“Thank you so much for coming over and telling us about Marina.” Minerva escorted us outside the clinic, “And remember, you’re welcome to stop by whenever you’re in the area!”

“Of course, thank you for having us.” I waved back, “Oh and… I’m sorry for acting up, sir.”

“Hm?” Richard grunted, “I don’t care.”

“But you should!” I suddenly got a bright idea, “Actually, how about we make it even? Come on, you’re free to get a good swing back at me!”

“I’m a doctor, sonny. I don’t hurt people.”

“Come on, we’re both men! I can take it-!”

Barely even finishing the sentence, I felt the rage of Auros approach me at an alarming speed. That punch had killing intent in it, surely. Well, it’s still pretty heavy and slow, so I could’ve easily dodged it, but then that’d defeat the entire purpose of me telling him to punch me back. In the end, the only thing I could do was brace myself and try to not die.

That being said, I certainly couldn’t hold out against the difference in our builds. I wouldn’t say I’m skinny, but I’m definitely lighter than this guy. The actual punch wasn’t the issue, since as he said, he’s not used to fighting. But the thing that got me was his inertia, actually. Since he was way heavier than me, it felt more like he literally pushed me with his knuckles, sending me flying back at mach speed.

“Oh? Sorry about that.” He chuckled, “Didn’t think you couldn’t handle that much. Should I have held back? Ow ow ow, M-Minerva, okay, I’ll apologize! Sorry!”

Pinching him by the ear, the petite glasses-wearing doctor had immediately brought this hunk of muscle down to his knees. “You better! That boy’s been through hell and back, not to mention he’s still our son-in-law! I’m sure there are many ways to express your macho manliness, but this certainly isn’t the time for such antics!”

“N-No, I’m quite alright.” I spat out blood, “It was quite the blow. Sir, I kind of respect you more after this.”

“See?” Richard patted me on the back, “This kid’s tough as nails! Which only makes me wonder… Why couldn’t you have saved my daughter?”

Suddenly, the air got cold. His question wasn’t one of anger or disappointment. Rather, he was genuinely looking for an answer as to why his daughter didn’t make it. I see now, I’m not the only one suffering her loss. In the end, it’s just as Minerva said, the one’s that suffer the most are the ones that grieve the deceased, not the other way around.

“I would…”

I would do anything to bring her back, I wanted to say, but held my breath before continuing after seeing his tears slowly trickle out. No, I can’t say that, that’s too horrible of a thing to say. Finally, I guess he too read the room and realized he put me on the spot, so he decided to change the topic quickly.

“Listen kid, you weren’t strong enough to protect my daughter.” He said, grappling onto my shoulder and squeezing it tight enough to hurt, “So don’t make the same mistake this time. A couple years down the line, you better come visit us again. All three of you.”

“We will.” I said resolutely, “No matter what, because we’re family.”

***

After waving them goodbye, we hopped onto the transport wagon headed for Orientalia, or rather it’s capital, Zlatina. Actually, sitting in the wagon, I had only now realized that I had basically told Marina’s parents that I’ll drag Cecily and Nelly over to Montes once again. Well, that’s fine, isn’t it? Because I want to stay with them. It’s selfish, but I want Cecily to look my way again, just like before.

“Lune, this makes your fourth completed continent, right?” Cecily noticed, “You really have traveled a lot, haven’t you?”

“Eh? Really?” I counted on my fingers, “Now that I think about it, you’re right! Since Sibirus and Abyssus Solis don’t have countries, just stepping foot on them completes them, and Sulfury has only three now, all of them being ones I’ve ventured through. Oh, but Cardina’s the only one that feels like an achievement.”

“Yeah, those others don’t have nearly as much in them as Cardina does. But it still can’t beat Great Hiana, right?” She said, proudly sticking out her chest.

“Heh, you wish!” I shot back, “It’s like you’ve never been to Trivis Numerica! Come on, you can’t honestly tell me that the endless greenery of Secundis beats out that dull old place!”

“Dull?! Are you hearing yourself? Great Hiana is called Great for a reason! It’s so showy, so decorated, so colorful… It’s got everything!”

Well, it seems like she doesn’t mind what I said back then, so I’ll just indulge in the moment a bit more and have fun. Even still, I don’t think any of the places we’ve visited so far had any good living conditions for a family of three. Well, all of them except for…

“The inn near the Grys Estate.” I noted, “Unless Orientalia has something that’ll blow me away, I think that’s our best bet if we wanna enjoy some peace and quiet for the next couple of years.”

“What ever happened to that island you bought and renamed?” Cecily pointed out.

“I don’t have fond memories of that place, so I’d rather not go there for a while. My heart won’t be able to take it.”

She finally realized why I was so apprehensive about going to Lichtenstelle, so she quickly apologized before turning awkward. Finally deciding to continue moving the conversation forward, she was actually the one to mention Marina this time.

“Ed said that he was the one that… fired.” She twiddled her thumbs, “I can’t imagine him getting so angry, but is it really true?”

“Uncle Ed?” Nelly questioned.

Looks like they didn’t let Nelly hear Ed’s story when he came back. That, or she was just too disinterested to care, but I’d like to think it’s the former.

“Yeah, we got into quite the argument.” I scratched my cheek, “But it wasn’t his fault. He fired on accident, you know that?”

“Yeah, but still…”

“Look, I wasn’t thinking straight. If anything, it’s my fault for suggesting we duke it out in the first place. That being said, I did tell him to leave the AFP behind, but he refused to.”

“That guy…” She sounded angered.

“Hey, were you even listening to a word I said?” I frowned, “Listen, it’s not his fault. He was just doing what he thought was right, and the gun fired off on accident. He never had any intentions to harm either one of us. The person isn’t the one at fault, it’s the gun itself.”

“I…!” She tried to shoot back, but quickly toned down, “I understand. Sorry for getting riled up.”

“Hehe, don’t worry about it!” I thought this was the right moment, “That’s what I like about you.”

Since we were sitting right next to each other, with Cecily being the one in between Nelly and me, I swooped in and put my hands around Cecily’s shoulder, before giving her a light peck on the forehead. She kind of fought back, but I already resolved myself to try and win her over again. You ain’t getting away from this one, Missy!

“H-Hey, not the time!” She tried pushing me away.

“Oh? So there is a time for such acts after all? Didn’t you say that was a one-off thing?”

“Of course it was, you just surprised me, so I accidentally said something strange!” She yelped, “Nelly, help me out here!”

“Hm…” Nelly thought long and hard, “Do I save mom, ow wingwoman dad?”

“Get him off me, dammit!” Cecily’s words finally sprung her up into action, as Nelly quickly began peeling her mother away from me. Dang.

“Oh, looks like we’re here!” I said, wiping the sweat off of my forehead after a tough scuffle.

“Geez, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden?” Cecily fixed herself up.

Zlatina was a rather modern capital city, at least when compared to the other countries. In short, it was breathtaking. Huge lit up signs that pointed to a nearby restaurant, buildings that scraped the sky with their height, and even some modified transport wagons that looked way cooler and more compact.

This whole place seemed like it was on the cutting edge of technology, constantly praising change in its endless quest to become the very definition of ‘modern’.

“Whoaaa~!” Nelly marveled at the sights, “I’m hungwy!”

“Seriously?” I couldn’t believe my ears, “After witnessing all this beauty, food is the first thing that comes to your mind?!”

“I think you’re just the only tech-nut here, Lune.” Cecily chuckled, “Besides, the reason she’s suddenly hungry is probably because of all these signs up here that have huge images of tasty looking foods.”

“Ah, those are called billboards.” The wagon driver said as he gave us our luggage, “Honestly, I really hate this place. It’s not a livable city, everything just feels so… fake, if you catch my drift.”

“Yeah, I definitely understand.” I agreed, “But I’ll bet they’re doing amazing with the tourists. I mean, this whole place feels like it’s built solely for them, after all.”

“Well, no duh.” He chuckled as he entered the wagon, “Orientalia is like that. It’s pretty close to the Kingdom of Carmen, ‘the center of the world’ as they call it. But that also means it’s got a great climate, it’s got it’s very own shore, thus tons of tropical beaches. Like, you’d think it’s the perfect place to live, but the fact is that it digs too deep of a hole in your wallet to do so comfortably.”

Ah, so he was talking about money the entire time, not just the vibe. I guess I can sort of sympathize, because most of the money I have is going to Nelly’s and Meil’s college funds, so it’s not like I’m loaded now or anything. Certainly, this place is only good to visit for a couple days, tops. Nothing more.

“Where should we go to first?” Cecily asked.

“I want to eat that thing on the postew!” Nelly piped up.

“Humu, switching to your old ways, are you?” Cecily grinned heinously, “You do know those all contain meat, right?”

“Urk! Then I guess I’ll skip food today…”

Seeing them bicker amongst themselves like this made for a cute sight. Shame I won’t be able to document it. If only I had a camera…

“Wait, what’s that over there?” I turned to a local street seller, “Sir, don’t tell me, could that be…?!”

“Keen eye, Mister!” The businessman gave me a kind smile, “This right here is the state of the art new image making hardware! The device allows one to take a picture and keep it for themselves, no more sitting around for hours until the sloppy artists do you dirty in that godforsaken painting of theirs!”

Well, I don’t think you should badmouth artists that much, but I do agree that it’s an incredible device! So I guess this guy takes pictures and then sells them, I presume? Way to go, entrepreneur!

“Yep, that’s what this is! The device’s name is none other than…!”

“A camera!” I yelled, immediately switching to tech-nerd mode, “Why, I’ve never seen one in my life, but I’ve heard all about it! Oh, the components are so tiny! Were they made by a watchmaker or something?! Such level of precision…!”

“Eh, he-heh…” The entrepreneur seemed scared, “Y’know, I can take a picture of you and your family, he-heh… For a price…”

“REALLY?!” I jumped in joy, “Please do!”

Finally, I get to experience it! Novelty, the thing I’ve most been searching for, and with whom better to share it with than with my very own beloved family! That being said, Nelly and Cecily didn’t believe in the power a camera beheld, but I assured them it’s well worth the 10k Shils I paid for it (well, maybe I did overspend a bit…)

“Scoot closer, come on, you’re not in the shot!” The photographer yelled, pinching with his one hand as if to gesture what he wanted us to do.

“Shot!?” Cecily winced, “Lune, you said this thing isn’t dangerous! Now I’m scared!”

“Haha, calm down, would ya’!” I chuckled, once again pulling her close to myself, “Now, smile and say cheese!”

“C-Cheese?” The edge of Nelly’s mouth began drooling, “Now I’m hungwy…”

And just like that, the photographer took the shot. With a strong blinding light, it was over. A small piece of paper popped out of the little box like device, he shook it under the sun a couple times and brought it in for processing. Apparently, that piece of paper is called a Polaroid, and the image doesn’t show up until you properly process it. Cool, right?

“That was scary…” Cecily heaved a sigh of relief, “I was sure we were gonna die when that light came on.”

“Do you really have no faith in me?” I chuckled, “See, Nelly’s just fine, right Nelly?”

“Hungwy…”

Yeah, she’s fine. That being said, we talked a bit more before the businessman came back and gave us our Polaroid, snickering with every step. Looking at the picture, you could immediately tell three things off in the image – I was guffawing so hard I had my eyes closed, Cecily looked scared out of her mind, and Nelly was drooling. Yep, that’s what the Grimhearts will be remembered as. Now I’m kind of experiencing buyer’s remorse for those 10k Shils…