After the meeting with Diko, Thalamik sent a message notifying him to conduct individual searches for three days. Only then would they have another meeting. "Momoka, are you sure you don't mind following me?"
"No, not really."
"I am sorry in advance if my parents. Well, in-laws technically will be a bother."
"No need to think a lot about that, Master. Besides, I am not suited for recon mission anyway." Momoka said with a smile. "But we will search for information, right?"
"Yes, we will. But perhaps starting tomorrow."
"Alright," Momoka said as she walked alongside him.
A few minutes later, they arrived at a house. Thalamik pressed the doorbell.
Then two people opened the door and came out, "Welcome Home, Son!" One female, one male, both smiling at Thalamik. "I am home, Mom, Dad." Thalamik's father and mother-in-law moved in to hug him. After the tight embrace, Thalamik introduced Momoka to them.
"This here is...my student at the academy." Thalamik gestured them towards Momoka.
"Wow! What a beautiful lady! Nice to meet you, Momoka." Thalamik's mother-in-law said with a warm smile. "Indeed, she is." Thalamik's father-in-law added. "Our names are Ivy and Pri," Ivy said as she held Momoka's arm.
"Hello, Ms. Ivy and Mr. Pri," Momoka said with a smile, revealing her teeth.
"Oh! My! You have such cute ears and fangs! Are you a fox demi-human that Thalamik had been talking about?"
"She is indeed the person from my letters, Mom," Thalamik added. "My new protege at the Academy."
"My~My~ She is so beautiful and so cute." Ivy put her hands on Momoka's cheek and pinched it a little. Momoka only responded by giggling while her face was beet red.
"Dear, we should get inside. Let's give them some tea." Pri said before grabbing Ivy's shoulder.
"Oh my~ Yes! I forgot! Let's go inside." Ivy gestured for them to go inside the house.
As they stepped inside the house, Momoka looked around. "This is quite a spacious house!" She then walked to see the pictures of the family. Also of Thalamik and Amus, her late wife. "She's so beautiful," Momoka said to Pri, who was beside her.
"Thank you. She was an angel." Pri said with a warm smile.
"Welcome home, Mr. Thalamik." A guy presented himself. He was wearing a t-shirt. "Would you like me to brew some tea?"
"Oh, hey, Surya, please do, brew us four tea," Thalamik said.
"As requested, Mr. Thalamik," Surya said before going to the kitchen.
Without an order, the four of them had a seat. Thalamik and Momoka is sitting beside each other. At the same time, Pri is sitting beside Ivy.
"How has it been going, Thalamik?"
"It's been going fine, Mom and Dad. Soon, me Momoka and I will be joining a competition."
"At the academy? That's great!"
Thalamik told them with a smile. He then spoke about the times when he trained Momoka and Addison. He talked about a bunch of things without worry or restraint as if he were really just himself.
Thalamik the normal family man.
***
The living room smelled like lemon polish and something buttery from the kitchen. Thalamik excused himself without a word and stood, already rolling his sleeves.
"I'll help Surya," he said.
"Please, rest," Ms. Ivy replied.
"I am resting if I am useful to the household," he answered, and that was that.
Mr. Pri chuckled. "He has not changed."
I stayed with Ivy on the sofa while Mr. Pri followed them to the kitchen doorway.
From where I sat, I could see parts of everything.
Thalamik lifted the range hood, eased out the filters, and set them in hot water that Surya had already readied. He scrubbed the mesh with small, exact circles.
He wiped the rice cooker lid and pressed the rubber ring back into place with his thumbs.
He opened the spice drawer and turned every jar so the labels faced forward.
Chili went to the front.
Ms. Ivy's hand reached out instinctively and found it as it had never been moved.
"You really do fuss," Ms. Ivy murmured.
"He calls it preventing accidents," Mr. Pri said.
Surya passed him a cloth. "Amp crackles sometimes, Mr. Pri," he said.
Thalamik took the old guitar with both hands.
He set a thin cloth on the coffee table, opened the back plate, tightened a loose jack, and dabbed contact cleaner.
He oiled the fretboard with careful strokes.
Mr. Pri's shoulders loosened when he played a clean chord and heard only the note.
I watched how quiet all of it was.
He moved the standing fan so the breeze faced Mr. Pri's chair.
He pushed a small rug away from the wet tile.
He placed a folded napkin where Ms. Ivy's elbow always searched.
He did not command this house.
He served it like muscle memory.
Outstanding feat for anyone.
Ms. Ivy turned back to me with a soft smile. "So, Momoka. Tell me about you. What is your actual relationship with Thalamik?"
"I am really just his student," I said. "We met a couple of months back. I joined the academy because I have goals I wanted to achieve." I kept my voice even.
"I see what kind of goals Momo? May I call you Momo?"
"Ah! Sure thing! Well it's actually... I haven't really specified it. But I am looking for some kind of truth..."
"Wow, that's heavy!" Ms. Ivy said with a worried face.
"Not really, hehe. With Master Thalamik by my side, I think I can manage it."
"I see. Glad my son could be of help to you! Indeed, goals are good," she said. "But hiding yourself is not."
How did she?
I see. She is one sharp woman.
Mr. Pri sat again, testing the guitar. "What do you like to eat? Oh and do you have any allergies?"
"I can eat anything!" I said with a smile.
"Her favorite is Ice Cream, by the way." Thalamik entered the conversation abruptly.
Ms. Ivy laughed. "My~ My~ then I will make ice cream for you."
Surya brought tea.
He placed coasters without clatter. We drank slowly. Thalamik spoke again. More than I had ever heard him speak in one sitting. After that, he and Surya moved again. They carried a water gallon together. They checked a squeaky hinge on the hallway door. They taped a corner of a mat so it would not curl. It took them ten minutes to do work that would have taken an hour alone.
I stayed with Ms. Ivy.
We looked through a small stack of photo frames. Weddings. Birthdays. Two children with the same eyes. One frame held Amus. Thalamik's late wife. She was in a simple dress, head tilted, smile easy.
The afternoon went by in small talk that naturally flowed.
Medicine times.
A letter from a relative in the eastern province who was looking after their other child.
A neighbor's cat that kept sitting on the warm car hood.
None of it felt like filler. It felt like a table being set.
When the light softened and the street lamps came on, Thalamik glanced at me. "There is a hotel five minutes away. We can check in."
"No! Please stay both of you," Ms. Ivy said at once. "I have made the room squeaky clean!" Ms. Ivy said.
"Honey, please don't lie. It was actually Surya who cleaned them." Mr. Pri patted Ms. Ivy's back.
Thalamik gave out a thumbs-up to Surya. "Good work. I'll be sure to give you a bonus."
"Please do, sir, I want to buy a PC." Surya said with a gleeful smile.
We all laughed at nothing and stood.
***
I woke up to the faint hum of the refrigerator and the night's thick stillness.
The clock read half past two.
The sheets were warm, but my throat felt dry and sandpapered.
I got up quietly, careful not to wake Ivy. Her breathing was steady, soft. The house was dark except for the dull blue glow of the hallway lamp.
I padded to the kitchen, poured water into a glass, and took a slow sip.
"Still awake, Momoka? I thought you slept already."
The voice came from behind me.
"KYAA! WHAT THE HELL!" I yelped, nearly spilling the water. I spun around.
Thalamik stood there, wearing his dark battle coat like it was broad daylight, the collar turned up, shadow cutting across his face.
He blinked. "You're loud."
"You scared the life out of me!" I clutched the glass to my chest. "Why are you dressed like that? It's two in the morning."
He shrugged, the motion small under the coat. "Just staking our safety. You never know what could happen."Then he forced out a laugh. "Haha."
The sound was dry, hollow. I frowned. "Don't lie, Master. I never like it when you lie."
He sighed, the smile falling away. "My bad. It's just—" He hesitated, eyes drifting toward the window. "I can never sleep at ease without staying on guard. Not when I'm in South Jaka."
I followed his gaze to the glass. The city lights painted faint gold patterns on his reflection.
"I see… Does she perhaps…" I let the sentence trail off.
"Yes," he said quietly. "My Amus died here. In this town."
The silence after that felt heavier than his coat. I set my glass on the counter and slid onto a stool beside him. He didn't move, didn't look at me. His hands were in his pockets, but I could see how his knuckles twitched once, then stilled.
"Do you remember what I said about my fiancé?" I asked.
He turned his head slightly, just enough for me to see the faint raise of his brow. "How could I forget?" His tone was dry, bordering on annoyed.
I giggled. "No need to glare. I just meant—I didn't tell you everything."
He stayed silent. The kind of silence that was permission.
"One of the reasons I left Japan was because of my night terrors," I said softly. "I could never sleep calmly there."
He tilted his head. "So it wasn't because the government was pursuing you?"
"Well, both are true." I nodded. "But the nightmares came first."
He said nothing, so I kept talking.
"My fiancé was a detective. He always worked hard. Solved small cases, big cases—drug rings, robberies, even yakuza things sometimes. He was always strong. Always sure. He had this way of smiling that made you think he was untouchable."
I rubbed my palm with my thumb. "I believed that too much. I thought strength meant he didn't need anyone to watch his back. I stopped paying attention to the small things. The fatigue in his voice, the way he zoned out after a case, the trembling in his fingers. He was so good at taking care of me that I forgot he was human too."
Thalamik didn't interrupt. His expression softened, almost imperceptibly.
"He died suddenly," I said. "And I kept telling myself he was strong enough to protect himself. That lie helped me survive the first few months. But eventually, I realized… maybe I failed to protect him in return. Maybe I should have helped him see his own weaknesses before someone else exploited them."
He shook his head. "No. In my opinion, your fiancé was trying his best to make you happy, whatever it took. That's why he faced those things alone. Even if he knew he had weaknesses."
I looked up at him. "So it's not my responsibility to care for his weaknesses?"
He sighed. "No. You can't live someone else's burden."
"Then," I asked quietly, "as his lover, was I supposed to stand by and watch those weaknesses be exploited?"
He went quiet. The clock ticked from somewhere in the dark living room.
"Isn't it natural," I continued, "to want to protect someone you love? But somehow, people like my fiancé and people like you carry the rule that you're allowed to die for love, but we're not allowed to do the same. Isn't that a double standard?"
He looked at me, eyes shadowed but honest. "I can't argue with that."
He let out a slow breath. "But you're right. It's absolutely a double standard. I wanted to die for Amus, but I never would've let her die for me. Maybe it's instinct. Maybe it's pride. We like to think that's what strength means. But maybe it's just fear."
"Fear?" I asked.
"Fear of the harder choice," he said. "Maybe we romanticize dying for the people we love because it feels noble. But living for them, carrying on after them... that's the real fight. That's the kind of strength most of us don't train for."
I nodded. "It's easier to die for someone than to keep living for them."
He gave a faint smile. "Yeah. But I think both our partners wanted us to do that anyway. Keep living."
"Yeah," I whispered. "I feel the same."
The house was still again, save for the hum of the fridge. The city outside blinked its indifferent light.
After a while, I rose and stretched. "Well, I'll sleep first. Don't forget to rest too, Master."
He gave a slight nod. "I will."
As I turned toward the hall, I glanced back. He was still standing there, looking out the window, the reflection of his eyes caught between shadow and streetlight.
For a moment, I thought I saw two people—one man watching the city, and another watching a memory he couldn't leave behind.
***
"Black, Arcuest, Visha, Passete..." I said as four black figures appeared in front of the window to the garden. "Please guard this house. I will do a recon mission."
I summoned a banshee as I flew through South Jaka City.
Demon Lord Envoy Raum.
Based on Ars Goetia, Raum was a demon who planted seeds of fear in the people. If her power is connected to the people's fear, Raum may already psy op our city. But first, I need to check the borders. I fly through the sky into North Jaka City, where the port is available.
I also sent a letter to Raymed and Carmilla.
I hope the message is delivered.
This time I won't lose it all.
***
Meanwhile, in The Great Oak, Raymed had just arrived using a one-way portal through Psytelier.
As he walked towards where Oberon usually hangs out he found out that he was nowhere to be found.
"Gooooddd Morrowwww Mr. Hero Raymedd!!!" A fairy in jester outfit float as he greeted Raymed.
"Ah! Puck! Where's King Oberon?"
"The King! Ohh The King! Obe-Obe-Oberon!"
Puck hails at the mention of Oberon's name. "HOHOHO! The King is absent! He hither to the Elves on the North American continent. The Dark Elves had trouble, so he went there a few days ago.
Raymed thought to himself.
I don't know what to do here.
The Psytelier portal was also a one-way side teleport.
"Puck, is there a way you can use the network of the Great Oak?"
"Oh! You wish for me to search for something??? What is it?" Puck asked as he jumped around.
"I need to find something about Princess Derashina..." Raymed said.
"Ah! I have heard about that news~! Lucky for you, I have kept up with the news. But I can't talk to them; rather, I can only collect info one-sidedly. Only the king may do that kind of trick," Puck said as he spun around in the air and touched the Great Oak.
"BZZRTT BZRTT! BINGO!" Puck said. "I hear the King said something.... Princess Derashina is not dead. It was fake-fake fake news."
"What? Fake news, then where is she now?" Raymed asked.
"She was... she was... kidnapped! Her own people, no, no wait. Some people wanted her disappearance to start a war!"
"What? Whom?"
"Raum... Raumstar! I think that's her name." Puck said.
"Who are they gonna attack??"
"Wait, wait, Mr. Hero, my mind can't handle this much info- info info..." Puck's eyes glowed white as he screamed. "HAAAA!!!!!!!!!!" Puck turned his head with a gleeful smile and puppet-like movement.
"Derashina is safe, Mr. Hero. For now.... If you want her to come, find us in the Bermuda Triangle!"
"Who the hell are you?"
"Demon Lord Envoy, Belial."