."

’Uhh... sure, bud. Sure.’

Ralph backed away and sat down, leaning against the wall.

"But that doesn’t mean I’m simply going to brush off your... nature. If you ever truly go bonkers, I will take it as proof that you’re a true Night Parade remnant, and I will seek my retribution. Until then, onward we shall go."

Despite Peace’s doubts, it seemed...

’Innocent until proven guilty?’

Was the prideless and ignoble Ralph really taking that route?

Peace sat against the wall with his mouth slightly agape, flabbergasted that he wasn’t being witch-hunted.

’So, no Aggressor state, got it... I guess?’

Looking toward Dita, Peace asked:

"You?"

Dita shrugged.

"I don’t care as long as you don’t do that again. Besides, in my eyes, you’re not one as long as you say you’re not."

Peace turned his wounded gaze toward the others.

Yulis clicked his tongue, then said:

"Tch. You’re an idiot, Peace. Maybe be honest from the start, next time."

But that was all the Day Elf had to say.

No accusations or condemnations followed.

Even most of the fear in his eyes had faded.

Out of all of them, perhaps Yulis was the only one who truly believed Peace had no connection to the Night Parade.

’All because I said so?’

As for Volkar and Maura...

Volkar had accepted Peace’s explanation without much thought. He was in too much pain to really care. Besides, Peace was still a ’friend.’ As long as Peace never did anything to directly betray that friendship, Volkar would stay on his side.

Maura was also too out of it to care much, though her eyes made it clear she was suspicious of him. Still, she seemed willing to tolerate him for now. Whether out of necessity, camaraderie, or gratitude for having made it this far, Peace couldn’t tell.

Overall, their suspicions of him had been rekindled.

To the point where they’d keep moving along with him, but with both eyes on him instead of just one.

An awkward silence settled over the six of them as they took a brief respite. They had only a few moments to rest before continuing their journey.

During that time, Peace finally managed to rein in his emotions and force his body out of the Hybrid state and into the Neutral one. Under the others’ watchful gazes, his nails and teeth shrank back to normal.

Most of them looked disgusted; only Dita’s disgust was tinged with intrigue.

Several more seconds passed before the Day Elf broke the silence.

Staring Peace straight in the eyes, which had now returned to normal, Yulis asked:

"Does that mean you lied?"

"Huh?"

"The Gusto leaves... They don’t stave off hunger, do they?"

Peace pursed his lips and whistled, looking off towards the Western Winds. After a couple of seconds, he replied:

"I mean, uh, they might? You never know."

"Asshole."

Peace twitched, pausing his quiet tune to say:

"Hey, I never made you eat them... you did that all on your own."

Dita looked over at the young boy with trepidation.

"You did what, now...?"

Yulis shied away from her gaze, his cheeks and ears flushing red.

"..."

Dita rolled her eyes, then added:

"Are any of you normal...? No wonder you took him in in the first place. Regardless of why."

Peace smirked.

"Dita, you had a deal with me to party up... who’re you to judge them?"

Staring back at Peace, Dita hissed:

"Did I ever claim to be normal?"

’Oh... touché.’

With that, the group returned to silence, bandaging their wounds and sharpening their weapons.

The mystery surrounding Maura’s injuries remained unresolved.

’At least they stopped coming.’

A few more and she might have bitten the dust.

’Was it actually the zone, then?’

Unfortunately, Peace doubted he’d get an answer to that anytime soon.