We were nearing The Base over at Bilgam in the crack of dawn. Things were calm, unusually so. This is around the time when some of the night guards switch shifts with the daytime guards, and the logistics group goes to the store to get the groceries. In a way, it feels like coming back home, but your family consists of about 200 siblings. Entering the gates we expected to be greeted by William, but instead we saw a young recruit who was subbing in for him. We asked him where William was, to which he replied He’s taking care of that baby. We were then asked how our trip went, so Ed stopped to chat with the recruit whilst we ventured deeper into The Base.

It was just when we were about to enter our sleeping quarters when we suddenly heard loud crying coming from the other side of the door.

“Waaaah! Uwaaaah!” The crying went on.

“What do you want!? Is it mommy!? Is it daddy!? They’re not here, damn it!” a voice tried it’s best to stop the wailing. “Oh, God, don’t tell me you need a change of diapers? I… I can’t handle that again!” He complained as he rushed out the door.

“…Looks like Nelly’s been giving you guys a hard time, huh?” I said, trying to hold back my laughter after seeing the strongest guard we have, William, being brought to his knees from a mere baby (attagirl, Nelly! Daddy’s proud).

“Lune! Thank Heavens, that gosh darned baby is a menace! How do you take care of it every, single, day?!” William asked. “At first we though it simple enough, but it just wouldn’t stop wailing and wailing! She’d only stop when we fed her, but that was a mere temporary remedy to the problem. I don’t even want to think about all the times we had to change her diapers…” He quietly sobbed.

“Don’t worry,” Cecily comforted him as she entered the room, “you did well. Thank you for taking care of Nelly for us.”

She then peeked over the cradle with her hands covering her face. “Where’s mommy?” She said before swiftly moving her hands away and surprising Nelly. “Here I am! I missed youuu!”

Nelly immediately recognized her face and squealed in joy, it was truly a sweet sight. I wonder if this is how my dad felt when they had me? I asked myself, remembering my time in Whitehood with my parents. Certainly, he always smiled when he talked to me… Well, that is until he found out I was planning on leaving them… I know I suddenly up and left, but maybe going back to visit them once or twice wouldn’t be so bad… I could even introduce them to Cecily and Nelly! Boy are they gonna be surprised when they find out they became grandparents (I bet dad’s gonna be even more sad when he realizes how old he’s gotten, though).

As I was doing a heavy mental exercise over scheduling when the visit will take place, all my thoughts suddenly went out the window when I noticed Aaron standing over these two.

“What’s the matter, Aaron?” I asked, “You doing alright?”

“Oh, of course, it’s just… She reminds me of my niece…” he said, looking at Nelly with a vacant expression.

“Niece?” We asked him, “You never mentioned you had family.”

“Of course I do,” he answered back, “like anyone else, really. Well, my niece’s father – my brother, as well as her mother passed away a couple years after having her, so it’s just my old man taking care of her. I guess he simply didn’t really approve of my… preferences.” He suddenly quieted down.

Cecily and the other Generals were still in the dark about it, but I suddenly remembered his relationship with the deceased TBL General, Jean. I’m not one to judge a person by something as deep and intricate as their preferences, I usually just judge people based on their actions and their actions alone. I do understand where he’s coming from, though, as my parents didn’t approve of me leaving home at such a young age, either. But looking back, I do miss them.

That being said, I told Aaron my honest feelings. “You can still visit them, I’m not sure how your family works, but I’m sure your father misses his son very much.”

Aaron weakly replied with a defeated tone, “Like hell he does. I still remember the harsh words he told me as I was sent packing. Staying here is for the best, after all.”

“That’s not true!” Cecily suddenly raised her voice, “I don’t even know my parents, so I’m probably not one to say this, but you should spend as much time with your loved ones as you can! Once they’re gone, you’ll only feel the regret of not talking to them more weighing you down, so don’t burden your future self!”

What she said had extra credibility behind it, as she did lose a sibling just recently, and the Generals knew that all too well. Aaron stood by for a moment, honestly thinking it through, before coming to a conclusion.

“It won’t be as simple as that, reconnecting with family.” He said, “I’m not as sporadic as you two. But I’ll drop by his place if ever I’m in the area. We get shipments to Secundis all the time.”

We all congratulated him on taking the first step towards fixing his relationship with his family. Aaron was a dear friend of ours, and we wanted to make sure he lived a life free of regrets. What would we do if our dear Poet wasn’t satisfied with the way things stood? Wait, don’t poets draw inspiration from not being satisfied with how things stand? In that case, did we just ruin his career? Well, I’m sure he’ll be fine, cause happiness is more important that a career!

The next place we visited was the dining hall, where the rest of the gang awaited our arrival. Some gang members saw us coming, so they went to tell everyone, running around and screaming The General’s are all here! They won!

We didn’t even tell them that we won, for all they knew we could’ve just barely escaped death, but I guess just seeing us here alive and well is equivalent to a victory. Truly, we are like a family in that regard…

Since we didn’t have any way to announce our victory, the logistics squad in charge of procuring the food didn’t have time to buy any meat. We didn’t really care though, as we had all but gotten used to the bland food we ate almost every day. This mush has a certain factor of homeliness to it as well, I suppose. Looking around the table ahead of me, I saw everyone talking and chatting about all sorts of things. Cecily was feeding Nelly with a bottle of milk as she listened to Jorgen compliment the tea of Bilgam endlessly (I even heard him go so far as to call it an International Treasure!)

Everyone was mostly flocking towards Max, who held his wounded chest out high as he refused to change his blood-soaked shirt for today. He referred to it as a “Badge of Honor” as he proudly retold the story of his heroic exploits over at The Neo Urbana Fight. Looking back, we fought many enemies, and in the end, they have all more or less become our allies. We reformed the entire Great Hiana underworld into a National Agency that helped the common folk. And to think, all this was accomplished by 4 teenagers who had a dream, the dream to never have to see a child be left in the streets again…

Just as Ed and the recruit arrived at the dining hall after finishing their chat, the gang had finally decided to reveal their surprise to us.

“What the hell is this?!?” We jumped upon seeing what they brought in from the other room.

“What do you think it is?” they answered back, holding in their excitement, “It’s the finest and biggest cake in Bilgam-no, probably the world!”

We chose not to ask about how much it cost to procure such a thing, instead simply basking in the moment as we partook in eating this behemoth.

***

With that, another month passed by idly. As I was finishing up the last of my work in Bilgam, I was visited by Ed in the office.

“Whaddya’ need?” I asked, not expecting it to be anything of importance.

“I… don’t think I wanna head out into the world.” He muttered, as if unsure of what my reaction will be.

“Oh? You don’t wanna leave just yet? Don’t worry, were not in any rush, after all. You can lay back here with the gang for a while before catching up with m…-”

“No,” Ed interrupted me, “I was thinking of heading back to Trivis Numerica.” He said, “I don’t think I’m cut out for adventuring, Grim. We lost so many people, and to be honest I feel like I barely survived past this hurdle alone.”

“What?” I uttered, “But Ed, we said we’d travel together, though? Us against the world, y’know?” I tried my best to sway his opinion on the matter and get him to back out of quitting, but it was a fruitless endeavor.

“Listen, Lune,” Ed started comforting me, “I’ll just be getting in the way. But this way you and Cecily can probably travel faster without the dead-weight.”

“BUT YOU’RE NOT DEAD-WEIGHT!” I started sobbing. I guess I didn’t really take this news as easily as he had hoped I would.

“…Thanks.” He said, “But think of it this way: I’ll do my best to explore my side of the world while you and Cecily explore your side. We can reconvene here in Great Hiana whenever we want to exchange our information for the books.”

He suddenly reminded himself of the book project I was doing, and with a By the way... he changed the topic, “How’s the Great Hiana Volume going for that diary of yours?” he asked, “Remember how you said back in Ren that you’ll write a diary for every area you visit?”

“...Yeah,” I said, “I just finished it last week. Honestly, you caught me just as I was about to head out to pick up all the copies.”

“What timing!” He said, astonished at his luck, “Then let’s head out together, it’ll be a nice way to talk before we say our goodbyes.”

As we made our way through Bilgam together for probably the last time in a long while, the air felt a bit chilly, but it was peaceful. In short, it felt just as enchanting as it did the first time we walked these very same streets. Talking about all sorts of mundane topics has never been more fun, as both of us wanted to make the most of this pseudo-final outing.

“So,” he started off with a light jab, “when should I expect the wedding?”

“L-Like I would know!” I refuted, “We’re way too young for that still! When we do plan it though, you’ll be the first to hear about it!”

“That’s nice. I’m glad about that, seriously.” He said before switching to the next question, “Where are you planning to go next?”

“Probably the Plural Divide. That place has a ton of smaller countries, so it’ll be fun seeing all the differences in cultures, plus the foods probably gonna be delicious!”

“I see... Well, were here.” He said as he pointed to our destination, a small-scale copy place where people would write your book out manually to the best of their abilities so that you don’t have to write the same book multiple times. The walk here was way shorter than I had expected.

“Well, Grim.” Ed stated as he dropped the books off at the post office with me. “I guess this is goodbye for now.”

“Wait, you’re leaving already??” I gave a shocked reply.

“The transport wagon is arriving in a couple minutes, to tell you the truth it’s gonna be a tight schedule making it in time, but I just couldn’t bring myself to leave without saying goodbye to my best friend.” He said, wearing a youthful smile on his face.

Tears started trickling down my cheeks as I tried my best to wipe them away before giving him a fist bump to remember.

“See ya later, Ed.”

“See ya later, Grim.”

***

Making it to the base, I was greeted by a worried Cecily who gave me a letter addressed to my name. She didn’t really know what it was, refusing to open someone else’s letter out of politeness, but she knew the contents spelled trouble, as it came from the ITA. The letter read:

“Dear Adventurer Lune Grimheart,

It is with great pleasure for us to inform you that you have been assigned to explore the newly found Shaid’s Temple in Sibirus with a predetermined party. Denial or failure to comply will lead to a strike, but we believe you to be more than adequate for the commission, as you have checked “always ready for dispatch” on the waiver you signed! The party will be heading out in 3 days after this letter’s arrival, so I hope you don’t have a record of tardiness. Please visit your nearest ITA Base of Operations for further details on the subject matter.

-Yours truly, Tom from ITA Support”

Cecily was a bit angry with me for being so reckless at the time of filling in the paperwork, and I was too, to be honest. I wonder if there’s a way for us to abandon this task, seeing as I have Nelly to take care of now. And didn’t Linus say he was going to be doing this? Gahh, we should’ve kept a closer eye on him!

We immediately went to the ITA Base in hopes of having my agreement changed, as the task they had given out to me didn’t allow for Cecily nor Nelly to accompany me to Sibirus (not that I’d take Nelly to such a dangerous place). Just as we had went to ask the support staff about the matter, I was immediately interrupted by the man working the booth.

“No can do, bud,” he said, “I understand your frustration, but you have to understand that you signed the waiver, and the commission is due in a mere 3 days, maybe if we had more time, we could work something out, but now is definitely impossible. Simply put, there’s nothing you can do about it, unless you want to be referred to as a deserter, that is.”

“Come on, Lune,” Cecily stepped in, “what does it matter if you’re a deserter, anyways? These guys just wanna take you away to do all the dirty work for them!”

“Ma’am,” the booth guy addressed her, “please do not butt into this conversation. You don’t understand the significance of what your sweetheart over here will be doing over in Sibirus. The artifact kept in there is said to be a one of a kind magic item that allows for long distance teleportation. It could be revolutionary for adventurers and common folk alike!” He tried to defend the ITA’s actions.

“I don’t care!” Cecily lashed out, “If Lune leaves, then who’s gonna help me take care of Nelly? Who’s gonna help me lead ARA? Who, I ask!? Ed’s already left, and I’ll only have The Generals to help me, that won’t be enough! I need Lune for this!”

She was visibly fuming, but the ITA Agent simply fueled the flame by asking more unrelated questions.

“Nelly? Ed? I have no idea what you’re talking about, ma’am. ARA Gang? Is that the group of uncivilized barbarians I’ve heard so much about from the higher-ups? Should I get law enforcement for this?”

“I’ll enforce your face on the ground, ya’ turd!” She tried jumping in the booth to kick his teeth in.

Before things got too heated, I tried taking her to the side to talk things out with her peacefully (although I really wanted to join her).

“Listen, we obviously have no other choice.” I said, “Seeing as I made a dumb mistake that can’t be corrected, I guess I’ll just have to bear the consequences.”

“The deserter plan is still feasible, though?” She turned her head to the side as she suggested it once more.

“You don’t understand,” I explained, “The ITA holds immense world-wide power. If I become a deserter, they will surely hunt me down, as well as you guys, who are closest to me.”

“Then we’ll beat them all up when they come for us! Together!” She said, tearing up.

“We won’t be as strong as we are forever, and Nelly surely isn’t capable of defending herself. I’ll come back as soon as possible, then I’ll try to see if I can work something out after the fact.”

“…Okay, but you better come back! Nelly and I’ll be waiting for you, don’t miss out on her childhood!” She said as we shared a warm embrace.

“Did you two settle everything?” the booth guy said as I approached him. “You made the right call, trust me.”

“Shut up,” I shot back, “I just want to get this over with so I can be with my girlfriend and daughter.”

“I see, in any case, I believe some details are in order. Your party will be consisting of 5 members including you: 2 other guys and 2 girls (to keep the gender ratio balanced). These people are: Sullivan Streiks, Marina Dola, Genevra Lionheart, and Linus Tenford.”

That last name struck me as familiar, so I inquired about his appearance.

“Could this Linus perhaps be an old man with a white beard? Guffaws a lot?”

“Yes! Have you two met before? In that case, it’ll only be easier for you!” he reassured me.

Just like that, I came back to The Base to pack my things for the trip and notify the gang. I was met with widespread backlash, with some folks even suggesting we burn down the ITA building (of course Max was the one to suggest that one…)

The other Generals knew of the dangers of this commission, but they had faith in me making it out safely. Cecily held Nelly in her arms as she kissed me goodbye, I reached out my finger to Nelly, which she grabbed almost immediately. Her grip was weak, obviously, but it was still the strongest gut punch I’ve endured in my life. Leaving my family even for a second is difficult, and there is no time estimate for how long this trip will last, I can only pray it doesn’t take longer than a month tops. The only thing left now was for me to just go. Looks like I’ll have to postpone the trip to the Plural Divide…