‎The old lady looked strangely at Nox, confused as he was at the question before she sighed and said,

‎

‎"I guess it's nothing."

‎

‎With that, she stood, picked up the tray, and turned to him with a smile,"Let's introduce you to the rest."

‎

‎He nodded before standing up with her and they walked towards the door. Nox still had a feeling that he was forgetting something important.

‎

‎Ah, that's right, his marvelous rock.

‎

‎He was sure it was still where he placed it, so he'd have to retrieve it after the introductions.

‎

‎The moment they stepped out of the old lady's building, they were faced with the residents of this settlement waiting outside.

‎

‎Although there were many, they didn't number more than twenty.

‎

‎But if the fact that they were this many, made Nox wonder what the rank of the rift was when they entered.

‎

‎After all, the kingdom wouldn't send fifteen Solar Knights to a low ranked rift, except they were being extra careful.

‎

‎"Alright everyone, gather around," the old lady said and they all complied, "we have a guest ."

‎

‎They all immediately formed a semi-circle around Nox and the old lady, quietly waiting for her to continue.

‎

‎"This young man wandered in from the eastern forest alone," she continued, "and stumbled upon our settlement."

‎

‎The crowd wanted to say something but since Grans was standing right there, they decided to swallow their words....for now.

‎

‎The old lady turned to Nox before saying, "Go ahead, introduce yourself."

‎

‎Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward, looking at all their faces, their eyes seemed to be stuck on him, quietly waiting for him to say something, and he did.

‎

‎"My name's Nox," he said simply before adding, "and umm.... I guess I'm stranded here?"

‎

‎It was pretty clear that he wasn't good with introductions, especially when it came to introducing himself to multiple people.

‎

‎"Aren't we all?" Someone snorted, since Nox was only stating the obvious, as if it couldn't be any clearer that they were stuck here.

‎

‎The old lady frowned before saying, "As I said, he is our guest, and I expect you all to treat him as you treat one another, not as an outsider."

‎

‎The crowd nodded before the old lady let out a smile of satisfaction.

‎

‎"Good," she said, "now introduce yourselves."

‎

‎***

‎

‎It took a while, but everyone eventually introduced themselves one after the other to him.

‎

‎Most of which he had forgotten already since it was pretty hard to keep the names of this many people in his head, on just the first day of meeting.

‎

‎Some of them seemed to welcome him, but there were a few others who did not seem to like his presence here, one of whom was the man who had walked up to the lady who caught Nox,

‎

‎Fern.

‎

‎For some reason, Fren didn't seem to like Nox, but it wasn't like Nox actually cared, as long as the man didn't go out of his way to agitate him, then he'd also stay out of Fern's way.

‎

‎Which was made impossible by Grans with her next words, "Skye, I'll leave Nox in your care, show him around, and maybe give him one of your guest rooms so he can temporarily stay there... until we figure something out."

‎

‎Skye was the woman who had captured Nox, but how was that going to be a problem with Fern?

‎

‎Well, apparently, he had a crush on Skye and was acting like a guard dog, scaring off any man who got close enough to her, until he got the courage to confess his feelings.

‎

‎Nox had just become one of the men he needed to play guard dog against, especially given the fact that Nox would be staying with Skye under the same roof.

‎

‎"Grans," Fern called out and the old lady turned to him.

‎

‎"Yes?"

‎

‎"I don't think it's a good idea to let a complete stranger stay with Skye," He started, "what if he tries something strange?"

‎

‎Skye frowned at his words before slowly stepping forward, "Would you like a reminder of our last match?"

‎

‎"N-no," Fern quickly waved his hand before him, "a-all I'm say is, it doesn't feel right to let a man and a woman stay under the same roof," Fern finished, his voice losing confidence midway.

‎

‎Skye stared at him, unimpressed.

‎

‎"Fern?" She said, "Are you saying I'm so weak that I can't handle myself against a kid?"

‎

‎Ouch.

‎

‎That bullet was not fired at him, but Nox took the full brunt of the attack. Was he actually so short that they thought he was a kid?

‎

‎But even then, he wisely chose to stay silent, else he risked standing directly in her line of fire.

‎

‎"That's not what I meant," Fern shrank back further, "all I'm saying is—"

‎

‎"That's enough," Grans suddenly cut in, since the two seemed to have no intention of cutting it out anytime soon.

‎

‎She turned to Fern and said, "I know you're just concerned, but Skye can handle herself if anything goes wrong."

‎

‎Having no other choice, Fern just decided to back down. Pressing any further, even after Gran's words would just make him look bad.

‎

‎Instead, he just glared at Nox who had no idea what that was all about since he hadn't even said a single word.

‎

‎Besides, this was not his decision, it was Gran's.

‎

‎Grans then turned back to Nox, "You're not obligated to stay, but until you find a way out of this rift, you'll be under Skye's supervision. That's final."

‎

‎Fern clenched his fists but said nothing more.

‎

‎Skye sighed and motioned with her head. "Come on," she said to Nox. "I'll show you around before it gets dark."

‎

‎Nox nodded, giving Grans a small bow of respect before following Skye away from the crowd.

‎

‎As they walked through the settlement, Nox quietly observed everything.

‎

‎The houses weren't crude huts, but sturdy structures made from stone, wood, and metal scavenged from somewhere deeper in the rift.

‎

‎Solar lamps hung from posts, emitting a soft glow without any visible SE leakage, even though the paths were worn into the ground from years of use, and there were watchtowers positioned at the edges of the clearing.

‎

‎It was an entire village.

‎

‎They stopped in front of a medium-sized house near the edge of the settlement.

‎

‎"This is mine," Skye said. "Guest room's on the right. You can stay as long as Grans allows it."

‎

‎"Thanks," Nox replied.

‎

‎Skye just nodded and moved towards the door, as she pushed the door open, Nox suddenly stopped.

‎

‎"…Wait."

‎

‎She turned. "What?"

‎

‎"I forgot something," he muttered, about to turn back, before Skye said, "All your stuff is already inside."

‎

‎He paused, a bit surprised by that fact, maybe she had already been informed by Grans that he would be staying with her before she announced it to everyone.

Skye pushed the door open, revealing a modest but undeniably modern living room as she said, "Welcome to my humble home."

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