The Star Seekers stood in silence, staring into the empty space, where their former teammate had stood just moments ago. Not in regret or disbelief. No, they had already accepted their teammate’s departure. After all, everyone had to leave the team at some point. It was just that one of them left the team a little earlier than others. And they surely did not regret him leaving the team. Except, maybe Norren and Ralph.

  Though, even if the two of them had regrets about how Fran left, they kept their regrets to themselves, and stood silently with everyone else, indulging in memories of the time they had spent together, of the things they had shared. The bond they had built…

  “…Alright, that’s enough mourning,” Alnea said after a few moments of silence, glancing at the gloomy face of his teammates. “Fran is not dead. He has just left our team. Instead of looking all sad and depressed, we should wish the best for him.”

  “…Did we really have to let him go?”

  “Fran is not a child, Norren. He is a Wanderer. And as fellow Wanderers, we need to respect his choice.”

  “…Even if that choice is stupid?”

  “…Even if that choice is stupid,” Alnea said to Ralph, though his words were meant for everyone. “Maybe, as Vestia said, if we had subdued him when he was unstable, then we could have helped him changed his mind. But even that would just have been delaying the inevitable. Not to mention that using force to subdue his confused Heart might have left it stained. And by now, everyone should know what happens to people with stained Hearts in the Lost City.”

  “…So, it was either a choice of leaving our team to follow his Heart, or being forced to work for the Lost City,” Karl mumbled, shutting down any further questions from Norren. The only one who had still left to say anything was Zain.

  “In a way, this outcome was doomed from the day he joined this team.”

  “…Maybe,” Vestia said, glancing at the bodies of the Heterodox Wanderers lying around them. “If only we had not met these Heterodox Wanderers…”

  “…Then he would have been left in ignorance for all his life,” Aren said, clenching his fist, before taking a deep breath and loosening his fist. “Although I do not like the fact that he left us either, I am happy for him finally finding his answers.”

  “…Are you really being chased by Heterodox Wanderers, Captain?”

  “Do you still doubt that part?”

  “No, but…”

  “The real question is, why are the Heterodoxies chasing our Captain?”

  The Star Seekers turned their heads towards Alnea in unison, making him feel a little awkward and uncomfortable. If he could, he did not want to lie to his teammates, but he did not know how to tell them the truth either. What was he supposed to tell them? That some Origin Beast sent down Oracles to hunt him down? That he had defied Death? That—

  “That is not a question you should be asking,” Yuri said, answering for Alnea, reliving him from his embarrassing situation. “We have already dealt with all the Heterodox Wanderers in the Final World. The rest of our competitors are just the Lotus clan and a few other Orthodoxies that do no want to see us entering the inner city. They are what you should be focussing on right now, and not the secrets of your Captain.”

  “…It is not as if we were trying to dig into his secrets,” Ralph mumbled. “We were just a little curious.”

  “Then kill your curiosity.”

  “…I—

  “She is right, you know,” Vestia said, finally letting out a smile after a long while. Just one tainted with mischievousness. “Curiosity is one of the leading causes of death for Wanderers. If you do not want to suddenly die one day, you should learn how to restrain your curiosity.”

  “…Stop bullying Ralph, Vestia,” Alnea said, unable to suppress the wry smile surfacing to his face. “Though she is not wrong, Ralph. You really should learn how to restrain your curiosity.”

  “…I did not mean any harm.”

  “I know, but you should also try to understand her point. You have a few secrets of your own, do you not? So does everyone else. That’s just how the world works. Everyone has a few secrets that they do wish to share with others. And unless those secrets affect you directly, you should not be asking about them. After all, not everyone can laugh off such transgressions. If you repeat the mistake with some people who guard their secrets with their lives…”

  “…I understand. I will be careful with my words.”

  “That’s all she asked of you,” Alnea said, before glancing at the rest of his teammates. “Now then, let’s clean up the area—

  “Wait,” Vestia said, bringing everyone’s attention to herself. “Are you not forgetting something?”

  “…What?”

  “Your explanation! You still have not explained what happened earlier.”

  “…I did not?”

  “…Are you sure you want to play this game?”

  “…Alright, maybe I did not. But is that even important right now?”

  “It is,” Cecilia said, narrowing her eyes at Alnea. “Don’t try to escape, like you always do.”

  “…Fine. What do you two want to know?”

  “How about you start by answering the question I asked first?”

  “…What was the question?”

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  “Why did you refuse to drink my potion earlier, and why did you faint all of a sudden?”

  “And what did you mean by what you said about liking this vixen?”

  “Does that even need to be asked?”

  “I am asking him, not you!”

  “But I already know the answer to that question. How about I answer it for you?”

  “Shut up, vixen!”

  “Stop! Stop arguing,” Alnea said, stepping in between the two girls glaring at each other, feeling a little dizzy from his sudden movements. His blood… Though Vestia’s potion had already taken effect, it was not so miraculous as to replenish all the blood he had lost in such a short time. Still, at least he had recovered enough to not fall down from dizziness.

  “I will answer you both. So don’t fight anymore.”

  “…Answer me first!”

  “…To answer your question, I need to answer Vestia’s question first,” Alnea said, earning a pout from Cecilia, before turning towards Vestia. “As for your question…”

  “Tell them the truth,” Yuri said, interrupting him before he could weave his words. “Or I will.”

  “…Were you planning on lying to us?”

  “…No,” Alnea said, trying not to look at the girls in their eyes. “I was just thinking about how to answer your question.”

  “With truth,” Vestia said. “The complete truth, and nothing else.”

  Alnea let out a sigh, and finally gave in to his Fate, telling the girls what they wanted to know.

  “…The reason I refused to drink your potion was because I thought I was going to die.”

  “…What?” Vestia said, with her eyes widening in disbelief, before going completely silent. She tried opening her mouth many times, but she just could not find her words. And neither could Cecilia. Or maybe she did. She just could not bring herself to say those words. His other teammates though…

  “Captain is going to die?”

  “What? Why? No!”

  “Is it because of all the blood he lost?”

  “But he has already taken the potion!”

  “…It must be the girls. I told him he should not get too close to girls. But he never listened to me…”

  “…If you do not stop speaking, then you might die first,” Karl said to Zain. “And he is talking about the past, you idiot. He thought that he was going to die, was, not is.”

  “…Huh.”

  “…Is that all you have to say?”

  “No, I mean, why did he think that?”

  “…If you would let me speak, then you would not have had to ask that question,” Alnea said, glaring at his rambunctious teammates, while trying to ignore the wide-eyed stares that Vestia and Cecilia were giving him. Though, in the end, it was Vestia who had asked that question, so he had to turn towards her anyway.

  “…You already know that the Heterodox Wanderers somehow got hold of the breath of my Fate and entangled my Cause and Effect with Rituals. Even if the powers they were using was borrowed, Mysteries of Cause and Effect are not easy to get rid of. Especially when you are caught prepared. And I was in a hurry back then. So, I used a rather crude method to get rid of their entanglement…”

  “Wait,” Cecilia said, motioning Alnea to stop, as she finally managed to find her voice. “You don’t mean the method you used in the Night Canyons, right?”

  “…It was similar.”

  “But that does not make sense,” Cecilia mumbled. “Even if you… The last time, Yuri only needed to pay a small price to bring you back. How could you die from using your…”

  “…First of all, the price that Yuri paid back then was not small. And more importantly, the method I used was only similar to what I used back then, not the same. This time, I was bit more rough and violent.”

  “…Why?”

  “…I did not have any other choice—

  “There is always a choice!” Cecilia said, stepping forward with her fists raised, ready to punch Alnea in his face, only to open her fists mid way and grab his collar instead. “You were the one who told me that. To always discuss if there is anything you cannot handle. To never give up on yourself. So why did you have to make that choice?”

  “…There was not enough time. We were losing our advantage—

  “That is how fights usually go,” Vestia said, drawing both his, and Cecilia’s attention to herself. To the solemn look on her face. Even her voice had turned hoarse, almost as if she was struggling to say her words. But she did not stop speaking.

  “Exchanging our advantages, searching for flaws, waiting for our enemies to make a mistake, while ensuring that we do not make one ourselves… That is how battles are fought. Unless a battle can be decided in just a couple of moves, you cannot expect us to always be at an advantage against our enemies.”

  “…This time, it was different,” Alnea said, just as Cecilia let go of his collar, allowing Vestia to question him instead. “Our enemies were Heterodox Wanderers. You never know what weird means they are going to use in the next moment. Just like the Rituals they used to trap us and disturb our Heart, or the one they used to entangle me. They even prepared a dagger similar to the one that Amira stabbed me with. It may even be the same dagger. Cause and Effect… If I had delayed any longer…”

  “Then you would have seen us use our decisive means,” Vestia said, clenching her fists in frustration. “Or do you think that you are the only one who has saved up your strongest move to deal with our enemies in desperate situations?”

  “…I did not know.”

  “Because you did not ask!”

  “…I… I was worried about everyone.”

  “So, you decided to sacrifice yourself?”

  “…It was the best option I could think of.”

  “Best for us, or best for you?”

  “…I…”

  Vestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself, before opening her eyes to look at Alnea with a tired gaze.

  “…Since you are no longer in a coma, and neither is Yuri bawling her eyes out, I am assuming that you are fine now, but let me ask this anyway. Are you alright?”

  “…I have been better.”

  “…The method that you used to get rid of the restraints of their Ritual…”

  “Don’t worry. The side effects of that method have already been dealt with.”

  “…I will not ask how you dealt with those side effects. Just tell me if you need any treatment—

  “No, the potion you gave me earlier is enough. I just need some rest, and I will be back to normal in no time.”

  “What are you standing here for then? Go, get your rest.”

  “…But there is still one thing I need to make clear.”

  “What?”

  “The things that I said to that Heterodox Wanderer earlier…”

  “…I will assume that you did not mean what you said—

  “No, I really did mean those words. I—

  “You said them just because you did not wish to have any regrets, right?”

  “…I—

  “Just as how you kissed Yuri when you thought you were going to die.”

  “…I—

  “But did you stop for a moment to think about the regrets that you will leave us with?”

  “…I am sorry.”

  “No, you are not,” Vestia said, shaking her head. “You are saying that just to make me feel better.”

  “…I—

  “You are a selfish man, you know,” Vestia said, cutting Alnea off once again. “A very selfish man who never listens to what other people have to say.”

  “…Let me—

  “But this time, you are going to listen to me. Go, get your rest. And when you are back to normal, when you are not being pressed by the threat of death anymore, when you think you are ready, come and say those words to me again. This time, in a proper way. Not in a passing to someone else. Confess to me properly, and then, maybe, I will think about forgiving you.”