Vol.5 Ch.102 - Memories of nostalgic times

“Alright, let’s take it from the top!”From what Mr. Lynn told me, the situation is as such – I want to buy the rightsto the Island of Exuul, an island that used to host the worst of the worst. Itwas primarily used as a place of exile back in the day, and the remains of themaximum security prison can still be found rotting away.Now you may be asking yourself why exactly I would choose this place as ahoneymoon location, and the answer is actually simpler than you may think.Truth is, the last time that place was functional was in 175AD, and about ayear later in 176AD it was bought by none other than Schnell Douglashimself. There’s actually a whole 3 chapters dedicated solely to explaininghow he walked around the entirety of Cardina gathering signatures for hispetition on turning that island into a country.Finally, after the Island of Exuul was officially and internationally acceptedas a country, he spared no time in buying it. Now, it stands as a nationalexhibition of sorts, in that it has been left untouched since he bought it. Sadly,due to the laws of Cardina, no one has actually been allowed to step foot onthat land since Schnell’s passing. Well, that is, until now at least! After I buythe place out, I will be free to do with it whatever I please! Actually, I onlyreally need it for two things: I need a private place to talk with Ed, and ofcourse the honeymoon. But what could I use it for after that, I wonder? Oh, Iknow! I’m still in Arthur’s debt for helping us out back during the start of ourjourney, so I’m sure him and Anna would be pleased if I opened up anArthur’s branch in place of the prison! Right, that’d be hilarious! And a goodmarketing idea to boot, since people all across the world will obviouslywant to visit the place after I open the gates for it. Right, I still got mybusiness sense!But wait, The Island of Exuul is a terrifying place riddled with horriblestories around it. Honestly, even saying the name sends shivers down myspine, since I would often hear stories about the harsh living conditions of theprison there. People will obviously be put off if they hear ‘The Island is backin business!’ so I should probably think about a name change.Let’s see… I need a name, but it has to be special. This name will probablybe on the map for a while, so I can’t just name it something stupid. Even still,it needs to have some connection to me, otherwise people might forget whobought the place to begin with, and I can’t have that! This is my one chance tomake it to the history books! So what then, Grimheart Island or somethinglike that? Nah, that sounds too, well, grim. I need something that’s bright,y’know, sunshine and rainbows. Something that reminds people of light, notdark. Hmm…“Licht…”Just then, I absent-mindedly uttered the name of my future son (if it even is ason, that is). Since I was currently still in Mr. Lynn’s office, he was quiteconfused by my murmuring, but I’m sure he’ll excuse this blunder of mine.That being said, now I have one half of the name at least. It’s ‘Licht +something’, and now I just need to find what that ‘something’ is. Well, Lichtis a foreign word. I heard it originated from Sulfury, so I should probablychoose another Aurolian word to match it. There’s just one issue though, andthat’s that I don’t know any other Aurolian words apart from that one.“Mr. Lynn, do you speak any Aurolian?” I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask.“Aurolian? I’ve dabbled in it back in my youth, yes. What do you need?”“How do you say ‘Country’ in Aurolian?”“Wow, you really picked the one word I always seem to get confused.” Henoted sarcastically.Dammit, this guy really gave off the vibe of someone reliable, and now hefails me in my time of need? Geez…“Then got anything similar to it?” I asked.“Meaning wise, there’s a ton of words similar to ‘Country’. Stuff like Stadtwhich means ‘Town’, or ‘Dorf’ which means ‘Village’.”Ehh? Lichtstadt? That’s such a hard name to pronounce, not to mention spell!That’s definitely a no-go, but I’m more worried about the latter of the two.Dorf, really? That word most reminds me of Dork! Ew! And to top it all off,the island is neither a town nor a village, so it wouldn’t make sense no matterhow you look at it.“Oh, but there is one other word.” Mr. Lynn suddenly recalled, “Stelle, itmeans something to the effect of ‘Spot’ or ‘Location’.”Hold on…! That may actually work! Lichtstelle… Nah, that doesn’t reallywork after all-“So if we add it to Licht, grammatically, it’d be ‘Lichtenstelle’. Pretty coolname if I do say so myself.” Mr. Lynn suddenly said as if reading my mind.“Wh-?! How did you know I wanted the first word to be Licht?!”“Well, you murmured it a moment ago, so I logically guessed that you werethinking up names for the place's new name.”This-! This guy’s scary…!***After writing down all the steps I need to do in order to buy the island, Icalled over some of the maids from the Grys Castle and humbly asked them ifthey were willing to take care of Marina while I was away on a businesstrip. For whatever reason, these maids still didn’t trust me, and I even heardthem whispering amongst themselves about my ‘business trip’ actually beinga front for a tryst with another woman! The nerve of some people, do I reallylook like someone who would cheat on his wife? (Don’t answer that)Well, in any case, they seemed to have mellowed out after I explained tothem my true intentions, and some were even honest enough to apologizeimmediately after I cleared up all the confusion. That being said, I made surethey don’t tell Marina, as I wanted to keep it a surprise. After that, I kissedmy dear pregnant wife goodbye, and went on one more adventure! Thenagain, this felt a lot more like I was checking off a shopping list than anadventure…“Good day, King Adam!” I greeted the King after respectfully seeking anaudience with him, “I require your assistance for something of greatimportance.”“Oh, hi Sol.” He greeted me back in a surprisingly casual manner, “No needto be so formal, what do you need?”“Right. Can I buy the Island of Exuul from you?”Adam wasn’t someone who would beat around the bush much. He’s a straightto the point kind of guy, so I didn’t want to waste too much of his time by notbeing straightforward from the start. He was surprised by my question, sure,but I also noticed that he appreciated my eagerness to get things done andover with quickly.“Haha! That’s quite the statement! What, you want a place for yourhoneymoon or something, is that it?”“Yeah, actually.”“…” Adam’s smile twitched as soon as he heard my matter of fact reply,“What?”Wait, now that I think about it, this guy fell in love with Marina way backwhen. So if I look at it from a different perspective, I’m literally saying “I’mtaking her far away from you!” and just dipping. That’s really bad, isn’t it?!Is he gonna deny me my island now!?“…I’m glad Mariabelle’s with such a kind husband as you, Sol.” He spokeout in a warm tone.Huh?“To tell you the truth,” he continued, “when I heard she loved another manthat wasn’t me, I was furious. But a part of me knew from the start that it wasyou she had eyes for. It’s difficult for me to accept, but with each passing dayI keep noticing just how good of a person and husband you are to her. Thatbeing said, who am I to deny a loving husband from gifting his wife a part ofthe world?”Adam…! You’re gonna make me cry, man! Sniff, you’re the King of theKings! Long live Adam Grys!“That being the case,” he still decided to warn me, “It’s not me you should beasking. As you know, the prison was founded almost a thousand years ago,back in 100AD, and after 75 years of service it finally went out ofcommission. That’s when the Grandmaster Adventurer, Schnell Douglas,decided to buy and preserve it. You mentioned being a fan of his, so I’m sureyou know how he accomplished such a task, no?”Ah crap, I think I know where he’s going with this. Does he really want me toget a ton of signatures that agree to me buying the place out? That’s gonnatake ages, and I don’t have that much time! I’m in a race against the clock,since I already sent the letter to Ed stating we meet up there. I’ll beinconveniencing him a lot if he comes there and gets arrested for trespassingon a national property. Not to mention we won’t be able to meet up if thathappens!“Right… Could I at least use your name as a connection? As a member ofRoyalty, I’m sure you yourself know just how far a good endorsement willget me.”Adam gave me a deer in the headlights look, as if to say Whoa, I hadn’tthought of that myself! Even still, he started laughing in a contagious tone ashe gestured for the head maid to bring him a quill and paper. That’s when hewrote a letter that basically said “I’m endorsing Sol Pandora to go forth withhis idea of buying The Island of Exuul and turning it into a tourist spot.”before signing it and handing it to me.I immediately kissed the back of his hand, as that is the Cardina Royals'official greeting, and also serves as a way to express gratitude to the helpinghand that extended itself to you. After that, all I needed to do was make a fewrounds around the entirety of Cardina… Just kidding!Back when Schnell was alive, post offices weren’t a thing! That being said,they are now, and so are copy shops! I can just copy tons of copies ofAdam’s endorsement letter, then I’ll send it out to each and every person inCardina! Logically speaking, the Benevolent King’s words are absolute, soI’ll easily get at least 51% of people to accept my terms! I’ll just need themto send their signed letters back, then I’m all done!***And just like that, not even a week later…“Lune dearest…” Marina creeped up from behind me while I was workingon another one of the numerous inventions from Issei’s Book of Blueprints,“What the heck are all these letters?!”“Uhh, Fan-mail?” I tried to come up with an excuse, “Don’t worry about itand just go back to bed.”“I don’t wanna stay in bed anymore!” She tugged on my sleeve, “My legs aregonna atrophy if I stay bedridden any longer! I wanna go for a walk!”“A trophy?” I questioned her funny words.“Atrophy! It’s a medical term, it means they’ll shrivel up.”“That can happen!? Then what are we waiting for, come on, get dressed!We’re going out for a walk immediately!”It’s the husband’s job to curb his pregnant wife’s worries, but it seems shesomehow turned the tables on me. Geez, why did no one tell me about thisAtrophy thing? It sounds really scary! Does it only affect pregnant women?Can it happen to me too?!While pondering these naïve questions, Marina was jovially walking next tome, all the while holding tightly onto my arm. It made for a romantic sight,especially now that her belly is starting to show signs of growth. Well, notwhen she’s got clothes on, of course, but I would sometimes steal someglances while she was changing into her night gown and would notice thebump.“Ah, the Sun feels so nice! Ever since Adam broke the news, you reallydidn’t let me out of the house at all.”“A-Ah, sorry about that. I was just making sure you were safe is all.”She giggled at my sheepish remark before going, “Actually, I had a lot of timeto think back on how we met while I was in bed. Don’t you remember, youtaught me how to play chess and we would go at it until dawn broke.”“Heh, yeah. Now that I think about it, I haven’t played chess in a really longtime. Think our kid will be any good at it like his parents were?”“Pfft, good? We were terrible at it, it’s just that our lack of skills is on equalfooting to one another, so it was hard to notice.”Wow, you didn’t have to be that brutally honest! I don’t want our kid to thinkbadly of his parents, so let’s at least pretend we know our stuff, okay? If hestarts to think his parents aren’t up to par from an early age, he might leavethe house at age 12. Heh, just like me...At this thought, I suddenly remembered my parents' faces. Were they like thiswhen I was in my mother’s womb? Was dad at one point as playful andunserious as I am right now? Will I be as serious at some point in the futureas he is? I sure hope not, but then again isn’t the goal of every kid to be theexact opposite of their parents? It’s that primordial urge to be rebellious Iguess, but I feel like that’s always the case, judging from the parents andchildren I’ve met in my life.“Hey... Would you be open to stopping by my parents’ house on the way backto Great Hiana?” I asked after some thinking.Marina’s eyes started glimmering at the prospect, and her grip around my armsuddenly tightened as she warmly replied “I’d love to!”“But then, I’m sure my parents would like to meet their grandchild as well.”She said, “They’re from Boreal, so it might not be en route, per say, but it’dbe nice to visit them once in a while.”“Sure. I mean, it’d only be fair.”After our little walk around the district, we finally came back full circle toour little inn. I decided now was the best time to pop the question, so Imustered up all my courage and went:“Marina, I think it’s time to meet with Ed. Would you accompany me?”She was caught off guard by the sudden question, but she knew better than toact surprised and dodge it. Instead, she gave me a warm smile and told me tostart packing.***“So when you said ‘Honeymoon location’, you meant this?!”“Yep, welcome to The Island of Exuul! But that’s no longer it’s name. As ofnow, it’s officially Lichtenstelle!”“…” Marina held in a stifled laugh at my naïve naming conventions, “Stillhoping it’s a boy, eh?”“Y-Yeah!” I shot back defiantly, “So what?”Still looking at the island’s dock as we approached it via ship, she simply puther head on my shoulder and with an empty expression noted, “We’ve come along way, haven’t we?”“Yeah…” I followed suit, “To think we went from nobodies stranded on ashipwreck to getting our hands on a historical island such as this. Marina,this is my wedding gift to you.”She looked up at me for a moment before pouting, “Sheesh, that’s gonna be ahigh hurdle to pass over, you know? How am I gonna compete with such agift?”“With this, of course!” I lightly touched the bump on her tummy. Right in thatmoment though, I felt something remarkable.“Was that… a kick?! Marina, the baby! It kicked!”“Hehe, did I not show you that before?” She laughed, “That’s been happeningfor a while now.”“You did! But it’s always so cool to feel! He’s really eager to start living,isn’t he?”Right as I was about to start marveling at the beauty of life, the captain toldus that the ship is docking, so we should grab our luggage and hop out of theship. I made sure Marina safely made it onto the land, then I quickly followedher example after grabbing our luggage.We didn’t really pack all that much, just some clothes, food, and a tent. Thiswas more so a little sightseeing expedition than anything else, as I’m onlyhere to meet up with Ed for now. I’ll look into refurbishing the place at alater date. But right now I just really wanna look at the place as a whole!I can feel the history just oozing out of the prison! It’s exactly as I imagined itfrom Schnell’s Handbook! Like over here, that’s the staff only entrance, andto the left of it is the prisoner’s entrance! Whoa, you could really tell thedifference in how they treated the prisoners as opposed to the guards. Theplace is really dead inside, literally to the point where there aren’t even anybugs or critters or anything. Due to the climate of the island, it’s also quitehot, despite it being the middle of winter. It was raining lightly as well, butwe didn’t really mind. It was a lot easier on our skin than the snow back inCardina.“This place is kind of unnerving.” Said Marina, “Reminds me of… thatplace.”‘That place’ she was referring to was obviously Shaid’s Lair, the dungeonwe explored in Sibirus with the rest of the party. Marina and I were the solesurvivors of the expedition, and I guess you could say that we didn’t reallycome out unscathed from the trip at all. It took a really long time for Marinato get used to being in tight spaces, and I’m still a bit shaky when out at sea.“Right, back then we were just a bunch of strangers who couldn’t get along atall. We still need to tell their families about their fates when we find the timefor it.”“How did it go again? First one to die was… Lil' Bro Sully, right? He gotlost in the labyrinth and we never got to find his body, we just heard from theBook about his death.”“Yeah, after that was Genevra.” I continued our melancholic recollection,“She really went off the deep end when she started religiously following theBook’s orders. But she ultimately died due to a rock fall in the caverns.”As I said this, I took a quick glance at my left hand, which was missing itspinky finger, and the ring finger still had a rad scar from the stitch marks.After that I took a look at the person who stitched said finger back on, andheld her hand as a reminder to keep her close.“Finally, and most mysteriously, was Old Man Linus. We were playing chesslike nothing was wrong. We thought everything was behind us, but then afterhe suddenly took hold of the Book of Fortune, his hands burned offcompletely and he died of the injuries caused from it.”Marina’s face turned into a worrying frown as she noted, “We never didinvestigate that accursed Book…”“And we don’t have to.” I comforted her, “Every day I wake up thankful that Isurvived up until now, and I don’t want to have to think about why it is that Iwas gifted the chance to live another day. Heh, I may be a Purple Iro, butbelieve me when I say that I’ll stow away the intrusive thoughts at least whenI’m around the kid.”At these words, Marina took a look at my eyes and started softly crying intomy chest. She knew very well that a Purple Iro Beholder had a way toughertime with living their regular day-to-day lives than other Iros. Even still, thefact that I was willing to fight on for the kid probably tugged on her heartstrings. Geez, could I be any more of a romantic?“Wait, do you hear that?” She said as she turned around to face the dock’sgeneral direction, “Could it be him?”“Ed…” I uttered, “You made it! Alright, I told him to meet me at thecourtyard! Let’s go!”“W-Wait, Lune!” Marina tugged at my sleeve, stopping me from advancing,“I’m a bit nervous, after all…”“That’s alright. If you want, you can hide over there, behind the corner. If youget the courage to approach us, feel free to do so at any time. I don’t want toforce you to do this with me.”“…Alright.”