Temporary Departure

(Robin's POV):

A new day has come and everyone was already prepared for the travel. Gayle, Terrence, and Lester will be left behind in our trip as we prepare for our next course of action. I was early in the carriage and preparing it for our trip. Rylle was managing the horses well and the others doesn't seem to have showed up yet.

"They're taking their time huh..." - Rylle

"Well, it can't be helped, they miss their loved ones after all."

"What about you Robin, do you have a loved one?" - Rylle

"Hmm... Not exactly... My family is extremely strict, I got isolated a lot in my childhood so the 'loved ones' that you mentioned are just my friends or so."

"Really? I remember Jay whispering to me that you're acting chummy with a girl in the palace." - Rylle

Chummy? Wait, is he talking about May?

"May? Not exactly but we have stayed as friends for a long time. I don't think there is something between us."

"Really? Well, I won't pry any further than that. What do you think about everyone?" - Rylle

"Each of you have different pasts that could show various struggles. We're mostly the same with the struggles but entirely different on what kind so, it's best if we don't talk about it for the time being. I'll just tell you all soon enough."

"Really? You don't have to though, our group promised each other to not tell about our past to anyone so..." - Rylle

"Eh, it should be fine telling you my side, I've already grown my way out of my past after all. In my side, I'm currently one of the higher ups of the Asylum. I'm living alone and a completely sustained life so I don't have to do much. I still work on what Seymour will task me on and sometimes, these are a little bit tough to do."

"I see... I guess you also had it rough at the start?" - Rylle

"If there's one guy that had the roughest life then it would be Denzel. You could see it when we showed ourselves to him so don't worry about me."

"Oh yeah, is he gonna be okay?" - Rylle

"Well, May did say that he's starting to respond more and more to them and is slowly recovering. I'm glad that it's that case but it's still ideal if he wasn't betrayed in the first place."

"Really? When I saw him I remembered a little bit of something about our past. I know I faced a white haired person those days. Jay even mentioned it in the arcana area." - Rylle

"Arcana?"

"Yeah, he said that his reflection mentioned some person with white hair close-by and will take Gayle..." - Rylle

"Gayle? Even though she has Lester?"

"Yeah... Honestly, I don't think we have any leads when it comes to finding that person... The only way we could find something is from Ridley's camera collection... I know we met a white-haired person once..." - Rylle

White haired... Again, it leads to Denzel but I don't have confirmation...

I cleared off the rocks while listening to Rylle's side for the time being.

"I don't have a lot that I remembered but I know that we met a white-haired person a few times... He was really close with Gayle so I was pretty jealous..." - Rylle

"Jealous? You have feelings for Gayle?"

"Yeah, I already got over them though. There isn't practically much to worry about unrequited love or something like that." - Rylle

"I see... Well, all I can say for that is... F."

"Ahaha, no need for the respect there... It's pretty normal to move on if your love isn't going to become real after all." - Rylle

"Jeez... Well, at least everyone has been reunited after a year right? Though I may have to ask Denzel about preparations for your rooms and all."

"Are you sure about that? We'll be happy of course but I don't think it will be a great thing since we aren't trusted that much." - Rylle

"Don't worry, since I trust you guys Denzel would also place his trust on you all. He's a kind person despite everything he went through."

"Ah, morning you two." - Ridley

Ridley had arrived to the carriage and greeted both of us.

"Yo, had a good sleep?" - Rylle

"Yep, let me help there. What were you guys talking about?" - Ridley

"Ah, just some necessary preparations once everything is set in order. I'll have you guys reside in Denzel's palace after all."

"Really? Thank you for that Robin, everyone will be pretty happy with this." - Ridley

"Yeah, Jay would be extremely happy with this ultimatum since he would be completely reunited with Gayle without much disturbances anymore. Lester may be not in a great spot since he'll be forcefully separated from Gayle but he's not exactly in a great shape to be Gayle's lover..." - Rylle

"Is it because you're jealous?"

"No, what the hell? It's because he's being toxic in their entire relationship." - Rylle

"Yeah, I'm still surprised that Gayle still stayed with him after all his years of toxic behavior." - Ridley

"Really? How long have they been together?"

"Three or four years? I forgot, but he's been toxic for most of it since he pretty much neglects her, and just behaves in a no good manner." - Rylle

"You're looking at his negatives so much I don't think you've moved on."

"Ah! I swear I moved on already!" - Rylle

"Ahahaha! Well, I used to listen how shy he is on Gayle so I'm pretty sure that he had feelings." - Ridley

"Not you too Ridley!" - Rylle

"Pfft... Anyways, he's basically running off and using busyness as an excuse to not cheer her up?"

"Yep, he's that much of a piece of shit." - Rylle

"Whoa, he's going all out. His feelings is still deep!"

"Come on! Believe me that I moved on already!" - Rylle

Me and Ridley were just laughing while Rylle is panicking and trying to convince us that he has moved on. After some time, we finally ended up resting outside the carriage while having a nice breakfast together. We talked about various things but we practically didn't have a huge amount of things planned out.

"Ah, so you guys are here." - Jay

After some time, the rest of the team finally showed up along with the three we brought to the volcano. May also showed up to greet me before leaving so I feel somewhat relieved.

"Hello Robin, came to see you off." - May

"Yo, be sure to keep an eye on the palace while Denzel's down aight?"

"Sure! Good luck on your next trip!" - May

The others started greeting each other temporary farewells. However, there seems to be a short incident that caused Jay's anger.

"Hey asshole! Guess what?!" - Lester

"What?!" - Jay

Lester held Gayle's face and forced a kiss on her. Oh wow, a piss off method. Rather, I should hold Jay back.

I grabbed on Jay's arm to stop him from trying to beat Lester down. However, his off hand brought out his quick draw pistol and fired multiple shots, all landing towards Lester in great precision.

"You motherfucker! I'll fucking kill you!" - Jay

Yeah, he isn't holding back at all... Nice shots though.

"Well, be sure to stay safe in the palace there. Keep on with the rules and make sure everyone's fine."

"Got it." - Terrence

Terrence took a kiss from Grace which got her a bit bashful. Wait a second, now that I see both of them together... Grace is actually taller than Terrence, this group sure is quite a set...

"Well, we'll be heading out now."

"Good luck Robin! Stay safe!" - May

"Bye bye Jay, see you again soon..." - Gayle

"Bye Kaede!" - Jay

"Get outta here little shit!" - Lester

"Fuck you and your shitty career!" - Jay

Everyone else greeted each other temporary farewells as we rode up the carriage and departed towards the castle once again. Everyone was waving hands towards each other while I reined the horses this time.

After some time, we finally went towards the castle. Rylle offered to rein the horses and told me if I got some story to tell. I took up on the offer and went inside the carriage. We talked about various things and what I have seen during my trips due to Asylum. I have been to various countries and even visited great tourist spots.

"Oh yeah, speaking of places... Where do you guys live?"

"Well, it's quite a distance considering., I don't think everyone is that far from each other since all the players here come from this country only." - Grace

"Really?! So a meetup is possible in the near future then!" - Jay

"Yeah, well if it's time then I would treat everyone in this group to some food but we'll end up meeting for the asylum so..."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" - Ridley

"If it's fine we could actually offer you guys a job right after you finish college. Don't worry, the pay is great and we'll appoint you to an expertise part of your choice."

"I see... So we could have ourselves set for our future huh..." - Jay

"Yep, there's no need about level or skill. You may need to learn self-defense because if you enter a case, we'll help as much as possible."

"Damn... This is actually pretty surprising..." - Ridley

After some time discussing various future plans, we had arrived to the castle and decided to rest for the day.