Before I went to get some rest, I ordered Albert who was sober to go scout out, with him was Reina and a bunch of soldiers.

I headed to our tent and laid down on the cold hard wooden bed, it 6 am in the morning and the city was loitered with bodies of drunk soldiers while the others were busy dragging the said drunk to different tents. They had too much too drink

An hour passed and I heard someone calling out

"Sir Zeno, an emergency"

I grumbled as I stood up, I still want some sleep

I opened the cloth door and saw a scout from Albert and Reina's party

"What's wrong?" I asked

He doesn't seem to be wounded so what could the emergency be?

"We found a runaway guild, they seek shelter in our Kingdom, I know that all guilds have left Arcadia but is it okay to let them in?" He asked

According to Cynthia, during the coup, in their final attempt, they tried to hire as many adventurers as they can but all of the guilds turned down their offer. Cynthia is the queen, so in the end, it's her decision but checking it out won't be a problem right?

"Write a letter to the Queen" I ordered before heading for the northern walls where the said Guild was waiting outside the gates

I arrived and saw Albert and Reina just beside the gates with their weapons in hand

"Sir Zeno! we've been having trouble with these guys, they keep saying they know the Queen and the royal knight" Reina stated

"Really? lower the gates then, I'd like to meet them" I nodded

The guard pulled a lever as a slow monotonous sound of chain clanking can be heard

I was able to see who the people was and to my surprise, it was Lea and the rest

"What the? what are you guys doing here?" I asked

"We're here because we're wanted back in the other kingdom" Lea smiled

"...I'm sorry for pulling you guys into our problems" I bowed

"Hey, raise your head, I wouldn't be able to forgive you if we lost a member's life, let's be thankful that hasn't happened" Lea patted my back

"Then please, come in" I replied

"You heard the man! let's go!" Lea shouted as the carriage which was being manned by Marcus, started moving

I haven't really noticed until they entered the city but it seems like there was a second and a third carriage, the second was being led by Rick while the third was being manned by Fujo.

The three carriages all entered and the gate was once again raised, everyone inside the carriage stepped out.

Liralei, Rick, Ella, and Fujo... Liliana, Marcus, and Lea

"It's been a long time" I stated

"Good to see that you're still kicking" Rick patted my back

"Good to see that my darling is still alive~" Fujo raised one foot as his right arm rested on his waist while the other had formed a peace sign over his eyes

"Gole- ahem* it's great that you're still alive" Liliana nodded

"I'm so happy!" Liralei had tears streaking down her eyes

"Uhn" Ella only nodded

"Good to see that you're still well" Marcus smiled

"Yeah, long time no see" Lea chuckled

"Come on, I'll lead you to an empty house, you guys must've had a rough journey" I started walking

"Hey~ I'm still here you know~" I heard a familiar voice

I looked back and the first carriage's door opened, there I saw Astarotia in her red dress

"What the?!" I was surprised

"Awwww~ aren't you happy to see me~" She smiled sweetly as she locked her arms around mine

"*sigh* We kinda met her on our way here... she kinda helped us out a lot during tough times so Zeno... as a member of Aegis... please compensate her" Lea stated as she looked away while scratching her cheek

"Compensate her with what?" I still have tons of money

"Your body~" Astarotia puckered her lips

"Haha... no" I pushed her lips away but I didn't break away from her

That was the best I can do to thank her

"Awww~ oh well, I'm happy like this" Astarotia smiled

I led them to an empty inn in the center of the city, good thing I had the medic crew clean this place up

Everyone just laid down on their beds and instantly fell asleep, I asked the soldiers to take the horses inside the stable while their stuff is to be left on the building's first floor. I quietly left as to not disturb their rest, I met with Reina

"Anything else?" I asked

"Nothing sir, we spotted no movements from at least 5 kilometers away" She reported

"Good job, relay this to everyone, Alphon city will remain as a military stronghold, No civilian is to return here until further notice" I stated

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"I will" Reina left

We captured the prince so it's only logical for the King to go after him, I'll leave the guards stationed here.

I returned to my bed and went to sleep till late in the afternoon, I was woken up by the sound of clamor

I hurriedly ran outside only to find out that Astarotia and Shinku was fighting, I immediately got in between them

"What the hell is going on here?" I asked

"S-She wanted to... molest master as he slept..." Shinku stated with embarrassment

"You what?" I am utterly speechless

"I mean... we've been far away from each other..." Astarotia didn't even try to deny it

"Shinku, good job. Astarotia, you do know that there's a limit to everything" I stated

"But-" She tried to talk back

"But? depending on what you say here, I'll cut off my connections with you"

"I-I am very sorry, I will control myself from now on" She apologized

"*sigh* Really?"

"Yes!"

"If it was the past, I would've enjoyed your company... too bad I'm already engaged" I chuckled as I entered the tent

The cloth door shut the world outside as I laid down on my bed and soon enough, I heard a scream

"WHAT?!" It was Astarotia's

I could only chuckle as I requested Lilith to play some acoustic music from the 2000's

I heard rumbling outside but after a while, everything calmed down and I was allowed to rest

It was 7 pm when I left the tent, it was dark outside with only the moon and torches as our source of light.

"Albert, anything happened while I slept?" I asked

"Aside from a woman's rampage, nothing" He reported

"That so? well, prepare because we're heading back home" I chuckled

"Really? but what about the other soldiers?" He asked

"They're all staying here in Alphon city for a month, if we confirm from our spies that there's no army coming to forcefully retake the prince then we would love to negotiate peacefully" I explained

"And after that's done, everyone will head back home right?"

"That's the plan"

"Got it, I'll go tell the others" He walked away

I was just outside the tent, I started heading for the northern wall, I went up and felt the cold breeze.

'Lilith, connect to Alissa'

'Connecting...'

'*Beep* Alissa here, whatsup?'

'Hey, I got the prince, did you guys get him safely?' I asked

'Yeah, we got him, in a very embarrassing state'

'What?'

'He kept crying the entire time and when Cynthia threatened him, he went and pissed his pants, I mean seriously'

'Damn, I feel sorry for the guy who had to clean that up' I replied

'Well enough of that, how are things there?'

'We're going home tomorrow, also... I have a specter stone'

'What? how?'

'It doesn't end there... the specter stone is Vicereine's'

'You... what?!' Vicereine has always been a sensitive subject, finding something that can only be found in our timeline here and also finding that it belonged to our deceased friend is really too much to take in

'I... I need some... company' Alissa replied, I can feel sadness and pain in her voice

Vicereine and Alissa were the best buds, they would always share stuff together, they practically grew up together and considered each other sisters

'I know, that's why I'm coming home'

'Please come home faster'

'I will'

I cut off the connection and stared at the dark empty field, it was still barren due to the last fight, a few flies were attracted but couldn't seem to find the corpse

'Lilith... can you loosen the locks on my chest a bit' I requested

'...done'

Dk chest plate opened up a bit, I pulled out my old dog tag. I raised it up as it let out a clanking sound

It was my dog tag, it was roughed up in all places and beside it was Vicereine's, hers were much cleaner and was in a better state a sharp contrast compared to my roughed up dog tag

'Zeno... I have a recording... you must see' Lilith broke the silence

'A recording? sure, why not' I agreed

My monitor went dark, at first, all I heard was static but the darkness slowly vanished and I soon saw Vicereine

Blood dripping down her head and mouth

What the hell is this?

'Zeno... I love you' She confessed as she took off my helmet

What? this is just... why? all these time I thought she was kind to everyone because she was our captain

The camera was on DK so she laid it on the floor, I still have a full view of my body leaning against the wall, two Bee king stinger sticking out of my chest. Vicereine snuggled close to me and kissed my mouth. Her red lips left a bloody mark

'I wanted you to at least be awake when I do this... it's my first kiss you know' She chuckled yet I saw tears run down her cheeks

She picked up the camera and showed me the corpse of the King along with a bomb

'The bomb is set to explode in 60 seconds, I managed to grab the mini blackhole cube from Mirigai's weapon development department, although it's still a prototype. I'll bet our chances on this one' She pulled out a cube with a small button on top of it

'I have to do this, you won't survive for long but I already called the medical team, all that's left is to take care of this bomb but if I fail... at least I get to die with you... pretty selfish right? But if it works... please live and find love'

Vicereine struggled to raise her AWP railgun before blasting off a hole in the wall, everything was starting to get sucked out

'...Seriously Zeno...' She kept saying some stuff but the vacuum of space caused it to be inaudible

She pushed the bomb out before dragging the King's corpse, she jumped out and used the King's corpse as a plug to stop the suction

'Recording 02 of November 13th end' Lilith's voice snapped back to reality

I see...

I once again looked at Vicereine's dog tag, the pain of loss flooded back

Don't worry Vicereine, I already have Alissa and Cynthia... you can feel relieved

I spoke to myself as tears flowed down my eyes, my thoughts swirled around her words. What did she feel as she pushed the bomb into space, I don't want to think about but my imagination just won't stop

I kept wiping the tears yet why won't it stop? I try to think of happy memories but when I do, she was mostly in all of them. Alissa gave me my life and Vicereine taught me emotions when I thought I wouldn't feel them anymore

'Hey Lilith...'

'Yes Zeno?'

'Do you feel sadness?'

'I apologize however, I lack the chemical which the brain produces when humans feel 'Sadness''

'Is that so?'

'Yes but we were programmed to feel 'Irritated' like seeing a problem we can't solve'

'I see... then Lilith, tell me what you feel'

'Irritation'

'How so?'

'Your emotions is on a very dangerous level and yet I have no idea how to help'

'Really? then follow my instructions, it should help'

'Please state the said remedy'

'Play all of my saved memories with Vicereine, all the good times we've had'

'I've found the said folder... I hope this will help even though my predictions only show this being more harmful than helpful'

'Thanks'

It started with our first mission together, everyone was hurt and I only kept belittling their lack of abilities. Vicereine didn't take it well and it caused us to have a fight, A swordsman versus a sniper, the match was decided before it even began, I won yet I feel that I've lost, looking at the tired woman in front of me. As an apology, I asked her out, I wanted to buy her something that she liked but in the end, she dragged me around all day

At first I thought 'How can a woman spend so much?' she literally blew through all of my savings but by the end of the day I seem to have noticed that she has such a radiant smile, sure it took me all day but at least I still noticed it (even though she smiled so much the entire day)

We soon started to hang out, she asked me to train with her which I usually reject but after some constant talking and a whole lot of blackmailing, I agreed once. That once soon started to become occasional until it turned into an everyday routine

Little did I know that my every day of ruthless training started turning into a light work out, she made me smile with her witty remarks. I always moved forward with the mindset to terminate the colony but she started changing that

She always reminded me to protect instead of destroy, to be calm instead of chaotic... yet in the end, I couldn't protect, in the end, I couldn't be calm. When I lost her, all the lessons she taught me vanished, I charged the enemy colony the moment I found the opportunity. Thinking back then, she would've ripped out my arm and used it to slap me... I'm okay with that as long as she would be there... wishful thinking

I drowned myself in the cold night breeze, the darkness and loneliness the night provided, and the all the emotions that came with opening a scar of the past

I kept crying the entire night, Lilith would occasionally try to speak every now and then but in the end, she wouldn't finish her sentence

Before I noticed it, the sun has started to rise as everyone in my party started carrying their stuff out of the tent and into the carriage that was prepared

I stood up with a grunt and lifelessly started walking, I feel so drained