“So, what places are we going to visit this time?” Gaius asked.

“Well, I was thinking of heading over to the tourist spots, but I thought that you might want to pay a visit to our old home and other nostalgic places first,” Isabelle replied.

“Like Sundown Residence? Right, I wonder what happened to it after we fled. Didn’t we hire a gardener or someone like that to help us tend the flowers?” Gaius asked. “What happened to her after we fled the East?”

“We got a caretaker, yes. I’m not sure, but I think she’s at least doing well,” Isabelle replied. “After all, I paid her a thousand gold as an employment bonus.”

“Isn’t that too little?” Gaius asked, puzzled.

Isabelle smacked his head lightly. “Perhaps to someone who has gemstones to sell, yes. But we’re talking about normal people, not rich extravagants who pay hundreds for a single meal.”

After affirming that his common sense regarding money was way off the mark, Gaius followed Isabelle as she turned corners and streets. The stifling atmosphere that used to permeate Seireiden had vanished, replaced by faint winds of freedom. He could remember the oppressive silence that used to suffuse the city, but now, the residents of Mi-Zu’s capital were now speaking freely and happily.

He couldn’t quite understand why, though. Was a change in leadership more than enough to change a place as large as Seireiden over three years?

“Feels far more relaxed than I remember,” Isabelle murmured.

“It is,” Gaius replied. “Everyone’s now talking freely, as if—”

“As if they no longer fear being eavesdropped upon,” Isabelle completed her sentence. “Right?”

“My words exactly,” Gaius replied. “I suppose we might draw some scandalised gazes if I start kissing you, though.”

“That’s going to be same for everywhere.” Isabelle pinched his cheek lightly. “But doing this seems okay.”

She squished his cheeks. “And this too.”

“Well, people place different premiums on acts of intimacy,” Gaius replied. “Ah, we’re drawing close to our old home. I wonder if it was reappropriated when we were wanted by Paragon Shizo, his supporters and the Human God.”

“We’ll find out,” Isabelle replied. “But if it wasn’t, are you going to do anything about it?”

Gaius pondered over the issue. “Maybe treat it as a holiday resort? After all, we didn’t bring that many things along with us when we fled. Our belongings might be still there and all.”

“I don’t think they’ll fit you or Nakama, though.” Isabelle smiled. “We can use them to make fun of Nakama, however. Imagine taking her clothes and comparing them with her height now. Isn’t that fun?”

“That might be amusing, but I think we can do that ten years lat—” Gaius paused. “Yes. I think we should bring some of them back to make fun of her.”

A few minutes passed in silence, which was only broken when Gaius pushed the gates of Sundown Residence.

“I have the key,” said Isabelle. “But it seems that there’s someone else here. In the garden.”

Her smile was particularly dazzling, so Gaius took the step back and let her take the lead. He wasn’t all that familiar with the people around Isabelle and Nakama when they were in the East, after all.

“Young mistress? Is that you?” A middle-aged woman got up. “And…you’re…the little excellency, right? All grown up and healthy! I’m glad you’re safe too. Mistress Isabelle—”

“Just Isabelle, Euphy.”

“I’ll feel uncomfortable saying that,” the caretaker replied. “Please let me continue using the terms of address I’m secure with.”

“But…”

Gaius placed a hand on Isabelle’s shoulder, and she desisted.

“Thank you,” said the caretaker.

“Change is not something accomplished in a single day,” Gaius replied, a small smile on his face. “Even if it’s for the better.”

Euphy laughed. “Exactly, Your Excellency. Old bones change hard.”

“Well, you can at least start working on it,” Gaius replied. “Don’t worry.”

“So, what brings you two to your old home?” she asked.

“We just wanted to visit,” said Isabelle. “We left this place in a hurry, but now that we have the time, we thought it was a good idea for us to return to take a look. We’ll be leaving the East soon.”

“Maybe forever too,” Gaius added. “The demons are coming. To protect this world, we with power must fight. None of us might be coming back.”

And even if we don’t leave at that point…

Isabelle patted his shoulder. “It is our responsibility to protect those who cannot fight, right?”

Gaius smiled. “Yes.”

“I’ll take care of this house, no matter what happens,” said Euphy. “We all have a part to play, right? This is my part.”

“Thank you.” Gaius nodded at her, and then walked into the garden. “Isabelle, let’s go and see how dusty our home is, shall we?”

Isabelle nodded. Producing a small, familiar key, she opened the door to reveal a doorway lit up by a dim orange light. It was yet another nostalgic sight, one that made Gaius think about the first time he entered the house.

A small spiral of dust formed as the two of them entered the house.

“It’s really dusty, isn’t it?” Gaius murmured. “How nostalgic. From the looks of it, however, this little abode of ours seems to have been overlooked by virtually everyone.”

“It’ll be a pain to clean up, though,” said Isabelle.

“Well, if we pay the caretaker another one thousand gold…”

“Let me guess…it’s for a good cause?” she asked.

“You got me,” Gaius replied. He held her hand and brought it to his lips. “Might help her, right?”

“From what I know, the wife is supposed to be taking care of the purse strings,” Isabelle replied. “But this is for a good cause, so…”

“You approve?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

The two continued to chatter, and for a while, Gaius felt like he was in a different time, a different world. Years ago, when they first entered here, he was a lot more carefree, a lot less burdened.

“It’s odd, isn’t it?” Gaius asked out loud.

“What is?”

“The fact that there’s so many worries, and yet I’m that happy,” Gaius replied. “Isn’t it odd?”

“Now that you mention it…”

After coming to a cheesy conclusion that would have made singles worldwide curse and swear at Gaius and Isabelle, the two of them got up from their table. There was simply too much dust for them to think about anything other than talking in their old home.

“Are the two of you leaving already?” Euphy, the caretaker, asked.

“Yes,” Isabelle replied.

Gaius nudged her sides gently, and she passed a small wad of hundred-gold notes over to Euphy.

“What’s this?” the caretaker asked.

“We would like you to keep our house clean, so that we can come back to a spotless home in the East whenever we feel like it. Consider this a payment for the next five years,” Isabelle replied, before frowning. “Is one thousand gold too little?”

“I actually think it might be,” said Gaius. “Make it two thousand, then.”

“Your Excellencies, this is far above my usual wage,” Euphy replied. “Is this appropriate?”

“It’s not all that much to us,” Gaius replied. It was only a few gems from Heritage, as far as he was concerned, and if it could make an acquaintance’s life better, he was all for it. He was, however, all too aware of the dangers of unrestrained charity — simply dumping money into any economy would just devalue it.

Running a school or something along these lines would be more useful than monetary aid. However, before he was going to decide on anything, Gaius made a mental note to talk to Kolya, who was probably an expert in things like these, when he returned.

“Just take it,” said Isabelle, “and remember to keep our house clean!”

The middle-aged woman laughed. “Thank you, on behalf of my children.”

“Your children?” Isabelle asked.

“Two young daughters,” Euphy replied. “They’re little darlings, but raising them is quite…”

“Expensive?” Gaius smiled. “That’s just how it is. You should use the money we gave you sparingly; in case they really need money in the future.”

After discussing a few more tips about parenting with the caretaker, Claud left Sundown Residence, holding hands with a curious Isabelle.

“Odd,” said Isabelle.

“What’s odd now?” Gaius asked.

“You seemed very familiar with raising children, now that I think about it.”

“Did I ever tell you what I did in the latter half of my life when I was on Earth,” Gaius asked.

She shook her head.

“I didn’t?” Gaius rubbed his head. “Well, I…decided to run an orphanage.”

“An orphanage?” Isabelle asked. “Why?”

“I’m not quite sure of the exact reason yet,” Gaius replied. “I’ll probably remember after a few more years or so, but I have a feeling that it’s linked to my profession as an assassin long ago.”

Isabelle looked at Gaius thoughtfully. “I can make a few guesses, but making speculations now won’t help you much. Anyway, where should we go next?”

“You’re the one with the itinerary, not me,” Gaius replied.

“Well, there’s this place called the Solaris Museum,” Isabelle replied. “Want to check it out?”

Gaius did an elaborate flourish with his hands. “Please, lead the way.”

Walking down the peaceful streets, the two passed by a familiar-looking Dai-Yukimono, which was full of people trying to beat the heat with the power of ice-cream. The temperature wasn’t of much issue to Gaius, since he hadn’t deactivated Climate Control for a very long time, while Isabelle was enjoying the effects of being near its user too.

For some reason, Gaius could feel some pride whenever he looked at the sweaty customers lining up.

“Are you thinking something rude?” Isabelle asked.

“What makes you think that?” Gaius replied. “I was just wondering if we should get some ice-cream before we do anything else, that’s all.”

“Really?” Isabelle looked at his face closely. “For some reason, I had this urge to smack your cheeks twice. Maybe it’s just an issue with me then. Are you sure you weren’t thinking of something rude?”

“None at all,” Gaius replied. “Besides, what did you mean when you said ‘rude’? How do you even pick out such a sentiment from my expressions to begin with?”

Isabelle mulled on that question for a while. “Well, I suppose it’s like when you say Kolya has a shit-eating grin or something, I guess.”

“Oh. Okay.” Isabelle was the only one he ever confided to, regarding the occasional nasty grin he spotted on the Pinnacle’s face, and if her rude radar worked the same way as his grinning radar, there wasn’t really much to be done about it.

“There’s too many people in Dai-Yukimono, though. And I’m not feeling that hot either, because I’m with you.”

“Let’s just go pay the museum a visit, then.” Having learnt his lesson about rude thoughts, Gaius decided to stop thinking about anything remotely rude. There was probably something to be said about her instincts, although it would have been far more useful in a peaceful time.

After around thirty minutes of walking — which included detours at just about every food stall they came across — they finally arrived at a large building, one slightly bigger than Sundown Residence. The signboard affixed above the entrance read “The Museum of Solaris: In memoriam of Champion Solaris.”

There was a nice little flourish at the word ‘Solaris’, and Gaius couldn’t help but think that the Champion was a rather quirky person. It was probably a feeling that the writer had wanted to convey, but it added a touch of character to the entity Gaius knew as the Champion of the Sun.

“Looks like there’s a discounted entry going on,” said Isabelle, pointing at a sign at the side of the entrance, which read ‘Discounted entry: ten gold’. To Gaius’ amusement, the word ‘ten’ had been crossed out, and replaced by the numeral ‘5’.

“Is business down?” Gaius asked the woman manning the entrance, who was wearing a wrinkly black shirt.

“Very,” she replied. “But there’s a more important reason why we’re charging so low now. Most of our animated displays aren’t working, since we can’t get any gems to power them.”

“Oh.”

“And besides, most of our guides are headed towards the Great Divide. The old men and women are joining this Hall of Guardians thing,” she added.”

“What a pity,” said Isabelle. “Well, I suppose we’ll just have to make do with the words, then.”

Gaius tapped his feet. “Hmm.”

“Gaius?”

He grinned. “Well, let’s try it out, anyway.”