"After all this time, you decided to come forward now and reveal this to me?"

"Y-Yes sir….please forgive me-"

"Forgive? Fuck off."

In a dark, isolated room, the man kept his eyes on the computer screen in front of him, but he conversed with the man behind him who spoke in a nervous manner.

"Paul Liam," he continued, calling out the man's name with an intensely stern tone.

"Sir!"

"We won't make a move yet."

"But….but sir-"

His words were then cut off by the sudden movement before him, as the man who was shrouded in darkness finally stood up from his chair and slowly walked up to him, leaning into his face and then stopping short as his face was barely revealed by the dim light.

A large scar occupied the right side of his face, and he wore a crooked smile and a powerful glare that seemed to stun his visitor.

"You say that this secretary of yours was able to return to you and gave you this info? Nice. Bring him and the girl that he captured to me. Let's play the long game."

"The long game…..? O-Okay then."

"And don't test my patience!"

"Yes sir!"

With that, Paul Liam, the Head Representative of the Polar Town Magical Beast Cornerstone Corporation, left the scene in a hurry, and the mysterious figure returned to his seat and bowed his head in frustration, but then he let out a chuckle.

"Congrats on winning round one, Liohime Kitagami," he muttered, before glancing over at the blue and black glowing Magical Beast egg at his side that lay on the desk.

"But…what will you do when Round 2 approaches, I wonder? Take good care of her until then."

***

Despite a large amount of casualties and missing members being present, the Shinigami Soldiers had returned to the surface, completing their mission.

The Hallory Circuit group that consisted of ten members lost three, and one was missing in the second layer, unable to be contacted, leaving six remaining.

The Astral Borough group that consisted of twelve members lost seven, and three went missing, unable to be contacted, leaving two remaining.

The Grind Square group that consisted of ten members lost two, and five went missing, but two were able to be contacted and escaped the Paradisus Legion, leaving five remaining.

The Hokai City Group, the one closest to the Paradisus Legion that consisted of twelve members, lost six members, leaving six remaining.

And the Polar Town group, the smallest but most successful one that consisted of only six members, lost just one, leaving five remaining.

--Topics of the casualties and even discussions of the prospect of disbanding were all being brought up.

Liohime was barely able to compose himself at his final meeting with his fellow workmates, expressing great sorrow over the loss of Jolene Aurora and the farewell message that he had for his team.

Although the mood was not at its best, everyone still decided to stick together for some time in the isolated and abandoned train station as they all said their goodbyes to Liohime.

"We will definitely miss you, man," said Ophiel, while Bica and Leah nodded. "No matter what, don't hesitate to call me if you need anything."

"Or me!" Bica chimed in. "If you are in a dire situation, please call me for weapons and for Ophiel to get them to you safely. It's part of our jobs after all. Plus, I wasn't able to save Jolene, so….I have to work even harder to help my teammates, even if they are just former acquaintances."

*Liohime will remember that.

Liohime smiled. "I really appreciate it, you guy-UUUWAAAHHHMMMMFFF!!!??"

"Bring it iiiin!!" yelled Leah with tearful eyes as she pulled his face into the warm embrace of her cleavage, and the young man found himself being suffocated by her large breasts.

"You have to take reeeaaaally good care of yourself, okay!?" she said as she babied him relentlessly. "I've been with you longer than these guys have, so I'm really worried about you! I'll miss you soooooo fucking much!!!"

"MMM!! MMM MMMFFF!!!"

While the four of those members remained together, Harvey sat on a nearby bench with crutches.

He averted his eyes and sighed.

After the heartfelt goodbyes from the trio, Liohime then found himself talking to the main man himself.

"Like I said in the meeting, I've agreed to let you go, Lio. I've heard your reasoning and I accept," said Matsuo Yamamoto, the chief of the Shinigami Soldiers, and Liohime sighed and nodded.

"Okay. Thank you."

"You've been working for me for so long, and although I'm not sure on how to proceed with our group yet, especially with this monetary reward that will certainly prove to be enough for everyone here to not work again for years to come, I'm glad that you were able to work under me for so long."

"Thank you for everything, sir," Liohime replied. "You gave me another chance at life. I am able to stand here with such a huge reward thanks to you taking me in. I really appreciate it."

His words were gracious, but he kept his gaze down and his tone low, while Matsuo pursed his lips.

He placed a soft grip on his shoulder.

"Sir?"

"I know that you must have tried your best in there, so I won't ask about anything that went down in the Paradisus Legion," he told him. "I know that things are hard to come to terms with right now, especially the loss of our assassin. Still, try to keep your head up. It's not your fault."

"Y-You don't understand, sir. If was quicker….no, if I had just tried harder, then maybe-"

Liohime gnashed his teeth and wore a bitter expression, failing to keep himself composed while the rest of the team idly averted their eyes with regret. However, Matsuo kept his hand on his shoulder.

"We all have moments where we wished we could go back and undo certain things with our own strength," he responded. "Trust me, I know. But this is life, son. Jolene's sacrifice will never be forgotten. You told me that she said for you to keep living, right? Then live and keep her in your heart."

With the image of Jolene's last moments so deeply engrained into his mind, Liohime began to tear up and gripped his chest, sniffling and nodding in agreement.

"Yes sir."

"Alright."

***

"Wait up, Harvey."

"Hah?"

Harvey Barnes, on hearing that familiar voice, turned and shot a harsh glance at Liohime. The several bandages that wrapped around his lower leg were clear to see, and he hobbled painfully.

"Y-You really shouldn't be walking around, and where's your crutch?"

"Fuck off. It's been a few days, and I feel just fine. Are you my mother? Just say what you want to say and let me return home, will you-"

"This was from Jolene. Here."

"...Huh?"

He paused, and lowered his eyes to spot the folded piece of paper in Liohime's hand.

"What's…?"

"Her farewell letter. It was meant to be for just me when I leave Polar Town, but it seems like she slipped in a small piece of paper within my portion that was meant for you too. I haven't read it yet, but you should read yours."

Harvey took it from him, and scanned the contents for a while, before folding it once more and sighing, and then he stopped at Liohime's side just as he was about to pass him.

"She was supposed to return with us, man."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I should have…."

Liohime tried to blame it on his own inability but his words trailed off, before Harvey replied with a wavering voice:

"Me too, man…..me too. Shit.....okay."

His lips trembled, and he took in deep breaths, but eventually, after a brief period of silence between the two, Harvey was able to compose himself.

"So, you're leaving, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe I should do the same."

He let out a slight chuckle and then sent a soft jab to his co-worker's side before turning and walking away.

"It was fun while it lasted, twerp. Take care of yourself."

"-hk, y-yeah. You two," Liohime responded with a wheeze after getting struck.

Harvey then turned and walked onto the sidewalk as he looked for a taxi, never looking back as he said his final goodbye to Liohime Kitagami who would soon depart from the region.

Then, Liohime reached for his pocket and pulled out the folded paper that Jolene had given to him in the second layer of the Paradisus Legion.

((

"A-Already? You're done already!?"

"Yes, but please don't open it now, okay!? Only view this when you're done with the mission and return to Polar Town with me. I want to tell you something before you go."

"-hk, uh, okay."

))

She wasn't able to tell me what she wanted to say, but maybe some of her thoughts were conveyed here.

Liohime opened the paper and began to read the written text.

[ Liohime Kitagami, I love you. Farewell, and I wish you all the best in your new location. ]

--That was it.

Liohime froze, and then smiled.

So that was it, huh? No wonder you finished that letter so quickly.

His lips trembled, and all of a sudden, his vision was blurred by the watery liquid that formed and dripped from his eyelids.

The sniffles and the tears wouldn't stop coming.

Dumbass…..you complete dumbass, he told himself internally as he fell to his knees and sobbed silently.

….You're such a fucking dumbass, Liohime.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.