The time had come… after having discussed it with himself countless times, Hyōen was finally ready. His apartment was emptied, his bag was full, Coda was ready, the sun shone brightly and with might and honor, and the day looked happier than ever. He was finally going back home; despite having heard rumours of some kind of beach party back at Hargeon, he had enough of the hot sand back there. He could always return, but he yearned for the woods, the bark… Worth Woodsea. His heart, it teared up with miss of the gloomy shrubbery. He wasn’t going to wait any longer. It was time to go home. Home to where he learned and experienced, where he enlightened and witnessed…

He was so excited when he exited the gate. Looking out into the sunset, he knew that he had to hurry, though, as it was turning night. He decided to quickly dash across the roads and think about the things that he had been through until now; from his days in Crocus, where he worked at the restaurant and met the kitsune and her husmand, plus the Rune Knight that entered the store as well, to when he visited Magnolia and went on missions there, including a hunt for a peeping tom that nailed on the women in the bath house, having a nice case running with another Rune Knight that he got to know much better than the first one, more missions that he completed with effort, experiences of the urban city, his travels to Orchidia, his guild hall and its beauty as he entered it for the first time in years, Miyu and her support, his encounter with Lacie, both Era Town and Hargeon Town, his missions there, his disease and the road to find a cure, his encounter with Arisa, and many more adventures. He could always compare them to what he felt and experienced back at Worth Woodsea; ever since he was a small kid, he loved to be there…

“Mum!” he cried, running down the stairs and embracing his mother’s robes, “Coda is feeling ill!” His tears were almost popping out of his eyelids as he said that, implying his grief over the barely well bird. His mother hurried upstairs with little Daikō in her hand as she examined Coda afterwards. The bird was feeling very bad. Its stomach was badly shaped as if it was pregnant, but they knew nothing about it. It wasn’t as if Coda hang hung around with any male birds beforehand. However, as soon as his mother decided to come up and check it, Daikō could sigh in relief and let her take care of things. She was the best medic out here, and he found her like a superhero. Obviously, she came to realization what exactly that caused the expanded stomach-ache; Coda just had eaten very little since Daikō took her under his wing. When animals starve, their stomachs tend to expand, so he was just inexperienced. It was pretty much his fault, and when your own mother concluded that, it hurt. Especially for the little boy…