The last part is here…
Thank you. Thank you for reading and guiding Rael’s story.
Before I give you the end of Rael’s first story, I…
I doubt I’d be remembered, but if we ever meet again in the future stories…
I’ll give you my name. I know I haven’t thought of this, but…
I just wanted to know how it feels being remembered.
Name… name… name…
Just call me Story.
Now that Kat was talking with the king outside, Rael turned to Levi. “You’re having a day off?”
“Yeah. My shift’s done, and I still have some household stuff to settle with David. How’s the Dacien hunt going?”
Rael turned back to Aurielle as Levi asked that question, prompting her to answer instead. “Lost.”
“He’s lost?”
“We’re the lost ones here. Can’t catch up with his damn thing.”
“That’s tough.”
Aurielle and Levi continued to talk as Rael backed away from them. And Jean finally noticed Joseph standing behind everyone.
“You’re Joseph, right?” Rael asked, knowing that Jean wouldn’t dare ask the stern Joseph first.
He nodded. “I am. Is there something?”
“It’s nothing. Everyone else is busy talking.”
“Oh.”
Rael wasn’t the best person to keep a conversation going, unless he actually had something to earn from the talk. Jean might be like him when it came to that. But even if they’re socially awkward to some extent, Rael tried to remember how he used to have small talks with Jean before.
It was asking random questions, hoping that the other would somehow not run out of the questions or answers. Between Rael and Jean, he was the one asking more questions—of course; he wanted to learn more about her.
But he didn’t talk to Joseph about anything aside from the mission, so Rael had a few question ideas.
“Hmm… Is the king your brother?”
“No? We aren’t related to him. Levi might act like he’s our big brother, but I don’t see him like that,” Joseph answered, looking at Levi who’s still talking to Aurielle, then looking away to the keep’s door. “I’ve been working under the king.”
Jean joined in. “Are you having a day off too?”
“I wasn’t supposed to. But Levi dragged me here.” Joseph looked at his armor, still in the full soldier’s uniform. “I’m heading back to the station once his majesty is finished with us.”
Like a well-timed opportunity, David opened the door as he and Kat returned to the keep. Kat relaxed her posture once she noticed the squad, and she asked where they would head next.
After the whole deal at Summer Hold, the squad (plus Levi) headed towards the Silent Tower. And like what happened before, Kat was called to have a talk with the current captain on this shift. But this time, Aurielle went with Kat too, leaving Rael and Jean behind with Levi. Some Magic Council officers noticed the off-duty captain’s presence.
“I still need to catch up with this case,” Levi answered the officers, as he turned to Rael and Jean. “They’re probably busy interrogating her, so let’s talk.”
“About what?” Rael asked.
“Let’s see… How are your second magics?”
Considering how Rael hadn’t really used his newly awakened Magma Magic that much, he wasn’t sure what to say about it.
“I’m still trying to get used to it,” Jean replied, casting an Ice Magic circle briefly. Rael didn’t recall seeing gloves on her hands before.
“Ooh, Ice? And what about Rael?”
Rael cast a small Magma Magic blast within his palm.
“I see… You guys are fast with the magic unlocking deal, really. You only had your Wood Magic for a few months, right?” Levi asked Rael, and he nodded.
“A few months?” Jean asked, and Rael nodded to that too. “I see…”
As the three continued to talk about magics, someone in front of the receptionist’s desk caught Rael’s attention. His posture reminded him of someone.
Rael recognized his face once he turned towards him—it was Kai, that weird stranger he met at Brigand’s Landing.
“What do you want?” Kai asked, reading some papers on his hand along the way.
“…Nothing.”
With the silence they left between them, Rael couldn’t figure out what he wanted to say to Kai. And Jean tapped Rael’s shoulder, prompting him to look at Aurielle heading downstairs.
She was silent at first, before explaining Kat’s disappearance to the squad, “So Kat was turned in, and she wouldn’t be out anytime soon.”
The news made Rael feel something. Something he couldn’t exactly put his finger on. It wasn’t exactly a heavy feeling, but it wasn’t a relieving one either.
“So what’s our next plan?” Jean asked.
“We’re traveling around the continent next, to find Dacien or his guild. Are there any places you want to go first?”
And Rael had an idea, despite the fact he couldn’t bring Kat there too, for now.
With Rael’s answer, the squad had another destination for today: Doom Village, or his hometown.
As he spotted his family’s house upon arrival, a small kid tackled him from the side—and Rael quickly recognized her as Enya, his little sister.
“What happened to your face?” Enya asked, pointing at the bandages on his face while being picked up by Rael.
“Oh, it’s from a fight. Is there—”
Enya stared at Rael’s face, before looking at Aurielle, Jean, and Levi. “Are they friends?”
“Yep, I’m bringing them over,” Rael answered as both he and Enya headed inside the home, followed by the rest of the squad.
It had been a while since Rael was with his family, ever since he left to travel on his own around a week ago.
Despite being on a quest to track after Dacien and his future moves, he couldn’t resist making an excuse to return home. And now, he got to be back with his family, and luckily, his older siblings had some information on Dacien and his guild’s whereabouts, too. His oldest sibling was a wizard who’s been traveling on her own, similar to Rael—and his other older sibling was one of the village’s alchemists, so he knew some things about suspicious travelers around the village.
Now that he’s back home, he recalled the time he first traveled on his own.
A bright future—something he believed in, and something he first sought in this journey. But right now, he simply wanted to relish the present, for himself and everyone he cared about.
And hopefully, he’ll get to learn more about Aurielle, Jean, and the other people he met in his future travels too.
