Glenn grinned widely, not letting the bland weather affect his emotions. After talking of a few more additional things with Norstan Vendor, the Justicar of Onnea's Church, he had assured Redan's transport to the Northern Town, as well as the assured destruction of the Skinner gang. With those two things checked off the list, there was little to nothing tying him down to the Eastern Town.

Hence the grin.

The young man briskly went back to the Cleaner's Workshop, giving a short salute to Loran, the bald receptionist with thick glasses. Loran grumbled a hello back, too concentrated on reading some complicated-looking book. Glenn paid him no mind and went to the Dormitory, quickly climbing up to the Platine floor.

'...Weren't you depressed an hour ago?' Diamanes asked in disbelief, making his host chuckle.

"I'm just so glad I'm getting the hell out of here. I miss the Northern Town's atmosphere so much."

Diamanes grunted, 'I guessed that much.'

The young man pushed open the door to his suite, frowning as he heard conversations coming from inside the room. There really was no security on these platinum Suites at all. Glenn entered fearlessly, having already recognized the voices of his comrades. Sahro was sitting on a large armchair, grimacing, while Liara was trying to shove food down Milena's throat forcefully. Surprisingly, Javier was already there too, standing in a dark corner with his arms crossed, emotionless.

"No, Liara, I'm still not—mff!" Milena looked like she was losing the fight against Liara's obstinance, and was forced to swallow a slice of pie. Glenn blinked at that sight, before shaking his head and shrugging dismissively. He closed the door behind him and went to sit on one of the sofas, sighing as he did so. Milena's eyes watered as she was forced to swallow the food Liara gave her, before pushing her back. The beautiful Black Heir had a cold and disappointed expression. She gave up on forcefully feeding Milena and gnawed on another slice of pie.

Said slice came from a nice, handmade, and steaming pie, a scent of tomato and beef igniting Glenn's appetite. The young man grinned and went to take a slice when Liara slapped his hand away. He froze, surprised.

"What, I can't get any?" He asked with disbelief and a hint of sadness. Liara shook her head and pointed at Milena categorically. Glenn raised his eyebrows before understanding.

"Ohh..." He then frowned, "...It's only for Milena? That's unfair. This pie looks incredible. Why can't I get a single slice?"

Liara shook her head and pointed at an empty plate, where only crumbs awaited Glenn's gaze.

"...Am I supposed to eat the crumbs? Was I relegated to the rank of a dog at some point?"

The pretty Black Heir looked at him silently, before chuckling softly. She shook her head with a smile and gestured at Sahro and Javier. Glenn turned slowly toward them with a betrayed expression.

"You guys ate the whole thing?" He asked in disbelief. Sahro whistled and looked to the side, avoiding Glenn's gaze. Javier, instead, chose to act as he always did. Emotionless. Dead inside. Just staring back into his soul with empty eyes. What could he even do in front of Javier?

Glenn sighed, closing his eyes as if he had given up when his hand suddenly shot for the pie. Liara's eyes widened and she tried to stop him, but it was too late.

The pie was already stolen, and half-eaten. Glenn chewed with a wide grin, licking his lips as he did so. The food was excellent, with the perfect ratio of cream, eggs, tomatoes, and meat. The crust was crispy, but not over-baked. It was an excellent pie, and Glenn's stomach was already asking for more.

"Mmh! Man, that's delicious! Did you cook those, Liara?"

The Black Heir paused for an instant, before nodding gently, almost with shyness. Glenn licked his fingers, before shooting her a thumbs-up, smiling widely.

"Well, you should cook more often! I love that pie!"

Liara smiled, before kicking him in the leg, inflicting him with a terrible pain. The young man clenched his teeth as he held his leg, hissing through his teeth.

"...Damn...Are those feet made of steel or what...?"

The lady Black Heir picked another slice of pie and caught Milena by the back of her shirt. The fallen noble was trying to sneak away to the door, but Liara's eyes weren't so easily fooled. Milena was pulled back in her seat, and her mouth refilled with a portion of pie. The fallen noble chewed silently, giving up. Liara's smile grew and she sat on the sofa as if to say that this whole show was over.

Glenn moistened his lips before smacking them.

"Alright, so, good news everyone, we're done with the Eastern Town!"

Everyone grunted in relief or approval. Even Sahro, whose base of operation was in the Eastern Town, seemed happy to get out of the place for a while. Glenn rubbed both of his hands together, smiling.

"So, if everyone is okay with that, I propose that you all pack up, so we can all run away and go back to the Northern Town. What do you all think?"

"Finally..." Sahro sighed as he stood up and dusted off his pants, getting rid of a few breadcrumbs. Javier didn't move, and Milena sniffled happily. Only Liara seemed to not have much of a reaction, only looking happy and satisfied. It seemed like the time she took to rest had melted her ice mask away. She also seemed very, very worried about Milena, but one thing at a time.

"Well, then..." Glenn looked at everyone with a puzzled gaze, "...What are you all still doing here? Come on, get ready! The sooner we can leave, the better!"

Everyone stood up and headed for the door, Glenn remaining seated. Suddenly, as Milena was about to pass the threshold, he spoke.

"Not you, Milena."

Liara looked back worriedly, but Sahro nudged her forward, nodding in Glenn's direction, who gave it back to him. Milena froze in her steps, looking at the ground, before turning back to go and sit on the sofa. Sahro closed the door behind Javier and Liara, leaving them the privacy they needed to talk. Glenn joined both of his hands together, looking at the beautiful fallen noble silently. Milena hugged herself, avoiding Glenn's gaze.

"...Do you want to leave the team?" Glenn asked coldly. Milena flinched and looked up at him, her eyes tearing up. The young man steeled his heart and spoke again.

"Listen, Milena. What you saw and did back then..." He closed his eyes for a few seconds, before opening them back up, "...You'll probably have to do it again. You'll see worse things, fight worse stuff than humans, and will tear your way through horror and gore."

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

The young man grinned wickedly.

"For some reason, it seems like we pull in these kinds of stuff."

Milena shivered as she peered into the distance, remembering the slaughter of the Occult Wanderers' forces. Glenn gritted his teeth.

"You saw me jumping in the Gate, right?" He asked dryly as he clenched his fists. Milena nodded slowly, her lips sealed.

"Did Sahro tell you what I've witnessed in there? In the Beyond?" Glenn spat, enraged. The lady gulped and shook her head.

"N—No."

Glenn drew a deep breath and forced himself to unclench his hands.

"Do you remember the kids we were supposed to save? Well, they were in the Beyond."

Milena's eyes widened and she leaned forward slightly, gulping heavily.

"W—What happened to them?"

Glenn stared into her eyes, remaining silent. He finally forced his lips open.

"...Do you really want to know?"

Milena stared back at him as understanding lit up in her eyes. The lady gasped and hid her mouth behind her hands, before crying silently. Glenn sighed and leaned forward, grabbing her by the shoulder.

"Listen, Milena. This was probably the first time you murdered someone or slaughtered so many people. I understand why you feel guilty," He said with a comprehensive tone until his face hardened once again.

"But you have to understand one thing; if you didn't do the things you did, many more people would have died, and not the good kind of people. Sahro could have died, Javier too, what remained of the forces of the Church of Onnea, even me!"

Glenn clenched Milena's shoulder harder, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"And these bastards you killed? They didn't deserve to live. They don't deserve your guilt. So get over it, and ready yourself, because we're certainly going to kick many more evil asses in the future."

Milena pressed her lips together, letting her tears flow down her cheeks. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment. When she opened them back up, Glenn could see she had steeled her resolve and was ready to continue this bloody adventure. He let her go and leaned back on his sofa, giving her some breathing space. A dozen minutes later, she wiped her tears off and looked up at Glenn with determination.

"You..." She smiled weakly, "...You suck at motivating people!"

Glenn looked at her for a few seconds, before laughing widely. She laughed with him, letting the tension drop and finally relaxing.

"I can't believe it worked," Nelg commented in disbelief, "...She's right, you fucking suck doing speeches!"

Diamanes laughed but didn't add anything, satisfied with the visible annoyance on Glenn's face. The young man's eyelids trembled, but he sighed the comments away and concentrated back on Milena.

"Well, I do what I can, and it still looks like you got back on track, so it kind of works, right?"

Milena laughed, "...Right."

Glenn stretched, relieved.

"Phew, at least that's good, you're not leaving us yet," he paused, before joking, "...I still need you to show me your illusion magic and all that!"

The fallen noble chuckled, before shaking her head.

"Sure, we can do that after you've met with the Restoration Operator..." she trailed off. Glenn stopped and looked at her silently, remembering there indeed was this little something to take care of named Project Damocles.

"Fuck, I completely forgot about the notebook," Glenn admitted as he rubbed the back of his head. He grimaced, displeased with learning that he had to spend more time than he wanted to in this cursed town. Milena shook her head with a smile.

"Don't worry, he should be staying here normally, so we can just hand the notebook to him and leave."

Glenn's eyes widened slightly.

"The Restoration Operator is also a Fixer?" He asked curiously. Milena shook her head and rubbed the corners of her eyes, the irritated parts itching.

"No, but he's a precious partner of the Cleaner's Workshop, so he has access to the facilities..." She added, "...From what I understood. I don't know him that well, but that's how it should be, I think."

Glenn nodded slowly and pulled his Exan-Egg out of his dimensional pouch, looking at the time. It was 2 PM., explaining why they were eating pie. It was lunch, and Glenn had completely forgotten about it. More surprisingly, his stomach forgot too. Usually, that didn't happen. Milena gasped in amazement and she pointed at the Exan-Egg.

"Is that a Mark I Exan Egg?" she asked, her eyes glittering with interest. Glenn held it toward her and nodded.

"Yep, got it in some kind of old, mysterious shop manned by a single old granny. Not a suspicious place at all, if you want my opinion."

Milena glanced up at him with raised eyebrows.

"Was that you trying to be sarcastic?"

Glenn chuckled, not replying. The lady took the Exan Egg from his hands and gave it a closer look, smiling softly.

"They aren't produced anymore. I think the first ever model is exposed in the Historical Museum, back home..." She trailed off, her eyes losing themselves in the distance. Glenn noticed it and took the Exan-Egg away from her.

"There's a Museum in the Court? That's surprising..."

Milena's nose creased as she glanced at him with a puzzled look.

"You know what a Museum is?"

Glenn shoved his Exan-egg back into his dimensional pouch.

"Yeah, that's a place where you highlight important historical stuff for civilization or something, right? Like disappeared creatures' bones and old pottery, right?" He replied without thinking, before freezing.

Oh, he wasn't supposed to know that.

Milena looked at him strangely, before scoffing like he was an idiot.

"Old pottery? What are you talking about?"

Glenn secretly heaved out a breath of relief and waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't bother, that's how my hometown used to present old stuff. Anyway, should we go meet up with that Restoration Operator of yours?" He suggested as he suddenly stood up. Milena followed his movements, nodding hurriedly.

"Yes, sure! Let's go see Loran, he'll call him up!" She smiled, her heart much more at ease after her talk with him. Glenn was happy he could be of actual help this time. At least he had ripped the band-aid early, and she knew what to expect starting from now.

'I don't worry too much about her, she'll eventually become as insane as the rest of you,' Diamanes commented dismissively, irritating his host.

'The world is insane, not us! It's not my fault if the streets are plagued with weird-asses cults that all want to rip each other to pieces!'

Diamanes laughed, accepting Glenn's defense. Milena and he quickly left his suite, heading for the main Hall and the sole receptionist manning it, Loran. He was wearing a large sweater with a red cross on the front, and white shorts with red crosses on each sleeve. He had traded his thick, steel glasses for some tinted ones.

"You're going on a holiday, Loran?" Glenn joked, only to watch in surprise as Loran nodded deeply.

"Well observed, kid. I've waited a whole year to accumulate as many paid holidays as I could, just so I could leave for a hell of a long time and make my point with the higher-ups that we need more people here. Hah, I'd love to see their faces when they learn that I'm not here to do everything, these bastards..."

Glenn and Milena exchanged a glance until the woman stepped up to the counter and leaned over it.

"Loran, could you call sir Manalok Tuleam, please?" She asked with a gentle smile. Loran glanced up at her, grunting as he placed down the book he was reading and checked over some documents.

"...You have an appointment with him?"

Milena shook her head.

"No, but he should be expecting me nonetheless. It's only to give him a document, anyway, so it shouldn't take too long of his time."

Loran moistened his lips as he flipped through the documents, finally finding an old, dusty scroll. Glenn, in the meanwhile, was scratching the back of his head. Manalok, Manalok...he felt like he heard that name before already, but where? He asked Diamanes, but the entity only laughed, while Nelg only said that "he should train his memory instead of relying on the two of them".

Loran suddenly ripped the scroll open, getting back Glenn's attention. A small portal appeared next to Loran's bald head, glimmering with deep blue particles. An annoyed, grumpy voice came out of the portal.

"What? What the hell do you want Loran? I already told you that I'm not Rewinding your damned, filthy book EVER. So stop asking, damn it! By the Sage, is there a way to block your communication attempts or something?!?"

Loran coughed awkwardly.

"Hrm, no, you have customers, Fixers Glenn and Milena. Can you receive them?"

A silence made itself heard for a few seconds in the portal until the voice laughed mockingly.

"Of course not, I can't receive them! Not now, now, anyway! I'm entirely naked! Tell them to wait for me in the Dining Hall or something, I didn't eat today anyway. They'll pay for the food, hehe!"

Loran glared at the portal, before turning toward Glenn and Milena, "You heard the man. He'll be down there in a few minutes, so—"

"Ten minutes!" Manalok Tuleam interrupted him, before shouting something else, "I need ten minutes, I have to Rewind a dog my book ate! No, that's the other way around. Anyway, see you in a quarter!"

The portal suddenly closed off, leaving Loran, Glenn, and Milena speechless. Glenn turned toward Milena, surprised.

"He certainly sounds like a character, your Restoration Operator."

Milena shook her head dejectedly.

"I guess he does."