It was night when Ivan, who was covered in bandages, finally opened his eyes. The sound of the rain had disappeared. All that was left was the smell of earth mixed with water. The man turned his head to the right and caught his breath when he saw a woman''s face adorned with freckles. The red-haired woman closed her eyes, seemed to be sleeping peacefully.


    Ivan moved in shock but immediately winced in pain andy back down again.


    "Don''t move around too much," Leva said with her eyes still closed. "Gwen said the scratches on your body were deep and bleeding so much. It''s a miracle you''re still alive."


    "Why are you sleeping next to me?" Ivan raised an eyebrow.


    Finally, Leva opened her eyes. "It seems I fell asleep while watching over you."


    "Y-you take care of me?" Ivan was starting to sound nervous. "Does this mean…."


    "Sorry, but I''m just worried about you as a fellow human." Leva took a deep breath. "You are a good person, Ivan. I''ve seen good people die too many times, I just…. Well, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."


    Ivan was silent, looking up at the wooden ceiling of the room. "Hey, you turned me down because your heart was for someone, but after the few days I''ve been here, I haven''t seen that special person."


    "You''re just asking that now?" Leva sighed again. "I''ll take you to see him when you''repletely healed. He rests not far from this house."


    At first, Ivan frowned, then the man''s mouth opened. "He''s gone?"


    Leva nodded. "You probably think I should be able to move on since he''s dead, right? Well, I apologize to you again, Ivan. It''s not that easy."


    A faint smile formed on Ivan''s mouth. "It''s alright. But make no mistake, Leva. I haven''t given up. Every time our merchants go on a trip, I''ll go with them."


    "Whatever." Leva snorted but immediately smiled, though she had to cough. "We won''t stop you froming."


    Ivan widened his smile. "By the way, Leva. Why isn''t that girl next to you wearing clothes?"


    Leva frowned, then turned her head the other way. Her eyes immediately bulged when she found apletely naked Gwen sitting cross-legged in front of the firece. The blonde girl had her back to Leva and Ivan. Her smooth back was clearly visible.


    "What are you thinking!? Aren''t you still sick!?" Leva snorted again, then covered her colony mate with the nket.


    "Ah, sorry," Gwen replied with a smile.''


    ***


    Several days had passed since that fight between Ivan and Naomi. Seb helps Manu out of the well. The bearded man had just gone down the well to retrieve Naomi''s body. The two men were already rtively healthy, so I decided to have them do this immediately.


    "You really didn''t find her?" Ivan, who also helped the mission asked. I have to admit his toughness. Only a few days had passed, but he already could stand up straight and carry on with his usual activities.


    "Yeah, she''s nowhere to be seen," Manu exined while releasing the rope in his stomach with the help of Seb. "Maybe her body was suppressed by the rock at the bottom, so she didn''t float."


    Ivan rubbed his face and took a deep breath. "How do I exin all this to Naomi''s family?"


    I also went down the well with Manu. Turns out I couldn''t go in there without being with my colonists. As Manu said, Naomi''s corpse could not be seen at all. Maybe she did sink to the bottom. However, Manu could not dive without adequate lighting. He did strap the shlight from Gwen''s escape pod around his head, but that thing wasn''t waterproof.


    Apart from that, I also couldn''t see the spirit of the Acornhull woman, even though I had asked Gwen to activate her psychic powers. As I''ve heard before, a person''s spirit will not be far from the body.


    Well, the spirit may be at the bottom of the well too.


    "So, what are we going to do with this well? With the corpse…." Manu looks at Ivan and says. "Oh, I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to offend you."


    "It''s alright." Ivan shook his head. "I know what you meant. It would be challenging to take Naomi from the bottom if she was indeed suppressed by that big rock. Her corpse will stain the water in the well."


    "So, we have to make a new well?" Seb replied.


    Manu shrugs, looking tired. "We have no other choice."


    "At the very least, do so when your body is fully recovered," I said to the bearded man.


    "Leva, what happened to you!?"


    Kat''s loud voice immediately made us turn our heads towards the house. My three male colonists looked at each other, then hurried into their residence.


    Oh, no….


    What I saw the first time there was Leva''s body convulsing. Her stiff mouth opened slightly, and her eyes rolled back.


    Gwen was cing a fold of cloth around the back of the red-haired woman''s neck with a calm motion.


    "What happened to her!?" Kat sounded so hysterical. A rare urrence. She looked terrified like she was looking at a demon.


    "The most important thing is that we have to be calm." Gwen pulled her hand from the back of Leva''s neck. "We can only wait for the seizure to end."


    Manu and Seb just stared at the scene with tense faces while Ivan was already pacing back and forth, clutching his head.


    I crouched down next to Gwen. "What the hell happened, Gwen?"


    "Perhaps the immune system that fights the virus gets too much and causes immune cells to attack healthy body tissue…. I don''t know for sure." Gwen continued to watch Leva''s body, which was still convulsing. "We don''t know about what causes this disease."


    "Leva has fast-healing abilities…." Seb hissed, drawing the attention of the others.


    Gwen looked at Seb with her mouth open, then swallowed. "Oh…. Maybe that''s what caused her immune system to overreact."


    "Can you do something about this?" I asked again.


    Gwen just nced at me with an expression I couldn''t predict. I can only guess. Could something like this need to be handled with more modern equipment, which we obviously don''t have? Has Gwen given up because she can''t do anything?


    About three minutes passed, Leva''s body finally calmed down.. However, she seemed to be having a hard time breathing, and her eyes were half-closed.