“Knock knock!”

“Who’s there?”

“Ayy, see how Cecily knows the proper way to answer a knock knock joke?”

“…Aren’t you gonna say the joke, Ed?”

“Oh nah, I completely forgot what the joke was to begin with, I just like saying ‘Knock knock’ before I enter rooms.”

Anna stifled her laughter at my remark, since we noticed that Nelly was sleeping. Cecily chuckled while rocking the young girl’s crib. Nelly was now approaching three years of age, which is just plain incredible to think about. To think this little girl uttered her first full sentence almost a whole year ago! But well, she’s still a bit scared of sleeping alone, so she still sleeps with Cecily in her room.

“What’s going on, guys? Need anything?” Cecily asked.

“Yeah, we have some exciting news!”

“From your tone and the fact that you ran straight to me, I can only guess that it’s one thing and one thing only.”

“Yep, you see-”

“Anna’s pregnant, right? Congrats, champ.”

Eh?

“W-What? N-No, you’re wrong-”

“Well, I’m sure Nelly will be delighted to have a cute little friend around her age to play with. If you ever need some pointers, do come to me if you ever get stuck.”

“C-Cecily.” Anna tried to get a word in.

“Oh don’t worry, I know that pregnancy is a delicate time in a woman’s life (not that I’d know firsthand). But still, parenthood is a wonderful thing! Ed, you remember how much fun Lune and I had when we were first tasked with taking care of Nelly back in Great Hiana, right? Those days are still something I cherish deeply, but it’s a shame Lune hasn’t seen his daughter grow up this much already…”

God, it’s getting tougher to correct her with every sentence she says. If I don’t stop her now, I’m afraid we’ll miss our chance to tell her about Grim at all today.

“Cecily.” Anna once again spoke up.

“Anna, turn that frown upside down! I understand you’re going through a phase where your hormones are all out of whack, but please keep in mind that you’re now taking care of two people-”

“Cecily!”

Heh, Anna finally blew a fuse. I really shouldn’t be laughing though, since it woke Nelly up, but seeing Cecily’s ‘Deer in the headlights’ look as she realized she rambled on about something completely unrelated (and untrue) to us for 5 minutes straight is just that magnificent.

“Okay, no more teasing, what’s the actual reason you came to me?”

“THANK YOU!” I said as I ushered her to the hallway, “We need to talk to you. It’s about Grim.”

At this, any traces of a chipper Cecily completely left her body, and she immediately switched to a nostalgic, serious gaze. It really reminded me of her days as the competent General who lead ARA to the top.

“…Let’s have a seat down in the living room. This probably isn’t something to talk about in the hallway.”

“…Yeah.”

As such, we sat down near the fireplace, Anna made us some tea, and after that joined us as well. Since it was around midday right now, Aaron and Arthur (now almost fully cured) are busy reopening the restaurant after a while of it being closed. The grand reopening of the Springwood branch of Arthur’s was an amazing day. It seems like the restaurant was quite popular to tourists and townsfolk alike, since we’re still getting packed days multiple times a week.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Cecily said with a hesitant tone.

“W-What?! Why would that be ‘exciting news’?!”

“Just… Just give it to me straight, Ed. No need to beat around the bush. He died months ago, didn’t he? That’s what you wanted to say, judging by the fact you came to me first about this.”

“N-No, it’s nothing dark like that, geez!” Anna said, “We still don’t know if he’s de-err, alive or not. For all we know, he could come bursting into the room at this very moment!”

After Anna’s highly optimistic remark, we all expectantly turned our gazes as we stared into the front door. Sadly though, a novel-like dramatic entrance like that isn’t something that happens in real life, so we simply sighed and continued our conversation.

“Err, that was just a figure of speech.”

“Hmm.”

Looks like Anna’s bad at explaining the situation. Well, that’s why I’m here! Her reliable boyfriend knows just what to say in this situation. I’ll calmly explain what happens with facts and logic!

“We learned some new info on Grim, namely that he was beaten and captured by bandits before he even made it to Sibirus!”

At these words of mine, Cecily burst out crying. Welp, looks like I’m lousy at explaining as well…

“E-Ed! Uh, Cecily, please ignore him. What he was trying to say is that we met one of the bandits, and he helped Lune escape safely, so we know for a fact that he made it to Sibirus. This means that we could possibly track him down if we just follow the same route he took. After all, there’s only one dock in Sibirus on the Southeastern side of the continent, meaning he couldn’t have gotten far from there.”

“Sob, hick… S-So that’s your plan? It’s been two years since he left for Sibirus, who knows where he could’ve gotten himself to in that timeframe! Come on, guys, I know you’re trying your hardest to cheer me up, but this is absurd!”

Something about her saying that our efforts to bring Grim back to us was absurd really got to me. He’s your unofficial husband, yes, but he was my best friend for way longer! Even still, shouldn’t you be happy to hear that we have any sort of lead on him? I’m willing to go through hell and high-water for him, but you want to just idly sit around and wait for him to come back on his own!?

“Shut up!” I snapped at her, “If you’re just gonna sit around here and bitch about missing him without putting any effort into his search, then be my guest!”

“Ed!”

“Stay out of it, Anna, I know I’m right! From what we’ve heard, Grim’s suffered a lot while we were all having fun here in Trivis Numerica! He was kidnapped by bandits, then still somehow made it to Sibirus, where he probably had to endure even more shit from the harsh dungeon he was to explore!”

“Ed…”

“In the end, just when they thought they finally made it out safe and sound, ready to come back home, their ship explodes, sending them all flying! Probability wise, he’s probably dead!”

“Ed, you’re taking it too far! Cecily shouldn’t be hearing this!”

“I don’t care!” I finally yelled out with all my might, “Because Grim isn’t someone bound by odds! He’s alive and I’m sure of it, because he lived through countless impossible odds hundreds of times before! That’s why we need to find him, wherever he is!”

After I finished my speech, I finally regained my composure, only to see just how scared Anna and Cecily were. Damn, I really went off on them, and for what? Man, I feel like a complete asshole, screaming at girls when I myself was supposed to be the one to calmly explain the situation.

“…Sorry.”

“…No, you’re right.” Cecily wiped off her tears, “As his (unofficial) wife, I really should be overjoyed to hear these news. You’ve been doing your best to find your best friend all this time, and yet here I am doing nothing but playing house with Nelly.”

“I-I didn’t mean it like that! Sigh, listen, Grim has met tons of people, and I’m sure he only made more friends while off on this expedition. That’s why I’m sure that there’s gotta be someone who’s at least seen him somewhere around the world. I don’t intend to blindly go after him like it’s some cat and mouse chase, but I’d at least like to tell you everything I know about him as of now.”

“Thanks… I’ll go calm Nelly down now, your shouting really scared her.”

“Heh, my bad.”

After that, Cecily made her way back upstairs to a wailing Nelly. Mamaa~ Mamaa~ Why is Uncle yelling? She cried out. I felt immense regret upon hearing that, but it seems Cecily had already forgiven me for that abhorrent display.

“Don’t worry about it, Nel. Your Uncle’s just really passionate about your daddy.”

“Who’s daddy?”

It was extremely quiet, but even from the living room all the way to her room, I could hear Cecily faintly sobbing. Damn, I’m a real asshole. When I find Grim, I’ll have him punch me in the face as a way to repent for this.

***

It’s been about a week since then. Cecily calmed down a bit as well, and is now mostly back to her old, teasing self. That being said, I did notice that she frequents teasing me way more than the others, but in all honesty, I’d say I probably deserve it.

“Uncle Eddie~, Auntie Anna~ Let’s play again today!” Nelly waddled her way to us.

“Careful, Nel, Uncle Eddie might still be in a foul mood.”

“Ugh, give it a break already, will ya? Look, I’m sorry for yelling at you the other day, so please don’t scare Nelly out of talking to me.”

Looks like my punishment for the other day is no playing with Nelly for a while. As an Uncle, this is completely devastating to me! Anna’s fine though.

“Weee~!”

“Wooo, Nelly, look at you go!”

“Yaaay! Auntie Anna, I wanna go higher!”

“Sure thing!”

Ugh, that should’ve been me lifting Nelly into the air…! Damn me and my stupid emotions getting to me, I act impulsively ONCE and look where it gets me!

“Hey Ed,” Aaron popped his head through the window, “I heard you’re suddenly free from babysitting duties. Since you have all this free time, mind helping me out with carrying these boxes?”

“Do I have to?”

“Hey, you’re the one who made two girls cry at the same time, not to mention you scared Nelly too. If you’re a man, then own up to your own mistake.”

Grr, he got me there… Oh alright, I’ll help him!

After that, I stepped out of the house and into the yard. Aaron pointed to the pile of heavy looking boxes, then with his tongue sticking out, he pointed to where we’ll be lugging them.

“Isn’t that three blocks away?!”

“Yep, but look at it this way. It gives us plenty of time to chat.”

I don’t think I’ll be able to talk and carry all this at the same time, though! But never mind that, what does he even want to talk to me about?

“Hey, Ed.” Aaron said, “Do you ever miss the guys over at ARA?”

“Is that what you wanted to talk to me about? Well, it’s not like I don’t, but I have to find Grim first before I can really go visit anyone else.”

“Right, right…” Aaron answered back with a distant expression.

“You wanna pay ‘em a visit?” I said in the Hianic dialect for nostalgia’s sake.

“E-Eh?! N-Nah, I-I still ‘ave ta’ help yous find Lune!”

Looks like he really appreciated me talking in Hianic, since he quickly followed suit. Ah, so that’s how it is. He’s homesick, isn’t he? Then what kind of a General would I be if I didn’t let the Vice General come check back on his gang members?

“Yer’ free ta’ go whereva’ y’want, soulja. Checkin’ on those slackas’ is definitely worthwhile!”

He suddenly plopped down the heavy luggage to give me a hug. I mean, he’s a dear friend, but something about Aaron giving me a hug felt a bit too… sensual. It’s kind of making me uncomfortable, especially after he came out of the closet that one time…

“Right, now that that’s settled…” He picked up the box again, “I-I was wondering w-what Maxwell has been up to recently…”

“Max? Eh, I’m sure he’s doing fine. He’s got Jorgen to pick up any slack for him, so I’m sure the gangs still in good health. That being said, I know he’s kind of childish, but why specifically worry about him of all people?”

“…” Aaron hid his face behind the box in his hand, “N-No reason.”

The gears in my head were turning. They turned and turned, until finally something clicked.

“Dude!”

“Nnaaaahhh!! Sorry!”

So my hunch was right, I mean, Aaron does have a thing for guys…

“What’s there to be sorry for? I think you should just go for it.”

“Y-You think? Ah, no, he’d probably be weirded out if I said anything, but oh…”

“What’s the matter? You’re a man, right? Just be brave, worst case scenario, you can just play it off as a joke or prank, right?”

“R-Right, but…”

“But…?”

Aaron couldn’t bring himself to say this with his normal tenacity, so he instead just whispered, “I… I don’t want him to think I’m not serious…”

Gahh!! To think a big bro character like Aaron could be such a pure maiden! Ugh, that almost made my own heart skip a beat! Not good, I already have Anna…! Just kidding, but seriously, he’s worrying too much about this.

“Alright then, how about this? I’ll tell him you have feelings for him in your stead if you don’t tell him yourself!”

“Nooo!! Anything but that!”

Then problem solved, right?

“Just go to Great Hiana and tell him while you’re there. There’s nothing to worry about, you’re a great guy, and you two are already amazing friends to begin with, so I’m sure he’ll understand your feelings are genuine.”

“…Fine.”

Whoa, look at me, playing the role of a Cupid…!

“When were you planning to depart?”

“T-This week.”

Holy crap, someone’s lovestruck…

“Oho! Well then, good luck, soulja!”

After we finished our conversation and safely brought the boxes to the destination, it then suddenly dawned on me that without Aaron around, all of his workload would be sent my way. He completely swindled me! That damned Aaron, get back here!!