Finally, I can Retire, Or so I Thought

The following morning, while Dion, Luna, Aria, Cleo, Sheila, and Mei were having breakfast in the dining hall, with Gina sitting casually at the table among messy plates brought by the golem servants, blam! The dining hall door swung wide open. Johan walked in alongside Astrid. Seeing the two enter, Cleo stood up, stepped out from her chair, and walked over to greet them.

”Are you alright, Johan?” Cleo asked, eyeing Dion briefly.

”I’m fine... just exhausted from running completely out of mana,” Johan replied with a faint smile.

”He pushed himself way too hard, even after I told him not to,” Astrid said, gently nudging Johan as he rubbed the back of his head.

”Thank goodness you two are okay. I’m sorry we arrived late to save you,” Cleo said.

”It’s no problem at all. You had plenty on your plate as well, right? We just stopped by because after this, we’re heading to the back to study the Royal Palace of Xandor now that it’s above ground,” Johan explained.

”Yes! I really want to go inside and take a look around,” Astrid added, adjusting her glasses.

”Alright... I’ve already taken a quick look inside, but I’ll leave the details to the mages and researchers handling it,” Cleo added with a smile.

Then Cleo noticed a petite girl standing right behind Johan and Astrid, wearing a blonde hair style underneath a wolf-head hood, complete with a flowing cloak. The girl held a long staff taller than herself tightly in her arms, her head bowed low. Johan and Astrid realized Cleo was looking behind them.

”Ah... right! This is Nala. She wanted to come along with us to the back and decided to stop by here first,” Johan introduced, stepping aside.

”Nala?”

Cleo turned to see Sheila, Mei, and Luna already standing right behind her, staring at Nala behind Johan.

”Um... Hi Sheila, Mei, Luna... How have you been?” Nala greeted in a timid, quiet voice.

Without hesitation, Sheila, Mei, and Luna surged forward, squeezing past Johan and Astrid, forcing them to shift aside and join Cleo, and threw their arms around Nala. Caught off guard, Nala stood flustered and embarrassed, looking utterly confused as the three immediately began chatting and reminiscing about their academy days. Cleo, Johan, and Astrid simply stood there like statues, talking among themselves. Meanwhile, Dion, who was sitting at the table, slumped low in his chair to hide from view. Sitting beside him, Aria shook her head with a smile.

”What’s wrong with you, honey?” Aria asked softly.

”Nothing... Just don’t feel like being seen,” Dion muttered back.

”Do you have history with her?” Aria asked, darting a glance toward Nala.

”Well... She was my classmate back at the academy. She’s friends with Sheila and Mei... But she also had a falling out with me back then. When I defended Sheila from Gred and beat him up, she took his side because she had feelings for him back then,” Dion explained.

”Ah... But all of that happened back in school, right? Things are probably different now,” Aria reasoned.

”Not necessarily. Case in point: she joined the attack against us alongside Dhorga... Dhorga is Gred’s biological father, which means she came here alongside her future father-in-law... Or maybe current father-in-law,” Dion pointed out.

”Hmm... I see. But from the looks of it, I don’t think that’s the case anymore,” Aria remarked, pointing toward Luna, Sheila, and Mei talking with Nala.

Dion turned to look at the four girls. His eyes widened when he realized Nala was staring directly at him while clutching her staff, her expression stunned and blank, merely nodding along to whatever Sheila, Mei, and Luna were saying to her.

”Wait... Why is she staring over here?” Dion asked.

”Who knows... Just ignore it and keep eating,” Aria said, pulling Dion back up to sit straight.

As Dion resumed eating, he noticed Nala’s eyes remained fixed on him, even as her mouth conversed with Sheila, Mei, and Luna. Shortly after, Sheila, Mei, and Luna invited Nala to sit down and join them at the table. Once seated,

”Dion, you remember Nala, right?” Luna asked.

”Yeah... I remember,” Dion answered, looking at Nala, who was now seated across from him between Luna and Sheila. Dion looked at Nala directly. ”How are you, Nala?”

”Um... I’m doing well,” Nala replied, stiff and nervous.

Nala then stole a glance at Gina, who was sitting on the table holding a plate with both tiny claws, licking sauce off it. Noticing Nala eyeing Gina, Dion reached out, gently pulled Gina closer to himself, and wiped her snout. Seeing Dion’s cautious reaction, Nala flinched slightly and looked down at the table, hugging her staff tighter.

Naturally, Sheila and Luna caught the shift in atmosphere. They looked at Dion, glanced at the completely unbothered Gina, and then turned back to Nala.

”This is Gina. She’s a baby Calamity Dragon... and our daughter,” Sheila introduced.

”That’s right! So don’t go turning her into your summon, okay?” Luna quipped.

”Oh... So she’s the giant dragon that defeated my monsters,” Nala murmured.

”Yep! That’s Gina,” Aria chimed in. As Nala looked over at Aria, Aria raised a hand in greeting. ”Hi! My name is Aria. I’m just a merchant and a blacksmith,” Aria said with a smile.

Nala shook Aria’s hand. ”Um... Yes, nice to meet you. My name is Nala,” she introduced herself politely.

After that, aside from Johan, Astrid, and Cleo chatting away among themselves, the dining table fell into a quiet hush. Dion kept eating calmly while Gina crawled over to snag a massive chunk of bone-in ham, scurrying back near Dion to eat again. Sensing the awkward stiffness in the air, Sheila turned to Nala, her expression turning dead serious.

”Are you willing to help me reclaim my kingdom?” Sheila asked, cutting straight to the point.

Every eye at the table locked onto Sheila, save for Dion and Gina. Nala stared back at Sheila with a grave expression, her eyes narrowing and her brow furrowing in the center.

”You... intend to take back the kingdom?” Nala asked.

”Yes. Your boyfriend has crossed the line. He doesn’t manage the kingdom and only cares about indulging himself, while his mother stepped way over the line by ordering your father-in-law to attack us,” Sheila answered, staring Nala down.

”Ugh... Please don’t remind me about Gred... I have nothing to do with him anymore... Even though my father ordered me to be his fiancée and made an agreement with General Dhorga... The only reason I came here was actually to bring you back safely and resolve things peacefully,” Nala explained softly.

”Huh... Is that true? You’re no longer engaged to Gred?” Sheila asked, surprised.

”No... I broke it off. Gred never cared about me. He preferred indulging himself with prostitutes he practically invited to the palace every single day. I moved on six months ago and joined the military, even if they still refer to me as a national treasure,” Nala revealed.

”Hmm... Even though back at the academy, you followed Gred everywhere, even if you were a year older than him,” Mei remarked.

”That was in the past... Back then, I genuinely loved him and viewed him like a younger brother, too... He wasn’t like he is now... And I don’t like who he’s become... Everything has changed,” Nala said, her head hanging low.

”I see... Well then, that means we’re on the same side now, right?” Luna said, placing a reassuring hand on Nala’s shoulder.

”Yes... I’m willing to join you all. But... if you’re asking me to wage war against my own kingdom... I refuse. Surely you understand, Sheila,” Nala stated firmly.

”Even if we’re forced to use force to reclaim what’s mine?” Sheila pressed.

”Yes. I will not aid you or support you in a war. I’ll still join you in other matters, like developing this domain or researching the palace in the back,” Nala answered, her voice trembling slightly, yet filled with undeniable resolve.

Hearing Nala’s firm, final declaration, Sheila fell completely silent. She turned to stare at Nala, who was now avoiding her eyes and looking down at the table. The silence in the room stretched thin, suffocating as Sheila glared angrily at her friend sitting beside her. Noticing Sheila’s tense posture and the suffocating atmosphere settling over the room, Luna turned to Dion.

”Dion, please say something,” Luna pleaded.

Dion, who had raised a fork with a piece of egg poked through it toward his mouth, froze mid-action. Even Gina paused her eating to look over at him. Aria and Mei watched him, while Johan, Astrid, and Cleo went completely quiet, even the two golem servants standing in the corner of the dining hall rotated their heads toward Dion. Every single eye in the room pinned its hopes on Dion to diffuse the rising tension.

”Sigh...” Dion let out a long breath. He brought the fork into his mouth, chewed, and set the utensil down on his plate before looking across the table at Sheila.

”Sheila, we’re going to meet General Dhorga again today. We’ll ask for his final decision. If he refuses to decide, we’ll make the call ourselves,” Dion said.

”So if Dhorga refuses to cooperate, we’re launching an attack, right?” Sheila asked, locking eyes with Dion.

Hearing Sheila’s question, Nala snapped her head up to stare at her, then darted her eyes over to Dion. Her pale face betrayed her desperate wish that Dion and Sheila wouldn’t invade Northgard. ”Sigh...” Dion let out another weary sigh.

”Please stop thinking so narrowly. Like I told you before, we aren’t going to launch an invasion and force your people to fight against us. We’ll take back the kingdom by confronting Gred directly and explaining the whole situation. I offered that general a partnership not so he could march on Northgard with us, but so he could help us slip into Northgard without a battle... Do you understand what I’m saying?” Dion asked gently.

Sheila stared at Dion, studying his expression, before a soft smile broke across her face and she gave a firm nod of understanding. Nala let out a visible sigh of relief, a faint smile touching her lips, while Luna, Aria, Mei, and Cleo, standing off to the side, looked thrilled, realizing that they would soon be setting off for the Kingdom of Northgard.