diff --git a/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/RelayClient.kt b/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/RelayClient.kt
index add1f7d..e586028 100644
--- a/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/RelayClient.kt
+++ b/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/RelayClient.kt
@@ -421,11 +421,26 @@ class RelayClient(
         val body = response.body?.string().orEmpty()
         val code = response.code
         response.close()
+
+        // ⚠️ **Carry the relay's own sentence, not its JSON.** These messages
+        // reach the screen: creating a group with a member who has never signed
+        // in showed the user
+        //
+        //   relay returned 400: {"code":"bad_request","message":"No reachable
+        //   device for user: 30.","data":{"status":400}}
+        //
+        // when the relay had written a perfectly readable sentence inside it.
+        // `MessengerApi.send` and `RelayAccounts` already unwrap `message`;
+        // this path did not, so which client a feature happened to use decided
+        // whether its errors were legible.
+        val readable = runCatching { JSONObject(body).optString("message") }
+            .getOrNull().orEmpty().ifBlank { body }
+
         throw when (code) {
-            401 -> RelayException.Unauthorized(body)
+            401 -> RelayException.Unauthorized(readable)
             404 -> RelayException.NotFound(path)
             429 -> RelayException.RateLimited(response.header("Retry-After")?.toIntOrNull())
-            else -> RelayException.Http(code, body)
+            else -> RelayException.Http(code, readable)
         }
     }