“Are you alright?”

“We’re great, uncle! That was amazing. How did you do that? Are you one of those magical girls?” I said in a bubbly tone as I cozied up to him.

“Ah, come on, do I look like a girl to you?”

“Rainy, Erica! Uncle here said he’ll treat us to some boba if we go with him.”

I wrapped my arms around his, but he quickly pulled away.

“Oh no, you don’t. You’re probably more dangerous than those shadows.”

“Tsk, how boooorrrriiing~” Damn, I thought this personality was his type, too.

“Come on, Kyrie. Stop fooling around.” Rainy came and pulled me away from being so close. “But, thank you, uncle, for coming to our rescue.”

“It’s no problem, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me uncle. I’m not that old.” He says, even though he’s just as old as I am.

You might look like a college hotty, but he even has more nieces and nephews than I do.

“My name is Aries. I just got in from a flight, so I was surprised to see that the internet videos of monsters were true.”

“My name is Rainy, the imperial nuisance is Kyrie, and over there is Erica.”

I gave him a wave into a peace sign followed by a legendary shoujo A pose. “‘Sup.”

Erica only hid her face behind her bag. “H-hello.”

“Ooh? Does someone have a thing for older men?”

“Th-that's not it. Can we just get going? I’m still a little nervous and want to get home quickly.”

“I actually have somewhere to be myself. So if you three are good, I’ll be heading off.”

“Aw, come on. At least tell us where you got that cool scar.”

“If it means I don’t have to spend money on you. Some friends and I were stupid kids, and I fancied myself a pyro anarchist. Can of hair spray exploded right in my face.

Man, that was so long ago.”

And with that, Aries Mundo made his escape… or so he thought.

The three of us ended up following him to the station.

It's just a coincidence, right? It would make sense. It's the closest station from where we were. But there is a station that connects to the airport directly to Angel Grace.

Unless he had business in Richardson Cove?

I checked my phone to see if he had messaged me(Lawrence). A few notifications but no text messages.

Damn, it looks like the people watching the stream learned how to DM me from my character’s name in-game.

As we were waiting in line, Aries turned to us. “You girls aren’t following me, are you? I know I said that I’m not that old, but an adult being followed by Joshi Kosei would be pretty bad.”

I wanted to tease him a bit more, but at this point, I was more nervous that he might be planning a surprise visit.

How would I explain this to him?!

“We live in Richardson Cove. We’re just trying to get home. What about you?”

“I’m visiting family.”

Shit! He was planning a surprise visit!

What should I do?! I could teleport home now, but it's not like I can do that in front of people. And what about Rainy and Erica? Something could happen again!

Those other goblins might come back for revenge or something after regrouping.

The train ride was a long one, and we all sat in relative silence. Erica kept herself preoccupied with her phone while avoiding eye contact with anyone. Even when Rainy would try to chat with her, she would make a squeak before going silent again.

Aries was doing much of the same—trying to ignore us while fiddling on his phone. He took a couple of pictures of himself that I noticed on his insta.

One of his pictures had a caption that read; [They have trains like in Tokyo! Pretty cool that I get to ride one. Glad it's not crowded.]

Wait! I can just text Valoria to tell him that I’m at work!

… If Valoria had a phone…

Wait, what am I even worried about?

I’m being too paranoid.

Aries will head to my place, which is in a different direction from Erica’s. I can just transform back before getting home!

Finally disembarking the train, Rainy, Erica, and I made our way to Erica’s apartment. Erica herself started walking faster and faster.

So why is Aries following us?!

Making it past the gates of the apartment building, we gathered into the elevator while Aries waited to catch the next one.

What happened to you, my beloved cousin? Have hard times turned you into a stalker?

“Man, it's freaky that he would follow us all the way here. Do you think he actually has business here?”

“Don’t know. What about you, Erica? He’s not someone you know, is he?”

Erica shook her head, and we soon found ourselves standing before her front door.

Hearing the elevator open further down the walkway, Aries stepped out from it and started walking in our direction.

Soon we were all standing in a group once again.

“What are—”

Aries began to speak, but before he could finish, Erica ran into her apartment and locked the door behind her.

“—you three…”

“Alright, this is a little too weird. First, you just happen to rescue us and then follow us to one of our homes?”

Aries placed a hand on his head, clearly frustrated at the turn of events.

“I told you already. I’m here to meet someone. This just happens to be their apartment.”

“And who are you meeting?”

“My son, Elric. Are you friends with him? Your other friend ran into his apartment.”

Rainy and I turned to the apartment and read the nameplate. It read, as such, Elric Mundo.

“Wait, you have a son!?! Nobody told me you had a son!”

“I don’t see why I would have told any of you.”

I-I haven’t been away that long, have I? The last time I saw Aries in person was almost twelve years ago. There’s no way he could have a kid old enough to live alone!

Aries pardoned passed us, and Rainy and I gave him some space.

He knocked on the door, and we all waited, but there was no response.

“Tsk, that kid. And he has a girl over, too? What is he thinking?”

Defeated, Aries started to take his leave.

“Oh, if either of you does see Elric, let him know that we can’t keep avoiding each other. Whether he likes it or not, it's either me or child services.”

After he stepped into the elevator, I received a text message.

Arisu: [Hey]

Arisu: [I’m in town mind if I stay at your place for the night]

Me: [Hey, it's been a while. I don’t mind, but it’ll be cramped.]

Arisu: [Cool]

Arisu: [I’m not far]

Arisu: [I’ll see you soon]

“Hey, Rainy, mind if we take a shortcut home?”

“No, why—hey!”

I lifted Rainy into a princess carry as a pair of angelic wings sprouted from my back.

***

A radiant plume fell in the corner of my vision. Looking up, I noticed the figure of an angel flying across the night sky.

Lancaster. A city that’s recently come to be known as an Otaku’s dream.

Magical girls jumping from roof to roof, flying across the sky, slinging spells at creatures of darkness. All while the local government tries to reign reality back in.

Why couldn’t this have been around when I was still on my warrior’s pilgrimage?

I could feel the asura engraved on my back. It was burning—telling me to turn back around and drag my son from his bed.

Maybe it was fate that Lawrence moved to Lancaster.

I thought back to my sworn brother and recited one hundred eight acts of goodness as I made my way to his apartment.

I wonder if he has snacks.