The man didn't reply to me, but his familiar warm smile was more than enough to tell me everything that I needed to know.

If I could've, I would've been balling my eyes out, but as a tiny drifting soul that was slowly given to the palms of my mother, I just let the content feeling sink in.

I was relaxed… and with both parents by my side, I felt like I would cry.

And just as I slipped out of their hands and plummeted through the palace and into the dark void, I felt a sense of content flood my body.

I love you both… so, so much.

…

"Ugh… my head," I muttered as I slowly shifted my body out of the familiar bed, and the sight of marble pillars lining the walls made my heart drop.

But, it didn't drop out of fear or possibly disappointment… but shock as I ran through the halls, making sure I was really in that place.

Each time I took a step forward and turned the corner, tears would flow from my eyes, and I could no longer keep myself from choking back the overflowing amount of salty water.

I cried and cried and cried until I dropped to my knees in the middle of the living room where the same couch was.

The same couch that we would all huddle on when it was freezing cold. The same couch we would huddle on when a good movie came out. The same couch we would use to review our spars against each other. The same couch we huddled on as Mia cooked us some delicious breakfast. The same couch that held practically all of my childhood and teenage memories deep within its leather.

Suddenly, the creaking of the real entrance swung open, and my crying immediately stopped.

My senses went off almost immediately, and so I hid behind the couch, still trying to choke back the tears that continued to flow from my eyes.

But when the eleven girls all came flooding down the metal stairs, and they saw me, I couldn't hold them back anymore.

It was an ugly cry that was comforted by my sisters. The people I struggled so greatly through life with and without them, I probably wouldn't even be here today.

I would've died in some dungeon after feeling the overwhelming loneliness practically crush my soul into pieces.

"It's okay… I'm here…." Mia muttered as she lightly stroked my hair and pulled me into her embrace, causing all of the other girls to back up and just lightly smile.

"I-I thought we died," I stuttered while looking up at Mia and squishing her cheeks together, making sure it was actually her.

"I think we did, but I guess we all woke up here. I'm not complaining, though," She muttered before lightly kissing the top of my head, and I couldn't help but unleash another wave of tears that completely soaked her shirt.

And after what seemed to be an hour, I finally ran dry of tears, and my eyes were so puffy that I could barely see now.

"Do you want to eat something?" Celestine asked as I now sat in her lap, feeling her massage my back in order to help me calm down more.

"Yes…" I muttered and sniffled once again.

"Alright…" She smiled brightly before signaling to Mia to make me something to eat. "Mia will prepare it soon. You can just rest here until everything is done,"

"Okay…" I muttered before looking over at Amanda, whose ears perked up upon locking eyes with me.

"See this new evolution? Pretty cool, right?" She smirked, but upon seeing my unamused face, she quickly crouched down in front of me and gave me a big hug.

She now had two large brown horns protruding from her forehead, and her hair was a silky gold with pure white pupils that had been outlined by a black star.

Her presence was definitely powerful, and as the last one which evolved in this group since the time I last saw them, it was a pretty drastic change.

"Oh wait, Aria? Is that you?" I muttered as I locked eyes with a woman that had half black hair and white hair, with her eyes matching the same colors as her split hair.

She was beautiful and the only woman that I knew who had such an opposing skill.

"You're so adorable," She crouched down next to me and ruffled my hair just a bit before wiping the small tear that slid down my face.

Soon, lunch was prepared, and I dug into the fresh ramen that Mia had quickly cooked up. And even though I could've honestly done the same thing, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

My sisters all shared the massive pot of noodles, and as we chatted about our adventurers over the past year, it was finally my turn to summarize it.

"Well, I was dragged into a dungeon, as you all know, and then I was kidnapped by one of the kingdoms present there. The queen was after one of my skills, and I have a feeling she might not be dead just like us… but besides that, I was turned into a gladiator where I picked up the way of the sword. I also expanded my power and knowledge with the rest of my weapons… but eventually, a war broke out, and as I was a pretty strong gladiator, I was turned into one of the commanders,"

"That's… amazing. It sounds like you got pretty strong because of it, and well, I can also feel it practically radiating off of you. You're very mature now," Celestine commented but I quickly replied with,

"No, you all have matured as well. I might've worked hard, but you all seem to be working hard as well. Even if you haven't evolved, I can practically feel the proficiency of your skills radiating off of you,"

My sisters all lightly smiled before Mia spoke up yet again.

"How about you tell us how you were practically tortured by the queen for weeks on end… or is that a touchy subject?" Mia asked, quickly retracting her comment as she realized how sensitive it was to me.

"N-No, it's fine. Yeah, I was tortured for a bit, but eventually, I was able to evolve after tricking the queen and gaining her approval. At that point, I became an actually legit commander as I led hundreds of men with me to a dukedom where we fought off an undead army… and had some other adventurers. Then that's where I met up with the girls, and we eventually managed to push them back. We returned to the kingdom, and I found myself relaxing just a bit before heading out to the final war… which didn't even last a day since the massive tree, the objective of the war this entire time, toppled down and exploded with so much magma that the plane- er, the dungeon was destroyed, killing everybody present,"

Everybody's jaws visibly dropped, and I had to help them pick it back up as I let out a long sigh of relief… everything was over.

"Baby, I'm so sorry we weren't there," Celestine muttered with a truly sincere expression, and as she hugged me once more, I felt like crying again.

Everything was over… everything and all of that horrible experiences was finally over.

"So uhhhh… what can I do for Tolf?" I muttered with a bit of an embarrassed blush since I had no idea how truly big Tolf had become over these past few years.

Mia and Ethel explained some of it, but I knew that was just the short version, and I knew we had much more influence than what she explained.

"We have control over several S-rank dungeons. Hundreds of top guilds are under our control. Some were built by loyalty, and some were taken over by fear… just the usual," Mia shrugged, and my jaw dropped to the floor this time.

"S-Several S-rank dungeons? L-Like actually S-rank dungeons? And we have control over several of them?" I muttered just as Celestine helped shut my jaw.

"Actually, it's nine, to be exact. And I already told you we practically hold the world in the palm of our hands. Our objective has been completed, and we can now just bask in the fruits of our efforts… though, just for a bit. The monster paradise is expanding at an exponential rate. We'll have to deal with them eventually, but I believe it is time to take a vacation, right?" Amanda explained, and her suggestion was definitely appealing.

I looked at all of the other girls and saw how they were practically about to explode with excitement, as if they had all already planned this. I couldn't just turn them down now.

"Fine… but, lemme relax here for the rest of the day. It's been a while," I sighed and my sisters all immediately nodded their heads before dragging me around the base, showing some drastic changes to the decorations.

I felt truly happy and blessed right now.

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