In the ghoul tunnels, Tales and Gollor stared at each other in disbelief.
The others were utterly confused.
"You know each other?" Uncle Hauser asked suspiciously.
"They know each other!" Priest Zadvi let out a huge sigh of relief.
"You're both called Wyatt?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"They're both called Wyatt!" Shilai said with disdain, her gloves reappearing on both hands.
"Yes, we know each other. We only met because we had the same name." Tales awkwardly turned around and raised his hands toward the surrounding residents. "It's fine. Nothing's wrong. We're all old friends. It's no big deal. There's no need to crowd around..."
But his appeal clearly carried little weight. No one in the tunnel listened. The people still surrounded the entrance, their eyes full of hostility as they stared at Gollor.
"All right, then. Um, Wyatt, how about putting down your knife first? You're scaring them." Tales cast Eldest Miss a pleading look, but Shilai merely turned her head away in disdain. "And your companion... Luori, what happened here?"
Tales stared in astonishment at the woman in Rolf's arms. She was covered in blood and barely clinging to life.
The "ghouls" in the tunnel began whispering among themselves.
Rolf looked awkwardly at Tales, his eyes filled with both pleading and guilt.
"This is Teto, Lord Wyatt. You remember him, right?" Gollor said reluctantly. "My little... brother."
Tales finally understood. "Teto? Oh, of course, Teto! But who are you carrying?"
"This is, um, this is Teto's..."
As Gollor hesitated under Rolf's furious glare, wondering whether to say "old flame" or "mother," the injured woman in Rolf's arms weakly opened her eyes.
"Is he... is he here?" She coughed painfully. "Zadvi?"
Everyone froze. The tunnel fell silent.
Priest Zadvi, his face full of shock, pushed through the people around him