I ran away. I ran away from the person I had wanted to meet the most. From the person who sent me here. From the person who gave me the opportunity to make things right.

  I wasn’t supposed to have done that. When we next met, I was going to confidently act the same as I always had, with a bit of intrigue. Clue her in a little bit. Out of anyone in this world, Kalina was bound to be the person who understood my predicament. If I could just tell her the truth, and get her to understand me, everything would be better. I knew it was going to be a slow and gradual process, but I didn’t expect that I couldn’t even handle the first step.

  Footsteps rung out from behind me. I was on the rooftop of the museum, laying down with my hand covering my eyes. I couldn’t see them, but I knew whose footsteps they were.

  “Nice spot you got here kid,” Galas commented.

  I uncovered my eyes to find him looking round the rooftop. There wasn’t much to see from up here, just a busy city. People coming in and out, going about their days. It wasn’t anything special, I just wanted to be away from other people.

  “… What are you doing here?” I questioned him.

  “Your sister told me you were missing. Said I had to come pick you up like some chaperone. Your sister can be quite forceful, you know.”

  Rooftop access was denied to the general public, so the only way up here would be climbing up the sides or flight. It was trespassing though. Only one person would think and be able to check this place and that would be my captain.

  “Alright, give me the silent treatment. I’ll be sitting here, floating around.”

  Galas floated into the air with his legs crossed. He began slowly spinning around the area, casually enjoying the air. He’d always do this when he was bored. I did this too, sometimes, though the method was different. I used a dimension, he just lifted himself up and spun himself.

  “Hey, Mach, what brand of shoes are those?” Galas pointed to my kicks.

  “Walestein.”

  “Ooh! Great taste. You know, you are just my kind of guy, Mach.”

  “I’m sure,” I languidly said.

  “What’s eating you up? Lancet museum too profound for your soul? Is it hard to accept the world was reset once?”

  I ruminated on it a little bit. The question was provocative, for some reason. I knew that that was the case, but it didn’t really hit me until now. It resonated with me, with how I was feeling deep down. So, I couldn’t stop myself from blurting something out.

  “Would you believe if it was reset a 2nd time?” I asked, slowly standing up. It wasn’t a serious question, at least, not yet.

  “Hm… Sure. Why not? Though you’d have to give me a lot of evidence first,” Galas continued with as much nonchalance as always.

  “Lots of evidence,” I muttered. “It may take a while to gather it all up together.”

  Galas suddenly came face to face with me. “I’m looking forward to it, Mach.”

  I backed away out of reaction.

  “And I’m looking forward to all you’re gonna do in Erelier. You’ve got a lot of reasons to be here and a lot of things to do, I bet. Reuniting with your family’s just the first step.”

  Galas took off his shades and began wiping them clean. His grey eyes, pinpoint focused on his work, seemed as if they saw right through me. I had always felt this way, but I had never felt it this strongly before.

  Strangely enough, I began to feel a sense of relief. This was Galas, my captain. Underneath his cheerful and lazy exterior was a man who could see through anything. He was the same person as he was before. Nothing had changed, nothing at all.

  “You’re right. There’s a lot to do here. I have a lot of goals, and a lot of desires to fulfil. A lot of battles to fight, and a lot of danger to face as well,” I stated, almost not to Galas, but to myself. It was a reminder of my mission.

  For the two girls I had left behind down below. For the squad members that didn’t remember. For the man in front of me who taught me everything I knew.

  “Woah, kinda creepy to see you smile. You’re supposed to be the brooding, loner twin who hates everyone else.”

  “So, Machu’s the cheerful, happy-go-lucky twin who’s friends with everyone?” I retorted.

  “She already is, isn’t she?” Galas pointed to the area in front of the museum. “Look.”

  On the ground, in front of the museum, we could spot the figures of Machua, directing Kalina, Rasa and Carmine. Carmine was grumbling, but still followed her directions. Kalina seemed a little flustered, while Rasa was calm as always.

  “I leave her alone with my kids for one second, and she’s got them out searching for you. Though, maybe you’re the one making friends too quickly. You barely even talked to Rasa.”

  I could only gently smile at that statement. What did I even do to deserve this?

  “Yooo! I found him!” Galas shouted from the rooftop.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Machua instantly twisted her head upwards. “How the hell’d you even get up there!?”

  I rolled my eyes. “What do you think!?”

  “Oh, it doesn’t matter. Get down here already! Galas, push him off!”

  “You got it!”

  Suddenly, a huge wave of mana blew me off of the rooftop. I didn’t even get a chance to prepare myself for it. I prepared my mana to cover my fall, but I wasn’t able to. Someone had jumped up and caught me.

  “Now that I look at you again, you’re not bad-looking,” Carmine commented, as she held my body in her arms. She was princess carrying me, which I was used to. Both as the carrier and the carried.

  “W-w-wha…” Kalina could only murmur. Her face had grown red as an apple.

  “Let him go! You have to go through me if you want him!”

  Machua dashed up to us and wrangled me away. She stood in between us like Carmine was a filthy animal about to maul me to death.

  “And with that, all of us have been reunited. Perhaps not at the gift shop, but we are together nonetheless,” Rasa stated.

  “Machu, I’m not a naive little girl you know,” I told her.

  “I have to give my approval before anyone can do anything with your heart. It’s law.”

  I made perhaps the biggest eye roll of the century. When was it that mom began complaining about not having grandchildren yet? 2 years down the line?

  “Hahaha! Man, I think the next few weeks are gonna be pretty fun for y’all,” Galas laughed as he descended from the roof. By which I mean, he floated down gracefully.

  “What the hell does that mean?” Carmine was the first to ask.

  “As you know, I’m going on vacation. But my squad’s too small to be left alone, so I asked my dear friend Lemuel if he could watch over them for a bit.”

  ‘Whose fault is that?’ Must have been the thought going through Rasa and Carmine’s heads right now.

  “But then he got really busy all of a sudden, so now no one’s left to watch over them. So the solution is to have you all watch yourselves!” Galas announced matter-of-factedly. As if it was.

  Though, it wasn’t as if I didn’t consider this a possibility. I was able to guess this would happen since the moment I was placed in Lemuel’s squad. If he couldn’t grab a 3rd member, then the solution to increase his squad member count was obvious.

  “Yes. Lemuel and Galas squad are hereby merged today, at least for the next month. Lemuel’s dear Elize will be the person handing you all missions.”

  There was a stiff silence as we all took in the announcement. Machua especially was a bit shocked, since, well, Lemuel Squad had literally never gone on a proper mission before. The same went for the past timeline’s complete Galas Squad. The others had gone on missions before I came along, so I was the only one shocked then. Still, that was not the first thought that popped up in our minds.

  “Who will be leading us?” Rasa was the first to ask what was on all of our minds.

  The rest of us waited patiently for Galas to announce it. He made a whole show of thinking about it, bringing his hand to his chin and observing each of us closely. I wanted to knock off his glasses so I could see which one of us he was staring at the most. Despite my future knowledge, I did not know which of us would be chosen. The only one that was definitely not in the running was Carmine, though she still thought she had a chance.

  “The new Galem Squad leader will be… you!”

  Galas pointed directly at his choice.

  “Oh, sorry, you must have gotten us mixed up. Here, let me move behind him…”

  “Machua Purin!”

  Machua froze as she got behind me. She gripped my shoulders tight.

  “The little sister! You are my first choice.”

  Machua’s mouth went wide open. She closed it then opened it again, like she was trying to speak. No words came out. After a while, she found her voice.

  “I don’t think I have to spell out what we’re all thinking, but why me? And not, you know.” Machua gestured at my face. “Me, but better?”

  Galas quickly began explaining, “When your brother went missing, you were able to quickly organise a search operation with people you had only met today. Even Carmine listened to what you had to say.”

  “Tch. I just wanted her to owe me a favour.”

  Machua rattled her brain for excuses to escape from Galas’ choosing. After coming up with one, she cleared her throat.

  “In the mission a week ago, Machi was the person who found the children first, and protected them until we caught up. He was also the one to take down the Hellfire Devil Panther and its monster tamer. And, most importantly…” Machua trailed off.

  “He made the decision to save Plue when I wanted to escape first. If he didn’t… Plue would be dead.”

  Galas nodded, recognising her arguments. Machua wasn’t normally this wordy, she needed time to come up with the right words.

  “We talked to Plue when she first woke up. Do you know who she talked about first?”

  “…”

  “You, Machua. She highlighted how you came to rescue her and carried her, alongside the kids. She had collapsed and was barely capable of magic, yet you carried her all the way outside, while fending off monsters. The moment those kids came into play, objective No. 1 became the rescue of those children.”

  “Still, Machi did all the work,” Machua gave an excuse.

  “Machia ran away without any explanation today, worrying you, his dear little sister. I was going to give the position to him until today happened. And also, I don’t believe he needs the experience.”

  Galas gave me a knowing look. I squeezed my eyes slightly. I had no idea how he came to that conclusion. I thought I was being careful.

  “Machua, you’re the most inexperienced Hunter the two squads have, so you need to improve as fast as you can. I am giving you this role before you all have to face the real deal. So to speak, I’m charring you a little bit before throwing you into the fire.”

  Machua seemed able to accept that at least. She was keenly aware of her own inexperience and wanted to take any opportunity to grow, which was why she had me train her everyday while Plue was hospitalised. She didn’t complain a single time despite my methods.

  “Okay. I’ll accept the role.”

  “Great!” Galas clapped his hands. “Now, any objections?”

  Carmine immediately raised a hand. “I-“

  “Objection overruled. Carmine, you’d just complain it wasn’t you. Everyone knows you’re not suitable for the role.”

  “Hmph.”

  “Alrighty. I now proclaim the formation of the Galem Squad. I wish you all the best of luck in the missions that lay ahead, whether that be monster extermination or bounty hunting.”

  I let out a deep breath I didn’t know I was holding. Somehow, someway, things were going according to plan. Somewhat. Not really. There were still a lot of uncertain variables and a lot of things to take care of. But for now, I could at least be assured that for the next month, things would go the same way as last time.

  “Now, we need to go handle the squad paperwork.”

  We collectively groaned.

  “Carmine, Rasa, you’re gonna have to come with me. Lemuel already handled the other half of the paperwork, so it’s just us. Come on!”

  Carmine and Rasa shot us a pitiable look as they followed behind Galas. But before, they left, Galas took one last look back.

  “Ah, and before I forget. You,” Galas pointed to Kalina,” you’re Clockhand, right?”

  Kalina walked in front of us and politely responded, “Yes, I am, Mr Galas.”

  “Cool. Don’t know what you’re doing here, but if you need help, you’re free to ask my kiddos anytime. And if it’s big, well, you’d better direct it to Lemuel, though he’s a bit busy right now. Reina might be more available."

  “Thank you for the offer.” Kalina bowed her head, as Galas took his leave.

  Kalina then turned to me and took off her cap, revealing her full head of hair. She looked exactly like she did that day, minus the clothing choice. Her dirty blonde hair trickled down her face and only up to her shoulders. Her blue eyes stared at mine, filled with resolve.

  “I’m sorry if I was being too forward with you, Machia. It’s my fault for not noticing you were uncomfortable.”

  “It’s no problem, you just caught me at a bad time. That said, Machu, did you put her up to this?”

  Machua’s face wore a shameless frown. “I didn’t do anything wrong. She was getting too close. You need protection.”

  “Protection from what?”

  “You’re clearly weak against pretty ladies. First, Kalina here gets in your face and makes you uncomfortable and then you let Carmine princess carry you like it was nothing. What’s next, are you gonna let a girl berate you over and over without shooting back?”

  ‘How…? What?’

  “I am not. I had a lot on my mind, and she came at a bad time. That’s all.”

  “Sure, sure. You’re telling me Kalina isn’t attractive?”

  “When did I say that?”

  “So, you’re calling her pretty? Really pretty? So pretty you can’t control yourself?”

  “Now, now, can we calm down?” Kalina interjected.

  Machua shot a glare at Kalina and then proceeded to situate herself behind me.

  “… I’m keeping my eye on you.”

  I smiled wryly at Kalina. She seemed to understand the gesture.

  “Ahem. Machia, I want to make it up to you. Would you let me treat you to a meal sometime?” Kalina asked, with a puff of pink on her cheeks.

  My face softened. “Haha… Sure. Your choice though, you better blow me away.”

  “You can count on it. I don’t have a concrete date in mind, so let’s exchange phone numbers.”

  I took out my phone from another dimension and quickly exchanged phone numbers with her. She sent me an emoji to test we were connected, to which I sent a picture of a cat back.

  “Well, bye now. I have work to do here.”

  Kalina slowly walked away and waved goodbye to us. I was the only one to wave back since Machua was still frozen in place.

  “Did she just ask you on a date in front of me?” Machua, who finally regained her voice, asked.

  “It’s not a date.”

  “You exchanged phone numbers with her too! How-how shameless! To do that in front of me!” Machua exclaimed.

  “Aw, is someone jealous? Did you want to be the one to go on a date?”

  “W-well. It’s kind of awkward when someone asks you out in front of me. And you also happen to look the exact same as me…” Machua mumbled,” You know?”

  I clasped Machua’s hand. “I get it. I think I’d feel the same way too if I was in your position. It’s a very strange situation we’re both in, so don’t feel bad about feeling weird things.”

  Machua sighed and smiled. “You’re right. You’re my big bro first, before you’re my clone.”

  “Thanks, Machu. I appreciate it.”

  “Still. I don’t think I like Kalina. She’s too sweet, it’s too easy to hide bad intentions behind that smile.”

  “You watch too many dramas.“