"There!" I said as I finished with the roof of our hundredth house. The sun shone bright in the sky.

Serrano sighed as he looked out at the town. Several townsfolk were covering a steel frame that Zafir had made earlier with earth.

"Yeah," he said with a slight smile.

I blinked. "Hey, Serra. Hope you don't mind me asking, but why didn't you join your uncle and father? Aren't you worried about Conrad?" My bunny cousin had yet to awaken from his slumber.

Serra stared at his hammer. "I wanted to go, but I also wanted to keep an eye on Piedad."

I tilted my head. "Really? Why?"

"She means a lot to my brother. After all, he defied Mom and ran away from home in order to look for her."

"That I understand, but she's fine."

"I wonder about that." His face was oddly calm.

"Why?"

"She has no pulse. It's possible that Piedad truly is gone and it's a ploy by Mammon."

"Sounds like a zombie." I laughed slightly. "Though, I guess Conrad is too. A bunny zombie. Those always signal the start of the zombie apocalypse."

Serrano leered at me. "You're technically right, but I don't like you calling either one that."

I sighed and lowered my head. "Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood. That said, do you truly think Mammon would let herself be caught? She didn't appear to be acting with her struggling."

He tapped his chin. "Yeah, that's what's bothering me too. That said, what I don't get is how she revived Piedad. Grandfather could only revive Conrad because of special circumstances. Otherwise, it would've been impossible to do so."

"Why is that?"

He crossed his arms. "I'm not sure. He didn't elaborate."

"Hey! Tetsu! Serra!" Rosa called out.

I stood up and saw she had a jug of lemonade in her hands.

Her face reddened as soon as she saw me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, jumping off the roof. I placed a hand on her forehead. "Is the heat getting to you?"

"N-no." She continued to avoid looking at me.

I let go of her. "Are you still mad?"

She turned around. "That's not it."

I tilted my head. What was her issue then?

"I think I understand," Serra said, chuckling as he landed next to me. He pointed at my white shirt. The sweat had made it partially transparent.

I put a hand on my hip and leaned toward her. "You are a perverted princess."

She grumbled and moved her jug away. "Don't get too close. You're going to get sweat on the lemonade."

I chuckled as I moved away. "Alright. I won't tease you anymore. Plus, I actually don't mind. I mean, if we end up together, you'll eventually get to see more of me than this."

Serra ran over to his cousin as she started to cough, almost dropping the jug.

"T-Tetsu! Don't say such stuff!" Serra said, blushing slightly.

I blushed. Had forgotten he was still here.

"Anyway, I'm going to go back home."

Rosa gasped. "Huh? Why?"

I lowered my head. "I want to check on Mom. Tere told me that aunt Rene is there with her, but I still worry. My aunt has her own kids to care for too."

"Aunt Anis is strong," Serra said. "I'm sure she can handle being alone."

I sighed. "She's not much different from you."

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

I scoffed. "You both push yourselves even when it's obvious you're exhausted."

He leered at me. "I learned that from watching you."

I rubbed my neck and smiled. "Oh, really?  W-wait! I'm not that bad!"

"Are you really not?" Suzuki said as she walked toward us. She glanced at the princess. "I remember how you wouldn't give up. Even as I slashed your legs and wings with my whip, you would still move."

I grinned. "Guess I am like Mom after all! But, at least Serra and I do it to protect others. For Mom, it's more of a pride thing."

As I kid, I had talk her into letting me help around the kitchen.

She didn't want Taku to be a demon slayer either. That was probably the only time Taku had gone against her wishes. He knew the farm didn't bring enough to keep us well fed and clothed.

Tere also had her own struggles with her.

Why did she have to always try to do everything by herself?

"In that case, let me make you a portal," Serra said, holding his hand up.

"Hold it!" the older princess yelled as she strode over to us.

"What's wrong, sis?" Rosa asked.

Setsuko pointed at my cousin. "This guy wanting to use his powers again so soon. He never rests properly. That's why he keeps passing out."

"Yeah, Serra. I'll just fly or see if someone else can take me."

Setsuko put her hands on her hip. "I can get you there."

Serra leered at her. "You're on the same boat as me."

"Yeah," Rosa said, leering at her too.

"Where is Master going?" Yuko asked as she walked over with a bag of what appeared to be corn flour.

"To see my mom."

Yuko's eyes beamed. "Yuko wants to go too! Yuko wants Miss Kuroriku to teach her some more."

I crossed my arms. "I rather do that myself. After all, I promised to do so back in university, didn't I?"

Yuko giggled. "Yeah! Though, Master has  a universe to save."

"True, but that doesn't stop me from rebuilding a town, does it? A knight's job isn't only to slay the beast."

Serra smirked.

"What?" I asked, stepped away from him.

"You mentioned a knight's job. Didn't you say that you gave up on that?"

My eyes widened. I had... and that was still my intention. So, why did I phrase it like that?

Yuko ran over and hugged my arm. "But Master is a knight. Even if that mean king didn't give him the title. He still has the heart of one."

Yuko...

Serra grinned. "That's what I've said."

"Yup. Tetsu's our silly knight," Rosa said, chuckling.

I leered at her. Way to ruin the moment, princess.

Yuko hugged me and rubbed her head against my upper abdomen. "Master sure is!"

I sighed. Why did she have to join in on her teasing again?

Rosa narrowed her eyes at Yuko.

"Huh?" Yuko asked, turning to look at her. "Why does Yuko sense malice?"

"Don't play dumb! Look what you're doing!"

She tilted her head. "Hugging Master?"

I patted Yuko's head. "She's probably upset that you pressed your face against me while I'm covered in sweat or something pervy like that." 

Rosa's face flushed.

"Rosa, didn't know you had such thoughts," Setsuko said, smiling at her.

"I-I don't!" she said, turning away.

"Don't worry. Setty does too," I said, chuckling.

Setsuko grumbled. "I don't!"

Serra glared at me. "How would you know?"

I smiled nervously. Probably shouldn't have brought it up. "When I carried her back at my place," I admitted.

Serra crossed his arms. "Oh, yeah."

Yuko hugged me again. "Even if Yuko has to fight both princess, she'll win!"

I scratched the side of my face. "Yuko..."

"I-I don't like him!" Setsuko yelled.

Rosa smiled. "Yeah, Serra's the cousin you like."

"I-I don't like him either! Both are a pair of bone heads."

Serra and me lowered our heads. Bone heads? Couldn't she have called us knuckle heads? That at least sounded less harsh.

Setsuko held out her hand, creating a vortex. "Anyway, there you have it."

Serra glared at her. "Did you ignore what I said earlier?"

The princess turned around and walked away. "Yeah, but I'm not in as bad shape as you." She stared at his shirt. "A-anyway. You go shower. I honestly don't know why you couldn't have stayed in bed or gone with Uncle, Father, Eiko, and Miyu."

Serra scratched his head. "I'm not sure. Think I got it from my hyper-active mother. Whenever she wasn't down, she would always be doing something."

"Sounds like Master," Yuko said.

Serra laughed and pointed at me with his thumb. "Or maybe I learned it from him."

I grumbled. Wasn't there something good he learned from me?

Yuko nudged me forward. "Master, the portal is closing!"

Setsuko gasped and stared at her hand.

Serra shook his head. "See? You're more tired than you let on. You probably forgot as you can draw it from around you, but one's natural mana takes a while to recover."

Setsuko held out her hands, widening it. "I know! Tetsuya, go now."

I nodded, picked up Yuko, and ran into the portal.

The birds chirp overhead. Mountains faced us from the south instead of the east.

I smiled. "I'm back home!"

Giggling and grumbling came from behind me.

I turned around and saw Rosa. Onami, the Kuroyuki brothers, Naoru, and Camila were with her too.

"Can't you be more quiet?" Hyosetsu asked, rubbing his ears.

"W-why are you here?" I asked.

"I saw that you were taking my cute little sister," Onami said. She stepped toward me, her eyes were cold. "I came to make you don't try anything funny. Yuko might be kind, but she is also naive. Plus, you are that man's son."

"Onami," Kohri said, sighing. "I ran after her."

Onami crossed her arms. "You didn't have to."

Hyo crossed his arms. "I chased after Kohri to make sure that he doesn't get into trouble."

Kohri smiled. "Thanks, big bro."

I blinked. Had expected Kohri to say something similar to Onami.

"That's not the only reason, is it?" I asked, setting Yuko down.

Hyosetsu sighed. "I might have come to make sure a certain naive girl doesn't get in trouble."

Yuko grumbled.

"Not you. The other one."

Rosa grumbled.

I chuckled. Those two really were dopplegangers.

"What about you?" I asked, glancing at Naoru.

Naoru scoffed. "Similar reasons as sir Hyosetsu. I'm not sure whether to trust you yet."

He distrusted me? Didn't know that. Then again, I haven't really spoken to him much.

"And you, cuz?" I asked, glancing at Camila.

"I-I was just seeing where Na-Nao was going. T-the portal c-closed before I-I could go ba-back."

I grinned. "Well, your mom and siblings are here. I'm sure they'll be happy to see you."

Camila's eyes brightened up. "Oh, yeah." She covered her mouth with her hands and turned away.

"Why are you covering your mouth?" Onami asked. "No reason to be embarrassed."

Cami pulled her side bangs toward her face. She looked like she wished she had longer hair.

Camila turned her head away. "I-I'm standing out. I-I don't like standing out."

I raised an eyebrow. My gut told me something bad had happened to her to make her this way.

"Why is that?" I asked, walking over to her.

She closed her eyes. "I-I'm being selfish by drawing attention to myself."

"That's not true!" someone shouted. I turned and saw Amun step out from another portal.

Setsuko and Serra stood on the other side, both with their hands out.

Alex also stood on the other side, staring in.

"Alex!" Nate yelled as he came running out from behind a tree. He rushed into the portal.

"Hey!" Layla yelled, chasing after him.

"Hey, you two!" Amun said, turning around.

"It's fine. We'll watch over them," Serrano said as the portal started to close.

Amun sighed. "Alright."

"W-wait!" Layla said, running back to us before it closed. She sighed.

Why did she come back? Did she like it better here? Or maybe she was closer to her mom.

"Nate forgot his elephant!" Layla said, ran over to the tree. She came running back with a blue elephant plushie. It reminded me of Taku's.

Wish he were here. He and Xime had decided to go with Azami, should Ifrit act back up. That might've been why Serra was so calm about not being near his brother.

Layla sighed. "No. I didn't make it."

Cami walked over to her. "I-It's fine. W-we can call them t-to make another p-portal."

"Good thinking," Amun said, taking out her phone. She put a hand on her hip and grumbled. "Great, seems it's not working."

"Why? We fixed the cell towers!" Rosa said.

Kohri crossed his arms. "Sir Hideaki told me they were going to run maintenance on them to boost the signal further. It could be due to that or maybe it can't pick up calls from this far away yet."

"Alex talked to Nate over the phone yesterday, so it has to be because of maintenance," Layla said.

"Just our luck," Amun said, scratching her head.

"Is it a bad thing if he doesn't have it?" I asked.

Rosa hugged her plushie. "Of course it is. A kid can't be without their plush."

Hyosetsu laughed. "Explains why you have that thing with you."

Rosa covered her face with her Bear-woof. "Hey, you're supposed to be my friend now."

He scoffed. "Tetsu and Serra tease each other, so why can't I do the same?"

I sighed and turned to look at my little cousin. "Where's Dossie and my aunt?"

"They are in Auntie's room," Layla said, hugging her brother's elephant. "She couldn't move her legs."

I rushed over to the house. Her illness must've acted back up!

My body dissolved into shadows and reformed within Mom's room.

"Huh?" a woman who resembled Mom said, turning to look at me. There were other people there too, but I didn't pay them much attention.

"Tetsu?" Mom said, turning to look at me.

I dropped to my knees and hugged her. "Mom, are you okay? I heard from Layla that you had trouble walking."

She patted my head. "This is why I don't want you kids worrying about me." Her fingers moved to my face, catching my tears. "I hate seeing my little ones cry."

I sniffed. If Dad were here, he would probably call me a Mama's boy, but I didn't care. I loved my mom. I didn't want her to die on me. If anyone should've understood that, it was him. Both as he did all that cruel stuff to the kids to save Mom, and because he lost Grandma.

"Sorry if I'm getting sweat on you," I said between tears.

"There, there, Tetsu," Mom said. "I don't mind."

"Wait, he's the round one?" the woman from earlier said.

"Little Tetsu looks so much like my big brother," someone else said. This voice was more familiar. I glanced up and saw a woman with hair like my aunt Rene's.

"Grandma?" I said.

She smiled slightly before turning away.

"Are you alright?" Grandpa asked, putting his hands on her shoulder.

Grandma nodded. "Y-yeah, just feeling a bit nostalgic all of a sudden."

I stared back at Mom as she held her hand out to her mom. "Sometimes I feel that way too."

Grandma laughed as she took her hand. "That so?"

"Yeah, like when Tetsu makes his cookies, I remember when he first helped me cook."

I laughed. "How? The first thing was an egg."

"It's the sight of seeing you break eggs in general."

I nodded. "Oh!"

We continued to talk aimlessly like that, but it didn't bother me. It was nice to sit down and talk about the past every now and again. Without talking about the things we regretted.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the episode ^^. Hope to get the next ones up soon. Tomorrow (September 15th) is 8th month anniversary as well as half a year away from the planned finale of this book. Only 40 chapters to go!**