[Liem does not want to accept Set’s apology, and assign blame to him for failing to do something Liem never expected to begin with. He cannot condemn Set for failing to find him, any more than he could condemn Hayame for the same. After all, whether or not Liem wishes things were otherwise, he is just as used to operating alone as he is to having colleagues at his side.

And yet. When he is alone with Set, the naked truth does not seem as terrible as it often has. He is willing to speak it aloud if he must, in the privacy they currently share, even if it seems a lonely thing to admit.]

I hope things are different next time, [he says, picking each word slowly. His gaze remains, sober, on Set’s face.] I do not relish having no one to lean on but myself. But I still do not levy blame against you for forging on while I remained incapacitated. I think you must be able to focus your efforts in such a way, even if I might come to grief. Some tasks are more important than my well being.

[Maybe even most tasks—at least the important ones—though he has the sense not to say this aloud.]