the one who remembers

The next few days passed relatively uneventfully for Cale. He spent his days - as usual - attending classes at the royal academy and making friends with Loys von Freigoud and Julius Venlan. He spent his day off going into town with Fengari to buy elegant clothes that they would wear on the evening of the concert.

The only difference was that Cale now also accompanied Mamoru on his patrol. Whether he would continue to do so permanently was still to debate, but Cale had already met some new faces. In the meantime, Cale had also consulted a doctor in town so that he could help Mamoru better. Mamoru himself hid the extent of his burns as best he could. To do so, he visited Cale's house almost every evening to receive some makeshift medical care.

"Careful, Ahri", Jarle's voice could be heard from outside before the girl came running through the open front door, laughing, with some flowers and twigs in her hand. Jarle appeared right behind her, looking rather flustered, while Cedrik followed them, laughing. They had gone into the garden with Ahri, and whatever had happened, Ahri seemed to have enjoyed herself. She ran into the living room with the grass in her hand and turned around as if to check that Jarle and Cedrik were following her.

"Your daughter really is a ray of sunshine, no matter where she goes", Mamoru admitted with amusement. He had stayed a little longer today because the whole group had eaten together.

"She always manages to win people over. Is it her personality, her appearance, or what is so interesting about Ahri?", Cale asked, stepping out of the kitchen.

"Everything. She looks like a sweet, well-behaved girl and is very friendly to people. To me as well", Mamoru commented. "That reminds me: what did she mean the other day when she said she knew monsters?"

"She meant the creatures. She encountered them when she was younger", Cale replied, offering the first thought that came to mind.

"You took your daughter to the creature plane?"

"I had my reasons."

"I won't say anything anymore. Here in Bellator, people are always extremely concerned about the safety of their children, so your parenting methods sometimes seem really strange to me."

"Zod already had his experiences with Sylve's parenting methods", Jarle interjected, stopping in front of them. Ahri, on the other hand, hid while Cedrik playfully chased her. Laughing, the girl ran around the table past the sofa before Cale grabbed her and pulled her toward him. She screamed, laughed, and turned to her father before calming down and handing him the flowers.

"What do you mean?", Mamoru asked in surprise.

"Oh, Jarle and I met for the first time down on the beach back then. A child almost drowned, and I revived him, but instead of thanking me, the mother hit me and snatched her son away."

"What?", Cedrik and Mamoru said in unison, while Jarle just stood there silently and nodded.

"The boy was annoying", Fengari added. Cale took the bouquet and ran his fingers through her hair, whereupon Fengari immediately complained. She stared down at him grimly before Cale asked her to close the front door.

"He kept splashing Ahri, and she didn't like it at all", Jarle explained, watching Fengari hopped towards the door.

"I didn't really understand what the lady was thinking either", Cale added, putting the flowers aside and picking up a tray he had prepared. "But as long as the child is alive, I'm fine with it."

When he set it down on the small side table in the living room, Jarle and Mamoru had already made themselves comfortable. They politely thanked Cale for the drinks he handed them before Cale sat down as well. A moment later, Fengari came running over and climbed onto Cale's lap without saying a word, which Cale didn't comment on.

"Would you like some tea too?", Cale asked and Fengari nodded eagerly. But he didn't get any further, because Jarle seemed to have already understood her intention and handed her a cup.

"How are you doing, Mamoru? Your wound looks much better", Jarle said cautiously, handing Cedrik a cup as well as he sat down next to him.

"Pretty good. I hardly notice it anymore."

"Really?", Cedrik replied incredulously. "I can't imagine that. How do you even sleep with that wound? Can you even lie down normally?"

"Not at all", Cale replied before Mamoru could.

"Not at all?" Cedrik repeated, confused.

"I can go a few days without sleep, it's one of the things you train for as a soldier", Mamoru defended himself and gave Cale a dark look, but Cale ignored it. Meanwhile, he was using small incentives to force Mamoru to tell the truth about his burns in front of other people.

"You should ask him how long he hasn't slept", Cale interjected, lifting Ahri with both hands to position her better. She let it happen, and when Cale was done and leaned back against the backrest, Fengari leaned against his upper body.

"Mamoru?", Cedrik asked.

"A few days."

"Four", Cale corrected, giving him a warning look.

"Don't look at me like that."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Your sleep pattern is completely out of whack, I wonder how you can still stand. Promise me you'll get some rest today, and if it hurts...", Cale began, pointing with his left hand to the small basket he had prepared for his caregiver. "...then take a pill."

"But not too many", Ahri interjected in her sweet voice.

"All right."

"There's the healer in you talking again", Jarle interjected quietly, but Cedrik spoke up at the same time.

"Do we know what exactly happened?"

"Since Sir Freigoud couldn't tell me anything and Mamoru doesn't know either, I guess they're all in the dark", Cale explained to the youngest of the group. "Or it's possible that we're simply not allowed to know yet. In any case, we'll have to be patient until an official statement is released."

"Which may as well never come, considering how they're handling the child abduction", Jarle added, causing everyone's attention to shift from Cedrik to Jarle. "What? I'm telling the truth, aren't I?"

"You did, but we parents were all informed. Only the public doesn't know yet", replied Cale, pointing in the direction of his bookshelf. One section was free of books and filled with letters and other documents. With a skeptical look, Jarle stood up, discovered the compartment, and pulled out some letters. "The second one."

"May I read it?"

"Why else would I show it to you?", Cale replied ironically. His colleague nodded, put the other letters down, and pulled the paper out of the envelope as he returned to his seat.

<"What if he sees the letters from the palace?">, Fengari asked without moving.

<"I have Sir Freigoud's summons and the king's invitation here in my zero magic. I'm not that careless.">

<"Excellent!">

"How idiotic", Jarle said almost simultaneously. "Basically, they are doing nothing at all."

"That's not true. We have significantly more patrols in the city and they are required to investigate any strange activity, no matter how insignificant they seem."

"But that doesn't do much good", Jarle replied somewhat snidely to his advisor's statement.

"It's difficult to worry about the safety of the residents and get to the bottom of the problem at the same time. Not to mention that it's not just a problem here in the capital."

"What?" Cedrik and Mamoru said at the same time, while Jarle turned completely pale.

"Children from other provinces are disappearing too, at least according to Sir Freigoud. Similar to here in the capital, they disappear overnight without a trace and no one knows where they go."

"By the gods", Mamoru interjected as Cale informed him of the actual state of affairs, which had been kept from him. None of those present seemed to have heard about it. Cale didn't know if keeping it secret was really such a smart idea, but he had no real influence on the decision anyway.

"This is a bigger problem, and even if they manage to stop the kidnappings here in Bellator, it certainly won't help in the other provinces."

"Why kidnap so many children? What for?", Cedrik asked aloud, to which Cale could only shrug his shoulders.

"Good question. The reason would probably be a clue as to who is kidnapping the children. What interests me more, however, is that no one seems to notice anything", Cale explained, stroking Ahri's head. He would love to know who was behind it, but for two other reasons. One was that he had not noticed the child abductions in his other lives, and the second was that someone was deliberately kidnapping future soldiers right under his nose. "It's as if it's happening directly infront of us, but no one can see it."

"Are you sure you want to join the patrols?", Mamoru asked, looking worriedly at the blonde-haired girl on his lap. "I could understand if you don't want to leave Ahri alone at night."

"I'll be fine, and even if someone were to break in, it certainly wouldn't be without me hiding or defending myself," Fengari replied calmly and in a serious voice.

"Like me, Ahri is quite sensitive to mana sources. She'll notice early on if someone she doesn't know approaches her. She also knows what to do in such a case", Cale added, running his fingers through her hair.

"I've been alone a lot before", Fengari added.

"Well, if you say so", Mamoru replied suspiciously, watching as Cale took her long blonde hair and slowly braided it into a ponytail.

"Don't you want to tell me what exactly happened on the night of the fire, Mamoru?", Cale tried to change the subject.

"I'm not allowed to."

"You're not allowed to?", Cale repeated in surprise. "Is that why you're making such a secret of it?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. It's not that I want to lie to you, but..."

"It's okay, I understand. You don't have to explain yourself", Cale interrupted him.

By now, he had probably received more information about the arson than Mamoru was aware of. Therefore, he did not have to rely on his source and could indirectly question Sir Venlan or Sir Freigoud on the subject if he wanted to. But at the moment, his interest was clearly more focused on the child abduction.

"Even if we are curious", Cedrik called after him, causing a brief smile to appear on Cale's face. The rustling of paper drew his attention back to Jarle, who put the letter back in the envelope and then looked out the window.

"Is it that late already?"

"Do you have plans?" Cale asked, confused.

"Once a month, there's a big meeting for all the soldiers of the house", Cedrik explained irritably and stood up. "Where plans are made and general problems are discussed."

"Oh, really? I didn't know that."

"It's not particularly exciting", Cedrik replied and straightened up.

"Sorry for leaving like this. I just don't want to...", Jarle said.

"It's fine, it's fine. Don't worry about it", Cale replied, lifting Fengari aside to accompany his guests to the door. "Thank you very much for coming today."

"Thank you for your hospitality. We'd love to come back again."

"You are always welcomed", Cale replied, leaning against the wall while the two slipped on their shoes and grabbed their coats, which were part of their uniform. "Next time, I'll bake a cake or something like that."

"You don't have to go overboard", Jarle replied. "If the weather is nice, we can all go to the lake, including Ahri, of course."

"Sounds nice", Cale agreed and opened the front door.

"See you next time, Mamoru, Ahri", Jarle said politely, and Cedrik also said goodbye to the two of them.

They then stepped outside, while Cale remained standing in the doorway watching them. Once the two had walked far enough away, Cale's expression suddenly darkened and he turned to Mamoru.

"Mamoru..."

"Don't look at me like that. You're like Velasque."

"Should I know who that is?"

"An old friend of mine. You'll probably meet her in the next few days."

"Is she a soldier too?"

"Yes, she is", Mamoru confirmed.

Sighing, Cale lowered his head and closed the door behind him before returning to his seat. It was pointless. Mamoru was even more stubborn than Aaron - and that was saying something.

"Have you been in contact with your father during this time?" Cale finally asked.

"Not since the attack on Groka. Why do you ask?"

"Just out of interest."

"I'm fine, really."

"Even I don't believe that, Sir Meyrl", Ahri commented, causing the tall man to look up in surprise at the serious-looking girl. Unlike Cale, the dragon was genuinely concerned about the man's well-being and wasn't pretending.

"Just check in with them again. I just wanted to tell you that", Cale asked his advisor.

He didn't make this statement for family reasons, no. Groka was causing him more and more concern every day, and currently Mamoru's father, the mayor of Groka, was probably his best source of information.

After all, Cale couldn't shake the feeling that he had overlooked something. Something that had to do with Groka and would still be his undoing.