Upon getting my passport legally reinstated and saying goodbye to the crew over at Arthur’s, I hopped on a transport wagon to The Plural Divide. This place is just South of Great Hiana, and East of Trivis Numerica. It’s similar to Trivis Numerica, in that it is a Meta Country, but that’s basically where the similarities end.

In terms of geography, it is a somewhat mountainous region with a damp, rainy and cloudy climate. It’s known for having a long and arduous history and culture, with many different peoples of all races dwelling within it’s Sub Countries.

Speaking of, there are a total of 15 Sub Countries that make up The Plural Divide. If I recall correctly from my books, they are: Wulff Dukedom, Leone, Zacharis, Ia, Raal, Tei, Doppel, Pelte, Dosithea and Karl Estate (which is the country I’ll be visiting first).

Entering the Meta Country I immediately noticed just how different the climate really is. Within an hour or so of traveling I already had to put on a coat and heat up. As I exited the transport wagon, the first and most noticeable building in Karl Estate was the Karl Mansion (go figure). I say that, but this is truly an amazing sight, it makes you wonder what the Karls did in their time to amass such wealth. I mean, this place is HUGE! So big, in fact, that it sits atop the tallest hill in the country and sometimes surpasses the clouds!

Back when I read about it in my books, I thought they were exaggerating when they said “You could see it wherever you were in the country”, but it turns out that’s actually true. Since most of these Sub Countries are approximately the same size as some larger cities in Great Hiana, the locals of Karl Estate would use this amazing mansion as a sort of compass to guide them and help them navigate through the country if they ever got lost. Thanks to subtle clues like checking where the shadows fall on the mansion, they could roughly approximate not only time, but also which cardinal direction they were facing.

This just goes to show how smart and ahead of their time the Karls were. Then again, who knows if they knew their home would serve such a grand purpose to their country of residence. Oh, and if you’re wondering where the Karls are right now, then I’m sorry to say but they’ve all died out hundreds of years ago. This mansion also holds historical value in that regard, as it stands high atop that hill to remind people of a different time.

Ah, I started babbling to myself again! Shut up, me! I need to go find Grim!

As such, I quickly went to the Karl Estate branch of the ITA and asked for his whereabouts. I showed him my passport and records of mine and Grim’s previous check-ins together, but the ITA Agent still didn’t want to tell me his whereabouts.

“Sorry, sir,” He said, “But I’ve been ordered by the higher-ups to keep his current location top secret. I apologize for the inconvenience, but all we can share with you at the moment is that he’s out on a very important commission.”

“A commission?” I asked, “Before we parted ways about a month ago, he mentioned something about wanting to visit this place, so what’s the hold up?”

“?” He simply raised an eyebrow, “There have been no check-ins or records of him ever setting foot anywhere near The Plural Divide.”

“Hmm…” I stood there while wracking my brain, “Alright then, thanks for the information. If anything pops up, could I ask that you mail me?”

“We’ll be sure to do just that, kind sir. Thank you for your service!” He said as he gave me the standard ITA salute.

I returned the gesture and set out to explore some more. Grim’s not here? But then… where is he? A very important commission given to him by the ITA? That doesn’t sound good...

Even though I was getting a bit worried, I knew Grim. He’ll make it out of whatever situation he finds himself in, he’s strong like that. Plus, he has that amazing ability, what’d he call it, Spark? Yeah, he’s safe.

After I reassured myself, I decided to take it easy and go sightseeing with a more leisurely pace. I now had a new goal, and that goal is to eat every local delicacy of the countries I visit, buy a magnetic badge from their gift shops, and visit a popular monument if it exists.

With this, I went to the nearest restaurant and ordered the finest food they have.

“Here you go, sir, legumes and bread, with a side of fries.” The waiter handed me my plate.

“…” I stood there with a tinge of disappointment in my eyes.

“Is it not to your liking, good sir?” He asked me.

“N-No no, it’s amazing!” I quickly took a bite, “It’s just, do you have any meat to go along with it?”

“…” The waiter gave me a saddened gaze, “I apologize for not meeting your expectations, good sir, but our country doesn’t get a lot of meat. Since the trade routes pass by our country, but never through it, we don’t get a lot of it, if any at all.”

The other customers and workers were staring daggers at me for apparently insulting them. It wasn’t my intention, but to think meat would be considered such a difficult thing to procure, do they not have hunters? Well, I should probably make a mental note to just not question what food they give me from now on.

“A-Ah! I apologize!” I said, “I didn’t mean to offend you! The food is amazing, thank you so much!”

The waiter’s face lit up as soon as he saw me eating the legumes.

“Really?” He asked as if to reaffirm, “Then please enjoy it to your heart’s content!”

“Thank you very much, can I ask for seconds?” I said as I already handed him my empty plate.

Now the people present were no longer staring daggers at me, instead they more so stood in awe as they saw how quickly I was munching down their local delicacy with a smile on my face. Thank goodness too, I definitely didn’t want to be put on anyone’s hit list because of some legumes…

After finishing my second serving, I gave them a generous tip as a sign of apology and promptly left the restaurant to go look at some monuments. I really wanted to visit the Karl Estate and see how it looks like from the inside, but apparently it’s what we call “One of the Six Wonders of the World”, so entry is forbidden in most cases, safe from some special exceptions.

I simply shrugged with an It can’t be helped sort of attitude and left for the next country, Leone. Leone is what you’d call an even smaller country, so I can’t help but dread what it’s gonna be like there if a place such as the famed Karl Estate doesn’t even have meat...

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***

Surprisingly enough, it was chock full of all sorts of amazing things. Even though it was smaller than its neighbor, it had a lot higher of a quality of life. This is because the trade route actually directly cuts through it, and this means all wares, be they from The Kingdom of Carmen, Cardina or Simpleton pass by here. It truly felt like a richly diversified place ready to accept both travelers and tourists alike.

It almost felt better than that time Grim and I were in The Kingdom of Carmen, what with how everything was glowing and colorful. Speaking of Grim, I should probably check-in on the Leone branch of the ITA and ask if there’s been any updates about him since yesterday.

“Sorry sir,” The ITA Agent gave a similar response to the previous one, “Since Lune Grimheart is currently off on a very important commission, we cannot confirm his whereabouts at the current time.”

“I see… Thank you, have a good day.” I said as I turned to go visit a restaurant.

Wait a second… Did he say Grim’s current whereabouts… can’t be confirmed? Ooh, I’m getting a bad feeling about this… I hope he’s okay… NO! He IS okay! I mean, come on, it’s Grim we’re talking about! Knowing him he’s probably getting hit on by some adventurer girl, but he’s too dense to realize it! Haha, what a dumbass, that’s totally something that’d happen to him!

After laughing a bit at him for some inexplicable reason, I started to feel a bit more at ease again and went to visit the restaurant here.

“Here you go, kind sir,” The waiter gave me my plate, “Horsemeat bathed in oil with a side of bacon.”

“…” I stood there while making an uneasy face, “C-Could I get a salad with that?”

“Oh, apologies good sir.” The waiter laughed, “Judging from your clothes, I didn’t take you for a commoner, but I guess you can’t judge a book by its cover!”

The other customers were starting to whisper stuff behind my back and snicker at me, which made me feel a bit bad about coming in here. But I can’t help it, salad is a must have with this, I’ll die if I just eat all this, or worse, gain weight!

“Uhm,” I timidly asked, “What is so bad about eating salad?”

“Well, you see.” He went on to explain, “Meat is a luxury, whilst salad is something everyone can afford. Therefore, anyone who eats salad is branded a commoner by the others.”

“Dude, eat your veggies. Your stomach’s gonna quit on you.” I said as I demanded my salad without caring for the others’ jeers.

He gave me a nasty glare and left to give me my salad, but I didn’t care. The food tasted much better and was now also much easier to eat as well. The reception left a lot to be desired, though. It’s a 7/10 from me.

Leaving Leone, I noticed a sign on the road saying Zacharis is to the left. If I recall correctly, I think I heard Carter mention him and Cecily were from there. I should probably go there with her and Grim one day… Who knows, it may very well be their honeymoon location, heheh…

“Ia, I’m here!” I shouted as I exited the transport wagon. I knew from the map that it was a small place, but I didn’t expect it to be this small, though! It’s so small that immediately after entering the country you’ll find a sign that says “Raal – 10km”. 10km?!? That’s like 2 hours of walking! This place is almost smaller than Whitehood!

Speaking of, it was also very empty. Just a couple of orchards or valleys with a few cottages, that’s it. Don’t get me wrong, the mountainy regions made it a prime spot for sightseeing, but just getting up those steep mountains isn’t worth the two or three minutes of viewing.

I decided to stay the night in a nearby inn cottage and leave as soon as possible, but not before eating their food.

“What would you like, young man?” The nice old lady that worked in the inn asked me.

“What do you have?” I asked.

“Oh, we don’t have much for a spiffy, growing boy like you.” She said with a dejected tone, “But we have some soup if you’d like.”

Hearing these news was quite nice, in fact. I missed the cooking from back home quite a bit, and seeing as everyone respects their countries food and cuisine WAY too much, eating something plain and warm made by modest hands really just sat right with me.

The kind old lady prepared the soup, then sat down across from me as I ate. She watched me eat with a warm smile and waited until I finished before making small talk with me.

“How did you like the food, child?” She asked expectantly, “Was it too salty? Too spicy?”

“It was perfect.” I said while getting up to put away the bowl, “Thank you very much, I haven’t eaten something as good as this in a while. It reminded me of my mother’s cooking.”

“Oh, well thank you very much, I’m sure she’d be happy to hear that.” She grabbed the plate I handed her, “Might I ask when was the last time you saw her?”

“I went... abroad when I was around 11 so… I think that makes 5 or so years?” I estimated, “I’m actually heading back home right now to visit them, but I’m taking a small little detour through The Plural Divide.”

“How wonderful!” She praised, “But to go at such a young age, did you have any guardians to protect you on your travels?”

“I had a friend. He was very kind a charismatic, much more talkative and action oriented than me, that’s for sure.” I recalled Grim, “He met a girl on our travels and they decided to stay in Great Hiana, though. Then again I doubt he’d want to call it quits just yet.”

“He sounds like quite the trouble.” She dissed him, “To leave your friend behind because of some girl. Are you not angry at him?”

“Of course not, I was the one to introduce them, after all!” I chuckled, “Those two have the ability to change the world if it aligns with their goals, but I’m just a measly traveler who wanted to go sightseeing a bit. I’m just glad I didn’t leave him alone back there.”

“I see.” She quieted down, “Well, if everyone’s happy, then I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Oh, but he was apparently sent on a very important mission by the ITA recently.” I mentioned offhandedly.

“The ITA, you say?” She stopped doing the dishes and asked with a horrified face, “It couldn’t be… What is your friend’s name?”

“U-Uh,” I stuttered, surprised at the sudden question, “L-Lune Grimheart, ma’am.”

“Oh dear…” She went in the back to fetch something.

It was an envelope, in it was a letter from the ITA and a date that happened around a month ago. It read:

“Dear Adventurer Sullivan Streits,

It is with great pleasure for us to inform you that you have been assigned to explore the newly found Shaid’s Temple in Sibirus with a predetermined party. Denial or failure to comply will lead to a strike, but we believe you to be more than adequate for the commission, as you have checked “always ready for dispatch” on the waiver you signed! The party will be heading out in 3 days after this letter’s arrival, so I hope you don’t have a record of tardiness. Please visit your nearest ITA Base of Operations for further details on the subject matter.

                                  -Yours truly, Tom from ITA Support”

“What is this?” I asked her.

“This is a letter addressed to my grandson, Sullivan. He, as well as four other adventurers were sent out on a very dangerous expedition in Sibirus. After visiting the ITA, we were told failure to comply would lead to him getting three strikes immediately, though, labeling him a deserter.”

Remember, the ITA works on a ‘Three strikes and you’re out’ system. If you get labeled a deserter, then the entire ITA puts a large bounty on both you and your family, so this is definitely no laughing matter.

“That sounds horrible!” I commented on the lie on their part, “But then what does that have to do with Grim?”

“It’s just that.” She said, “Among others, Lune Grimheart was listed as a party member.”

A feeling of nigh endless dread loomed over me as I tried my best to make sense of her words. It didn’t immediately hit me, but rather this feeling slowly crept up to me, until I could no longer deny it. Grim isn’t anywhere near The Plural Divide nor Great Hiana, he is somewhere very, very dangerous. The ITA tossed all the dirty work to him and this kind lady’s grandson.

“Even still, I urge you not to worry, ma’am.” I said with a chipper tone, “Grim is the bravest adventurer I know. They’ll make it out of there for sure. And when that day comes, I’ll be sure to visit you with him to thank you for letting me know about where Grim was.”

“Oh, you’re much too kind.” She said, “But all we can do is pray for their safety.”

After that, I went to bed and woke up early to get on the next transport wagon. I had intended to take my time with this visit, but after these news about Lune, I didn't really feel like going sightseeing at all anymore. Grim, you okay over there? Hope you brought a coat or something, it’s probably freezing out there…