“Driver, where are we right now?” Cecily suddenly asked after a couple of hours of our ride back to Oden.

“Your destination should be right around the corner, ma’am.” The driver replied, “In fact, if you squint, you can probably see it even from where we are now.”

“Great, drop us off here then.”

Wait, what did she just say?! This isn’t the time for a leisurely walk through the desert, Cecily! We’re running from the people that wanna kill us right now! Heck, I looked over at Lune and even he’s sitting there, dumbfounded at your actions.

“Cecily, what’s the meaning of this?” He asked.

“I’ll explain everything soon enough, just know that it’s not a smart idea to go back to Meil’s quik just yet.”

“Silvia’s men are probably still right on our tail!” I hastily jumped into their conversation, “Please explain yourself this instant!”

While she was busy paying the driver for taking us this far, she turned to me and sighed. Looks like whatever the reason for her sudden halt is, she considers it something so obvious that she’s sighing upon realizing we don’t get it.

“Don’t you guys get it?” She then finally explained, “We all gave the officials our addresses when we applied to join the Awards. That means that most likely they’ve already set up an ambush party in Oden for us.”

“You sure?” Lune raised his eyebrows in doubt.

“I’m from the streets, remember? The first thing we did when we were wronged is wait for the person in question to lower his guard. This would most usually happen the moment they entered their home or town. It really doesn’t take too much brains to figure out the benefits of this strategy…”

Standing around without anything to refute her logic with, Lune simply accepted that that’s just how it is sometimes while cradling a sleepy Nelly in his arms, meanwhile I was quite displeased. She’s right, I know she’s right, there’s no way she’s wrong, but I still can’t bring myself to accept her words at all. Oden’s my home, after all! I have so many people there who’re counting on me!

“So what then?” I raised my voice, “You’re saying I just can’t ever set foot on my home quik, huh? You’re saying I can’t ever see my employees, my neighbors, my father ever again?!”

“Meil…” Lune put his hand on my shoulder.

“Oh come on, like you’d see them ever again anyways.” Cecily chose to keep the standoffish tone, “Even if the Awards were legit, you’d only come back to Oden briefly to pack your bags and run off to Simpleton where you’d spend the rest of your life holed up in thousands of books. You’re just skipping the middle part of the equation this way.”

“You…!” I wanted to cuss her out, but then noticed her words, “Wait a minute, if you say ‘skipping the middle’, then you’re assuming I’ll go to Simpleton? Just a reminder that without a scholarship I certainly won’t have the money to accomplish that.”

At this, she and Lune briefly exchanged glances before giving me a kind smile.

“Well Meil,” Lune spoke up, “Seeing as you’ve done so much for us, I’m pleased to say that paying for your tuition out of our own pockets is the least we could do for you then.”

“What Lune said.” Cecily added, “You’re Nelly’s Uncle in this little pretend family of ours, so you’re also Lune’s Brother by extension. Family helps each other out, so we’d like to gift you this much.”

They’re… kidding, right? The tuition fees for any University in Simpleton are almost impossibly high! I don’t doubt that they can pay for one, but didn’t they say that they want Nelly to study there as well when she grows up?

“Hold on!” I decided to ask, “What will you be doing for Nelly then?! Paying for one tuition is already almost impossible to do by yourself, even more so if you add another person into the equation!”

“Yeah, but the thing is – we’re not doing this by ourselves, we’re doing it together.” Lune replied, “I’ve amassed enough wealth to pay for one tuition without any issues, and Cecily’s still getting a huge paycheck regularly because she’s a General at ARA. That way we can pay for both of you while still having enough money to live comfortably ourselves.”

“Wow, just… I-I don’t know what to say.” I started tearing up, “Lune, Cecily…! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!”

I went in to give them a hug, which they accepted wholeheartedly. This little group hug actually ended up waking Nelly up from her nap, but she didn’t seem to mind our little happy atmosphere we had going on, so she just dozed off soon after.

“Heh, don’t worry about it, Meil!” Lune chuckled, “I told you I’m gonna send you to your University of choice, and I’m nothing if not a man of my word!”

“A-hem!” Cecily reminded him about his past escapades in a pretty discreetly non-discreet way.

“O-Oh, right… Well, more like I’m a man of my word most of the time…”

Chuckling together with them, I had finally realized just how important it was to have someone to guide you to your dream. Before Lune showed up to Oden, I was just basically throwing darts at an oily wall and hoping one of them stuck. There was no rhyme nor rhythm to my madness, and it just felt like I was stuck in an endless loop of waiting for something to happen. Lune’s arrival was nothing if not a godsend, so I doubt there will ever come a day when I’ll be able to repay him.

***

“Now that that’s settled,” Lune asked, “Where do we go from here? I mean, of course Meil’s going to Simpleton, but what about us, Cecily? We can’t just go back home to Trivis Numerica for the exact same reason as him.”

“Oh, now that I think about it, you’re right!” She pointed out, “And since I said in my letters that I’m from Great Hiana, we can’t go there either! It’s a real predicament, huh?”

I think the more important question is, how can you two be so calm about that? You’re literally banned from going back home, the one goal Lune had for the past three or so years! Just when he finally found solitude from the ITA, he just had to go ahead and make an enemy that’s almost as, if not more dangerous than the previous one! And they’re treating it as if it’s an everyday nuisance!

“I mean, it’s not like we can’t go to those places anymore.” Said Lune, “It’s just that we can’t go there immediately, but if we were to say ‘take the scenic route to there’, we’d be free to come back sometime around five years from now.”

“You’re brushing off five years like it’s nothing! Won’t you be wasting a lot of time if you do that?!” I stated why I don’t think that’s such a good idea.

“Of course not!” Lune shot back, “Instead that just gives us enough time to travel to some of the places we haven’t visited before. Think of it like a family outing, only way more extended. I’m a very efficient man, Meil, I don’t waste time doing nothing!”

“That explains Marina, at least…” Cecily once again teased his infidelity case.

“Aw, geez!” He fell to the ground sulking, “Can’t you cut me some slack, at least? I already said that I’m gonna try and make it up to you, didn’t I?”

“No can do.” She made an X with her hands, “I don’t think you understand just how much your actions hurt me. Imagine if Ed suddenly told you that while you were away in Sibirus, I was getting busy with another man and even had a child with him.”

“I’d be devastated!” Lune jumped from his sulky mood before realizing the hypocrisy in his logic, “Ooh, I see now. Yeah, I’m a total ass.”

“Nice to meet you, Total Ass. I’m Cecily.” She shook his hand with a smug, triumphant gaze, “But at least you realize your mistake. Geez, did you really think you could get away with starting a harem between the two of us? Just who gave you that stupid idea?”

“Issei did. He said it’s normal in his world.”

“…I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that.”

Laughing at their little exchange, I had only now realized the two beady eyes staring straight at me. Turns out Nelly was awake for quite a while now, and I guess she overheard that I wouldn’t be joining them on their little journey together. With a teary-eyed tantrum she struggled to make her father put her down before waddling up to me.

“Uncle, won’t you join us?”

“Join you?” I raised an eyebrow at the sudden question, “Well, that’d just get crowded, I’m afraid. Don’t worry, just as long as you promise to uphold your end of the deal, I promise you that we’ll meet each other when you enroll a University.”

“Nelly, always remember that Meil is chasing his own dream. Tying him down with us will only burden him.” Lune explained the situation to her in a more familiar fashion, “Just like a bird, he wants to reach the skies. But if we put him in a cage, he’ll no longer be able to spread his wings. If you really wanna see Meil again, then you need to work hard to grow your own pair of wings and soar up high into the sky, okay?”

Nelly nodded at her father’s insightful words. It seems they left a strong impression on her, which is good. Freedom and change is something Lune’s always advocated, so I’m sure he’s pleased to finally have someone to pass that wisdom on to.

“So then, what’s your first destination, if I may ask?” I let out one last question before heading off.

“Do we even have a choice?” Cecily sighed, “It’s gonna be tough, but we’ll have to make our way through Sulfury if we wanna go anywhere else, since that’s the only dock in the world that doesn’t have a blacklist. After that, who knows where we’ll be spending the rest of our hiding period.”

“Ugh, and just when I was finally finished with my own hiding period…” Lune rolled his eyes, “I must be really unlucky, huh?”

“Unlucky, you say?” Cecily teased, “You’ve got a lovely woman and a daughter accompanying you, and you call yourself unlucky?”

“Oh?” He turned the tables on her as soon as he saw an opening, “Then does that mean you accept my apology and wanna get back together?”

“You wish!” She yelled with a bright red face, “T-That was just a slip of the tongue!”

With that, it was nearing dusk already. Looks like with the traveling time plus all the talking we did, we had already burned through this whole day. None of us wanted the moment to end, but we all knew that we had to leave eventually, so before things got too difficult…

“Meil, take this envelope. It’s a signed check by me that serves as a replacement scholarship.” Lune handed me the tightly sealed envelope, “Protect it like you would your own two Eyes.”

“Aye aye, sir! And thank you, Lune.”

“Meil…” Cecily approached me, “Be safe out there.”

“Uncle…” Nelly gave me one last tight hug before Cecily pried her off of me.

“This is goodbye, then.” I said as I started walking away.

“Goodbye for now, that is!” Lune could be heard yelling at the top of his lungs from the distance.

Joseph, I’m sorry, but I probably won’t be able to see you. I’m this close to Oden, I can practically feel the nostalgic air from it, but I can’t go in. This is a cruel punishment, but it seems that I’ll only be putting you in danger if I come back home, so I’ll have to run away for now. Just… hold out until at least five years pass, okay? Then I promise I’ll be back!