[Good Morning today’s date is 1st Winter 5, the time is now 0600, Forecast calls for light snowfall.]

[Local Network: General Store will be open today from 0900 - 1600]

[Credits Deposited 1200]

It was far too cold. Alex watched as his breath was clearly visible in the frosty room. He absolutely hated it. Why was it so cold in the house again? Only one way to find out.

He quickly rolled out of bed, switching to his daily clothes. At least the system provided him with warmer clothing during the Season shift. Although now that the store was finally opening today, He could finally purchase a decent coat, and warmer clothes. The thought of the wind not cutting through to his core, Alex couldn’t wait.

“OK, off to the basement I go.” Alex sighed, “Really need to find out what is happening to the furnace downstairs.

A trip through the frozen nightscape, found the farmer back in front of the iron beast once more. The cold air did not make inspecting the machine any fun at all. He could feel the slow numbing sensation travel from the tips of his body. Not finding any issues with the furnace, Alex tried starting it up. Again.. No issues.

“Ok, that’s weird. Going to put a mental pin in ‘Investigate Basement,’ and file that for a time that is not freezing cold." Alex mused to himself before running back inside the house, not hearing one of the boxes fall behind him.

“Hey Alex” Eve greeted as he entered from outside, a small smile on her face.

He gave her a small hug, as she continued working on breakfast. The smell of cinnamon permeated the air, while Alex made his way towards the table. His stomach now given an excuse to revolt at him not yet devouring the source of said aroma.

He found it amusing, although it had been a week, he was still not quite used to her not needing her box. He remembered one of the first times earlier that year when she started cooking on it. Though seeing her now, after everything that happened between them.

She looked happy, simply happy. Like nothing else really mattered. The sight of it made Alex happy as well. While he could never fully understand her world she came from. He could at least be there with her, just as she would for him. It was at the very least a comforting thought.

“I’m not interrupting anything between you two am I?” a sweet voice called out into the kitchen, as auburn hair and gold eyes peeked from the corner.

“No, I just walked in. Good morning Melody.” Alex called back, watching as the young woman happily bounced over to the table, and hopped onto the farmer’s lap. Quickly wrapping her arms around him, while sticking her tongue out at Evelyn in playful defiance.

Eve simply smiled at the young gobliness and laughed, turning once more to the nearly complete delicacy, a devious smile on her face. “I guess Melody doesn't want any Fairy toast. Shame really.”

“No! I didn’t say that… I’m sorry” melody cried now sitting in her chair as if by magic tears streaming down her face. She looked like a puppy pouting after getting in trouble. Alex found it adorable.

Finished with her preparation, Eve brought three plates to the table. Placing one of them in front of Melody, she gave the girl a sweet smile, calming the young gobliness. Her golden eyes were still streaming tears, though it may have been happy ones this time. Alex couldn’t tell.

“You know I wouldn’t do that to you sweetie.” Eve told her, before ruffling the girl’s auburn hair a little bit.

“Sweetie?” Alex asked, “That’s new. Although I’m happy the two of you are becoming good friends.”

The two girls blushed at the comment, before devouring their food. Alex, not wanting to make assumptions, did the same. He was not going to make the mistake of overstepping any bounds, or making an idiot of himself. He simply gave them a smile and tucked in.

Fairy Toast as it turned out, were large donuts that were fried, dipped in a French toast style egg wash, and then pan fried, before covered in powdered sugar and syrup. The combination brought the idea of French toast to new heights. The firm yolk heavy custard, emboldened by cinnamon and sugar, giving way to a soft yeasty flavor of the donut. The contrast of textures and flavors along with the warming nature of the cinnamon, brought his senses an immense amount of joy and comfort. His taste buds were overjoyed.

“Delicious!” Alex exclaimed, a huge smile on his face.

“Mmmmhmmm” Eve responded back. “My mother used to make these when I was a little girl, though she would add various nuts and berries on it as well.”

“We’ll have to try those someday,” Alex said, turning to their other compatriot. “Melody, what do you… think?”

Unable to answer anything else except for the song plate in front of her entranced upon the poor soul. The young gobliness was lost in the dance of eating, sounds of agreement, hunger, and joy filled the room. Tears streamed down her face, as she held the fork and plate to her face. Unable to contain themselves, the pair could only laugh at the sight.

White flurries of pure white waited for them outside. The brisk winter air cut bitterly against their skin. The system provided clothes did not provide much protection for the harsh temperatures of winter. Walking down the road towards the town, two of the three really couldn't care less. They happily clung onto the third, enjoying the walk by the lake.

“Um.. ladies. You know you don’t have to walk this closely to me. There’s plenty of room for all of us to travel” Alex tried suggesting to his friends, each locked onto a respective arm.

Melody looked up at him with an indignant look on her face. “No! It’s cold and you promised we could go with you shopping. Stop complaining, and enjoy the fact you have two lovely ladies to accompany you.” Sticking her tongue out at him in the process.

“She’s got a point, Alex.” Evelyn pointed out, “No use in arguing, you're stuck with us.” giving him a soft smile.

He had to admit, he wasn’t completely against this. The three of them walking together did help keep him warm from the winter’s frosty bite. He also couldn’t argue with how he felt about these two as well. So he did what he knew was best for the situation. Keep his mouth shut, and enjoy that this is making the people he cares about happy.

“Wow, look at it.” Evelyn shouted as the general store came into view. “It’s completely different!”

Alex let out an affirming whistle. He was impressed, it really was an incredible sight. The Ghostly visage of abandoned and destroyed buildings was gone. Not only was the general store now completely intact, but most of the buildings were restored to a considerable degree. Almost as if the town was slowly moving backwards in time. It gave the farmer a sense of accomplishment in knowing the work he spent so long working the last few months was bearing fruit.

“Howdy Neighbors,” A familiar voice called out. Looking towards the store the three caught sight of Wilford Crest, the new proprietor.

“It's a bit cold to be without a coat isn’t it?” The merchant smiled, though something was different.

“Morning. Yeah, that’s actually something we are here to hopefully fix.” Alex answered, giving him a confused look. “Did you change something? I can’t quite place it.”

Crest gave a jovial laugh, rubbing his face. “Yeah, the wife made me shave. Somethin’ about havin’ a ‘more approachable appeal for customers’ or somethin.” He admitted, giving air quotes to the term.

Alex had to admit, she wasn’t wrong. While the mustache gave Wilford a strong ‘Western Rancher’ look. The clean cut face made the man look years younger, and a lot more dignified.

“I’m sure you will get used to it, Dear” A voice from behind Wilford called out, “Now stop dawdling, and let our guests in. Weren’t you wanting to introduce them to Dom anyway?”

Slapping his head, Crest stepped to the side, and gave a slight bowing gesture. Trying to hide the embarrassment from the group. “Please valued customers, join us this way for a wonderful experience in retail excellence.”

Wasting no time, Melody and Evelyn walked quickly inside the store, talking excitedly to Leann. Alex walked over to Wilford putting a reassuring hand on the man’s shoulder. Alex could recall the one time he worked in retail, the nightmare it entailed. He wished this man all the luck in the world in success.

“Let's head inside, friend. I'm impressed you got everything put together so quickly.” Alex gestured to the man.

“To be honest, the system did most of the work.” The old man admitted, an embarrassed chuckle escaping his voice. “Darn thing is absolutely amazing to be sure.”

“I can't disagree with you there. Now about that coat?” Alex asked.

Before Wilford could give an answer, an energetic Leann cut in from behind the man. A large grin on her face as she made her presence known. Whether the look was because she was happy to see him, or that the girls were going shop wild inside was beyond him. Either way the way she stared gave the impression of a fox on the hunt, and he was the next kill.

Nearly Dragging Alex inside, He tried to take everything in. There was a long counter and register near the front. A great deal of Shelves holding supplies from simple staples, to clothes, to equipment both big and small. A stairwell in the far back led to the families living quarters, Alex guessed. He would ask but he was taken to a section on the side of the store that looked like a changing room… oh no…

“The girls have already gone through a nice selection for you to choose from.” Leann told Alex, giving him a sly smile and a wink. Wasting no time she turned him towards the changing room door and all but threw him inside.

When Alex stepped out for the eighth time after trying on outfits, he was near his limit. The girls, now finished with their shopping, set up some chairs for everyone else. It was like they were hosting their own personal fashion expo, and he was the soul model on display. The embarrassment alone was eating at him, and he could have sworn that one of them tried sneaking inside between outfits. A matter proven as he found Leann lecturing Melody, while Eve watched laughing hysterically.

As Alex finally managed to get a good look in the mirror, he had to admit. “Damn, I look good in this.”

His standard overall and flannel outfit, was now replaced with a thick white woolen tunic, with leather wrist guards and an over shoulder leather pauldron, dark gray wool slacks, Thick leather travelers boots, and a very heavy black cloak. It had nothing to do with farming, but the fit felt… right. Turning around he gave the girls a little pose.

“Well, what do you think?” he asked.

Melody looked like her eyes were about to pop out, and drag her to his location. Eve seeing this put an arm around her, keeping the gobliness in her seat.

“It looks almost too good, I'm not sure how Melody is going to handle you walking around like that” Eve laughed, giving her a friendly hug, consoling the poor girl.

“I bet,” Alex agreed, before addressing Leann ,”I think I’ll take this and the Suede brown.

“Of course sir, anything else for you this visit?” The foxkin woman asked.

Alex gestured towards Wilford, “You mentioned earlier that your husband was wanting to introduce someone before… This all happened?” Alex asked, pointing at the chairs.

“Yes, yes he did,” She remarked before looking towards the rear stairwell.

“Dom! Can you come down please?” She called out, “ The Farmer, Ned and Will talked to you about it here.

A few moments later, a large and burly version of Wilford walked down from upstairs. Aside from his large build and full beard, the man could easily pass as the store's proprietor. The man reached out his hand to Alex in welcome, a gentle warm smile behind it.

“Hey there, The name is Dominic Crest, please call me Dom,” He said in a deep gentle voice, “I just moved in yesterday.”

The farmer took the hand in stride, “Welcome to the village. I'm Alex, it's nice to meet you.” he returned, giving the man a kind smile. “What brings you out here to our little village?”

“My baby brother told me that there was a ‘whole village needin’ my expertise,’ as he so eloquently put it.” He laughed, “Then Ned explained that you all needed a skilled carpenter and that you had a workstation already set up.”

Alex's eyes grew wide at the last part. He was a Carpenter, which means the issues with his house could finally be addressed. He had to control the increasing urge to go ‘talk shop’ about all the issues. After all, he was out shopping with his close friends. It would be extremely rude to just ditch them. He also didn't want to suffer their wrath either.

“Well, I’m really excited to have you all here in town. Drop by the farm sometime after you get settled.” He invited the big guy, “in fact I would love to host all of you sometime this winter.”

Their conversation finished Alex turned over to Wilford and Leann who were at the counter bagging up everything for the girls. Shaking Dom’s hand once more in farewell, Alex walked back to the rest of the group to the counter.

He enjoyed having new friends he can talk to. While he enjoyed talking to Flint, he found the Dwarf preferred to stay in his personal domain. The Gob squad didn’t offer much in conversation, since they were essentially glorified NPCs. He had plenty of opportunities to talk to the girls, but that usually led to one or two directions…

Alex was completely lost in thought when he arrived at the counter. Eve gave the farmer a small smile, placing a hand on his arm. Melody nearly tackled the man in a powerful hug, knocking him out of his train of thought. Her gold eyes staring up at the man, a small sparkle hiding in her gaze.

“Hey you two, did we get everything?” He asked, patting Melody’s head.

“Just about Alex. We only need to settle the matter of your fee.” Leann mused while sharing a smile Alex knew all too well. It was going to be expensive… but, that was half the fun wasn’t it?

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The sun, while not along the horizon, was far along its path in the late afternoon. What little warmth the sun provided was quickly getting devoured as a cloud front started approaching from the south. Not that it bothered the newly garbed trio in the slightest.

Alex Loved the new clothes. His and the cute jackets, the girls bought. Evelyn changing things up purchased a long blue coat, while Melody wanted the flashier Violet jacket. Either way he loved the smiles they gave him when he finalized the purchase. They were all in their own private world that they didn't even notice the little girl waiting for them by the porch.

The pink haired girl couldn't be more than fourteen years old. Between her Pink coat and her Disarming smile, she seemed like a very sweet kid. So why was this setting off every alarm in Alex's mind?

“Hello, I’m sorry” The young girl said in a sweetly soft voice. “My name is Mia and I’m a little lost.

“Hello little sweetheart,” Melody called out to the little girl.

Alex stepped forward after putting a hand on Melody's shoulder stopping her from running up to the girl. Giving Eve a look of warning before shifting his gaze between the two. He gave the young girl the warmest smile he could.

“Hi Mia, how can we help?” He asked, crouching down to her level.

She gave Alex a big smile, “Thank you mister. I’m trying to find someone. He has hair like fire, big broad shoulders, and a laugh that can break any frown. I was told he could be living near here.

Alex stood up from his position. “You wouldn’t have a name for this kind sounding person would you?” he asked the girl, before she gave him the most hopeful smile.

“Phaestus Flint” She answered excitedly, before Alex could ask any more questions the front door opened to a broad man fitting the very description the young girl described.

“Ey, Lad. What’s all the racket out ‘ere. I figured you lot would ‘ave been back… earlier” The Dwarf rambled off before seeing the young girls pink hair. Whispering one single word, a look of shock and grief plaguing his face.

“Mia”

The smile left her eyes as she turned staring into his ruby red eyes. She clasped her hands in personal satisfaction at accomplishing her goal.

“Hello Father” She said coldly, all sweetness from her voice now missing, before tilting her head to the side, like a wild bird of prey towards its next meal.

No…

“And Farewell” She told the man.

No, no, no…

Panic now fueled the fire in the dwarves eye as he tried turning back inside. Fear kept him locked in place as he kept eye contact with the small girl.

“Target acquired” her voice not much louder than a whisper.

Alex heard a familiar sound, one that he understood all too well. Moving to protect his friend, the farmer turned his head towards Eve who already had Melody and was running towards the Gobs hut. The sound was growing louder, but what was a jet engine doing in a fantasy world?

Seeing the girls were safe, he called forth his new power, hoping it would be enough…

“Change Blue Spear”

[Change Form: Gaia’s Will -> Spear of the Azure Tide]

[Class: Adept Farmer 30 -> Cobalt Lancer 3]

Donning the familiar deep blue fit of the Lancers armor. Alex felt his blood burn with purpose. The will of the armor telling him to protect with spear in hand. The world around him felt as if it stopped on its head. He breathed in the harsh cold air, his muscles screamed to be used. They begged him to unleash their potential.

Heading their call, he leapt towards his friend landing in front of the dwarf. Turning just in time as a second figure landed her strike on his spear, the shock of her attack sending a wave of pain into his arms. Heeding its call he pressed back, deflecting the strike and sending the second girl flying backwards her braided pink hair a flag in the wind.

It was now his turn to strike. Alex's heart raced, his blood boiled through his veins. He was the spear, he was the blinding point.

[Use Skill: piercing lance]

Light erupted from the point of his spear, screaming to claim its target in mid flight. As light tore through the farm grounds the lone silhouette danced around the light as a petal in spring, returning its attack towards the fighter in blue.

Alex, spear in hand, met his opponent lunging at his target. Meeting blade for blade strike for strike. He needed to be faster, Spinning his spear to deflect the thrust, he pressed further.

His body screamed at him, each attack sending painful waves of fire though his muscles. Each attack while unable to pierce his armor hit harder than anything else he has ever experienced. He needed to be faster.

He forced his body to listen, pushing him harder, faster. Pushing his attack more. He was gaining on her. He could do this.

Strike! Twist! Thrust! Lose yourself to the dance. Find the way to win. Move faster!

[Use Skill: Cascade Flurry]

Light engulfed Alex’s spear as a barrage of ghost-like spears pursued his target. He had this. His friends would be safe.

The dancing silhouette once again spun effortlessly from the attack. Reaching his side, before a blast of pink light sent the Cobalt warrior skyward.

His body screamed at him, demanding him to keep moving. In the haze of the attack, he missed watching the assailant move above him. The young girl flying above him.

Wait… how was she flying… Alex tried to fully identify his opponent.

No! This was not important; he needed to strike. She was going to hurt his friends. They made that clear, from the beginning, when they targeted Flint.

She was laughing, as if enjoying this. The small figure spun as if Dancing in the air before diving towards Alex, slashing wildly and joyfully at the blue armor.

She was enjoying this…

He was losing focus. He needed to get his bearings, but with each strike to his armor he felt the fiery pain grow worse. Each hit welcomed an explosion of pain, white hot searing agony that coursed through him like a river.

He was losing, no… she was playing with him.

He was going to die…

In the furthest reaches of Alex’s mind he heard something familiar. Someone was singing, wait not singing. They were melodically chanting, and it was growing louder. This hauntingly beautiful rhythm washed over him as calm as the coming tide. Its melody dulled the pain, leaving only need. He needed to win. He would win, after all…

He was a hunter…

[Change form: Gentleman’s Riposte]

[Class: Cobalt Lancer 3 -> Black Corsair 36]

Alex Screamed as his body ignited in an explosion of black threads surrounding him. Each thread wrapped around him tightly, binding itself together into a garb of midnight and black. The song grew louder, telling him to let go. He would be safe now. Alex kicked the attacking assailant, knocking her into the house.

Sleep… Alex…

The song was growing louder. His body now completely covered in the Corsair’s armor, Thick black leather armor cover his body, including an oversized duster jacket, and Hunters cap. His face was now covered in a long black scarf. In his hand was no longer the spear he fought with, but a long black cane with a deep red ruby attached to the pommel.

Sleep, Alex… please!

Seeing his quarry, Alex’s body roared spinning his cane, before leaping towards his prey. The girl went to dance away from the attack only to realize, that Alex turned with the dance grabbing her wrist in the process.

“I’ve already seen this dance” Alex hissed in a voice not his own. “Shall we start a new one dear?”

Alex threw the small frame out into the field, his body sang in joy with the voices chanting. The pain lost in the chorus of need and fury. He felt at peace…

Sleep, Alex… Forget, forget this constant nightmare of violence once more…

Something wasn’t right. His body was not in his control. He tried calling the system nothing. The song was growing louder.

Alex, you must let go… sleep…

His body leapt once more to his prey. Swinging his cane, it opened into an array of chained blades. Each as sharp as razors, and dark as pitch. The hunter arced towards his target wrapping her in the bladed chain, before pulling back once more.

He heard her scream, as the blades ripped through its target.

The hunter smiled in satisfaction. Drawing his weapon to strike again.

Alex tried fighting against the hunters will, but the song continued on in its gothic embrace. He was losing the fight with the song.

Alex, I can’t protect you again unless you sleep again.

What was going on… was the cane talking to him? Alex felt as the hunter continued his brutal fight, but was losing focus. The song was becoming too powerful. He heard a scream…

It was Evelyn… She saw Alex as the hunter who plagued her dreams…

Alex you must let go!

The Hunter Roared as it ran towards the elf. Alex desperately clawed the furthest reaches of his mind so stop him. He had to Stop it, he couldn’t bear losing her again.

{F(x)∀∃+: command line: end program bchunter.exe}

[system notice: Class change: Black Corsair -> Farmer Adept]

Alex was more than halfway to eve as his body simply stopped moving. The hunter roared in indignant rage, the song ended. His armor dissolving in the wind, slowly reverting into the clothes he was wearing before this all started. His mind grew quiet as the voice left one final message…

I am truly sorry…

Alex was now in control of his body once more, and the torrent of pain that the hunter held onto crashed once more into the farmer. His legs unable to bear the weight of the fight any longer buckled, sending him face first into the snow. It didn’t matter though the nightmare was over. Alex closed his eyes as the world became horizontal.

[system message: Command line accepted, forced class change rectified]

Alex found the cold hard snow was… Warm and soft? Opening his eyes he found a crying elf above him. He tried to reach up to her face but found he couldn’t move his body. He moved his gaze to investigate to find a mess of auburn hair blocking his vision. Noticing the movement the young gobliness looked up into his eyes before breaking down into a crying fit. His body felt like broken glass as he tried getting up.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m ok… I think” Alex tried assuring the girls, his voice sounding weak, and raspy.

“What happened, Alex? Why did you use the Riposte?” Evelyn Asked fear and worry filling her eyes. Flint walked up to them somberly stroking his beard.

“I believe I can answer that.” He said sitting down next to them. “I’m guessing Alex has used the class form multiple times by now. Although, you would na remember it. I told ye ‘fore about the hunter usually takin’ control of the user. The weapon itself sings to the user as well in order to help keep the mind intact by putting them te sleep.”

“The voice!” Alex exclaimed now understanding.

“Aye, lad.” the Dwarf reassured, “Now the weapon also has a will of its own. The more you use ‘er in battle, the more she wants to protect ye. Even to a point that she’ll come out if ye’r about to be killed otherwise.”

“She don’t mean to ‘arm ye, but she can't control the will o’ the hunter, and sing to you as well.” Flint lamented to the group. “It takes an iron will to persuade that blade, and ye may someday prove that te ‘er.”

Alex’s mind was lost in a sea of pain and confusion. He hated the hunter. Hated losing control of his body, almost hurting the ones he cared about. He heard the voice in his mind trying to soothe him, but that voice would only lull him into forgetting the horrors the hunter would have subjected his mind to. One of those horrors would have been towards Eve…

Wait… what stopped him…

Alex remembered seeing the system prompt telling him his class was forcefully changed back to his farmer setting. He would need to figure out why, later right now. He needed to figure out something else.

“Who are they Flint? They were clearly targeting you.” Alex questioned the dwarf, who after giving a defeated sigh relented.

“Easiest way to explain is, they are my daughters.” Flint tried explaining, before the first of the two girls walked up to the group.

“Father, helped create us with the help of our mother at Starlight Labs.” The girl explained, her voice back to having some of the softness it once held. “Our mother was a prominent Researcher in the field of Simulacrum, and Soul based mechanics.”

“Allow me to properly introduce myself.” She said now giving a polite curtsy, “I am ‘Starlight Engineering’s Robotic Information and Navigation Assistant’ nightingale series model prototype: Medical Infirmary Administrator, or Mia for short.”

Another girl was limping towards the group, her pink braid now in shambles as her outfit was nearly shredded, her body barely intact from the battle. Her gray eyes staring eagerly towards the dwarf, as if that stare alone would erupt in flames. Alex felt Eve legs stiffen underneath his head, as the girl approached. Moving to defend them, Mia put up an arm in defense.

“No please don’t, neither of you are fit for battle. You already won against us. Tracy just has a deep grudge that is hard to let go.” She said bowing before elbowing her sister in the ribs, causing tracy to bow as well. “Introduce yourself, you nitwit before you get us in even more trouble.”

“What? Uhgg.. Fine!” the sister said, relenting to the others' authority. Before giving a half hearted curtsy of her own. “My name is Tracy or more exactly, Condor series model prototype: Tactical Recon and Covert Intelligence. Mia is my older sister in that she was made before me.”

“Look we are sorry for attacking you as we did, we only wanted to capture flint so we could ask him why he left our mom for so long.” Mia continued explaining, “She waited for almost 200 years before passing, and we couldn’t find any trace of him until a few months ago.” Tracy wrapped her arms around Mia.

“That’s when we left our home in New Andras” Tracy said, taking over for Mia. “When we saw all of you here, saw our… Father laughing and enjoying life. While he forgot about Mother!”

“I Ne’er forgot bout ma dear Lidia.” Flint whispered, loud enough for all to hear. “But, when ye were trapped as I was in my system less cell, there was no way I could have gone back to ‘er.”

Mia snapped! “Then why did you leave us in the first place?” She yelled.

“Because they were gonna scrap ye, the whole project, all of it.. In order to ‘ave me forge copies o’ that!” Flint cried pointing to Alex’s staff.

“The Execs at the lab did na’ care about yer’ moms work. They already new ‘ow ta make Enhanced Simulacrum, they only humored ‘er because she was my wife. To get closer to the monster that made the Gentleman’s Riposte. Twas bad enough they couldn't find the original, unaware I put it inside another of my masterworks” He continued near tears.

“I did na want to leave ye, none of ye. I wasn’t given a choice, I left Lidia at the facility to work on a way to separate you from their network, while I faked my death alluding to her knowing my secret to making their perfect weapon. I only wanted to protect all ye.” The dwarf finished looking at the snow falling from the sky.

“Nhggg… Someone stopped the main system from working several hundred years, destroying this village and trapping Flint inside his Novella” Alex tried explaining, voice barely audible. He was so tired. “We only found him a few months ago. That must have been when you started your journey.”

The girls looked at Alex for a long moment, before Tracy turned to her sister. “He’s not lying. Mia” She said, “Neither of them are.”

Mia looking completely defeated turned to her sister, “You’re right…” Mia admitted, turning away from the group. “Come on, its a long way back to our home. At least what’s left of it.”

Slowly the two girls walked towards the road leading out of town. As the snow continued to fall, Flint nearly fell as he shot up on his feet. Running in the direction of his daughters, before running in front of them. Essentially cutting off their path. His chest heaving from running so fast.

“Wait. please. Ive already lost my wife. Stay with us?” He offered to the girls. “I'm sure Alex would understand right?”

Alex looked at the dwarfs' determination, he understood what losing someone dear to him was like. He now also understood a little more about his friend, and some of the pain he went through. Besides this seemed par for the course anyways on Alex’s isekai adventure. A pair of deadly sisters, sounded about right…

“Go ahead Flint,” he answered. A spark of joy and excitement entered Flint's expression, as he placed a palm on both girls' heads.

“So long as you take responsibility for them. We can talk about details later, for now I think I will take a nap” Alex explained before passing out on Eve’s lap.

He would figure this out later… when he wasn’t so tired that Trope flags didn't bother the farmer anymore.