So, that was that. The roster for our expedition was decided, and although not everyone was happy with it (especially Anna), it was a necessary decision to have Ed come with us. In truth, it's rather difficult to imagine a scenario where the people of Schnell's Archipelago allowed us to sub him out for anyone else, so that plan was thrown out the window pretty fast. It's a shame he was the one this letter was addressed to, and not someone else...

"I don't think you should be making any hasty decisions just yet, bro." Eleanor interjected, "We still don't know what the contents of your letter say."

"Huh, that's true. We only read Grim's." He nodded, opening the piece of paper up to inspect it, "At a glance, nothing seems to be all that different. It's your standard invitation."

"In these situations, we need to really squeeze out all the information we can work with." Cecily explained, "Maybe there's like a rule sheet for the invites or a personalized message for Ed. We shouldn't rule anything out prematurely."

With a nod and a strong ahem, Ed began reading his letter.

"Yo, this is Olya. I imagine you guys already heard of me from Lune Grimheart's letter, so there's no need to waste space on repetition." Ed then grunted, "Tch, at least he's being considerate."

"But this is good." Issei explained, "We at least know he's got more to tell us, and he obviously expected us to share the info from the letters. We're well on our way to a breakthrough."

That's true. A rather optimistic turn of events, though I can't help but feel it's way too convenient. I swear, if it turns out to be nothing important...

"Nelly Grimheart is with us. She's safe, and is being kept in captivity for now. I assure you though that she is being kept in tip-top shape." Ed almost choked up as he read these sentences, "I have another kid with scruffy Brownish hair too, though he was more of a surprise than anything. Can't say he's doing too well. I tried going easy on him, but I'll be honest, I don't think he's gonna be able to walk again."

"H-He couldn't be talking about...?" Cecily's Eyes shrunk back in fear.

"Lem, it's gotta be. He must've tried to protect her and lost the fight." I clicked my tongue, "What the hell kind of maniac are we dealing with...?"

Lem's with her? No, screw that, did he just say Lem won't be able to walk anymore? Shit, he might be bluffing, but then again... No, there's no use thinking about the ifs, buts and maybes. Instead, I should only use this to motivate myself to rush to the islands more, since this means I need to cast Heal on him immediately.

"This is terrible..." Camilla and Sigmund couldn't believe their ears, "For such good kids to fall victim to this monster!"

"Lee, he must be devastated." Issei too looked down.

"Guys, there's more to read." Ed snapped his fingers before continuing, "I mean no harm, and I am not your enemy, though I understand it may sound as though I am. Trust me, if there was a way for me to get you to come here without having to kidnap your kids, I would've done so."

"This guy has to be kidding." Othelia groaned, "If we're not his enemies, then who is?"

"The Gods, apparently." Ed kept reading, "He says so right after—Right now, I am in a race against time, since the Gods have surely caught wind of what I'm trying to accomplish. This is why I had to resort to such unsavory means to get your attention. What I want you to do is to hurry here as quickly as possible—It is no understatement when I say you are the last missing piece of the puzzle."

"Wait, so the Gods are coming to the islands?" Issei furrowed his brows, "Then what the hell were we worried about? They're definitely on our side, and with their Omniscience they'll immediately recognize Nelly and bring her back to us after dealing with him."

"Yeah, thank goodness we're on such good terms with them." Cecily heaved a sigh of relief, "Well, most of them, at least."

"If the Gods are coming to the island, then it's no longer required for Ed to come with us to boost fighting power." I also added, "With this, it'll be enough for just Cecily and me to show up, since we'll have at the very least 2 or 3 Gods on our side."

"That's good to hear!" Anna was ecstatic, "Dear, did you hear?! You can stay here without worry, the Gods will surely make things right!"

"...Is that really true?" Ed seemed to be the only one in the room unable to accept this, "So you're saying... You're gonna get complacent just like that?"

"It's not complacency, it's a fact." Eleanor corrected him.

"Hey, I just got an idea." Othelia suggested, "If the old man is scared of the Gods and wants you guys to hurry up, then wouldn't we directly be dismantling his plans if you guys just choose not to go?"

Now that's an idea. Certainly, his words sound urgent, and it also seems we're playing quite the pivotal role in this scheme of his. He quite literally called us the final puzzle piece, and since you can't solve a puzzle if one of the pieces has gone missing, then...

"Absolutely not. We're going." Cecily said decidedly, "Pivotal role or not, we have to show up. It's our duty as parents."

"But it sounds like you'd be playing right into the villain's hands if you did that?" Camilla questioned.

"Yeah, and does it matter?" She asked, "There isn't a single situation in the history of history where I would ever not do everything I can to save my kids. If he wants us to show up, then so be it, but I just cannot sit around in this house while Nelly might very well be fighting for her life on some stupid island."

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"Right, no idiot in the world would hear this and just choose to willingly sit back and do nothing." Ed clicked his tongue, "The plan hasn't changed. The four of us are going to the island, cause there's no guarantee the Gods will even show up."

"Even if they do, they'd greatly appreciate your help." Sigmund added, "At the very least, there's no harm in scoping the scene out for yourselves, is there?"

"Y-Yeah, totally..." I chuckled nervously, "Anyways, does it say anything more in the letter?"

"Hmm, no. That's basically it, safe from one last 'Please come soon!' sentence." Ed inspected both sides.

So in the end, we learned a lot, and we're still left clueless. This doesn't really make this Olya guy all that trustful... Still, it seems he's being rather cooperative, and I'll be the first guy to admit that we probably wouldn't have paid these invitation letters any mind had he not mentioned Nelly. He's cunning, it sounds like he used the knowledge gained from the Book of Fortune to properly target our weak spots and get us dance to his tune. Still, what does he even need us for...?

"If that's all, then I guess meeting adjourned." I sighed whilst clapping my hands together, "Issei and Ed need to prepare anything they're going to bring with them, and Cecily and I need to make preparations of our own regarding Cene."

"We can take care of him." Camilla offered.

"Of course, we'll help out too." Othelia and Eleanor nodded.

"Anna?" Ed noticed her pouting, "Come on, this isn't our house to mope in. Look, I'll be back before you know it, I promise."

"Dear..." She clenched her fist before letting all the anger go, "No, don't rush. You guys are going somewhere extremely dangerous, so it's better to take your time and do everything right."

"That's more like it!" He hugged her, "I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you, but right now I'm gonna have to ask you to put up with this idiot's whims."

"Heh, I'm used to it, dummy." She grinned.

One by one, they all left through the front door, and soon enough the spacious living room was restored. Now with only Cecily, Cene and me in the house, we could start properly preparing our suitcases, so to speak. It was decided that we'll be setting off the moment we pack our stuff, so we probably shouldn't be taking too long. Right, now was the time to properly explain everything to Cene.

"Are sis and Lem in trouble?" He walked up to ask.

"Everything's fine. Mommy and daddy are on the case!" Cecily pinched his cheek, "But we have a very important task for you. Think you can do it?"

"Yeah!" He jumped up and down.

"Cene, mom and dad are gonna be going on a little trip with uncle Ed and uncle Issei." I explained with a sigh, "Be a good boy and don't cause trouble for the girls and the rest of the Saints."

"Okay!" He saluted proudly, "I'll be the goodest boy!"

"You know what this means, right?" Cecily raised an Eyebrow, "You won't be going outside with Peter and the rest of your friends while we're gone."

"Eh!?" He jolted, "Why not?"

"It's dangerou-!"

"Cene, please." I stopped Cecily from scaring him, "Just do this for us."

"Urgh... But if auntie Anna agrees to come with me?" He asked.

"No means no, son. I'm sorry." I shook my head, "You'll be able to play to your heart's content after we come back home."

"UUUURGH!" He kept groaning loudly.

He can hate us as much as he wants right now, but the fact is that having them do too many unnecessary things is way too dangerous. We're dealing with someone who has the power to almost kill Lem and bypass Meil to get to Nelly, so if this Olya guy shows his face here again to get Cene as well, I'm afraid Anna alone just won't be able to protect him. Not that it'd make too much of a difference if they were all there to protect him, but I'm sure keeping any extra headaches and worries away from us will surely make our job easier.

"What are we gonna do about transport?" Cecily recalled, "We didn't call a wagon, so it's gonna take a while before we can even make it to the dock, even more so the islands."

"Right, that..." I smirked, "Hey, I got an idea, but it'll require me to go work with Issei to get it set up. In the meantime, could I bother you to prepare everything for the both of us?"

"Huh? Sure, but just remember, you barely have any time left before we go." She warned, "If it'll take more than an hour, scrap the idea entirely. We don't have time for it."

"Nah. For this, I wager it won't even take half an hour!" I ran out of the house.

Of course, our destination is hundreds of kilometers of land and sea away, entire oceans apart, and to top it all off, it's got an illegal border surrounding it. Even if we do make it to the Meridia dock, there probably won't be any direct voyages to Schnell's Archipelago. I heard there were some luxury cruises that went close to the islands, but we'd still have to jump off and swim to the actual landmasses if we wanted to get there. It's impractical, and if I hadn't gone to Issei's world and met Freddy, then I might've just given up and succumbed to my wet fate, stating there was nothing we can do. But now, things are different!

"Issei!" I slammed the doors open to their house as I shouted with a wry grin, "The Scooter Brothers are back in business!"

"Eh?" He jogged over to me, "What are you plotting now?"

"Exactly what I said—We saw a ton of stuff from your world that this one would benefit from havinf, so I want us to invent it all just like old times!" I smirked, Materializing the keys to the airbike's ignition, "And to commemorate this decision... Let's go make this world's first ever airbike!"