Mika slowly let go of Arnold after the woman touched him and introduced herself as Arnold’s wife.

"It may be late but let me introduce myself. I’m Elya Pyril."

She was the hostage Elsa mentioned to Mika. During the battle, Elya was restricted by Vira’s people in a town near Youra. Only after the battle ended, Arnold would lead a group to free his wife and bring her to Youra where she could finally reunite with Sylvia.

"So you’re Sylvia’s mother then." Mika said sternly.

"That’s correct. And just like you, I was heavily disappointed and enraged after learning about the fact that my husband fought against Sylvia. I have and will continue to scold him for that." Elya stated strictly.

Mika shifted his gaze back to Arnold.

"Did you at least talk it out with Sylvia yet?" he asked him.

"Y-yes..." Arnold replied sheepishly which was a rare tone from him.

"Good. Then, there’s nothing left for me to say anymore." Mika said before preparing to leave.

"Please, wait!" Elya slightly raised her voice hurriedly.

"Yes?"

Compared to Arnold, Mika was more polite with Elya.

"Could you please spare us a little bit of your time...?" she asked softly with a smile.

"Is there still something?" he wondered after sitting down again.

"The truth is..."

Without any signals, Arnold got up and offered Elya the chair.

"I wanted to know more about you." she admitted embarrassedly.

"You want to know me?" Mika repeated slightly confused.

"Yes!" she replied cheerfully.

"Uhm..."

Mika did not know what he should say or how he should even start.

"It’s been only a few days since I was rescued and reunited with Sylvia. Of course, we spent a lot of time together as a family again and she told us many stories about her friends and her time in Loogam but we couldn’t help but notice that your name was dropping quite frequently." Elya elaborated with inspecting eyes.

"As a mother, it piqued my interest who the boy, about whom my daughter talked so much, actually was." she added with a light chuckle.

"..."

Mika was once more turned speechless.

He looked over to Arnold who was sulking and trying to hold back his words. But Arnold knew that his words may worsen the whole situation.

"Then... Do you have any specific questions for me...?" Mika asked confused.

"!"

Suddenly, Elya leaned closer to Mika with beaming eyes.

Despite her age, she appeared like a curious child now.

"Then, what is your relationship with Sylvia? Are you perhaps her boyfriend? Or are you still at the stage where neither of you has confessed yet?"

"..."

A flood of questions was coming at the petrified Mika.

From the corner, he heard Arnold growling silently, whereas he heard from behind him Elsa who was quite amused.

"Well... I-"

"Excuse me... I’ve been told that my parents are here- Mika?"

And before Mika could give an answer, Sylvia entered the tent.

"Ugh..." Elya groaned as if she was busted while doing a bad thing.

"What are you all doing here...?" Sylvia asked stunned.

"I could ask you the same though. Weren’t you helping with reconstructions?" Mika asked.

"After hearing that you were discharged, everyone agreed on taking a day off to celebrate it so I came to get my parents..." Sylvia explained, still unable to put the pieces together.

Arnold and Elya quickly headed to the tent’s entrance and grabbed Sylvia by her shoulders.

"T-then, let’s go! Come, show us the way, Sylvia!" Elya stated, acting all hyped.

"..."

Confused, Sylvia looked back at Mika as she was pushed by her parents but Mika just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Let’s go, too. The man of the hour shouldn’t let the others wait." Elsa stated with a joyful sigh.

Thus, they headed to Youra’s center with their group and selected people from the North, including Dura.

And while Mika and Sylvia took the lead, the others watched their backs.

"To think I would witness the day when Sylvia would smile at a boy like that..." Elya said, wiping an imaginary tear away.

"..."

"Jeez, don’t be so grumpy. Didn’t you see how much he cares for her? If not then he wouldn’t have scolded you." she stated as Arnold was fuming internally at the sight of his daughter walking alongside a boy.

Dura chuckled quietly.

"What now, Grandma?" Elsa asked indifferently.

"I wouldn’t mind passing away now." Dura said completely satisfied.

"Don’t say things like that." Elsa sighed.

"..."

There was Elya, Dura’s daughter. Elsa, her granddaughter. Arnold, her son-in-law. And Sylvia, her other granddaughter.

Dura walked slower in order to get the full sight of her whole family spending time together.

"If only he were to marry Sylvia..." Dura giggled.

"Do you need me to carry you perhaps?" Elsa teased as she also slowed down her pace.

"Don’t underestimate me, Elsa. I still have a lot of energy left!" Dura retorted with a confident grin.

"Now you’re contradicting yourself..." Elsa muttered relieved.

The family kept walking towards the celebration while laughing and chatting joyfully with each other. It was a scene none of them could have imagined a while ago.

And after a short while, they were finally there.

"Mika!"

Of course, it was his friends who jumped on him out of joy. All of them wore wide smiles as they embraced him.

"Congratulations on your recovery."

Belian smiled faintly as he patted Mika’s shoulder.

"I was so worried!"

Rachel was rubbing her face into Mika’s chest.

"Naturally, we were all as worried as her."

Harik smiled wryly as he pulled Rachel back.

"I heard that you took Vira down on your own. Aside from amazing, I can’t really find a word to describe it."

Lisa, who just stood there, was flabbergasted after recalling the events.

"Well, at least you’re awake again! I- We’ve missed you so much!"

Lily was openly showing her affection as she hugged Mika tightly.

"Uhm... Lily...?"

Mika did not know what to do with her.

"Hey, that’s unfair! I want to hug him, too!" Rachel complained as she was charging at Mika again. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Guess I have to separate them..." Lisa sighed with a smile on her face.

"It’s his first time seeing you and you’re already this aggressive?" Sylvia teased Lily.

But Sylvia was no better as she unconsciously tugged on Mika’s shirt from behind.

"Hey, hero! The people have gathered for you! How about a little speech up there. My brother and mother are waiting for you!"

Now, even Sara joined the fray and pulled on Mika’s arm.

"?"

But he turned his head once he heard the familiar way of shoes clacking on the ground.

"Just what should I do with you... Not a single minute passed since your arrival and you’re already surrounded by girls..."

Ophelia smiled at him while giving him a wry look and putting her hands on her hips.

At her remark, the girls let go of Mika.

"Good job out there." she muttered as she passed Mika and patted his shoulder, too.

"..."

With a faint smile, Mika headed to the stage which was prepared for the occasion.

"I hope you aren’t disappointed with the scale of this celebration. If we had more time, then we c-"

"It’s already plenty." Mika politely cut Cylia, who walked over to him, off.

"Glad to hear that then." she replied as she handed him a chalice with juice.

The last person before he walked up the stage was Yarjak.

He smiled at Mika but compared to his other family members, it was still noticeable that he was hurting from deep down.

"Before we departed to Loogam, I was roughly visualizing such a scene. A celebration for finishing the long fight against the North. However..."

Yarjak was clenching his fists as he looked at the ground.

"However... I can’t genuinely admit that I’m happy... Strange, isn’t it?" he said, forcing a smile.

"..."

His voice was shaking as if he was fighting against his tears.

The whole Tiam family was fighting against their grief after losing Tija.

"It’s not strange. Rather, it would be strange if you were genuinely happy." Mika replied.

"Sorry, but I can’t find the right words to comfort you." Mika admitted as passed by him.

"No... You don’t have to do that..."

Yarjak’s lips were slightly trembling.

"If there’s one person who needs comforting words, then it wouldn’t be me..." he muttered as his gaze shifted to a certain person.

The person, who needed comfort the most, was Sara, Yarjak’s little sister who had to kill Tija with her own hands.

[Do you have a speech in mind?]

"No. And if I had a speech in mind, wouldn’t you know that?"

[I refuse to waste my time listening to every single thought of yours.]

"At least for today, couldn’t you be nicer...?" Mika sighed as he finally faced the crowd which consisted of Youra’s citizens, its soldiers, Mika’s friends and some people from the North.

"I will do this my way." he added quietly.

Mika stretched his arm with the chalice facing the excited people.

"Cheers."