It turned out that what came were four people dressed in primitive clothes wearing shoes and various essories. They seemed to be from Acornhull, but the four of them didn''t show that they were merchants. They did not bring transport animals but only had sacks of goods which seemed to be only enough to be filled with their own provisions.


    "Good evening, nameless tribesmen!" The leader of the group, a tall, middle-aged man with hair in a small braid, greeted in an enthusiastic tone. I feel familiar with the man''s face. I''m Heath of Acornhull!"


    "Hmmm...." The woman with the wrinkled face next to Heath, pale-skinned, silver-haired, and slender but muscr, checked the surroundings by holding up a torch. "Looks like there''s just been a big fight here... Ah, it''s really rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Anca, and this man is my first child, Miro. The girl over there is Runa. The youngest."


    Miro looks like a younger version of Heath, while Runa looks more like his mother. The two of them nodded to my colonists. I did wake up my people on purpose.


    Runa then looked at the damage in the houses of my colonists with her hands on her hips. "Ah, it must have been a lot of fun fighting here. I wanted to join that."


    Meanwhile, Miro was staring at Kat with his mouth slightly open, eyes unfocused, and his face reddened.


    As usual, Kat doesn''t show any meaningful expression despite being watched like that.


    No, I''m not giving Kat to you, Miro. Never.


    Suddenly Heath hit his son''s head. "Where are your eyes looking, huh!?"


    Ah, they are Ivan''s family. I can already detect the tense expressions on my colonists. Only Seb could smile. The man took a few steps forward and held out his hand.


    "Wee to our house. Sorry for the mess. My name is Seb."


    The colonists and Ivan''s family shook hands and introduced themselves. I found Miro sniffing his hand that had just shaken Kat''s, and it made Heath hit his head again.


    "Ah, it seems you are the woman that Ivan told me about." Anca, Ivan''s mother, put her hands in Leva''s, then smiled broadly. "You look as strong as Ivan said. You are very worthy to bear my grandchildren. I want to have grandchildren, but my children don''t want to get married yet."


    Miro and Runa looked the other way as Anca looked at the two.


    Leva couldn''t help butugh awkwardly.


    "We''re here to pick up Ivan. Sorry, we decided to check who you are, so we''re in a hurry toe here. So, even at night, we keep walking." Heath looked around. "Where is he now? Ah, is he taking a shit? Has he constipated again? He was indeed constipated so often. Well, like his dad and sister." The manughed until his chest shook.


    "Can you not talk about that in front of other people!?" Runa snorted with an irritated face.


    The faces of my colonists grew tenser, while the smiles on Ivan''s parents began to fade because there was no answer. It affected Rex, who was near his master. The furry beast began to growl and was ready to attack. Kat had to kneel down to calm him down.


    "What happened?" Anca asked in a more serious tone.


    ***


    "Wait." Heath, who was already sitting in front of the bonfire, massaged his forehead. "You say Ivan sacrificed himself to resurrect Leva, who died of illness?"


    Leva came to the family carrying a pile of clothes and a pair of shoes, then knelt down. The woman then said with trembling lips. "These are Ivan''s clothes and shoes, sir."


    Anca narrowed her eyes, took the clothes, and studied them. "These are all Ivan''s."


    "You think we''ll believe your bullshit?" Runa, the youngest, said with gritted teeth. Her eyes stared intently at my colonists.


    Meanwhile, Miro just rested his chin on his intertwined hands. Maybe he looks calm, but that''s what makes me feel ufortable. He stands out among his agitated family members.


    I had to order my colonists to tell Ivan''s family what had really happened. It is very difficult to find a good reason to trick them. If Ivan''s body was still there, I could have asked my colonists topose a story that he died from the attack that destroyed our house.


    Unfortunately, that is not possible now.


    "I asked again," Anca spoke in an even colder tone than before. "Where is my son?"


    Seeing the transparent brown guardian spirit finally appears near the family, I hastily pressed the pause button. The bonfire mes instantly stopped waving, and so did my colonists and Ivan''s family.


    I''ve been waiting for that guardian spirit from Acornhull.


    "Looks like there''s just been a big war here?" Brown looked at the rubble from my colony house, then at me again. "If you use this time-stopping power, it means you have something important to say, right?"


    I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself so I wouldn''t say the wrong thing. "You know H, right? He came to you while Naomi was doing the ritual?"


    In Ivan''s case, H came to pick up the man shortly after the ritual was performed. Naomi has a different sequence of events. She did the ritual first, then after some time, H picked her up.


    I don''t know if Brown actually met H when the ritual was being held by Naomi. I''m just betting about this.


    Brown approached me, asked in a sharp tone. "How do you know? You know H too?"


    "Naomi came here to kill Leva, but she was defeated." I gulped.


    Brown was silent for a moment. "So, after that H came here to pick up Naomi?"


    "Actually, that''s not the only reason H came here. Apart from picking up Naomi, he came because of other rituals." I exined in a careful tone. "And yes, it was Ivan who performed the ritual. He wanted to resurrect Leva, who died of illness. The consequence was that he had to sacrifice himself for the ritual to seed."


    Brown put his hands on his waist.