Nujah, exhausted and bruised, finally gave in to his battered body.
He fell asleep in the hay, safe—for now.
The crow curled up nearby, silent. Watching.
By morning, something was wrong.
Dead wrong.
No footsteps.
No noise.
No villagers.
Only Nujah, the crow, and the guards remained.
Suddenly, footsteps rushed up the stairs.
The guards burst in.
> "Sir… the village is empty. Everyone's gone."
Nujah's eyes opened slowly.
His voice came calm, too calm.
> "They've noticed."
The crow trembled.
> "W-what do you mean?"
> "Ren. Muzan. They already found us."
The guards flinched.
The crow's feathers puffed up.
> "You're joking, right? Please joke. Even Ren alone—let alone both—we're not even strong enough to touch a hair on their heads!"
Nujah raised a hand.
> "It's not about hurting them.
It's about you not getting hurt."
His voice dropped.
> "Those two are... our mother's cruelest children."
The crow froze.
The guards stepped back, pale.
Nujah exhaled and stood slowly.
> "Alright, alright. Enough panic."
He looked at the crow.
> "Crow. Go outside. Talk to them if they arrive."
> "What?! Me?!"
> "They won't harm you—if they think you're harmless. Tell them I've been captured. That I'm unconscious. That you were left behind."
> "B-but sir—"
> "Move."
> "What about you?!"
Nujah looked straight at him.
> "Answer me honestly."
> "Do you value your life… more than mine?"
The crow stayed silent.
> "If your answer is you, that's okay. That's the right answer. I won't be mad."
He turned away.
> "Now go. Before they turn this barn into a crater."
The crow opened its beak to protest—
> "Now."