We walked back to the inn, knowing that we had left our belongings there—so we chose to spend the final night at the inn.
The way back was silent, neither of us knew what to talk about—it had been difficult to endure meeting Mim's eyes ever since we left Kage.
After I saw her expression that looked into the far distance—I wasn't the only one glad to have made this choice.
'I'm truly happy for you, Tjer. I understand how difficult this choice was for you.'
'Thank you, and yes, maybe it was difficult. But I guess... no—I'm sure this was the right decision.'
'I strongly believe the same—they seemed really caring.'
'Even then... they were intimidating.'
'But that means they can teach you a lot, right?'
'Yes... it does. I'm glad that he will teach me more about my sword as well.'
'I wonder whether it will be possible without essence...'
'But you can just ask it tomorrow of course.'
'Thank you, I will—
'And I was wondering, did some of your memories return the last few days?'
'...No, I did feel familiar with the story we read—the hero's journey. But nothing clear...'
'I had hoped for at least something here...'
'But maybe it doesn't work in that way—would there be another way to get your memories back?'
'Maybe it has something to do with essence... but I can only guess.'
'It'll come with time—I'm sure of it. So try not to worry about it too much.'
'If you say so...'
I had now finished all my remaining business here in Antoria.
After we walked for a while longer, lifting her on my shoulders once again, and we had finally reached the inn.
As we walked into the common space, we saw the innkeeper and his daughter sitting there talking to a man—one whose back was enough to recognize.
"Caleb?" I said.
"Huh..." He said, turning around.
"Oh, Tjer—I was waiting for you to come."
"For me, what do you need me for?"
He stood up, and said,
"Can we go somewhere private? I want to talk about something..."
What would he want to talk about...?
"We can go upstairs then, follow me."
I walked past him, he stood up and followed me upstairs, and we entered my room.
"So what did you want to talk about?"
He slapped his arms against the side of his body.
"Huh?" My head couldn't help but tilt.
He had bowed down in front of me.
"Please forgive me for our fight..."
"I know that it was under commands, but still..."
"As someone wishing to be a knight, I should never have behaved like that..."
"I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me!"
"Why would you apologize, it was just a fight, wasn't it?"
"Yes it was. But I gave it my all, trying to kill you as ordered—I should have known better."
"What should you have done better then?" I tilted my head.
"..."
"I don't know, but I should have thought about it anyway."
"I'm strong enough as some knights... so this entire fight was unfair."
"But that's just how fights work, the winners are stronger—they are the ones to decide who lives."
"And you're a knight already?"
"...maybe you are right." He stood back up again,
"And no—not yet, I need to build more achievements before I can."
"Is that why you had to follow the count?"
"Yes... otherwise I would have left a bad impression, and it's the count so his weighs heavily—risking that I may never get the honor to become a knight, I am still a commoner after all."
"Is it really that difficult?"
"And what even is a count really, I still don't completely get it. Is it like a king or emperor?"
"No—it's below them, but they are still a high ranking noble, managing their own territories. To be exact this area is his territory." He pointed his finger to the floor who stood on,
"And hitting his child, is as if you hit him."
"I didn't know that, but he deserved it. If I had the chance I'd have done it again..." I said, holding my chin up.
Would I really...?
"Hahaha, you are a perfect fit for a knight then, please do your best. And if you ever want to spar, you can always find me."
"Don't worry, I'll find you—I can't end it on a loss."
"I will always be open for your challenges!"
"I appreciate it—I would have to train hard before I can take you on again." I said, clenching my fist.
"I will not stand still either. So try even harder than you planned." He put his hand on his heart,
"I'll leave now, so take care Tjer—I enjoyed our fight."
"Take care—I appreciated the fight."
He looked back at me with his eyebrows raised for a single second, after which he just grinned and walked away.
I walked behind him after hearing his steps reach the floor, enhanced by softer steps that ran up in the background.
The moment those steps stopped Mim stood at the door before I could leave the room.
"Come down—let's eat!" She screamed, leaning on her knees while huffing.
"Sorry, sorry. We just had a quick talk, I'm coming now!" I walked past her, and ruffled her hair.
I had decided we could go all out on dinner that night, we didn't have to worry about money for a while.
We had to pay five seals each after we scoured over the entire menu.
We have something to celebrate after all.
We used the same strategy we always used—eating until our bellies were full, waiting before we started over again. And we filled the rest of our evening, by simply talking with the innkeeper—telling his daughter about Lusd like I promised to do, it was a night unlike I had ever experienced—one of no worries.
After we said our goodbyes, we went our own separate way.
I lay in my bed, and closed my eyes, falling asleep directly after.
"Mim!" I had woken up early, so I chose to wake Mim up alongside me.
The only sound that could be heard in our room, were the crowds outside, the birds chirping, and my own voice—but Mim kept silent.
"Mim—wake up!" Why is it taking longer than normal?
"MIM!" I walked over to see her blanket covered face.
"Huh, brother—please not so loud in the morning..." Drool had dried up around her mouth.
"Sorry, sorry—you didn't wake up."
Did I overreact?
"All is fo-rgiven..." Her eyes were still closed, leaving the drool around her mouth.
"Okay, I'm thankful... but you need to get up now, so we can leave early!"
"Please... just a bittt longer..."
I walked over to her, and grabbed her blanket.
"No, no you can do that on the way there." I ripped the blanket off her body, making the cold room wake her up.
"Tsk, brother... I hate this!" She screamed, kicking her feet around on the bed.
"Hahahaha, sorry, sorry... but look it worked—you are awake now!"
"No! This doesn't count... but I'll get up for you."
"Thank you... and for me?"
"You are obviously excited to leave!" My eyes widened after hearing her.
No... I cannot be...
"Aren't you as well?" I smiled with my eyes narrowed enough to not show my gaze.
"Yess, but I would love to sleep just a bit longer!" She said, grabbing the blanket back.
My head hung seeing her do that.
"...just get up."
After I persisted she had no choice but to get up, after we packed our bags we went down, and said our final goodbyes to everybody after finishing our breakfast.
We took our carriage on the way to the house this time.
"Good morning guards." The guards opened the doors without saying another word besides their greetings.
We passed by all the trees, reaching the yard—covered by the shadow of the manor.
Albert stood at the door in front of the manor.
How long has he been waiting?
He had walked over to us.
"Good morning—how are you feeling this morning?"
As we got off the carriage, we walked over to him, while responding,
"I had a nice night of sleep, so I'm alright—but Mim..." I turned towards her, with Albert following my gaze.
"Mim how are you feeling?" I asked her in his stead.
"I want to sleep..." She said, almost closing her reddened eyes.
"You can surely do it in the coach, don't worry about it." The smile he showed, made her smile as well.
"See, I told you..."
"Yes, yes—I know, brother..."
I had reached the manor door, and entered, with both Katherine and Edward talking, while they sat on the same couch—leaving almost no space between the two of them.
"Good morning Edward, and Katherine." Mim and I greeted them together, making them turn toward us.
"Good morning to you too," Edward said.
"Did you have a good night's sleep?" Katherine added on.
"Yes we did, but we'll probably sleep a bit more on our way to Kardiotza."
"How long will it take us to get there?"
"It will take us around fifteen days to enter the borders."
"Fifteen!? Sigh... is it that far?"
"It is in another continent after all, we're luckily quite close to the border already."
"Really?! Fifteen days is just at the border... I didn't expect that."
Katherine and Edward were looking at each other with a narrow grin on their faces.
I have a bad feeling about this...
"So let's get up before your sister falls asleep already." Next to me stood Mim, drool almost escaping from her mouth, standing with a crooked back and eyes half closed already.
To wake her up I clapped my hands together next to her ear.
"Huhh~?" She jumped up straight, looking around with her drooping eyes.
The rest of us broke out into laughter.
"There is too much we need to do at home, so let's leave now!" Edward said, and he turned toward Albert.
"Albert, ready the coach and horses."
Katherine stood up, and grabbed the two bags that lay alongside her.
I lifted my gaze up, and saw her slightly lifted lips with a red shine through her cheeks.
Edward turned around after passing me, matching my gaze.
"One thing you should know... we might encounter some beasts on the way. So be ready to fight whenever."