Far away from the catastrophe, a helicopter with the Babel logo on it was approaching a small kingdom.
After the helicopter landed, two young men stepped out, both wearing very formal clothes.
"So this is the kingdom of Monarch," said one of the young men; he wore a neat suit and had black hair.
The other young man had a darker complexion, and while he still wore formal clothes, it wasn't a suit.
"Yes," replied the man with a darker complexion.
"You're finally free, Minamoto." The man continued. "How does it feel to not have to look after those kids for a while? And on top of that, you got an invitation from a princess, an actual princess. And a beautiful one on top of that, you must be pretty excited, right?!"
The other young man adjusted his glasses and looked at his colleague. "What are you saying, Sakaki? We're here on a job. And remember that other incident."
Sakaki's face darkened a little after hearing Minamoto mention that incident. "Yes, don't worry. I understand."
"That's good. Okay, let's go to the ceremony!"
"Right, right! The beautiful princess is waiting," Sakaki sang while jumping in the air from joy.
Minamoto rubbed his temples while following his friend, "Maybe you should leave, if you're going to act like that," he muttered.
But Sakaki couldn't hear him at all; in his joy, he was singing, dancing, and running around wildly. He couldn't wait to see the beauty of this princess.
***
Hyoubu and Senzo were leisurely leaning against the railing while having a casual chat when they suddenly heard Andy approach from behind.
"You're both still out here? Go inside; you might get a chill."
Senzo just rolled his eyes; Hyoubu, on the other hand, couldn't help but chuckle a little.
"You're treating me like an old man, too?"
"Haha, sorry, sorry." Andy replied, scratching his hair awkwardly.
"Ah, by the way, where is the ship headed?"
Upon hearing this, Senzo also started paying attention; this was important after all.
"Hehe, a princess's kingdom. Nice, right? Maybe you could get hitched and live your life in luxury as her useless husband." Hyoubu teased with a smirk.
"..." Andy was left speechless, his mouth wide open; he stood there completely still, trying to process what Hyoubu had just said.
"Pffft." Senzo was trying his best not to burst out laughing, but it was rather hard.
Andy decided it wasn't worth his energy to bicker with the major here, so without hesitation he turned around and left the duo standing there.
Hyoubu raised an eyebrow at the newbie that had just left, but with a shrug he turned back around to admire the beautiful night view of the sea once more.
"I assume we aren't just going there to sightsee?" Senzo casually inquired.
"That's right. And this time you will have a lot of work."
"..."
Silence, Senzo stared at Hyoubu, wondering what he could be planning, but decided to let it be. This was also a good opportunity to earn a better world rating, Babel was a big deal, and mingling with them could only help.
So mingling with them should be good. "I am at your service, Major!" Senzo suddenly shouted with an over-the-top salute.
Hyoubu looked at the young man in front of him with a wide grin. "Good, I will be sure to work you to the bone, heh."
Senzo felt a couple shivers run down his spine, but it was fine. If he could help Yugiri and the others by just suffering a little from overwork, he wouldn't mind that at all.
With that, the two also went back to their own lodgings; after a final firm handshake, they both disappeared from the ship's deck.
Inside Senzo's room, he was lying on his bed with his laptop in front of him. Currently he was reading all the news of everything that was happening on Earth.
The only information he had was that only three full days would pass on Earth. He didn't know anything about how they would be distributed. Would they pass slowly over the whole duration of his mission, or would the time be the same in both worlds, and after three days, would time freeze?
He was completely in the dark about all the details, so that's why whenever he had free time, he would do research also to see if the dungeons had already started spawning. If they did, he could slowly start planning a strategy for his return.
What he knew for sure is that there would be a massive economic boom, so he had to prepare to make use of it as much as possible, to live in luxury on Earth and the other worlds he would travel to.
"Let's see, oh. It looks like dungeons are already appearing, huh?" Scratching his chin, he started to think of things he could start doing when he returned.
"I should be one of Earth's strongest when I return, so I should make use of that and take the initiative to possibly start a guild, a company, and maybe even reforms. That should give me a massive amount of wealth and influence, which would only be a good thing, as it means that my family will be safer."
Then the visages of three people flashed across his mind: his mother, father, and little sister. And he couldn't help but smile. He had been missing them ever since he arrived in this world.
Even though he did also thoroughly enjoy his time here, he found it totally normal for him to miss his family.
"I think I'll start by clearing dungeons to prove my abilities; that should make it easier for those old fogies at the top to listen and not just dismiss me."
He couldn't help but click his tongue in frustration while thinking about that; sudden changes were always a major weak point with such governments, especially when most politicians were rather old school and very stubborn.
"Well, there's nothing I can do about that. I don't want to overthrow the government; that would just be a pain in the ass to handle," he grumbled.
"Ah, it's late. I'll continue this another time."
With that he closed his laptop and went to sleep, awaiting the next mission Hyoubu would give him.