Chapter Text
They had succeeded in rescuing wemmbu from Law.
However, they were nowhere near prepared to stand against Law in battle.
To make matters worse, wemmbu—one of the most powerful cards they could play—was in terrible shape.
In the first place, it was uncertain whether he could even recover enough to take part in this war.
With a worried face, parrot glanced over at the unconscious wemmbu.
"Where should we take wemmbu? First of all, he needs plenty of rest. Does anyone know a safe place?"
Flame, who was carrying wemmbu on his back, began to speak calmly, acting as if he himself was naturally excluded from the options.
"I think the End would be alright."
At first, parrot thought it was a good choice.
He figured minute would stay in the End and take good care of wemmbu.
Besides, the End was a place familiar to wemmbu as well.
"I don't think so,"
Said minute, who was standing with his arms crossed.
Parrot paid close attention to his words.
"Honestly, taking care of him in the End is way too predictable for Law. And since it's hard for all of us to keep staying in the End, it'll probably be either me or egg who stays there. So, if Law comes back to the End to capture wemmbu again, we'll be defeated in no time."
Egg, who was standing next to him, silently nodded his head.
And then, silence fell.
"Then,"
spoke casually broke the silence, clapping his hands together.
"Let's go to a completely new place and build a small base! If we set up traps and tighten security, the base will be safe enough even if it's small!"
Thinking they could no longer afford to waste time, they nodded in agreement with spoke's words.
The base they built that way wasn't very large, but it was safe.
They built it deep underground and even created an escape route just in case.
They had no idea what Law would do next.
And they needed to gather allies and supplies as quickly as possible.
Because of this, everyone couldn't look after wemmbu together.
They decided to take turns caring for him in a set order.
They placed a lectern next to the entrance of the base and left a logbook on it.
Day 1
minute opened the door to the base and stepped inside.
On the lectern next to the door lay a blank logbook.
Minute picked it up and walked further inside.
In the center of the base's living room, there was a low, square table and a sofa.
He lifted his head to check the clock on the wall.
It was 4:00 AM.
He thought he had arrived at the base too early.
After debating for a moment whether to sit on the sofa, he placed the logbook on the table.
Then, he made his way toward the kitchen.
The kitchen was small, but it had everything they needed.
He opened the refrigerator, which was stocked with meat and vegetables.
minute set down an ender chest nearby.
Then, he took out a shulker from inside and placed it down close by.
From that red shulker, he pulled out a potion of healing and a potion of regeneration.
The red-tinted potions glowed beautifully. He placed them inside the refrigerator.
He knew that most of wemmbu's wounds had already been treated.
Yet, driven by an unexplainable anxiety creeping over him, he had packed them and brought them here.
To him, wemmbu was like a son.
No matter what others thought of him, to minute, wemmbu was not some terrifying monster.
He prayed that these potions would prove useful, while simultaneously wishing he wouldn't have to use them at all.
minute sat on the sofa and leaned back.
The base was clean, and he had now put everything necessary into the fridge.
He turned his head toward the room where wemmbu would be sleeping.
Minute felt a pang of guilt. He knew he had done nothing wrong regarding this incident.
Yet, seeing the once-confident wemmbu in such a state made him feel deeply uncomfortable.
He turned his head to look at the clock.
It now pointed to 4:30 AM.
Minute figured wemmbu would wake up around 7:00 AM.
Or maybe around lunchtime.
He had certainly gone through a rough time, and he needed to sleep just as much.
However, at the rustling sound coming from wemmbu's room, minute frowned slightly.
He immediately stood up from the sofa and walked over to the room.
He hesitated, wondering if he should knock on the door, but instead opened it quietly and carefully.
The inside of the room was incredibly dark.
However, through the light spilling from behind his back, he could see the silhouette of wemmbu sitting on the bed.
He was staying strangely still.
Minute narrowed his eyes.
"...wemmbu?"
He carefully took a step forward.
He quietly stared at wemmbu.
Wemmbu was breaking out in a cold sweat, his body trembling slightly.
His head was still facing downward.
He slowly rolled his eyes up to look at minute.
His eyes were filled with anxiety.
Minute's face contorted with pity.
He slowly drew closer to wemmbu.
"...Wemmbu, take it easy. Everything's fine now."
Minute thought he had had a nightmare.
He wanted to stroke his hair or hug him.
But he stopped himself.
He lowered the hand he had raised slightly and sat down beside him.
The bed tilted a bit under his weight.
To calm wemmbu down, he made eye contact and smiled.
"It's still a bit early, but if you want breakfast, I can cook for you. And—if you want to come out of the room, you can."
wemmbu's body trembled less than before, but he didn't give any response.
Minute slowly got up from the bed and went out to the living room.
Then, he headed straight for the kitchen to grab a potion of healing.
minute didn't know exactly what had happened to wemmbu.
But for him to be this quiet was truly strange.
Carrying a glass of water and the potion of healing, he returned to the room.
He debated whether he should turn on the light in his room.
Wemmbu was still sitting on the bed, looking completely dazed.
Since minute didn't want to stimulate him, he left the light off for now.
He slowly approached wemmbu again.
"wemm, Does your throat hurt?"
Still no answer.
He carefully handed over the potion of healing and said,
"Drink this. It'll make your wounds feel better."
He worried that wemmbu might reject it, but fortunately, he accepted the potion handed to him.
His hands moved slowly, struggling to open the cork of the potion.
However, his hands were trembling weakly.
It was a sight that made it impossible to imagine that he had once been a warrior who wielded a mace.
Minute watched him with a worried gaze.
He debated whether he should open the cork for him, but decided to wait for him.
And fortunately, after a moment, wemmbu pulled the cork out of the potion.
From the recoil of the force, the hand holding the potion dropped down, while the hand gripping the cork flew up slightly.
Minute smiled as he looked at wemmbu.
He had absolutely no intention of neglecting wemmbu; he was simply waiting for him.
And he felt proud of wemmbu for pulling it off on his own.
He barely managed to suppress the urge to stroke wemmbu's hair.
Holding the cork in his hand, wemmbu tilted the potion toward his lips.
The red potion slowly flowed into his mouth.
With every gulp, his Adam's apple could be seen moving.
Wemmbu frowned slightly at the sweetness of the potion.
But he didn't stop drinking and finished it completely.
Minute held out his hand to take the empty bottle.
Wemmbu looked up at him briefly, then placed the empty bottle and the cork onto his hand.
He was incredibly quiet.
Awkwardly so.
Minute straightened his slightly bent waist.
A wemmbu this quiet was unfamiliar to him.
The wemmbu he knew was always an energetic prankster.
But the wemmbu in front of him right now... looked exhausted.
He looked tired, as if he could sleep for an eternity.