He knew, he always knew

An abrupt shift in the air from warm and humid to decently cold and dry told Mina that she’d succeeded in returning. Opening her eyes to see the massive Uraina statue in front of her again confirmed that for sure. She still checked her feet though.

Getting up, Mina turned around to see Jordan and the priestess were still waiting by the door, though they were both leaning up against the wall looking half asleep. Clearly there was no godly conversation time dilation here.

Marching up to them, Mina walked directly up to Jordan, pointedly making noise as she did to wake him up.

“Huh? Oh, hey Mina. Done talking do Uraina?” He asked when he noticed her.

“Did you know?” She asked.

…

“Mina, I don’t know what you and Uraina talked about, so you’re going to have to be more specific.” Jordan said, though from the look in his eyes Mina knew he probably knew exactly what she meant.

“Did you know that I was summoned to replace Uraina?” Mina asked insistently, and Jordan let out a tired sigh.

“Yes, I did know.” He said.

“Then why didn’t you tell me?!” Mina demanded.

Jordan’s counter was quite simple.

“Would you have believed me if I did?” He asked rhetorically. “With everything that you’ve been going through these past few days, and with everything the people who summoned you told you, would you have believed me or anyone besides Uraina herself if they told you that?”

Mina wanted to snap back that yes, she would have, but she knew better. She wouldn’t have completely dismissed him, but she definitely wouldn’t have taken his words as absolute truth if he’d been the one to tell her first. In fact, she might have even questioned Uraina herself if he’d told her before Uraina did.

“I guess you’ve got a point.” Mina admitted.

“I usually do.” He replied cheekily. He then turned to the priestess. “Alright, looks like we’re finally done here. Mind showing us the way out?”

“Huh? Oh, we’re done.” The priestess exclaimed as she woke back up. “Alright, follow me.”

The priestess then lead them back through the church, albeit slower than before due to how tired she was. As they walked, Mina had one more question she wanted to ask Jordan.

“I’m not the first person you’ve helped return home, am I?” She asked, already knowing the answer. Sure enough, Jordan confirmed her suspicions.

“Yep, I’ve helped a few of you get back home.” He admitted. “Heck, you’re the second one I’ve helped home from this very country.”

“Why?”

“Like I said earlier.” Jordan replied with a shrug. “The people of this world should solve their own problems, not push them on to people like you. If you want to help, that’s fine, but it should be your choice to do so, not because someone made you do so.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Alright, here you are. Have a good *yawn* have a good night you two. I am going to sleep.”

And with that, the priestess walked away back into the church, and Jordan and Mina took off on their fiterolta. For the first little bit, they flew in silence, no words needing to be shared, everything that needed to be said having been said already. Almost everything.

“So, what are you going to do now Mina?” Jordan asked. “You want to go home, right? Well, how do you plan to break that to the people you’re living with?”

“I… I think I’m going to try and see how many people knew the real reason I was summoned first.” Mina said after a moment’s thought. “I want to know who I can trust to help me get home, and the people that knew why I was summoned in the first place probably don’t want me to return home.”

“I see. Be carful when doing that though.” Joran remarked. “They tried to lie to you and trick you, remember? I’m sure not everyone knew, but those that did will probably start getting jumpy if they think you’ve figured them out.”

“Yeah, that’s true. For the most part though, I just want to relax tomorrow.” Mina admitted, causing Jordan to chuckle.

“After the day you’ve had, I don’t doubt it. Hopefully nothing too serious happens tomorrow, but I think I’ll be hanging around in the background just in case. Otherwise, have a good rest tomorrow.” He said.

Mina voiced her agreement with the plan, and the pair were silent all the way back to the Anaktités base. Jordan then dropped her off and left to go who knows where, and Mina snuck back into her room where she proceeded to instantly pass out on her bed.