Going back down to Kotosa, the spirits were high as we walked around taking in the sights. We had reached a consensus to just meet up at the [Rig] on a set date and go from there. Sure, that meant that I had to give them all money to live a decent life while we took a vacation, but it wasn’t like we couldn’t make it back after a few jobs here and there. Besides, a bit of rest was all that we needed after taking such big news right in the face.

“So what’re we supposed to do in the meantime?” I asked Guidance as she walked by my right-hand side. “We have around, what? A week before we go and set off again?”

“We can always try and find a few dungeons to grind,” Guidance suggested with a shrug. “Or we can just find a spot to crash in and just fvck like crazy.”

“I can’t believe you just said that with a straight face,” I blandly replied. “Also, you expect Shizu to do that with us without even so much as a complaint?”

“I’d do that if that is what you two wished,” Shizu quickly replied, her eyes already shining with anticipation as she walked by my left-hand side. “But no, I’d rather for us to do something productive.”

I quickly agreed even as Guidance gave me a small joking pout at being shot down. Still, I couldn’t blame her for trying to suggest such an idea. With the party effectively split up at the moment, this was our chance to get some extended time just being in each other’s presence. Of course, the plan was for just us to be together for the whole week, but Shizu insisted that she come with us, ditching Shade and Maruki even as they offered to be her guards like they’d usually done.

“Like what then?” I asked. “I have a feeling that you could’ve been more productive with Shade and Maruki, you know.”

“No, I wouldn’t have. And no, I have no plans on leaving your side, Moriya, Lady Guidance,” Shizu firmly replied with a faint smile. “And when I say productive, I mean us preparing for the journey ahead.”

I blinked at her forethought. “Well, if you say it like that, then I can agree,” I chuckled. “Shall we go back to Port Sendoff then?”

“Not yet,” Shizu quickly replied. “I just received a message earlier before I caught you and Lady Guidance. I have to see if it’s true.”

“A message?” Guidance curiously asked. “What does it say?”

Shizu sighed before she answered, “It says that Fa- I mean, the Emperor has decreed that the [Empire’s Wrath] is to be decommissioned.”

…

…Well, that didn’t sound good.

“This is… This is the worst-case scenario, isn’t it,” I humorlessly chuckled.

“It is, and we’re going to be stuck here unless we either steal it back, or we find a new [Rig] to sail with,” Shizu remarked with a hint of finality in her tone. “The messenger didn’t say anything else though, which meant that Father must want me to think of something else.”

“Like what?” I asked.

Instead of replying, Shizu paused, pulling out a piece of paper from within her kimono and handing it to me. Guidance quickly peeked in as I opened the letter, my eyes widening the more I kept on reading it.

“Wait… That was it? We’re just… done?”

[Shizu, you are to cease all thoughts of going out to the Deep. While you are no longer eligible to wield your authority, you are still my sole Heiress. The Empire will crumble if I were to die without a successor.]

The Emperor’s words were as clear as day. It was callous and blunt, but it served its purpose well enough.

“He… He wants me to stay,” Shizu weakly murmured. “I-I don’t agree, of course, but for now, we’ll be stuck here.”

I blinked at the implications that this letter was telling us. Was this it? Was this all that this journey was ever going to be?

“That… doesn’t sound right…” Guidance anxiously murmured. “That shouldn’t have happened… None of this makes any sense story-wise.”

“Lady Guidance?”

“Stopping progress is wholly against the philosophy of how I made this world,” Guidance mumbled. “And a [Rig] should never be able to be taken from us once we get it. This is… This is impossible.”

“Well, it is now,” I scoffed. “So the [Rig]’s going to be taken from us. What then?”

The two women looked up at me in anticipation, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as I hashed out something that might just work.

“Shizu, you did say that you wanted to do something productive, right?”

“Yes?” she hesitantly replied. “I have a few plans, but what do you have in mind?”

“Well, despite what the Emperor said, it’s clear that he still cares for you,” I began. “Well, he can’t show it due to some reason or another, but you get the idea. He won’t harm you, so why not just stroll in there and steal the [Empire’s Wrath] back?”

It was the most logical conclusion. If it was going to be taken from us, then why not just take it back? It wasn’t like anybody else would use it, and we’d already sunk much time on it for us to abandon it now. It was our [Rig] now, whether the Empire liked it or not.

“That’s…. not what I had in mind, but I like it,” Shizu nodded with a smile.

“What was your plan then?” Guidance asked.

“Well, I was just planning on marching back up to the palace and begging for Father to let me prove myself,” the princess weakly admitted. “Barring that, I’d approach Mother or rally some of the nobles to my cause.”

“And you expected that to work?” the dev humorously followed.

“Yes?” Shizu blinked, her naivety shining through even after everything that had happened. “Moriya said it himself that Father still cares about me. So surely, he’d forgive me if I apologized hard enough.”

“You sound like you don’t even care that you’ve inadvertently plunged your country into a war it’s far from ready for.”

“Do not say that.”

I paused mid-chuckle, Shizu’s cold tone suddenly showing itself as she glared at me. “Sorry…”

Beside me, Guidance laughed at my mistakes. Well, I couldn’t blame her for it anyway. If she did that, I’d laugh at her myself.

“Anyway, we’ll stick to Moriya’s plan,” Guidance remarked after a bit of a pause had passed. “With the rest of the party not with us, we’ll have to secure the [Empire’s Wrath] ourselves. Which, thinking about it, wouldn’t be that bad of a task.”

“I agree,” I quickly chimed in. “In fact, the two of you alone might be able to do it already.”

“And you don’t plan on helping?”

“Of course, I do,” I scoffed at Guidance’s joking assumption. “We still have a few days to prepare, and we’ll need to scope the port out if we want to take the [Rig] without too much damage. And I’m sure that Shizu here doesn’t want us to kill anybody here that’s just doing their job.”

“That’s right,” Shizu nodded. “I can’t anger Father more than I’ve already done. Committing crimes against my own countrymen is off limits.”

“It’s settled then,” I clapped my hands together in finality. “In a week’s time, we’ll be returning out at sea.”

Well, we have the time. We have a week, and that’s plenty enough for us to prepare. With a bit of solid planning and elbow grease, we were going to steal our [Rig] back. Then, we can go ahead and get Shizu’s crown authority back for her by… Well, that will probably be for later. What’s important was that we had something to look forward to, and we weren’t going to stop until we’ve righted the wrongs we’ve done.

“Just you wait…” I chuckled up to the sky, the countless [Stars] being my witness. “I won’t let this world win. We’ll enjoy ourselves and make a life here no matter how hard it takes!”

…

…”What’re you saying?”

Guidance’s question caught me off guard. I weakly scratched the back of my head as I replied, “I don’t know.. I just wanted to sound cool…”

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

So… That’s that, I suppose. Unfortunately, I can’t live on something that’s not making me any money. I’m not rich enough to just write for a hobby, and I certainly don’t have the energy to both work and write at the same time. As a result, I’ll be leaving this story here for the time being. It’s not finished, obviously, but it’s a decent stopping point as any with the circumstances surrounding my life right now.

Of course, this story still has a chance of being continued, and that is if it magically somehow garners enough attention that I have no choice but to continue it. Until then, however, this is goodbye to the frequent updates for the world of The Seams.

Side note, I did say that I was working on a different story that might be more pleasing to broader audiences. If that works and I get to live a decent life writing, then I’ll most certainly start updating this again. But for now, this is the end.

Oh, and follow me on my TWT @ChellyArks for updates.