Reunion

"So... have you finally decided to finish your adventuring days?"

"I will run dungeons for 20 more days."

"Didn't you say you would quit being an adventurer after you came out of the valley?"

"Something unexpected came up."

"Haa... I really wished you would quit."

"Why? Didn't you like all the money that came rolling whenever I entered the Guild? As the Guildmaster, you should be sadder..." Sou's voice trailed off at the end.

"But you also brought trouble every time. Honestly, what were you thinking sabotaging other adventurers' dungeon runs and hogging all the rewards? Do you even know how much work I had to do because of you?!"

"Haha, calm down Mrs Hellen." Sou looked outside the moving carriage while chuckling.

"If you weren't Rei's son, I would have just revoked your license."

"Is that so? Anyway, was that okay? Only to see me in action, you had a grim reaper hold his scythe over those adventurers? You are the Guildmaster, you know? If you are exposed, then you would be in great trouble."

"Don't worry. I am always thorough with my work."

"Is that so?"

They stayed silent for a while, looking at the passing buildings and people. Mrs Hellen turned her gaze towards Sou and broke the silence.

"Still, it was pretty surprising how you survived that fall and got captured by Krion's Lord and then suddenly popped up at my doorstep in tattered clothes. Were they really chasing you that hard?" Mrs Hellen chuckled.

Sou has given Mrs Hellen a vague account of what happened after he got separated from his parents. Of course, he left out the part about his transmigration, system and killing people. He didn't want the cutesy impression to disappear.

(Can't tell that I was training with Drago and the others.)

Sou returned Mrs Hellen's questioning eyes with a look that seemed to say "How can you ask a ten-year-old such an ominous question?".

Sou looked away from her and opened his mouth to answer.

"Yeah. They were all over me. even with my lightning steps, they caught up to me. I survived on a whim, to be honest."

"Why did they capture you in the first place and why did they stop the chase?"

"I do-"

"Don't give me that "I don't know" crap. I know that you know why they were after you."

(This woman...)

"I really don't know. All I know was that they were doing some kind of experiment with people's mana. And they stopped the chase because I was near Loa and they didn't want anyone to see them. At least that's what I think."

"Do you know that Krion's Lord died right after you escaped?"

(Gulp.)

"No, I didn't know that." Sou tried his best to maintain his poker face.

"Hmm..."

"What?"

"Hmmmmm....."

As her 'hmm' went longer, the intensity of her gaze grew more intense.

"Oi... you are creeping me out..." Sou put his hands in front of her.

"Fine, I will believe you now."

(Phew...)

They made small talks regarding his dungeon runs and other stuff on the way to the warp gate which connected Loa and the floating city Zicrus.

***

"We are here." Mrs Hellen shook the dozing Sou lightly.

"Wha... Ah... is this the warp gate?" Sou dazedly looked at the huge gate brimming different colours.

Both of them stepped out of the carriage and entered the warp gate.

"Be careful. This is your first time so you may feel nauseous after you get teleported."

"I am not that brat from 3 years ago."

"I guess you can defeat me now."

"You bet!"

'This brat has grown tremendously over the past 3 years. It is almost unbelievable. He might be able to stand up to S-ranks now...'

Vooom...

A strange spiral took over Sou's vision. He could feel the mana around him change. The platform where Sou was standing started to change its shape as if it was alive.

(This feels... surreal.)

In the next moment, Sou was standing in front of a huge lined crowd. He looked around and saw all the buildings he saw in Loa were nowhere to be found.

While in a daze, he heard a voice.

"Welcome to the floating city Zicrus!"

Sou turned to the voice and saw Mrs. Hellen with spread hands and a big grin.

"So this is where..."

"But why did you not let me inform them that you were alive? They were... they were pretty sad you know... Lily even tried to commit suicide..."

The mood darkened when Sou heard his parent's going through such dark times. He wanted to give them a pleasant surprise, but he didn't know that his parents were having a hard time because of him.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier when I asked you about my parents?"

"You were on a streak. If I told you about your parents at that time then you would have abandoned everything and run to them, which would obstruct your training, after all, your main objective was to become stronger."

"..." Sou's face remained hardened.

Mrs. Hellen kept staring at the darkened Sou with a gleeful look. It was painfully obvious that Sou was trying his best to keep his tears from bursting. His tightened clench and trembling body made it clear as day.

"Huh?"

Sou felt someone tugging his sleeve. Sou turned towards the person.

"Are you sad?" A small girl, a lot younger than Sou, asked, tugging his sleeve.

The girl had a lot of resemblance to Sou, especially her face.

Sou looked at the girl with sharp eyes but they couldn't last long. His gaze turned soft and his body relaxed on its own.

(What the hell...?)

He was confused. Without him knowing, he became defenceless for a moment.

"Lia! I told you not to let go of my hand!"

A feminine and tired voice came from the distance. All of them looked in the direction and saw a woman- long silver hair, dark circles under her eyes, a bandage wrapped around her left wrist- running towards them.

"I am sorry of my daughter has troubled yo- ah, Hellen! What are you doing here?" The woman tried to put up a smiling face but it was clear that she could not.

"Hey, Lily." Hellen stepped forward and hugged the woman.

"Lily...?" Sou muttered under his breath

"What is it, young boy?" The woman looked at the boy with tired eyes.

"I think you should ask him to take off his mask." Hellen chuckled as she said this.

"..." Sou remained silent.

Drip...

A drop resounded in their ears amid the bustling crowd. Sou's tears were falling from the mask's gap.

"Why are you crying?" The woman asked.

"Why is brudher crying?" The girl incessantly tugged the woman's long skirt.

(No, why am I crying? I don't even know this woman. Then why am I crying? Is this body reacting to this woman? She is not my real mom! Why am I crying, damn it!)

"This idiot..." Hellen snapped and hit the back of Sou's head which made his mask fall.

"Gasp!"

"If you want to do something, then do it right and don't you have something to say?"

"..."

Sou's wet eyes stared at Lily.

(Fuck...)

"I am... back..."

***