At this time, the man in the women's minds was talking to his mother.
The mother-son pair was drinking a special tea blend Althea occasionally sent to all her elders, partnered with Lola's sublime snacks.
They were currently sitting on the verandah, looking at the small farm of her team inside the fence. The peacefulness calmed their hearts a bit—something much needed considering the heaviness of their current topic.
"Any news?" Mathilda asked, eyebrows furrowed in worry, her temple forming more wrinkles than before. The more time passed, the more the aging lost by her upgrade returned.
Gill sighed and shook his head. "I already put out a mission in the Ferrol Mercenary Hall as well as those going to the allied territories, but I doubt there'd be news so soon."
Unlike Garan and many others who had already stopped buying information—so fortunate—Gill had to continue in his ardent search.
They still hadn't found his sister, Gwen.
"I've already commissioned artists to paint a lot of portraits, as well." Although paper wasn't commercially available, he's the boss' right-hand man and an elder's son, so he naturally had easier access to new resources than others.
There were a number of artists he got for this. He would soon have a handful of her portraits to distribute and assist him in the mission.
He didn't even need to pay them a lot. The artists just requested rims of paper, pencil, and ink in exchange. He promised them twice the amount of what they used to do the task.
As one imagined, they were quite… productive because of it.
Mathilda nodded, sighing heavily. That child had been traveling around with her friends when the disaster happened. The two of them had been trying to find news of her as soon as they were capable.
Mathilda believed the child was fine. After all, both she and her son didn't become one of the undead, and there was a high chance her daughter didn't either.
She just hoped the child wasn't suffering…
Gill saw his mother getting depressed and tried comforting her. "She's fine. I taught her self-defense since she could walk."
Mathilda smiled at the memories of the girl destroying their backyard with her 'practices'. The girl was the biggest tomboy in their community, but at this time it was such a fortunate thing—it definitely improved her chances in this volatile new world.
Mathilda shook her head at the memories, deciding to move on to a lighter topic.
Since she couldn't do anything about her younger child, she shifted her focus to the one in front of her instead.
"I heard of some rumors…" Mathilda began, looking at her son with a smile. "How true is it?"
"Which one?"
"You know what I mean."
Gill didn't answer, feeling a bit embarrassed at being found out. Mathilda looked at her acerbic son's increasingly red face and felt a little better.
"Well, I hope it works well for you this time," was all she said, gently and understanding.
Gill was silent, unconsciously rubbing the middle of his palm, before finally uttering a light, "Uhmn."
"My advice to you is to learn from your mistakes and give more time to those you hold dear, not just duty," she told him.
To be honest, her son—and her, for that matter, as well as every one of the soldiers—sacrificed too much for their nation. They ended up sacrificing their own lives, and their precious time with those they hold dear.
She hoped her son allowed for a bit more happiness to himself.
"Yes, mother."
Of course, as a woman who had seen many things, she also had to give enough caveats to her son.
"We don't know how their culture is like, I hope you keep that in mind." She said, "Only when you accept your partner as a whole would the relationship work long-term."
"Yes, mother."
Mathilda smiled, taking her son's hand and patting it. "Be happy this time."
…
Gaea Pharmacy.
In contrast to the worried family, another one was complete—a mother, a father, and two children—happily walking around town. The children had just ended their 'daycare' session with a couple of thanks to the nurses next door, so now they joined their parents in the excursion.
At this time, they were currently in the Pharmacy, with the mother doing her job while strolling around with her family.
Althea checked on the stocks to determine the production rate of each one, making some calculations on what they would need to focus on.
She made a mental note to increase the supply of Bandade and Sprite, as well as to improve the mass production of the inferior versions.
After doing this, she said her goodbye to Lily and Don Lee. Don Lee was a trainee and Lily-the-doctor's replacement as she had been officially reassigned to the other clinic near the East gate. He was a first-year pharmacy student who will also be working part-time at the research center as a learning experience.
He came from Belluga Village, primarily attracted to Altera due to Fable, but quickly decided to stay as soon as he landed.
Anyway, Althea volunteered to push the babies' stroller this time, while her husband decided to feed her some snacks they bought on the way there.
They exited the building and it happened that Garan decided to feed her a few bites at that moment.
So when Althea caught sight of the colorful visitors, she was chewing on the snacks, Gouji Berry Cookies.
The two Aborigines, Cassandra and Veronica, happened to be with the former actress Juni. They looked quite cozy with each other.
The two aborigine women and Juni…?
Althea, as the Lord with eyes everywhere, naturally knew these women and the… similarities among them.
Especially, the violet woman and Juni who apparently had very similar taste in men.
They seemed to have become sincere friends?
She wondered what would happen if they found out about the other's relationship with Gill? Did Gill have an idea what was happening here?
Althea couldn't help but stare, watching the two smile at each other like soul sisters.
When they find out about their rivalry, will they fight?
Or… will they share?