Genni instinctively pushed the boomerang further into its sheath, and walked towards the mentioned bed, finding it empty. Glancing up, everyone beamed, as if welcoming the girl to the abode. She stared up, hearing the muffled echoes of whatever could've been above, but didn't seem to concern her. After all, she was elsewhere at the moment.

The rains from above poured relentlessly, but here, everything was dry, neat and well-kept. Everyone was smiling, and there were no expectations she was to meet.

"What do you call yourselves?" she asked, genuinely intrigued.

The man's beam changed into a harmless grin before his mouth formed the word. "Swannes."

"So, Swannes, with a cathedral inside of a cave, believe in the power of humans?" she asked.

"Have you heard of Pasto, my friend?" he asked.

"Some of the people of my village are greatly devoted to the said faith."

"Precisely. Although, when they're waiting for a sign from the hands, we're anticipating the simple opportunity to prove our humanity. Once a year, we make sure to give as much as we can."

"Pasto strives for achieving peace amongst the deities." someone else added, and Genni turned towards their voice. "We strive to achieve peace among humans."

What could be considered a human, in such a case? She saw instances of Beastmen deeming themselves as such but tried to sway towards the things she'd already seen. Particularly, the image of Ingo and Morio almost killing each other over a meaningless victory. If there aren't any demons or wretched creatures to kill, they'll fight each other.

Then, she thought about herself.

She began to recall scratching drawings of herself so vividly. Like that itself could never be perfect.

Genni's eyes gleamed, her smile subsiding into an unsure frown.

"Is something the matter?" the leader asked.

"What's your name?" she quickly answered with a question.

"Sir Ton," he replied.

"Mom always told me that a name given at birth is a sort of... mark of your existence. Like a scar that doesn't fade away, it stays with you until you die."

"Of course." he nodded, placing a hand on his chest. "A name is only a part of what creates a perfect human, but... nobody is born perfect."

"A perfect human," she repeated, staring forwards, blankly, then back at the empty cradle. Each Swannes member stepped back. "Is this what you strive for?"

"Exactly, my friend," he answered, walking up to the cradle, approaching it from the other side and then trying to gaze at Genni's wide-open eyes. "Think of change, for that matter. Things will never turn great if they remain in the same, unwoven, dim light."

Genni gulped. A promise so divine, that it's terrifying, but at the same time, consolingly heavenly.

"What does one have to do, Sir Ton, for them to become perfect?"

"They have to be themselves," he replied, shaking.

"How do you act like yourself?" Genni continued.

"It's difficult. You never realise how much you pretend to be the person you're not. Swannes, though, we don't act. We don't show our faces to other people. They don't see our bodies, they only hear the voice and feel the human on the other side."

She squinted her eyes, as Sir Ton's mouth opened.

"What do you say then? Are you convinced?" he asked, and Genni took an unsure step back.

It was unknown territory, and only some promises echoed through the interior.

Then again, he seemed so kind.

"My name's Genni." she stuck her hand out, once again.

***

Olala stretched, turning to the side. "You sure took your time."

"Sorry!" she quickly replied. "I got a bit lost."

"You could've traced the shore and climbed up the rocks instead of heading into the darkness. Something might've happened."

"Fortunately, it didn't." she huffed, waddling over, rubbing a drop of sweat off her forehead and fixing her glasses with her wrists. She smiled, looking at Olala's face. "Perfect, then."

Olala beamed lightly, shrugging, before looking forward. "Jyuzou and Ingo finished already-"

"Who won?!" Ingo ran up to the woman, grinding his teeth.

"Both of you did," she spoke.

"I outsped Jyuzou by jumping over the rope!"

"Foolish brat. You're the one who told me to not focus on my own body, yet, here you are, ringing the bells which shant have been rang!" Jyuzou spoke through a clenched jaw.

"Ask Koyote or something." Olala scratched her head. "In my eyes, if you passed, then you're both winners. Genni, you still have time to prove yourself as well, although I'm getting a bit hungry thinking about the way back to Omer Narrows, so don't waste too much of my time." she raised an eyebrow.

"What about Morio?" she asked, turning to the white-haired Morian, sitting on the edge.

Olala scratched her head, breathing out.

Morio sunk his fist into the first traces of dirt present in the damp grass.

The Morians were quickly led back to the fortress without any other activities planned for the day. Olala took a nap, knowing that in about three hours she had to continue insulating the basement floorboards, while the other enjoyed an unfinished meal from yesterday. It seemed that, without Koyote's presence, Olala wasn't as organized as she thought she would've been.

Jyuzou stepped out of the library, placing the borrowed books back on their respective shelves before wandering towards the other corridors, following the sound of rain. The roofs above the pond Koyote often sat at created enough cover for the ground to be dry, while everything else poured into the waters on each side. Jyuzou smiled a little, as a light in one of the lamps was lit, profusely diffusing the darkness created by the downpour.

"Jyuzou?" Koyote peaked her head out.

"Sorry, I didn't know someone was here," he explained.

"Where else would I be if not in my room?"

"Outside in the rain?"

"Not today." she swang her feet back and forth, as the water pouring in from above dampened her pant legs. "Come, sit."

"I-I still have some books to return."

"Please, don't waste my time," she spoke, her usual half-sarcastic tone turning into something serious. Not wanting to underestimate her words, Jyuzou stepped forward with a halted gasp.

"W-Why weren't you watching over our training today?" Jyuzou quickly asked, stuffing his legs together on the dry steps.

"Figured Olala could do a good enough job," she answered, looking forward.

Jyuzou didn't say anything for a little while.

"No, I'm lying," she added, and the Morian quickly turned his gaze towards her. "It's something a bit more serious than that."

He tapped the ground. "The Wakon?" he whispered.

"What do you think life would be if such problems never existed in the first place?"

"Safe?" Jyuzou shrugged.

"Boring, but happy, and I'd much rather be content with laying in bed all day, doing absolutely nothing than doing the same thing, stressing about something that's completely out of my reach." she raised a finger. "I wanted to learn more, but I started scratching a scab."

"Oh, man..." he rubbed his forehead. "W-What happened?"

"Show me one of those books, Jyuzou." she quickly signalled with her hand, and the Morian passed the lecture. Koyote immediately went to the first page, pointing at something written at its bottom.

"Property of Dakarai Langu'nya." he read, fixing his glasses. "Who's that?"

"The librarian of Omer Narrows. I met him in Harabra when he was my dad's friend. Coincidentally, Langu'nya is also the surname of Olala, who's sleeping on the other end of the fortress."

He looked a bit curious. "Olala's dad provides the books in the fortress?"

"Glad you caught onto that." Koyote handed him an old, red book without anything on the cover. Jyuzou slowly opened the first page, before being met by a plethora of letters in Old Manjuno, forming into nonsensical words. He scratched his head, squinting his eyes.

"I know you've been studying Old Manjuno, although any knowledge of the words they use won't help you or me solve this riddle. It's nonsense, to us. All the letters form into something I could only call a demon's speech. It's written backwards too. Check the first page again."

Jyuzou quickly flipped through, looking at the words scribbled at the bottom, in red ink.

"Read it from the back." Koyote pointed, and Jyuzou opened his mouth, in pure shock.

He quickly glanced up at Koyote, then back down at the book.

"Dakarai Langu'nya."

"He wrote it?" he asked, with a halted gasp.

"His handwriting's different, but whoever passed him the knowledge knew what they were doing. Dakarai always signs himself on books that are his property. Always." she spoke. "Do you know why there are no graves in Galliath?"

Jyuzou unsurely shook his head.

"Because we don't have enough space for a cemetery. Harans of Galliath, much like those leaving near the Haran Waters, send the dead on wooden boats, covered in clothes and with various items that once belonged to them. They swim away, and either a harsh wave shoots their bodies into the water, or they float towards different seas."

Jyuzou opened his mouth slightly. He recalled the same sight in the Aria River, as they were nearing Morta. That's how far the boats went, although back then, there was no corpse rotting inside. His eyes widened, as he turned to Koyote.

"Wakon take their bodies. Corpses get bloated when thrown in the water, and that's exactly what I saw. So, even if there a cemetery was here, it would be empty. There's a book in this fortress, and it talks about grave robbers in Magna. Coincidentally, you can guess whose name is on the first page."

Jyuzou gulped, scratching beneath his eyebrow, sighing out. This seemed to be a lot to take in for the Morian, but he vowed to be as strong as he imagined Koyote was.

"On the day you thought the chimera, I followed a notion through the rain. A few sounds, chasing me in and out. I discovered a chamber below the canal where such bodies were used for some form of ancient sacrifice. Then, a few hours later, everything was gone. The library was open." she shook her head.

"Olala's father is the leader of Wakon?" Jyuzou whispered.

Koyote stared forward, without answering.

Jyuzou's foot tapped on the stone steps.

"The man who supported us, acting against humanity itself. Again."

Back in Morta, there were no humans except for Jyuzou and Morio. Even Daress, who deceived them to be of a long-gone race stabbed them in the back. Morta itself means 'Of Death' in Old Manjuno. It seemed that, no matter how far he tried to stray away from that place, it never really left.

Much like home, which called back to both Morians, a piece of that stayed in Jyuzou's heart, now carried with a guilt shared by the two.

***

The rain had subsided, and things seemed to be back in full swing for the next few days.

The town of Omer Narrows rejoiced, as they'd do every year after such an eventless period, while the Demonears trained all around Galliath.

However, to their surprise, the everyday course around Mount Yosei completely faded out of existence. It seemed that they were either strong enough physically, or Koyote was trying to bash in information before something critical was to happen. At least, that's what Jyuzou predicted, but couldn't find it in himself to tell any of the other Morians.

At first, they repeated the rope climb, Genni at the end, with the Guardian Demon moving along at a slower pace, while Jyuzou and Ingo didn't necessarily struggle. Of course, Morio ended up last, as no matter how he placed Gloria atop the thin line, it always slid to the side or almost cut through the rope.

Genni often lied about heading to the city, instead going to the Swannes cathedral right by the waters. When the others were training or busy with everything concerning Demonear matters, Genni thought about that fateful day.

As her mother once said, "It's supposed to come to you, and you're not the one who's chasing. The deities above are the only ones to decide."

But there was no deity.

"Does it fit me?" she asked, smiling, standing in a separate room.

"It suits you very well, Genni." he nodded. "Everyone bearing it looks human."

"Heh, it's a bit cheesy isn't it?" she added.

"I'd say, to some extent, every belief is a little of that." he chuckled, placing both hands on a drawer beside a window separating the waters from the inside. "Non-believers would say that what those in great faith attempt to accomplish is foolish, and will bring nothing to its disciples. However, I for one think it's beautiful to do. Devotion takes power, and power means perfection."

Genni moved to the side, smiling. "Lots of those, however, say that humans can't reach the same perfection as the deities. The Swannes approach is a little different, huh?"

"May I ask, what is it that you're trying to mend with becoming a perfect human?"

Genni halted her words, glancing around the room for a moment. "I want to become the real me like you said, Sir Ton, and I'll do whatever it takes."

Sir Ton smiled.