Two days after the events in Saphrith, various changes started to take place. It'd be unwise to talk about the obvious, such as fixing everything or finding the last demons hidden around the corners of town, but Saphrith mainly found itself focused on exactly that.

The first and most obvious thing was, finding the victims, as spearheaded by Eryk-Nuil, who this time came with enough experience to instruct others on what to do. Either way, the conclusion would've been the same, recalling the countless other conflicts. It was not the first, nor the last time something like this has happened.

Fortunately, the losses couldn't have been compared to the tragedy of Magna. People took action much faster than back then, and although some lost their lives, atop the Royals, no important figures were harmed. Yet, that still brought a great heap of expectations from the king, or Jyuzou, since people didn't exactly know who to rely on when it came to answers.

The lot thought their success was completely bent towards Sandy's involvement, and eventually such reached the words of Xard, who sent the message forth. As for the others, it was pretty much what was said at the beginning, fixing things, but with a tinge of happiness which came through.

Now, two days later, Atomu and Chyuuichi were sitting on some masonry, while the remaining guards either handed out food portions or ordered others to help them mend what was broken. Waiting, in this case, essentially revolved around being asked by someone to kill a smaller imp, fortunate enough to survive.

At first, there were many, and Jyuzou and Zuimu, despite their wounds, still got involved. Now, the remains, much rarer, were left to the Paladian and Mirillian, but they didn't seem to complain much.

"Here's the soup as promised!" A guard strolled by, handing them two wooden bowls wrapped in some cloth. "Thank you for your work again!" he bowed, before moving forth, and pointing his fingers towards the workers patching up the gates.

Atomu smiled, raising his hand, before turning to Chyuuichi, who ripped the top off and sniffed. "Is that the tree sap ya were talking about?"

"Let me see," he uttered, calmly taking off the cloth, before raising the bowl with an unsure brow. "Smells like it did back home." he continued. "The answer's yes."

Atomu placed one hand on a neatly wrapped spoon and slowly inserted it, exhaling and taking a small sip.

"Careful, though, Chyuuichi." he turned. "The sap is extremely hot when-"

Chyuuichi bellowed, sticking his tongue out, and Atomu swore he could see the idiot's exhaust smoke coming out of his mouth. The Mirillian made a strange face and raised his thumbs.

Atomu sighed, rolling his eyes, and enjoying the meal at a slower pace.

"Ya were right," Chyuuichi uttered, with a bit of a lisp, atop his already heavy Mirillian accent. "Good as all..."

Atomu took another sip, and Chyuuichi tried cooling his tongue down. Eventually, the Paladian turned, with a small sigh.

"D-During all those battles, I think I doubted myself," Atomu said.

"Hm? In what way?"

"I wasn't entirely sure if we'd be able to face the enemy or if Sandy would be fast enough." he shrugged. "Just like always, pretty much. I rarely ever step into things being completely sure of the outcome."

"Yet, it all somehow works out!" Chyuuichi moved the spoon around. "Now, look at the others!" he pointed with the same utensil.

Atomu glanced forth, and there it was, the same sight as earlier. People strolled through the debris, and either stopped to nod in the direction of the Demonears or waved with a calm beam.

"They all said they hate Demonears and look at us now!" Chyuuichi raised his voice. "Crazy how this world works."

"Pff." Atomu snickered.

"Do ya understand it?"

"No, not at all," Atomu answered. "Guess we're equally stupid when it comes to that."

"That's what I wanted to hear!" Chyuuichi smiled, raising his fist and wrapping his hand around Atomu's shoulder. "We're both idiots!"

"On varying levels," he whispered.

Nearby, a few of the workers, trying to patch up the circular gate around the castle's perimeters or fix the various, marble pillars, and open holes in the road, sighed out.

"What a pain." one said to the other, fixing his wolf-shaped helmet, as another, with a red feather atop his, turned.

"Your fifth complaint this hour. What is it now, partner?" he asked, crossing his arms and almost dropping the small hammer.

The other stood atop a pile of debris before throwing another brick in the red feather's direction.

"Just thinking that after we get this side done Xard ordered us to start working on the opera again."

"There's gonna be money involved." the other chuckled. "Never complain about pockets full of silver!"

"Sure." he scoffed. "Look at them, though. The Demonears. They had something to prove their strength in the moment, while... the two of us sat scared for our lives in the underground barracks."

"That's exactly why we're working." the red feather continued. "We're paying up for our cowardice. Or, as I'd like to call it, the right choice in this chaos."

The wolf-shaped helmet guy rolled his eyes, and although the other couldn't see it, another sigh followed. "I just hope we can have some downtime before the King's speech. A few more hands would've been useful in a thing like this."

Then, as if a successful prayer went through, the sound of rubble moving around appeared. Both guards turned, seeing as two people, wearing armour that didn't match their strangely shaped helmets, started picking up the bricks or fighting with each other when it came to which went into the other pile of debris or was good enough to fit into the reconstruction.

The red feather blinked, and the wolf-shaped helmet turned, curiously.

"I can't lift this," Katha uttered before a small vine appeared from the back and forced a brick into Ronpi's hand. "There."

"I'm gonna die!" he uttered, almost falling to the side.

"Who is the lot of you?" the wolf-shaped asked.

Katha stood straight up, while Ronpi tumbled down the structure. "Voluntary work to make your life a little bit easier!" she struck a cool (in her eyes) pose.

The red feather laughed, while the wolf-shaped mask guy smiled.

Meanwhile, when almost everyone's attention turned to the destruction in Oldenklow, the other districts, the main square in Eggre, a good chunk of Willia, the forest paths in Talin, the roads going through Ursonus or almost the entirety of Mokota were in the hands of people who dwelled there. The damage wasn't as big and the unharmed found themselves wandering into other homes and offering the same degree of help.

Such mainly spawned from a few people trying to use this occasion to sneak a glance or two at Judy and Sandy's workshop, and when they were told off, with Judy's reasoning stemming from the fact that only she could mend what was broken, the others offered them some work.

"Oh, damn it!" Judy sounded disappointed, crouching near one of the bookshelves. Zuimu peeked her head out. "The rain soaked the pages of my favourite book!"

"Is that what you're worried about?" Zuimu lifted her mask.

"Yes, I am! I never even got to finish this thing because of Sandy's shenanigans and it was so good halfway that it could've only gotten better since!"

Zuimu chuckled, before stepping towards the other knocked-over shelves.

Judy sighed, almost ostentatiously. "Okay, fine. I guess I'm glad all the other equipment didn't crap on itself during the attack."

"Mhh hmm mm," Zuimu added, squinting her eyes while putting stuff on the table.

"...and the fact that all of us are alive. Still!" Judy turned. "The damage is much more than the eye could see!"

Suddenly, the door swung open, followed by a scream permeating the inside.

"Fifth time today?!" Judy raised her head. "Oh, it's just Sandy."

"Where is it, where is it?!" Sandy asked, grabbing onto the machinery above and almost flailing through the air. "Where is it?!"

"The speech that I wrote for you?" Judy asked.

"Mhm!" Sandy stopped, standing atop a bookshelf. Zuimu pointed up, trying to understand how he got there in the first place. "It's in an hour and I still have yet to learn the script."

"I stuffed it into your pockets."

"Oh?!" Sandy slapped his face. "I threw everything I had out because of a mouldy fruit I found in Talin! It made them stink, foo!"

Judy crossed her arms, half-expecting an answer like this. "You wouldn't even learn anything within that hour. Something like that requires days of attention on your part."

"Can't you write it again? Please!" he begged, on both knees.

"Just say what you feel!" Judy shook her head, angrily. "They'd appreciate honesty. At least, the King should."

"Oh, man." Sandy shook his head, jumping off and stepping back without looking at his environment. "Oh, man." he continued, bumping into white cloth covering something in the corner. He quickly fixed it, before moving towards the door with the same worried expression. "Oh, man!"

As quickly as he appeared, he left. Judy massaged her temples, while Zuimu's eyes were glued to the thing the other scientist just disturbed. She took a few quick steps towards it, revealing the Great Weapon.

It was broken, with chunks of wood sticking out in sharp ends and the bow's string cut in half.

"Sandy said that he'd fix it later," Judy added. "You never know when an opportunity strikes."

Zuimu took off her mask and turned. "It's a miracle that we survived."

"Most plausible theory? The same demon seed he gathered off everyone here meant they wouldn't get hurt. He insisted though, that it was the power of our combined efforts and friendship."

"How did shooting the spear go?" Zuimu asked.

"Almost sprained an ankle, but we live. Ask Rufus and Sam, though. I think one of them broke their nose."

"Heh." Zuimu chuckled. "Where are they now?"

"Standing in the crowds, probably. I shooed them, since Rufus put all of his focus into things that shouldn't be fixed now, and Sam awkwardly stood around, because he was too scared I'd start screaming. Unlike Koyote, which I'll have to attend to in a couple of minutes, they'll try and help without actually helping." she bent down near a table. "You can join them too. I'm sure they'd be expecting another Demonear."

"Even though I didn't do much?"

"Wounding all the demons near the gates isn't a typical feat." Judy shrugged. "You did more than enough in my eyes."

"Thank you." Zuimu stepped towards the door, and the next thing Judy heard was the sound of it opening.

"You're going back to Magna with Eryk-Nuil after this, right?"

The Eran stopped.

"Bring a souvenir or two," Judy added, with a small smile.

Then, the door was shut.

Her eyes returned to the task at hand, as she dug through some of the books. Flipping one over quickly revealed a small, crude drawing of her and Sandy, with the other bearing a similar hat to the one he wears now.

A few words were written at the top.

"Happy birthday to the greatest sister in Errarion! Pinky promise, I'll get you that book, but I couldn't find it today."

Judy breathed out, folding the dry paper into two and stuffing it into a pocket.

***

As a few carriages wandered in from the bridges in Munau Shore, followed by the words talking off the king's speech, people gathered around in Oldenklow.

This time, the heroes had the advantage of standing in the same square as the Royals, away from the commotion caused by the townsfolk.

"At least a thousand," Rufus muttered, pointing.

"Thousand? Are you kidding me? Two thousand, I bet." Sam continued, trying to scratch his nose, which found itself under a thick layer of bandages.

Rufus shook his head. "They look even bigger when you're standing here rather than in the middle of everything."

"Jyuzou's inside?" Atomu asked.

"Yep! Ya know, after his entire speech I'm sure they're getting ready for yet another one," Chyuuichi answered. "I always thought that Morian was kind of good at yapping."

"What does yapping even mean?"

"Talking a lot without really making sense. Or I guess I didn't care enough for all his flower talk."

Zuimu giggled.

"Oh, my." Atomu shook his head, again, much like the other two, turning towards the crowds. He couldn't help but recall everything that led to this. Escaping from the caves, the whole fiasco surrounding Bancho's death in Prope Portam, their travels through Orawood, imprisonment for months and yet... now they were once again, seemingly crowned as the heroes.

For a while, he still couldn't sleep through the thought, until Chyuuichi said something about Demonears always being heroes. People like them were always meant to be these savours, fighters, simply because they could do a job others wouldn't.

Chyuuichi sighed, putting his hands above his head and closing his eyes. Then, a few footsteps came from the side and stopped near the two Demonears.

"Did he start already?" Rowan asked, fixing their ponytail.

"Taking his sweet time," Chyuuichi uttered, opening one eye and almost jumping out of his boots.

"ROWAN?!" The two yelled out, simultaneously. Zuimu turned, a little slower.

The Tributal rolled their eyes. "Rowan," they repeated.

"Where the hell have ya been?!" Chyuuichi asked.

"It'd be so common to say it's a very long story, but considering everything that happened-" they fixed their glasses. "It is precisely that. I'll tell you later, okay? You ought to spout a little as well. What got you involved in this attack I heard about near the port?"

"Oh, BUDDY!" Chyuuichi raised his voice. "It's also a long story."

Ingo found himself just outside the gates, engaged in a subtle argument with the guards, trying to force them to let him in. Giving up halfway, he stomped towards the bigger crowds, and that's exactly when all the cheers sounded, with his head, as well as many others, turning towards the balcony in the middle.

The King strolled in, with a rather weary smile, followed by Jyuzou on his right, and the shaking Sandy, with a nervous beam, on his left.

Sebastian stopped near the throne, but instead of sitting down, he grabbed a sceptre-like tool, and immediately began his speech.

"Welcome, everybody!"