Chapter Text
It took hours of walking, watching the occasional one or two Bakemon appearing before immediately disappearing the moment they laid eyes on Toy Agumon. He's been grumpy ever since he failed to hit one of them before they disappeared. He probably wanted to grumble about the loss of E.X.P, but has stayed silent so far. Perhaps he really is thinking hard about what I said.
In truth, there is always something selfish with most things we do. I say that it's the right thing to do, but is that so I could feel better about myself? When I look deeper, aren't I just trying to use volunteering as a way to get through my guilt? If they had never disappeared, would I have still volunteered or studied so hard to get into law school? Sometimes, I don't even want to ask those questions. After all, it's easier when you just ignore them...
With all the excitement behind us, we finally reached the gates of Haven's Rest. A sanctuary away from the horrors out there. I'm starting to understand why Digimon would want to flee here. If the corrupted were all like that Androidmon, but stronger, I couldn't blame anyone for wanting to run and hide.
As we approached the gates, I saw two Digimon standing guard. They didn't look like the ones we saw when we first left. But it seemed they knew us, both wide-eyed at our return. They both whispered before one ran back. Was my return weird? Did the other guard run to inform someone?
"You've returned! We thought you had died out there. It's been more than a day!"
"We faced some difficulty out there, but we pulled through somehow..."
The guard looked towards Toy Agumon and stared for a while before nodding.
"You should inform Palmon as soon as you can. She has been worried since last night, even came up to visit us at the start of our shift to ask us to keep an eye out for you. We feared you may have blown the whistle but were too far."
"Ah about the whistle, it's pretty much ashes at this point."
"S-sorry!" Toy Agumon said, looking a bit sheepish.
"It's no worry. It's meant to be something to save lives. If you are safe, then it has served its purpose whether used or not..." He paused for a moment.
Perhaps the encounter with Angemon made me forget, but this Digimon was treating me rather nicely. Different from most of the interactions I've had in Haven's Rest. Did something change?
"We... We all believe Humans to be cruel creatures. Many of us are in our current state due to their actions. Yet, you... went out to procure a food source for us. When none dared to even venture out. I don't know what the rest of the others think about you. But from the bottom of my heart... thank you."
"O-oh, umm you're welcome. Hopefully this is enough to help everyone. We found something strange in Palmon's basement. We need to let her know."
"Of course, please go on. And again, thank you. My brothers and sisters won't have to go hungry thanks to your efforts."
I nodded, throat tight. His gratitude felt heavier than the sack of seeds.
I headed toward Palmon's kitchen, hoping it would be enough.
"You're back!" Palmon shouted as we turned the corner to reach her kitchen. The Digimon eating looked up at us in surprise. Word must have spread around that we went out.
"You're unhurt! Oh thank the Currents you're alright!"
"And we have your seeds. Well... what was left that we could carry."
"What was left?"
"Someone emptied them out! Robbed most of them! There was only one barrel of seeds left!" Toy Agumon blurted out.
The announcement rattled every Digimon in the room.
"Stolen?!"
"Her reserves are gone!"
"But there were years' worth in there!"
"What are we going to do?!"
Shouts from all sides came rushing in, the look of fear painted across their faces as they looked to each other.
"Will... this be enough?" I asked as I reached out to hand the sack of seeds to her.
She took it with trembling hands. The news must have hit her worse than any other. Her seeds were kept safe in her old home. Stolen. I couldn't imagine what would be going through her mind right now.
"This... will be enough for a year at most, if we continue the current ration plan." Palmon's voice was hollow, the energy from moments before completely drained.
A year. One year left.
Whispers and worry started echoing amongst the crowd. But knowing that they still had a year's worth of food to eat, I felt better knowing that at least they had more time.
"Palmon... I need you to look at this. I think whoever stole the seeds left this for you. Or for whoever went to collect the seeds." I said as I handed her the paper.
She opened it, looking confused, then sad.
"W-why... why would someone find this funny? There were enough seeds to last us years... now it's all gone? I don't understand. None of my friends would do this!"
"You can't think of anyone?"
"Elecmon is the closest friend I have, and Gaogamon comes to help everyone in town. Those two were the only ones who knew about what was in my basement. It was only just yesterday did I tell everyone else about it, once discussions about what to do about the food shortage came up... Both of them wouldn't do this..."
Leomon approached—the same Digimon who'd guided us to our guest house when we first arrived. "Gaogamon has not left Haven's Rest since he came here with me. And Elecmon is the same. None of them would have left. Nor have we known of any Digimon that would frequently leave the sanctuary of this place. The only ones who have, were the heroes. But that was years ago."
"Those children, they wouldn't have stolen from me!" Palmon said as she looked at Leomon, tears in her eyes.
"Perhaps not, but they are different now, Palmon. But we don't know for sure." Leomon replied, his voice softer. "Human, the situation in Haven's Rest has gotten more tense lately. While your presence is a factor, something else stirs beneath us. Something we don't understand. Either strange things are afoot, or the factions have started moving once again."
"You must see BanchoLeomon. He should be informed of what you have seen. It is rare for us to get an account of what happens outside our walls. And this thievery must be reported to him. That storage was going to be our lifeline..."
"Alright. I was going anyway."
"Good. Follow me." Leomon said as he walked forward.
The walk to the Tree was quiet. Leomon didn't speak, and I was too busy processing everything to start a conversation. Toy Agumon waddled beside me, occasionally glancing up but staying silent.
The tree loomed larger as we approached. Even dying, it was magnificent—massive branches reaching toward the grey sky, bark that shimmered faintly with residual data. The shrine area around it was simple but well-maintained. A circle of stones. A few wooden platforms. Sacred ground, treated with care despite everything falling apart around it.
And there, on the largest platform, stood BanchoLeomon.
But he wasn't alone.
Three figures were in deep discussion. BanchoLeomon, massive and scarred, his remaining hand gripping his staff tightly. Beside him, a Digimon I didn't recognize—floating, robed, holding a thick tome. And facing them both, a peculiar Digimon that looked like a gentleman crafted from a 10 yen coin, complete with monocle and formal attire.
"Wait, stay quiet," Leomon said quietly as his brow furrowed. "Looks like the Merchants are meeting with BanchoLeomon..."
Merchants?
We moved closer, staying out of direct sight but near enough to hear.
"—waited a month. A full month." The coin Digimon said as he started clicking on a calculator. "The Frozen Kingdom was our most profitable route. Toys, gifts, decorations—they couldn't get enough. My warehouses are full of inventory meant for them."
He gestured vaguely in Haven's Rest's direction. "Here? No one can afford luxuries. They need food, medicine. The basics. I can't move my most profitable product. I can't justify staying."
"The Iron Vanguard pays well. The Covenant offers tax breaks if you join their faith. Project Salvation..." He shuddered. "They pay very well, but what they do there... I'd rather not discuss."
Project Salvation? That sounded like something the Androidmon said before it attacked us. Are they connected somehow?
"The point is: other settlements are thriving while Haven's Rest is dying. My quarterly report is due in two weeks. If I'm in the red, I lose this position."
BanchoLeomon's remaining hand tightened on his staff. "Name your price, Ganemon. What would it take to stay?"
"It's not about price, Lord BanchoLeomon. It's about market access." Ganemon's voice was apologetic but firm. "Without the Frozen Kingdom, there's no business here. And they sealed their gates a month ago. No traders in or out. No explanation."
The robed Digimon floated forward next to BanchoLeomon. "We could offer services. Healing, knowledge, protection for caravans—"
"With respect, Master Wisemon," Ganemon interrupted gently. "Other settlements offer the same but better, plus payment. The Iron Vanguard guarantees caravan safety through their territory. The Covenant offers tax exemptions for faithful merchants."
He shook his head. "But Haven's Rest offers nothing we can't get elsewhere. And elsewhere, we profit."
"Every merchant under our employment here has tried to reopen trade with the Frozen Kingdom," Ganemon continued. "Every negotiator. Every diplomat. The gates stay closed." He sighed. "I'm sorry, but this is a courtesy visit. We leave in three days."
BanchoLeomon said nothing. There was nothing to say.
A mega level Digimon sitting powerless before a merchant.
Not because Ganemon was cruel. But because he was right.
Haven's Rest was dying. And everyone knew it.
Ganemon turned to leave, bowing respectfully. "We're grateful for your protection. Truly. But business is business, and we must survive."
"Wait."
BanchoLeomon's voice stopped Ganemon mid-step.
The merchant turned back. "Lord BanchoLeomon?"
BanchoLeomon fixed his eyes on me. Held my gaze.
I saw the calculation. The desperation.
"If we could reopen trade with the Frozen Kingdom. Say a week. Would you stay?"
Ganemon blinked. "Reopen trade? Respectfully, we've tried—"
"Would. You. Stay."
Silence.
"If trade reopened... yes. Absolutely. But that's impossible. No one can get through—"
"BanchoLeomon, no." Wisemon's voice was sharp. "You can't be suggesting—"
"The Frozen Kingdom has a human inside, yes?" BanchoLeomon kept his eye on Ganemon.
Ganemon nodded slowly. "Rumors, yes. A human woman. But we've never confirmed—"
"My messenger is human." BanchoLeomon gestured to me.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
"A human messenger?" Ganemon studied me with new eyes. "That... that might actually work."
"It's suicide," Wisemon hissed. "I've sent scouts to investigate. Their border guards don't listen. They don't negotiate. They just... freeze things."
"But you're not human." Ganemon was thinking now, clicking his calculator rapidly. "If there IS a human inside the Frozen Kingdom, and if they hold sway with their ruler... another human might get an audience where Digimon cannot. A new variable to the equation!"
Ganemon turned to look at me directly. "Can you do it? Reopen trade?"
I don't even know where the Frozen Kingdom is. "I—"
"He can." BanchoLeomon's voice was final. "One week. If he reopens trade, you stay for another year. Allowing you to continue trade with the Frozen Kingdom."
Ganemon clicked his calculator one final time.
"One week. If your human messenger gets me a trade agreement with the Frozen Kingdom—a real agreement, verified—we stay. Full year commitment."
He extended his hand. "But if not, we leave. No further delays. I have a career to salvage."
BanchoLeomon shook. "Deal."
Ganemon bowed to BanchoLeomon, nodded to Wisemon, then looked at me.
"I hope you're as capable as Lord BanchoLeomon believes, young human. My livelihood depends on it."
He walked away, leaving me standing there with a mission I never agreed to.
Wisemon rounded on BanchoLeomon immediately. "What were you thinking?! The Frozen Kingdom is sealed! I tried for a month! Their border guards don't negotiate, they don't talk, they just freeze anything that gets too close!"
"I'm aware."
"Then you know he'll fail! Or worse—he'll be frozen like everything else that approaches!"
"Possibly."
"So what were you expecting?" I asked.
BanchoLeomon met my eyes. "That you would stay true to your goal."
"My goal? What does that have t—"
"When you first arrived, you told me your goal was to save the five of them. This is your chance to meet one of them."
"Who?"
"Aoi. If the rumors are to be correct. Three years ago while the others left, she alone stayed. But not out of any loyalty, but to heal her broken heart. But when we checked on her a few weeks later, she vanished along with her partner. From what I have gathered, there is word that she has found sanctuary in the Frozen Kingdom."
"So you told that merchant I'll go, because you knew I'd go if Aoi was there."
"You showed yourself willing to help others, helping Palmon with her struggle. So now I ask you to help Haven's Rest again. This time, a task that aligns with your own goal."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then the merchant faction will leave, we will be forced to use up whatever rations we have left. Haven's Rest will enter a famine, and we will all die. That is the result. That is our future if we let the merchant faction leave. We still need the food they supply."
Wisemon floated closer towards us.
"The seeds Palmon asked you to retrieve from her home. We've heard from her that she has years' worth of seeds stored up. This, together with the supply the merchants provide us on discount will allow us to survive for years to come." Wisemon said, adding on. "Without these two, we run the risk of the famine we fear."
"About the seeds, when we entered the basement we found it had been looted. Someone had been stealing seeds from there over the span of a few months from what I can tell. They left this note." I said as I handed over the paper to Wisemon who took it.
"T-this..." Wisemon said as he trembled. "This is dire news... How much were you able to salvage?"
"Palmon said it'll only last a year, with the current ration plan..."
"Then we are in an even more dire situation than we'd hoped. You see, the current ration plan only covers sixty percent of Haven's Rest. The other forty percent are able to sustain themselves through the purchasing of food from the merchants. Once they leave, the rations will need to be handed to those forty percent."
"That'll make the rations be depleted even faster..."
"And further speeding the process of us reaching a famine. We...we need the merchant faction to stay now, they can't leave. If they do, we won't make it till the end of the year!"
"Jordan." BanchoLeomon, for the first time, said my name. "You said if you couldn't save the five of them, that you would save this world. So please, start with this place."
BanchoLeomon, on his knees, bowed down, hitting his forehead onto the ground. Dogeza.
"I..." I couldn't get the words out. Just how bad had this situation gotten? Only I could save them? This was insanity. I'm just a university student. I'm not a hero. I'm not—
"We'll do it!" Toy Agumon shouted.
"Toy Agumon?" I said as I looked at him.
"You said we help people because it's right.." He looked at me seriously. "These people need help. Haven's Rest will die if the merchants leave. They gave us a mission, and we are the only ones who can complete it!"
"So let's do it! Let's break those gates open for those greedy money loving coins! We'll be able to help everyone here!"
"We might die."
"Then we die doing the right thing." He said it simply. "Isn't that what you said? Does doing the right thing matter even when it's hard?"
He's been listening. Really listening.
And he's right.
"Yeah, you're right. It's the right thing to do." I said as I looked back at BanchoLeomon. "We'll do it, just tell us what we need to know."
"I can help with that. We've gathered as much information as we could in the past month. I'll get you prepared as much as I can." Wisemon said, his eyes looking hopeful.
BanchoLeomon raised his head. His eyes looked directly at me.
"None of the five had to face a situation like this while they were under our protection. I do not know what they would have done in your shoes. But I pray, I hope, that you will be able to save us."
"South through the wastes. Two days across dead forests. Then the temperature drops. Everything turns white. That's when you know you're close." Wisemon's tome floated open, pages displaying a rough map.
"You'll know you're at the border when you see the ice sculptures.”
"Ice Digimon patrol its borders. They do not listen to reason, they only attack. I do not know how they will respond to human presence, but I suggest you be ready to fight your way through."
"No way to get past them without conflict?"
"It used to be that we could show this to them." Wisemon brought out a glass slipper. "This was a symbol that you have an invitation to the castle."
"A glass slipper... Like Cinderella?"
"I don't know what you mean, but it's the key to entering past the gates."
"Show this slipper when you can, and pray they don't attack you. If they do, protect this slipper with your life. It's your only key to entering the castle."
BanchoLeomon stood, moving to a small chest near the shrine. He pulled out a worn cloak—thick, lined with what looked like fur.
"Take this. The cold there isn't natural. It seeps into your bones. Into your data." He handed it to me. "This won't stop ice Digimon, but it'll keep you from freezing to death on the approach."
I took the cloak. It was heavier than it looked.
"Your goal is simple," BanchoLeomon continued. "Negotiate trade reopening. Convince their ruler to reopen trade with the outside world. I don't know who's controlling the kingdom any longer, but I pray nothing has happened to their previous ruler."
"And if I find Aoi?"
BanchoLeomon's expression was unreadable. "Then try to save her, as you told me you would. Whether or not she is savable, those gates need to reopen and they need to continue trade with the merchants."
"And if everything doesn't work out?"
"Then we'll die, knowing that we've exhausted every option that we had."
Wisemon closed his tome. "One more thing. If you do get inside, if you do see her... be careful. When I was part of the Covenant, I've heard stories of her ability to be extremely in tune with emotions. Empathetic. Feeling everything deeply—joy, sadness, love, pain."
"Those emotions become amplified. Magnified. Everything she feels, she feels too much. Love becomes an obsession. Protection becomes imprisonment. Kindness becomes cruelty. At least, that is what was taught to us through the elders before I ran."
The weight of what I heard settled over me like the cloak—heavy, suffocating. The girl who'd always cared about others, she'd even make sure I felt comfortable whenever I visited their classroom... No, let's not think about this now...
"How long do I have?"
"One week," BanchoLeomon said. "Any longer than that and Ganemon shuts down their operation here and they leave."
"Three days there, three days back," I calculated. "That leaves one day to negotiate."
"We'll have scouts watching the southern approach. If you manage to open the gates, they'll see the merchants pass through and inform Ganemon immediately."
"We leave at first light tomorrow," I said finally.
BanchoLeomon nodded. "Leomon will escort you to the southern gate. After that, you're on your own."
"Understood."
"Jordan." BanchoLeomon's voice stopped me as I turned to leave.
I looked back.
"Your bond with Toy Agumon reflects you as an individual as well. Remember that. As for agreeing to help us, thank you."
I met his eye.
The look he gave me spoke of the suffering he had to endure, the responsibilities that weighed heavily on his shoulders. No amount of power he wielded would help him in this situation, as he stayed trapped in Haven's Rest.
"Let's go, Toy Agumon. We need to prepare."
"Right behind you, Jordan!"
We walked away from the Tree, from BanchoLeomon and Wisemon, from the weight of their desperation.
Tomorrow, we'll leave for a frozen kingdom.
To find a friend I hadn't seen in six years.
One week to convince whoever ruled that castle to open up.
Or Haven's Rest dies.
No pressure.
That night, I sat in the guest house, the glass slipper carefully wrapped and placed beside the heavy cloak.
Three days to the Frozen Kingdom. Four days to reopen trade. Or Haven's Rest starves.
"Jordan?" Toy Agumon sat beside me. "You think we can do it?"
"I don't know. I don't know anything about negotiating with... whoever is in charge there. Never saw myself becoming a diplomat, much less one that’s trying to save an entire settlement… And Aoi… Would she even remember me?..."
"But we're going anyway?"
"Yeah. We're going anyway."
"Because it's the right thing to do?"
"Because it's the right thing to do."
He bounced once. "Then we'll figure it out! Together!"
I looked at the glass slipper. Delicate. Beautiful. The key to a frozen kingdom.
Tomorrow, we leave for a frozen kingdom where a friend I haven't seen in six years is.
A kingdom that freezes anyone that approaches.
Who might freeze us too.
But Haven's Rest needs this. The people here need this.
I need to do this, else everyone here dies. And there’s the possibility Aoi is in danger there.
"Get some sleep, Toy Agumon. Long walk tomorrow."
"I wonder how cool an ice castle would look like?"
Despite everything, I smile.
"Yeah. Me too."
I lay back, staring at the ceiling.
What happened to you, Aoi? What are you doing there?
Sleep doesn't come easy.
But eventually, it comes.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow, we’ll be one step closer in finding out what happened.
One step closer to finding them.