Mina walked out of Rhea's room, looking back at the two young girls; keeping each other company, they seemed calmer now. Standing before her now was Ithil, staring at the back of the room. 

"Is... Rax... awake?" Ithil looked at Mina, incredibly depressed and nervous. 

"Yes, Ithil, he’s awake... Do you want me to go in with you?" Mina set the cups on a table near where Magaska and Leonidas were sleeping. 

"No... no, I want to do this myself... Alright, here goes." Ithil straightened his uniform and prepared to take a step, pausing outside Rax’s room. 

"Holy Enrya, Ithil, he’s a boy who needs support, not an angry general. Go on, just go in as you are."
Tap, tap, tap! Ithil’s martial steps entered the room. With a rigid and defiant face, he looked at Rax, who was in bed staring at his exposed legs. 

"I’m Ithil, leader of the rescue squad." With a noisy squeak, he dragged a metal chair in front of Rax's bed. Sitting with the backrest in front of him, he faced the boy; removing his cap, he placed it carefully on the table and turned it slightly. His movements were martial and slightly intimidating. 

"Yeah... yeah, I heard." Rax pulled his arms in and covered the legs he had been staring at. 

"Your teammates are..." Ithil decided to give him the good news about his group, but he was interrupted by Rax. 

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!!" Rax shouted at the top of his lungs. 

"..." Ithil, with a somber gaze, fixed his eyes on Rax. Mixed feelings of disappointment and contradiction besieged him; trying to weigh a valid response, he tried to speak again: "Rax, I..." but was interrupted again. 

"No... I don’t want to... I don’t want to know... just... let me disappear... I just want to dissolve into the floor and not know anything." Rax held his head with both hands. 

"Is that how you want your teammates to remember you? Look up, Mr. Rax," Ithil said in a loud voice. 

“Small and miserable,” Luan's voice echoed in his mind. 

"What do you know! What do you know about trying to live like I do! We found you alone and wandering without a group; if I hadn't accepted you, you’d still be begging for missions. If it weren't for Rhea!" Rax looked up, but he was confused: finding no Luan, he saw Ithil instead, staring at him without expression. 

"Your teammates are improving, Rax. What about you?" Ithil kept his gaze steady; Rax stayed there without saying anything. 

"What? Don’t you see me?... Look, look closely at the amazing results of your mission." Rax pulled the sheets back from his legs; they weren't in place, just two bundles of bloodied bandages. 

"You’re no different from those new guys shouting orders and making everyone else fight for them. I bet you haven't even fought. Why are you there... I SHOULD BE THERE GIVING ORDERS!" 

"You say everyone is improving? BULLSHIT! Rhea... how can she be okay?! How can Nesta keep going?! Luan didn't even get his hands dirty! And me... EVERYTHING IS DESTROYED! HOW CAN YOU SAY IT’S OKAY?!" Rax didn’t look at Ithil once. 

CRACK! A sharp blow to Rax's jaw made his gums bleed. Ithil, with one strike, shut Rax's mouth before he could say what was coming next. 

"For your own sake, I have to shut your mouth. I can tolerate your insults because I know my responsibilities and the results of my work, but out of respect for your comrades and your partner, I must act." Ithil placed his hand in front of Rax and, slowly, removed the red leather glove Jacob had made to protect his prosthetic. Rax stopped, stunned, and bit his lower lip. 

"Rhea is safe; her incredible ability to defend herself saved her from a quick death—her and your teammate Nesta. You should listen to her more. What follows is her decision, just as it is Nesta's; their conviction to move forward is as solid as the trust and affection those girls have for each other. Their recovery will be difficult but not impossible, and Luan is more scarred than you think, and he values you more than you know. You, Mr. Rax, are their leader; they love you enough to consider you one." Ithil moved the fingers of his prosthetic hand and paused. Thinking three times about what came next, he said: "I take pride in my comrades every day and I gave everything I have for them. This arm... is the proof. More than this medal, more than any rank I hold." 

Rax opened and closed his mouth; there was a clear attempt to argue, but nothing came out. 

"How... how is Rhea? She really didn't die?" Rax asked, as if clarity were returning to his body, on the verge of tears. 

"Mina is an excellent medic and Emilia is a prodigy. Rax, Wood-grade adventurer! In the name of Thar-Abbys and by the authority this medal gives me, I apologize... for not arriving in time." Ithil gave a deep, rigid bow, like a soldier before Rax. 

"Eh... no... no, Master Ithil, I’m the one who owes an apology to my teammates... Can I go see them? Do you think they still want to see me? Rhea... will she still want me?" Rax hugged himself. 

"She’s been waiting for you for a while." Ithil put his glove back on. 

"I can't go see her... not after all the things I said... I can't." Rax covered his face with his hands. 

"I don't know what you’re talking about, Rax. In this room, there was only a crazy guy and me, and I took out the crazy guy with one punch." Ithil looked back at Rax. 

At that moment, someone knocked on the door. Jacob was waiting outside with a box. 

"Hi, I see Ithil already talked to you. My name is Jacob, and I brought something that might help. Humm, it’s not like Ithil’s prosthetic, it’s just a mechanical pair, but it can help." Jacob pulled out a pair of prosthetics he made himself. "Nesta has one too; it’ll help her with her arm's movements. They’re still in the testing phase, so you’ll have to visit me so I can calibrate them and eventually show you how. They aren't like real legs... but they’ll help." Jacob closed the wooden box. 

Rax, silent, looked at Ithil. 

"Thank you... truly. Will I be able to fight with these?" Rax asked. 

"Eh... well, it’ll be hard for you to learn to fight with these; I only designed them for walking. But... it might work if we change this assembly and if..." Ithil placed his hand on Jacob’s shoulder, who excitedly began planning the changes. 

"Oh! Yeah, yeah... Rhea is looking for you too... hahahaha." Jacob and Ithil helped Rax into the wheelchair. 

Luan, Rhea, and Nesta were waiting for Rax in the waiting room. Ithil and the others stepped out after handing over some papers. Mina looked inside the room once more: the kids were hugging and crying together. 

"Everyone went, and everyone came back, right Ithil?" Inola said as Leonidas carried Magaska, who was still asleep. 

"Yes, everyone came back." Ithil hung a ribbon with Shigure’s name on the ammonite, and Mina hung a ribbon with the names of Nesta, Rhea, Luan, and Rax, praying for their swift