Martha above, the thought of having to endure more than a week of this kind of life makes him go a bit crazy. He immensely misses the old days, even though they might have been a bit insignificant, but at least they were stable.
When a homebody makes a resolution, it's always with grand promises, but the enthusiasm fades as quickly as it comes. However, seeing the fatigue and worry on Frey's face, our protagonist's heart finally calms down.
Because he is trusted—
He suddenly realizes he must abandon the identity of Sophie and attempt to embrace a new life. He can't help but touch his chest and only then does he understand—it's not that Brand died, but Sophie.
It's not that he accepted this world, but that this world accepted him.
Brand's stretcher is placed by the lake, and not far away, one can see the colorful pebbles. He first checks on the status of Josen, who miraculously survived, but his condition is not optimistic.
"How is he?" Markmi couldn't help but ask from the side.
"Hard to say." Sophie, no, now he should be called Brand. He shakes his head.
Markmi falls silent, staring blankly at the lake in the distance. This lake is called Che Lake. Reaching here means they are close enough to Qing Village, but among those present, only Brand seems to know the direction accurately. The young man looks in one direction, in that direction, faint grey trails of smoke can be seen in the sky between the gaps in the forest.
It looks like Kabais has already attacked that village, its destiny not much different from Buqi. The speed of Madara's army's attack is very fast, just as he remembers from the game.
Actually, Brand still remembers this lake. He looks up, gazing far away at the distant shore of the blue-green waters. In that direction, under the lush green trees and dark mountains, he can no longer see those familiar shadows from the past.
He remembers spending a long time leveling up in this area, battling brown bears and foxes. Thinking of the days of selling leather to make money in the game, Brand can't help but chuckle.
He withdraws his hand from Josen's forehead and says to Markmi, "Do me a favor."
"What?"
"Help me take off the bandages."
Brand needs to change the bandages, but before that, he wants Romantic to distribute the sausage he took from his home, calling it a taste sample of Golan-Elsen Region's black sausage.
It makes him want to laugh and cry. These young people didn't think to prepare any food before escaping Buqi. Even the seemingly steady Frey didn't think of it.
So their only remaining food is just this roll of sausage.
"How about you tell us what you saw when you left Buqi? Understanding more about the enemy will help... Ouch, Markmi, be gentler." He flinched, hissing in pain.
Frey, seeing this, couldn't help but sigh: "Let me do it, step aside, Markmi."
The young man is stunned. The girl with the long ponytail has already stepped forward.
"Is it okay to distribute all the food?" She buries her head, carefully unwrapping Brand's bandage. But after a moment of hesitation, she asks again in a low voice.
"What problem?"
This guy, he knows exactly what I'm talking about!
Frey can't help but grit her teeth, but what makes Brand find it funny is that even so, this kind-hearted girl doesn't dare do anything careless with her hands.
"You know what I mean, we can't make it to Ridenburg, right?" Frey's voice lowers further, barely audible.
Brand can't help but look at the girl again. Of course, he always felt that the light brown ponytail suited her demeanor very well. He thinks for a moment and asks, "Your aunt and uncle should be in the group, right?"
Frey keeps her head down, her hands pausing in unwrapping the bandage.
"I'm sorry," Brand sighs, "if there's an opportunity, I will try as much as possible. But I can't guarantee anything, it's too big a responsibility for me to bear."
"Thank you."
An almost imperceptible reply.
"Big Sister Frey, Big Brother Brand, what are you whispering about?" Little Phenix's untimely voice suddenly calls out. He is sitting under a beech tree, curiously watching the two. If Big Sister Frey was the person he always admired, then Brand is his new idol.