Martial Arts Worlds

A ship docked at the harbor of a small island, and with baggage in hand, Aoi and Ellie disembarked.
“Aoi, and little Ellie!”
With a bright smile on her beautiful face, Bella was right there to greet her and hugged Aoi before turning to Ellie and enveloping her in a warm embrace.
“…Mom, who is she?”
Ellie hid behind Aoi and asked shyly.
She had met Bella before, but it was when she was just a baby, as Bella and Karma visited Aoi after she gave birth.
Of course, she couldn’t possibly remember that.
“I am your dad’s mom.”
Bella said with a big smile.
She almost screamed with happiness after seeing how cute Ellie was and really wanted to pinch her cheeks but thought that it might scare her away.
“Welcome.”
Karma also hugged Aoi, and then introduced Baru and Daisy, who had completely opposite reactions.
Baru greeted them in a way that made it clear he wasn’t shy around strangers, and Ellie looked at him curiously.
Daisy, on the other hand, was really shy around strangers, and since their island rarely had any outside visitors, it made her even shyer.
They headed straight back to their farm, and after Aoi and Ellie got settled in the guest room, they met Bella and Karma over in the living room.
“…Ellie, why don’t you go play with Baru?”
Aoi said with a smile.
“…Mhm…”
Ellie nodded silently.
She joined Baru and Daisy outside, and the three children left somewhere—most likely to cause some mischief elsewhere.
Buzz! Buzz!
At that moment, Bella’s phone went off, and she wryly smiled and turned it off.
“You don’t have to ignore the calls because of me.”
Aoi said.
“It’s nothing. The Navy has just been spamming my phone for the last couple of days. I know you must’ve heard it, but the Fleet Admiral died.”
Bella said.
“…I did. That’s the only thing that is shown on the television. They are suggesting that someone assassinated him, right?”
Aoi said.
“Yep, and the Navy has a suspect in mind. Ten years ago, someone tried to assassinate him but failed.
“That person is Julian Noah.
“They think that maybe after breaking out of the Downed Prison, he has spent the last ten years growing in strength, and now that he did, he came to the Navy Fort to kill Ethan.
“This time around, he succeeded.”
Bella said.
“…Mhm.”
Aoi nodded with a conflicted look.
She was friends with Julian, but till this day, she couldn’t believe that he could be capable of assassinating someone.
There was clearly some bad blood between him and Ethan, and she thought that it must be something bad for Julian to want him to die.
However, it was hard for her to accept whatever reason he had because, from what she knew, Ethan was a good guy, apparently.
According to the media, at least.
She didn’t know Ethan personally, so she wouldn’t be able to know whether he was completely different in private.
“…I am glad he is dead.”
Karma suddenly said.
“Husband!”
Bella elbowed him in the waist, and he chuckled jokingly, but his words definitely didn’t sound like a joke.
“You didn’t like him?”
Aoi asked.
“…Many years ago, Ethan happened to meet my wife, Bella, at a party hosted by the Navy, and I guess he grew affectionate towards Bella because he tried to grope her.”
Karma said with a cold look.
“I gave him a black eye, and after that incident, I officially left the Navy, but I also wasn’t planning to stay in the Navy after Kiernan… happened.”
Bella said.
“Oh…”
Aoi didn’t know that something like that happened.
It did seem like Ethan was strangely “clean” with no bad history. It seemed like the media was keeping it under wraps.
Ethan was very popular as Fleet Admiral because of the Downed Prison incident, and thus, the Navy needed him as its poster boy.
With his increased popularity, the Navy also grew in strength as more and more young people wanted to follow in his footsteps.
“It does look like my father, Karl-Michael, is becoming the next Fleet Admiral. I am sure he will be very thrilled about that.”
Bella said with a smile.
…
At the beach.
Splash! Splash!
Baru dipped his feet in the water and kicked up some water towards Daisy, who giggled and splashed him back.
“…”
Ellie sat silently on the rock, just watching them play.
She was sad that she had to leave all her books back in Montrael because her mother didn’t allow her to take them with her.
Aoi wanted her to spend some time outside books, but Ellie preferred to life in the world of books.
“Hey, Ellie, right? Why don’t you play with us?”
Daisy asked.
“…I don’t know… I don’t think I will be fun to play with…”
Ellie mumbled.
“Look at this!”
In that moment, Baru grabbed a handful of sand, formed it into a ball, and threw it at Daisy, hitting her square in the chest.
“Ah… Baru, you are so stupid! Why did you do that?!”
Daisy screamed and ran after him, but Baru was just laughing and dodging her like a master.
In that moment, he created another sandball and, this time around, gave it to Ellie, who looked at him with a question mark above her head.
She didn’t know what she was supposed to do with this.
“Throw it!”
Baru shouted.
Ellie swung her arm and threw the sandball, and it hit Baru perfectly in the face, causing him to cough and sputter as he wiped the sand from his eyes.
“Not at me! Throw it at Daisy! The sand is now everywhere!”
“I-I am sorry…”
Ellie said, almost at the brink of tears, but then Daisy grabbed her hand and started running away while giggling.
“Hahahaha, I have never seen Baru lose before. Hehe, let’s run. He will be angry, quick, quick!”
Daisy giggled loudly.
“I will get my revenge!”
Baru chased after them, kicking up the sand as he ran, and the two girls kept running like their feet were on fire.
At last, even a small smile appeared on Ellie’s face, and it was a wonderful sight, like a rainbow after a storm.