Overhearing Lethe direct a question to Hyuga, Alfrei slowed down a little and turned his head just enough to catch a glimpse of the Seraph. "Careful now Master Lethe, you might be digging your own grave talking to him. He'll drag you to the very depths of conversation itself if he can." Alfrei gave fair warning with a hearty chuckle and returned to his normal pace. Another voice echoed from the other side, Natalia's this time. "...and he'll never let you go."<br/><br/>With an obvious blush on his cheeks, Hyuga glared at the two. "Silence normals! I don't need to hear that from you!" he retorted, struggling to regain composure after realizing the White Seraph was left hanging. He cleared his throat and browsed his mental notes.<br/><br/>"Master Lethe, if it's only theories, I have plenty in mind, but not enough material to experiment on and prove them otherwise. I've only ever succeeded with this," he paused and took out the now uncontained crystal from Lethe's last battle, showing it to the Seraph. "You may not want to actually see this after that uh..." he stammered, "...that unfortunate incident but I want you to have a look at it now. It's completely safe." he said in his most assuring tone. The crystal glowed in Hyuga's palm, a stronger golden light now than it had a few days ago.<br/><br/>"While replacing the contents with smoke or water is an interesting notion in itself, I'm afraid the crystal only feeds on energy. As for releasing the sin inside tainted ones in a less... destructive... manner, I can only think of one possible way." he paused, eyes blinking a few times before he continued. "If it is possible to transfer it to something else, we may be able to drain the crystal empty. The problem is a viable container for sin's essence..." Hyuga trailed, thoughts drifting back to the previous topic of his study. "My apologies, I have yet to prove this theory I don't want to claim it will work."<br/><br/>"In other words, he's stumped." Alfrei interrupted. "It's a good thing he didn't suggest his DLE theory though, he wanted to make a holy bomb out of that thing he has and detonate it in the barrens, Divine Light Explosion he calls it. That's why he's continuously feeding it with holy energy. A waste if you ask me." Alfrei stated with a shrug of his shoulders. Hyuga however was lost in deep thought to make a comeback. "Master Lethe, you and the Captain will be the first ones to know if I learn something new. Forgive my incompetence."<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">____________________________________________________________________________________</div><br/><br/>Being in one of the safe routes, Guilford felt relaxed for once. He didn't want to admit it, but it was stifling in Gless and Lindela. Palaugrim on the other hand, despite the obvious dangers, had that air of freedom. He felt like he could really breathe, especially now that they were under the radar.<br/><br/>Brynhildr had kept her eyes on her Captain the whole time. She noticed the gradual change in his eyes as they drew closer to town. From that of a Seraph to that of a mere knight, then to that of a man. She didn't know how to put it but the look in Guilford right now seemed to suit him better. He looked at peace. Her Captain's voice disrupted her thoughts that were beginning to run away with themselves.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"Do you remember when we liberated Jenault? Do you think much has changed?"</span><br/><br/>Brynhildr, having been caught off-guard by the question struggled for words. "W-Well I... I think the people will be thrilled to see you Captain. I'm sure they missed you dearly."<br/><br/>Guilford simply smiled. Four years have passed since his incomplete squad's discovery and liberation of Jenault from the taint of Sin. It should have been marked on the map but Guilford decided to tell otherwise. He said there was nothing left there. He wanted Jenault to be his getaway, a place where he could truly be himself, a place away from it all. He did say it was a knight controlled town, that was partly right. It was under his protection, not The Immaculate or the knighthood.<br/><br/>As the small town came into sight, Guilford's pace began to quicken. He was drawn to it, the place where his heart had found home. To his surprise, the town has gotten much better than the last time he was here. Though there were still structures that foretold tales of a harsh battle, much of the town has been rebuilt. The sight of the kids playing in the distance brought a smile to his lips. It was good to know they were doing okay.<br/><br/>Passing through the town's south entrance, the kids noticed their large group and immediately recognized the man up front.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"It's Gil! Gil's back!"<br/>"Everyone! Gil and his friends have returned!"</span><br/><br/>Word spread fast around town. Soon, Gil could see the adults of town rushing over to greet them, but the kids found him first and were already running towards him. Guilford found himself running towards the kids as well, dropping down to one knee to be showered by hugs and laughter from the little ones. Soon, he found himself laughing with the kids as well. Not politely, not forced, not out of duty, but genuinely.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"We missed you Gil!"</span>they all said at the same time.<span style="color: #0080FF">"I missed you guys too! Maurice, Pete, Cath, Jonas, Miriam, everyone! Look at all of you! All grown up! Have you guys been good?"</span>he asked, a wide, sincere smile on his lips. The kids answered in unison, each of them having a story of their own to tell. The others clung all over Gil even as he stood up to greet the adults that just arrived.<br/><br/>"Gil! Welcome back! You should have sent word you were coming. And you brought new friends too?" the man asked after catching a glimpse of the others still near the south entrance.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Yeah, it's a bigger group this time, but we won't be staying long I'm afraid."</span><br/>It was hard to hold a decent conversation with the little ones all over him. Guilford had to take a moment to put them all down and tell them to greet the others too.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">____________________________________________________________________________________</div><br/><br/>"Hard to believe that's our Captain over there. This is not something you see everyday." Alfrei commented while watching their captain get squished by the kids. "I agree. I can never get quite used to it. Knowing how he always is in Seraph mode." Hyuga added. "I somehow envy those kids, they are able to address him so casually..." Bryn trailed to a sigh, knowing it was pointless to feel that way.<br/><br/>Guilford's squad was surprised to see that the kids were now coming their way calling out names.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"Bryyyyyynnn! Hyuuuuu! Geooooorg!!!"<br/>"Naaaaaat! Vlaaaaaad! Jaaaooooo! Aaaalfeeeeiii!"</span><br/><br/>Alfrei sighed. "Four years and she still can't get my name right. It's Alfrei! With an<span style="font-weight: bold">R</span>!" he yelled back and ran to greet some of them.<br/><br/>Joaquim laughed. "At least she's somewhat close. Jao isn't even my name!"<br/><br/>The other knights from Gil's squad respectfully removed themselves from their post to greet the onslaught of little ones except for Hyuga who remained in formation. He turned to Lethe and the rest of her squad who is probably dumbfounded at the development.<br/><br/>"Master Lethe, in behalf of my Captain, I sincerely hope that you would forgive him. This place is special to him, the Captain considers this place, his escape and will always drop by at any given chance. There's no other knight presence here but ours. Please, make yourselves at home, the people here are very nice." he said and felt tugging on his clothes. "Oh, and I also ask forgiveness for his un-Seraph-like behavior... I promise you, we won't be here too long..." he trailed off and lifted the kid up in his arms, heading to join his squad mates who were already playing with the little ones.