--

"I’d like to apologize again..." Sir Justin sounded ashamed and incredibly stressed. It’s like he hadn’t had sleep for a week, even though the changes only happened yesterday.

"Believe me, if it were up to me, none of this would’ve happened. I want to make an appeal, but they won’t even hear it. We tried to sign a petition; we tried to meet our superiors, too. But even they are helpless. They also don’t understand why they would do this."

"You’re a good kid, Ren," Sir Justin sighed, sounding incredibly regretful. "You’ve got a bright future ahead of you. Any party would be lucky to have you. If you need help, you’ve got my contact information. I’ll try to help you join another party from Central City if I can."

"Thanks, Sir Justin. But I plan on waiting out a bit. Maybe things will change soon? Who knows. But if I’m really at a loss, I won’t hesitate to call you." Ren gave him an easygoing smile, trying to comfort the man despite the difficult situation.

"Good. Stay safe out there, and good luck, Ren."

"You too, Sir."

As Ren left Sir Justin’s office, he couldn’t help but sigh. He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, followed by a melancholic sadness.

The time he spent with the Green Tea Party was short but sweet. He was lucky too that they happened to be the people he partied with as his first. There were many ways this could’ve gone wrong, but because of them, Ren had a good experience.

But as someone who’s different...someone who knows things that he had no business knowing, he always knew that this was temporary. Whether they did something to change the situation or not, parting will always happen.

He’s just relieved that this way, at least, the separation was peaceful, albeit sad. They will be parting on good terms, which is probably the best way to end this Chapter of his life.

Ren made his way to the common room of the party and found the others in there, looking sad, dispirited, and exhausted.

They saw him, but they almost didn’t react. Ren did notice that Jules avoided eye contact with him again, which hasn’t happened in a while. With the time he spent with Jules, he learned that he only does this when he feels guilty or ashamed of something.

Ren sat down, opened a bottle of root beer, and took a long swig before placing it gently on the table.

"It’s like we’re at a wake, or something," he muttered loud enough for everybody to hear.

He didn’t miss the way Jules flinched and Kaycee turned her head away.

"Well...it might as well be," Jen groaned. "This party’s over, after all."

Ren narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you mean?"

"You aren’t the only one leaving the party," Derek stated, which startled Ren.

He looked at him, and he looked back.

Then, he looked at Jules, who felt his gaze and stiffened. Ren noticed his hands were shaking, and he looked as if he hadn’t slept at all. His eyes were red, probably from crying all night.

"I don’t want to, but I also can’t defy my family." Jules’ voice shook as he explained his reason, practically admitting that he’s also leaving the party.

"I don’t understand why. When I got home last night, the whole family was active, like, more active than it usually was. They summoned everybody with a license and told us that the family will be creating parties for dungeon exploration."

"I didn’t think much about it at first, but they said that everybody must participate, even those who had grown together and are legally bound to their previous party group. The elders said that they will be responsible for the penalties so everybody could leave their groups in peace."

"That includes me too. They said that from now on, I will be joining my brothers in raids."

"I don’t get it, either," Jules shook his head. "My older brothers are way stronger than me. I’d just be a deadweight if they brought me along. I’d probably die the moment we enter the dungeons they’re raiding."

"What I don’t understand is why this is necessary. Our family are all defense specialists. What are we going to do by ourselves? Defend and hope that the monsters die after hitting us enough times?"

"They won’t explain anything to me either. It doesn’t matter how much I insist; they’d just tell me that it’s not yet time for me to know and that I should just do as I’m told."

"I hate it."

Ren didn’t speak. He allowed Jules to cry and be frustrated about his situation since he had the right to be.

Jules wasn’t being a spoiled brat here. In fact, what he said made perfect sense. The Roottree family was a famous defense specialist. That was their lifeline, their inheritance. Everybody in Q-City looks for them for defense specialists. That’s their bread and butter.

Since they heavily invested in their family’s specialty, they will obviously be lacking in other parts, more specifically, the offense department. The Roottrees are physically and genetically strong and large, yes, but that’s because they’re built for defense, not offense.

A full party consisting of pure defense specialists was a bad idea. Anything that is too rigid is a bad idea in the dungeons. That’s why Jules had the right to be upset.

This decision doesn’t just sound stupid in his ears; it’s practically a suicidal move for the entire family. How can that not upset him?

Ren’s eyes shifted to Kaycee because he had a feeling that she too had something to say.

Kaycee felt his gaze, sighed, looked back at him, and nodded.

"Since last night, I’m officially engaged," she stated, lowering her gaze to her lap. "That’s not really the surprising part. I’ve always known that it happens. It was no secret; the clan raised me aware of my responsibilities. I’m not against it either since I’m not from the main house."

"It didn’t surprise me that it happened earlier, either. That didn’t matter much to me. So long as my fiance agrees that we won’t be having children before I’m 21 years old and would respect my agency before we’re officially married, I’m open for discussion."

She paused, adjusted her glasses, sighed, and continued:

"But...I don’t know, it’s probably because of the new law that was passed, but things have gone way differently all of a sudden."

"I returned home yesterday with my fiance practically waiting at my door. I had no idea why he was there, but he told me that the clan head wanted to meet us together to explain something to us."

"Right then and there, we were told that we’re officially engaged. My initial conditions, which are also written down on our contract, were there and will be met, so that’s one less thing I have to worry about."

"But it was too sudden. Even my groom, who had been looking forward to our engagement, was caught completely by surprise too. And that says a lot to me. He didn’t know either."

"However, there were some slight additions to my contract. It says that I either continue being a dungeon explorer or start preparing for married life."

"If I were to continue exploring dungeons, I could only party with my fiance or my clan’s people. Outsiders aren’t allowed. They’d put me in house arrest if I violated this."

"If I were to choose the other option, I’d have to put down my bow. Not for good, but for the most part. I’ll be handling clan business, learning all sorts of things about being a housewife and managing a family, and so on."

"These are my only options, so..." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Ren was shocked, but not too much. He knew that some families and/or clans have strong opinions about marraige and all, but this is the first time he’s heard them being this forceful personally.

At the same time, he knew the reason why the clans and families were doing this. In fact, it’s the same reason why that previous law was made, just more focused on family and/or clan.

"This is all some bullshit!" Jen spat out of nowhere. "I really don’t get it. Everything was fine just a month ago, and now this?"

"What will Derek and I do now?"

"Well, we don’t have a choice. We’d have to rely on Sir Justin from now on, so you better be polite to him moving forward." Derek sighed and sank into his chair.

Jen gave him a side glance and muttered, "You’re taking this news way too easily. Aren’t you supposed to be the party leader now? Can’t you show some heat or anger?"

"Nah, too exhausting. Besides, will things change if I start complaining? The law was passed. It’s not up to us anymore. I also don’t want them to leave, but I also can’t make them stay."

"Instead of dwelling on this upsetting mood for too long, we might as well party all day and all night. Maybe it’s the last time we’ll ever see each other again."