Chapter 126: Homecoming
The gates of Asphyxia came into view near sunset.
Kai slowed the hovercraft.
The city rose ahead of him in layers of stone, steel, and glowing mana lines.
For a moment—
He simply stared.
It looked...
Stable.
Different from the chaos of the GFR battle.
Different from the smoke and collapse he had left behind.
Alive.
The guard tower at the gate noticed the approaching hovercraft immediately.
One guard squinted.
Then blinked.
Then squinted harder.
"...What the hell is that?"
Another guard grabbed the railing.
"It’s floating."
"Yes, I can see that."
"It’s coming straight at us."
The first guard straightened.
"Raise the barrier—"
Kai reached into his coat.
Pulled out Alice’s plaque.
Held it up.
The moment the guard saw it—
His face went pale.
"..."
"..."
He leaned over the wall.
Then shouted,
"OPEN THE GATE!"
The other guard whirled around.
"What?! Why?!"
"That plaque belongs to the Queen!"
The second guard stared.
Then saw the plaque.
Then saw Kai.
Then saw the very strange hovercraft.
And immediately began waving both hands.
"OPEN THE GATE! NOW!"
The heavy doors groaned open.
Kai exhaled.
"...That still works."
The guards were already stepping back as if the hovercraft itself might bite them.
One muttered,
"...Why does the Queen keep giving her plaque to insane people?"
Kai pretended not to hear that.
The moment he entered the city—
Kai noticed the difference immediately.
Asphyxia was still damaged in places.
Whole districts remained under repair.
Scaffolding lined several walls.
Fresh stonework had replaced old collapsed sections.
But the city itself—
The city was functioning.
Carts moved through the streets.
Soldiers patrolled.
Merchants shouted.
Workers hammered.
Mages repaired infrastructure.
It had not fallen apart.
That mattered more than anything.
Kai found himself smiling.
A commotion suddenly broke out ahead.
Several guards ran toward the road.
Nish appeared among them.
He stopped the moment he saw Kai's hovercraft.
Then looked at the machine itself.
His expression shifted.
Kai slowed to a stop.
"Nish."
Nish stared at the hovercraft.
Then at Kai.
Then back at the hovercraft.
"...Where did you get this?"
Kai shrugged.
"Long story."
Nish narrowed his eyes.
"I have time."
Kai smirked.
"Do you really?"
Nish finally stepped closer.
Up close, his surprise was obvious.
Not at Kai.
At the machine.
"I've never seen anything float this smoothly."
Kai looked pleased.
"Yeah, I helped fix it."
Nish crossed his arms.
"Really now?"
"I did."
Nish stared at him for another second.
Then shook his head.
"...I'll believe what you said."
"For now..."
He looked around.
Only then did something in his expression change.
His eyes flicked over Kai’s shoulders.
Then behind him.
Searching.
Kai noticed.
"...What?"
Nish opened his mouth.
Then paused.
He wanted to ask.
Kai could tell.
But instead of doing it—
He looked away.
"...Never mind."
Kai frowned.
"Ask anyway."
Nish simply shook his head.
"Later."
That answer alone was enough for Kai to know what he had been thinking.
Andre.
Kai looked away.
"...Right."
They entered the city together.
People turned to look.
Not just because Kai was returning.
Because Nish was walking beside a floating desert machine like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Whispers spread quickly.
"Is that the commander's escort?"
"No, the commander is the escort."
"Wait, who is that?"
"That’s Kai."
"The drifter?"
"The one from the robot battle?"
"Why is he riding a flying scrap heap?"
Kai ignored them.
Mostly.
When they reached Alice's office—
The hovercraft barely fit through the door.
It clipped the frame.
Then tilted sideways.
Then hit a flowerpot.
Then settled with a loud hum inside the room.
Kai winced.
"...Sorry."
Nish gave him a flat look.
"...You should be."
Before Kai could respond—
Alice stood up from behind her desk.
The moment she saw him—
Her eyes widened.
Not because Kai was back.
Because of everything attached to that fact.
The hovercraft.
The dust.
The desert clothes.
The expression on his face.
And the absence of someone else.
"...Kai."
Raj was not yet in the room.
Noah, however, had been present from the start.
He was standing near a stack of papers.
The moment he saw the hovercraft, he forgot how to breathe.
"..."
He slowly stepped forward.
Then stopped a few inches from the machine.
"...This is..."
He reached toward it.
Stopped himself.
Then leaned closer.
"...This is extraordinary."
Kai actually looked a little proud.
"Yeah."
Noah slowly looked up.
"...You brought this back?"
"Mostly."
Noah was already mentally rebuilding it.
Kai could tell.
He cleared his throat.
"Can we maybe talk first?"
Noah blinked.
Then reluctantly backed away.
"...Right. Talk first. Hovercraft later."
Alice crossed her arms.
"Start talking."
Kai did.
Carefully.
He explained the Forest.
The laboratory.
The slime.
The Oheyo outskirts.
The Outlaws.
Munnu.
Persia.
The false archive.
Magic.
He left out only what he wasn't ready to say yet.
The Memory Hub.
The strange fragments.
Some of the deeper memory content.
The more dangerous pieces.
Alice listened without interrupting.
Nish listened too.
Noah did not.
Noah was distracted by the hovercraft.
He kept circling it in silence, muttering about stabilizers and ancient Oheyo engineering.
Eventually—
He muttered,
"...I knew the desert had better technology than we gave it credit for."
Kai glanced at him.
"You say that like it makes sense."
Noah looked offended.
"It does to me."
Then—
Raj entered the room.
She stopped in the doorway.
Stared at Kai.
Stared at the hovercraft.
Then looked back at Kai.
"...You look terrible."
Kai sighed.
"Good to see you too."
Raj walked in fully.
Her eyes immediately narrowed.
"...Where is Andre?"
Alice and Nish both looked at Kai at the same time.
Noah finally tore himself away from the hovercraft just long enough to ask,
"Yes."
"Where is Andre?"
Kai blinked.
"...I dunno."
The room went quiet.
Kai shrugged.
"We got separated."
"I thought he’d find me."
Raj frowned.
"...And?"
Kai gave the most honest answer he had.
"...Since it’s Andre, he’s probably alive somewhere."
Silence.
Then Alice slowly leaned back in her chair.
"...That is the least comforting answer possible."
Kai nodded.
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
Nish rubbed his forehead.
"...You really don’t know where he is?"
Kai shook his head.
"No."
Raj folded her arms.
"And you’re just assuming he’s alive."
Kai looked at her like the answer should be obvious.
"That’s Andre."
No one argued.
Because somehow—
That was convincing enough.
A little later—
Kai sat back in the chair.
"Alice..."
"Chocomint is Alive"
Alice listened as he continued speaking.
He described Chocomint.
The Order of Karma.
He kept some details vague.
He knew he would have to explain more later.
But not now.
Not all at once.
Alice kept her gaze on him the entire time.
And for the first time since he entered—
She looked genuinely relieved.
Not because he had brought good news.
But because he had come back alive at all.
When Kai finally stopped talking—
The room remained silent.
Nish looked at him for a while.
Then said quietly,
"You’ve been through a lot."
Kai scratched the back of his head.
"...Yeah."
Raj pointed at the hovercraft.
"And you stole that from a desert outlaw group?"
Kai blinked.
"Borrowed."
Nobody believed him.
Not even a little.
At the back of the room—
Noah was already taking notes.
And sketching.
And muttering to himself.
At some point he lifted his head and said,
"...I will need to inspect that machine."
Kai looked alarmed.
"...After I leave."
Noah immediately frowned.
"What?"
Kai leaned back in his chair.
"You’re not taking it apart while I’m sitting in the room."
Noah hesitated.
Then reluctantly agreed.
"...Fair."
Alice exhaled slowly.
Then looked at Kai again.
"You should rest."
Kai nodded.
"Probably."
Raj crossed her arms.
"And maybe wash."
Kai looked offended.
"I did not smell that bad."
Raj’s expression said she disagreed profoundly.
Nish stood up.
"I'll have someone secure the hovercraft."
Kai immediately pointed.
"No one touches it without asking me."
Noah muttered,
"...I hate that I was about to do exactly that."
Kai pretended not to hear that.
As the meeting ended—
Kai finally stepped back outside.
The city lights were beginning to glow.
Asphyxia looked calm.
Wounded in places.
Scarred.
But calm.
He stared out toward the horizon.
Andre.
Still missing.
Still somewhere out there.
Kai shook his head.
"...You better be alive."
He muttered it like a complaint.
Like a promise.
Like both.
Far away—
In the back of Raj’s mind—
A strange image surfaced.
Andre.
Not in Asphyxia.
Not in a city.
Not even near civilization.
A desert horizon.
A giant strange creature moving through the dunes.
Andre shouting at the sky.
His voice cutting through the memory like a knife.
Where the fuck are you, Kai?!
Raj blinked.
The image vanished.
But it left her with the very distinct feeling—
Andre was still, somehow, very much alive.