Ending 1 保護の魔法円

And that was that. Final sigil drawn up as it was planned, designed and foretold.

Damned Circle locked itself away til the next forever. Protected from the tide.

As for the rest of ‘em…

Folks just headed back to whatever was left of home.

Coffee was frankly offended when he returned to find a bustling mill that seemed only to hasten its production in his absence.

Barging his way through the factory straight into the head office, the alchemist was greeted by Latte, his now elderly niece, sitting behind the mahogany desk.

After a spirited debate over the subject of succession, the two reached an accord of sorts.

Coffee agreed to take on a promising protege whilst Latte agreed to hire a new intern.

Keeping his promise, Rum saddled up with Chicha and the two set sail for the Everwilds, ready for a fight.

What greeted them was a whole lot of concrete and hardly any jungle.

The Capital hadn’t just pillaged the Everwilds, it had subsumed it, entombing the brush in an industrial sprawl.

The Floral Folk had given up their homeland in exchange for recognition as citizens.

Second class citizens, but at least they were recognized.

Chicha was none too pleased ‘bout the state of things, and Rum concurred.

Didn’t take long for the dynamic duo to realize that more industry meant more tech.

And more tech in the hands of a certain budding star… well, things were about to get a whole lot louder in the Capital.

Matcha headed back to the crumbling spires he knew awaited him.

Poor buck struggled without mana, without the power he needed to help the vulnerable.

Kid was so damn useless, not even the tide wanted anything to do with him.

Then it clicked.

Without no mana, Matcha was nothing to the tide. A ghost. Meaning he could go where his fellow mages could not.

So whilst the rest of academia raged against the swelling tide, Matcha slipped between the waves, gunning it through the rubble and recovering whatever he could carry.

Tomes, scrolls, scraps of parchment, anything that seemed halfway legible was rescued and returned to Matcha’s people.

He might not be able to save his home, but he was sure as hell gonna save what it stood for.

For posterity, of course.

Then there was the enchantress… and the kid. Still just… holding out hope.