The news of Rozen's return spread to all the friends in less than a few minutes.
Rozen deliberately called them one by one, and with Asuna and Yuuki helping to notify everyone, the friends who received the calls were absolutely thrilled.
Kirito and Leafa, in particular, were almost overjoyed when they learned that Rozen was back.
Immediately, everyone hurriedly packed up or wrapped up their work, making their way to where Rozen was.
The location was in the new ALO, specifically at the headquarters of the Crimson Wings.
Within less than half an hour, one by one, the friends logged in and rushed into the Crimson Wings headquarters.
"Yo, you finally made it."
Rozen, chatting casually with Kirito, Leafa, and the others, smiled and raised his hand to greet the arriving friends.
"Rozen!"
"Guild Leader!"
Seeing Rozen, one by one, everyone was almost moved to tears.
There was no helping it — Rozen was the cornerstone for everyone here, even their faith. Even though he had been gone for less than two months, many still missed him dearly.
Rozen watched as friend after friend arrived, his smile growing wider.
Besides the Crimson Wings members, Lis, Silica, Sinon, Sachi, Agil, Klein, and others gradually arrived. Even the former members of the Sleeping Knights came, all familiar faces Rozen was happy to see again.
Of course, Kirito and Leafa were also present.
Since Rozen was logging in, he naturally returned home first. He had already reunited with Kirito and Leafa there and then immediately decided to log in.
Firstly, it made meeting everyone more convenient without waiting for them to arrive in real life, which would waste too much time.
Secondly, only by logging in could Rozen meet certain important people who could only be seen in-game.
For instance, Saichou and Hanachou were cheerfully flitting around above Rozen's head, and Yui had returned to her little girl form, tightly clinging to him, refusing to let go.
Finally, Rozen had reunited with everyone, filling the Crimson Wings headquarters with cheers and excitement.
No one needed to organize it, no one needed to mention it — the party happened spontaneously.
It was both a welcome-back celebration for Rozen and a party in his honor.
Rozen naturally became the center of attention, constantly asked one question after another.
For example, everyone was curious about where he had been during this time.
After all, when Rozen left, he hadn't revealed his destination, and there had been no way to contact him.
Everyone was very curious about how he had spent the past month.
"Where else would I go? Of course, traveling around the world."
Rozen said with a smile, making many envious.
For ordinary people, being able to travel all over the world for over a month was already enviable.
Rozen was still young, yet could take such a spontaneous global trip. Even the friends, still in school, were jealous, not to mention older working adults.
At least Klein kept complaining, and Agil kept lamenting about insufficient funds, saying he would have gone on a global trip if he could.
Everyone surrounded Rozen, talking about all sorts of things.
Rozen held Yui in his arms, gently stroking her head, effortlessly handling all the friends' chatter.
Anyone familiar with Rozen would immediately notice just how relaxed and carefree he was.
Probably only when surrounded by these ordinary friends could Rozen be so at ease.
Beside him, Asuna watched this relaxed Rozen, seemingly forgetting her own worries, wearing a gentle smile that was breathtakingly beautiful.
This scene continued for an unknown length of time.
Until at one point…
"You're not going anywhere again, right?"
Agil casually asked.
Upon hearing this, Rozen froze, his hand stroking Yui's head stopping mid-motion.
"Papa?"
Yui, happily feeling Rozen's warmth, noticed his movement first and looked up at him in confusion.
Rozen smiled and recovered composure.
Still, he spoke calmly.
"No, I'm just back temporarily. I have a few things to take care of afterward."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
"Temporarily?"
Asuna was slightly startled, her expression changing.
"Why?" Leafa hurriedly asked. "Since you're back, doesn't that mean everything's resolved?"
Previously, Rozen's excuse for leaving was to lay low.
He had produced a revolutionary miracle drug capable of curing fatal diseases, instantly restoring critically ill patients. Because of this, the nation might have wanted to seize the benefits, potentially causing trouble.
Considering this, Rozen needed to temporarily leave the country to avoid being targeted — this was his pretext.
By leaving the country and being unreachable, any schemes against him would naturally fail.
Even though he would eventually return, the authorities would likely refrain from irrational actions, knowing Rozen could leave anytime.
Everyone understood this explanation, thinking that since he was back, the matter was resolved.
Unfortunately, no one knew that Rozen still had a battle to fight.
Rozen's gaze swept across everyone's faces. He opened his mouth, then stopped.
In the past, he would have made up another excuse to brush them off.
But seeing how overjoyed everyone was at his return and noticing Asuna's uneasy expression, Rozen suddenly didn't want to do that.
(If I don't win this battle, will I never see these people again?)
That was what Rozen thought.
Although the elevation of Foreign Mana was nearly complete, and he would face this battle invincible, it was the final fight. Should he hide it from the friends who cared for him?
Rozen fell silent, pondering.
Finally, he reached a conclusion.
"I don't want to make any more excuses."
And that was that.
//// My finals are closing in so my schedule is messed up... Will try to update at least 2 chapters a day... Don't even have time for silksong... man... ////