Alright, so the new lineup will be as such:

Anna will be the waitress, because waitresses attract more attention than waiters.

Arthur will be handling the cooking, since he’s the only one that actually knows his way around the kitchen out of the four of us, but he’ll also be the head honcho of the place – in other words, the manager.

Ed will be the cleaning expert. He won’t be playing that much of an important role here, but someone’s gotta do the dirty work.

“And of course,” I finished explaining the plan to the others, “I’ll be the advertising aficionado! So, any questions?”

“Um, yeah.” Anna raised her hand slightly, “What is it that you do, exactly?”

“What a silly question! Why, I have to run around town in this flashy red uniform I had Arthur sew for us while handing out flyers! Well, I do understand the confusion though, aficionado is a cool new word I learned of recently so I’m using it in my title.”

“It does sound cool though…” Ed agreed before lashing out, “Unlike mine! What the heck is “Cleaning Expert”, anyways?! That’s just a fancier word for janitor!”

“Indeed it is. Since you’re injured, we can’t have you running around town with me, nor can we have you serving people all day with Anna, so this much should be just right for you. That being said, just be glad Arthur wasn’t the one giving you your official title, Mr. Boyfriend.”

He took a quick glance at Anna and immediately shriveled back down into his seat as if feeling guilty. Anna wasn’t there when Ed had proudly proclaimed that she was his girlfriend in front of Arthur, so she was left confused by this action of his. Even still, it’s quite the shame that he ran his mouth at such an inopportune moment, as it seems like she quite fancies him, at least in comparison to me. I feel like things could’ve worked out between them if he had just kept his mouth shut, but now I feel like Ed’s gonna do that thing where he purposefully keeps his distance from her out of pure shame or something like that.

“Lune, I appreciate you boys staying here for a while to help us out, but you really don’t have to go through the trouble.” Arthur spoke, “These ideas are novel, yes, but you should really be thinking of your own problems before diving in to help others.”

“No worries, Gramps!” I reassured him, “Even if we were to do that, we’d still have to wait here until Ed’s foot properly heals. And since we’re already living here, we might as well earn our stay.”

“That’s rather thoughtful of you.” He smiled, “Well, who am I to decline two willing workers? Ah, but I don’t particularly agree with you changing up the entire employee roster so suddenly. I do like the idea of the advertising, though, so how about we have all three of you do so together? Who knows, it might even help you strengthen your bonds.”

And so, we were all designated the “Advertising aficionado” job title and promptly sent out into the city to begin our first day on the job. The first day was exciting, to say the least, as we quickly turned the entire process into a game or competition of sorts. The premise was simple, first one to hand out their entire stack would get the other two’s pudding packets. The job was grueling, the stakes high, and so we had no other choice but to get to work!

A couple of months later though, and things weren’t looking as optimal as we had originally hoped for. Indeed, we were making ends meet, so to speak. Certainly, it was enough to keep business afloat, and according to Arthur the restaurant was actually doing better than before we had arrived, but the increase in income just barely manages to outweigh the costs of paying for all the flyers to get printed, not to mention all the other expenses that were there previously.

It seems the biggest issue here is the location. Stringwood is the capital city of Secundis, but it’s still a pretty small place all in all. There aren’t that many flashy and unique things that merit tourists’ interest, and the locals simply aren’t enough to get us to the point we’re chasing after. In my opinion, we should definitely start looking into expanding our branches to nearby cities and such, because I’m really starting to feel bad for poor old Arthur, who’s been giving us a steady salary of a gold coin each (on top of giving us free food and a place to stay).

On the bright side, it seems that Anna’s warmed up to us quite a lot since we began working, much to Arthur’s delight. She’s quite competitive, and maybe even standoffish and difficult at times, but in the end I feel like that personality of hers only pushed Ed and me to greater heights. That being said, she’s got a really nasty smug face on when she outperforms us at times…

“Phew! Another tiring day of annoying the poor locals of Stringwood complete. Yippee…” I reported to Arthur, “Seriously, I think the people are starting to get sick of us continuously shoving flyers in their faces. We should really change up our approach or we’ll start losing customers.”

“Humu, you’re just saying that because you were the last to hand out all your flyers today.” Anna flashed a smug grin.

“Yep, yep, indubitably so.” Ed chimed in, “And, as per tradition, that means you’re paying for today’s pudding packets!”

“Gr…! Screw you two and your tandem mocking!” I shot back.

“Now, now, kids. No need to bicker.” Arthur smiled, “Come, sit down and have a cup of tea. Edward, you have a visitor.”

“A visitor?” He smiled, “Miss Harper!”

“Hello, kids!” She smiled and waved as she took a sip of the tea Arthur had prepared for her, “I see your foot’s doing well, judging by that spring in your step, Ed!”

“How many times to I have to tell you?” He blushed lightly, “That happened weeks ago, it’s already fully healed!”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

They kept talking on and on about all sorts of medical conditions and terminologies after that, all the while Anna and I awkwardly sat there and silently drank our tea, trying our hardest to join in on the conversation, but failing to keep up. Harper would occasionally come over and visit Ed like this to check up on him, but this soon devolved into her getting hooked on the tea here. Guess we had accidentally found ourselves a regular.

***

And so, another two months had passed peacefully. We would do our jobs during the day, enjoy friendly banter amongst ourselves, have fun talking to Arthur, then unwind with Harper. It was lovely, every second of life in the Gray household was bliss, but we shouldn’t overstay our welcome. Remember, we were only supposed to be here until Ed’s foot got better, so I’d feel bad about abusing Arthur’s and Anna’s kindness any more.

“…So that’s why we’ll be departing for the Kingdom of Carmen soon. Thank you for everything so far, and we wish you the best of luck going forward.”

“That’s a rather formal resignation, isn’t it?” Arthur tried to force out a joke, “Sigh, can’t you rethink this in any way?”

“I’m sorry, Gramps…” Ed began speaking, but Anna just grabbed both of our arms and tugged us off to the kitchen without saying a word.

“Do you guys realize what you’re doing?” She gave us a nasty glare, “I get you two are numbskulls, but even someone as dumb as you should know how much you mean to Grandpa.”

“Ugh, of course we do.” I replied, “But we have to go.”

I had half expected her to throw a fit or cuss us out, but she was oddly quiet about the entire thing. She showed absolutely zero emotions, apart from that repressed anger you see right now. We had made our way back from the kitchen and were greeted by a somewhat shaken Arthur who was desperately clasping his teacup.

“Boys, you mustn’t go. I know you think we consider you a burden, but that simply isn’t the case!”

“Arthur, we’re leaving tomorrow.” I said distantly, “Thank you for everything.”

Just as we were about to turn around and head to our rooms, we saw something absolutely heart wrenching. Arthur had begun sobbing to himself. It was a rather stifled cry, obviously because he didn’t want us to hear him and feel bad, but that in and of itself only made it sadder.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind – This is probably gonna be the last time we see Arthur ever again. It’s a rather grim thing to imagine, but it’s not so unbelievable either. Anna’s around our age, so I could picture us meeting up at least once in the future, but Arthur is quite old. Even if Ed and I come back here when we’re done with our journey, Arthur will have surely already passed by then.

“Eh?” I wiped the tears off of my face, “O-Oh geez, stop crying dammit…”

“Sniff, sniff…” Anna and Ed joined in as well.

In the spur of the moment, I had jumped into Arthur’s arms without even thinking. I didn’t care that it was impolite, I didn’t care if I was burdening him, I just wanted to give him this one last hug before leaving. Soon after, though, both Ed and Anna had joined in, effectively making it a group hug. I wonder, is this also another form of family?

Finally, we had composed ourselves, ate, and went to bed. Well, I say that, but neither me nor Ed could really sleep, due to all the excitement and anxiety tomorrow had in store for us. Thus, we decided to come downstairs and join Arthur by the fireplace, hoping for some advice on what to do next.

“I don’t know what you’re planning on doing in the Kingdom,” Arthur advised, “But you won’t have any luck even getting to there without a passport.”

“A passport?” We asked, “And how do we get that?”

“That’s a bit more of a difficult question, but I think I can help you with it.” He explained, “Basically, you need to sign up for the ITA – The International Travelers Association. Finish the exams there and you’ll get your passports, but it’s a slippery slope, since you need to be 17 and up before you can even apply for the exams.”

“So then, how do we leave the country?” I asked with a tinge of fear in my voice, “Does that mean we’ll have to wait another four years before we can leave Trivis Numerica?”

“Well, that’s where I come in.” Arthur fiddled with his stache, “I’ve got a friend, or rather an old acquaintance that owes me a favor. His name is Graal Thurs, and he’s an ITA Agent situated in Leins, all the way in Tertis. That’s of course not the only way to secure yourselves a passport, but it’s one way to easily leave the country legally.”

“Thank you so much!” We hugged him again before going to sleep with a bit more peace of mind.

In the morning, we had double checked to make sure we didn’t forget anything, and stood outside the wagon to bid farewell the Arthur one last time. Anna was nowhere to be found though, she must still be mad at us for suddenly deciding to leave them. Even still, isn’t it kind of rude to at least not show up to see us off? Seriously, some people…

Entering the transport wagon, Ed and I waved off an oddly smug and content Arthur as he went back inside. Sitting around inside for a couple more minutes, we found the stress from it all to have made us both quite hungry.

“Oi, Ed, hand me an apple from the bag, would you?” I put my hand out without looking at him.

“Here you go.” A girl’s voice replied, handing me the aforementioned apple.

“Thank-wait, huh?” We both turned around in surprise, “Anna?!”

“Heehee, did I surprise you?” She began laughing.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Ed reprimanded her, “This is no time for jokes, Arthur must be worried sick-!”

“Geez, you’re making my ears hurt from all that whining!” She shut Ed up, “I already talked to him about it, and he agreed to have me join you guys until you get your passports.”

Wait, until we get our passports? So does that mean that she’ll be joining us for the entirety of our stay in Trivis Numerica? That’s…

“Epic!” I yelled, “Oh, but why would you do that?”

“What a silly question!” She smiled, “Obviously, because I wanna take over the Arthur’s brand when I grow up! Seeing how fun it is to have worked with you guys, I kind of get why grandpa was so adamant about not giving up, and well, I wanna try too.”

“That’s nice, Anna. We’re proud of you!” Ed replied, “But that still doesn’t explain why you would want to go with us.”

“It’s as Lune said, isn’t it? We’re doing everything right, but the restaurant simply won’t thrive in Stringwood. We need a better location, so I’m thinking of setting up a ton of Arthur’s branches all across Trivis Numerica!”

Whoa! That’s an even crazier idea than some of mine! Well, I say some, because I’ve got some really crazy ideas in my head. It’s no small feat to surpass even one of them, so kudos to her for managing it.

“Heh, what’s with that ambition?” I joked, “You trying to satiate your desire, hangman?”

“Don’t tell such morbid jokes!” She shot back.

The ‘joke’ lies in the term I just mentioned. “Satiating one’s desire” comes from a book written by famed author Eldenfreud in his book aptly named ‘Desire’. In short, it means accomplishing the goal set out to you by your Iro. In the case of the main character of the book, he had managed to climb from the ruts to the title of kinghood and thus satiated the ‘desire to hold authority’ given to him by his Yellow Iro. The book ends with him realizing there is nothing else for him to do after that, so he goes to the nearby woods, presumably to hang himself. The moral of the story is that, sometimes, the journey is more important than the end goal. This is where the punchline of the joke comes in, as the story ends with the quote: “What is a man, if not a beast with unimaginable desire. Once stripped of the very thing he seeks asylum from, he is naught but a hangman.”