"Let me... Let me rest for a bit first..." I said as I took some deep breaths to calm down. I knew that we didn't have much time to waste, but I needed to rest for a bit, I was barely holding on. 

Even then, I still hadn't completed one cycle with my mana in Denethor's body, and of course, I was still awake as Zagmuz. All my bodies were up, and that was a lot more than what I could possibly handle for a long period of time.

Captain Dunn didn't accept straight away, he first threw a concerned glance at Mrs Sam who was standing to the side with her arms crossed and looking at me.

"He's a bit weak and that surprise might have been too much for him," she answered without even looking his way, "I didn't notice anything worrying, but a bit of rest would be good regardless."

Captain Dunn nodded lightly then he said:

"Okay, rest for a while then."

I nodded at him and then looked at my side, to Lambert who still had his bow drawn while keeping both captain Dunn and Mrs Sam in his line of sight. He also had a slight frown on his face as he looked between the two.

"You should really be more mindful of your actions," Mrs Sam sighed as she took slow steps towards captain Dunn, "Look how he is now, he probably won't trust you one bit no matter what you said, aren't captains supposed to be calm."

I closed off my senses after that and concentrated on what was happening inside of me, well, inside of Denethor's body. Unlike the first time, I found it much easier to lead the mana through my pathways and to my mana core.

Just as I thought that I was going to succeed in this, I noticed a sound from Denethor's side, and knew that things were heading south and fast. And just as expected, I soon felt something collide with my chest and drive me into the bed that I was sitting on. Of course, such a distraction woke me up from my meditation at once.

Opening my eyes as the air left my lungs and I hit the bed, I looked at the small body stuck to me as a sense of hopelessness welled up from deep inside my heart.

"Hahaha," a child's laugh sounded from my chest as the person holding me lifted their head, "I finally got you!"

"You did Sinaala, you totally did," The sense of hopelessness I was feeling only got bigger as I sighed and patted her head. She was Denethor's little sister and the person he loved the most in his family. Feeling that sense of fondness towards her from Denethor's memories and sentiments, I felt some complicated feelings.

"Ar- are you alright?" she said worriedly as her expression shifted in a second while looking at me closely, "you don't seem too good, did- did I hurt you? Should I get someone to help you?"

Sinaala and Denethor had this kind of game where she would try to surprise him whenever she saw him meditating, while trying to remain unnoticed by him. Till that moment, Denethor always noticed her coming and she was never able to surprise him, no matter what she did.

Waking someone forcefully from meditation could be quite dangerous, but only if the person meditating was at a critical point in their meditation or was too deeply in it. Denethor was never too deep into his meditation when he was home, so he didn't have a problem with his little sister's antics, and if he ever needed to do some serious meditation, he usually told her in advance, so she never considered the consequences of her actions, well, till that moment when it seemed as if she hurt me.

"Nah, you don't need to worry," I comforted her gently as I gave her one of Denethor's signature smiles, "I'm just not feeling that good today."

"Phew," she let out a breath of relief, "that's good, I wouldn't have heard the end of it if something happened to you because of this, dad already hates me messing with you while you're meditating."

I laughed a bit, she wouldn't have been the only one to deal with that, I'm sure that I too would have my ears cleaned by the Chief's yells.

"Anyway, hurry up and come down, breakfast is ready," said Sinaala as she let go of me and stood up, "mom heard you from below and asked me to go get you."

"Okay, I'll be down in a bit."

Her mission a success, she ran down shouting that I'll be down soon to my mom. I froze as that thought went through my mind, a sense of loss and a stinging pain filled my insides, she wasnt my mom, and neither was I her son, I was but an imposter who took control of her son's body...

Knowing that such thoughts would only hurt me, and that it wasn't the time for them, I threw them aside and concentrated on the most important thing, returning to my top state. Which was easier said than done with all that was going on.

I could feel my impatience growing from Zagmuz's body. Nothing seemed to be going my way and no matter how I tried to get him to sleep, it didn't work. Just as I felt like I was going to lose control from all the pressure and my fraying mind, I did something that was as much hasty as it was idiotic, which was just in line with Zagmuz's personality, something which he had already tried even before I took control over him. I tried to meditate.

It was a known fact that only elves were able to use magic in this world, and so they were the only ones who could meditate. That of course hadn't stopped the young and eager Zagmuz from trying to get his hands on a meditation manual; something that was quite easy because the demons' Royal Library had quite a huge and diverse collection, and also that the elves themselves didn't try to protect this secret of theirs, as no one other than them was able to use it anyway. After getting the manual, Zagmuz tried it excitedly, but as expected, nothing happened, which put him in a foul mood for a while.

Anyway, with Dorian being needed by captain Dunn and the others, Denethor busy with his family and Zagmuz not able to sleep, I gave in to the impulse that suddenly appeared and started meditating as Zagmuz. 

I would be lying if I said that I didn't hold any hope of being able to meditate, I was in a unique state and maybe having a soul that was linked to an elf would help me in that, unfortunately, that wasn't the case and I didn't feel a thing.

I was able to empty my mind and enter the initial state where everything around me disappeared, which was already much more than Zagmuz was able to achieve the first time he tried meditation, but that was it. I felt nothing else at all, no ethereal energy and no pathways to lead it through, just emptiness and silence.

Disappointed, I was about to stop my meditation when I noticed something, Zagmuz's body seemed to be going to sleep, it was relaxing and slowly but surely, slipping into a slumber. It was much faster and more natural than the first time I tried to get him to sleep.

Surprised yet glad, I had the body continue on the first step of meditation, something that didn't take much brainpower from me and seemed to be feasible while asleep. I wondered for a second if my human body would be able to enter this same state, and decided to try it later and see how it would go.

Finally, in Border Town, I opened my eyes to the three people around me still looking at each other, and that Lambert had lowered his bow, it was still summoned though.

I stood up, and just as I did, all the eyes fell on me.

"You sure took your time sweety, you are still young, you should have been able to recover fast, what's with this lifeless expression and shaky legs." The first person to comment was Mrs Sam, and she wasn't merciful at all as she gave me a side glance with a faint smile.

I froze in confusion and uncertainty as I looked at her, I'm sure that I drew a sorry, pitiful sight because captain Dunn soon sighed and said:

"So are you ready now? If yes then you should get started with this."

I nodded and swallowed before saying:

"I want to get solid proof that the demons are attacking so we can call for reinforcement and warn the other cities and towns, and also to make sure that Bruce is operating alone," I said resolutely, "that Sir William isn't a part of this, so we can send those pieces of information without fear of being killed unjustly."

Captain Dunn remained silent for a long time as a frown covered his face. Finally, he looked me straight in the eyes and said slowly:

"So basically, what you are saying is that you want us to go to the headquarter of the strongest gang in the town, search for proof of them helping a demons' invasion and then question their leader, who is the son of the Knight controlling this town, if he was working in this alone or if his father, is in on this..."

"... Pretty much yes," I nodded slowly as the absurdity of what I just said finally hit me.