Yet again, I said my goodbyes to my family. Cecily, a strong and capable woman who somehow manages to harbor an inconceivable amount of love for her family and children into such a tiny body. Edward, a man with whom I've climbed the ranks together to previously unseen heights. The first time we met, he was a bit hesitant, unsure, and at the same time, vulgar. It was an odd pairing that made him seem quite unimportant, yet I befriended him if not purely for the fact that I recognized him as Lune's best friend.

At first, I had thought of him as nothing more than another acquaintance, but that soon changed when I saw just how capable he was in his fields of expertise. A doctor in unofficial training, yet his physical stature allowed him to pick up the training regiment pretty quickly. Before long he and I were neck and neck, that is, if his stamina wasn't so low. His Brown Iro allowed him to read others' minds, making him a formidable foe indeed, however his true strength lied in his ability to understand the animals around him, and not only that, but to establish communication and even dish out orders for them. However, his anxiety about "becoming a side character", as he puts it, makes him far too scared to teach me even a single word in the Animal's tongue. That poor man, his anxiety got to a dangerous boiling point, leading to him acting irrationally and irritably towards everyone. I can just hope that miss Anna and the others will get him the help he needs to overcome this.

"But that is not what I am here for!" I slapped my cheeks red so as to hype myself up, "Nelly is enrolling in just three years, so I need to properly set up a safe place in the University for her when she finally arrives here!"

Ah, but right now, not even I am enrolled yet. Dimitri Uni, eh? The location is mathematically calculated to be in the exact center point of the continent, the campus on which it resides is certainly huge. It easily boasts over a million scholars, and even more alumni throughout the years. The amount of knowledge one could pick up from their classes are nigh infinite, yet for whatever reason, I'm not that interested...

"I wonder why that is?" I thought as the ship approached the landmass, "Ah, we are slowly approaching the shore! Thank you for sailing me all the way over to here, mister Carl."

"Don't mention it." He sighed as he tightly clamped onto the ship's wheel, "Actually, do mention it. Do you know how risky it was to pass right next to Entropa to get to here!? Besides, right now we're approaching New Carmen! Do you have any idea how risky this whole operation is!?"

"Ah, about that." I chuckled, "It is the fastest and most optimal way to get from Lichtenstelle to Simpleton. Besides, if I had went with those guys to Cardina, they would have surely convinced me to stay with them."

"Man, I really don't get you, guy..." Carl sighed, "Why in the world would they convince you to stay with them when Cecily is the one who's paying for your tuition fees? Gah, just thinking about getting that luxury is making my mouth drool..."

"It truly is a splendid and generous act, no?" I smiled, "Lune and Cecily, they were like my second family, in a way. And whilst obviously I still consider them as such, I would have liked to at least repay Lune one day after I've accomplished all that I have set out to do."

"You still can, y'know? Remember, they aren't just paying you out of the kindness of their own hearts, after all." He explained as he turned the ship to dock it, "They said they'd pay for your tuition, but that also comes with the responsibility to take care of Nelly when she comes here in a few years. Remember this - Find yourself some friends that'll always have your back. You don't strike me as such a social dude, so I know for a fact that I have to advise you on this.

How rude, am I really that unsociable? Actually, I have made plenty of close friends to last a lifetime! By name, those are: Apollo, Lune, Cecily, Nelly, Issei, Lee, Edward, and uhh... Hold on, there's gotta be more, right? I mean, I guess you could count Joseph and the Generals, but Joseph is my dad, and I was never really that close to the Generals for them to be in my inner circle. Wait, not counting the dead guys, that's only 5 people! Huh, maybe I should take Carl's advice, after all...

"So wait, what even is your goal here?"

"Well obviously...!" I pointed to the sky before abruptly stopping, "Hold on, I seem to have misplaced my memory somewhere..."

What was my goal again? To leave Abyssus Solis? To escape the prison? To win back the territory of Lune's home country? To avenge Lune? No, none of these matters were the original reason for me coming to Simpleton. Then, was it to study here and become an Onum? No, it wasn't that either, I never did care about studying here, not one bit. Oh, right!

"I want to find concrete proof of my hypothesis that I am of Raamic descent!" I shouted something nostalgic, "My only chance to find any proof of that is to enroll in Dimitri Uni, as scholars are the only ones that gain access to the Library of a Thousand Passages!"

"Uh-huh." Carl listened, his mouth agape, "That's... quite the quest you've taken up. Well, good luck with that."

"Thanks, Carl. You're a really great friend!" I patted him on the shoulder, "Yep, that brings me up to 6!"

***

"So, I guess that's all from me." He started heading back up the ship alone after he helped me with my luggage.

"Hold on, now!" I dragged him by the back of the collar, "Right, I have never enrolled in my life before! As my friend, you need to help explain things until I have set myself up here properly."

"Huh?! I ain't got the time, dude!" He smacked my hand away, "I've got a duty to fulfill as a manager of a little known GLOBAL FAMILY RESTAURANT CHAIN called Arthur's, y'know?"

"I know, I know, no need to shout." I looked around, a tad embarrassed after I noticed the locals around us staring, "Listen, at least do not just abandon me here all alone. How am I going to get all of this luggage to the literal center of the continent all by myself?"

"With some elbow grease!" He patted his flexed bicep, "That, and you should probably call yourself a transport wagon. Alright now, see ya!"

"Damn you, Carl! I retract my statement about our newly founded friendship!" I then turned around to sigh, "I guess we are back down to 5 again..."

Accepting my fate as I walked around the dock a bit to search for a transport wagon, my arms were slowly but surely starting to give up from lugging all this stuff around. Now I was always a regular at Jorgen's strength training, so I am afraid the only plausible reason for this fatigue is my short stature making my feet drag. Curse this useless body of mine, must I have been born pre-destined to always look up at the people I am talking to? In any case, I couldn't at all find the transport wagons, so I decided to just ask the nearby local instead.

"Ah, excuse me." I grabbed their attention sheepishly, "Do you know where I could find a transport wagon?"

"Hm? Ah, je suis désolé, monsieur. Je ne parle pas Entropique."

"Come again."

"Humu, merci beaucoup, mignon." She blushed lightly.

What is she saying? I can't understand a word that's coming out of her mouth. Hold on, that's right, Simpletons speak Simpletonese, not Entropic! Right, now that I remember, I think I once wrote a thesis in Simpletonese that later got turned into a book back in Oden. The language is actually quite simple, really, though since I've never talked to a native speaker before, I wasn't prepared for the sheer speed of her talking pace. Ahem, I think the correct term for Transport Wagon was...?

"Erm, trappeur... wagon." I tried my best but still failed horrendously to mimic the accent, "S'il te plaît?"

"Eh?!" She suddenly slapped me across the face, blushing madly before storming off, "Je ne suis pas une simple clocharde!"

Now I had done it. First some random woman on the road I had asked for help slapped me for no reason at all, and now everyone is staring at me like I just killed a person! Come on, I know my accent is horrendous, but it's nothing too horrible, right? Just then, a nervous and extremely frail and insecure voice yelled out in my defense. Of course, I'm only sure she's defending me because she's physically extending her arms wide as if to shield me from the scornful gazes.

"L-Laisse-le t-tranquille! Mon ami est un étranger."

Just as soon as her feeble voice reached the masses, they had immediately continued on with their day, as if nothing had even happened in the first place. This light green haired girl just suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs in the middle of the street, and everyone just listened to whatever the hell she just said as if it was a General's order! Just who in the world is she...?

"A-Ah, ha-ha..." She turned around towards me, breathing a sigh of relief before lightly scolding me, "W-Wow, you really said something out there, didn't you? Thank goodness you had me here. A-Ah, that wasn't me being cocky! I just got so nervous! Oh, what am I saying? In any case, so very sorry for blabbing!"

"You talk too much." I raised an eyebrow, "And yet, you know both languages so fluently. Color me impressed. Nice to meet you, I am Meil Deram. Thank you for the save back there."

"Ah, sorry about that." She scratched the back of her head before hastily noticing me extending my hand for a handshake and doing the same, "Y-Yeah, no prob! I'm Kiria Archambeau. Nice to meet you, monsieur Deram."

"I know my skin is black, but I assure you I am no monster."

"M-Monsieur! Not monster!" She jumped to correct me, "It means, ah, how you say...? Mister, right, mister! That's the word!"

"Eh? But I am not married yet?" I looked down before meeting her gaze, "Well, let us get along well, Kiria."

"L..." She blushed, her hand still firmly stuck to my own, "Language barrier, monsieur. Far too big. P-Please don't call me by my given name, it's... inappropriate. Mademoiselle Archambeau is fine."

Madam what now? That's such a mouthful, though. No way am I saying that. I need to find an appropriate abbreviation for it somehow. Something like taking the first part of the first word and the last part of the second. Huh, now that I think about it, isn't that how Cene's name is? Wow, Lune's a pretty poor judge at choosing baby names.

"Alright then, Madam Beau!" I smiled at her, "Help me find a transport wagon to campus!"

"B-Beau!?" She jolted before doing a double-take, "E-Eh, wait, campus!? Monsieur Deram, you're a student too!?"

"Not yet, I still have..." I stopped to do a double-take myself, "Wait, did you just say 'too'?"

Now that I had properly taken a good look at her seemingly casual attire, I had noticed the hairpiece standing proudly on display for the world to see. The symbol of an owl crest with four wings on it stared me down as I did the same to it. This girl, she looked timid, but there wasn't a single doubt in my mind anymore. She's a Quartion.