His new family cried his name out while tightly hugging him, but he just stared into the horizon, begging for his friend's souls to go to heaven, if it existed. Maybe since they were born inside their soul also disappeared. He didn't know. He couldn't know.

After some time, his new mother asked: "Shinto... What happened to your clothes?", pointing at his naked body. He hadn't realized that the clothes he wore had disappeared since they should have been created inside the dungeon, in that village they had told him about.

"I... I don't know". His quivery voice resonated in everyone's head, who didn't know why Steve was so nervous. He didn't want everyone to know what had happened. No. No one would believe him, even if he swore on god.

Then, his father asked: "Why are you so nervous?", while patting his head. He was about to answer the same thing as before, but his sister exclaimed: "Dad, mom. Don't you see how terrified he is!? You shouldn't ask for that!". Then she looked at Steve straight in the eyes and,with a serene voice, asked: "Are you okay?".

Steve somehow felt that if someone ever asked what was the thing that he would want to hear the most after what he went through, that was the question that would come in first. "I'm... okay", he whispered.

"That's good to hear", she said as she hugged him again.

Then his brother spoke. "Do you need something?", he asked with his caring voice. That one would come in second.

"I need to... sleep". He could feel how even the energy he didn't have was leaving his body as his eyes closed.

After that, he felt how someone put his body on his back to take him home. Then felt the steps he took and heard people walking at their side. The bushes rustled and a group of owls hooted in simphony, making a small orchestra. As he heard, his muscles untensed, his body felt lighter and in some moment he felt his cozy bed surrounding him.

That night, even if he was tired to death, he couldn't sleep. Every memory came back: Celta, Yoro, Tako, his uncle. They didn't leave him alone. He resented his decision of remembering them. The thing he wanted the most was to forget what had happened, like if all those years were nothing but a bad dream.

His head didn't leave him alone. "I want this to stop...", he thought, almost crying.

Suddenly, it was daytime. His sister, Gaiji, who he barely remembered, woke him up. He recalled how she told him about her day everyday, like how she passed time with her friends, things she learnt at school. Stuff like that.

He opened his eyes, wondering about when he had fallen asleep, and behind her was his brother. He remembered that his name was something similar to a clothing brand and that he offered to help him when he entered school.

Further behind, at the door, were his new parents. They looked at his siblings as if they were expecting something from them.

Then Gaiji whispered: "Naiko, Give me the sword", while putting her hands in a position to receive it.

Naiko handed the sword to her and she showed it to Steve. It was the sword that said "Sophia x Reten". The one which Yoro tried to reach to take his own life.

"Do you recognize it?", she asked with her usual caring tone that she adopted when talking to Steve.

He trembled again, remembering what had happened. His eyes started tearing up, so she left the sword on the ground, out of Steve's line of sight, and hugged him.

"You don't have to tell me", she whispered.

"I told you it wouldn't work!", screamed some old man he didn't recognize from a place Steve couldn't see.

"Shut up, gramps!", she screamed back, having already stopped hugging Steve.

"Don't you dare talk to my father like that!", Asyldur exclaimed, walking towards them.

"Dad, don't shout... Shinto could be passing through something bad", said Naiko standing between his father and his sister.

"Well, I-", he tried to reply but since Steve was formulating some words, Gaiji told him to shut up.

"W... was there a hand where I was?", he said, quivering.

"I don't know...", replied Gaiji. "Me neither", said Naiko. Then his parents replied: "Yes, we burned it to erase every part of the people that hurt you", with a reassuring tone.

"Y-You burned it?", asked Steve not believing what he had heard.

"Yes, so don't worry anymore", he said with the same tone. "We will also destroy the sword once you tell us how the people that hurt you look"

"Dad! You weren't supposed to say that yet!", his siblings pointed out.

"But I'm trying to help...", he murmured.

"Mom...", Steve said, making all of them shut up. He couldn't believe it. The last part of his friends was that hand and the sword, and the hand didn't exist anymore. The only thing left was that sword, which Yorokobu tried to use to take his own life. He didn't want to have that as the only memorial of them.

"What happened sweetie?", she replied.

"Do you know a woman named Celta and a man named Plan?". He knew that his new mother was the only one that could understand the situation he was passing through.

"Y-yeah... I do", she replied, after some time of silence, with an exalted voice.

"They, their kid, their kid's husband and Celta's granchilds died. The hand was from one of the granchilds". It hurt him more than anyone to say that. He was admitting that, even if they had the chance to live, they had passed away and he couldn't do anything.

"Wait... they...?", she mumbled, taking her hands to her mouth.

"Yes"

When he said that, his new mom fell to the ground, supporting her body with her hands. Her breathing accelerated and everyone, not understanding a thing of what had happened, rushed to where she was. The only one that stayed where he was was Asyldur.

Then, Steve's grandpa walked in remarking that what they were doing was a bad idea.

"Mom! Are you okay!?", said her kids while her husband stood doing nothing.

"Kap... you told me that nothing happened when you were there", he pointed out, but she was hyperventilating.

"Dad", called Steve. When they were looking each other in the eyes, he, with his sight, went from his dad's eyes to his mother a couple of times. Then he said: "Go help her".

Asyldur then rushed to where she was and hugged her, thing that somehow made her calm down.

Her breathing normalized and tears dropped from her eyes. "It can't be...", she said as she hugged her husband back.

"I told you that kid was cursed!", his grandpa exclaimed.

"Dad, stop with that!", Asyldur screamed back. He still hugged Kappanelle, who kept crying.

"It's obvious he is cursed! Remember when Gaiji and Naiko were checking their mana bowls and he appeared out of nowhere!?", he said.

"He learned how to climb his cradle!", Gaiji pointed out.

"And when he stood up out of nowhere and knew how a sword should be grabbed!?"

"When did that happen!?"

"Your mom told me. That's why they started training!".

"Well, he could have seen mom using her sword!"

"Then explain how he learned so fast! Or how he learned to speak fluently so young, or how he moved a boulder larger than him at age three, or how he has red eyes even if none of us have them, or how he won over his mother, even if she was distracted, or why there wasn't any blood, even if he managed to chop a hand from one of the people that attacked him, and, if he managed to kill them, how did the bodies disappear without a trace! Maybe you can't explain how he survived in the wilderness without food or water, because the only water source IS IN THIS VILLAGE!"

"I DON'T KNOW! HE IS MY BROTHER AND I DON'T CARE IF HE'S CURSED OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT!"

"STOP SCREAMING AT EACH OTHER!!", Naiko exclaimed. This was the first time Steve, or any other member of that family, had heard him raise his voice that much.

Everyone shutted up. The tension in the air was palpable and Gaiji and her grandfather were looking at each other with eyes of pure hatred. The only sound left was Kappanele's moans for the death of her loved ones. She clenched her chest with her fist as she remembered the time she had passed with them.

Steve looked in awe at how everything unfolded. Then, he had an idea. He started humming the song Celta hummed. He remembered how she hummed it often, so his new mom should have heard it at least once.

As time flew, the air became less dense, Steve's grandpa went out of the room saying " Ugh... whatever", and Gaiji hugged Steve saying "Don't hear him. You are okay just as you are". Kappanelle's moans turned into sobs, which then stopped as everyone was reassuring her.

Then, her husband said: "You've some explaining to do bout' that Celta and Plan".

She breathed once, twice, another time and then started: "Remember when I sold myself to get your medicine?".

"What is she talking about?", asked her two older kids.

"Just listen", Asyldur ordered, also wondering about what his wife was about to reveal.

"He had broken mana circuit", she clarified. She continued: "I sold myself as a slave and was inside a cage for four years. Then, two people bought me. I didn't talk to them because I thought they only thought of me as a disposable asset, but when they saved me from a golem, I kinda feel that I could trust them".

Steve had to create an an aura barrier surrounding his body, since he felt his soul leaving again. He didn't want to be trapped in someone's memories for three years again. He couldn't think of a reason for that happening.

"As time flew, I became close to them and they expected a baby, but after something happened in a dungeon", The word dungeon felt like a punch to the gut to Steve, "I left. My swords were a gift from them".

"Mom... why did you say 'swords' in plural? You only have one", Naiko pointed out.

"You haven't seen the other one yet. It's for emergencies".

"What's an emergency?"

"I explained it to you when Steve disappeared for the past four days"

"But I don't remember..."

She sighed and said "It's when something bad happens and we need to urgently do something to make it stop or make it have the lowest negative impact.

"Oooh".

Steve heard what they said and couldn't belive his ears. "FOUR DA-". he realized he was screaming. "FOUR DAYS!? ONLY FOUR DAYS!? I WAS THERE FOR LIKE... FOUR YEARS, OR A BIT MORE".

His new family rushed to where he was, worried about him. "Shinto, what happened!?", his mother asked.

"What do you mean four days? I was there for four years!". He still couldn't believe it. He was sure they were pulling a prank on him. Afterwards, everything made sense. When he entered the dungeon, he entered a type of time chamber, in which a year inside is a day outside.

"All those years didn't happen?". Steve felt betrayed by the world. All those years he lived were just a memory, which he could do nothing to go back to.

Nevertheless, he looked at his new family, who looked at him with eyes with a mix of confusion and worry, didn't seem to change in the time he was gone, confirming his theory. He held some kind of grudge against Plan for putting that spell on the dungeon entrance. He was sure that he was the reason the time distortion was made.

"But you were missing for only four days...", said Gaiji. Her comment felt like another punch on the gut for Steve, since she was always the one to support him. At least for what he remembered.

"I LIVED FOUR YEARS OUT THERE". He was desperate. He needed someone to believe him that, indeed, he had lived four years in that dungeon.

"Shinto, are you okay?", asked his new father. This was the worst thing he could ask. It meant that they didn't believe him. That since he didn't physically change not a lot of time had passed. The only one that had some doubts was his new mother, but she decided to believe her eyes instead of her son's words.