It’s been a month since that day. I’ve successfully turned 20, the two countries are still at odds, but are actively working to better relations between them in order to appease to the neutral newly built country of Cecilia. In a way, the countries resemble two brothers who were always fighting over petty stuff, only to mellow out due to getting a little sister. Well, that’s how I would explain it, because it just sounds cute.

That being said, neither country had any form of government apart from the Generals and Drill Sergeants, so all of them got together to create something that resembled a functioning regime. It was no surprise at all that the two countries were at odds for as to what democracy to follow, since it was actually a 50/50 split between the citizens choosing between capitalism and communism.

Personally, as someone completely ignorant about politics, I thought to side with the communist party because their logic made more sense on paper, what with sharing all the resources equally and all, but Cecily quickly stopped me and explained why such a regime would ultimately fail. I then thought to side with the capitalists, but then she explained their cons, thus leaving me utterly at a loss as for what to cast my vote on.

In the end, she just told me that people who don’t understand politics shouldn’t vote, but even that advice wasn’t sound. I mean, if only the politicians got to vote, then what’d be the point of the populace? Certainly, the people who are experiencing the country from a lower social standpoint firsthand would have at least something to share, no? Ugh, I guess there’s just no winners in politics in general, so I think I’ll just sit this one out after all…

Auros has been trapped on his Throne for a while due to my wish because whenever people had their qualms about the new country, they’d pester him endlessly to do something about it. The verbal contract I had made with him basically forbade any and all conflicts to ever occur on this land, so no matter what he couldn’t tell anyone to duke it out.

Obviously, this turned Sulfury from one of the deadliest lands into one of the most peaceful ones. Well, not really, since there are still beasts riddled around the place, and the land isn’t all that fertile and good to trudge around in, but those issues will surely get tackled eventually. But the issue isn’t the beasts, but rather the humans themselves. An important point is raised that if a foreign continent threatened to wage war against one of Sulfury’s countries, then what’d they do?

I gave the person who posed the question a simple minded answer. If the country is always peaceful, I stood optimistic, Then who would ever attack them? Once again, Cecily had to whisper in my ear that people will see the country as a simple way to extract resources, so I needed to revise my answer. Ultimately, I let her take the reins on this one, and she gave out a rather crafty reply.

“Alright, the army will remain in all the countries, but it will only ever be deployed in self-defense!” She commanded, “And not only that, but you’ll have to rely on each other! If one country gets attacked, they are forbidden from retaliating, only the other two can do so.”

Basically, this was a rather smart way for the three countries to get a bit more accustomed to trusting each other. In a way, she set them an ultimatum – if they don’t learn to trust their fellow countries, then they’re as good as gone. There are probably some issues with this system, but I’m not knowledgeable in politics as she said, so guess we’re gonna have to wait if we wanna see how everything plays out in the end.

Now that the majority of the problems has at the very least been addressed, we’re now finally relieved from our duties as Acting Leaders of Sulfury and have been allowed to leave the place in the hands of the people staying here, like Pierre and the other Generals.

Finally arriving at the dock located at the very west of Maior, we were escorted by a very teary eyed Pierre as he helped us put everything in our ship. Indeed, he’s probably gonna be in a whole heap of trouble when we leave, because he basically relied on us about any and all issues that he couldn’t handle.

“You guys sure you don’t wanna stay a bit longer?” He picked up our suitcases, “A country run be former Generals surely isn’t going to last long, you know? The offer to remain at the top of the hierarchy indefinitely is always welcome to you.”

“That’s very kind of you, Pierre.” Cecily said with a warm smile, “But the only thing worse than a country run by a bunch of Generals is a country run by inexperienced teen delinquents. Besides, need I remind you that we too are Generals of ARA? Trust me when I say that the result would remain the same no matter what our choice is.”

“It’s as Cecily said.” I added, “The only thing we can ask of you is to follow along with our little rules until you create better ones yourself. Oh, and if there’s ever a future rule that contradicts ours, don’t worry about it and just erase ours, got it? Change is good, so make sure to update the laws regularly. I’d say every 10-20 years, since that’s roughly enough time for things to change so much that the previous set of rules just can’t keep up with anymore.”

“A rather odd idea, but I’ll take your words to heart!” He chuckled before recalling, “But now that you mention it, yeah, you two are Generals of a gang in Great Hiana. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you say that you’ve met my brother before?”

“Jorgen? Of course we did, we’re friends and fellow Generals.” I happily explained, “Well, he’s a Vice General, but that’s just cause of certain circumstances. There’s no mistaking his ability to lead a group of people, so we depend on him a lot despite being his superiors.”

“Is that so?” He chuckled.

“Yep, but my question is this.” I asked, “Why are you down here when Jorgen is all the way in Great Hiana? Where do you two originally come from?”

“Who, us?” Pierre laughed, “We’re both Aurolians, born and raised here. The only reason he’s up there is because he left home to ‘pursue greater heights’. That idiot, if it wasn’t for you guys telling me otherwise, I’d have long since thought him dead in a ditch somewhere by now.”

“Don’t talk to your brother like that!” Cecily defended Jorgen’s pride, “He’s accomplished so much outside of this place, so why don’t you instead be impressed by his position as Vice General and send him a letter every once in a while?”

“Phah! My brother, a Vice General of a gang? You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

“I’m not joking, Serge.” Cecily stepped in, “Jorgen was actually the Head General back when we first joined his gang. It’s only because we overtook the gang that he got pushed down a step, but apart from that I’d even say he’s a more capable General than us.”

He finally began to realize that his brother might’ve become successful outside of their home country, something every family member just can’t seem to accept as a fact. Truly, Jorgen’s exploits are worthy of a folk tale that is to be passed down through thousands of generations.

“H-Hold on, I feel like you’re skipping way too many plot points here.” Pierre chuckled anxiously, “Run me through the entire story real quick, because I’m not following at all…”

***

Regaling him with our entire story, with Nelly listening in as well, we had both of them completely enamored by our little joint recreation. We had actually garnered a bit of an audience at the dock with this impromptu play of ours, albeit they didn’t understand a word we were saying because they only spoke Aurolian, but I guess our whacky gesticulations were enough for them.

“And that’s when I was commissioned by the heinous ITA organization to go on an expedition to Sibirus, Ed went back to our home in Trivis Numerica, and Cecily stayed in Great Hiana to wait for me and take care of Nelly and the gang herself.” I just finished telling the story.

“Yeah,” Cecily then added something unnecessary, “And that’s when this guy right here met another woman and got a bit too friendly with her while he was away from his family.”

“…Sorry.” I once again didn’t have anything to say against that.

“What a fun stowy!” Nelly gave us a round of applause, “But what happened to mom’s bwothew? You guys just suddenly stopped talking about him completely awound the end of the stowy.”

This keen observation was a bit difficult to explain to her. Certainly, there was no way out of this predicament without explaining to Nelly just where she came from, but we’d essentially be hitting her with a one-two combo if we continued. Basically, we can’t really say that Cecily’s brother, and thus her Uncle, Carter, had died saving her, as she’d feel a huge wave of regret over it. On the other hand, we’d also indirectly be telling her that she’s adopted.

Glancing over at Cecily with a panicked expression that said What now?! I had kind of expected her to just coldly spill the beans, as she had always wanted to tell Nelly about the person that saved her life, but it seems she too was a bit apprehensive about the idea.

“W-Well Nel, you see…” She tried to dance around the question, “Carter is, well, how do I put it, in a better place?”

“Ah.” She immediately understood before looking down to the ground, “Is that so… How did it happen?”

“He saved you from a burning building.” I explained, “Him and I got you out of there when you weren’t even a year old. I got out with you, but he sadly didn’t make it.”

I had expected her to begin crying, or at least weeping about finally hearing this whole revelation, despite us somehow managing to avoid the topic of her being adopted, but she was surprisingly quiet about it. Figures, I mean, she’s never even met Carter to her knowledge, so hearing this probably doesn’t change anything.

“Did you make a monument fow him?” She posed an adorably heart-wrenching question.

“We didn’t go that far, but we did properly bury him in the local cemetery at Bilgam.”

“Huh.” She once again looked at a single point on the ground before quietly asking, “…Can we visit him?”

It was incredibly kind of her. To respect all that Carter did for her despite never actually having met the guy, it really showed how well Cecily taught her about proper respect and manners. Her wishing us her best wishes and solemnly giving us her condolences years after his passing was actually quite cute as well.

Cecily and I have reached a point where we’ve all but accepted Carter’s death. He was a great man, but life goes on, even without him by our side. In any case, both of us have reached the final stage of grief when it comes to him, plus if he didn’t go in that building that day, then Nelly wouldn’t be here silently mourning him.

“Of course we can, and we will.” I scruffled Nelly’s hair as I gave her lots of headpats, “But not right now. You’re gonna have to wait a bit, because we’ve gotta go to Cardina for a few years before we can go back there.”

“Because of that bad lady that sepawated us fwom Uncle Meil?”

“Yeah, but don’t worry.” Cecily pointed out, “It’ll be tons of fun in Cardina as well!”

Boarding the boat after so long, we had gazed down at the dock to wave Pierre goodbye. He stopped showing his sadness about our departure in favor of sending us off with a smile. Particularly a smile that was aimed at Nelly.

You see, before we actually got to the dock, Nelly had offered to give back Sir Teddington, the teddy bear that belonged to Pierre previously, but he instead turned down the offer with a proud smile. “I think Sir Teddington is happier with you, so make sure to take good care of him, and remember your good old pal Pierre whenever you feel troubled about anything, okay?”

That being said, the proud smile aimed towards Nelly quickly became one of slyness, as he winked at her just as the boat was leaving the dock. This little signal prompted Nelly to enact their (supposedly) planned plot, and so while the boat was rocking heavily, making both Cecily’s and mine footing unsteady, she had decided to push Cecily towards me.

“Mwahaha!” She laughed manically, expecting Cecily and me to hug accidentally or something, “Ah.”

In the end, the rocking of the boat grew too unsteady, and in trying to catch Cecily before she could fall, we had accidentally kissed. Nelly was a bit anxious about the plan not going as expected, but from the look on Pierre’s face all the way down by the dock, it seems like everything was going swimmingly.