“Don’t you know how worried am? You just go off and disappear like that, not even giving us any signal.” A thin voice erupted from beyond the communication ball. Gantz reflexively rolled his eyes, partially annoyed, but half of him knew that he would get a nagging for what had happened.

“Yeah, yeah. I apologize for that.” Gantz brushed back his short grey hair and heaved a short sigh. “I was in a bit of a pinch you know? Fall tumbling down the hill and got stabbed with a thick branch on the way down. Man, that was hell.”

A silence ensued.

“…Are you okay, though? Or are you actually lying to get out of trouble?”

Gantz snickered. “Do I ever lie to you, Mir? Among the other people you’ve known, I’m the most trustworthy person there, aren’t I?”

“…Well, you’re right on that.” A slight grumble masked Mir’s tone. He doesn’t want to admit it, but he knew Gantz won’t lie his way out from something.

A subtle crackle was heard nearby. Along with the burning smell, Gantz’s ears perked up upon smelling something fragrant dancing in front of his nose. He unwittingly turned around to his back; to the view of Bear checking on one of the grilled fishes from the campfire. Bear used some of the herbs that he had freshly picked, and applied it on the fishes, which he took no effort to catch and clean. Staring in awe, Gantz felt his tummy rumble.

“Anyways, Mir. I’ll return to the headquarters tomorrow to tally the items.”

“Wait. Not today? You have that teleportation stone, right? Just use it.”

“Pssh, that’s an expensive item. Why would I use that?”

“Your life and you yourself are more expensive than that stone.”

Gantz snickered again. Mir always has his ways of cleverly countering every word he said. That was probably the reason how he landed his position as head of logistics, other than his knowledge about the terrains of the land.

Also, Gantz couldn’t refute about the ‘value’ part.

“Still, I am currently with someone else, so I can’t just bail out, can I?”

“What?” There was confusion in Mir’s response.

“My savior.” Gantz swiftly countered, breaking any upcoming suspicions. “I was saved by someone. Now I’m at their home to rest.”

Once again, there was silence at the end of the line. Gantz assumed that Mir was pondering about something related to his response.

“I see.” That didn’t take a long time. “Well, if that’s what happens, then you should stay, at least until tomorrow. Do inform us if something happens to you at night, and tell us how much healing potions you have used to heal yourself, when you get back. I’ve told Roland about you and he gave you a break for tomorrow.”

“Nice! Thanks a lot Mir.” Gantz grinned. Mir replied with a single notion of a grumbly ‘hmm’ before they both ended the call.

Gantz held the ball close to his chest. There was a little troubled look on his face. How would the people respond if they knew about the fact that he didn’t use any potions to heal himself, but instead, was healed by Bear’s special concoction?