"Having to immediately set off on a voyage to Simpleton after just getting back from Entropa..." Ed patted me on the back as we watched the waves thrash beneath us, "Shit, I wouldn't blame you if you punched Meil in the face the moment you come across him."
"Nah, I wouldn't do that." I shook my head, "Though, I can only imagine how he's gonna react when he does see me alive and well. Thinking about it another way, I guess this is also a chance to see how Nelly's doing while we're here."
"That's all well and good, but remember, we're not here to fuck around. Meil's letter was bone-chilling, and I get the feeling he's at his wit's end, no matter how unbelievable that may sound to you."
At his wit's end? Meil? Well, I can at the very least attest to him seeming to need our help urgently. But still, it's hard to imagine Meil being put in a situation too big for him. He's always been capable of solving any and all issues with ease, so having him suddenly send a letter to even me, someone whom he thought was dead, is certainly a novelty. At first we worried it might have something to do with Nelly's wellbeing, but he made sure to tell Ed she's fine in the letter. I can see why he didn't bother writing the same thing to me. After all, if I was dead, that'd be a waste of time for him, whilst if I was indeed alive like I am, then I would surely just read it from Ed's letter. This is the type of logic that guy goes by, and with that handwriting of his, I'm certain this isn't some trick or trap either. This is the real deal.
"But man...!" Ed grabbed his head and teetered it side to side, "Convincing Anna to go on this trip without here sure took a helluva long time to accomplish. The moment she heard we were going to Simpleton, she wouldn't stop badgering me to join in."
"Even though Meil specifically instructed us to come alone, she still insisted on joining?"
"Hm? Well obviously she didn't know that."
"Huh? What do you mean?" I tilted my head, "You... DID show her the letter, didn't you?"
"Eh!? Fuck no! It's top secret, dimwit!" He berated me, "Obviously we can't just tell our wives that Meil needs us on a mission!"
"Well why not? He never mentioned we should keep it a secret from them."
"Ah." He finally realized as he fell down to the floor, deflated, "Uuuuuughhh... I wasted all that effort lying to my wife's face for nothing~"
Well, it's your fault for not reading the letters carefully enough. As for me, I just entered the house and explained the situation to Cecily. She just shrugged, gave me the okay and told me to stay safe. That's the power of communication, baby!
"Damn, I think we finally ran out of topics to talk about." Ed sighed.
"How come?"
"Well, we already talked about our wives and Meil before this. I think it was about two days ago actually that we've had this exact same conversation."
"Oh, that. Yeah, I noticed we were reusing old material as well, but thought to get the readers caught up to speed as well." I winked, "In any case, the voyage is long and boring and all the waves are the same, so I'm surprised we managed to even make it this far without running out of topics."
"Speaking of, it's my first time in Simpleton. How much longer until we make it there?"
"Beats me, I'm a virgin in that regard as well." I shrugged, "First time going to yet another continent... I'm surprised it took me this long to get here, but I hope we can look back at the memories we're about to make fondly."
"Oh come on, if the ship left the dock in Meridia two days ago, then that means we've gotta be approaching shore soon, right?"
"Alright, I get it. I'll go ask the captain."
Leaving Ed on his own to protect our bags while I look for the captain of the ship, I had walked on over to the other side all the way to where the hull is. This ship is pretty modern, utilizing gas turbines to propel us forward with great speed. It's the same model as the one Cecily, Cene and I were on to get to and from Entropa, but even then it takes a while to cross an entire sea. Though, the propulsion isn't the only thing modern about these guys, cause the ship also has a restaurant, proper rooms to sleep in that look and feel just like you're in a hotel, and most importantly - Proper balancing! I'm sure you guys remember that I've never had any issues with seasickness, so you may be wondering why I'm so excited about this, but you're also forgetting who I'm traveling with. I have a certain phobia of traveling with Ed, because he's the exact opposite of me in regards to seasickness, dropping to the floor and hurling at even the slightest bump in the waves. Luckily, he hasn't shown signs of nausea even once, which meant I got to enjoy my seafaring adventure like never before! Ah, look at me talking up a storm! While I was busy monologuing, I happened to find the captain of the ship at the very top.
"Yo, cap!" I called out to him, "Not to sound like my four year old, but - Are we there yet?"
"Hrm." He pointed over yonder with his chin.
"Hm? Ah, sorry." I laughed as soon as I turned around to see the shore off in the horizon, "Thank you. I'll leave you to it, then."
"Hmph..."
Y'know, for such a modern ship, they really couldn't have gotten a younger or more modern captain? This guy looks to be as traditional as it gets, even sporting an Eyepatch and a pipe in his mouth. Well, he got us here in one piece, so I'll keep quiet.
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"Alright, we made it!" I smiled as we took our luggage and left the ship, "Finally, after so long, we can properly start this trip already!"
"Right, where do we go first?" Ed looked around, "We need to go find a transport wagon willing to take us to ghe University grounds, first things first, but we could also sit down for a cup coffee."
"Nah, I've had enough of sitting AND coffee." I declined the offer, "Right now we should hurry straight to Meil's side, who knows what he has in store for-"
"Ah, you are here." The man we were just talking about looked at us two idiots as soon as we left the ship, "Edward and... Huh?"
Well, I'll be damned! Is this really Meil? It's been a while, buddy! Haha, you grew out your hair a bit, it looks just like a girl's head from the back now! Apart from that, he's the same Meil we've all grown to love and adore, from his pure White hair and Eyes to his short stature, and even his... eh, his tears?!
"D-Dude, am I seeing things, or is our Meil - THE Meil, crying right now?" Ed gulped.
"H-Huh?" Even he seemed bewildered by all the emotions overtaking him as he put his hand up to his face and wiped the steady stream of tears off, "Y-You... This is not a dream, is it? Gulp, Lune...!"
"Yep. Surprised I'm back so soon?" I chuckled, "Sorry, I forgot to buy souvenirs, but you'll forgive me for that, won't-?"
"You are alive!!" He immediately jumped to hug me, practically wagging his nonexistent tail just like how a dog would after seeing his owner come home after a long time, "But, but...! I saw you die in front of my very Eyes! How is this...!?"
"Beats me." I had him get off me to explain, "Let's just skip the headaches and chalk it up to voodoo God crap. But never mind that, you called us because you needed our help with something, right?"
"Y-Yeah, but that is of little importance now!" He smiled awkwardly before stopping himself from getting too excited and turned to Ed, "Edward! Please, just in case I am dreaming or hallucinating, please affirm my consciousness by giving me a slight pinch on the-OOF!"
"There, there. You feel like waking up after that punch, sleepy head?" Ed mocked and jeered before he got a punch back that send him flying at least 10 meteres.
"I believe I said pinch, not punch!" Meil shouted at him, "Gah, but then this really is real! Lune, you are without a doubt alive again!"
Of all the people to cry, shout and smile as a reaction to my revival, Meil was definitely the last one that came to mind on the list of potential candidates. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that he's happy to see me, and I'm even more happy that I got to see this new side of him, but something about this situation is still bugging me.
"Hey Meil..." I looked around, "Where's Nelly?"
"Have no fear, your daughter is safely studying for the upcoming exam in our house." He nodded, "But anyways..."
"Meil." I looked him straight in the Eyes, "What house? I can understand you talking about a dorm, but dorms don't usually let opposite genders share a room together."
"Grim?" Ed noticed something wrong as well here.
"Meil, how did you get the money to afford a house...?"
"You..." His Eyes quivered in response to that before he happily revealed it all to us, "I expected nothing less of you, friend. Something that the people around me have yet to dare investigate even after all this time, you suspect fresh off the boat, so to speak."
"Well duh, you called us here to help you solve a problem, right? When looked at from that perspective, then I ought to question everything that seems even the tiniest bit out of the ordinary."
"I have nothing to hide to you two, my closest friends." He nodded, "I have, for lack of a better term, come across more money than I can deal with. Therein lies my problem."
"Huuuh? You're so stacked you don't know how to spend all of your newfound fortune!?" Ed repeated after him, "What the hell? If you don't want it, I for one will be happy to take it off your hands!"
That's not it... Meil, he's a very responsible person who remembers the "debt" he owes others, even though said others never intended for him to return what they had gifted him. That's right, I'm talking about the tuition fees for University. If he really did somehow stumble across a large sum of money, then he would have immediately tried to pay us back in full, and yet he instead bought a house? And not just a house, but looking at him up close... His clothes, they seem extremely expensive just from the fabric alone, and those tats under peeking out from under his shirt...
"Alright, just how much money are we talking about, then?" I figured, "Is it enough to pay me back for the tuition fee? Or is it half of that?"
"Well, to be more precise..." He calculated in his head the exact amount of money he had, "It is more like: Enough to pay for 89,34% of this continent's tuition."
"...E-Excuse me?"
"Have no fear." He made sure to reassure us, "The margin of error in all of my calculations is 0,001%, accounting for the people that are constantly being born and dying."
I-Is it even possible to own that much in money...? Does Meil seriously somehow own practically the entire damned continent's money pile? Oh Prylos, what is even going on anymore? Look, Ed is already about to faint from the shock! Ah, no wait, it looks like that's just all the seasickness he had been evading up til now finally catching up to him. Poor bastard...