Chapter 71

The message from family started with, 'Ko-san... We miss you.'

"Pause." I said quietly, taking a deep breath and just... looking at them.

I didn't like long trips away from home. After that mess in Kuoh, even if it had been instrumental in fixing the rest of Orario, every time I ended up away from home for more than a week or so, I started to get this little feeling in the back of my mind. Would something happen without me there to help?

Thanks to the best Goddess ever, some of the things I missed were... met half way. Like the first steps of my children.

So, I spent the next few minutes just looking for things that might have changed. Kinza, Haruhime and Aisha's daughter, was the most noticeable. But the little terror was still sleeping as much as being grumpy about everything that dared to cross her path. One day, I would get a smile from her that didn't involve tickling.

The rest of the children... They were all showing real differences in height now. Nothing drastic, but it was clear who was going to take after me when it came to how tall they were going to get.

Aisha was... Aisha. The only difference with her, was that she was willingly holding a child in her arms, as opposed to 'arms length' when they needed a change. Same smile, same curves, same confidence.

And Haruhime... Just as beautiful as always. Elegance, poise, quiet strength...

But she was worried. I could see the ever so slight fraying around her edges. Her hair just slightly out of place, a little tuft of fur that hadn't been brushed properly on one of her tails, ever so slight darkening under her eyes.

"Quite the portrait." Glass interrupted my examination, reminding me the rest of the world existed outside the little pool of light the screen was emitting. "And this device... I have never seen the like. Is it using an illusion magic?"

I resisted the impulse to wrap my fist around her prison and scream into it, and instead replied with, "That's my family. Wife, children, our occasional extra, their child. And before you ask, yes, magic was involved in that."

"How crude of you to assume..." A pause, "I will admit, the likeness had me curious, yes."

"As for the device..." I sighed, seeing the power bar in the upper corner of HIDA's screen tick down a percent. "Remind me later, and I'll try and explain."

"Very well. I may do as such."

"Hida? Resume please."

The normally cheerful avatar replied with a quiet, "Sure thing Boss."

They had exactly nothing to say about my situation. No information. No advice. Nothing that would directly help me get home.

But for the next three minutes and thirty seven seconds, they did their very best to remind me why I wanted to get home. For just under four minutes, they all tried to compress all the encouragement I'd ever given them, and send it back to me.

Everything from, 'try your best!' and 'we'll have cookies for you when you get back' or 'all of our friends are making sure you don't need to worry about us' and I think my favourite one, 'Aunt Eina and Uncle Royman are waiting for you to get back!'

It was a hundred percent just for me. Every little bit of it.

Glass, despite her situation, was still courteous enough to hold her comment until I'd watched it all a second time.

"You have quite the homecoming to return to."

"Every soldier fights for a different reason. That's mine."

Then she ruined it with, "It is a shame you will not win."

I couldn't be angry. I mean, I wanted to be angry, but my emotions were all used up for the moment. "We can debate on that later. But for now..." I sighed. "Hida? Thank you. I think we have about a half hour before Raphtalia comes to make sure I sleep."

Yes, my family had reminded me, all at once (except Kinza, though she gave me 'the little glare') to make sure I took care of myself.

"Even if you read at double the normal speed, I don't think you'll get through all the stuff I have for you in a half hour." Hida said, "Did you want to try?"

"No. There will be time for that later. My party and I need to get ready for the next encounter, and I have no functional armour past this thing here." I swished at the Shield with a tail, "Is either the Black or White armour in your files someplace?"

Pause. Then, "Yes. I even have compressed files for 3D printing! Though seeing the technology level of this place, I might as well scrap them for storage..."

"No no. Keep those. If they're in anything like AUTOCAD, then it can be used for reference. My shape might also have changed, since... weirdness happened when I got here. So let's update my measurements, and if you could compile a bit of a refit while I go and sleep?"

"Sure! Just put me on the little stand again, and..."

Almost right on cue, to the giggles of Rifana, Raphtalia showed up just as I was getting my clothes back on. She at least had the decorum (or was too shocked to act) to wait until I'd finished dressing to reach for my ear.

With Rifana's help, we made a little hiding spot for HIDA, just in case. And then, I allowed Raphtalia to lead me away. My willingness dissuaded her from pulling me by my poor ear, but only just.

"How's the village?" I asked, trying very hard to keep the image of my family back home out of my head for the moment. It would have been worse than having baby-brain if I gave in, and well...

"Kodori?" Raphtalia brought me out of the exact thing I was trying to avoid.

"Sorry..." I sighed, "That little black box was from my world. And it has..." I waved it off, "I'll try and focus."

She ahem'ed, "While we were away, before the wave, everyone worked on the basics. There is enough temporary shelter for everyone now, farms have been marked out... again..."

It was my turn to keep her on task, and I put my hand on her shoulder, "Go on."

"The grove of trees you planted with the weird seeds are all set to be cut down. The fox-berries are very popular and have been supplementing the food being brought in by Mr. Hickwaal. Um..." She thought for a moment, "We have some people who want to talk to you about things we can't get locally, but they didn't want to tell me first."

I frowned, but I made sure to exaggerate the expression a little, just so I didn't look angry. "Well, that won't do. You are the land holder. Oh, sure, the Queen might send a noble over to 'oversee' things, but past doing royal paperwork and keeping track of taxes, you will be the one in charge."

"But!" She lowered her voice a little, the outburst getting the attention of a few people as we walked 'into' Lurolona (really just the edge of the graveyard and a few people working on getting materials out here to build things). "But... If I stay and lead, I can't go and help you..."

The look of insecurity on her face made me think of the first time I asked her name, and it hurt.

"So then, you have to appoint someone." I said, giving one of her ears a tiny pull, then a little scratch. "You are in charge, but just like I do with you, you have to learn to delegate tasks. Just make sure you trust them, and know they have some idea of what they are doing."

She pouted at the 'punishment', but nodded without pushing my hand away. "Well..." She let me continue patting her ears for a moment longer, then shook her head, "As someone who knows what they are doing, what would you suggest?"

I made a show of patting one of my tails thoughtfully, but was really looking down the 'street' (hard packed dirt) towards where our wagon was parked next to the only building with lights on. It was where we had put 'the barracks' where most of the older people would be sheltering until individual homes were built, while the 'tent field' was just past that, sheltering those who could survive a bit of rougher living.

"Well, I'll give you a couple suggestions, and we can tell them when we get there." I motioned with my other hand.

I made a point to stay out of 'the barracks' until Raphtalia had entered and started talking. Until then, I greeted the rest of my party as they left the wagon to greet me. Clive got a handshake and shoulder pat. Usa too. Tetsu demanded a hug (and got one). And the tiger siblings each got a pat on the shoulder, then a little push to get them to join me and see how Raphtalia was doing.

"-going to continue travelling with the hero. But, owning the land doesn't mean much if I don't know what to do with it."

In front of her, were many of our older citizens, as well as mothers and children. Other things had also been crammed in here, like a small kitchen and some storage for stuff that needed to stay out of the weather.

Of course, I got just about everyone's attention just by showing up, but instead of waving, or saying anything, I walked directly to the side of the entrance, knelt, and looked to Raphtalia. My party mimicked me. It was another trick I learned from the bunch in Kuoh, making yourself seem less important as quickly as possible, by paying attention to the person speaking. It was also used by students who entered quietly during a lecture, in hopes of avoiding trouble from the teacher.

I did get a few disappointed looks, but the 'wiser' of those present caught on and ignored me. "Well, when Lord Seaetto was around, he just let us do what was needed. When we had a problem, we went to the elder, and if he couldn't figure it out, he went to Lord Seaetto."

Aha, Raphtalia had used my second suggestion, 'ask how it worked before'. Sure, she was part of the town before, but she was ten years old and didn't know anything about anything when it came to building a town. 'Grown up' but not a 'Grownup', she still understood the value of experience.

"Well... I guess I need a volunteer." Raphtalia said, "We may not have an overseer from the Queen for a little while. But we still need to work on a chain of command."

I didn't recognize Ake out of his armour until he spoke, "Well, why not have a council of advisors? My orders from the Queen are to protect the town and train whomever asks, so I could handle that part."

"I've spent most of my life handling animals."

"My husband ran our only tavern."

"Raised more barns than I can count."

"Been cutting lumber so long my skin looks like bark!"

Then someone (one of the younger looking people in the room) asked the 'forbidden question'.

"What does the Hero think?"

But, I'd been expecting that. "I think Raphtalia has things under control." Again, I got a few looks of disappointment. I stood though, and stood behind her, once again putting my supposed 'importance' behind hers. "While I'm here, I will help with whatever she asks. She's earned my full support here."

This also told them she was the only leader I'd support. And while I doubted anyone was willing to betray not just 'the Shield hero' but a fellow survivor of the village before it all went sideways, it was a clear message all the same.

I woke suddenly, my hand coming up and capturing someone's wrist as it made to cover my mouth. The skin was unfamiliar under my palm, but as I met the eyes of the one standing over me, I relaxed a little. But just a little.

Sadeena had a finger across her lips (four of four worlds used 'the shush' sign it seemed), and she tugged her hand a little to get me to let go. I obliged, and she stepped back on silent feet, motioning me to follow.

As quietly as I could, I sat up, got to my feet, adjusted my house kimono (I was starting to really miss sleeping naked) and followed her as she left the wagon. Before I did though, I looked back to where Usa was sleeping, shook my head 'no', and followed.

We were most of the way to the beach when I finally spoke, "That was the first night we haven't posted a watch in ages, and you ruined it."

She looked back over her shoulder, but said nothing as she continued. It wasn't until we were both at the edge of the water line, where the ocean lapped at the nice white sand, that she turned and spoke. "What are you thinking?" She hissed, "She's still just a child!"

I looked at her, dumbfounded, "Wait... That's your problem? You're upset I'm letting her take charge?" I sighed, shook my head, and started to turn back the way we'd come. "This is just not worth my sleep..."

I stopped in mid step as that fancy two pronged spear sank into the sand in front of me.

So, I put my foot down, and turned my head to face her. "You have some serious problems, you know that?" I said to her flatly.

"You don't get to walk away from me." She said, "Ever since you showed up-"

Before she could get started, I pulled out that bottle of 'rucolu brandy' I had made, and tossed it at her. Even if she was an Orca with a high tolerance, the stuff was close to 'weapons grade', like the barrels the Queen had dropped into the water to kill the sharks.

"That's what you want, isn't it?" I said as she caught the bottle. "Right now, I don't give a damn what you think about me. I don't care what problems you think I've caused, or am causing right now. You woke me from the best sleep I've had since arriving, for some kind of petty grievance, and are about to get violent when all I've done is... what?"

"You have no idea-"

"Still don't care." I said over her again, "When I heard about your goal, back in Zeltobe, I was disgusted. Absolutely and totally." I pointed at her, "Second place in the arena. Not bad at all. Great way to make money too! Except-"

She tossed the bottle back at me to interrupt, "Except you walked right in and bought them all first!"

I put the bottle back into the Shield, "Because you were drinking all your profits away." I growled, "You were almost literally pissing your money away, instead of actually accomplishing your goal. Every time I saw you, you mentioned 'drinking', 'leaving the bar' or 'stayed sober for the fight'."

I could see her bristling, her temper starting to boil, "You don't understand! I-"

"Was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and you blame yourself." I said coldly, "Raphtalia told me about it. You were off fishing, the Wave hit, and by the time you got back, the knights had already come in and done their work."

If she were my enemy, I'd have been amused at just how angry she was. "I couldn't find the knights who did it, so I tracked down where most of them had been sold." She said, that anger hitting a fever pitch, then just... dissolving. "But you had not only bought them back, but the others too from the Castle Town. Not just that..." She sat down in the sand, "You found a bunch of the Knights responsible, enslaved them, and even killed Idol."

The first step to resolving a problem, is admitting it exists. So, I kept silent.

"You made it look trivial." She sighed, "Everything I'd been working at, done in less time, and by someone who hardly knew anything about the world! And you even took care of Raphtalia! And she's older than you!"

"It was hardly trivial." I said finally, "And only her body is older." I corrected, "Your world isn't the only one with weird magic."

"You know what? You win." She said, "Go back to sleep, I don't care anymore." And with that, she just flopped back onto the sand and made a 'shoo' gesture with one hand.

I looked at her for a long moment, shook my head, and replied, "No."

She sat up and looked at me, "No?"

I walked towards her, "No."

"Why? You want to fight then?" She started to push herself up.

But I just slid my foot through the sand under her hand, and she fell onto her back again, "Because you are Raphtalia's friend. And because you are wrong. You do care, and I haven't 'won'. I don't win until I'm back in my own world, with my own family. And you care enough that your bad luck is eating you up inside."

I sat next to her, "Bad luck?" She started to raise her voice a little, "Bad luck?" She sat up again, "You call failing to protect everyone, failing to save everyone afterwards, and even failing to catch the ones responsible, bad luck?"

"Only the first part. But that led to everything else. You can only be responsible for what is in your reach. You weren't here to protect them, because you were out there," I made an 'over there' motion with my hand towards the ocean, "getting food for them."

"Oh, sure, and the instant I think of a plan, I screw it all up and start drowning my sorrows in every tavern I can find."

"Your plan only failed because you were alone." I said, "You were left alone with your thoughts of self doubt and regret, and went to deal with it on your own."

We sat there in silence, save for the noise of the ocean. Then she asked, "So why did you put her in charge?"

Her emotions seemed to have settled, though I was pretending not to notice the 'salt in her eyes'. "I told you. When the waves are done, I'm gone. If she wanted to come home with me, I wouldn't say no. But I would rather she found purpose here."

"She's still only a child. No matter how she looks."

"So? She's wise enough to ask an expert when she doesn't know the answer, instead of putting her head down and charging. That kind of humility is something every leader should have."

"How..."

"Look." I said as her voice faltered, "The bravest thing anyone can do, is admit they were wrong, and ask for help. You've already admitted one, now you have to ask for the other."

Again, a long moment of silence, then, "How can she help me... I'm the strongest, or at least, I'm supposed to be."

"Spar with her. You might be surprised at how strong she is now. A..." I stopped myself from saying 'all that booze has made you soft', but no, that would have been a total lie. "All that time in my party has taught her a lot. I mean, she's killed not only the Tyrant Dragon Rex, but got the killing strike on the last two Wave bosses."

"Huh... suppose I might." She sighed, laying back down, "But tomorrow."

I stood and pulled a blanket from the Shield, "Raphtalia would be sad if you caught a cold or something." I dropped the blanket on her, then turned to leave, "Oh, another on the list of 'bravest things you can do' is accepting the opinions of others. She still thinks you're amazing."

"You're a sap, you know that?"

"Rather be a sap than be lost in self pity. You're not alone anymore, so you have no excuse to not ask for help."

"ma'am?" Usa asked quietly as I returned to the wagon as quietly as I could.

"just a chat."

"okay." And he rolled over.

Even with the interrupted sleep, and even without the best not-cat giant bee sleeping behind my knees, I managed the closest thing to 'the good sleep' as I'd gotten since the night before I ended up here. I woke up refreshed, with my only complaint being a little sand between my toes.

Then I figured out why.

The wagon was empty, Usa had put his 'volume control' amulet on my wrist while I'd been sleeping, and they had let me sleep in. Not only that, but there was the smell of... suppose it would be 'lunchtime' bread in the air.

Best party ever.

I got myself dressed in my (huh, freshly washed) 'amazon blacksmith' clothes, put my self healing robe away, and stepped out to face the day.

"...!" There was a little white noise as Tetsu (big dragon form) said something and waved a big hand at me. She then looked back at the wagon she was pulling, made a gesture of apology, waved at me again, then kept walking by with a huge load of stone.

Wow... This thing worked much better than I thought. I looked at the little 'sound icon' resting in my palm, and put it in a pouch.

I winced at the sudden influx of noise. Lots and lots of noise. The world outside the wagon sanctuary was filled with the sound of simple industry. Sawing logs, shouted orders, people training, hammers, trundling wagons, children running around (hopefully not in the way)...

"Grr." Clive said from behind me.

The sudden cacophony had hidden his approach, but he'd only ever made the mistake of sneaking up on me once, and was safely out of arm's reach when he grumbled at me. He was also holding up a little loaf of bread to defend himself.

"Thank you." I said, stepping back a little so I'd be closer to the wagon and further from the bustle. "Everyone else working... someplace?"

He nodded, his hands making a few words for me. Rabbit hunting. Sword leading. Lizard pulling. Horse training. Me cooking.

"Huh. Figured... oh right." I remembered his bow. "Well, to fix that, I'll need..."

Sword start fire.

Sadly, I didn't know enough sign language for real nuance, but if you knew the 'picture' then it was easy enough to guess. "Neat. Know if we have an anvil there?" He shook his head, "Right. Lemme finish this and I'll pull the anvil out of the wagon. Really good bread this time."

Raphtalia had ordered a bunch of recovered stone to be hauled to the former site of the former blacksmith's workshop. The former blacksmith had been slain, and though his master survived, he was old. Age and a rough time in the slaver's care had basically made him incapable of anything but teaching.

But, we had a few people willing to learn, and when Raphtalia asked 'where the best spot for a forge might be' the reply from the elder smith was 'right where it was'.

So, when I'd arrived at the former blacksmith's workshop, it was on its way to being put back together. Ventilation and fire resistance were the biggest concerns, hence all the recovered stone. But what really made me smile was the place the elder had told me to put the stump, (a nice fresh one from the mutant tree grove) an untouched, if somewhat dirty, field stone boulder. A solid foundation under the anvil was a blessing to any smith, and a giant rock was almost as good as concrete or building a forge on a mountain. Also explained why he wanted to put the smithy right back where it had been before the Waves started.

The rest however, would need to be replaced, or made new. However, we just so happened to have most of a workshop in the wagon already, the only missing part being a big furnace.

However, since I couldn't really get started on my own work until I had tools and probably a roof over my head, I helped the building team while the elder taught a fresh apprentice how to make nails with the improvised setup.

A little before dinnertime, Raphtalia seemed to 'appear' next to me, and immediately slumped to the ground behind the wall I was mostly done building.

So, as if I were talking to myself and not hiding the newest leader of Lurolona village, I kept putting stone bricks and mortar down, "Paperwork is the bane of all things."

Raphtalia made a sad little noise. "So many little things... I haven't even had time to do my morning stretches, and its nearly dinner time!"

"A person who tries to please everyone, will usually miss out on pleasing themselves." I said, admiring my work, as well as the old master and his young apprentice since they were also ignoring the poor raccoon girl.

"How do you do it? You've told us some stories, but... I'm starting to wonder if you have some kind of special skill..." One of my tails took pity on her, and allowed her to hug it while she talked.

"Some things need a little time to settle. Others need boundaries. There is also the proper tool for the task, or," One of my other tails flicked against the Shield on my back, "using the proper shield."

She sighed, taking comfort in my teddy bear tail, then stood and started to hand me the stone blocks as I needed them. "Like?"

"Well, instead of helping the builder find wood, direct him to the lumberjack. Instead of helping the cook find meat, direct, deflect him to the hunter. No need to step in, just keep track of who is doing what, and where." I tapped the newest stone block a couple times to set it into the mortar, "Knowing that the hunting teams are in the forest west of here, is almost as good as taking the cook there yourself."

Aside from the slightly arrhythmic hammering of nails, we worked in silence a moment longer, "How should I... oh... Um..." She got this slightly silly smile on her face, handed me one last block, and started with a reasonably good, "ahem. Shield Hero? The leader of Lurolona would like to commission a set of sound stones, or maybe a bunch of occulus..." Ah, she must have talked to Melty.

I set that last stone in place, tapped it down, made sure my hands were reasonably clean, and gave her a headpat. "You are learning. I ask for the payment of two dozen buckets of that nice white sand on the beach. And suggest the next building you build be an office of some kind, so you can put the glass stones on a nice flat surface."

She accepted the headpats, then just gave me one of those 'instant of happy' hugs, before capturing my hand and shaking it, "I accept." Then, she ran out of the mostly finished (aside from part of a wall and a roof) smithy and called out, "Keel! I need a hand with something!"

That evening, during my party's usual 'brain training' time, or 'quiet time' as it was called at the Manor back home, I was walking up the little hill towards my tree. My party for the most part, was exhausted from helping all day, and to be fair, so was I. But I still had the energy to read and talk.

"This new settlement is destined to be quite lively." Glass said.

"Again." I added.

"Again?"

"The rumours of me 'leading a bunch of demi-humans around to savage the countryside' are about them. You were listening to us while I caught up with HIDA."

"I see. So you have brought them to re-settle an old home. Admirable."

"Huh. Your first compliment. I accept." I said with a smile, "Rifana, no problems?"

As I stepped into the shadow under the boughs of my tree, (though, for clarity, it was the ground directly under its canopy, not the shadow created by the sun), Rifana's existence 'appeared' in my senses. She really didn't exist outside this small patch of land.

But, at my call, she popped out from behind her gravestone, waved cheerfully, and appeared in the air in front of me as if taking a single long step. Of course, I caught her. "No, Lady Kodori."

"You are such a curious thing." Glass said, "Quite similar to the Ofuda magic some of my people use."

"Ofuda?" Rifana asked as I used the hand patting her head to facepalm, "Master?"

"Have I said this world is weird yet?" I asked.

"Yes." They both said.

"More experimenting it seems. Anyhow." I resumed walking (and giving headpats to Rifana). When I got to the tree, I put Rifana on my back to cling, and started working with the small bits of technology that had been sent over.

"I'll just..." One of her ghostly hands left my shoulder, and a bit of the tree's impossible amalgamation of vines and bark opened slightly to reveal the cellphone and a very tiny (and surprised) spider.

After greeting HIDA, giving her avatar a boop on the nose, and going through some easy pleasantries about the day (you know, treating her like a person, not a bit of exotic software), we got to business.

Well, okay, we got to business after I changed the wallpaper on the phone to a portrait of my family.

And while the video from my family was only for me, and just about them. The rest of the small video files were... almost as encouraging.

Royman, Akeno, Gasper, Fels, Lelei, Arpeggio, Delly and Maki, Hestia, Eina, Takemikazuchi, and the biggest surprise ever, Heracles.

Because of the limits on space, they weren't talking very long, and all of them were holding a bit of paper and reading from what was probably a script.

(Royman, Manor library, Orario)

"Begin please." He said, looking directly at the cellphone. The instant the little red light appeared, he glanced down at the paper in his hand, then started speaking.

"I hope this message finds you well." He started, his introduction heartfelt no matter how brusque it sounded. "Since your disappearance, we have suffered no undue troubles past the usual. The iron continues to come in, the trade from Rakia was on time and fruitful, and Salus, as they call it, is growing steadily."

He set one page down on the little table before him. "Trade and exchange with Earth during the most recent conjunction is as it should be. Iron as well as other metals have come in to balance the books for their medical costs. Various medicines from our side have gone back through. Our agents reported one instance of bribery, and the offending team and all their assets have been deported as per contract. I will skip numbers, but know that they are good."

"What you were looking for, has started to make an appearance. Special talent has arrived, though it is far too early to see if Earth is really starting to change. Also, Delilah says 'it's twins', making her children the first otherworldly children to be born on Earth."

Another paper settled to the table, the last one in his hand, "Set your mind at ease." He said, letting his hand and the paper held in it rest at his side, "This project is well in hand. Thank you Hida-"

(Eina, Consultation Office, Guild hall, Orario)

"-please." Eina said, tilting her head a little to look directly at the camera. "May this find you in good health, even though I know you are likely stressing over your situation." She said, less a statesman, and more a friend to the video's intended recipient.

"The general numbers are mostly unchanged. Average casualties in the dungeon have decreased. Influx of new adventures has stayed the same per-season. Food both from Rakia, our own fields, and the port of Melen are exactly what they need to be." She smiled, "Our sister city of Salus is also becoming more self sufficient, slowly, but steadily."

She moved a paper on the desk in front of her, blinked at it, then lifted her gaze again, "There have been a few issues with some of the Familia attempting to get a little more 'elbow room' within the city, but only slightly more than usual."

She smiled her best smile, from teacher to student, "Be at ease, the adventures of Orario have things well in hand."

(Delly, Maki and Ryuu, Astraea's greenhouse, Orario)

"Oh come on..." Delly said, tugging Ryuu's cape so she'd get into 'frame' with her and Maki, and a moment later Sir Skitters (who was working on a really nice silk flower).

"Your friends are doing well." Maki said while Delly attempted to get the camera-shy elf on camera. "We got everything to the shrine, and if nothing goes wrong," Maki reached out to knock carefully on a tree sapling, "This will get to you."

Delly made a V at the camera, while Ryuu pouted next to her, "We checked in with everyone on Earth, thanks to a little bit of sneaky magic from Gasper, and there are no problems. It's slow, but the panic you caused by basically outing the entire magic community is fading, and thanks to a certain angel, no one has died trying to shake hands with a normal person!"

Ryuu stopped pouting suddenly, looked down, vanished from the picture, then appeared again with Chime in her hands. "I talked to some of the Valkyrie." She said while the best micro-rabbit waved hello with her ears, "They have had many times many new people arrive for training, in preparation for engagement with the rest of the world. They are doing their best to keep the ideas of vengeance down. Ah... Ophis says she is amused?"

Having likely said more in the last thirty seconds than last week, Ryuu fell silent.

"Don't worry sister." Maki said, "We got this."

(Hestia, favourite chair, Manor, Orario)

"Wave to the camera?" She said to the two medusa children sitting on either knee.

As one, the two pale, lizard eyed, not quite serpent haired children looked towards the blinking light and waved exactly once.

"You better come home." She said to the camera, "I know you're alive, but... I can't feel anything past that. It's so strange. I don't know if it is distance, or the lack of divinity where you are, but it's like an itch I can't scratch."

The two children looked away from the camera, and applied identical 'there there' pats on Hestia's head.

"You two are just so precious." She said with a smile, "But we are all waiting for you to come back. You are coming back, right?" She shook her head, "No, you will come back. And just so you try extra hard, I promise not to ground you when you do!"

Since both her hands were on the two medusa children's backs, they both gave the camera a finger waggle for her.

(Takemikazuchi, zen garden, Hearthstone Manor, Orario)

"Hmm. Perhaps I will add a small obsidian stone to my garden after this." He mused, before opening a nice silk fan with a flick of his fingers. The action revealed a word painted onto it, 'teacher'.

"Ah. Forgive me my musing. I hope you have been keeping true to your training, and the pursuit of skill. I also hope you will remember those left behind." He nodded, as if the reminder were all that needed to be said on the matter.

"The two Sons work diligently, both above, and below. And their children-" He paused and glanced over his shoulder, the shadow of a small horned head vanishing, followed by the patter of little feet running away, "do well, as far as their youth allows. The honoured mothers, have all joined my Familia, though that is more for their protection under Guild Law. They will one day, possibly soon, leave retirement and start to assist the Sons."

He flipped the fan around, and lofted it to the other hand, the motion so smooth it seemed to teleport more than move through the air naturally. This time, the face of the fan said 'warrior', and the gentle face of the God of War hardened slightly, "People have been coming to challenge you. So far, we have rebuffed their attempts, but I fear it will only be a matter of time before a warning is insufficient. I will say," His smile returned, that tiny 'amused at the world' smile, "I have observed the training of some of the new arrivals, and they are quite interesting."

He closed the fan, and bowed his head slightly to the camera, "We await your return, Kodori-san. My training hall feels too large without your presence."

(Fels, Arpeggio, Lelei. Fels's lab-yrinth, Orario)

"Lady Kodori. We will keep this as brief as possible." Fels said, "The three of us, as well as Lord Gasper, believe we have come up with a way to not only get this to you, but possibly return something back."

Lelei spoke, the mini-mage a little taller than the last time she'd been in Orario, though she was still shorter than her sister, "We have enclosed many files for you to look at. If this arrives, then you should be able to reverse engineer the return event. If you have any trouble, HIDA has many tutorial files."

Arpeggio nodded, taking her cue, "Sadly, like before, we had to start with the 'inorganic only' version of the spell. We did tell someone to include seeds right?" Fels nodded to her, "Ah! Good. If they arrive, AND sprout, tell HIDA, and she'll um..."

Lelei twitched as if someone had tapped her foot under the table. "Ah, if they sprout, then HIDA will have a different set of foundational magic patterns for you to follow. Provided you are able to set up a proper anchor, and not the 'pinhole' we were forced to attempt, we should have greater success next attempt."

Fels picked up again, "Sadly, this will mean you are stuck there for at least two more of whatever event happens when connection can be made. But we have gone over everything, with everyone, and believe you have all the tools you need, or the information to make them if you do not have them."

He paused, and it was his turn to act like someone had tapped his foot.

"Ah, as a side note then. This project has advanced another, and we may have a way to allow limited area visits for those who might... well, die horribly, if they visit our world. As well, I do not know if it was your intent, but..." The camera zoomed out, revealing the body of a young human floating in a big glass tube, "I have put the heart to good use, now only one step remains."

(Akeno, Shrine of Kunou and Sachiko, Earth)

Dressed in a properly worn Miko robe, Akeno had forgone the stand and was holding HIDA at arm's length. "Everyone misses you!"

It was all she said, but as she did a little twirl in place and came to a stop, everyone, or nearly so from her adventures in Kuoh were in the background. "And I look forward to your return, so we can visit."

(Heracles, Hearthstone manor back yard under the well behaved Sakura tree, Orario)

Before even speaking, the crisply uniformed near giant of a man saluted, then lowered his hand just enough so he could point at the 'winged spear' pinned to the left breast of his uniform jacket. HIDA even made a point to zoom in on it, so there could be no mistaking it, before zooming out again.

"Lady Kodori." He started, a bit awkwardly, as if he were talking to someone on the phone he'd never met, or worse, the parents of his girlfriend for the first time. "I've been sent to help, and deliver what information we have on how you ended up where you are." He lowered his hand and put both hands behind his back in a parade rest, "Part of this is apology, penance, and the return of a favour owed for Jeanne's care."

He took a deep breath, sighed, and sat down. Since the camera was still on a stand, only his head remained in view, but it was enough. "I know you understand this, but you made enemies. Lots of them. Someone like you, showing up with your kind of conviction, and helping the people you did, made you a lot of friends, but left behind a lot of sore spots too."

There was the quiet rattle of paper, and it became apparent that he sat down to try and hide the fact he was reading some of this from a script. "We have all but confirmed the involvement of at least three major players left over from your trip to Earth. One, is Loki. He himself, so Azazel says, is still locked up in Cocytus. But he had a lot of followers, and some are smarter than he was if only because they lacked his arrogance."

He looked up from the page, "Being weaker than Loki also meant they didn't want to stick out. Like we used to be, before Cao Cao started pushing us forward."

He lowered his head again, "The old Devil King faction is another one. For the most part, they are harmless and follow the laws now set by the multi-pantheon accord. But, there is a lot of talent, logistics, and resources laying around, and bored people with grudges... well, idle hands are the devil's tools." Heracles then mumbled, "Seriously Azazel? What a stupid joke..."

He shook his head, "The last group, the one we suspect provided the book, is likely part of the hidden magic society. Lefay and Author found this one. You outing them basically threw a couple thousand years of 'trying not to get attention' through a window." He grinned, "My personal opinion on that, is 'good'. I hate sneaking around." He stopped smiling, "But that's my report. Um. Stay safe, don't die?" He trailed off, "What do I even say to her after that..."

"Hey Mr. Heracles!" Weine said from off camera, "I brought cookies!"

"Ooo cookies!" He turned his head, and the camera cut off.

Notes!

There we go. Putting the puzzle back home together, putting the puzzle in Raphtalia's home together, and slowly pushing towards the next 'big thing'.

Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord!

aKAQg4bnYu for the discord!

And my actual book, Were Too? is on Inkitt.

And! I'm looking into getting some story themed merchandise made. Join the Discord to find out more!