The morning of Tuesday, the 15th of July, 1238 TNW.
Marked the eighth day in the journey of The Band of Heroes, following their departure from Rine.
Covering a distance of seventeen thousand kilometres, travelling through many villages and towns.
Right now, they were camping a few hours away from the base of the Gustan Mountains, which began here and ran west, turning into the Arpeleon Hills, then bending south and running along the newly renamed Bay of Alber.
Finally ending in the port city of Amela.
Eldrain closed the compass and turned around. "It is still pointing west."
"The relic must be on the far end of the continent." Raghav responded, picking up the folding table and handing it to Eldrain, who loaded it into the back of the food carriage.
Then the men moved to their carriages and tied the horses to them.
"Are you ready, Gati?"
"I am!"
Raghav patted her on the neck before heading to the driver's seat.
And they set off for the day.
Before them was a sight unlike any other.
For hundreds of kilometres, there was an open green field on either side of the road, the wind swaying the grass as it carried the scent of wet grass towards them.
And at nearly a thousand kilometres away was the base of the Gustan of the mountain.
They continued on this pathway for about two hours.
Until Eldrain's carriage came to a skidding halt and Gati swerved left, shaking the entire carriage, barely avoiding it as she came to a halt beside it.
"Are you alright, Master Raghav?"
"I am alright, Gati, are you ok?"
Gati simply nodded as Raghav turned to Eldrain, who was staring forward with a frown on his forehead.
Following his Gaze, Raghav found a cloaked figure standing about a hundred metres away.
"What happened?"
Questioned An as she, along with Aurelia and Vrisht, exited the carriage.
Eldrain laughed and gestured towards the figure as he took a deep breath. "Our little stalker has finally decided to confront us. I will handle it."
"Wait, let me take the lead with this person."
Without protest, Eldrain nodded as Raghav got out of the driver's seat and walked forward.
"Hello, my friend, can I help you?"
The figure stood there in silence before running forward. The rest of the members were calm because they knew Raghav could handle whatever was coming.
Raghav simply opened his arms and began taking slow steps forward.
Soon, the figure collided into him, wrapping its arms around him. Raghav also wrapped his hands around the figure.
Tears fell from under the hood as the figure tightened its hold on Raghav.
In return, Raghav rubbed its back.
"I missed you, too."
The two stayed in their embrace for a long time as the clouds passed over their heads, providing shade to them.
Causing Eldrain to look at Aurelia. "You know that person?" In response, she simply shook her head.
They then broke off, and Raghav turned to the Band, placing a hand on the figure's shoulder.
"Everyone, meet my old friend."
The figure reached for its hood and took it off, revealing its face.
"Shin Furukawa. My friend from Earth."
"Hello everyone!"
"Huh." Eldrain chuckled, shaking his head.
"Hello, Shin, I am An Exter, and this is my husband, Eldrain Exter."
Then Aurelia stepped forth. "I am…"
"I know you, you are Princess Aurelia Reid. I have heard a lot about you from a common acquaintance of ours."
Before she could ask anything, Eldrain beat her to it. "If you were Raghav's friend, why did you wait for so many days to approach us?"
Shin rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled awkwardly. "I was unsure if he was the same Raghav I know… also, I was afraid…"
Turning towards Raghav, his face hardened as he gulped. "I was afraid he would not recognise me."
"I would never forget about my best friend."
Raghav responded to Shin, squeezing his shoulder.
"You were here for the last two years. How have you been?"
Letting out an audible sigh, Shin walked towards the carriage. "Let's talk while we travel, it is a long story."
"Of course. Anu, Mili, and Gati, you carry on the road, we will be up on the roof."
Following Raghav, the entire Band got on the roof of the metal carriage.
Raghav bent down and pressed the roof, sliding it back onto the other section, revealing a cushion pit that covered the entire roof of the front compartment, with a small bin directly above the cabinet inside the carriage.
"All right, put your footwear in this."
Once everyone had placed their footwear inside, they all sat down with Eldrain and An sitting at the front, facing the band.
Shin was sitting on the side, and Aurelia and Raghav were at the back, facing forward.
Meanwhile, Vrisht joined Gati in pulling the carriage as they continued their journey with a new companion.
"So, I will begin with how I got here,"
Everyone listened closely to his words.
"I was with my friends in the forest, fell, expecting they would laugh at me, but I simply vanished, and I realised I was in Panreia. Kanah said it must have been an interdimensional rift."
"Kanah!"
The mention of Kanah set Aurelia off as she shook Shin. "How do you know Kanah?"
"We met while he was travelling to Marne, and he gave me a ride after my horse got stolen. The two of us fought the beast together, and later I was there when he left on the ship for Solara."
"You were the friend he mentioned in the letter?"
"Yes, your highness, that would be me."
Raghav smiled, pointing at Shin. "That was you who revealed Kanah's identity that night. I knew it would be someone who knew me."
"That begs me to ask, how do you two know each other?"
Turning to Eldrain, Shin laughed and rolled his eyes. "We met twelve years ago, when I was on a vacation with my family in his country…I will let Raghav tell you in short."
"He got lost. I, along with some other kids from the orphanage, found him crying in an alleyway and helped him get back to his family. Since then, we have remained in touch."
"You must have sent each other a lot of letters." An smiled, looking at the two nineteen years olds.
"Oh, not, letters we had phones."
Raghav pulled out his phone, showing it to An. "With this, we could connect with someone anywhere across the world."
"You have your phone?" Shin asked, reaching for it. "Among other things, yes." He answered, handing it to Shin.
"What else do you have?" "My laptop, my bike and my travelling backpack. I was on vacation when I was summoned."
Shin chuckled, handing the phone back after examining it. "You know, how thrilled I was when I saw your picture in the newspaper. I rushed straight towards Rine, but then met Kanah and had to go back to Marne. I was so happy that you were here. How are my parents? When was the last time you met them?"
"They are holding up somehow; they still believe you are alive and looking at you. Their belief was not misplaced, as for the last time I met them. It was the day I got summoned here. I was on vacation in Japan, looking for you."
Hearing these words, Shin's eyes started to get wet as she sniffled. "You were looking for me?"
"Of course, you are my best friend."
Sigh
Leaning back, Shin relaxed, closing his eyes.
When they shot open and he reached inside his pockets and pulled out the ring Kanah had given him and handed it over to Raghav.
"Here, Kanah entrusted this to me, asking me to deliver it to you, on his behalf. This is the ring he recovered from the mythical beast. Serna, he said, you should be able to use this to track Mark."
The eyes examining the metallic ring shot forward towards Shin as Raghav raised his head. "You know Mark?"
"That is the person who was behind the attack on Marne. Serna told us during the evening of the 2nd of July. Do you know him?"
Aurelia's eyes were fixed on the ring as she took a deep breath, while frowning. "Mark was the one working with Prime Minister Vaughn and helped him plan the plot to frame my uncle."
"Oh! Then this ring will be helpful for you."
"It most certainly will. Good job, Shin. Come with me. We should get to work!"
Raghav stood up, clutching the ring, looking directly at Shin.
Without hesitating, Shin followed Raghav as they grabbed their footwear and walked over to the second compartment, and Raghav again opened the roof, this time revealing an open sunlight.
Meant to let the daylight enter the carriage and keep the workspace from feeling like a box.
The two men jumped inside, and Eldrain followed after them.
But before that, he turned towards An and Aurelia, bowing his head slightly. "Ladies, we are in your care."
An chuckled and moved across the pit, sitting beside Aurelia as they watched the mountains in the distance. "Men and their toys."
She then patted the pit and smiled. "Raghav added so many things to this carriage, he could have made it bigger, enough to add a shower and a toilet. Don't you agree, Aurelia?"
"I agree, An. It would have made it only a few feet bigger. I mean, it is already bigger than anything I have seen. Gati! Are you alright? You've been pulling this for an entire week."
"Your highness. I am happy fulfilling this duty."
Gati answered, picking up pace as Vrisht hit her in the neck with his nose. "Slow down, show off."
"If you can't keep up, you can leave."
This comment irritated Vrisht, as he pushed forward.
Meanwhile, inside the carriage.
Raghav was sitting at the workbench, with Shin and Eldrain standing behind him.
The ring was placed in a third hand tool, as Raghav was examining it under the magnifying glass, also held up by the third hand tool.
Using a scalpel, encased with Mana, slicing the ring along the circumference.
"Why don't you just enhance your eyes?" Shin asked, leaning into Raghav's ear.
Unshaken, Raghav responded. "I do not use my powers unless I need them. I just want to live the way I have lived till now."
"Alright, I will get out of your hair. Give me your phone, I want to catch up on manga and memes."
"It's in my right pocket. No password, you will find a meme folder, with trends grouped into folders named after the year and month they were popular in."
"Long live OCD, long live ADHD, and long live Autism."
"Thank you for the diagnosis, Shin."
Eldrain was both confused and intrigued by the conversation as he leaned in. "What are you two talking about? What are these manga and memes?"
Hehe
"Let me show you heaven, Eldrain. You will love these."
Then the two of them went to the back side, opening the doors and sat down scrolling through memes.
The first thing that Shin saw was lobotomy Kaisen. He opened the folder, and the first thing he saw was a meme.
"FFFFFFUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKK!"
Reeling away from Shin, Eldrain looked at him with concerned eyes.
Whipping around, Shin held the phone towards Raghav. "How did this happen?"
For a moment, Raghav turned his right eye towards them, watching the phone from the corner of his eye. "You went missing on the 12th of September in 2023, yes? This is from chapter 236, which was released on the 20th."
Shin turned around, exited the meme folder and moved to the manga folder.
There it was, Jujutsu Kaisen, last updated on September 30th, 2024.
His eyelids expanded as he leaned in, tapping on the PDF named Chapter-236.
On the other hand, Eldrain tried to follow along with him.
Behind them, Raghav had finally separated the ring into two halves, separating the outer shells.
Underneath it revealed an intricate receiver circuit powered by a mana stone the size of a 0.05 CT diamond.
A marvellous creation in this medieval world.
'Oscillator built around copper coils and a silicon based transistor. The modulator uses Tin-lead soldering, Silicon diodes for signal mixing, and an Amplifier using Gold plated Silicon transistors. The antenna is simply made of aluminium, and lastly, Nickel and Chromium are used for the control component.'
He leaned back, his face hardening. "I acknowledge your intellect, Mark. To be able to create this advancement in a medieval world."
Raghav began dismantling the ring with great care, carefully placing each component in a small cushioned case.
Then placed the case in the cabinet, standing up and walking to Eldrain and Shin.
Eldrain was quick to notice his arrival and smirked teasingly. "I understand where you get your ingenuity."
"We are making a slight detour, towards the Mine City of Plied. We need to get more food, and I need to collect some materials."
"We packed a month's worth of rations; it's only been eight days, and it will not take more than two days to reach Plied."
"That was a month's worth of rations for you, An and me. We now have Aurelia, Vrisht and Shin with us. We will run out of food in less than a week."
As the cogs spun in Eldrain's brain, he nodded, standing up. "I will go and tell the horses."
With those words, he walked backwards, falling out of the carriage and running forward.
After he was out of sight, Raghav looked at Shin, who was looking back at him. "He could have climbed on the roof, but to each their own. Come here and tell me everything I missed."
Accepting the invitation, Raghav sat beside Shin, who handed him his phone, looking at the distant sight that was growing even more distant with each passing moment.
"I do not know what to tell you. Ask me, whatever you want to know."
"I do not know what to ask."
So the two of them just sat in silence.
Reunited in another world after two years, and yet they were comfortable just as they were in their world.