Feuer’s eyes and mouth frowned in utter despair; he felt a part of him taken away in one fell swoop. He shouted Hokori’s name in a tearful rage—and swung another magma flamberge at his face.

In response, he became the Ultimate Shield again and received no scratch.

Feuer panted with his tears still rolling down. “Curse you to hell and back, Hokori! For all your brawls, I never permitted the killing of one another. Bring him back at once!” His breathing became louder.

His eyes squinted. “Pathetic… Do you honestly think my hatred for him is for nothing? You of all people should know this….”

“Bring him back!!” He swung his flamberge again. His rage quickly turned into despair once more. He knew why his comrade reacted that way, but his heart ached. “Please… I beg of you. Hagel was all I had left. Why mustn’t a brother like you lend out a hand?” He lowered his head and sobbed with closed eyes and clenched teeth.

Moments later, he heard voices below. “Feuer, I got him! Hey, stop copying me!”

He opened his eyes and saw the Kizoku twins bickering again. They informed him that his little brother Hagel still breathed. He could even see him move subtly. The twins wasted no time in healing him via Runic Art. It regenerated his organs and skin.

With that, Hokori swiped away Feuer’s sword in annoyance. “We gotta check on Aviary again. We didn’t finish thawing him.” The latter nodded and followed him back to the airship.

Much to their surprise, the four elite guards accompanied their captain. He fully recovered due to their runes.

Hokori caressed his chin. “Oh, yeah… I patched these guys up when they neared the other side.” He chuckled. “Ya better be grateful….”

Aviary stood up and walked toward him and Feuer. “I owe you my life,” he kneeled. “From now on… My crew and I shall leave Pantaiyanilam until further notice.”

When asked by Hokori why they would not leave forever, he revealed that piracy was never an easy life. When asked by Feuer where he would go, he told him that Mikadzukihantō was a good alternative. “We’ve fought samurai before. They’re tough and disciplined, but not versatile.”

The pirates that ran away from the scene came back. Their hearts calmed in relief, seeing their captain alive. Some children even cried tears of joy alongside their parents. They showed no hatred for Hokori and Feuer. In fact, they pulled their hats down and kneeled.

With that, the two archmages bid them farewell.

Moments later, Hokori’s airship caught up with their whereabouts. “I say we take Feuer with us. His team isn’t here, to begin with,” Kakunō suggested. Both agreed 100%.

Inside, Yukino got startled by another ship that spontaneously appeared out a window. Harald and his men returned.

Hatsune and Dainishi went back to their ride. Sakusei’s team followed behind, and the remaining aerial mages flew back to their posts. Twenty out of three hundred survived the bloodshed.

Kakunō walked back to the cockpit. He noticed a wrapped object that was not there before. It had a note reading: “Take good care of it, mate.” He unraveled a futuristic, sleek black metal gauntlet with flaming red streaks. He giddied like a holiday child. “Oh, fuck yeah! You’re my best friend from now on….” He held it close to his face.

Tokino looked at a camera feed on the room’s side. She noticed the pirate couple’s airships going in another direction. As she waved at them, an Every Hub notification popped up in front of her. It was a classified mission signed by an anonymous user. It asked whether she and her husband should partake in it—or Hokori.

She moved her finger, but Haruto stepped in and chose the latter. “We have all the time in the world right now, Tokino… We should be looking forward to meeting them again in the city.”

“Yes… Yes, of course.” Her eyes squinted, still confused about the said message.

Yukino sat in the library section and got startled by Feuer. “Would you mind me reading a book or two here?” he asked politely.

She nodded her head. With that, he sat in front and chose a peculiar book: “The Shock of the Fall” by Nathan Filer. For Yukino, she read “How to be a Pirate” by Cressida Cowell.

Feuer sighed. “I used to read this many times for Leuchten. The irony is ever so cruel….”

She closed her book and turned to him. “Sorry for asking, Uncle… But what was your other brother like?”

He chuckled with his eyes closed. “The kindest and most humble boy there was, little one. While Leuchten was righteous and brave, Hagel was straightforward and clever. When he was not a remarkable prodigy, he was more like you. Always happy-go-lucky beside his brothers.”

“Did he feel guilt when people died?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Not at all. He kept going even when all seemed lost. Unfortunately, his most beloved brother met a monster he could not defeat.”

Yukino wanted to understand Feuer’s pain more. She concentrated on feeling his “heart.” It felt bold and stoic, yet broken and uneasy. She got off her chair and hugged him. “I don’t know you a lot right now. But I love you, Uncle. I love both you and Hokori.” She let go, and her tears flowed out. “Excuse me.”

Feuer reached out his hand, trying to stop her from running away. Even then, he smiled. “Stay strong, little one.”

Yukino ran to the clinic section to see big sister Kenkō. She tested more drugs again on her immortal rat Elizabeth. “Oh, hi, Yukichi…” she turned around. “What brings you—” She got an unexpected hug.

Yukino cried a river before her. “I’m sorry, Big Sis… I’m sorry for what happened.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” Seeing her cry harder, she held her close. “Oh, don’t be like that. Tell me anything. I’ll never be mad at you.”

She sobbed on her chest. “It’s still my fault, Big Sis. When pirates shot at us when we fell, you almost died. Meanwhile, I didn’t receive a wound on my cheek. That’s how my innate ability works….”

She rubbed her back. “How does it work?”

“Felix Birthright turns me into the luckiest girl alive. It’s why I cast runes very quickly. But when I panic, it brings misfortune unto others close to me. Because of that—so many….” She began to bawl.

Kenkō shushed her little sister. “I told you. Don’t be like that. It’s not your fault. In fact, I’d say it was mine. I should have driven our flying carpet more quickly.” She hugged her with her eyes closed. “Listen, Yukichi. I’ll never be mad at you, not because I fail to see your mistakes. But because you’re innocent through and through.

“I can’t feel ‘hearts’ like you do. But I know you’re a good person—forever till the end….” She let go and held her shoulders. “Whaddaya say? Do you wanna play Harvest Moon again?”

Yukino dried her eyes and nodded. Her eyes filled with determination.

Kenkō followed her from behind. She smiled with her head tilted. “Are you proud of me, Dad? Tell Mom and everyone else what they think. I’ll free you all one day. I promise….”

Finally, back in Coelestis, an excited Hokori jumped out of the airship.

Tokino smiled, feeling great to be back home. Then, her memory jogged, and she sweated bullets. “Oh, no! Where should we meet William and Grace, honey?” She looked at Haruto behind her.

Hokori turned to her. “Don’t worry ‘bout dat, kid. They go to the same place every time they’re in our city.”

“What place?” Haruto asked.

“Oh, you know it all too well, boy…” he smirked with his eyebrow raised. “…May I remind you of your wake-up call?”

His words made Haruto cringe immediately. Tokino gasped with her mouth covered but knew they had no choice but to go through.

The family decided to go on separate flying taxis. Kakunō would be cooking his and Kenkō’s lunch all by himself. Hokori stretched and yawned before going inside. “Welp gotta meet up with the girls again. After that, Imma be smashin’ skulls in the Fools’ Theater.”

“Are they mages or thugs you pissed off?” Haruto looked from afar.

“Nah, boy,” he shook his head. “They’re a bunch of losers I won against online. It’s their fault for being bad at the game, anyway. You may think they’d be deadass scared of me—but rage is more powerful than Xanax.” He chuckled and went inside the taxi.

Fifteen minutes later, the Minagawa family arrived at the Dwarf Haven pub. Haruto felt horrible memories flooding back just by looking at its neon sign.

Inside, Sakusei’s team got sloshed out of their minds. They reminisced about their mission and saw the archmage walking in. “Yo, Haruto! Remember this?” He threw a bottle at Tokino again, but the mentioned threw it back at him. “Ow….” He fell off his chair, completely knocked out.

At the bar table, the pirate couple conversed with bartender Don. As Tokino said hello from behind, Grace turned and greeted her daughter with hugs and kisses. William gave Haruto another fistbump.

Grace walked toward their daughter. “Yukino… I’d like you to meet our son, Calico. He’s usually playful. But right now, he’s shy.”

Yukino saw him hiding behind a taxidermied Holzstamm bear from afar. Like his parents, he had short brunette hair—and inherited his mother’s eyes and his father’s freckles. He wore a red shirt showing a bicorne and a pair of blue jeans. He rarely switched his style ever since his tenth birthday.

Eventually, he stood in front and puffed up his chest. “Ummm… H-Hello. N-N-Nice to meet you. Yukino….”

Her cheeks reddened. “Uh… Uh, yeah. Y-Y-You, too….”

Barely thirty seconds in, they huddled behind their mothers. “I can’t do it, Mama,” Yukino shook her head. “I can’t even look him in the eye.”

“Mom, I can’t do this,” Calico complained. “Maybe we should go home? Try again next time?”

Tokino and Grace did not want their opportunity wasted. One got told to follow one’s heart without question. The other got encouraged that things in life are always uncertain until given a try.

Tokino held her shoulder. “Don’t lose hope and courage, honey. Your father and I believe in you no matter what.”

“Be nice to her, young man. Don’t treat her like your friends. I can tell she’s sensitive.” Grace moved him in front.

The two walked closer to each other, but they stuttered again. Haruto and William noted that this was a bad idea. Their wives kicked their ankles in response.

Twenty seconds in, they still stuttered. However, an idea popped within Yukino. She tapped Calico’s forehead, thinking it was a tried and true action for budding relationships. “Ow…!” he exclaimed.

Tokino gasped with her mouth covered. “Honey, no…! You shouldn’t do that to people you meet—” She interrupted herself when she heard Calico chuckle.

“Say, how’d you know about my trick?” He returned the favor. “How do ya like that?” He smiled. Little did Yukino know that he would constantly tap on his friends to annoy them.

However, little did Calico know that she was not annoyed herself. “I’m not done yet!” She smiled back.

They tapped each other’s forehead for several minutes.

Tokino and Grace giggled at the scene.

The latter turned to her. “My son is lucky to live a good life, even within piracy. I never knew my mother until she died to save me from Novusian mages.” She drank and put her glass down. “What was yours like?”

Tokino’s blood ran cold over her question. She even sweated a little and turned away. “I-It’s best if we don’t talk about that, Grace. But I actually had another one….”

“Oh, I see… Was your first mother terrible to you?”

She chuckled nervously. “That would be an understatement. But one day, an angel rescued me and became the new mother you met before. That’s all I have to say.”

She smiled with her eyes closed and held her shoulder. “Come on. I want to know you better. We can take it outside if you want.”

Tokino nodded slowly. “Okay….”