With a cheery reunion, Memora led her father and his companions to a side room. She had informed the guards they were no threat. Allowing them to return to their duty.

“I apologize for no celebration,” Memora bowed, showing the four to a table. “Currently I have been busy.”

“So it was one of your brats,” Igno laughed. “And it’s the clingy one.”

“There’s no need; we only stopped by on pure chance,” Sors waved the matter away.

“I see,” Memora replied, hugging her father’s arm. “You all might be wondering about the deserted capital. You all probably also figured, there was a gigantic nest of pests under this city. From my detection abilities they’re running out of sows and food, so they’ll be invading soon. No matter what we would do this city will fall, with tunnels scattered everywhere. Furthermore, if we had made a direct move against those pests the capital would have fallen. Luckily, I detected the problem years ago and was able to persuade the former king to begin building a new capital. On the pretext of increased revenue. When the king died, it’s a bit surprising. Right, Ms. Desire?”

Desyra, who was oddly silent, had a sad smile. She simply nodded to the glare from Memora.

Seeing the silent reply, Memora continued, “The only people left are a few nobles and that arrogant hunting organization. Well, they won’t be there for long. I’m in the process of collecting information to blackmail them. I explained the situation, but at most, they would believe the rise of a charismatic greton leader. It would be hard to prove the existence of a population surpassing a million. Even if they sent people to investigate they would be killed.”

“Blackmail… Dang, she inherited your horrible taste of efficiency,” Said Igno.

“Well, it’s to be expected,” Sors explained, “Efficiency with minimal losses, especially since she’s trying to protect a kingdom.”

“I also heard about a recent event of a village, not too far away, being destroyed. Apparently, it had something to do with the afterlife. Do any of you know about it?” Memora spoke.

“No,” Igno instantly replied.

“I see,” said Memora, crossing something off the papers in front of her.

“Oh, if I may ask, how have you been doing?” Desyra spoke after escaping her moody phase.

After the serious talk, the discussion turned into a pleasant conversation. Igno explained why all of them were here. After he finished talking, they began catching up on what they had done in the past few worlds. Originally the four would not talk about such subjects due to the lack of interest. The inclusion of a curious youth allowed the freedom of exaggerated stories and corrections in the form of flying insults. Telling tales to someone with less experience was always more fun than conversing with others of the same experience.

As the hours ticked by, one of the servants informed Memora about the compiled information. Hearing such, she excused herself and left. Being left behind the four could only look at each other and laugh. Another wave of nostalgia had hit them. One of the greatest joys of life was passing down your knowledge and wisdom.

Peeking her head back into the room, Memora asked, “Um… father?”

“Yes?” Menor replied.

“Could you do the thing with the bow and the arrows, with the calculations?”

Sighing, he smiled, “Of course, its fun to tempt fate.”

“Thanks, father!” said Memora running off.

Seeing that his daughter had left, Menor stood up stretching. A wooden bow and three arrows appeared in his hands with a flick of his wrists. Opening a nearby window, he leaned out and aimed up. After knocking three arrows, he sent them flying. Whizzing through the air, the arrows disappeared into the distant sky.

“Tempt fate? Really?” Sors asked.

“What else would you call this?” Menor asked back, watching the clear blue sky.

“Luck.”

“BULLSHIT!” said Igno, “No matter how much you rely on luck there was never an instance where I got caught!”

“The shrine maiden?” Desyra asked.

“Let’s be honest, she did not make contact with me. Instead, she held an above-average sense of detection. Which meant I was careless. Did you not notice how she did not touch me?” Igno explained.

“Stop lying, you held an interest in her. She reminded you of your past,” Desyra retorted. “I can sense it.”

“Speaking about objections,” Sors interrupted, “How in the world did you think reversing a ruler’s preference was a good idea? You struck fear into every single sentient male of that world.”

“About that…”Igno fell silent.

Hearing the next few words everyone became flabbergasted. What they had heard, was something that could only be comprehended by the wisest and was beyond the grasp of a mortal’s understanding. Not believe their ears they looked at each other. Unfortunately, the single fact could not be completely described nor had a proper meaning in the current language. The closest thing that could barely be associated with the fact was fish farming.

As the four were discussing the uses of the discovery Memora was making her way to the hunter’s organization. With no need for elegance, nor lush robes and crowns as her reputation spoke for her. As she had rushed out of the castle no one had accompanied her. She held a single file of parchment.

In mere minutes the new queen barged into the hunter’s building. Without care or grace, she marched up the branch manager’s room. Everyone in the kingdom knew Memora’s strength, so no one dared to stop her. Quickly reaching her destination she kicked down the door.

Kicking down the door, Memora shouted, “Who would have thought! A corrupt figurehead”- she threw the papers –“is an actually dim-witted, good-for-nothing pure angel.”

When the papers fluttered to the ground, the manager looked up at Memora with confusion. Around him were high-class hunters, whose names were irrelevant. Seeing the queen in a fit of annoyance the manager sent the hunters out of the room.

When the door clicked close, the manager said, “So…”

“You just received the reports on the gretons correct?” asked Memora.

“How did-“

“I have sources, just evacuate the people. Then I’ll take care of the nobles.”

“But-“

“You haven’t done a complete investigation?”

“Yes…”

“Do what I say or I’ll make you beg to have a stain on your track record!” said Memora, seeing the manager’s nod. “This was just a complete waste of time.”

Walking out of the building Memora massaged her forehead. The chances of someone who was so pure with not a single blemish on his reputation, while coincidently avoiding disasters, was next to none. Making Memora annoyed as blackmail would have easily solved the situation, but she could only threaten them. Future negotiations would become difficult.

BOOM!

Feeling the entire city shake, she noticed two rising puffs of smoke. The first pillar of smoke came from the castle. While the second one was at least three blocks away from her. Fearing the worse she ran over to the destroyed building. Noticing Sors and Desyra raising from the debris she became confused.

“How does he do that?” Desyra asked.

“I think he said it involved ‘already’ punching? I don’t know, he talked about past nonsense,” Sors replied.

Standing on the roofs above, Menor said, “Oh come on, the concept is simple. Punch before you throw.”

“Yes- no, that doesn’t make any sense,” Igno spoke appearing next to Memora.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Memora yelled.

“A friendly banter,” Replied Menor.

“Proving a point,” Said Desyra.

“Sarcasm,” Said Sors.

“I’m not involved in this,” Said Igno.

Holding her head, Memora’s headache grew worse. In front of her were supposed to be four respectable people, but it seemed respect cannot hold up against time. Seeing the carelessness of the four, she had enough and told them to stop. While with her father she requested a private talk.

Menor followed his daughter. He temporarily parted with his companions. The father and daughter duo went and visited the remaining nobles. Due to Menor’s presence and experience in persuasion, of speaking softly and carrying a big stick, the nobles were quickly convinced to migrate to the new capital.

Leaving the last noble’s house, Memora asked, “Father… do you think she would ever fulfill her promise?”

“Desyra?” Menor replied, “As she’s a person who defied her race’s destiny, she deserves a lot of respect. But in turn, she fell to other aspects. She became more… permissive, after she gave her up. Fear, anxiety, regret, it’s up to her to do. Well, she has to eventually if not…”

“It’s surprising, someone as powerful as her would put off the right path for so long. Even after everything we did.”

“That’s why you lot hate her. Not out of displeasure nor out of revenge, but of pure animosity.”

Walking down the empty streets, hugging her father’s arm, Memora observed the abandoned homes. She could never think of how a life would be without a place to return to. The biggest difference between her and her father was a place called home, away from the waves of time. Going from one life in a world to another was an endless journey. Furthermore, it was near impossible to find someone to relate to when one passed the barrier of memory dilapidation. She could be considered lucky that a home to return to.

Memora, who was clingy, had a fairly complicated relationship with her father. It involved paradoxes and an old regret, but that was a story for another time.

“Ah, I forgot about the prisoner,” Said Memora, pulling her father along to the royal castle.

“I think you should go meet her alone,” Said Menor.

Coming to a stop, Memora asked, “Her?”

“The bandit that has the naïve energy. She’s one of Desyra’s new servants.”

“Ah, that’s why she didn’t want to eat bread.”

Turning to his daughter, Menor raised an eyebrow. Being looked at with a questioning face, she quickly replied saying nothing. How would she know her father had made a joke about the exact topic?

While at the castle, Memora told the few remaining servants to move to the new capital. Among the servants were a group of triplets who held Menor in high regards. Proceeding into the dungeon, the pair arrived at a cell with a chained woman. Even with the dim lighting, the woman’s face was still identifiable, an infamous bandit called July, er- Julie.

Noticing people, the Julie said, “Back already? Why don’t you just let me go? My master could eradicate the entire capital if you don’t.”

“Wow, she really did taint her badly. Taste once never forget, rings too true,” Menor said.

“Oh? Wait, aren’t you my master’s companion?” Julie said. “Help me out-“

“He’s also my father,” Memora interrupted.

“Haha, very funny. You don’t look alike,” Julie laughed.

“She’s my daughter,” Said Menor, “And as a daunting parent, I will make you beg for death.”

Being silenced by Menor’s words, she was frozen. For the past few days, she had made fun of the queen. As arrogance was the source of her pride she did not respect her at any given moment. She knew pretty well the strength of the four, so she believed that she was untouchable as Desyra’s servant. Seeing Menor and hearing that he was the queen’s father, she had passed out from pure shock.

“I also believe that Desyra had forgotten about her,” Said Menor.

“You would have killed her if she heard you,” Replied Memora, unchaining Julie.

Leaving the castle, the two used telekinesis to carry Julie with them. They found Desyra, Igno, and Sors at the hunter’s organization. Oddly the atmosphere was gloomy and the hunters and staff were depressed. On the contrary, those three were cheery. Next to them were multiple bags of riches. Desyra was casually shuffling a deck of cards, indicating the scam they conducted.

Noticing the two, Igno called out, “Card counting, it always works.”

“Why would I need to count cards when I could memorize the order?” Menor replied.

“As if anyone could remember such things while accounting for shuffles,” Igno retorted.

“You’re just forgetful,” said Sors.

“You guys are merciless,” Memora muttered.

“Oh? Isn’t she…” said Desyra, seeing the floating body.

“Here’s your servant,” said Memora, sending the body over.

Checking the woman, Desyra clicked her tongue. She detected a bit of body manipulation, mainly belonging to the time regression type. With Memora being a daughter of the past, there was no mystery how she took the power of naivety. That girl went even as far to leave a bit of energy to be corrupted.

Dividing the treasure between the four of them, they followed Memora around the capital. As there was not anyone left to run the stores or restaurants, sightseeing was the only past time. During their tour, Memora explained her plan on exterminating the pests.

She had explained the tunnel networks that had extended from the capital all the way to the ruins which were a few miles away. Because of the number of gretons, she decided to rig the capital. Unfortunately, blowing up the gretons was not enough. So she had planted explosives around the capital to make sure the entire cave system would collapse. Destroying the cave system was the only way to guarantee the threat was eliminated. She could have flooded the tunnels but that required a ludicrous amount of magic and water.

As a precaution, Memora had set up multitudes of magic barriers around the collapse zone. She had requested the assistance of the church to efficiently complete the plan. Luckily the world did not have the concept of undead beings or else more work would have been required.

“Speaking about the church,” said Memora, “Did you know there’s a religion based on you guys in the south?”

“We know,” Replied Desyra bitterly, remembering Farias.

“So basically, you plan to blow up the capital and the thirteen-mile radius around it?” Sors asked.

“Yes, is there a problem?” said Memora.

“No, seems like a stable plan,” Sors continued, giving Menor a few coins.

After a bit of time, the last of the nobles and hunters had moved to the new capital. Memora did one last swoop to check for remaining people. She flew up to her father’s band of misfits after detecting no one.

Frowning, Memora observed the old capital that held generations’ worth of history. Even if she had moved every item of historic value, seeing a city go was depressing. At least the city would go out with a bang. The only thing left was to wait for the incoming invasion.

“This might take a while,” Said Memora.

“Wait, you didn’t have the intention to save them?” Igno asked.

“Save who?” Memora replied.

“The captured females.”

“You…”

“Teehee.”

Under Igno’s pitiful laugh, the ground in the various streets burst open. Swarms of gretons exited from the countless newly formed tunnels. As if they were a rampaging river, the gretons spread everywhere. In mere minutes the capital was overrun. From the city walls to the low slums, green covered everything. Destroying every bit of breakable material during their search. Leaving no wooden panel untouched.

Looking at Igno with an annoyed expression, Memora could not help but sigh. There was no reason to cry over spilled milk. At least she was lucky enough to able to finish the preparations on time. If she had been a second too slow there would have been casualties.

Sending a single fireball to the ground she waited. The moment the flicking flame touched the ground, the earth shook and collapsed. The earth receded as if it was a wave in an ocean. With bits of rising smoke, the calculated scenario was achieved. The land that once held the capital had become a deep valley with shearing cliffsides.

“Impressive,” Said Sors.

KABOOM!

With Sors’ compliment, the world turned white before an intense shockwave created a rainfall of stone. When the light had faded their sight was filled with dense, black smoke. Being forced to land, they observed the landscape around them. No one spoke a single word.

In front of them was a gigantic fiery pit, only seen in worlds of molten. The vastness of the hellish landscape had extended to the horizon. Even the barrier had disintegrated under the blast. Resulting in the valley tripling in size. Being scorched black all the types of mortal lifeforms died in the surrounding square miles. The flames shone so brightly that the sun had lost in brilliance.

Each one of them stood with blank expressions. Contrasting to the barren dead landscape they were unaffected by the deadly heat and their clothes untouched. Around them, there was an uncomfortable air swirling with the heat. Processing the events for a few minutes the four turned their heads to Memora who was acting shyly.

“If I recall correctly, you never really did put much effort into your detection abilities,” Said Menor.

“Ah… Sorry…” Memora apologized, scratching her cheek.

“At… at least it was a great explosion… right?” Igno said.

“I guess that was true, but…” Desyra hesitantly agreed.

“When was the last time you lived in a fossil-run era?” asked Sors. “With the coal and oil that'll burn for the next thousand years if left untouched.”

“I believe a vacation would be an adequate suggestion,” Menor said.

Agreeing to Menor’s suggestion they decided to leave quickly. They did not want any more consequences or unexpected events. The chances of being discovered were already too high. Even if they did not plan to stay hidden, revealing themselves at the current moment was not a good idea.

“Wait!” said Desyra, “Taking a trip from a trip doesn’t work.”

“Just go with it!” replied Sors. “Those guys up there are moving. Especially after the previous incident!”