Every time there is an unnatural space after paragraphs, that means there is a change in POV between Sunny and Rein:
Like
this.
I don't like him.
While they were getting back to the tall hill, Cassie described her vision to Sunless.
Reinhard didn't care enough to look back and observe his reaction, though.
But he was probably surprised.
The good thing was that they didn't have to stop in the way to kill a nightmare creature for food; Sunless, having killed a carapace scavenger, had the food problem covered.
Now they were back on the coral pillar; darkness had encompassed the area, and the dark sea had risen to the top.
As for why Reinhard thought the above statement?
The reason was simple; he didn't like Sunless.
Reinhard didn't consider himself particularly good at reading people. Humans were complicated. Anyone who thought they could understand someone completely at a glance was a fool.
So instead, Reinhard would observe and then only make conclusions on things that he found most important and disregard everything else until he found further proof to concretize that information.
And right now…
Something about Sunless felt off.
People used to controlling perception often developed habits that bled into ordinary speech—deliberate pauses, measured shifts in tone, and emotion placed exactly where it would shape the listener's response.
Sunless was like that.
Like he was always choosing what to show.
Reinhard didn't like that.
Maybe he was wrong. Maybe it was just instinct.
But until proven otherwise, he found it safer to assume the worst.
A deceptive bastard.
The irony of his thought almost made him laugh.
Morally, Reinhard always placed people somewhere in the middle of a spectrum; everyone has their reasons, and the more you know about a devil, the more human he seems.
However, when it came to people who would/could affect his survival, in first impressions, he always placed them at the endpoints of the spectrum.
The moment Cassie cried after seeing him, he had placed her on the harmless side, while just after spending like two hours with Sunless, he had placed him at the opposite end.
Nephis was somewhere around past 75% towards Sunless, too.
Sunny could easily observe Reinhard, Nephis, and Cassia.
Under the cover of the night, Changing Star remained pretty much the same. Sitting in the corner with a detached expression.
The blind girl, however, allowed her true emotions to show, thinking that no one would see. She seemed much more lost, lonely, and frightened than she did in the day.
Then he looked at Reinhard; the guy was sitting to the side, and while his face was apathetic, to Sunny it seemed like he was brooding.
What is he thinking so hard about?
Just then, Reinhard, as if sensing a gaze on him, looked up, turning his head towards Sunny.
He almost shivered.
What the fuck! He can definitely see in the dark!
Their eyes had directly made eye contact; such precision just wasn't possible considering how they were sitting unless Reinhard could see in the dark as well.
It could also be a coincidence, but Sunny highly doubted that.
First a score of 21, then fighting and beating legacies with such an unbeatable-looking fighting style, then an ability to detect people, and now night vision. And all of that while being just an outskirt rat like me!
Not to mention the true name. Just what god did he pray to, to receive all this?
Even though Reinhard didn't have [Nocturne Vision] right now, his innate ability had adapted to it enough for him to have quite good vision even without it.
Just then, the silence was broken by Cassie's bright voice:
"How about we formally introduce ourselves? I'm Cassie."
Nephis glanced in her direction and shrugged.
"Neph."
Next was Sunless; he smiled and answered.
"I'm Sunless. But you can call me Sunny."
Then it was Reinhard's turn.
"Reinhard." And you can only call me Reinhard.
There was silence for a few moments, at least, before Sunless spoke up.
"Since we're going to be depending on each other, should we share what abilities and memories we have at our disposal?"
Reinhard looked at Nephis's face just at that moment.
Like I thought, she has now shifted her suspicion to Sunless.
Nephis had glanced in Sunless's direction with a guarded look on her face; unfortunately for her, she didn't know Sunless could see in the dark, and since Reinhard could do the same, he was aware of that fact.
"I'll start," Sunless said.
"My attributes give me an affinity to shadows. I also have a slight affiliation to divinity. Lastly, I am prone to finding myself in unlikely situations."
Cassie listened carefully and then lowered her head, as though embarrassed.
"Uh… he is telling the truth. Not that we doubted your honesty!"
Why not? I spent so much time earning the reputation of a pathological liar!
Sunny cleared his throat and smiled, hiding his nervousness:
"Really? That's good to know. But… why are you so sure that I am being honest?"
The blind girl shifted a little.
"Oh! That's my ability. I can "see" people's attributes. Sometimes, I also receive, uh, "visions." They can be about the future or the past. I mean, that's what I think… it only happened a couple of times."
Sunny swallowed, but then relaxed.
So, she is an oracle of sorts. Luckily, her insight is limited to attributes… otherwise, I'd be in real trouble. Still, I'll have to be careful around her.
At that moment, Sunny's gaze happened to fall on Nephis.
So she didn't know either, huh?
He looked at Reinhard next; there was nothing.
Makes sense, considering he was the one who saved her.
When they were getting to this hill, he had also come to know that Reinhard and Cassie had originally arrived to a coral pillar east of this coral pillar, and then they traveled from there and met Nephis a day before all of them met him.
Since Sunny wasn't done yet, he continued.
"That's a good ability. Speaking of abilities: My shadow can move independently and explore. It can't affect the material world, but we share sight and hearing. That way, I can spot danger before encountering it. The shadow is fast and stealthy: it can go anywhere and is almost impossible to notice. Oh, I can also see in the dark."
Now we have a real question to ask: Did you use your shadow to peek at girls?
Reinhard mused.
The reaction of the girls was just as he had expected.
Nephis slowly turned her head in Sunless's direction, while Cassie became a bit pale and, while raising her hands to cover her chest, shifted slightly towards Reinhard.
Reinhard, meanwhile, was barely controlling the smile that was trying to form on his face.
"Uh… what?"
Nephis frowned and said in a flat tone:
"Have you ever used your ability in the academy?"
Sunless sat confused for a second before realizing.
He hurriedly raised his hand and blurted:
"But I have never used it to do anything improper to any girl! You have to believe me!"
What do you mean, "to any girl"?
Sunny wanted to say he had never used it to do anything improper, but that would be a lie since he had commanded his shadow to follow Reinhard around for a day straight once.
Not for anything bad, of course; he was simply curious what someone like him did in a day.
Unfortunately, both Nephis and Cassie still looked skeptical.
Sunny gritted his teeth.
"I had more important things to do than… than whatever you're thinking about! I spent almost every waking hour learning how to survive!"
Nephis raised an eyebrow.
"I haven't seen you in class… even once."
Sunny chuckled.
"Of course, you didn't. While you were busy wiping the floor with other Sleepers," and receiving the same treatment in return. "I was studying wilderness survival."
It was Changing Star's turn to blink.
"Wilderness… what? There is such a course?"
Cassie seemed equally puzzled.
"Yes, there is. It might seem like an afterthought for most people, but for an outskirts kid like me, who never went to a fancy school or saw a private tutor, learning how to survive in the wilderness is the difference between life and death. Without it, I would have drowned the moment we were sent to the Dream Realm."
What the hell? There is a course like that?
Fuck, that would have been useful.
Reinhard probably still had all the information he could learn in the wilderness classes through the library, but getting practical experience from the classes sounded like a good idea.
Nephis and Sunless briefly continued talking about the topic while Reinhard zoned out.