When the royal peacekeepers arrived, they found the four travelers sitting on the ruins of the mansion. They weren't fatally injured, thanks to the fast reflexes of the Scientist. She had pulled them all down and opened the canopy of the brella, which had shielded them from the chaos. They told the commander of the peacekeepers what had happened, and he sent out a search party to look for Octostein. But he was nowhere to be found, neither in the ruins, or in the forest. It was like he evaporated. After a few hours he sent for a wagon to take the four travelers back to the castle, since their horses had been scared away in the explosion. When they got back to the castle, the lord welcomed them with open arms, and offered them hot food, and cozy beds. They all slept that night, all dreaming about darkness that was lit up by red stars.

The next morning, the Assassin was counting gold when the others joined her by the table. "Got your share as well?" the Warrior said and held up a big purse that tingled as she shook it. "Yes," the Assassin said and put the gold back into the bag. "This sure will be useful."

"Agreed," the Gunslinger said. "25.000 gold ain't half bad, if I do say so myself."

"Speaking of that," the Assassin said and looked up. "Now that all of this is over, I suppose you'll want to turn me in? Get that 10.000 gold of yours."

The Gunslinger stared at the wall, her face expressionless. The Warrior put a hand on the handle of her roller, concern in her eyes. The Scientist bent over the table, and looked at the other two with very serious eyes. "Look, guys…" she started, but the Assassin interrupted her. "Let her answer. Then we'll decide how we solve it."

The Gunslinger sat still, and stared at the wall, thinking. "I usually take in lawbreakers," she said after a while. "A girl's gotta eat. That's how it works. I get the money, I survive to capture more lawbreakers and then it'll go on forever until the day I die."

She looked at the Assassin. "If you would've asked me this question a week ago, then I would've said yes."

The Assassin met her eyes. "And now?"

The Gunslinger smiled. "I guess it's okay to avert your eyes over lawbreakers every once in a while. There are hundreds of them out there, does one really matter? Besides, what kind of a friend am I if I were to turn in one of my friends?"

The Assassin laughed. "So, we're friends now huh? I must admit, that was an answer I was not expecting from you."

The Gunslinger laughed. The tension in the room broke and they all started laughing, over nothing in particular. Probably about the fact that they had all survived.

They stayed in the castle for a few days, but they all knew there would come a day when they all had to go separate ways. Now, they were standing by the gate of the castle, waving goodbyes to the residents inside. Then they turned and walked down the road. After a moment of silence, the Scientist said. "You guys know this isn't really over. Octostein is still out there. And we have no idea what Delta's plan was."

The others remained silent. They had avoided this subject to not spoil the enjoyment of victory, but now that they were parting ways, they had to discuss this. "It's no longer our problem," the Gunslinger said. "I don't care about it anymore."

The look in her eyes and the tone of her voice said otherwise. The Assassin sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, there's nothing we can do. The peaceful have looked all around the area around the mansion and haven't found a single trace of him. I would love to go after him and finish him off, but I wouldn't know where to start. It's best to move forward with our lives, and if I find traces of him, I'll determine everything I've got to find him. But for now, we can't do anything except move forward."

The Warrior sighed and looked at the sunrise. "She's right. We have to move forward. But if we find any trace of him, we should contact each other so that we can come to each other's aid as soon as possible!"

The Gunslinger nodded. "Indeed. If you want to contact me, just send a letter to the post office in Inkopolis. I go there at the end of each month."

The Scientist scribbled something on a piece of paper. "Here is the address of my lab, just send a letter to there."

She handed one to each of them. The Warrior handed another piece of paper to them as well. "Here is the address of my friend. She takes my letters and I visit her every month."

The Assassin laughed and put the address into her pocket. "If you want to contact me, just leave a letter at any post office, I'll pick it up eventually!"

"That doesn't sound reassuring," the Warrior said and smiled. They walked in silence until they came to the crossroads. They stopped and faced each other. "So, I suppose this will be goodbyes then?" the Scientist said and smiled a faint smile. The Gunslinger chuckled. "After everything we've been through together, this is probably the hardest."

They hugged each other one last time. "Now, don't go fighting some evil freaks without me, and none of you have permission to die!" the Assassin said and pointed at them. They laughed. "I hope our paths cross again under better circumstances!" the Warrior said. "But until then, goodbye!"

Then they turned in separate directions and walked into a new dawn of their lives.