''I want to help the monster community here, somehow,'' Shigeko shed her bashfulness to speak with confidence. ''I may not hold them in good regard, but that doesn't mean they deserve their coming extinction. If possible, I would like to use the pathways inside the Trees to contact the tribe of the Overlord, otherwise...'' She heaved a weary sigh. ''A sacrifice will need to be chosen.'' Shigeko did not need to add anything else.

There's also that young ghostly boy...
''I agree.'' You support your blue friend and reluctantly release the fluffy moth's hand. ''I understand what you're suggesting is probably... the wisest option. Eichenwald isn't a safe place, especially after today.''

''But I think we'd be leaving too soon. The monster community needs help, Augustine is the only one besides us that I've seen able to do something realistic for them.'' You find your gaze trapped by the quiet flames of the campfire as you replay your first week here, in your new home.

''That ghost boy is the one who guided me to find Nyct and Usha, y'know? It wouldn't be right to just... take off without finding the whole truth about him.'' You can tell by the way your father shifted in his seat that the spirit of that boy bothered him a whole lot. ''It'd be too soon to leave. We have the power to improve a few lives here!''

''Despite the danger of today?'' Canaan's neutral question prompts you to look her way. She has wrapped her arms around Rikard's shoulders to cuddle him from the back.

Grabbing one hand of your new companions, you put them on your shoulders. ''Yeah!''

So comes a rare time of silence, one that should make you stressed or fearful, a strange surge of bravado or perhaps confidence has you look into your parent's eyes without wavering.

''...okay.'' Your father whisper.
''Okay,'' Comes your mother's voice.

''Every fiber of my being revolts against the idea of putting you in further danger, Rey.'' Nothing about Rikard emotions hints at this inner turmoil, and you know very well that he's speaking the truth; your father is a deeply, deeply controlling man when it comes to handling his feelings. ''Seyraphal, Shigeko? Would you be willing to become my daughter's companion?''

''Yes''

Don't you dare cry, Rey. The weight of their answers seems to transfer into their hands; your shoulders barely feel strong enough to keep themselves upright.

''Alright.'' Your father untangled himself from Canaan's arms to stand up.

''Rey is right, something wicked is brewing in Eichenwald, the Mamono village isn't the only endangered community. Tensions with the new peacekeeping mercs and the militia, the bishop squandering his duty, manic imprints of souls throughout the Baron manor, hunters dying in the large ancestral forest in the east, now some kind of hypnotic songs luring dogs to their deaths, and bad actors killing a shapeshifting Mamono...'' He lists each topic on his fingers.