What happened next was truly disturbing for Sunny.
In front of his eyes, two people, two comrades just casually talked and went about how they should let another person, a human being, disappear.
Caster then proceeded to summon his storage memory, a backpack that was the size of a normal traveler's pack. After a question from Ray, Caster also explained that it had an enchantment that would keep things inside fresh for longer periods.
When the scion said these words, Sunny could almost hear Harper's heart standing still for a second.
Sunny himself was given the task of keeping a lookout with his shadow, and to inform them if someone were to approach.
"Well, it could fit, if we do it right. Though, do you have something that could keep my backpack clean? I'd rather not have such spots in my gear. The inside doesn't get cleaned after unsummoning it," Caster shrugged and looked at Harper like a butcher would look at a pig in the slaughterhouse.
"Hmmn… yeah, I should have something that we could use," Ray had a thoughtful look on his face for a second before the usual light sparks began weaving a memory of his.
Seconds later, a tattered cloak had materialized in his right hand. Ray gave Caster a questioning look, and the Legacy shrugged, signaling his agreement.
Throwing a fleeting glance at one of the cracks in the wall, and seeing that no light entered through it, meaning the sun should have set by now, the duo began making their final preparations.
With everything accounted for and ready, Ray let Caster do the worst part. He shoved the boy over who had long since passed out in fright, and the other man snapped his neck with practiced ease.
Next, just to have tried it out at least once, they tried to stow away the body inside the backpack, without any extra *effort* required. Somehow it actually worked, resulting in both being truly astounded at how gaunt a sleeper that survived here truly can be.
The backpack, now loaded with Harper was being carried by Caster while Ray made sure the way towards the edge was empty and not guarded right now.
This part seemed even easier than their preparations. All in all, the disposition took not more than an hour or so. That was also the part that disturbed Sunny the most.
He had grown up in the outskirts of the NQSC, therefore he was not new to murder and corpses, it was just the professionalism the two of them displayed, and let it look like it was the easiest thing to do.
When the duo was done, they all sat down in silence.
After a moment Sunny disturbed the silence, "What now?"
Ray looked at him like an idiot, "What else, I'll change your memories up a bit, so that we don't leave any loose ends. The alcohol he got here makes this just even easier."
Both others present looked uneasy about this, especially Sunny, but after a while of arguing eventually both had to give in.
Ray then used his innate ability to remove memories of the last hour and began implanting different ones. Those being that Harper had somehow gotten alcohol and shared some with them, making them have fun here till they had to leave due to Harper becoming tired.
It wasn't the best cover story but would do the trick. To make it slightly more believable, Ray emptied parts of the bottle in the room to spread the alcohol odor, after they had left.
Sunny went back to his room in the main building, still slightly tipsy from the alcohol, but also left alone again with his thoughts. Caster left Ray behind to go spend some time with other sleepers from their group.
And Ray?
He was tired. This whole thing, no matter how casual he seemed, was the first of the sort for him. Also altering memories, not just removing them, was very taxing on him.
He did not even take a look into his tome, that just showed how tired he truly was right now.
Therefore, as soon as his head hit the sheets, his mind drifted off to sleep.
---
When the shadow of the crimson spire slowly began to recede from the dark city, and the sun started to rise, Ray stirred awake.
The shadow of his last evenings actions still lingered over his mind. It would take time to completely forget and get over that feeling. Ray was especially glad that he had removed the memories from Caster and Sunny. He had gotten to know that when faced with a true crisis, humans could turn into worse monsters than any normal nightmare creatures would.
After waking up properly, Ray went over to the main building for breakfast. Solitude wasn't what would help him right now.
All around Ray, movement seemed to come alive. It was a complete transformation from the prior rather lethargic style of living in the slums. More and more people had joined them and henceforth found something they could do to help. Freeloaders were not welcome, after all.
In the main building, Ray could see that the kitchen was already working on everything. While the food outside the castle, and more or less on the whole forgotten shore may seem very one sided, most people capable of cooking somehow succeeded in creating varied dishes.
For now, Ray sat down in a compartment of chairs and tables, which was often used either as the dining hall, or later at nights, something akin to a living room for everybody to relax in.
As the minutes passed, more and more people arrived. Some for their own tasks around here, and some for the same reason as Ray, to dine. Most greeted Ray when they noticed him, he had become an important figure in their whole group. Either as a leading figure, or even as someone that saved their, or their friends lives more than once.
Of those that had greeted him and were here to dine, very few took place close to him. This wasn't out of fear or anything, but rather respect. It was known that while he was also approachable, he wasn't like Caster who spend time with nearly everyone.
Ray mostly had a few people he was most comfortable around and others looked out for that.
Soon enough, one such person arrived and directly took place at the same table as him.
"Henry! Glad you're okay. Wasn't sure yesterday, but had some important stuff to take care of, so I couldn't look after you," Ray greeted the other guy, before he was even able to sit down completely.
The other guy, Henry, was a part of their usual expedition squad. He was smaller than Ray, but still taller than Sunny. Though, while his paleness was also very apparent, his skin was still slightly livelier than Sunny's.
"Hihihi, yeah, I also thought that it would be my last day. That messenger was truly bad news," Henry answered in his usual manner, but with a slightly dejected smile. "But oh well, that's just how this shit hole is, right?"
After that, they chatted about some other stuff, till the room filled with people all around. Their table also soon became fuller, with most of them being from their hunting teams. Though, two seats remained empty.
"Sunny is not coming?"
"He said he wasn't hungry," Cass responded in a lightly absent tone.
"Well then, to Danny!" Ray toasted with his cup, gesturing to the other empty seat. The others at the table soon mirroring his action.