Vol.3 Ch.48 - Warmth In the north pole

“Did I perhaps interrupt your fun?” I asked with a tinge of anger.While I was out there in Great Hiana getting jumped by bandits, hoppingfrom transport wagon to transport wagon, barely making it to Melgam, thensuffering out at sea for a considerable time, these assholes were having fun ina comfy cottage? Well, to give credit where credit is due, the fare fromMelgam to Sibirus was quite enjoyable thanks to the Captain teaching mechess. And Lee gave me quite the generous welcome, despite the fact I wasmeant to be a prisoner, but even still, what the hell are they doing?“I’ll repeat this once more,” said Sullivan, “what exactly are you doing here?You should be back home by now, wallowing in your shame as you gotkicked out of this very party who greeted you with open arms!”He seemed quite taken aback by my nonchalant entrance, choosing toimmediately start interrogating me. Isn’t saying that in this situation kind ofmaking you a hypocrite? I don’t feel that welcomed, in all honesty.“I apologized, you didn’t have to leave me on a bench.” I stated calmly, “Atleast have the decency to rent a room for the night, my back is killing me!”I thought making light of the situation with some jokes would ease thetension, but everyone just looked at me with fearful eyes as Miss Dola spokeup with an unsure tone.“U-Uhm, seriously though, didn’t Sully tell you to go back home? Why comeback now of all times, did the rewards entice you that much?”This question struck me as odd. I was never confronted by ‘Sully’ andpeacefully told to go home, nor did I ever plan on returning with my tailtucked between my legs. I said I’d follow this trip through to the end, and Iam nothing if not a man of my word!“If you consider ‘abandoning me on a bench without saying a word andleaving on your own’ then sure, he did.” I remarked, “Instead of just rushingthrough things the way you did, Sullivan, you could’ve taken your ownadvice and tried to keep this party together as best as you could.”“I did, idiot!” he hissed, “If I kept you on the team any longer, then everyonewould just crumble before we even made it here! I simply let you go backhome to rethink the way you treat your temper, and not try to get rich withcommissions above your league from here on!”The rest of the party just gave Sullivan a disappointed look that screamed“You lied to us, and did such a horrible thing to him?” I quite enjoyed thespectacle, and he seemed quite embarrassed himself, but I’ll never get backhome if I keep dawdling on trivial matters like this.“Listen, man,” I started my monologue, “I really wish things were thatsimple. To tell you the truth, I really did want to just give up and go home. Ihave a very young daughter at home waiting for me with her mother, andevery day it pains me to not be with them. But things aren’t that simple. I’mnot doing this for the money, I was commissioned (or rather drafted) on thistrip forcefully by the ITA, and I had no other choice but to take it, otherwiseI’d be branded as a deserter due to the sheer importance of this commission.”“What?” Sullivan calmed down as he uttered, “You were forced?”“Never mind that!” Miss Lionheart and Miss Dola shouted out, “You’ve awife!? AND A KID?!?”Oh, did I forget to mention that? Well, Cecily isn’t my wife (yet), but I wassure I mentioned Nelly. Maybe I forgot to say it in my introduction due to theargument… Wait, did I even introduce myself at all?“I’m sorry,” Linus smiled warmly, “could this lady friend of yours be thatyoung girl you introduced me to at the party over at Melgam?”“Indeed, Cecily and my lover are one and the same,” I complimented hismemory, “but we are yet to be married, as we are too young to be thinking ofthat just yet!”“But… A KID?!” Miss Dola raised her voice once again, “How are you notyoung enough to have a kid?! Aren’t you like, 14??”“16, to be precise, but who’s counting, am I right?” I raised my hands as Ishrugged, making a smug face all the while.They all seemed intrigued-no, rather, surprised at that fact, regardless of howscary the situation was just moments prior. The room went from being heatedto bustling with joyful question after joyful question. Linus sided with me,commending my determination to not give up even with Sullivan’s actions.He vouched for me as well, claiming I was quite the pleasant person to bearound, surmising that the only reason I was rowdy during the party’s firstmeeting was because I was anxious about leaving my family behind.Miss Lionheart and Miss Dola listened to the old man’s words rather intently,in the end apologizing to me for them being difficult and jumping toconclusions. Sullivan clicked his tongue once more at the exchange, he didn’treally seem happy with being chewed out by Old Man Linus, but he’s theonly one at fault here, so I digress.What followed shortly after was the questioning of Lune Grimheart about hisfamily’s details:“How’d you two meet?” Miss Lionheart asked.“W-We met in an alleyway. Her brother tried m-mugging me.” I whimpered.They raised their eyebrows at my answer, leading to Sullivan breaking outinto a fit of laughter. He started mocking my choice in women even more,asking why I’d ever go out with a girl with such a dangerous person close toher.“Take that back!” I grit my teeth, “Carter was a great man, our first meetingwas nothing more than him trying to put food on their plates. He sacrificedhis life to save both mine and our daughter’s life from a burning building.Now try calling him ‘dangerous’ one more time…”Again, an awkwardness that was incomparable to any other hit them head on,making the room go eerily quiet once more. Sullivan blushed out ofembarrassment once more, quietly murmuring I’m sorry for your loss throughhis teeth. The other party members quickly followed suit and expressed theircondolences. I made sure to thank them and calm down, as I didn’t want tostrain our relationship any further. In fact, I’d say we’re finally getting toknow each other really well, so I’d rather refrain from lashing out.“Cecily and I really bonded over our shared interest in books.” I said, tryingto lighten the mood, “She read romantic comedies, whilst I read ActionAdventures, even still we’d spend hours in the library just talking about thebooks we’ve read and exchanging recommendations.”I felt a smile well up from inside of me, making the party members more atease as well. I guess they’re finally seeing the real me as well.“Alright, next question!” Miss Dola continued the interrogation, “Is shecute?”“Of course!” I didn’t skip a beat in answering, “She’s quite petite, a bitshorter than you, Miss Dola! But her hair is long, with a bright red hue to it!She always wears this adorable robe on her because she thinks it makes herlook cool and mysterious, but in my opinion it just accentuates her cuteness!”“Are they big or small?” Miss Lionheart asked offhandedly with a boredexpression.“Pardon?” I had her repeat, as I didn’t quite understand what she meant bythese words.“Her breasts, I mean.” she said, “Are they on the bigger or smaller side?”My face quickly got red upon thinking about it. Certainly, they’re on thesmaller side, to the point they’re quite flat, but doesn’t that just make herextra cute? I can’t imagine a Cecily with b-bigger b-breasts…!“U-Uhh, s-she’s small…” I murmured while fiddling with the edges of mycoat.They certainly seemed to have enjoyed that reaction quite a bit, teasing mefor my naivety in the field of male-female relations. I feel like I might’veopened a dangerous can of worms with this answer. Maybe I should’ve liedafter all. But no, Linus already met Cecily, he’d give it away immediately!Aargh!“I think this leads us beautifully into the next question!” Miss Lionheartclapped her hands together as she asked, “How could you even get it upwhen your girl has such a childlike body?”“Get it up?” I asked once more, not quite understanding the jargon she’susing.The entire party (including even Linus) collectively facepalmed as MissLionheart sighed and pointed to my crotch. She then asked how I even made ababy if I wasn’t introduced with such terms.“Whuh-?! You’re not talking about that thing, right?” I asked shyly, “Thatthing Aaron taught me way back, the thing guys and girls do in bed…! Inother w-words…S-S-Se…-!”“Yes! I’m talking about that, damn it!” she hit the table with her fist, makingthe teacups wobble at the sheer force of the impact, “If you’re saying youhaven’t done it yet, then how did you even have a baby, damn it?!”“Oh, Nelly’s adopted.” I shot back with a smile, “Carter named her in his lastmoments.”Everything seemed to have suddenly started making sense, with everyonegoing Oooooh, now I get it! They complimented Nelly’s name, calling it cuteand such, as well as asking for a picture.“Come on guys,” Sullivan said as he sipped his tea, “why would anyonecarry around a picture of their daughter?”“Because she’s too cute!” I exclaimed as I proudly pulled the somewhatburned picture of Nelly out of my pockets.They all n’awwed and wooowed after taking a long hard look at the infinitesource of serotonin that Nelly’s likeness holds. I felt quite proud, in a way!They questioned the scorch marks on the edges, to which I explained I gotkidnapped by some bandits on my way here (they shot daggers at Sullivan forthat one, but he apologized once more, so it’s okay).All in all, this was the first time I looked at any of them with a smile on myface, and I’m sure they feel the same way. I asked how far they’ve gotten intothe dungeon, hoping they made some good progress, to which I got a not-sogood reply.“We made it to the entrance, but didn’t really know what to do from then on.”Miss Dola stuck her tongue out while looking away cheekily.“Marina!” Sullivan reprimanded her, “I-It’s not that we didn’t know how toclear the entrance, we were just scoping out the scenery, looking for trapsand such! Schnell’s handbook states dungeons are filled with traps, so wegotta be wary!”“Ah, I see! Caution is well-advised!” I complimented their sources, “Schnellis the greatest adventurer to live in this world, so I’m sure you can’t gowrong with listening to his wisdom!”He seemed to raise his eyebrows in surprise at my positive reaction, lookingaway as he giggled to himself. He murmured something about me not being asbad as he thought at first, which I took as both a compliment and an insult.“Well then,” I said as I finished drinking my tea, “we’ll check it outtomorrow and hopefully find a clear way inside. Until then, I’d like to restplease, as the journey here has been quite tough on my body.”“Yeah, let’s do that.” They all said as they got into their respective beds.For the first time in a while, I had people-no, friends who I could sayGoodnight to, and for the first time in a while, I had friends who would sayGoodnight back. I have traveled quite a ways away from home, haven’t I?Making it from this comfy little village in the sticks of Secundis, to travelingaround the entirety of Trivis Numerica. I made a brief visit to the Kingdom ofCarmen, but I’ll have to revisit it sometime in the not-so-distant future toproperly document it. Great Hiana was a blast, and I have a ton of friendsthere who I can’t wait to talk to once I get back! Yes, I see now: friends. Theentire point of this Grand Journey of mine is to:  1) Travel the world, documenting as many things as I can  2) Meet as many like-minded individuals who are on the samewavelength as me, essentially giving me a network of friends all across theworld!Well, all that will come in the future, as for now, ZZZzzzzz…