"Nope!"
As the three men tried to enter through the front door, lured in by the scent of the fresh cooking, they were denied by Treyna, who adamantly held a hand out in front of them with furrowed eyebrows.
"Huh?" All three men let out in unison.
"You all reek! Go clean up first then you can eat dinner! I don't want you tracking goblins, orc, or whatever blood in here again–! I'm the one that has to clean it up!" Treyna demanded, folding her arms over her chest.
Begrudgingly and tiredly, all three of them had to oblige to Treyna's demands–Julius feared the wrath of his wife, Emilio respected his mother, and Everett feared being kicked out from the household.
"Brrrr!"
Everett shuddered, standing in the grass at the side of the house as Emilio dumped a bucket of cold water over the top of his head for a quick wash.
"Man, I thought ya warmed it up!" Everett said, hugging himself as he was in nothing but boxers.
It was the same for Emilio and Julius, who were next to wash themselves, though Julius certainly needed it the most, considering he had blood spatter in his own beard.
"With what? Magic? Just man up, yeah?" Emilio playfully slapped his friend on the back.
"Ga-ha-ha! Yeah–lemme show you how a real man handles cold water, Ev! Douse me, Emilio! Gimme a full spell's worth!" Julius said, holding his arms out.
It was certainly vexing to have his magic be requested to be used in such a way, though Emilio didn't mind as he smiled and held his hand out, invoking a high-speed spray of water that knocked his father straight off of his feet.
"Gah–!" Julius reacted.
"Ha-ha!" Everett laughed.
Julius used a kick of his legs to jump back to his feet, shaking the water off like a dog, though cleared of the orcs' blood stains, "I'm starting to question if I hit you too hard in training when you were little, hitting your old man like that…"
"Yeah, maybe," Emilio cheekily replied.
For himself, Emilio invoked a magecraft specifically honed for his own body, summoning a thin layer of water around his body that washed away impurities, cleaning himself efficiently.
"Hey! No fair! You used magic on yourself, but not me?!" Everett complained.
"Learn it for yourself if you want it that badly," Emilio said with a smile, heading back inside as he dried off and threw his clothes back on.
As everybody gathered at the dinner table, the warmth of the beef-and-pork meal, seasoned well, made Julius and Everett almost drool like dogs. Emilio kept his cloak off while inside, graciously eating the meal. Sitting beside him was Irene, who had grown into a woman herself, though hardly growing but a few inches in height, but gaining elsewhere–which Emilio will not admit where.
"How's your new project coming along?" Emilio asked, looking at Irene as he ate another spoonful of meat.
Recently, Irene had developed her hobby of making wood carvings into an actual business for herself, getting commissions from people in Yullim, and even getting requests out of the city–though those were handled by the couriers.
Irene smiled, "It's coming along well–it's a bit more complex than what I'm usually commissioned for, but I think I can do it."
Everett added in from across the table, shoving a hefty piece of pork past his lips, "It was the mayor of the town who commissioned ya, right? That's a pretty big deal."
"Mhm," Irene nodded, twirling her curly, blue hair around one of her fingers, "It's a birthday gift for his daughter–a carving of a finch."
"I bet it'll look beautiful in the end," Treyna said with a smile.
"Thank you," Irene happily smiled as well.
The young woman had really opened up through her time living with the Dragonhearts, becoming a true member of the household.
–
After the meal with the rowdy, yet comforting household came to an end and night fell over the peaceful valley of Yullim, it was time to call it in.
"Let me handle the dishes."
"I can help out."
–Both Emilio and Everett offered to help at the same time as Treyna had taken the plates away from the table.
The amethyst-eyed woman looked surprised for a moment before smiling, "Really? Alright, then!"
Both of the youthful men stood side-by-side, scrubbing the plates clean as the scenery of the starry night could be seen past the window pane, along with the slumbering mountains that sat around the valley.
"Scrub, scrub, scrub," Everett sang in a sing-song tune.
Emilio watched the window, peering at the stars as he cleaned the plates alongside his friend; small moments like these reminded him of the life he had regained a lease on–thankful for it each and every day.
"Oh, Emilio! I almost forgot!"
Treyna called out to him, walking down the stairs and holding something in her hand as she entered the kitchen: an envelope.
"What's that?" He asked, drying his hands off with a towel.
The envelope was handed to him by his mother, "This arrived while you were all out during the day. I think it's from her–Celly."
"Celly," he repeated the name in a mutter, looking at the white envelope as a smile formed across his lips.
'She replied already?' He thought.
"Thanks, Mom," he said.
"Mhm! You boys make sure to get some rest!" Treyna said before heading back up the stairs.
Everett was finishing off the last plate while replying, "Ya betcha!"
With the dishes finished, he went up to his room, sitting at his desk as he placed the envelope down, carefully opening it as the snoring of Everett already began. Irene was quietly working at her own desk with only the gentle sounds of her wood carving tools being used.
'A letter from Celly…we've been exchanging letters somewhat since I got back. She sounded really happy when I first wrote to her that I became an adventurer–that reminds me…Our "Rememberance Bond" is still alive–it'll only complete once we've met. When I last wrote to her, I asked if maybe she'd visit, but she's busy–I doubt it,' he thought.
There was something about the letter when he held it that made his heart beat and his mind race somewhat; feeling the smooth material in his fingertips, he was careful in how he opened the envelope. In his mind, he saw Celly as almost an idolized figure; a mage of great renown, knowledge, as well as a kind, beautiful girl.
Now as a man, the body he had felt a certain way towards the idea of such a woman–he felt as though every letter along with every word written on it was a precious thing he must cherish.
He adjusted the candle on his desk, moving it closer as he unfolded the letter, beginning to read it:
["Dear Emilio"]
["I have not forgotten our Remembrance Bond, of course. It's a precious thing to me, you know? I've thought about it every day, like a reminder to myself to try harder in the academy. I pushed myself some nights solely out of that pact between us. We've both fulfilled our goals. With that, I think it's appropriate that we meet once again. After all, I want to see the fine, young man that you've grown up to be. I'll be heading to Yullim soon, just after I finish my current tutorship…Though, I have to say, this student is definitely a rowdy one–he has trouble with…accuracy in spells."]
Though it had been years now since he'd seen his former mentor in magecraft, he could still hear her gentle, delicate voice through the words on the page.
After reading it, he couldn't help but smile–it was the one thing highest on his current list: see Celly again. Finding out that she was indeed coming back to Yullim, he couldn't help but stand up from his chair and thrust his fist in the air in celebration.
"Hell yeah!" He celebrated.
–Though he instantly remembered that he was indeed not alone in the room, turning around to find Everett still snoring, though Irene was looking back at him from her own desk with a confused look on her face.
"What's up, Emilio?" Irene asked.
"Err, just finally figured out a spell I was having trouble with," he lied through his teeth with a small chuckle before sitting back down.
Still, he couldn't help but feel giddy like he was a kid again; there wasn't anybody else he could think of that he held a genuine "crush" on in this world. Irene was like a sister to him, and Melisande also fell into the same category–though one was definitely more questionable.
'Pretty sure Joel might haunt me if I tried getting with Melisande,' he thought.
The once lecherous young man's mind had matured through his time back home, humbled by death and eased by a tranquil life as he grew up and shot through puberty.
'That's right…now that I think about it, I haven't even thought about brothels in ages. I was always trying to shake off that one, eternal concept that's followed me between lives: virginity. Now though…I guess…I just want to save it for the right one? Genuine connections are what is truly sexy,' he thought.
Before leaving his desk, he decided to write a letter to his friends in the After, creating it then preparing it into an envelope before placing it against the seal on his artificial arm.
"Transfer," he quietly said.
Just like that, the letter vanished, transporting to where the other half of the mystical seal was: transcribed on Blimpo himself, an entire reality away.
With that, he found himself happily sitting himself into bed, beginning his wait for his former teacher to come down from Vasmoria.
As he laid in bed, he held his mechanical arm up with his palm to the wooden ceiling; the pitch-steel was made lively through the subtle glow of his azure mana between the seams.
'I'll be able to see her again soon,' he thought.
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