"Congratulations, uncle!" Phil was surprised and delighted. "This truly is a blessing!"
Uncle Jeremy nodded. "It is, though I have to wonder, how is it that all of you still look the same? It's like not a single one of you have aged."He stared at us in confusion.
"Where we went had a different flow of time. To us, it has only been nine days, but it seems when we came back, the time had flown by in a blink of an eye."
"Different flow of time? I heard something like that with the Divine beings." Uncle Jeremy thought it over for a moment. "You should come and have lunch with us."
"I will be glad too."
Uncle Jeremy turned towards the rest of us. "You should come as well. It would be like old times."
"Thank you," I spoke.
Phil walked past Uncle Jeremy and stopped in front of the tombstone. "I'm back, Grandma. Grandpa. I am sorry it took so long." Tears dripped down Phil's face. "I promised I'll watch over what you have started as well as Uncle Jeremy."
Phil stood silently for a while and turned back around. We left the hill and went back into the town. Moving through the buildings, we arrived at a large modern looking house. The house was a two-story building that one would see in a modern middle-class society, but here in Torren it was a luxurious building.
"Wow, I didn't think that you guys would put some interesting flair to your home," Don spoke.
"I have never seen this architecture before."
"It is our proud Draconian style. We used the floor plan that you have left behind and tweaked the exterior of the building. The foundation is still the same."
"Wait, dad, you're saying he was the one that drew those plans?" Blaze spoke up. "He doesn't look much older than me."
"They are similar to a group of Adventurers that brings with them new knowledge wherever they go."
"You don't mean those first five Adventurers, right?" I asked.
"Yes, though they are not only five anymore."
���There are more?"
"A total of one hundred Adventurers from the distant land. All of them have made this their home here. Honestly, this place is more of a city than a town. Our population has risen up to fifty thousand in the past years. The majority of them are refugees. We named it the City of Dreams."
"O-one hundred?" I gasped. Where the heck did all these people just randomly come from? I turned towards Coco for an explanation.
"They have been summoned by a young mistress. Every single one of them had come from the garden and now lives in this city. No one lives in the castle, young mistress. There is a strange magic that turns the new Adventurers from entering back in when they leave the castle."
"The famous ones are the Five Stars," said Uncle Jeremy.
"Five Stars?"
"Yes, the hero David, Anna, Hiroto, Sun, and Sara. They had made quite a name for themselves. They had slain the infamous Necromancer, the man-eating Manticore, and even the three sister Harpies. Not only that, but they also helped out with the transformation of this city and even helped contribute to improving our cities transportation."
I couldn't help but be shocked at what Uncle Jeremy was saying. In the past twenty-five years, the five annoying Adventurers that I had met had changed into someone different.
Entering into Uncle Jeremy's house, we headed towards the dining table. A small number of maids appeared taking the coat and bags.
"Please, get lunch ready." Uncle Jeremy spoke. The maids nodded and went to start cooking.
"They have taken over the guild that Mary has established. It has already become something big. Young recruits seem to flock to it every day in the hopes of gaining fame and honor."
Everyone brought to the dining room, and we all sat down except for Coco and Tart. They disappeared to help out the maids in the house.
"Grandma Mary allows them to run it?" I asked.
"Yes, they have proven their worth countless times over the years. Not only that, they have formed families of their own here."
"Formed families." The words stuck to my lips like glue. All this new information was making my head dizzy.
"Sun and Anna had married and had a couple of children. Hiroto and Sara are another pair with one child. David married a female Beast-kin. The older generation of Adventurers had settled down, while the newer generation had been making a name for themselves."
"What's the Beast-kin's name?" Don interrupted the conversation.
"Siva. Why are you interested in Beast-kin too?" Uncle Jeremy joked and chuckled.
Don was downcast when he heard Siva's name.
It then hit me that Don had a thing for Siva, though twenty-five years had passed. I wouldn't be surprised that Siva had fallen in love during the twenty-five years.
"How is Siva and Seth doing?"
"They are actually doing well in keeping the Wonder Shop going. Siva had personally made your shop into a popular brand that sells Potions. So far, there has been an imitation of the Red and Blue Potions, but no one could come close to what Siva sells. Seth had made quite a name for himself as the leader of the Beast-kin Mercenary group. Their name is well known through the Beast-kin kingdom. Siva even has a couple of children of her own." Uncle Jeremy chuckled.
"I'm glad that they are doing very well. I knew they could do it."
"It seems you have found a wise partner for yourself, Phil."
"She's just a friend's uncle."
"He's completely right," I replied.
"Really? I must've seen something different." Uncle Jeremy scratched his chin.
Coco, Tart, and the other maids brought in the delicious food from the kitchen, and they started to hand out the food.
"If you don't mind, can Coco and Tart eat with us?" I look towards Uncle Jeremy. The words that I had said startled him.
"Young Mistress. Please, you don't have to do this." Coco retorted. She was embarrassed at what I just stated.
"Young Mistress." Sniffles could be heard from Tart.
"I wouldn't mind at all. They are guests. Honestly, I was surprised that they would be going back to help the maids."
"I-I wouldn't dare," stuttered Coco. She held up her hands to her chest and clenched it.
"Don't worry. Don't worry. You, Tart, and Moca kept this city safe and helped us all out so that we could not see you as a maid. Berry, you have very great friends who have been taking care of the city while you were healing."
"Thank you, I completely understand what you mean." I examined both of them with pride.
"Thank you, Duke Jeremy." Both Coco and Tart bowed. They went over and pulled the chairs backward.
"Duke Jeremy? Ah, I wouldn't be surprised that you would." Phil nodded his head. "I'm glad that you got the title than me, Uncle."
"Why is that?"
"I never wanted such a title in the beginning anyway. I like my life not tied down to nobles.
"I expected as much, but the title will still be given to you."
"No. Please just keep it. I'm going to run away if you do that." Phil chuckled.
Uncle Jeremy gave him a frown and shook his head. "If I knew you would have so much disdain towards it, I wouldn't have brought you back."
"What are you saying? It was grandpa's orders. Plus, to see him for a while is a blessing in itself." An awkward smile could be seen on Phil's face, which gave it a sense of loneliness.
Uncle Jeremy didn't say anything else and kept silent.
"The city is not associated with the Kingdom anymore, correct?"
"That is correct, we are a land completely devoid from the Kingdom's rule. They dare not come waltzing through the front gates of the forest." A smirk plastered on Uncle Jeremy's face. "You should've seen how the monsters seem to prey on the Kingdom's messenger."
"That's quite a dark thing to say." I forked the meat and took a bite.
"Those vile rats can stay out of the city for all I care. They have never helped us once and will continue to never will. All they see is greed in their eyes."
"How is it that you have been able to stay safe for the past twenty-five years?" Don asked. He was twirling around his fork and placed it down. Reaching over, he took a drink.
"That is a mystery in itself. It seems that this city welcomes people running away from different
kingdoms, but when it comes to the Kingdom's messenger, the walls devour them. Not one had so far successfully stepped foot in the city. I am proud to say that we are quite a multi-diverse community. Even though our population is heavily human, twenty percent of them are Beast-kin, and the remaining 5% are Dwarves. I think I have seen a couple of elves and a Divine. We welcome all races here."
"What's the change of heart, Uncle?"
"When you grow older, you will understand."
"I think I already do."
"No matter, the sighting of the Black Gryphon had been silent for over twenty-five years. It's
been quite a strain for our everyday life. We worry when the next rampage will start for the
Black Gryphon."
I didn't expect to hear the Black Gryphon to be so quiet even until now. I honestly didn't know if I killed the Legendary Creature, but instead remembered it went down with me in the fight. Like a flash of lightning, the whole ordeal replayed over in my head. I shuddered at the mortifying fight, making my stomach twist from the pain.
"That is why the other Kingdoms haven't been moving around much. They fear that war will bring the Black Gryphon's calling, though lately, I begin to wonder if they are planning on making a move again. I heard some obscure words coming from our new resident that there is going to be a war coming right around the corner. The beast-kin and the human king had been disgruntled with one another. How I wish the Black Gryphon would just come flying through the sky and wipe out the wretched human king's existence." Uncle Jeremy snorted.
"Jeremy! That is not something you should say in front of our guest." Christina chastised him.
"I'm so sorry you have to hear my husband spout such words. If he's not careful enough, he might get his head chopped off by the king."
"Ha. The king." Uncle Jeremy waved his hands in front of him, not caring what he had to say. "The king can go jump into the river and drown himself. He is not welcome into this city, and I will make sure he never is allowed to come in."
I could tell that's quite a substantial amount of resentment towards them. "How is the trade with the other cities?" I asked.
"We only go out once a year. We know that the technology that we have is sought out with jealousy. Your teachings have been a safe, guarded secret. No one will want to leave this city when they come to live here. We make sure that people are well taken care of, so they don't think about leaving. Especially, the people who have learned the traded secrets of the Magic Stones. We don't allow them to leave at all. They are our pride and joy of this city. This rule had been established the moment the new residents entered twenty years ago."