Soon after, we were far away from the castle in a horse-drawn carriage. The castle had also disappeared from our view. Hiroshi turned to Babu and said,

"Hey, Panda, will you tell us what happened there now?"

"Oh! I'm really sorry."

Babu sighed deeply and began to describe all the events that had gone through their heads. After telling us what had happened for a long time, he looked at us and said,

"That's why we have to help her."

Hiroshi said,

"We will not be able to convince the King easily."

"But Hiroshi, We have to help her!"

"That's not what I said. We just can't convince the king right now. Especially at a time like this."

Then he said,

"If we succeed in the mission, I am sure we will gain his trust. That's when we can get him to reconsider our offer."

"But it is obvious that this will not be easy. Because before we came to the castle, we met an elite soldier. Although he said he was the fifth elite soldier, he was quite strong. And if the fifth is this powerful, it's unclear what kind of powers the others have."

I turned my head to him and said,

"Our goal right now is to stop them from taking the water, and if we can do that, we can again recruit people to get stronger again."

Babu said,

"Speaking of recruiting people, did you look at the map for the next person?"

"No. Unfortunately, it hasn't been signaling or shining for a long time."

"Actually, it's shining now."

I immediately pulled my map out of my pocket, and as he really said, my map was glowing. When I opened my map, it oddly showed that the next person was with us, he was in the supply box next to us. I showed it to the others and we tried to figure out what was going on.

Babu scratching his head,

"Maybe your map is broken or something."

"Unfortunately, Ryuu's map is a very rare item, and it is impossible for it to deteriorate or work incorrectly."

Hiroshi opened the supply box and looked inside,

He sighed and said,

"Hey Panda, I think your friend is following you."

And then eyes appeared from inside the box, eyes looking at us. The person inside the box, speaking in a thin and frightened tone of voice,

"Hello, guys..."

Babu got surprised and said,

"Mila, what are you doing here?"

Mila smiled and said,

"I escaped from the castle to help you."

Hiroshi, after Mila's word, lit his cigar again and said,

"I think we can forget the King's trust now."

Mila said,

"Oh, come on! Don't get me wrong, please! My father is not like that. As you said, when we succeed in the mission, I am sure that his trust in you guys will increase."

Hiroshi said,

"When we succeed?"

"The reason I snuck into the car was that I wanted to help you."

Then she turned to us and said,

"So I think we'll be together along the way."

Babu looked at her and said,

"It's too dangerous, if you come with us, something could happen to you, Mila! If anything happens to you, it'll be impossible for us to explain it to your father."

Lezlie looked at Babu and said,

"But we are halfway there. If Mila goes back, it will be very dangerous, and how is she going to explain it to the King? And as Ryuu's map says, Mila looks like the new person we're looking for."

Hiroshi said,

"Let the Kid decide, we will act according to his plans."

Then he turned to me and said,

"Kid, what do you say? Do you have any ideas in mind?"

"Lezlie is right, it may be too late to return, so we have to move on."

"As you say, Kid."

Mila turned to Lezlie and said,

"I don't understand anything you say. Map? The chosen person? What do they mean?"

Babu turned to Mila and said,

"Our goal is to build a team that will oppose elite soldiers and epics and brings justice and peace back to the kingdoms. Thanks to the map that Ryuu has, it shows people that we can take into the team and trust."

She got very surprised and said,

"Is this the map that-?"

Babu smiled and said, "Yes, the map itself described in the Legends."

"Wow. I thought that was just only a myth."

"Actually, we thought so too, but looks like it wasn't."

Mila turned to me and said,

"Is that what you want, Ryuu, to end elite soldiers and epics and restore peace in the world?"

"Yes, that's all I want."

"If you don't mind, I'd really like to know why you want to do this."

"There are many reasons why I do this, but the main reason is to earn people's respect. For some, it may be stupid or absurd, but for me, respect is more hard-earned than anything in this world. If I can earn people's respect, I can make my family, which I've never seen, proud of me. And there's nothing more enjoyable and valuable to me than helping someone who needs help for free. As long as they lead a peaceful life and I know that they respect me, I have achieved my goal. Respect is worth a lot to me."

"You know, you sound like my mother. She always told me about respect, how important it was pr how much it was needed between humans. As always, she was right though. Listen, I don't know if you will earn the respect you said, but I can help you guys. And in return, I just want a favor from you."

"What is it?"

"For the sake of my people and all others in the second Kingdom, let us put an end to the rule of The Second Epic. If we can do that, I'll be happy to join you on your adventure."

I smiled and said, "That is already our goal."