“Everything must come to an end eventually.” - Old folk saying.

“So, how do you two feel? We’re about to head back home after this. The years sure flew by, did it not?” Aideen asked as she scooped a heaping portion of the dish set on the large communal platter in the middle of the low table to her plate. “Wishing the little mission would last longer? Or can’t wait till you get back home?”

Time had indeed flown by, though Aideen’s group went through their mission in the north far ahead of their schedule. Typically, it was far from uncommon for a team of agents to spend five years to a decade for a single trek around the Northern Regions, and a second team would be dispatched to follow their route while they were still halfway through their own, and so on. Perhaps because things mostly worked out smoothly for Aideen’s group, however, they found themselves at the end of their route after merely a year and a half on the road.

Part of it was because their little group was indeed rather overpowered for such a simple mission. A more typical team of agents would be nowhere near as dangerous or versatile as Aideen, Kino, and Eilonwy. They had the option to simply break through situations that would have been quite troublesome for most agents through brute force, if needed.

Still, it doesn’t change the fact that the mission ended up taking less time than what they had expected.

“I guess it was an interesting outing, though it ended sooner than I thought,” replied Eilonwy to the question, a notion that her siblings supported as they nodded along with her. “Still, wouldn’t mind taking another such trip or two in the future, when the mood strikes. Was a pretty fun experience overall, I’d say, other than a few annoying people.”

“I agree, I think it’s a pretty valuable experience,” added Kino with a nod to what Eilonwy said. “Definitely broadened my horizons a bit, which I do feel could use some more broadening. I guess staying at home and never going elsewhere isn’t that good to do for too long,” she noted. “It is quite interesting to see people from so many different walks of life.”

“We just feel that you could have stayed another year or two so we could have more vacation time,” quipped Áine with a chuckle. “Just kidding, Aunt. Besides, though this part of the trip is done, it’s not like we can immediately go home anyway, no? We’re still far in the north and would have to travel quite a bit more to get to the Lichdom.”

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“You thought right,” Aideen replied. “From Assadun our fastest route back to the Lichdom is to go through the desert, but it’s not like we’re in a hurry so there’s no need to do that,” she noted, “Instead, since you all already joined us, we might as well extend this into a bit of a sightseeing trip, so we could head to the east to the Jarldoms and either enter the Lichdom that way, or if you’re interested, take a glance at what Vitalica is up to before we go home instead. They’ve been oddly quiet of late.”

“Ooh. Actually spying on an enemy country. Now that’s an interesting idea,” said Eilonwy with obvious interest. “I’d be up for that if the others don’t mind. What do you think? Áine? Rhys? Kino?”

“Sounds interesting,” admitted Áine. “That said, I could also see that ending up with us being chased out of the place by an angry mob with torches and pitchforks… Ah, hell, whatever, sure, why not?”

“I can’t really let the two of you go alone, now can I? Someone has to be the responsible one amongst us three,” chimed in Rhys rather annoyedly. “That said, I don’t think I’ll be changing your minds even if I say no, so I guess you could count me in as well. Got to have someone keep watch over you two troublemakers instead of troubling Great-Aunt all the time.”

“I guess we’re going anyway, but I’m interested too, Miss Aideen,” said Kino in the end, being her usual timid self. “I don’t think I’ve ever been to Vitalica, so it would be rather interesting to see how things are over there.”

“That’s all of us for going through Vitalica, then, so I guess our path is settled,” said Aideen as she acknowledged the choice made by the other four. She still considered them all as her charges, even if the mission was technically over, so she would tag along to watch over them regardless. “Anyway, fill yourselves up while we’re here. It will be a while before we get to eat northern cuisine again after we leave.”

The others nodded as they too reached and served themselves portions from the communal plates that held their food. The eatery they were in served up some typical fare of the region, with the staple food being tiny spheres made from a local grain that had been ground into flour and then steamed, served with a variety of dishes from the region.

While the flour spheres were plain in flavor and mostly served to fill up one’s stomach, they did have a pleasant consistency to chew on and took well to the flavor of whatever they were eaten with. To that purpose, they were served with a variety of strongly flavored local dishes, some of which were rarely seen elsewhere.

One such dish was a vegetable stew of sorts that mostly consisted of the tender insides of a cactus plant, which had a fibrous texture and a bit of a tangy sweetness to itself, turned into a pleasant stew that married their natural flavor with a hint of spiciness and savoriness. The stew also included chunks of another local plant which had thick leaves with transparent insides. Those chunks had a fresh crunch to them and further contributed to the meal after one got used to them.

Paired with the vegetable stew was a platter of slow-cooked camel meat, which practically swam in a heavy sauce that was made with its own rendered fats. The meat was so tender that it broke apart with a touch while the rich sauce conveyed both the flavor of the natural juices rendered from the meat as well as the spices it had been cooked with.