"allo... Rallo!! " Zoe screamed in my ear, forcing my drifting thoughts firmly back to the here and now as I took a few steps away from the window.

"jeez... You could've just tapped me. What's up?" I asked while trying to rub my eardrum to no avail before turning around to face the people left in the room, namely Zoe, Sasha, Kai, and Luca.

"And you could have just answered me the first time I called you so we are even..." "What type of logic--" "Regardless, we still have some questions which need to be answered, and since you were so gracious in answering those from the err... soldiers, or whatever you want to call them, I expect the same treatment as well." Zoe said while making her way towards the door, which was left open by people who were released from the meeting not too long ago, to close it I assumed.

"Questions?? About the military department? Or perhaps one of the branches from the domestic department?" I asked, attempting to dodge whatever question she had in store for me. Unfortunately, she had reinforcements in the form of Sasha, the other metaphorical rock that I had kicked down the road earlier after the 'Mother' reared its head.

"You know quite well what she is referring to, so please do not act dumb... Tell us how a kid from a village without a name, a village which has never had a roaming scholar or monk. And you... Someone who barely survived being pushed out of said village... How can YOU of all people speak the language of the divine mother herself that was supposed to be lost to time?" Sasha asked while staying seated at the table causing my cousins Kai and Luca to stare in my direction as well, indicating that they were also interested in whatever explanation I could come up with.

"And don't forget the why and when. Because I don't remember there being a class about this language during our education period back in the village..." Zoe said as she closed the door leading out of the room, "I also would like to know what the mother said to cause you to lash out at them like how you did." She added while making her way toward the table, gesturing for me to do the same as she took her seat.

I started to feel like a child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar as I strolled toward the head of the table, attempting to create more space between me and the table in front of me. My brain began to work in overdrive as I thought of various excuses and lies I could say to get out of the situation...

'I mean I could just tell them the truth of that matter, but the only problem was that I didn't have all the facts myself. Hell, I should be the one asking the question here given my circumstances, 'How can magic exist?', 'Why don't y'all speak English?', 'Where the hell are we??'... But you don't see me bitching and moaning, do you?' I thought while bitching and moaning internally...

As I closed in on the table, I thought back to the intense headache that greeted me during my first few seconds of consciousness in this world as well as the subsequent 'transfer' of memories that followed which led to me passing out the second time. My thinking was that I could try to answer their questions by placing the blame on that event, while also leaving myself some room to add whatever bullshit I could think of later on to help with this lie that I was currently cooking up.

"Look, I don't know what you want me to say. I learned it from a dream. I know you remember when I passed out back in the village, and who knows what kind of crazy things my mind was conjuring up while I was sleeping..." I shrugged my shoulders while taking my seat, hoping that my feeble excuse would be enough to satisfy their curiosity.

But unfortunately, Sasha wasn't convinced. "A dream? Is that the best you can come up with? I find it hard to believe that a dream could give you such a deep understanding of a language that not even my tea-- err parents had."

Zoe raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying my story either but also picking up on Sasha's mistake. "I think we're going to need a better explanation than that, Rallo. We're not stupid, you know."

I sighed, knowing that my plan had failed. "*sigh* I just don't know. I don't have a single fucking clue as to why or how I came to know this language. The only answer I can truly give is that this language was something I spoke and heard frequently during that dream I had, and it stuck with me even after I woke up. I can't explain any better than that..." I said while trying my best to look flustered and confused, hoping that my nonexistent acting chops could help make this lie more believable. However, I should add that my dream excuse did have precedent in the form of my cousins Ash and Bell, but the content of their dreams doesn't really help my case much, so I opted not to bring them up at this time.

There was a moment of silence as my companions digested my words, seemingly giving in to this false story since I wasn't giving them any alternatives before Kai finally spoke up.

"We can leave it at that for now... But you should at least tell us what you and that being spoke about that would lead to you punching them. You should work on your swing by the way..." Kai said causing a bit of tension in the room to release in the form of a chuckle or two from Zoe and Luca as Sasha stared in my direction with the intensity of a detective who had just made a breakthrough in their interrogation.

"*sigh* Deal... But remember that this is not to be shared with anyone outside of this room. So that puts this at a level two clearance instead of a level one like everything said at that meeting just wrapped up... Is that cle--" "Yeah, yeah, yeah... Now get on with it, please?" Zoe cut me off while gesturing for me to carry on.

"tut... Alright. They basically said that Zach's oath had been taken care of, but it should consider a token of good luck... And they also said that our grandma was right about me being 'chosen' but it wasn't them who 'chose' me, it was their equal, whoever that may be... In my defense though, they said it with an attitude that seemed disrespectful toward Grandma... Or at least that's what I got for their tone. That's the only reason why I lashed out at them." I answered, obviously leaving out some of the more critical pieces of information since it would only complicate this situation even further...

"Is there anything else you can tell us?! Any other details that might be important?" Sasha asked, leaning forward with a look of determination on her face.

I shook my head. "No, that's pretty much it. I mean they didn't give me much to work with, and I was a bit too flustered to focus on anything else at the time..." I said, causing Sasha to shake her head in a defeated manner before sighing deeply.

"*sigh*... You-- This-- This is not something we can just put behind us, you know that right? The events that took place today must be recorded and studied thoroughly to ensure--" Sasha began rambling on about how big this event was, but I could tell that everyone else in the room had tuned her out, their attention drawn towards their own thoughts and concerns.

As for me, I was just relieved that the questioning was over for now. I knew that my lie wouldn't hold up forever, but I hoped it would at least buy me enough time to secure my cousins and me something resembling a home so that I could comfortably figure out what was going on and how to navigate this new world that I found myself in.

But as Sasha continued to talk, I couldn't help but let my mind wander. I thought about my family back home, wondering if they were okay and if they were worried about me... I mean surely the Earth and everything on it hasn't up and disappeared simply because I'm not there, but how can a planet where something such as magic exists coincide with a world of unadulterated natural phenomena such as Earth?

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Unfortunately, I wasn't nearly qualified enough to even begin answering this question so it was pretty useless to think about that particular subject at the moment... All I can do is hope they worry themselves to death about me.

"--We must also get the Arcanist branch up and running as soon as possible to learn more about this supposed equal that the Mother mentioned. Not only that though, we should also redouble our efforts in--"

"*sigh* Alright. Alright... Everything related to this topic will be under the domain of your Arcanist branch anyways, so you should start thinking of ways to find and train people who are able to become Arcanists. I will obviously support you in this task by using the Internal Security branch under Zoe to provide any information that you will find useful, and you will also be able to rely on our elite unit of soldiers that shall only be known as 'the Flame', to secure any targets of interest that are outside the reaches of our influence, if it ever comes to that." I cut Sasha off while taking the chance to express some of the plans I had for these three specialized branches within the military department.

"Find and train arcanists? You mean... People like me?" Sasha asked a rhetorical question that was only understood by the two of us, leaving my cousins confused as they stared in my direction.

"Yes, folks like you... Although there may not be families who study the arts like yours would have in the past, I think there should still be quite a few stragglers here and there who dabble. They only need guidance and a place to consider home. We can provide that to them and other wanderers once we secure ourselves on the military front as well as the economic one. And to secure ourselves, we only need all the people in this room on the same page at all times... So for all of our future's sake, let's work together to realize the plans I have put forth today. Deal?" I asked while sticking my hand out with my palm facing down, not even thinking about the possibility of this gesture not existing in this world.

Fortunately, my cousin Kai seemed to get the general idea of the gesture as he placed his hand on top of mine, which then led Luca, and then Zoe to do the same after taking a quick glance at me. After waiting half a second or so, Sasha placed her hand on top of the rest of ours which sealed our agreement. And with a smile, I pulled my hand away before leaning back in my chair, feeling relieved that we were finally making progress toward the goals I had in mind.

"Excellent... With that in mind, we can bring this session to a close and join the others, as I am sure that y'all are just as hungry as I am..." "*grumble* Thank the ancestors." Kai and his stomach chimed in, causing Luca and I to laugh a bit as we stood from the table. But Zoe seemed to be more pissed about the vain usage of our ancestors as she gave us a look that yelled 'idiots' before simply shaking her head as she stood up from the table.

On the other hand, Sasha said nothing as she watched all of us with a strange glint in her eyes, only getting up to follow our group once we made our way out of the door and into the walkway outside of the great hall. However, once we made it to the walkway, I remembered that I had two other cousins who were probably starved by now just like the rest of us who were still upstairs currently.

"Oh... I almost forgot Ash and Bell. Can one of y'all go get them before we head out?" I asked as we continued down the walkway before stopping at the closed door which led to the stairwell.

*silence* "Yeah... No, you can go and get them though." "Right... You are still the youngest in the group. Use that youthful energy you have, and get to it..." Kai and Zoe responded to my request in a way that only my cousins could.

"*chuckles* I will go with you, Rallo. I needed to ask you something regarding the construction departments anyways..." Luca spoke for the first time in a while as he patted my back.

"*sigh*... Well, thank you for saving me, Luca... Please lead the way, oh fair savior." I said while performing a bow at my waist toward my cousin in question, causing Kai and Zoe to burst out laughing while Sasha, on the other hand, seemed to be more-or-less shocked at the display.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to ask her about the reaction she just gave since I was being pushed through the now-opened door into the stairwell by Luca, who grinned joyfully as he sprinted up the first flight of stairs only to become winded as he made the rookie mistake of stepping on each stair as he went up. This allowed me to close the distance between us quickly given that I was skipping one or two stairs with each step I took.

"Luca... You definitely need to join us tomorrow morning because this is just sad..." I said while snickering at my own joke before giving him a flick on his 'funny bone'.

"*gasp* Maybe. I will... *gasp*" Luca said through bated breath as we made our way up the second flight of stairs.

"Good, I will hold you to that... But, what did you want to ask me again?" I asked only to have Luca grab my arm once we started on the third and final flight of stairs.

"One. Second. *gasp*" Luca said, taking one last deep breath before continuing. "First let me just say that I am grateful for the position that you have given me within the construction department. And I know you only gave me that position because of the position my father held in the village... But..." Luca looked down as he considered what words he should use next.

"Speak your mind, Luca... Now that there are only us six, I consider y'all to be more like sisters and brothers rather than just cousins. So don't hold anything back." I said after turning toward Luca.

"*sigh* Well... I really don't know how to say this without disrespecting my father's legacy, but I will try nonetheless... I do not want to live in my father's shadow as it was in the village before... well before the incident... I wish to carve my own path in the woods of the world. Therefore, I want to ask you if I can take up a position within the Field Artillery Corps." Luca asked while meeting my eyes for the first time since we fled from the village.

I let his request sit in the air for a bit while I digested what could be perceived as my cousin's ambitions to exceed the goal his late father had set for him.

But to be honest with you, I was just glad to see that he wasn't completely torn up over the tragedy, and still had the will to 'carve his own path in the woods' as he so eloquently put it.

"*silence*... I will start by saying that you can never offend me by simply wanting a different job. And although it isn't my place to say, I'm sure your father would be proud of any choice you decide to make, especially if you are making it for yourself... So obviously I will not stay in the way of your decision..." I answered while nodding my head vehemently toward my cousin.

"But... And there is always a but... You must participate in physical and mental education just like every other soldier in the service--" I continued but was cut off by Luca, who had caught his breath by now and seemingly decided to give the stairs another go as he shoved me once again, albeit much lighter than before since we were not in a place that would allow much more than that.

"Obviously... 'LoRd RaLLo'" He said as stole my technique of skipping one or two stairs while fleeing up the last flight of stairs, leaving me chasing closely behind him.

As we reached the top of the stairs and began down the hallway, I spotted Ash and Bell sitting on the ground drawing various sketches with something they found in the lord's quarters. They looked up as we approached, and their faces lit up when they saw us.

"Hey, Rallo! Luca!" They exclaimed, jumping up and running over to us.

"Hey, guys. Sorry to interrupt your session, but we're all heading downstairs to get something to eat," I said, giving Luca a sneaky arm shot once we came to a stop.

"Food? Yes!" Bell said, jumping up and following us.

As we walked back down the hallway and toward the great hall, I couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth and happiness. Despite everything that had happened since I arrived in this strange world, I had my family with me and we were working together to build something unseen in this world.

A daunting task, but I felt confident that we could accomplish it if we stuck together. And as we entered the secondary hall, the smell of roasted meat and fresh rye bread filled the air, and my stomach grumbled in anticipation.

We made our way to a short table in the center of the hall that was filled with several different lumps of meat, loaves of bread, and cheeses, chatting and laughing as we ate.

For the second time in this world, I felt like I had a home...

'Hopefully, this doesn't turn out to be just a house as well...'