I made soup without Obaa-san's help that night. It was slow and difficult, but I managed to do it. She was gone when I arrived back at the orphanage and it wasn't until an hour later that I realised that Gorou was gone too.

I asked around and they revealed that Gorou had been adopted into a family that came from a couple of towns away. He had gathered all his things into a bag and left with Obaa-san into town.

Usually, the families dropped by the orphanage to pick up the children, so Obaa-san and Gorou going into town was pretty weird, but maybe certain circumstances required them to go there. It was also very odd that Obaa-san was still out even at dinner time.

Once again, Taido complained about the soup but seemed to quiet down when I revealed that there were added vegetables in it to give it more flavour. Or at least a different flavour than they're used to.

Obaa-san didn't come back till it was way after the other kids' bedtimes. She was a little shocked when she saw me sitting in one of the seats near the fireplace, as I watched the embers flicker while waiting for her.

"What are you doing still up?" Obaa-san said, her hand placed on her chest in shock.

"I couldn't sleep," I said mutedly, as I rubbed my arm absentmindedly.

Obaa-san dragged another chair to sit near the fireplace with me. "Your arm is hurting again?"

I looked at her then at my arm and realised what I was doing. "Oh, it's got nothing to do with my arm, just a bad habit."

"Ah," Obaa-san said, "what's wrong then?"

"It's nothing much," I said quietly. "I just miss Kei."

"Ah, I see what's going on, "Obaa-san said quietly, "you heard about Gorou."

"How did you-?"

"Whenever someone leaves the orphanage, it reminds you of Kei and you get all nostalgic about it." Obaa-san sighed as she explained. "I know it's hard, we're all like a big family here, I understand."

"I didn't even know that someone was thinking about adopting...him," I mumbled.

Obaa-san chuckled dryly, "yes, I did warn them about his attitude, but they were set on him it seems."

I sighed. "I wish I was able to say goodbye."

She nodded slowly, "I'm sorry."

There was a pause between us as Obaa-san let me work through my conflicted feelings.

I looked at her with interested eyes, "since you were in town, did you-?"

"I didn't get any letters from Kei, no..." she said quietly.

The answer saddened me even more. I watched the embers in the fireplace grow smaller slowly with each passing second.

"Obaa-san, you've been around for a while, haven't you?" I started again.

"Are you trying to subtly call me old?" she smiled.

"No, that's not it," I mumbled quickly, "I think I remember you saying that you weren't originally from Ohda."

Obaa-san shifted up in her seat, "why indeed yes. I was originally from Mitsuri City, on the other side of Pjana¹. Why? Do you want to hear some stories from when I was a young girl? All those centuries ago..."

"No, no, I was just thinking that you would have met quite a lot of people, that's all." I defended myself from Obaa-san's teasing.

She chuckled and said quietly, "ah, yes, you could say that I've met quite a few people in the seventy or so years of my life..."

"You would have met some adventurers too, right?"

Obaa-san studied me, "yes, more than my fair share...what are you trying to get at Ryuu?"

I bit my lip as I wrestled with how to ask her my question, before I gave up and simply tried the direct way, "have you ever heard of a 'Solo Dungeon' before? From the adventurers or anybody?"

I swiped the message Window over for her to look at. She took a quick moment to take a look at the message.

She gasped, "oh my, is this a Glitched Message?"

I nodded.

I watched her closely as she read the Message. As she reached the end, I saw something shift in her eyes. I can't tell what exactly, but for a fraction of a second, I thought I saw greed.

"Did you just read the rewards?" I asked.

This shocked her a little bit, "what? Yes, sorry. I just saw the 200-gold coin reward..."

I smiled a bit, I guess if anyone else had seen my face when I was reading the Message for the first time, I would have had a similar look on my face at that reward.

"I don't know what to do. I'm not even sure if it's a legitimate quest. And I've never heard of a 'Solo Dungeon' before." I explained to her. "That's why I'm asking you about it."

I could see Obaa-san struggling to peel her eyes off the Window. "I'm sorry Ryuu, but I've never heard of a 'Solo Dungeon' before. I didn't even think the Glitched Message rumours were real either."

"Yeah, you're not the only one who said that," I mumbled.

"You showed this to others?" Obaa-san snapped in a tone that surprised and slightly scared me. Her eyes bored deep into me as she waited for my response.

"I mean, yeah, I showed Saizo who then showed it to Nato earlier today," I mumbled an answer.

At my answer, Obaa-san's eyes softened a tiny bit from the coldness and harshness that they had. "I see I see. Nato and Saizo are good people at least."

She swiped the Window away and focussed back on me. "You have to be careful with who you trust in this world Ryuu. Don't just show that Message to anyone, you hear me?"

I nodded, "of course Obaa-san."

"Do you want me to try and ask some of the other town elders to see if and what they know about a 'Solo Dungeon'?"

I shook my head. I grabbed a stick and poked into the fireplace, making sure that there were no hidden embers hiding. "I have a feeling that nobody will know what it is. Now I just have to decide on whether or not I'm going to attempt the quest. Imagine what we could do for the orphanage if I can get that 200-gold reward."

Obaa-san was confused for a split second, "the orphanage? Oh, there are so many things we can do with that money of course."

"I think I'll head off to bed now," I said as I saw the last of the night's embers die off and patted Obaa-san's shoulder as I walked past her.

"Hey Ryuu," she called out as I was about to go past the doorway.

I turned as I heard her shuffle her way up to a standing position. She walked over to me and I stood aside to give her space to walk out also.

"No matter what you choose, don't choose it for anybody else but you," Obaa-san advised. "You're eighteen now. Do what you want to do, but make sure it's what you want to do. Do you understand me?"

I gave her a soft smile and nodded.

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¹Pjana [piyah-nah] proper noun. A small nation located on the east continent.