Takobu tried to heal his mother and Yorokobu was holding her hand, begging her to not die, while Steve looked to the ground not to see Celta's deplorable state.

Then, Celta, with all the strength she had left, said: "Please kids, hear me. I want to tell you something".

They all heard attentively to what Celta had to say, knowing that if Takobu stopped pouring magic on her she would die immediately.

Steve felt again how his soul wanted to leave his body, so he made a barrier around him, keeping it in place.

"I had a daughter with Plan. She was adorable. She was the best kid I could ask for. She was kind, always helping in the house. Then she grew up. She made friends and wanted to follow our profession of adventurers with them.

Years passed and she married an awesome man, and for their honeymoon they invited us to a picnic in the forest. When we came back, we found this cave, the same one that took Plan's arm away and the same one we promised to complete. We entered the dungeon after Plan deactivated his spell and we entered the dungeon. We had promised revenge to Kappanelle...

But we failed miserably. The golem killed Plan and my son-in-law. They were able to make an opening for me and my daughter to escape, so we left them behind.

We knew that we couldn't escape, since Plan had made the conditions of the door to kill the golem or he would open it.

My daughter and I survived eating goblins in the first passage. We were grateful that the golems were leaving the first tunnels".

After saying that she coughed some blood, wiped herself and continued.

"Some months later, we came to notice that my daughter was pregnant. We didn't want to give her child a bad time in the dungeon, but it was worse not to even give it the chance, so she kept it".

Celta's eyes started watering.

"When she gave birth, she wished to her child: 'be happy', so I put that name to you, Yorokobu, since she died after giving birth to Takobu".

She gave a strong hug to her grandchildren and spoke to Steve.

"And you, kid... what's your name?".

"Shinto", replied Steve.

"Shinto, huh? That's a good name. When you entered the dungeon, I saw you as bait so my grandkids were able to survive. That's why we only progressed when you got stronger. But at some point, I started caring about you. You reminded me of Kappanelle, and when I knew she was your mother, the guilt consumed me for trying to use you as bait.

I'm sorry for lying to the three of you", she said between her tears.

The Kobu brothers, crying rivers, strongly hugged her and said that it didn't matter. Steve said the same.

"Lastly , I don't know how, but I managed to summon a shield to stop the golem for a fraction of a second. Try to replicate it".

"Thank you... please, be happy, as your mother wanted. And get out of this dungeon...", she said as she passed away. Yoro and Tako cried non stop. Their hearts were crushed.

"Yoro, Tako, come here", said Steve pulling the both of them towards him.

"What?", they both asked, but Steve's hug interrupted them.

"You never know when it's you who needs a hug", he said as he strongly hugged them.

They hugged him back, putting their heads on each of his shoulders, using Steve's clothes to wipe their tears. They had to bend their knees to be at Steve's level.

Time passed and they didn't move. Yorokobu kept crying on Steve's shoulder and Takobu was sobbing. Steve was patting their backs.

They stayed like that, but some fast golems came. Steve created some swords and cut them without the others realizing. They just kept crying and crying at the side of Celta's dead body.

Hours passed and they had calmed down. Steve felt that the responsibility of having to take care of two people that doubled his age crushed him. He was the only one that was somewhat mentally mature.

Steve let go of the hug, and so did Takobu and Yorokobu.

"Let's go to sleep", said Steve, and they followed what he said. He created pillows and blankets and gave it to them.

Yoro and Tako went to sleep, but Steve didn't. He felt that since Celta had died, he was the one who needed to be vigilant for any attacks.

The next days, only Steve fought monsters. The other two didn't want to get up. The only thing that they did was cooking what Steve had hunted.

Tako had created a grave with stone with his magic, burying his grandma underground.

Steve understood what they were going through. The first six months he was dead, he still felt his uncle's death, even if he tried coping by talking with Aria.

Day after day, they were less talkative, they didn't train, they didn't play with Steve and they didn't move.

Steve's body coulnt keep up. He slept less than four hours, thing that ended up becoming a habit.

A mont had passed, and Steve's body was deteriorating. Even if he slept that much, he still trained, fought and cared for the two.

But the day arrived and he wasn't able to move anymore. Neither his legs nor his arms were able to move due to how exhausted he was.

He was in front of them, laying on the ground. He made a last effort, and between breaths, he said: "Guys... I really can't continue like this. I've been fighting and training almost without a bit of sleep... I really need your help... Do you remember Celta's last words? She didn't say that you should do nothing. No. She said that she wanted you to be happy and to get out of this dungeon, so please... please help me. I really can't keep doing this. I also want to get out of here and go see my family, but I can't do it alone... I really need your help. I'm tired...". As he said that, he passed out.

***

Steve heard how he was being called by someone by his name, thing that soon changed to being called as Shinto. He opened his eyes and saw Tako hugging him from the back and Yoro was sanding next to them with his knife in hand.

"Thank you", said Takobu pushing his head against Steve's back.

"Don't force yourself", he replied, also talking to Yoro.

"I want to take revenge on that f-ing golem". Yoro's face was full of confidence, pushing his fists against each other. He had turned all his sadness into the desaire of revenge.

"When did you learn that word?". Steve was really looking forward to know.

"I don't know", replied Yoro, which made Steve laugh.

Steve smiled as he saw that his words weren't in vain. He was able to motivate the two teens to move and do something.

"Let's go now", said Yoro, but Steve grabbed his leg making him fall to the ground.

Yoro extended his hands to cushion the fall and shouted: "What was that for!?".

"We are not going now", declared Steve not letting go of Yoro's leg.

"Why!?", he complained while trying to take Steve's hand off him.

"Do you have an Idea on how to kill that golem?", Steve asked smiling as he already knew what Yoro's answer would be.

"No...", said Yoro shyly shrugging his shoulders.

Steve smiled even more and said "That's why". Then his face filled with confidence and security and he said: "We will use a year to prepare and make srategies to kill that Golem and avenge your family".

"Are you in?", Steve asked.

"We don't have another option", pointed out Yorokobu while Tako, sitting down said that he was in.

"Yoro, you are totally right", said Steve as he got up, but he lost his balance and fell to the ground as he had many times.

"But first let me sleep", he said as he created sleeping items for everyone. Then he put his head on the pillow and without putting the blanket on, he fell asleep. Tako covered him with the blanket Steve hadn't used, and the Kobu brothers decided to protect Steve while he slept.

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Author's note:

Yorokobu literally means "be happy" in Japanese.