"By the way, when are you guys gonna be heading out?" Ed asked before Anna reprimanded him.

"Dear, you said you didn't mind them staying here!" She frowned.

"What? I'm just curious is all! Can't a guy be curious!?" Ed defended himself before rephrasing the question, "Don't get me wrong though, Issei and Othelia said they'll be leaving soon after the wedding, but I'm asking because I'd like to know more about their journey."

"Aru's going with us as well, right?" Issei nodded at Othelia, "Which means it should pretty much be a piece of cake. I understand your guys' concerns, but you're forgetting that both Othelia and I are pretty well-off adventurers in the ITA."

That's true. Back while we were still working on the house together, Issei revealed to Ed and me that they've been making the money necessary to go to all these expeditions by doing paid commissions by the ITA. When asked about what it is they did in detail, Issei mentioned a wide plethora of shenanigans - From just traveling to one town in a far off land and trying out all the restaurants it has to offer, to actually having to go out into some secluded woodlands or mountains and collect data about its resources.

"Usually those ones were the worst." He would say, "Since you're stuck all alone and without any form of safety net, all it'd take is just one wrong step or encounter with a beast that was just a tad too strong for you to deal with."

Even still, he made a point that each mistake was an experience to learn and improve from, as he kept telling us about the interesting gadgets he had to come up with to make their work easier after each and every job. "A gun" he said, "But the bullets had oil poured on them, thus making them inflict burning on impact." or "A bomb that you'd plant on the enemy and could detonate whenever you wanted to." He especially praised that one when it came to bigger and dumber beasts, like bjorns and stray wolves.

Yeah, their job was dangerous, but well-paid enough to give them just enough money to make their trips after a few consecutive mission clears. It's been around 13 years since Issei first came to this world, but even with all that, he still didn't once let it get to him and pressed on valiantly. I'm proud of him, but it makes me wonder just how many people are waiting for his return back in Japan to have him be so dead set on going back. I remember Ed once telling him how he'd be interested in coming over to visit, but Issei was quick to deter him from the idea.

"It's really boring where I'm from." He elaborated, "Sure technology's pretty advanced when compared to here, but I heard the Universities in Simpleton have recently created the first basic computer, so you're probably gonna catch up to us in a few decades anyways. But we, on the other hand, don't have beasts, magical Iro Abilities (nor Iros in general for that matter), and the Gods have never made themselves apparent, so it's still up in the air whether or not they even exist or not."

"That sounds like a pretty laid back world, though." Ed figured.

"Maybe, but with such peace came a dangerous price." Issei shook his head, "In my world, people really like to divide themselves. It's a side effect of wars almost completely ceasing due to the advancements in technology. In a war, one's life is binary - Either you live to see tomorrow, or you don't. You guys get it, no doubt."

"Boy, do I!" I recall joking about it, "But isn't it good to not have wars, though? Hey, are you one of those guys that thinks that, when push comes to shove, your only option is to raise hell?"

"Heh, well, I wouldn't go that far, but..." Issei scratched his cheek, "That binary value of one's life soon begins to gradually turn into a float. In other words..."

"The people who've lived in peace for too long begin to reinvent hot water." Ed finished his sentence.

"Exactly! They forget the value of their own lives and just sort of view themselves as the protagonist of the world, not wanting to help anyone because they're side characters in their Eyes."

"But if everyone thinks they're the protagonist..." I figured, "Then no one will help anyone, and they'll all just struggle to achieve their goals by themselves."

"A fruitless endeavor." Ed shook his head, "Well, we see the main issue of your world, Issei, but I still fail to see how a war would solve it."

"Ah." He noticed the flaw in his logic, "I guess you're right... I mean, the lack of any significant wars in recent years HAS made people begin to lose that feeling of respect towards life, often getting cynical when someone would ask them about whether they enjoyed it or not, but I guess that doesn't mean starting a new war would exactly solve the issue."

"In that case, wouldn't just having someone in a higher rank of power tell his people flat out "You're not the main character, so start acting like a proper adult!" solve the issue?" I shrugged.

"Maybe if we weren't a decentralized shitshow." Issei laughed, "Like I said, everyone thinks they're unique, and countries are no different in that regard. All of them just want full autonomy, and since we don't have an overarching "leader" in the world, you can't have the president of the USA start propagating stuff to say, Russia. It'd be tantamount to a declaration of war at the very most, or just a very bad and unfunny joke that'd make said president lose face at the very least."

Talking about politics for the rest of the day, our views on the world had only started to get more and more hopeless as we went from one idea to the next, constantly nitpicking the flaws in each one until we felt we were truly out of options. Yeah, maybe their world is just no good in general. Besides, if it was so easy for three idiots building a house at the time to solve their issues in the span of one afternoon, then they would have gotten it solved by now. Well, I guess that's an issue for Issei to think about if he really wants to go back to that shitshow as he calls it.

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"But yeah." Othelia was nearing the bottom of her teacup, "We'll be leaving sometime around the end of the month. Sorry, but we're gonna be intruding in your guys' space for just a bit more."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"No, no, we don't mind you guys taking as much time as you need." Ed shook his head, "Sorry for not phrasing it properly before, but you guys aren't causing any issues at all, at least not for me."

"Yes, a spitting image of what a proper young couple should be doing at your age." Sigmund agreed with Ed's sentiment, albeit in his own way, "Wake up, eat, work, repeat. Unlike SOME of my kids..."

"Oi, old man, that jab isn't helping me get a job, y'know?" Eleanor groaned, "And it's not like Ed's making significant bank with his little clinic either."

"I'm making more than your couch-hogging ass." Ed shot back, "And besides, I run my clinic to help the people here get over whatever's ailing them, not for the money."

"How valiant." Eleanor gave a sarcastic slow clap, "Then maybe I should travel the world a bit myself to hopefully find a new uncharted part of the map, perhaps? I'm sure a finding like that would be way more beneficial to the people than your little game of pretend doctor."

"You take that back!" He slammed his fist on the table, startling everyone, "I studied my ass off day and night under Harper's tutelage! I damn near had to fight off that damned professor until I got him to give me my rightfully earned diploma JUST because I was an immigrant in Cardina, and after all that, I finally managed to get my own private clinic, just like Harper! There's no way your lazy self could hold a candle to my achievements, so take back all those nonsense words you tossed around so haphazardly if you know what's good for you!"

"Ed..." Anna whimpered.

"Hey now, she didn't mean anything bad by that." I tried calming him down and having him sit back down again, "You know how Eleanor is, right? Just calm down, take a sip of your tea, and..."

"No!" Eleanor was now the one to freak out, "You think I did nothing with my life this entire time, huh?! Well newsflash, asshat - I studied and got myself a diploma in cartography in Entropa as well, and it's proudly hung up RIGHT NEXT to yours on the wall above the couch!"

"Yeah, but-!" Ed went to shout again, but she drew faster.

"I'm the one talking here!" She shouted, "You think you're the only one worth pity, huh!? You think it's just as simple to find a way to find work as a cartographer as it is a doctor, huh!? Nope! As long as people live, they'll always need a doctor, but you chart a map once and everyone gets complacent!"

"Eleanor..." Anna then turned to her, "Please, stop fighting, you two are siblings..."

"Hmph." Ed crossed his arms as he turned away like a child, "So what if we are?"

"Yeah, he has no right or obligation to not bicker with me." Eleanor agreed on the wrong thing with her brother, "If he disagrees, then he's free to shove that opinion of his right up his-!"

"That's it!" Issei hastily stood up to save the day with his grand idea, "Why don't you join us, Eleanor?"

"Eh?" We all glanced at him in surprise.

"Eh!?" Eleanor was the one most shocked out of all of us, "N-No, what are you...?"

"You can't be a cartographer without at least seeing a bit of the world, right?" He reasoned, "Since we'll be going with Aru, our safety is pretty much guaranteed, and seeing as we'll be visiting a World Wonder, you might actually see something worth doing research on that'll lead you to an undiscovered part of the map."

"Issei, the group is gonna get cramped if you keep inviting so many people to go with us..." Othelia sighed, "But maybe having Eleanor with us would be a smarter play than not. After all, it was her charting skills that helped us not get led astray during the voyage to the south pole."

"What the hell do you think you're coaxing my daughter into doing!?" Sigmund openly disagreed with the idea, "There is no way she'd want to go on such a trip! I forbid it!"

"Y-Yeah, I wouldn't wanna bother you..." Eleanor gave a weak excuse as the oldest lady of our group (excluding Aru) cleared her throat to finally speak her mind.

"Ahem." Camilla glanced at everyone before stating, "What fun!"

"Huh?" We all looked at her, "What about this situation is fun?"

"My, my, we've never been so open about all that's been troubling us before. It's like a huge boulder's been lifted off our chests, right?" She smiled, "Edward, your clinic is doing great, and you're right to defend its good name."

"M-Mom?" Ed looked regretful that he had lashed out at his sister just minutes prior.

"Sigmund, my dear husband, your heart is in the right place, but..." She said, "Aren't you being a bit too annoying to Eleanor?"

"Wuh!? A-Annoying?" Sigmund couldn't believe his ears.

"Yeah, she's 25, turning 26 soon, for Prylos' sake!" Camilla chewed out her husband in front of everyone, "Have some shame, man! At this point she's never gonna find her place in the world, and God knows our poor girl deserves one."

"Mom..." Eleanor was holding back tears.

"Eleanor, my sweet, adorable daughter." Camilla gave her a warm, motherly smile, "We've been robbing you of your free will for so long, forbidding you from chasing after your dreams, which I know you have. Of course, please do correct me if I'm wrong, but if you want to go with Issei and company, don't feel like you're a burden on anyone and speak your mind clearly. I just know that you'll find everything in life you wish to have, but there's no better day to start such a project than today, right?"

Camilla, once again coming out of left field with the motherly advice that rivals the Gods' very own! Of course, what came next was nothing unexpected. Breaking down into a healthy stream of tears, Eleanor cried out just how much she wanted to go on this trip. It surely means a lot to her, and I can imagine for someone like her who had to be patient with her parents, having them give their full support was certainly a big deal. Sigmund, of course, couldn't say anything against this, and Ed too felt the need to sheepishly apologize as soon as he could. They feel dysfunctional on the outside, but once you get past those little facades, you really do see the full extent of a family's love for one another. In some weird, ironic way, I still feel like they're more of a family than the Grimhearts ever were, but maybe I'm just saying that because I'm still kinda salty mom and dad didn't come over to visit us for the wedding.