Preparations

Edited by: ASaltedFish

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Once they all got situated, Akimitsu and Edros picked up a sandwich and happily ate. They hadn't had dinner yet, so they were hungry. 

Ellery felt a lot better after talking with Aster and hugging Akimitsu. 

Akimitsu swallowed the bite of the sandwich in his mouth. "I have already notified the First Fleet to get ready to go to MPE02, so all you need to do is graduate, and then we can head out." 

"Sounds good. Should we go pick up the crystal before heading out? Since we would already be there, we might as well look for the Beast God at the same time." Ellery had a good point. The Beast God was in that general area, so it wouldn't make sense to keep going back and forth. 

"We could, but I do not know how long you will be gone for… Don't you have appointments booked already?" Edros pointed it out because his and Akimitsu's appointment was coming up soon. 

Ellery was so excited after hearing from his brother, he forgot about the guiding sessions. 

"Ah… I totally forgot. Shit, let me tell my manager about my plans. Oh, I should create a stockpile for the stabilizers and harvest some of the plants so I can make them while we are traveling…" 

Luckily, there were refrigerators on battleships like the ones guides use to preserve their spiritual plants. 

Ellery also made sure to put it on his website that he would be gone for an unknown amount of time and that he would resume appointments as soon as he got back. He would finish the appointments for the week, though, so those who had an upcoming appointment could still get guiding services done. Ellery would also be creating a large amount of stabilizers to keep up with the store, but he would no longer be taking bulk orders. 

His manager didn't know the details of his trip, but he knew that it was important, so he could only tell Ellery to have a safe trip and to come back as soon as he could. 

Finally, he messaged Emperor Eliane about his plans to find the Beast God after his graduation, and he would be picking up that "item." He didn't specify it for safety reasons, but Eliane knew what he was talking about. 

When he finished notifying everyone, Ellery remembered that Akimitsu and Edros were still there. 

Edros had fallen asleep with Lune and Casir in his arms. He looked comfortable, but also exhausted. As for Akimitsu, he was playing with Sol and Dusk, who were ignored by Ellery. All the food on the table was gone too. 

"Akimitsu, why don't you and Edros stay for the night? I don't know when Darya and Orin will be done talking, but I want you both to meet him."

Akimitsu, who had already stopped playing with Sol and Dusk, nodded his head. "Then, I will have someone come with a change of clothes." 

Ellery had extra toiletries, so they only needed to bring clothes for sleeping and the next day. 

When Akimitsu's and Edros' clothes arrived, Darya came downstairs with Orin still on call. 

They had finally finished talking to each other. Darya wanted to talk to Orin about everything that she had been through since he was gone, and he wanted to do the same. There were just some things that you could only talk to your spouse about, which was why Darya had asked Ellery to leave the room. 

"Thank you for waiting, Ellery." Darya felt a little bad for talking for so long, but she just missed him so much that she couldn't hold back. Orin was the same way. 

[Thank you, Ellery. Oh, is that Marshal Edros and Adjutant Ito? Thank you for taking care of my brother while I have been gone.] 

Orin remembered seeing the case with Darian and how he almost killed Ellery. Luckily, the First Fleet's lawyers were strong and upheld justice for Ellery. 

"It is no trouble at all, Lieutenant Orin," Akimitsu replied for Marshal Caecius as well because he had just woken up and was still in a daze. "The First Fleet is relieved to see you are safe and alive. We are packing up the spacecraft to pick you up soon, so hang tight." 

Even though he knew from Ellery that the First Fleet was going to pick him up, it was different to hear it from his superiors. He felt like he was getting emotional. From the moment he graduated from the Imperial Academy, Orin became a member of the First Fleet. He fought on the front lines with them to protect the Empire he called home. 

His parents were also a part of the First Fleet, but they had lost their lives on the battlefield. 

Orin had made and lost a lot of friends. The First Fleet was like family to him, and he missed his comrades a lot. He wondered if they were still alive, if they married, or if they had kids. 

[Thank you, Adjutant Ito.] His voice cracked a little because he was trying his best to keep himself from crying. 

"Look at you about to cry." Akimitsu laughed to lighten the atmosphere. "Scrunching up your face like that isn't going to hide the tears ya got at the corner of your eyes!" 

[Sir, I am not crying like that!] He had already cried earlier when he was talking to Darya; he couldn't cry again, especially not in front of his superiors. 

"Akimitsu, stop teasing my poor brother or he will really cry in front of us." Ellery chuckled – it sounded like he was also teasing Orin. 

[When did you learn to speak to your big brother that way, Ellery? Ahhh, my little brother has grown up so much, now he can now tease his older brother.] 

Seeing the laughter and wailing, Edros didn't know if he should say anything. Aster was also quiet, listening to everyone talk. Even though he didn't like to talk, he did like to listen to his friends and family talking and having fun.

Lune snuggled in Edros' arms, going back to sleep with all the bustling noise. 

*****

The next day, Ellery, Darya, Edros, and Akimitsu ate breakfast together. Since it was the day that Ellery would guide Edros and Akimitsu, they decided to go to the Guide Association together. 

Darya decided to stay at Ellery and Aster's house for the time being. After Ellery graduates, Darya would accompany them to pick up Orin. 

Since Ellery and Aster only had to guide Akimitsu and Edros, they took their time eating. Before leaving, Ellery also had to check in on his garden and see if he needed to buy stabilizer plants. 

His spiritual power was incredibly strong, but he needed at least A-grade plants to continue making S and SS-ranked stabilizers. Thankfully, there were a lot more A-ranked guides who sold stabilizer plants. S-ranked plants were not sold online though. 

It was the first time Edros and Akimitsu saw his garden, so while Ellery was working, they took their time to look at all the vegetables growing. They weren't allowed in the greenhouses, though. 

Akimitsu could see how much spiritual energy each vegetable had and wanted to grab one to give it a try. He saw a worker in the distance and decided to ask if they were for sale. 

"Excuse me, Sir, is Ellery open to selling these in person, or do I have to get them online?" He knew about the vegetables in the online shop, but they were always sold out. He tried to get them a few times but was always a few steps too late. 

The person Akimitsu stopped was Yang Saem, Ellery's close friend. 

Yang knew Akimitsu from the photos and videos online, so he wasn't startled to see him. "Hello, Sir, let me ask the manager and quickly get back to you." 

"That's fine. Take your time. I am going to keep looking at the vegetables."

Yang nodded his head and contacted Manager Teresa, who was with Ellery in one of the green houses. Teresa relayed the message to Ellery who couldn't help but laugh. Akimitsu had his contact information, why not ask him first? 

Still, he told Teresa to sell the vegetables at a 50% discount. He knew that Akimitsu was living with Edros, and they were not going to take his vegetables for free. 

Yang replied to Teresa's message and called out to Akimitsu, letting him know that he could take some. 

"Let me help you pick them so they are ripe and ready to eat." Yang was afraid that Akimitsu would pick an unripened tomato or something and get a stomach ache! 

Akimitsu picked some vegetables to send back to Edros' estate and stared at Yang. He didn't hide his gaze, nor was he secretive about it. 

"Adjutant Ito, is there something you would like to ask me?" Yang, who was being stared at intently, felt a little weak in the presence of a S-ranked Sentinel. 

"I know you are Ellery's friend, but I can't help but wonder why you decided to work for him instead of going to the military. Even if you aren't a sentinel, your spiritual strength is at least A-ranked. As a non-sentinel, you do not have to worry about energy corruption. So why not join the military instead?" 

Ellery was affiliated with the First Fleet, so Akimitsu felt no shame in poaching one of Ellery's workers. Well, he wasn't actually recruiting him; he just wanted to know why and get a better understanding of Ellery's friends. 

"Since you know who I am, then you must have done a background check… My little sister has an incurable disease. My parents and my grandparents are dead. No one else wants to take care of her. I needed a job where I could visit her every day to make sure she's taken care of… I do not know how long she will live, but I do not want her to be alone." 

He did have other relatives, but they were distant with him, especially after his parents died. No one wanted to help him, so he needed to help himself. 

"I am grateful to Ellery for hiring me without asking about my circumstances. I have more than enough to pay for her medical bills, and I even have a place to stay to save money. There's no better job for me right now." 

Akimitsu was relieved to know that Yang was a good person, but he couldn't help but feel bad for asking the way he did. "Then, I wish you and your sister the best. And I apologize for asking the way I did. I just wanted to get a better understanding of Ellery's friends. It's a relief to know you are a good person." 

"It's okay. We all know that you like him a lot." Yang was relieved to know that Akimitsu was an understanding person. 

After helping Akimitsu gather all the vegetables he wanted, Akimitsu paid while Yang sent the vegetables to the address Akimitsu inputted. 

After Yang left, Akimitsu went to find Edros and Ellery as if nothing had ever happened. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if Ellery knew about Yang's family.