It didn’t take long for Gaius and Isabelle to reach the door of their house, and when they entered, the first thing that greeted them was a little cannonball, followed by La-Ti. Catching Nakama by the arms. Gaius skidded back by a metre or so, and then placed her down.

A small jolt ran through him as he saw her expression. There was a tiny pout in her expression, as if…

He blinked, and then had a feeling that Nakama knew what had exactly transpired in the past few hours. All of a sudden, he felt rather nervous. Did his little sister think that her brother was not a match for Isabelle? And now that he thought about it, Nakama was Isabelle’s adopted little sister, which—

Rubbing her puffy cheeks, Gaius steered her back into the house and closed the door before them. Before he could do anything else, however, a small fist had landed into his chest.

“Nakama?”

“Don’t make her sad, got it?”

Gaius opened his mouth, and then closed it. For some reason, he had a feeling that Nakama’s punch was directed at the wrong person, but again, she had spent the past three years more often with Isabelle than him. It was natural that she would be worried more for Isabelle…even if he didn’t know why he felt that it was natural in the first place.

He pondered over his response for a second, and then decided to give a straightforward one. “Yes. Of course.”

Nakama waddled over to Isabelle, hugged her tightly, and then ran off into the house. Gaius watched her retreating back, waved at La-Ti, and then tilted his head. “How did she know the outcome without us saying anything?”

“I wonder…”

“Still, it looks like Nakama’s really weaned off her dependence on me,” Gaius said. “My mind tells me that it’s a good thing, but my heart is somewhat stifled. Maybe I’m not a good brother after all, if I’m feeling bad that a good thing’s happened to her.”

Isabelle lowered her voice. “You don’t want her to follow you there, right?”

“Yes.” Gaius swallowed. “This is a necessary step.”

A hand fell on his shoulder, one that conveyed warmth to him. “I’m here.”

Gaius grimaced. “Still, for you to share my burden…I’m not going to give up this easily. There has to be something I can do. Something that can ensure that the Crying Abyss won’t be a threat.”

“Of course,” Isabelle said, a wry smile on her face, “if the Demon God wins, that’s probably not something we’ll need to consider anymore. So that’s a plus point, right? Your assumption that we’ll win is a bit too optimistic.”

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“True,” Gaius muttered. “Either that, or enough people die in the war to…”

“To?” Isabelle prompted. “To what?”

“Recently, I’ve been getting weird moments in which I just can’t seem to complete my sentences,” Gaius answered, a frown twisting his lips. “I get a feeling that these sentences are really, really important, but I just can’t complete them for some reason. Do gods forget things too?”

“You’ll eventually remember it.” Isabelle paused. “Right, I should tell my sister and my family…”

“About the two of us?” Gaius asked.

“They’ll want to meet the boy who captured my heart, right?”

“Can you wait until I grow a bit more first?” Gaius asked. “I don’t want to visit them and make you feel awkward.”

“I could tell them that you’re an otherworlder,” Isabelle replied, “and they’ll be so thrown off that they won’t even focus on what you’re wearing, let alone your height.”

Gaius didn’t know if that was going to be a problem, though. Since he’d spent the better half of his life on Orb in very odd company, he didn’t know what the general attitude the people here had to otherworlders like him.

Leading the way in by the hand, Gaius asked, “Why would they be thrown off?”

“Why wouldn’t they?” Isabelle asked. “Imagine if you got home one day and heard that your beloved grand-daughter got together with someone who has some weird Unique Skill. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“But you of all people know that I don’t have a Unique Skill or any other cheats that the others have.”

“How, then, would you explain Nexus and the Library of Ancients?”

Gaius paused. “Well, it’s more of an inheritance that other otherworlders have access to…didn’t Nexus explain to you what the Library of Ancients was all about?”

“Nope.”

“Huh. Well, we can talk about this at night, then,” Gaius replied smoothly.

Isabelle stopped in her tracks. “Isn’t it night time now?”

“Seems like it,” said Gaius. “Well, I’ll just bring some items over to your room. I’ve been thinking that Nakama needs more space for her artefacts anyway, so she can use mine. How convenient.”

“My room? Night?” Isabelle thought about it for a moment, and while she was lost in thought, Gaius took the opportunity to scamper up into his room. Taking the few possessions that he called his own, he bound them up in qi and took them outside, where Isabelle was already waiting.

“Come to think of it,” said Gaius, “I never knew what your room looks like. Or Nakama’s bedroom either…I wonder why?”

“You were always too busy,” Isabelle replied. “Always had things on your mind. And if there wasn’t, you were usually busy training or something.”

“True.” Gaius thought about it for a moment, and looked back at his room. It was…really not one a teenager would have at all, and all of a sudden, he looked forward to seeing what Isabelle’s room was like.

And so much more.

“Is Xanadu already asleep?” Gaius asked, following Isabelle as she led him to her room. It was on the same floor, just on the other end of the hallway, and when he drew near it, he could also see a small ladder leading up to the mansion’s attic.

Once again, he was reminded of the fact that he really never paid attention to many things in his life.

“She was tired out after the recording,” Isabelle answered. “So…this is my room.”

Gaius gulped, and his heart did a drumroll. For some reason, he was abnormally nervous and excited, but before he could calm himself down, Isabelle had opened the door.

“Come on,” said Isabelle. “Let’s get you comfortable.”

For some reason, Gaius could see similar emotions on her face. Bringing his few possessions into her room, Isabelle closed the door behind them, and began to arrange them around the place.

Gaius looked around, and then at Isabelle.

It would appear that he would have a partner to hug when sleeping from now on.