Amulius closed his eyes, leaning his head into Ateia since he was still bound. Tears welled up in his eyes as well.

“…I’m sorry, Ateia.”

The two remained like that for a while longer before they separated.

“Now…what happened to you, Ateia?”

Ateia took a deep breath.

“Well, things were horrible without you. Half the village turned on Taog and most of the other half refused to help. You weren’t coming back, so we decided to go get you. We tried to join the Exploratores but failed the exam…as instructed, apparently.”

Ateia narrowed her eyes at him. Amulius coughed.

“…I’m sorry about that, but with the Heralds of the New Dawn at large, we needed to keep you where our friends were in charge.”

Ateia stared at him for a bit before continuing.

“So, I was really desperate and despairing, so we tried to conquer a new dungeon.”

Amulius’s jaw dropped.

“You did WHAT?!”

Ateia shrugged.

“Anything I could to get out of there. I knew it wasn’t the smart thing to do but it was the only option left at that point.”

Amulius opened his mouth, then frowned, then winced.

“Well, we wouldn’t actually arrive at a dungeon before we were caught by bandits. Fortunately, Seero happened to pass by and wiped them out. After that, we made an agreement with her, and she helped us conquer a dungeon.”

Amulius glanced over at Seero with wide eyes before turning back to Ateia.

“…I see. That explains why Tiberius let you leave.”

Ateia nodded.

“Well, then a lot of things happened, mostly Seero terminating armies and corrupted dungeons and stuff while Taog and I tried to be useful to her. We got invited to Corvanus, the Emperor made us Inquisitors, that stupid cult kidnapped and sacrificed me, Seero saved me by turning me into an Aesdes, we met Mighty Victoria, and now we’re going to go destroy the cult.”

Amulius froze, and blinked several times.

“Wait…what?!”

There was…a bit of commotion afterwards. Eventually, the group split up to process the conversation. Amulius was staring at the ground with blank eyes.

“Hey.”

Agedia then slithered over to him. He barely raised his head to glance at her.

“…is it true?”

Agedia smirked.

“It’s a lot to take in if you weren’t there, isn’t it? But yes, it is. All of it.”

Amulius shook his head, and then grit his teeth.

“Everything I did, everything we sacrificed, and it was all for nothing. The Heralds found Ateia anyway, and thanks to my choices she was completely unprepared for it.”

Agedia shrugged.

“Yes…but if she hadn’t been, she probably wouldn’t have met shiny girl, who has done a better job of protecting her than any of us ever could.”

Amulius frowned at that.

“…I’m still not comfortable with my daughter resting in the hands of a demon lord, especially not one so far out of the norm. Who’s to say this isn’t some new form of corruption…or a deception?”

Agedia smirked.

“Mighty Victoria, the Lady of Courage and Victory.”

Amulius blinked again, before his eyes went wide.

“…you really met her?”

Agedia nodded.

“As far as I can tell. I didn’t finish the theology curriculum before I dropped out of the Imperial Knights, but let me tell you there was a lot of Holy mana being tossed around.”

She then moved in front of Amulius, and looked into his eyes.

“And more importantly, I’ve watched Seero over there. At this point, she has the power to become a new Great Demon Lord if she wanted to. She can personally destroy entire legions, and could unleash hordes of monsters on the land at a moment’s notice. She has instead used that power to protect her friends and make sweet rolls. She’s a good girl, and fiercely protective of those two. She only took down Caelinus because the Magister Exploratores per Utrad kidnapped them, you know?”Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Amulius returned her gaze.

“You trust her?”

Agedia smiled.

“With my and Ateia’s lives.”

Amulius looked down and heaved a sigh. Agedia nodded, took out a knife, and then started to cut Amulius’s bindings.

“Seero is the one who fixed all of our mistakes, saved the kids’ lives, and prevented the complete collapse of the Northern Empire, as well as ruined the cult’s plans wherever she went, and that was before she was actively trying to destroy them. I think, whatever she is, that she’s earned a bit of trust from us, don’t you?”

Amulius nodded as he stretched his body.

“…thank you, Agedia. I…didn’t expect your help like this.”

Agedia scoffed.

“Well, I still don’t like you. And you screwed up, a lot.”

She then made a wry smile.

“But so did I. And now…we’re both here for Ateia, right? We can’t fix what we did, so we’ll both just have to do what we can now.”

Amulius’s eyes widened, and then he nodded.

Taog was walking around the Primary Home Base, around the various structures and lines of drone-golems carrying raw materials about.

He…didn’t know how he felt.

The truth was…Taog had given up on Ateia’s father long ago. He believed the man to have died after the first year. So it had come as a surprise to find him alive, after all this.

But…Taog had already made his peace with Mr. Niraemius…or rather, Amulius’s absence. Ateia was the one who dreamed of reuniting with him.

As for Taog…he had Ateia, and he had Seero. Ateia’s father wasn’t a necessary presence in his life anymore. Taog had long since learned to survive without him.

Speaking of which, Seero suddenly flew over and landed in front of him.

“Hi Seero, can I help you?”

“Statement: Emotional distress termination protocols engaged.”

“Huh?”

Taog had but a moment before Seero grabbed him, and began channeling Holy mana into him.

“Um, Seero? What are you doing?”

“Response: Terminating friend Taog’s emotional distress.”

Taog furrowed his brow.

“Where did you get that idea? I’m not emotionally distressed.”

“Objection: This unit has detected elevated cortisol levels and abnormally rapid heart rate in friend Taog. Analysis of friend Taog’s organic components indicates preparation for a combat scenario, or emotional distress, and friend Taog does not appear to be engaged in combat.”

Taog frowned.

“That’s…”

But then he stopped. When he paid attention…he found his heart was, in fact, pounding in his chest, which felt constricted. His eyes widened.

He was feeling…distressed?

Taog frowned, and then sighed again as he realized what was going on. He had been distracting himself from his own feelings, as he had so many times in the past. He was doing what he needed to to survive…and doing that which he had resolved not to.

He was running away, and deceiving himself that everything was ok.

He thought he had overcome this with Mighty Victoria’s help…but it appeared the fear in his heart was not vanquished with a single battle or two.

He sighed, and his shoulders drooped.

“Seero…what should I do?”

Amulius’s return…apparently caused him distress? He had no idea why. Or what should he do about it.

“Uncertain Response: This unit has no data on protocols for friend Taog to respond to the situation. Emotional distress termination protocols are currently limited to non-damaging physical and mana contact, or else termination of the cause of the distress, which has been ruled out in this case.”

Taog blinked, and then chuckled. Terminate the cause of the distress, that was certainly a Seero-like recommendation.

But then Taog stood still, his eyes widening slightly.

“Terminate the cause, huh? You know…I think I know what to do. Thanks Seero.”

“Acknowledged.”

They stood there for a moment longer.

“Um, Seero, could you let me go now? I need to move if I’m going to do anything.”

“Affirmative.”

With live updates from Seero, Taog found Amulius immediately. He took a deep breath, and then walked towards the man. Amulius noticed him and turned to face Taog. The older man frowned, and then took a deep breath.

He hung his head.

“Taog…I’m sorry. For leaving you, for all I put you through…and for getting your parents killed. Maybe if I hadn’t been so focused on the cult, maybe if I hadn’t left for Castra Turannia that week…”

Taog was about to say it was fine before catching himself. That was his habit, his method of pushing the issue away. So, instead, he took a deep breath and thought for a moment. Then he slowly opened his mouth.

“My parents’ death…was not your fault. They could have grabbed us and ran. They could have told the village to evacuate. They could have fallen back when they realized they were in trouble. But…it was my mother’s joy to take on challenges, and my father’s pride to hold the line, no matter what. It was their choice to do what they did. They would not be pleased with you taking credit for it.”

Taog closed his eyes for a moment. He then opened them with a frown.

“But…as for the rest...”

Taog’s heart was pounding, and the words struggled to come out. He wanted to run, he wanted to say it was fine. He didn’t want to feel the way he did at the time.

And…Ateia had finally reunited with her father. He didn’t want to interfere with that.

But…he knew he needed to change. He was running away from his problems, all his life. He needed to learn from Ateia, and face things head on when he wanted them to change. He needed to learn from Seero, to identify and terminate the cause of his distress.

So…he opened his mouth.

“Just…why…did you leave? Why did you leave me behind…and helpless?”

His heart pounded faster and faster. His body heated up. His face twisted into a snarl and he started to growl in between his words.

“Why did you call me strong?! Why did you ask me to protect Ateia?! I was weak! I was unbelievably weak! I couldn’t even protect myself, much less Ateia! I needed you and you left! Everyone I needed left!”

As he spoke, more and more began to pour out, until he was shouting. He shouted and shouted as he poured out a life of grievances.

And then it was done. Taog panted for breath as moisture blocked his vision. He felt like slumping his shoulders, though the armor around his body kept him upright.

Amulius frowned, with tears in his eyes.

“I’m…I’m so sorry, Taog. I…”

He sighed, and stepped over. He hesitantly reached out, and put a hand on Taog’s shoulder.

“I…guess I focused too much on Ateia. I was so worried about the cult finding her again…that I didn’t realize what all this would mean for you, what I would put you through. I’m sorry…”

Amulius then gasped as Taog slammed into him, wrapping his arms around the man. He started to sob. Amulius made a sad smile, and patted the boy on the head.

“I’m sorry…and you did well, Taog. I asked more of you then anyone ever should have, and you did everything you could. And you did it, right? You and Ateia survived for all these years, thanks to you. I’m truly grateful she had you by her side, and I’m truly proud of how you’ve fought through this mess I left you in. I know your parents would be proud of you too.”

Taog sobbed for a while longer, while Amulius returned his embrace.