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“Hey, so what do you think this new king’s like?” Kell asks, leaning in conspiratorially.
“I’m honestly more curious about the monster cuisine than the king himself,” Burke says as he adjusts his glasses and looks out the window of their shared carriage.
“Boys, I know we’re all excited to check the place out, but remember, we’re here strictly on business,” Victor says. He turns a pointed look at Tram. “And remember our agreement, Tram. The court mage is off-limits.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Tram says with a dismissive wave. “I heard she’s a half-elf, anyways. That means she’s got be half less beautiful than a full elf, right?”
“Your logic, as per usual, never ceases to amaze,” Victor deadpans. “Anyway, we should be nearing the castle soon. Everyone, remember to be on your best behavior. And—“ He pauses, taking in his comrades’ appearances. Tram’s long blond hair slips easily out of its lazily made ponytail and his collar is unbuttoned. Kell’s brown hair is mussed up and his own uniform jacket is completely open. Burke, blessedly, looks fine, with his straight black hair and neatly pressed uniform.
“Please make sure you all look respectable,” He finally says as he consciously runs a hair through his own red hair.
“Aye aye, boss!” Kell says with an overly enthusiastic salute as he starts to button his own jacket.
Eventually, Victor loses his unit’s attention entirely as the castle’s impressive structure comes into view. Even Victor can feel himself shaking in anticipation to meet the newly crowned king. He’d heard that he was a bit of an oddball, but kind and reasonable.
“So those rumors were true, there really aren’t any monsters around here,” Burke says.
“Hey, do you remember that guy Laios? You know, from military school?” Kell asks as a mischievous smirk plays across his features. It makes him look like a teenager again. “Man, I’d bet he’d hate it here. No monsters, just a bunch of boring old humans.”
“I’d really rather forget about that guy,” Tram says as his eyes scan the roads, likely looking for a pretty face he could while away his free time with. “He was really, really annoying.”
“Right…I still think destroying his monster book went too far, though,” Victor says.
“So you say, but you didn’t make any effort to stop us,” Tram says with a smirk. Victor has to withhold the urge to slap him, both because he hates that smug look on his face and because he can't refute his statement.
“Why are we even still discussing him after all these years?” Burke, ever the voice of reason, asks. “He was a loser and a deserter. Plain and simple. He could be dead in some ditch now for all we care.”
“I guess you’re right,” Kell says with an easygoing smile. “Hey, I think I can see the castle gates!”
Victor has to resist the childish urge to press his face against the carriage’s glass window as they near their destination.
As their carriage finally slows to a halt, they’re greeted by the palace’s court mage. Despite being a half-elf, she’s still pretty enough that Victor hears Tram let out a low whistle, though thankfully Burke elbows him in the ribs hard enough to get him to remain focused.
“Greetings, my name is Marcille Donato. It is a pleasure to meet you.” She lifts her skirts up and curtsies, carrying herself in a graceful and poised manner.
After they’ve formally introduced themselves and exchanged pleasantries, Marcille offers to lead them to the throne room to see the king.
“Thank you again for agreeing to meet with us,” Victor says.
“Of course, any new potential allies are welcome to a budding kingdom such as ours.”
As they walk, Marcille points out the different rooms and points of interest around the impressive structure, explaining its purposes and any interesting facts.
At the end of a hall, a small boy exits a room, causing Marcille to abruptly stop. And just like that, the graceful, poised woman is gone, replaced by someone more excitable and girlish as a wide grin spreads across her face.
“Chilchuck?!” She exclaims, running up to to the boy and scooping him up in a hug. She lets go, and the happy tone is replaced by one of chastisement.
“When did you arrive?! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?! I would have prepared a carriage for you!”
The boy — Chilchuck — holds his hands up in a placating gesture. After getting a btter look at him and noticing the larger ears, Victor realizes that he’s a half-foot, meaning he’s probably not a child. Probably.
“Calm down,” the half-foot says. “I suddenly got called in on some urgent guild business and just arrived this morning. I didn’t bother letting you guys know since it was so last minute.”
“Oh, okay. Well, how long are you staying? Do you have a place to stay? And how’s your family—“
“Marcille, I’d love to catch up with you, but now’s probably not a good time, right?” Chilchuck smiles wryly as he looks pointedly at Victor and his unit. Marcille, as if just now suddenly remembering her responsibilities, blushes bright red in embarrassment.
“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry!” She exclaims, slipping back into her more graceful persona from earlier. “Oh, how rude of me, you have my sincerest apologies!”
“It’s fine, really,” Victor says, not feeling comfortable having such a pretty girl apologize to him so much.
“Yeah, it was cute,” Tram says. Marcille, mercifully, ignores his comment.
“I’ll see you later, Marcille!” Chilchuck calls, already making his way towards…wherever he’s going.
“Okay! Wait, where are you going?”
“Meeting up with Senshi in the kitchen!”
“Oh, okay! So you’re staying for dinner?”
“Sure am!”
Marcille smiles from ear to ear at the confirmation, making Victor wonder what their relationship is. But before he can ask, Marcille answers for him as they continue on their trek to the throne room.
“He was one of the members of our party, before His Majesty's coronation.”
“Woah!” Kell exclaims. “So that rumor was true! Your party really did conquer a dungeon!”
“There are a lot of rumors surrounding His Majesty and how he came into power, but that one is one of the few that is one hundred percent true!” Marcille says with a hint of pride in her voice.
From there, as they walk around the castle, Marcille shares tales of her adventures with her former party instead of any more information about the palace. Victor finds himself not minding, as these stories are far more interesting, with the added bonus of giving him a better idea of the new king’s character. As he takes in the expressions of the rest of his unit, it’s clear that they’re far more engrossed with these tales as well.
And the more Victor learns about the new king, the more he’s reminded of Laios. He was nice enough, but he was also very, very weird. About a lot of things really, but especially when it came to his obsession with monsters. Victor, quite frankly, found that part of him to be more than a little unsettling. All that, combined with his total lack of reading social cues, made him an immediate social pariah upon entering military school.
Victor had tried to give him several hints to help the new guy out, because maybe he was just nervous being in a new setting, or maybe there was some kind of cultural barrier in place with him coming from a relatively small village, but Laios just never seemed to get it. And eventually, Victor came to the conclusion that Laios was just plain weird. Frustrating, dense, but most of all, weird.
So when he saw Kell and Tram destroy Laos’s precious monster book, he looked the other way and kept walking. When he overheard Burke hurl insult after insult at Laios for not shutting up when asked, Victor buried himself further into the book he was reading and blocked the noise out. When Laios asked Victor if he could sit with him at lunch, Victor lied and told him that all of the seats were taken. And after Laios sulked away to eat in the back with the stray dogs again, Victor laughed at his misery along with his friends
Laios was too different and that had been unacceptable.
But hearing about this new king’s similar obsession with monsters got Victor thinking…But no, that couldn’t be possible. A guy like Laios was the last person that could ever be qualified to lead a country. He was barely qualified to even so much as attend military school.
Lost in his thoughts, Victor was the last to react when a large cat clambered its way through an open window.
Wait, no, not a cat. A girl? A cat girl?!
“Izutsumi?!” Marcille exclaimed. “What the— I keep telling you to just go in through the front!”
“That way takes too long. One of the guards talks too much.” The cat girl — Izutsumi — says, not bothering to elaborate any further.
“Wait, what’s that you have in your hands? Please don’t tell me you brought in another dead monster.”
Izutsumi quickly puts something in her skirt pocket. “Okay. I won’t tell you.” Before Marcille can retort, Izutsumi sniffs at the air, looking at Marcille with startled eyes.
“Was Chilchuck here?”
“Uh, yeah. I just ran into him earlier. He said he came because he had urgent guild business.”
“Oh,” Izutsumi says, trying to maintain a cool expression, but her swinging tail gives her true emotions away. The action reminds Victor of his own beloved cat back home. “Do you know how long he’ll be staying?”
“I actually didn’t get a chance to ask because—“
Marcille turns around, expression turning to one mixed with shock, surprise, and regret. “Oh my gosh, I’m so, so sorry!” She quickly turns to Izutsumi. “I’m sorry, but I actually don’t have time to talk right now. These guests have an audience with the king.”
“Oh, okay. Can I come with you guys? I was planning to go see him first, anyway.”
“Um, well…” Marcille turns to look at them, unsure.
Victor gives her his most reassuring smile. “It’s fine, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Yeah!” Kell exclaims excitedly. “I have sooooo many questions!" He exclaims, sidling up next to Izutsumi. "Like, do you have super senses? Do you always land on your feet? And —“
Tram pulls Kell back before he can ask any more invasive questions, much to Victor’s relief. “Hey, hey, lay off will ya? She may be part cat, but she’s still a girl.” He gives her a flirty wink. Izutsumi wrinkles her nose in obvious distaste and Marcille actually openly glares at Tram. Never mind, this is worse.
“The both of you need to stop,” Burke says. Your actions are embarrassing our entire unit.” He turns to Marcille. “I sincerely apologize on behalf of my comrades. Please continue.”
Marcille nods, smiling in appreciation. “Alright then, let’s go Izutsumi.”
Izutsumi nods, but makes sure to stick to Marcille the whole time. Marcille continues to talk, but Izutsumi never once makes any attempt to talk to Victor or his unit. She must be the shy
type, then.
Eventually, they finally arrive in front of the grand doors that must lead to the throne room. But the doors slam open before Marcille can even lay a hand on it.
A dark skinned man with striking blue eyes greets them at the door. He has a shocked, almost panicked expression, but he quickly composes himself once he notices his present company.
“Ah, good morning. Victor Rhee, Burke Durge, Tram Devens, and Kell Trik, correct?” The man asks, posing in a more dignified manner. “My name is Kabru, I’m the King’s advisor.”
“It’s nice to meet you, sir.” Victor begins. “As you know, we’re here to seek an audience with the king.”
“Right. The king.” There’s that panicked look again. “Follow me then.” He leads them into the grand hall of the throne room. With its high ceilings and golden ornaments, it really lives up to its moniker as the Golden Kingdom. At the center is an impressive throne, large, shiny, and yes, very golden. But there is no king in sight. “About the King…” Kabru begins, “He is—“
“Right here!” The doors slam open again and in comes the half-foot from before, Chilchuck. He’s dragging someone much larger along with him, almost like a parent leading along a child they had just scolded. With their size difference, the picture they paint would normally earn a chuckle out of Victor. But he’s too focused on the all too familiar head of sandy blond hair and the big goofy grin that accompanies it. He’s bigger than he remembers, but there’s no mistaking it.
“Sorry I’m late,” he says, sounding sheepish. “I thought I’d have time to go over the menu with Senshi again before coming back up here.”
“Honestly,” Kabru says with an exasperated sigh, “if you’re going to run off, at least let me know first. We’ve already been over this before.”
Laios finally turns his gaze towards Victor and his comrades and he immediately feels himself stiffen under it. He waits, with baited breath, to see how he’ll react to facing his bullies after all these years.
But he doesn’t react. He blinks, then smiles. “It’s nice to meet you all. Sorry for making you wait.” He follows after Kabru and takes a seat at the opulent throne. Kabru at his right, Marcille at his left. Izutsumi takes a seat by the steps that lead up to the throne and gestures for Chilchuck to do the same. With a huff, he follows suit and sits next to her. Izutsumi’s tail, whether she’s aware of it or not, does that happy little swishy movement again. They must be close.
And after they’ve all settled in, it hits him. Laios doesn’t recognize them. Heck, he probably doesn’t even remember them.
Victor's mind races as he walks forward, trying to make heads and tail of this entire situation.
“Wait, hold on,” Tram says. “Laios Touden? You’re Laios Touden, right?”
Before Victor can yell to please not look a gift horse in the mouth, please just let sleeping dogs lie or so help me, Kell somehow makes the situation worse.
“The monster freak?! He’s the new king?!”
“What did you just call him?” Marcille asks, voice suddenly icy cold. Victor has only been on the front lines twice, both for relatively mild incidents, but Marcille’s angry glare reminds him of his first time on the field of battle. He needs to fix this, save this, before this situation becomes completely unsalvageable.
“Kell,” Victor says, voice taking on an authoritative tone, “regardless of his background, he is a king now and we must address him with respe—”
And as if realization finally dawns on him, Laios lets out a loud “Oooh! You’re the guys that destroyed my original copy of The Dungeon Gourmet Guide back in military school!”
Chilchuck jolts up from his seat on the floor. “These are the punks that bullied you?!” He turns a murderous glare at them, and it’s honestly impressive how someone that barely reaches his hip can manage to silence the room with a single look.
“Er, well, no,” Laios begins, “That red head over there usually just watched. Oh, and the one with glasses mostly just yelled and said mean things. That’s about it.”
“What kind of mean things?” Marcille asks, and when did she get a staff?
The doors open again, and a male dwarf and female tall-man walk in. There was only one other thing Laios spoke fondly of as often as monsters, and it was his little sister. The woman that had just walked in seems to fit his descriptions of her perfectly.
“Oh, it looks like everyone is here already,” the woman says.
“Senshi! Falin!” Laios exclaims excitedly, still somehow oblivious to the room’s now tense atmosphere.
“Sorry to interrupt,” says the dwarf, “I just wanted to make sure that none of our guests have any allergies before I start cooking up our meal.”
“There will be no need,” Kabru says, speaking up for the first time since things started going downhill. “As it turns out, our present company used to attend the same military school as His Majesty.”
Laios’s sister—Falin—opens her eyes and glares at the four of them, and man, if looks could kill. She turns away and confidently walks forward to stand behind her brother’s throne. Then the glare is back in full force, somehow intensified even further now that she faces them all fully.
“I see…” Senshi says, crossing his arms. He walks past Victor and his unit to take a seat next to Chilchuck. He tugs at the half-foot’s arm, motioning for him to sit down. He does so with a huff, but he’s still got his own murderous glare directed at them.
“Your Majesty”, Victor begins, still desperately trying to find a way to salvage this whole mess, “I understand that the members of my unit wronged you during our time at military—“
“‘My unit?’ Why are you acting like you’re not included?” Izutsumi asks. She doesn’t sound sarcastic or angry, just genuinely curious.
“Because our Captain did not participate in our tomfoolery,” Burke says, stepping up. “I would also like to take the time to apologize for my words and actions in the past.” He bows his head. Tram and Kell quickly do the same, muttering apologies of their own.
“But he was there, right?” Izutsumi asks, cupping her head in her hands and turning to look at Laios. “He didn’t call you names our ruin any of your books, but he was there and he just watched, right?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” Laios says with a shrug.
“So then you should apologize too,” Izutsumi says, turning to look back at Victor. “You let the bullying happen, and that’s just as bad if you ask me.”
“Izutsumi…” Senshi and Chilchuck say in unison with a tone that sounds oddly like fatherly pride. They’re both wearing fond smiles, murderous auras briefly dissipated.
“You’re right,” Victor says, quickly switching his focus back on Laios. “I should have done more than stand by and watch. I apologize, Your Majesty.”
“Oh, it’s alright. You all don’t need to—“
“Nope, they’re lying,” Chilchuck says with a wave of his hand. “I have three kids and I know a fake apology when I hear it.”
“You have kids?! Aren’t you, like, twelve?!” Kell exclaims just as Tram’s hand meets his face.
“He’s a half-foot, you dolt, he only looks young,” Burke says with a frown.
“Ooooh…My bad.”
“It truly is a miracle that you managed to graduate at all,” Tram mumbles under his breath.
Chilchuck, meanwhile, is being coached by Senshi to take deep breaths as he angrily clenches his fists together. He eventually calms down enough for him to address them all again in a more steady voice.
“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, your apologies need work. Not a single one of them sound sincere.”
“Then what do you want from us?!”
“Tram—“
“Sorry, Captain, but I’m taking the reins here! Not even you would ever want to be friends with this guy, right?! So he’s the king now, so what? You’re going to throw away an alliance just because some kids were mean to you when they were teenagers?!”
“No, I’m turning down an alliance with your country because I don’t like any of you.”
“Y-your Majesty, you can’t be serious!” Victor exclaims.
Kell looks to Kabru, a mixture of frustration, anger, and panic on his face. “Your his advisor, right?! Well, advise him!”
“Hmmm,” he says, blue eyes turning sharp. “Your Majesty, I would advise you to do whatever you deem is necessary.”
“Thanks Kabru, I think I will.”
Victor clenches his fists. There’s no way he can go home without this alliance secured, but he can’t appear desperate either. He takes a breath, allowing the years of training in negotiations to take fruition.
“Very well, if you do not wish to form an alliance with us, then our business here is done.”
“What?! Captain—“ Kell begins before Victor cuts him off with a wave of his hand.
“However, I feel that it is worth noting that we would make for formidable foes should you choose to turn this alliance down.”
“Is that a threat?” Marcille asks, and boy, Victor does not like the way her hands tighten around her staff as she says that. But he presses on.
“Make of it what you will, but I can assure you that it would be far more beneficial for you if our kingdoms were allies rather than foes.”
It’s quiet for a while and Victor thinks he’s succeeded, allowing himself a small breath of relief. But then Kabru starts laughing.
“My apologies,” Kabru says, wiping tears from his eyes and not looking apologetic at all, “it’s just…I must say, that was a rather admirable bluff you just pulled off.”
“Bluff?”
“Yes, bluff,” Kabru says, expertly steeling his expression to something more professional, as if he wasn’t laughing mere seconds earlier.
“Kell Trek. This is your last chance, isn’t it?”
“What are you talking about?“ Kell asks, putting his hands in his pocket. A nervous tick of his that he never quite outgrew.
“I like to do some research into any new faces that come into our kingdom,” Kabru says, shrugging his shoulders casually. “One can never be too sure. And my research showed that you weren’t supposed to graduate from military school, were you?”
Kell opens and closes his mouth like a fish, but is unable to produce any sound. He’s sweating.
Kabru continues to talk, clearly pleased with the reaction he’s getting. “But thankfully, dear old Dad swooped in to the rescue with the promise of paying off the repairs for the school building. Ah, but Dad’s getting real tired of covering for you, isn’t he? This would have been your last chance to prove yourself before he finally disowns you.”
Kabru turns to Tram, who stiffens under his scrutinizing gaze. “Tram Devens. Why, you’re in an even worse spot. You’ve already been disowned, haven’t you? Securing this alliance would have been your one chance to get back into your family’s good graces.”
Tram silents looks away in shame. Kabru turns to Burke, and Victor thinks this is the first time he’s ever seen his friend look nervous. He’s actually sweating.
“Burke Durge. Unlike the other two, you’re actually in good standing with your family. But they’re far less forgiving. The very definition of perfectionists. Failure will not and cannot be tolerated. And so, you cannot fail here, otherwise you can kiss that lovely inheritance good-bye.”
Burke says nothing, keeping his eyes on the ground. Finally, Kabru turns to him.
“Victor Rhee. As for you, you pose no risks here. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have anything to gain, either. There was a promise for a promotion, wasn’t there? Something safer, more comfortable.”
His friends all turn to look at him with questioning looks, but remain silent. He never did get a chance to tell them, did he? Well, guess the cat’s out of the bag now.
“So then,” Kabru continues, “I think it’s safe to say that you four need this alliance more than we do.”
Falin actually starts clapping. “That was amazing, Kabru! I never get tired of seeing you do that!”
“Heh, that’s my advisor for you!” Laios says, preening.
Kabru blushes slightly at the praise. “You know, you guys don’t have to react that way every time I do this.”
“So what do we do now?” Izutsumi asks. “Send them away?”
“Sending them away isn’t enough. They need to be punished,” Marcille says with venom in her voice.
“For what?!” Kell exclaims. “Yeah, we bullied Laios, but that was years ago!”
“You literally called him a ‘monster freak’. That was, like, the first thing you said to him when he came into the room,” Izutsumi says as she leans back and stretches her legs.
“He said what?!” Falin exclaims, eyes blazing. And woah, are those fangs?! Or is Victor’s eyes playing tricks on him?
“I understand that we have insulted your monarch,” Victor begins, still desperately trying to salvage this situation because he really does need this alliance, they all do. “I understand that we’ve done a lot of things wrong, so—“
“Captain, what are you doing?!” Tram yells, aghast.
Victor gets down on his hands and knees and lowers his head. “I’ll do anything for this alliance. Anything. So please, reconsider.”
Blessedly, the rest of his unit follow suit. Victor’s eyes are shut tight, so he can’t tell what expressions Laios and his company are wearing, but he dare not peek lest they assume his conviction is not genuine.
“We should just send them out,” he hears Falin say, “let the monsters decide what to do with them.”
“Falin, don’t you think that’s going too far?” Laios asks. “I mean, it hurt, yeah, but all that bullying was years ago.”
“Hey, how about this?” That’s Chilchuck. “Why don’t we make a holiday out of this?”
“A holiday?” Kabru, and he sounds just as confused as Victor feels.
“Yeah. We send these guys out and have the kids throw rotten vegetables at them.”
“I like that idea. I like it a lot.” That’s Izutsumi, and she sounds like she’s started to sit up again as she says that.
Victor slams his hand against Kell’s mouth before he can say anything stupid. He hears Burke do the same with Tram.
“Hmm, that’s not a bad idea,” a low baritone, Senshi. He hasn’t spoken much, but his voice is very distinct. “It certainly beats simply throwing the food away.”
“Right! And hey, Laios can take first throw. It can be like the signal for the start of the holiday. And every year afterwards, we can put up dummies that look like these four dummies. It’ll be like a cautionary tale. If you bully other kids, you’ll end up like the four dunces that got made into the laughing stock of the Golden Kingdom.”
“Oh! We could call it Veggiedum day!” Marcille, and she sounds absolutely giddy.
“Marcille, no offense, but that sounds really lame.” Chilchuck again.
“What?! I think it sounds cute.”
“Er, well, we can work on the title later,” Kabru this time. “But I agree, that does sound like a good idea. What do you think Lai— I mean, Your Majesty?”
“Hmmm…” That one's definitely Laios. “I think it sounds fun!”
“Alright then, it’s decided!” Marcille says, clapping her hands together.
They do end up getting that alliance, but at what cost?
Laios sits at the head of the table and takes in the sight before him. Senshi trying to convince Izutsumi to eat vegetables. Chilchuck braiding Marcille’s hair and lecturing her to keep it out of her food. Falin telling Kabru a joke and getting him to laugh.
It’s a lot. It’s everything. And Laios couldn’t be more satisfied.
“Laios?” Falin asks, turning to look at him. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he says, taking in all of his friends’ face. “Yeah, everything’s great. It’s just…What happened today…It really made me happy.”
“Throwing vegetables at those annoying military guys?” Izutsumi asks. “Yeah, that was fun.”
“Well, that, yes, but what you guys all did for me earlier. Standing up for me. Getting angry on my behalf. I didn’t think you all liked me enough to do something like that.”
And now it’s quiet and everyone, even Izutsumi, looks sad. And Laios feels his heart sinking, realizing that he must have made another social blunder. What was it this time? What did he say? But before he can overthink it any further, Marcille reaches across the table to hold his hand.
“Oh Laios, of course we care about you. You’re important to us. And if…If we ever made you feel like we don’t, then I’m so sorry.” She squeezes his hand and smiles. “And I know that some of us, not naming anyone specific here, tend to say mean things sometimes, but that person’s just really, really bad at expressing himself sometimes.”
“Hey!” Chilchuck yells.
“That’s why his marriage’s a mess,” Izutsumi mutters.
“Hey!” Chilchuck turns to Laios, turning a little red in embarrassment. “But, uh, yeah, sorry if I can be a little harsh sometimes. It’s just, those sarcastic remarks are—“
“His love language.”
“Do not put words in my mouth, Senshi. What I was actually going to say was, when I start talking to other people like that, it just means I’m comfortable with them. But I know I can go a little overboard sometimes, so, um…” The last part is said in a whisper muffled by Chilchuck’s drink, but Laios knows an apology when he hears it.
“I think yer a swell young man myself,” Senshi says with twinkling eyes.
“I wouldn’t keep coming here if I hated you,” Izutsumi says matter of factly.
“And of course, I think you’re the best big brother ever!” Falin says, going in for a hug.
“Yeah! Group hug!” Marcille exclaims, dragging Chilchuck and Izutsumi along with her.
“Come now, lad,” Sneshi says, nudging Kabru along. “Yer one of us now.”
“Oh, um. Yeah. Okay.”
Wrapped in hugs from all sides with the people he cares about most, Laios finds himself thinking that he’s very lucky. He may not have the ideal job at the moment, but all those long meetings and paperwork make seeing his friends' smiling faces everyday worth it. Who else can say that they live in the same home as their closest companions? Well, all but one.
“Chillchuck?” Laios calls out.
“Yeah?”
“Can you move in with us?”
“No.”
“Okay.”