Lucas and Jonah carried him away, not far, but far enough to give the girls prep time.
They placed him down carefully and then Jonah examined him, not only looking for hidden weapons, but also just trying to get a read on his class or skills.
His hair was white at the root, then slowly faded to black at the ends and was swept back behind his Elf-like ears and held in place by a dozen metal clips.
From each temple grew two slender horns that grew out in a way that they could easily be mistaken for one that simply forked into two points, especially as they were banded together as if to keep them growing in a uniformed way.
He wore basic studded leather armour and judging by the twin shortswords, was either a dual wielder, or a rogue of some kind.
"Lucas, maybe you should go stand at the other end. The last time he saw you hardly ended amicably, I promise not to do anything without calling for you first, I just want him calm enough to speak."
"As long as you promise not to smite the demon whilst my back is turned then fine." Lucas chuckled, before heading out of sight as Jonah pointed out he just had.
When he was gone, Jonah cracked some smelling salts he had picked up from Dubio on a whim and steadily moved them towards the demon until he stirred.
The moment he was aware enough to realise he had no weapons and was staring at an Angel, he began to panic and was about to shout something until Jonah covered his mouth.
"Relax. I just promised my friend I ain't gonna smite you, chill bro." The demon's eyes widened and he nodded.
"Not very angelic, you're a player."
"Don't know what you mean, this isn't a game, with a stabbing feeling to the back of my head I realised how real it was."
"Dude, for real?"
"Yep, this is the real world and just so you know I can't lie." Jonah shrugged and stood up, as the demon's eyes filled with the reality of his situation and then fell to the floor.
"Fuck. I just got engaged too, typical." Jonah groaned, then kneeled down to him again.
"You're an idiot. You do realise I just told you I'm a part of this world and the first thing you did is tell me you have a damn good reason to end it so you can get out of here."
The demon's eyes narrowed and he grimaced immediately. "Yeah, you're right, damn. Guess we ain't being friends and I really don't want to fight you after seeing you guys take on that boss. What next?" The demon looked Jonah in the eyes and shrugged, no ideas on the next step.
"Look, just be honest. Tell them I couldn't change anything, but you don't know anything about this world. When you're strong enough and smart enough to decide your next steps, do whatever you want, but I will stop you from ending the game, my life depends on it."
"Yeah, you're a lot more reasonable than most guys would be. Name's Belial Twilight, now where's that guy who knocked me out?" Belial looked about, then Jonah held out his hand.
"Jonah Quill, for what it's worth, I hope you decide to accept this world. Lucas! I couldn't help him accept this world, but he is calm!" A general curse echoed around the grove, joined shortly after by his footsteps and then he appeared.
"Jonah, not gonna lie, I heard every word. I shouldn't, but you've proven yourself trustworthy enough that I won't report the fact you're still being affected."
"I'm not, I can't lie, remember? I really have accepted this as the real world and intend to make everyone else. That said, I still remember a life in another world, but know it's just meaningless memories." After that, Jonah proved he really couldn't lie by trying to say was Kayla and causing his tongue to burn and turn a slightly silvery colour.
"Hey! Chill, I believed you, don't do stuff like that just to prove your point." Lucas forced a potion into his mouth with a frustrated sigh.
"So what happens to me?" Belial spoke with a voice of resignation, he knew the score and that complaining wouldn't help, so all he could do was move forward and make the most of Jonah's free pass.
"Well, nothing really. You aren't a citizen in this nation, we can't force you to stay anywhere and expect you to be happy when you don't even accept the world. You can come back and join the guild, or you can just get an ID and head on your way."
"Right, I get the feeling that staying around will cause problems. Jonah was nice enough to give me fair warning that he won't let me try to leave this world, so the least I can do is give him space to enjoy it."
"I have no desire to see him as an enemy, Jonah is an issue on a level all by himself thanks to being an Angel, but it's not his decision." Lucas started it bluntly, making it clear where everyone stood, but also making sure no one took it the wrong way.
A moment of silence passed between the three, then Belial reiterated his original decision and Lucas and Jonah nodded. "If you ever reach a point you accept this world as the only one, reach out, maybe we can do some good and set an example of some kind thanks to our races."
Belial laughed, then Jonah and Lucas led him back to the girls, where Kayla had cooked something that made their mouths water.
After a good amount of heaping praise onto their young prodigy, who apparently had far more to offer than flashy lethality, they dug in until they fell back wishing there was more.
At that point Jonah had a thought that was better discussed sooner rather than later, but struggled to think of how to say it, Kayla asking why he looked unhappy was the last thing he wanted.
"Kayla, none of us want you to go..." The moment Jonah started, pretty much everyone knew where it was going. "...Still, you have to decide whether you want to accept this world for yourself. If you can't accept it, Belial may prove a better guardian than us."
"Hey now, not sure I can take care of a kid." Belial was waving his hands to try and add some drama as he made his objection, but Jonah simply corrected who would be taking care of who.
"Jonah's right, Sweetie. You don't need to decide right here and now, but sooner rather than later. We would feel better if you chose Lucas to be honest, but Belial will likely be the choice that makes the most of your scout abilities which you prefer."
"No, I want to stay with you and Jonah..." Her adamant stance was a bit concerning, making it seem more like childish stubbornness than a thought out decision. "...My mum and dad are never around, my brother is always mean and we move around so much I don't have any friends. Even my brother hardly spends any time with me, last night is the first night in weeks I slept somewhere with other people."
"Kayla, you're still young, you can't throw away a life you never even gave a chance so quickly." Jonah was feeling more hypocritical than he had done speaking to Kieran, but that didn't stop him, he couldn't in good conscience let her make a decision like it so quickly.
"Fine, I'll think about it, but I'm not just being stubborn." The others couldn't decide whether to be happy or not with any of it one way or the other, so instead they just nodded.
The girls retired to the tent after that and then Lucas offered his bedroll to Belial before he and Jonah moved away to take watch.
"You haven't lied, that's obvious. I'm glad you guys are letting me sit at the table, but I'd appreciate being dealt in." Lucas was trying to be understanding, acknowledging the fact that he wouldn't understand, but he clearly wasn't satisfied.
"Lucas, I'm not trying to deceive you out of spite. I simply know that misinformation can be more harmful than no information. I also want you to be clear of any assumptions, when the time comes I'll need someone unanchored to any one belief. All our lives and minds might one day depend on that flexibility."
"Wow, no pressure or anything... Fine, but I want you to keep a journal or something, if anything happens to you guys I need to be able to access the information you withheld up to then."
"Agreed. It would be bad if anything was lost. I'll show you where you might find it when it exists."
After that, the conversation changed to something more agreeable, namely what Jonah got out of the chest and the beep that had come from their IDs.
Jonah decided to make Lucas wait for the loot reveal and pulled out his ID, unfolding it, he noticed that the once blank backside of it was now stamped in the top left corner.
The mark was designed to resemble a family crest, three trees atop crossed swords on a golden shield.
"The three trees represent the Boundary Forest, the swords show you were an active contributor and the shield shows you achieved the record. Silver means it matched the previous record or was slower, gold means you beat it."
"Really? How did a group of first time adventurers beat the record?"
"You couldn't sense it? The disorientation is weaker on the main path, but not absent. If it weren't for Kayla keeping us on track, that would have been a nightmare. Not to mention the monsters deciding that we were too much hassle to begin with. I told a fib you see, the monsters are more aggressive, but they don't attack mindlessly."
"So you knew we were being avoided but wanted us to stay alert, but you also wanted to put my lie detection to the test, didn't you?"
"Yeah, unfortunately you aren't going to be the interrogator I hoped, at least for now. More importantly, what did you get from the damn chest already?"
The pair of them laughed a bit, then Jonah finally obliged him. "Seems I got a skill scroll called "Healing Serpent", I also got some snake skin and fangs."
"Did you say "Healing Serpent"? Good skill to have for someone raising a kid, it will cure most poisons and illnesses. It will also numb the pain of injuries, but not actually heal them, not so much as a pulled muscle."
Jonah decided it was best to use it sooner rather than later and withdrew the scroll, unravelling it to reveal a few lines of writing that sat atop what looked like a magic circle made up of geometric shapes and a mix of symbology, some of which was new whilst others were known to them.
Just as the black serpent does taint and ends life.
Its pale twin does purify and preserve life.
As fire fights fire, poison fights poison.
Jonah read the text aloud and the circle the writing covered glowed both intensely and briefly, then the scroll disintegrated into light particles that were absorbed into him.
[Healing Serpent] Skill that summons the white serpent to cure and purify all designated targets. Costs 100 MP to summon, can be sustained. Only usable by support and certain unique classes.
"Hey, Lucas..." Jonah looked back towards the others, Belial asleep on the bedroll outside and the tent where the girls were sound asleep. "...Do you think I should make sure no one got poisoned back in the dungeon?"
"For an Angel, you're pretty evil..." Lucas laughed, before sitting back against the wall and preparing to sleep. "...Anyway, shouldn't you be using this time to practice your spiritual manipulation?"