I Don't Need To Log Out

"Are there any problems with the preparations?"

"None. We will take off before noon."

"Good. Stick to the plan—no deviations."

Zephyrion's voice was firm, his expression unreadable as he gave his orders.

It was the same Friday morning that the players were busy looting the treasury, but here, in another part of Trion, an entirely different kind of operation was unfolding.

According to the plan he and Arlon had devised, they would stage a false transport for Nyx, making it seem like she was being secretly moved to another location.

To sell the deception, one of the Mimes would be put in charge of the operation.

Without Syme—whom Arlon had already killed—the Mimes had no true leader to guide them.

And that wasn't all.

The deaths of Syme and Arn had thrown Kelta into turmoil. But, ironically, this was the kind of chaos that worked in their favor.

The Mimes, who acted as administrators, were struggling to maintain control. They weren't warriors or decision-makers. They had been put in place to obey, not to lead.

And without a clear chain of command, they were bound to make mistakes.

That was exactly what Zephyrion was counting on.

Once the wrong move was made—once a critical mistake exposed a weak link—the Mime in charge of the transport would panic and flee.

And that, in reality, would be the real trap.

Zephyrion's first priority was finding the missing administrators and purging the Mimes that had begun operating in secrecy.

This false transport mission allowed him to accomplish both goals at once.

And, of course, Nyx would not actually be transported anywhere so that she wouldn't be at risk.

Zephyrion didn't know the importance of Nyx to Keldars yet, but he was assuming that she was important.

So there was no reason to risk her.

---

The players stepped out of the cave, taking one last look around to make sure they hadn't missed anything.

The air outside felt different.

For the first time in a while, they weren't rushing into another fight.

"So… what now?" June asked, stretching her arms. "Do we keep hunting Keldars around the cities?"

Arlon shook his head. "No, we don't need to do that."

Then, with a small smirk, he added, "Congratulations. Our training is officially over."

"Wait—what?" Zack blinked. "Man, I totally forgot this was the last week of training."

Maria groaned dramatically. "Ugh! Me too! Time flew by so fast." She sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "I wanted to spend more time with you all!"

Carmen hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Um… can't we just continue as a party? We'll still be doing the same things anyway."

Arlon raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Who said we're going our separate ways?"

A brief silence followed.

"Huh? We're not?"

At least three players said it at the same time.

Arlon crossed his arms. "If we were going to split up, what was the point of the training?

We trained together so we could fight together."

He glanced around at the group. "Of course, if you think you'll be more effective alone, you're free to go."

No one spoke.

Zack coughed. "Yeah, uh… I wasn't actually planning to leave."

Maria nodded quickly. "Me neither! I just… assumed?"

Carmen let out a breath of relief. "I'm glad. I didn't want to separate after everything we've been through."

June smirked. "You guys are ridiculous. Did you really think Arlon would just let us scatter after all this?"

She casually jabbed her elbow into Arlon's side, making him shift slightly.

The others immediately took notice.

Maria raised an eyebrow. "Since when are you two so close?"

June rolled her eyes. "Come on, we've all spent the same amount of time together. We're all at the same distance."

Nobody really believed her, but calling her out would mean indirectly ostracizing Arlon—and none of them wanted to do that.

So, they let it slide.

Instead, June turned back to Arlon, her tone more direct. "Alright, then. What's next?"

Arlon exhaled. "I need to inform Zephyrion about our status, but there's no rush. I already told him before we left that we'd need a break once training was over."

"REALLY?"

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Evan practically launched himself at Arlon, arms wide open. "You're the best, Arlon!"

Arlon, having anticipated this, swiftly blocked him with one hand, stopping Evan mid-air before they actually collided.

The others snickered as Evan stumbled back, rubbing his nose.

Arlon continued as if nothing had happened. "Anyway, we have a full week off to do whatever we want. I'll be heading back to Istarra first, and maybe to Oceina later."

Maria's eyes lit up. "Wait, you started in Istarra? You're lucky… Everyone was talking about the festival there during launch week."

Before Arlon could respond, Zack snorted.

"Yeah, we started there too, but we were so focused on leveling that we never got to enjoy it."

Hearing this, June sideglanced at Arlon and gigled.

Maria sighed dramatically. "Still, I started in Dakarta, and there was no festival there at all. You guys had at least something interesting happening."

Her tone was lighthearted, but Arlon felt a pang of guilt.

In the past timeline, Dakarta had been the one to hold the festival.

But this time, because he had stolen the idea, if they tried to hold their own festival, people would just assume they were imitating Istarra.

He owed Maria for that.

Arlon silently promised himself that he'd help her with something she wanted in the future.

June clapped her hands together. "Well, in that case, let's go back to Istarra together. After that, we can visit Oceina—it has an amazing view."

Zack groaned. "Ugh, don't tell me you're one of those people who just stands around looking at scenery."

June smirked. "I'm one of those people who appreciates the beauty of the world while you're busy face-checking enemies."

Evan snickered. "She's got a point."

Zack rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll come. We won't have any other opportunities to use that military carriage anyway."

Arlon interrupted their back and forth, "Let's go back to Esia and inform Osgar first."