His late brother's name. To this day, it still didn't make sense, much like the things surrounding the ceremony. Talking about the other nonsensical, it was hard for Sam not to mention the woman who suddenly disappeared in the middle of the crowds where he stood.

...all in all, if it wasn't going to be Ranpa or Atomu, it was going to be her who he searched for. All that paralleled with great stress. Prope Portam was much more casual than Oldenklow in Saphrith. Everything felt as if it was there to pressure him into making a small slip-up that would eventually lead to someone taking action. Much like Ranpa disappeared overnight, maybe he was bound to land in the same place.

This paired with Atomu. His dead brother supposedly living in jail somewhere here. Long gone was the rational approach of the sight of his grave or his family's words. Things didn't make sense in this world, and through the three months that passed since then, his answer came down to these words:

"I'll find out the truth."

However, something else caught his attention. On the roundabouts leading towards the bridges and out of Oldenklow stood Rufus, his hands on the side of the wall, head peeking out from behind the corner.

Sam breathed in. "Rufus?" he asked.

"Ah!" Rufus immediately turned, as if shocked. "It's just you."

"Are you tailing someone or what?" he asked, taking a few steps forward.

"Well, you could say that," Rufus whispered, moving back and supporting the wall behind with his back. "I heard a name."

"Ranpa?" Sam quickly blinked.

"No, not Ranpa." Rufus shook his head. "That Sandy guy I talked about." they signalled, taking another glance at Judy, who stopped in the middle of the street.

"Can't you just go and ask her?"

"I can't. It'd be weird."

"Certainly much less than hiding around like some criminal." Sam chuckled.

Rufus shushed him. "She'll hear us."

Judy sighed, shaking her head, before continuing her stroll. "Why would it be weird?" she asked herself. "The fact that you know that man is scary enough, and you're even eager to learn more. It's like willingly stomping through Montana Street during that elephant parade."

Sam and Rufus "sneakily" moved across the street towards another restaurant front, hiding behind one of the supporting pillars and between a few Paladians celebrating a big meal. Rufus squinted his eyes. "How's any of this supposed to sound? I met Sandy because he ordered apple juice and asked me where Ranpa lived." he shook his head. "Do you reckon she'd know, or just give me a very odd look?"

"There's one thing I noticed about you." Sam closed his eyes, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "Whenever you're out the bar, you're like a completely different person. I know you wouldn't hesitate to talk if you had all your stuff near the counter."

Rufus closed his eyes. "You're right. I need to open up a bar here!" he clenched one fist.

"Not what I meant! Do you j-just want me to do it?" Sam asked, and Rufus turned back. "I'm in this for a reason as well."

"I know no one called Ranpa," Judy uttered, putting her hands into her pockets.

Rufus halted, making an extraordinary expression. Sam blinked a few times, before peeking out from behind the pillar. Judy stared at them. He quickly stepped back, after making a strange noise.

Sam and Rufus looked at each other, before hastily stepping out.

"W-We were only curious!" Rufus immediately tried to explain himself. "We mean no harm!" he bowed. Sam only thought that Rufus wasn't like himself without a bar. Maybe there was some comfort in that place for him. Much like one would describe home, but Sam immediately shifted his attention to Judy, who only looked disappointed.

"I know you don't." she shook her head, before putting something out of her spiky ear and throwing it towards the other Paladian. Rufus looked at it for a second, confused. "Sharpening device. It's your friend Sandy that made it."

"Eh?" Rufus looked confused.

"Put it in your ear and you'll hear perhaps way too much," Judy muttered.

Rufus did as she said. After a few seconds, he made a sour expression.

"L-Let me see," Sam uttered, taking out of his ear, and soon enough, his face did the same thing.

Judy chuckled. "Yeah, I figured someone like you might show up." she scratched her head. "I was more inclined to find out that some of those guards or hunters from Harabara would be demanding us to shut down the lab, but you don't give me that vibe. Who are you two?" she pointed.

Rufus bowed. "Bartender from Prope Portam."

"...I'm just dragging along." Sam awkwardly rubbed his neck. "To find out a thing or two."

"About Sandy or that Ranpa guy?"

"Both." Rufus straightened up. "A lot of things happened a while back."

"When did you meet him?"

"He came to my bar in Prope Portam and mentioned he was looking for Ranpa. I don't know what for, but he disappeared the next day."

"I can tell you that Sandy doesn't stand behind his disappearance." she folded her arms. "Guy's too in it for the experiment, but not human trafficking." she laughed at her thoughts. "I can probably figure out a reason, but it may sound weird. His words, though."

Rufus turned to Sam, and the two looked a little puzzled.

"Three months ago, huh?" she looked up. "Sandy snuck in with the Royals because he wanted to gather up someone's seed." she squinted her eyes. "How ridiculous."

"Seed?" Sam uttered, very quietly.

She shook her head. "Alright, you win. Follow me. We'll have to wait a whole day before the parade ends but I'll let you crash near the lab. No touching the pantry, though, got it?" she asked.

Rufus blinked. "Yes!" he immediately bowed again. Sam looked at him for a few seconds, before turning to the masked Judy.

"O-Of course, thank you!" he bowed as well.

"My pleasure, because I'm curious about the whole story as well." she fixed her hat. "Let's go."

***

"Jyuso!" Chyuuichi raised his voice, pointing at the Morian. "Where did ya find him?!"

"Ran into my legs and caused me to throw all the plates I carried," Atomu said, taking off his helmet.

Jyuzou grinned, awkwardly.

"Wooo!" Chyuuichi now raised his fist instead. "WOOOO!" he yelled. "It's been way too freaking long, Jyuso!" he suddenly ran, hugging him, pressing his shoulder onto his own.

"G-Go figure." Jyuzou chuckled, fixing his glasses.

"Where the hell have ya been this entire time? We were bloody worried, weren't we?" he turned to Atomu, who nodded, yet, covered his ears for some reason. "Tell us everything! Why are you here, and where the hell is that other Morian? Name. NAME!" he screamed.

"Morio?" Jyuzou asked.

"Who?"

"Morin." Jyuzou corrected himself.

"MORIN!" Chyuuichi signalled with his entire body. "Is he waiting outside? Already inside? Somewhere there?" he questioned with a massive smile, followed by a strange silence.

The beam faded away from Jyuzou's mouth, and Atomu turned. Chyuuichi stepped back, putting a hand on his chin, tilting his head.

Jyuzou gulped. "I c-came here with a friend for the crowning ceremony. Morio's not with me."

"Oh don't tell me he died," Chyuuichi whispered.

"N-No!" Jyuzou said. "He's fine, but just not here." he nodded.

"Oh my." Atomu sighed, relieved.

"Then, where, and why didn't you take him with ya?" Chyuuichi furrowed his brows.

"He's in Windsdale, Harabara."

"That far?" Atomu asked.

"Harawhat?" Chyuuichi squinted.

"I was on my way to Lignoria, and I promised him that I would return there after all of this ends," he explained. "I couldn't bring him here because he wasn't invited."

"Ya were invited? What are ya, royalty?" Chyuuichi asked.

"It's... kind of complicated." he sighed, shaking his head. "I had to choose whether to believe in what the letter I received said or continue along the way with him and the others. I didn't want to choose, but now the three of us are here."

"Holy... SHIT!" Chyuuichi yelled. "YOU'RE ROYA-"

Atomu covered his mouth. "There, there." he looked tired. "Let's save the more serious stuff like this for later, okay?"

Jyuzou nodded.

***

"How long are they planning to go for?" Atomu asked, covering his ears. "I can't stand and listen to those bagpipes!"

"Are bagpipes the real issue?" Jyuzou asked. "I'd be more concerned about the voices."

Chyuuichi nodded, pointing. "I bet I could do a much better job than any of those Royals!"

The three walked through the castle halls, passing big beige windows that eventually turned into a rather brown, illuminated by yellow chandeliers corridor with a fountain in the middle, as well as stairs at its end, marked by a few portraits depicting various classical aristocratic tales and witchtales.

"Hales of the misty sea end up in a cavern of loooove." he extended the last words, giving a deeper voice to the 'o' there. "...and when the sun shall shine, paintings of glorious steppes changing into... BIIIIIRDS!"

Jyuzou didn't necessarily know where the two were taking him, only hearing a word about some hideout.

"How was I?" Chyuuichi asked, and Atomu gave him a weary thumbs up. "Jyuzou?" he turned.

Jyuzou didn't answer. His mind seemed to be elsewhere at the moment. The Mirillian's excited smile quickly subdued, and he too, turned towards something else. Namely, the room they were approaching.

The Paladian took another left, before finding himself tracing a few brick walls with his fingers. A subtle shake of the Glyph Vial led to the runes lighting up again. Handprints appeared near the correct book, and with one tug, the door to the corridor leading towards the hideout moved.

"What the hell?" Jyuzou stepped back, fixing his glasses.

"It's a shortcut. This castle has lots of them." Atomu explained, tugging on his hair. "Apparently."

Looking into the darkness, Jyuzou was reminded of that one book he read. In The Paladin, when Sylvester's group was raiding Obenstake, it was one of the main characters, Lunen, who found a shortcut through the walls and discovered a hideout where everyone else eventually gathered to create a peculiar plan.

Lunen could be described as your typical mentor character. Stronger than everyone else, but a great example for anyone to follow. Looking back to one of his rereads, he always pictured the man similarly to Bancho.

The same beard, hair, and that same, laid-back attitude that both of them shared.

Looking forward, he knew the Wise wouldn't be waiting in that room. Alas, the three moved forward, after a few seconds. The dark bricks changed into a roomy atmosphere of these brown, wooden walls and everything the lab already had.

Sandy immediately flung the door right open. "I got their seed!" he yelled out.

"Again?" Chyuuichi asked.

"E-excuse me?" Jyuzou shook his head.

"I don't want to explain this," Atomu uttered, covering his hands with his face.

Jyuzou took a cautious step back, and that's exactly when the maniac noticed his presence.

"Huh?" he pointed. "Who's that?!"

***

Sat in a circle, with the two demons at the side, the Morian got the jest of everything that happened those past few days.

"So." Jyuzou put his hands together. "You, Rowan and Chyuuichi were accused of Bancho's m-murder."

Atomu nodded, sighing. "We didn't kill him."

Jyuzou gasped. "Sorry, it's a lot for me to process."

Atomu turned to Chyuuichi.

"Trust me on this one." Atomu put his hand near his heart. "I'd never hurt him."

"Obviously," Jyuzou muttered. "Hours have passed since I heard the news but... it's still hard to put it into perspective."

Atomu sighed. "Bancho managed to direct Lisbeth's and Isak's attacks towards him, which unfortunately left him in a dire state. He told us to run, so we eventually wanted to do that. I guess the real kick in my mind was when Elton said the same thing."

Jyuzou looked up. "Where is Elton?"

Ronpi and Katha turned to the Paladian.

Atomu scratched his head. "Buried in Prope Portam."

Jyuzou opened his mouth.

"I-I'm not sure who made it out in the end. Seeing you though, confirmed one question." he smiled lightly. "After we escaped, we met Rowan. The rest of their crew were dead as well, but that didn't stop us from chasing over a light that gleamed in the distance."

"Oh, Shin." Jyuzou gasped. "P-Practically no one made it out alive?"

"It's a miracle, in all honesty." Atomu shook his head. "We'd be dead if it wasn't for Bancho. Twice."

"But for blessings, we were sure that Ambrosia saved the two of ya and ran out of the caves!" Chyuuichi added.

"Is that so?" Atomu continued.

"Y-Yes." Jyuzou shook his head, gulping. "For a moment there, we were about to leave Morio behind because of his awful state. In the end, though, miss Anna-Pom helped us get across to the exit, and there Ambrosia was, riding atop Bancho's horse."

"Do you know where Anna-Pom might be?"Atomu asked.

"Hopefully somewhere out there." Jyuzou shook his head. "I didn't know much. I was in and out of sleep all the time, and Morio didn't wake up until three days later. Ambrosia ran through Lignoria and left us near the port in Malikan. There were other Tributals there, but I don't recall or understand much from back then." he muttered. "Sooner than later, she disappeared and off we were, ship sailing us to a different island."

"Oh, man." Chyuuichi stepped back. "We were far off! Rowan suggested that we go to Saphrith for answers! We wound up in Prope Portam where they accused some random guy of killing Bancho!"

"His name was Ranpa-"

"Then, a switch-up happened, and Elton's corpse was buried in Prope Portam, while we took Bancho's to Orania!" he repeated. "Did ya know a place like that existed?"

Sandy tilted his head multiple times, before fixing his hat.

"Isn't that just some witchtale?" Jyuzou seemed confused.

"Bam!" Chyuuichi accented his excitement. "It was as real as they go! And there was this big fight and...!" he stopped. "I'll let Atomu speak."

"We can reminisce about the cool details later. We were captured in the middle of the jungle by all the Royals because the judge of Saphrith got his hands on a letter from Bancho." Atomu stopped himself for a moment. "A letter that a-accused Rowan and Chyuuichi of siding with a demon."

"What demon?" Jyuzou asked.

Atomu looked at the ground for a bit. "The three of us were put in the prison and..." he looked around. "I was in a completely different cell, tortured for months."

"Why?" he continued.

Atomu quickly glanced at Chyuuichi. Jyuzou didn't seem to realise.

"D-Didn't you catch my drift?" Atomu quickly continued.

"Huh?"

"I am the demon, Jyuzou." he pointed to himself.

"Really?" Jyuzou seemed a little taken aback. "That's... YOU'RE A DEMON?!" he stood up, guarding himself with his own hands. He glanced around the room for a bit, seeing as everyone looked at him. "You're a demon?" he whispered.