"Heh, I always knew she understood me." Navi chuckled as we stood outside to check out the other animals, "I suppose it's not the spiritual bond I had expected it to be, but I'm still glad to hear it."
"If you two don't share a spiritual bond after all of your hardships to get back together, then I don't know the meaning of a spiritual bond." I replied, "But will you be alright on your own here? Managing an animal sanctuary is difficult even with a whole army, much less you alone."
"But I'm not alone." He patted Bamb on the head, "I've got the animals on my side. Of course, I'll do my best to find some like minded human allies to help with the cause, but even without them, I think I'll be able to manage."
"Even still, don't hesitate to ask for help anytime, friend." Adam nodded as he handed him a napkin with the Grys family crest embroidered in it, "Send me a letter asking for whatever you need, and if anyone asks - just show them the napkin. It's proof that you're legitimate."
"Aw shucks, Your Highness. I don't think a person like me deserves this much love." He went to hand it back, but Adam insisted.
"Now, now. King's orders." Adam winked.
"Whooaaaa~!" Othelia let out a high-pitched sound once the baby pony let her pat its mane, "Issei, take a picture, take a picture!!!"
"I already did, don't worry." He chuckled, "Oh, I got an idea. Face that way and hug it by the neck."
"You think the pony won't mind?" She asked.
"Only a fool would mind having you hug the crap out of it." He clicked on his phone a bit more, "And there!"
Seeing them having such a pleasant time bonding over the pony was a sight for sore Eyes, though it is a bit jarring seeing an Issei that isn't constantly making dick jokes. Looks like he turned into a gentleman the moment those two started going out together. How funny!
"Hey, mind handing me the phone for a sec?" Eleanor asked a tad shyly, "We should get a picture of the both of you."
"Oh, good idea!" Othelia rushed Issei, "Come on, hurry! I don't want the horsey to go away!"
"Horsey she said." Issei's mind was all hearts and rainbows as he handed Eleanor the phone, "Alright then, do you know how to take a picture?"
"Yeah, just tap this part of the screen here, right?" Eleanor replied.
"No, that's the gallery." He moved super close to her to explain, "See here, if you do that, you get to see the previous pictures we've taken. You gotta press this big circle in the bottom middle of the screen. Look, lemme show you."
"Ah!" She yelped a bit as he took the phone right out of her hands, put his arm around her shoulder as he brought her close to him before snapping a quick selfie of the two of them.
"See? Look how handsome I turned out in this one!" Issei smiled as he handed her the phone, "Oh, you look cute too, I guess."
"What's that supposed to mean!?" She raised her tone at his provocation, "I'm cuter than a ferret, there's no way those slanted Eyes of yours surpass me!"
"Haha, fine, whatever you say." He then stood next to the pony and Othelia as he smiled for the camera, "Let's just say the two of us are equals on that front, okay? Now take the picture already!"
"Issei..." Othelia frowned, thus ruining the picture Eleanor took.
"Othelia, smile for the camera!" Eleanor called out to her.
"Would you force a smile if your boyfriend called another girl cute in front of you?" Othelia asked.
"Dunno, never had a boyfriend to call me cute before." Eleanor hid behind the phone as she snapped another pic, "There, if you don't wanna smile, then this is the best you're gonna get."
"W-Wait, Eleanor!" Issei just barely jumped to grab the phone after sis nonchalantly threw it aside, "Phew... What the?! Othelia looks like she's gonna kill someone in this picture! Eleanor, come back and do it again!"
"Nah, your girlfriend is feeling jealous, so I'd rather not." Eleanor smugly replied.
"Jealous?" Issei tilted his head at Othelia as she turned away, "Ugh, whatever. Anyone else wanna help out?"
Needless to say, I had to step in and finish their little photoshoot. Issei, looks like he unintentionally hurt Othelia's feelings with that stunt he pulled on my sister. Geez, man, don't you know you can't be too chummy with other ladies when you get into a relationship? Girls take offense to that! Hell, back when we just moved into Cecily's, Anna was all pouty for pretty much the entire first month there. Of course, I secretly enjoyed that cute behavior of hers, but I still tried my best to maintain a professional distance with Cecily as much as I could!
"Well, that's about it." I shook Navi's hand once more as we all stood in front of the front gate, "Thanks for everything, guy. Take good care of Bamb, and good luck on your projects."
"Of course." He smiled, "Thank you all for reuniting me with her. I couldn't ask for a better surprise in the middle of the evening."
"Sorey again for coming so late into the day..." Eleanor looked away, slightly embarrassed, "Bamb, take care!"
"Bamb, I hope I have properly fulfilled my promise." Adam kneeled to meet her Eye level.
"Everyone..." Bamb snuggled up to everyone one last time, "I couldn't ask for anything more. Adam, Issei, Othelia, Eleanor... and Edward. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart."
"Bamb!" I couldn't hold in the tears anymore as everyone rushed her for a group hug, "I promised myself I wouldn't cry, and now look what happened!"
"Haha, stop it!" Tears started welling up in her Eyes as well, "Promise to come visit again."
"Of course!" I got up, "We'll see each other again, I'm sure of it! And when we do - I wanna see this place become known as the world's safest place for animals of all kinds!"
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"Hey." Cecily met back up with us at the agreed upon meet-up point, and right on time no less.
"Hey." We replied just as unenthusiastically, "How'd it go on your end?"
"As you'd expect." She chuckled as she cradled the sleeping baby boy in her arms, "They kept playing with Cene the entire time, so I was just kinda sitting there awkwardly until it was time to go."
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"Those two, they surely see him as their grandson, despite not being blood related." Adam reasoned, "Please be patient with them, Cecily. They lost both a daughter and a son-in-law."
"Oh no, I never said anything bad about them." She chuckled, "I'm just glad we're on good terms, somehow. After everything is said and done, I would be honored to call them my parents, no matter how odd that might sound."
"Next time you should tell them that." Eleanor smiled, "I'm sure they'd love to hear it."
"Maybe." Cecily pondered a bit before turning to me, "Ed, I wanna go see Lune."
"Hm? Where's this coming from?" I asked as we boarded the transport wagon, "Of course I don't mind, but isn't that kinda far?"
"Oh, you wanna visit Lune and Marina's graves?" Issei added, "Can I come too? I still have some things I wanted to say to them."
"No problem." Cecily nodded, "Oh, but I kinda wanted us to go right now, so just keep that in mind."
"In that case, I'll have to take a separate wagon back to Centralis City." Adam shook his head, "I'd like to go as well, really, but Elaine is pregnant, and I feel like Allen might still be a bit shaken up from the animal attacks. I hope you can understand."
"Of course, family comes first." I smiled, "Then, can you take Eleanor with you?"
"I'm not coming either." Othelia explained, "Sorry Issei, but I'm getting kind of tired. We'll wait for you guys to come back home once you're done."
"Sure." Issei was a bit taken aback, but reclined with a smile as he realized, "Then, looks like it'll just be the three of us!"
"Hope you're good with ships." I joked, "I've never once made it to Lichtenstelle without throwing up."
Well, I say joked, but the reality of it is that we all got seasick on the voyage there. Fun fact, apart from that tiny moment of reprieve we got after the trek up Mount Ivrys, we were practically on our feet for the journey through the first two cities that got attacked, then immediately defended Centralis City when it got attacked, then we spent a few days resting, and immediately after we went to Montes, then Lichtenstelle. Needless to say, I applaud anyone who could go through all that and not throw up.
"Bleugh... We made it...!" Issei raised his fist high into the sky, "Lichtenstelle!"
"Hooray! Brl-!?" Cecily immediately vomited off the side of the dock, "Dammit Lune, why couldn't we just bury you in Centralis...?"
"It's... It's fine!" I tried my best to keep the food I just ate inside my stomach as I pointed to the hill at the back of the island, "We're almost there, the home stretch. We just gotta make it up that hill where the Willow tree is and we made it."
"Well, we should probably say hello to Arthur and Carl and the rest of the guys over at the restaurant.
"Ehh, nah." I shrugged, "That old fart wouldn't wanna see my face no matter what."
"Who's that you're calling an old fart?" The old fart suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind me.
"Eek! A-Arthur!?" I jolted, "Fuck, shit! Don't do that, you're gonna give me a heart attack."
"I doubt an old man like me would outlive you, though that would be funny..." He smiled, "Welcome everyone. Cecily, you've grown splendidly since I last saw you. How is Cene?"
"Hiya, gramps." She gave him a careful hug due to his age, "He's good. Anna and the others are taking care of him while we went to visit Lune and Marina. How're you?"
"Just peachy." He smiled before wiping said smile right off his face, "So who's this kid? You look foreign."
"What gave it away?" Issei joked before whispering in my ear, "Who's this guy?"
"Anna's grandpa." I whispered back.
"Right, right! Anna's grandpa, how nice to meet you! Aha, yoroshiku..." Issei shook Arthur's hand sort of anxiously, "Yeah, I'm an old friend of Lune and Marina, so when I heard the news they were dead, I just had to go see them. Hope you don't mind the intrusion."
"Intrusion? Despite your jumpy nature, you're rather polite." Arthur smiled, "Y'know, I have a granddaughter around your age who's just the perfect..."
"That granddaughter is my wife, thank you very much!" I heard a vein pop as I berated the old man, "Seriously, you damned fossil of a restaurant owner, when are you gonna accept me as your grandson-in-law?"
"Maybe in the next life, but no promises." He stuck his tongue out before guffawing at my rage.
"Dammit old man! We're gonna go see Grim and fuck right off, if that's how it's gonna be!"
"Aww, don't say that~!" The old man's jeers could be heard as I stormed off, "Come on by to the restaurant when you're done! I'm sure Carl would be thrilled to talk about all the dents on the company ship you made with that sloppy steering of yours!"
Screw that, I'm bouncing the moment we say our prayers. In any case, the three of us now didn't have anything stopping us from going up the hill and checking up on the graves. The last time I've been here was about a year ago, despite us coming to the island to visit the old fart as per Anna's request. I just couldn't bring myself to see that damned Willow tree up close, with the two aboveground caskets lying peacefully just under it. Not to mention, that's also where I personally ended an entire continent's royal family tree, I guess you could say. Yeah, a lot of bad things to face up there...
"You think they kept the graves clean while we were gone?" Cecily pondered.
"It'd only be fair to the souls of the departed." Issei replied, "My family back home regularly visited our family grave to clean them up. It's said it helps the souls rest easier."
"Oh? In our culture, the saying goes - Cleaning the weeds for the departed is like shaving them when they're alive." I smiled, "Goes to show no matter what world you hail from, everyone respects the dead."
"Guys." Cecily stopped us as soon as we made it to the top, "T-The coffin."
Confused, we both tilted our heads as she ran to where they were. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, at least at a glance, but approaching them showed us something quite peculiar. Namely, Grim's coffin was pried open.
"Damn, some storm must've blown it open." I thought nothing of it as Issei and I approached it, "Dammit Grim, this is why people are buried underground."
"Hold on, that's not what she's worried about." Issei pointed inside the stone casket where the body was supposed to be.
"Grim's body is gone." Cecily turned around to tell me.