12

Sion and the one-armed man emerge from the goblin nest, Scima and Eva in tow. The man places Scima on the ground. Anima was standing just a small distance away from the entrance to the nest, waiting for them to return. When she sees Sion step out of the nest, she’s overtaken by relief and falls to her knees. She seems like she’s on the brink of crying.

“Sion! I’m so glad you’re okay. I wouldn’t be able to handle it if you all got hurt.”

“We’re all fine.” Sion’s arm still dangles limply at his side, Eva still unconscious on his other shoulder. Anima begins to spiral now that she doesn’t need to worry.

“We all could’ve died because of me…”

“If I had died, then it was simply my time.” Anima isn’t comforted by the sentiment at all. Sion suddenly hears a familiar elderly voice begin to chide him.

“Young Sion, that sort of talk will not comfort anyone, no matter how well-meaning you are. And you young ones should leave those sorts of thoughts to when you are as old as I am.” Sion looks over at Bishop Erd. He walks forward, coming up out of the grass itself.

“Hello, Your Excellency. Why are you away from the cathedral?”

“I felt my charm activate.” Sion lowers his head.

“Thank you for protecting me, Your Excellency.” Bishop Erd pats Sion on the head.

“Of course, young Sion. But know that the protection has worn off, and I cannot give another one so soon. From now on, please value your life more. You are loved by many and possess a strong heart, and I would hate for you to die young.” Sion lifts his head.

“But, Your Excellency, my heart is telling me to help people, and that’s what puts me in danger.”

“I see. That is quite the conundrum. Perhaps there is no reconciliation between the two. Perhaps all you can do is come back alive. What I truly want you to remember, I suppose, is that you are not waiting for your time, you are living. I would like you to not accept your own death so easily.”

“I understand, Your Excellency.”

Bishop Erd touches Sion’s arm. A relaxing floral scent fills the air, and Sion feels his arm grow warm. He feels the bones in his arm reattach and unbreak. In a mere moment, his arm feels as good as new. Bishop Erd moves to Scima, and places his hand on Scima’s chest. Again, the smell of flowers fills the air. As Bishop Erd raises his hand, Scima shoots up to sitting and looks around, trying to get his bearings now that he’s suddenly above ground once more. Bishop Erd looks back towards Sion and addresses everyone.

“Although I have healed you, do not push yourselves so soon. Rest and be well, young ones.”

Bishop Erd begins to walk away, although not in the direction he appeared from. His body seems to sink, leaving behind petals that float through the air. He disappears through the grass just as he had appeared. Sion looks back to Anima.

“Anima, we all lived.” Anima wipes away her tears and nods. Sion offers his hand to help her back up. She looks towards the one-armed man and bows her head. “Thank you for saving them.” The man smiles brightly.

“That’s my duty. I’m more glad that I happened to be here. Sion, is it? I can hold the girl. As the bishop said, you should let yourself rest. And in service of that, we should leave before I end up stuck here.”

Sion starts looking around. He sees Regn quickly approaching them. When Regn draws near, he shies away from the one-armed man and tries to hide behind Sion. Sion pets his head. He whispers to Regn.

“Regn, would you carry Scima and Eva?” Regn yips loudly. Sion beckons to Scima. “Scima, can you ride Regn and hold Eva still?”

“Sure.” Scima runs up to Sion and gets on Regn’s back, somewhat cautiously. Sion follows after and lays Eva down on Regn, then departs and stands next to him. Now prepared, they begin their return trip to Ecg.

While they walk, Sion looks towards the one-armed man.

“Sir, who are you? Why were you at the nest?”

“I’m Valere. I was just passing by on my way to Ecg so I could resign.”

“Resign? Because of your arm?” Valere looks at where his arm once was, but does not grow somber or disheartened.

“Yeah. I can’t even fight a tenth as good as I’d like. So I’m quitting.” Absentmindedly, as he looks to the darkening sky, Sion begins to muse to himself.

“If you’re this strong while you’re weakened, what could’ve gotten the best of you?” Valere laughs.

“So you’re interested in my final grand adventure! It’s quite a fine tale!” He grabs everyone’s attention, even causing the recently awakened Eva to perk up slightly. “There I was, nearing the highest peak of the Dragonspire Mountains! Quite a climatic place for a man’s final battlefield! I was in hot pursuit of a powerful demidragon that had begun to terrorize the nearby villages! At this point the hunt had lasted three days and three nights! And at last, as the sun began to rise, we clashed! We were evenly matched I’d say, but as the fight drew on, I grew emboldened! At the moment I saw an opportunity to strike the fatal blow, I took it! I cut through scale and muscle as I tore through its neck! But it was livelier than I thought, and it bit down on my chest, taking off my arm as it died.” Everyone is shocked by the heights Valere had once reached. The most shocked of them is Scima.

“You expect us to hear that story and believe you’re only at a tenth of your strength?” Valere laughs once more.

“I’m honored that you believed in my strength, and yes, I suppose I had oversold how much of it remains.” Scima clicks his tongue.

“How irritating.” Valere is intrigued by his reaction.

“Irritating?” Scima answers Valere as if he had asked something obvious.

“Of course it’s irritating if you learn there’s somebody that strong and you’ll never be able to beat them no matter how strong you get.” Valere laughs, harder than he had before.

“I suppose I understand. I’m irritated enough knowing I’ll never be as strong as I should be to quit, after all! Speaking of, I’ll take you to the guild. You should make a report about the nest, and I can get you ahead quick. Sion, it would be you right?” Sion thinks about it a little.

“I’m not a member of the guild.” Valere laughs again.

“How interesting! So you just snuck past the guild workers?”

“Yes, I just ran past.”

“That’s a risky move. You should probably lay low when it comes to the guild then. Why would you do something like that?”

“I promised Anima that I would help her.”

“I see. So, if you can’t do it, who’ll give the report?” Scima answers nonchalantly.

“I guess I should. Sion, what did you deal with when we got separated?”

“We found a goblin that made holes.”

“Got it.”

They reach the walls of Ecg and enter without any problem. They reach the guild quickly, and Sion, Anima, and Eva decide to wait outside for Scima and Valere to finish.

Scima and Valere walk into the guild hall, people swarming them when they see Valere. They bombard him with questions, the noises so overlapped they became illegible. Before Scima can snap at them, Valere silences the crowd with his overwhelming presence. He gives them orders as they fall back.

“Make way for us, we have urgent business with the guild.”

The crowd parts and lets Valere and Scima pass to the reception desks. All the guild staff react with shock when they see Valere. They start trying to rush their work in hopes of being the first he can come to, only to ease when their sense of professionalism returns.

Only one desk, the one furthest from them, was open when Valere stepped out. The woman from earlier in the day calls out to him.

“Mr. Valere, my desk is open! Please feel free to come here if you have something to report!” Scima had thought the woman was quite a bit older than them, but now he cannot believe so. Before Valere, she seems like a child meeting her idol, and so he can only assume she’s only slightly older. Scima speaks quietly, only for Valere.

“Are you really this famous?” Valere laughs, his laugh filling the whole hall.

“This is my hometown, so of course I am!” Valere and Scima walk up to the desk. Valere looks at the woman.

“You… I don’t believe I know you.” The woman replies in a rush.

“Ah, yes, you don’t. I only started working here after you last left on a mission.” Her eyes go wide now that she can see Valere clearly. “Mr. Valere, your arm! What happened?!” Valere looks at where his arm once was, then back towards the woman.

“Oh, this? Don’t worry, it’s nothing urgent.” Valere slaps Scima’s back. “He has an urgent report to make regarding the goblin nest situation.”

“Don’t hit me.” Scima looks straight at the woman. “We found weird goblins in the nest. There were goblins made of rock, goblins that made holes, and one giant goblin that was killing other goblins.” The woman is caught off-guard by the report.

“Ah, I’ll tell that to the chief right away, so, Mr. Valere—” Valere interrupts her.

“If you’re going to talk to the chief anyway, you should hear from me first and save yourself the trip. I’m quitting the guild.” Valere made no attempt to hide his resignation, garnering looks from those around him as a shocked silence overtakes the hall.

“Mr. Valere, why would you quit? You’re so strong, and—”

“I’m not nearly as strong as you think anymore. I’m not strong enough to live as I had.”

“But that doesn’t—”

“No. I achieved one final glory, and will never reach that peak again. I can’t stay here. My story needs an end.” The woman falls silent for a moment, then resigns herself.

“Very well, Mr. Valere. I shall inform the chief.” The woman begins to leave for an office out of sight.

As Valere announces his retirement, Sion, Eva, and Anima stand outside and talk.

“Are you alright now, Eva?”

“Yes, I was just lacking magic power, so all I needed was a little rest.” Sion looks up at the night sky.

“Is it too late to continue on tonight?”

“Of course. Although I would rather not stay the night, we need to rest.”

“Will we stay the night with Mr. Feoh?” Eva nods at him.

“But will you be alright? Do you know what caused your headaches?” Sion goes silent trying to figure out how much to say.

“I think I have, and I think there’s a chance it would happen again.” Eva has a thoughtful and contemplative look on her face.

“Then it may be better to find another arrangement for you tonight.”

“Me and Regn can just sleep in the woods.” Anima joins the conversation.

“There isn’t really a forest close to the city. But, if it’s alright with you, I think the guest bedroom in my house isn’t being used right now, so…” Sion lowers his head to her.

“Thank you.” Sion turns his head back towards Eva. “I think Regn should stay in Mr. Feoh’s yard tonight. What should we do tomorrow morning?”

“I suppose we should meet at the gate and depart.” Sion looks at Anima.

“Anima, what will you do, now that the goblin problem has been solved?”

“I guess I’ll start planning my trip tomorrow. It’ll be tight, but I think I’ll make it in time.”

“Sagax isn’t that far, right?” Eva answers him.

“No, it will take us less than a week to arrive. However, if you were to travel there through merchant routes, I imagine it would take quite a while longer.”

“Yes. I plan to go with a merchant who’s friends with my father, so I need to wait for them to depart, as well as the time they spend selling goods elsewhere.” Sion continues to face Anima.

“I see. Eva, would it be alright if Anima came with us?”

“There wouldn’t be a problem, we have a spare set of camping gear as well.” Anima is surprised by the sudden offer.

“No, I’ll really be okay on my own, and you’ve already helped me so much today—” Sion interrupts her.

“People should help each other, so what’s the problem?” Anima folds quickly.

“Alright. I’ll talk to my father about it.”

Valere and Scima exit the guild hall, an uproar escaping from the door as they do. Valere looks at the four happily.

“Well then, it was a pleasure to meet you four, but I should start preparing to leave. I already have the next thing lined up.” Sion bows his head, the others following after him.

“Thank you for saving us.”

“I really am glad that this is how my adventure ends.” Valere walks off into the night, a smile on his face.

Scima looks at the others.

“Alright, now what to do for tonight and tomorrow.” Eva giggles silently.

“We already had while you were inside.”

“Then take me where I need to be, and I’ll figure it out.”

Eva and Scima and Sion and Anima part ways for the night, already ready to rest at last.