We headed to the staff canteen for one final breakfast at the inn. When we got there, Jennette was sitting at a table.

Her head perked up as she heard our footsteps, turning to us she spoke, “Morning, boys.”

“Morning.”

“Good morning, Ms. Rachel!”

We took a seat across from her.

“It’s both of your final days working here, huh?” She spoke.

“Indeed, thank you for letting us work here.” I replied.

“Thank you, Ms. Rachel!”

“Two months ago, when you two first came to my office. I had a thought, ‘These two feel different’. There’s been many people who came to me for business ideas, most of them only benefitting their own gain. But my gut told me that you two were different. And thankfully I listened, rather than proposing something that only benefits you, you proposed an idea that benefited us mutually."

"Mhm..."

“And even beyond that, you provided a good time to everyone, Rachel, Saul, the patrons, Mia, everyone here when you two worked.”

“Yes…?”

I didn’t know where she was going with this.

“What I’m trying to say is, it’s been great working with you two. Even after you two leave, you’ll always be welcomed back whenever you want. We’re going to miss you. And that’s not for business sakes. It’s personal. Have a great time at Heavensward, and good luck.” She stood up.

Rio suddenly started to get tears in his eyes as he spoke, “M-Ms, Jennette! Can I hug you!?”

“Of course.” She smiled and Rio immediately hugged her before speaking, “Thank you so much! For everything!”

She looked at me, “Take care of this cutie.”

“I’ll try my best.”

After a few seconds, Rio let go of her before sitting down. Jennette went to her office shortly after.

Rio was sniffling.

A ‘ruthless business-woman’ really didn’t do her justice. If I had known she was like this, I’d of written more about her…

“Saul, could we get two breakfast meals?” I asked.

“Leo…I’m going to miss this place…” His nose was runny.

“We’ll be back when we get some days off.”

“But still…It’s going to feel weird not seeing Ms. Rachel, Ms. Jennette, or Mr. Saul every morning…”

“Then, let’s take a picture. Before we leave, lets gather everyone up and take a photo.”

“A photo…?”

“Mhm.” Yesterday, I asked Halen to buy a camera for me. While he was drunk, he mentioned something about a place near him that sold them, so I gave him some money to buy one.

I hope he remembers. I don’t think he was black-out drunk…Maybe…

A few minutes later, Saul brought us two plates of food and sat them on the table. He nodded his head with a smile while looking at Rio.

“C-can I?”

Saul nodded his head.

What? What’s going on?

Rio suddenly stood up and hugged Saul, “Thank you for always cooking for us Mr. Saul!”

Saul really was a gentle giant, he patted Rio on the back.

Um…Did I miss something?

After Rio sat back down, Saul nodded his head before waving at me and heading back to the kitchen.

I waved back, but I had no clue what that meant.

We ate and it was delicious as always.

“Alright, shall we say our goodbyes to Rachel and the patrons before we go?” I asked.

“Mhm!” He nodded his head.

We headed to the main dining area, and it was packed like always. Even after the inn was open that late last night, most of the familiar customers were here as usual.

Rachel was cleaning a table. After we spotted her, we headed towards her.

“Good morning, Ms. Rachel!” Rio greeted her.

“Hm? Ah! Good morning, y’all!” She dropped the stuff in her hand and looked towards us.

“Morning.” I replied.

“So, you two are finally leaving, for real this time.”

“Yeah, it might be a while before we come back.”

“Heh, your gonna make me tear up a little.” She replied while wiping her eyes, “It’s gon be a little lonely around here. When are you two leaving?”

“In a bit, after we say bye to everyone. I’m also waiting for Halen, so it might be like 10 minutes or so.”

“Alrighty, before y’all go, speak to me.”

“Sure.” I replied before stretching my arms. Rio and I turned around before heading towards some of the patrons. Rio got swarmed by a few of the regulars and I took a seat next to Mars, the drunk knight instructor.

“Oh-! Leo, it’s great to see ya. Hic.” Mars spoke, he sounded like a drunken sailor.

“You’re drunk as usual.”

“Hehe. Yeah~” he took another swig of beer before continuing, “You’re leaving today, right?” He was wobbling back and forth in the seat.

“Mhm. Rio and I are officially in Heavensward when we get to the gate.”

“That’s great~! A little sad for me since I won’t be able to hear your songs anymore, but I’m really happy for you~ Ah-to be in the prime years of my life again.”

“How old even are you?”

“Thirty…five? Three? I don’t remember haha.”

“And you’re a knight instructor? That’s pretty impressive for being that young.”

“I’m nothing special~ Hey, Leo.” It sounded like he sobered up a little.

“Mm?”

“Make sure you treasure and protect him. You never know what can hit you until it hits you.”

“Indeed.” I replied while looking towards Rio.

Mars seemed a little emotional when he spoke just now, I guess everyone has their own stories.

A few moments later, the front door to the inn opened, and in came Halen. He was a little out of breath and sweating, “Haah…Haah…Leo! You didn’t leave yet, right!?” He shouted before looking around.

I waved him over and he released a sigh of relief before heading over to me.

“I’m glad I made it in time.” He spoke.

“Did you…?”

“I did, I got the camera, here.” He put it on the table.

“Thanks Halen, I’m surprised you even remembered to be honest. I thought for sure you were black-out drunk.”

“Hah, of course I remembered, you asked me for a favor. I’d help a friend out anytime.” He smiled.

We bumped fist before I called out to Rio, “Rio, could you come here really quick?”

A few seconds later, I could see Rio squeezing through a crowd of people before heading over to us, “I’m here!”

“We got the camera.” As I spoke, Rio’s face brightened up a lot, “Okay! I’ll go get Ms. Rachel, Ms. Jennette, and Mr. Saul!” he spoke with joy in his voice before quickly heading towards the counter.

“Are you able to take the first picture, Halen?” I asked.

“Of course!”

A few minutes later, Rio came back with the others. “Could we take a picture together?” He asked.

“I was wondering why you needed me, of course we can.” Jennette spoke.

Saul nodded his head and Rachel spoke, “Of course, darling!”

The five of us headed to a wall before looking towards Halen, “Say cheese!”

“Cheese!” Rio smiled.

That was the first picture, Rio continued to speak, “Um…Can I have another picture, this time with everyone?”

Those words set off a chain-reaction as the regulars started to stampede towards us. It took a few minutes, but eventually everyone stood together for a group photo. Halen put the camera on a table before setting the timer and running towards us, turning around as the photo snapped.

…

“Thank you everyone!” Rio shouted.

I checked the photos, and they came out well. Since the camera was one of those old ones, the picture came out physically at the bottom.

I might get some frames for them before going to the gate…

“Leo~ Before you go, sing us one final song~!” Mars shouted with a beer in his hand.

“Good idea!”

“Come on, Leo!”

“Woo!”

“Sure.” I replied before heading to the microphone, “E-hem…” I cleared my throat, catching the patrons attention before starting to sing, “Pick apart, clench the feeling in your beating heart~”

…

“Woo!”

“My daughter’s single you know!”

“You always have great beer music!”

“It’s gonna feel different not hearing that music every day!”

“Thank you, thank you. Anyways, Rio and I will be going now. See you later.” I bowed before heading towards Rio.

“We’re gonna miss you!”

“Kick all their asses at Heavensward!”

“Feels like I’m watching my sons leaving the house for the first time!”

“Have fun and stay safe!”

More of the patrons shouted.

“Alright, let’s go talk to Rachel and head out.” I spoke to Rio who had tears in his eyes. “Mhm!”

We headed towards Rachel and Rio started to speak, “Ms. Rachel, we’re going now!”

Rachel opened her arms and Rio looked at her with teary eyes before hugging her, “Make sure you two stay safe out there. Also, make sure you come visit when you can.”

“We will! Thank you! I’m going to miss you Ms. Rachel-Everyone!”

“I’m gonna miss you too, see ya later.” She smiled before looking at me and nodding her head.

“Bye.” I waved and turned around, heading towards the door. Rio followed, waving ‘bye’ to everyone as we left.

“Good luck! Kick their asses!”

That was the final message we heard before we left the inn.

“How’re you feeling, Rio?” I asked.

“I’m…very happy but sad at the same time…”

“Sad?”

“Yeah…I’m going to miss seeing everyone.”

“Me too. This really was a great place and experience.” I looked towards the Moonlit Inn sign one last time before patting Rio’s back, “Alright, let’s go. To Heavensward.”

Rio wiped his eyes and nose before speaking, “O-okay! Let’s go!”

---