It was dry and hot as the sun blared down at the wanderer and their corpse companion.
Kumi reached the top of a dune. Beside it, sticking out of the sand, was a large skeletal arm. Decayed and old, its size was beyond that of a house.
Kumi glanced at it for a moment, curious, but didn't approach. There was something even more eye catching hiding in the distance.
The wide open ocean and further out to the west, the tall white masts of a ship and trails of smoke coming from a collection of homes.
"Well, look at that. How lucky are you?" Dante commented, catching a glimpse of the far off city from behind Kumi.
"It seems like bringing you with me for insurance was unnecessary since no one has caught up."
"Good job being honest about your mistakes. Can you let me go now?"
"It wasn't a mistake. Considering how easily I received all the information that I wanted, you would have told Death's Doorstep everything you knew about me and what direction I was heading."
"Do you really think so low of me?"
Kumi didn't answer his question, instead posing her own as she looked below the dune.
"You promised that you wouldn't even think about following me before, right?"
Dante's eyes lit up at the question.
"Y-Yeah! I did! I'll even go a step further and forget you entirely! I won't follow or look for you, I promise. I'll even sign a Protocol Agreement!"
"Is that so?"
Kumi didn't yet know the details to what Ritual Protocol could do or be used for, but she could surmise that it acted like a contract by the way that Dante said it.
"Then, with an agreement, I'll let you go."
"Sure! Oh, but you'll have to do something for me too. Just an easy favour to keep the deal fair."
Dante struggled as he tried to turn his body around to face Kumi, but she didn't let him look forward.
"Is that what you want in exchange? A favour?"
"It is. I won't look for you or follow you-"
"Or spread information about me." Kumi interjected.
"Right," Dante nodded, a grin on his face, "or spread any information about you. In exchange, you need to grant me one favour."
Kumi thought for a second.
"If it is exactly as stated, then I will agree."
"Great! Let's shake on it."
Kumi looked behind her. Dante still didn't have a single limb connected to his torso.
"Technically, we are doing so already."
Kumi commented as Dante chuckled.
"I guess you're right. Then, Protocol Sealed."
There was a thump of mana, like the hit of a drum, that resonated from Kumi's heart.
She wasn't certain since she didn't feel it, but she was sure that Dante experienced the same thing.
"Done! Let me go now."
"I will."
Kumi was silent for a second. Standing still, she spoke up.
"However, first I should give you a piece of information too. So that our trade is more even."
"Hmm?"
"Although I am not completely certain, you should know that your wording in our agreement is lacking in details."
"... What do you mean?"
"For instance, it isn't strictly detailed when I need to grant that favour. Since you can't look for or follow me, if we move separately from now on, I don't need to do anything for you."
"I... guess so?"
"I'm sharing this information because you are an annoying enemy and it would be troublesome if someone enslaved you due to a loophole in wording."
Kumi, dragging Dante by his hair, set him down in front of her so that he could see the distant ocean.
And so that he could see what laid below the dune they were standing on. There was a deep crack in the ground where the rest of the giant skeleton was hidden. It was extremely deep, so deep that the bottom was hidden behind layers of darkness.
"With that said, I'll let you go now, goodbye."
Before Dante could say anything, he received a kick to the back of his head as he tumbled down the dune and plummeted far down into the dark crevice.
"AAAHHHhhhhh-"
Dante's scream slowly became muffled and quiet as he continued falling deeper.
Kumi let out a sigh.
'With no more rot being applied, he'll regenerate soon enough. His problem is getting out. But that isn't my problem. Ahh~ I can finally rest for a minute.'
Kumi closed her eyes as she sat down, enjoying the wind coming from sea.
'I can't safely Advance my Rank yet. I'm not even sure if the method to do so changes.'
Kumi fell on her back as she closed her eyes.
'Most importantly, I need to let my body heal up now.'
As she rested there, unknowingly, her skill {Deep Sleep} had activated.
The amount of time she slept for was miniscule, and it was a mere coincidence, a joke of fate, that someone found her the very moment she started resting.
"...-ka..."
A soft sound anchored itself in Kumi's ears. Instantly, she felt something was wrong and forced herself awake.
She was being carried on the back of a man wearing dark grey attire. The man was looking at his watch, as he walked deeper into the desert.
"Yes, Ayaka. I am quite sure it's her. She seems fine and there isn't anything or anyone around. Look, if you have any more questions then come here yourself and ask her. She's sleeping right now. I'm hanging up."
The watch he was wearing glowed for a moment.
"Geez. Some special mission this is."
Kumi was silent. Her thoughts were a blur.
Her arms were already rested on this man's shoulders. She felt that she had no other choice.
In an instant, she coated her hands with rot and tore at the man's neck with everything she could.
The man could only let out a yelp of pain and surprise as he struggled to get Kumi off of him.
But she didn't relent. Clutching on to his back, Kumi pierced his neck with her fingernails as she slowly strangled him while covering his neck and face in rot.
She could only mentally apologise as the man fell to the ground, falling on top of her.
Again, Kumi could only mentally apologise.
She couldn't go back.