“Ren!” Robert shouted as he entered his store. “We have guests!”
Leona heard sounds of shuffling inside the store as she stepped in. A male voice came from the back of the store.
“Ah! Back so soon sir Robert?!”
The place was lit with orange orbs of light inside paper lamps which were hung by the ceiling or tucked in the corners, giving it a very cozy sensation. Once she had fully entered the store a young looking woman greeted her with a bow; she wore a white robe uniform with a black apron tied around her waist which covered the rest of her lower body.
Her emerald colored hair was definitely an unusual sight for Leona but what caught her immediate attention was the presence of two thin and sharp horns protruding out of her forehead which slightly parted her straight fringe before they eventually merged at her eyebrows. Her short hair was similar to Yuna’s hime-cut.
“Welcome, please enjoy your stay.”
As she lifted her head up, Leona noticed her deep purple eyes looking at her while a warmth sensation filled her body. At that time, Robert gave the young woman a tap on the shoulder as he walked past her.
“Tomoe, no using illusion spells on them please.”
“Ah, I assumed your guests-”
“They are ‘actual’ guests, not nuisances.”
She quickly turned to Leona.
“I deeply apologize. Please, enjoy your time with us.”
“I-I will, thank you.”
She averted her gaze towards the floor. The entrance had two distinct tiles, a ceramic floor which Robert left his shoes on and the elevated wooden floor which was the same as the rest of the store.
“Here, you can use these.” Tomoe offered a pair of comfortable looking beige slippers. “Just take off your shoes and wear these.”
“Ah, thank you.”
She did as instructed and noticed her left sock had a hole from which her left thumb stuck out. A sense of shame overcame her but despite noticing, Tomoe didn’t speak a word about it. After putting on the slippers and stepping on the wooden floor, the clerk extended both of her hands towards her.
“Your weapon please.” She smiled warmly. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it as if it was my own.”
“Right…” She reached for her belt but undoing the strap with only one hand proved to be more difficult than she initially thought. “One second please.”
“May I help you Miss?”
“If it’s not too much trouble…”
“Not at all.”
As she was getting helped. Krieg stepped inside and was about to set foot on the wooden floor, before Miyamoto grabbed him by the shoulder.
“Don’t forget to take off your shoes.”
“Hm?” The knight glanced at the man who had already taken off his shoes. “Oh. Right, I forgot. Thank you.”
Behind them, Setsuna was giggling to herself.
“I tend to forget these are not customs westerners are used to.”
“You tell me.” Phoebe added. “Being in Windia and Arcadia was the strangest experience I ever had.”
After everyone settled inside, Robert made sure to close the door and put up a closed sign in the front.
“Setsuna, Yuna.” He called the two and pointed to a table for four in the corner of the room. “You guys can take a seat over there with Phoebe and Kaeli, just make sure they don’t start a fight.”
“Yes dad.”
“Yes, father.”
The two dragged each high elf by the arm while the man addressed the rest of his guests.
“Leona, Krieg and Miyamoto, you can sit on this side.” He offered a table by the matte window which offered a dim light compared to the interior glowing orbs. “I’ll go prepare meals for everyone, meanwhile you can catch up… whatever it is that you want to catch up with. I’ll be right back.”
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Once he left, Leona glanced at the two and awkwardly gestured to the table.
“Um… let’s sit down then.”
The two of them agreed. The tactician took the seat by the corner while Krieg sat by her side, meanwhile Miyamoto sat on the opposite side to the knight, leaving the chair on his right empty.
‘Oh this is too awkward…’ Leona thought for herself. ‘How am I supposed to tell Krieg that the man sitting right in front of him is his father?’
She rubbed the corner of her eyes as she prepared herself.
“Krieg, this is Miyamoto. He is…”
She swallowed dry as she glanced at the swordmaster, who seemed composed despite where she was trying to get at.
“I’m your father.”
He finished her sentence, which made the knight simply tilt his head as if he didn’t believe what he heard.
“Sorry but I must have misheard you.” Krieg brought both of his hands on the table as he leaned forward. “What did you say?”
“It’s exactly as I said. You are my son, Krieg. Or should I call you by your real name? Leonard?”
At that moment Leona just had enough time to raise her hand as Krieg forcibly yanked the swordmaster forward by the collar of his kimono.
“You… I knew something was wrong when I saw you…!”
Leona grabbed his left shoulder.
“Krieg what are you doing?!”
“It’s called dragon sight.” Robert’s voice came from the kitchen. He was leaning against the door frame while drinking a dark thick purple liquid from a short glass cup as he explained it to her. “Your knight is able to see other people’s souls and the ‘dark knight’ that kept attacking you guys all the way back in Arcadia.” He pointed to Miyamoto. “He was inhabiting that old body of mine.”
The swordmaster sighed as he grabbed Krieg’s wrist and started to explain.
“Due to my inability to finish off the death angel horde before they became an unstoppable force-” He gently pushed his son’s arm away. “-you, along with many others, were sent to the Arcadian kingdom to survive. With your mother dead and I on the brink of death, I had to resort to someone else’s powers to save what was left from the kingdom.”
“Which put you in the debt of-”
Leona’s eyes slowly turned to Robert while she muttered under her breath. He raised the glass and smiled.
“Bingo. That’s me. At first he was just an experiment from when I came into this world, but after Xenovia put me in her debt, I decided to have him watch over you two while Phoebe guided you all the way here.” He chuckled. “I have to say, this journey was complicated to orchestrate. I wasn’t expecting you to ‘help’ the Londrians, much less putting your life and limb for someone else.”
Krieg sat down as he noticed Tomoe and Setsuna staring at him, but instead Leona stood up and looked Robert straight in the eyes.
“Just how much of it was your plan?”
“Not the entire journey. All I needed was for you to reach this place in one piece.” He finished drinking the beverage and began hitting the side of the cup with his index finger. “None of your triumphs were in the plan. Hell, not even Akamui was, but you still defeated the ‘emperor of the sea’ while protecting the ship and your comrades. And that is not all, if you didn’t risk your life on the gamble of being saved by Kaeli over there, she would now be missing her head.”
There was a brief pause before another male voice came from the kitchen which served to cut a bit of the tension hanging in the air.
“Chief, what else did you need?” It was the other worker named Ren. “I finished the broth!”
“Thank you, Ren. Just make portions and I’ll serve it to them.”
“Coming right up.”
He chuckled before turning around and finishing off his speech with an over the shoulder smile.
“Don’t let your mood sour the taste of my food. We have all the time in the world to discuss what comes next, over some lunch of course.”
Leona averted her gaze towards the table and slowly took her seat again. All of her hard won battles, her sacrifices, the pain she endured, everything did feel like a lie.
‘If they knew so much, why didn’t they lift a finger?’
The bitter thought filled her mind, but at the same time she did find solace after noticing Kaeli bowing to her from across the room. After all the losses she endured, after everything that was thrown at her throughout her journey, she felt a warm sensation in her chest as at the very least, she managed to save a life.
She glanced down at her right hand before closing it.
‘This is such a small victory for everything I paid for.’ She closed her eyes as her thoughts ran free from all the bitterness. ‘But it still is a victory nonetheless…’
“I am… also sorry for everything. Krieg. Leona.” Miyamoto’s voice caught her off guard as she lifted her face just in time to witness him bow. “If I taught any of you blade energy sooner, then this…”
“I don’t think you should be saying those words.” Leona wore a bittersweet expression on her face. “At least, not now in front of your son.”
He opened his mouth as if about to say something but instead chose to remain quiet as he stared at the table. Krieg once again placed both of his hands on the table as he uttered.
“I… I don’t know the reason behind all of your pain, but I must tell you this.” He looked Miyamoto in the eyes. “I have not once thought about either of you. All the life I ever knew was war. I stood atop of the Arcadian ranks and even when I was casted down and branded a traitor-” He looked at Leona and then back at him. “-her family treated me as their own. Which is why I won’t say that I hate you or mother for abandoning me. Be it an accident or not, because I am here thanks to it all.”
Though a bit surprised, Miyamoto smiled and glanced down at the table.
“Thank you. I thought I was ready to sacrifice anything and everything in order to maintain the peace of the kingdom, but that couldn’t be far from the truth when I lost you. The only reason why my spirit endured this much suffering was so I could finally find and tell you that I am sorry.”
Leona smiled, as pained as it was, at least she witnessed those two making up. She felt a bit nostalgic, she didn’t fight often with her father after her mother had passed away but even if they did, their relationship was mended just as fast through sheer love for each other.
She knew those bonds are what made them stronger, which brought another gentle smile to her face as she uttered under her breath.
“I hope you are watching over me as well, Father.”