Louis said, "Good to see you're doing fine, Licht. And how are you? Have you been able to finally break that bad habit of slacking off and sleeping during work?"
Licht replied, "I guess some old habits die hard… unfortunately, no."
Louis chuckled. "Good to know. How's Lucifer?"
Licht said, "I suppose he's busy. But how's retirement treating you, ma'am?"
Louis replied, "I suppose it's going okay. Finally got time for myself after taking care of you idiots."
Licht asked, "How's grandmotherhood going, ma'am?"
Louis smiled. "It's going well. Being part of a family is something I missed."
Licht then asked, "So, ma'am, what are you doing at CKH today? Are you here for something?"
Louis replied, "What can I say? Old age is catching up to me. I'm here for my monthly checkup, as usual."
Licht said, "It's good to be health-conscious, ma'am. Yet… could it somehow be possible that you also came to check on your daughter in the ICU?"
Louis responded calmly, "I only have one daughter."
Licht said, "Okay then, ma'am. Have a good day."
As they were walking, Astrea asked, "Sir, who was she?"
Licht replied, "Her? She was our teacher back in the academy. And… well, Iris's mother."
Astrea exclaimed, "What?! Wait—Mrs. Iris has kids? And how can her own mother not know her?"
Licht sighed. "Damn kid, you're as stupid as you are naive. Well, Iris has an older sister who has kids. After something happened, her mom kinda… disowned Iris. So that's why she acts like Iris doesn't exist."
"But don't worry," he added. "She still has a soft spot for her. It's just hard to see, that's all."
Astrea said, "Okay. Understood, sir."
Meanwhile, Alysa and Lucifer teleported to the Celestial Being branch in the capital.
Alysa said, "Made your favorite—well-done chicken steak."
Lucifer smiled. "Thanks. It's as good as it always was."
Alysa nodded. "Good to know I haven't lost my touch."
Lucifer replied, "This is convenient. I was already planning to visit CKH."
Alysa said, "Yeah… Iris, right?"
Lucifer said, "Yeah."
Back at CKH, Licht entered the ICU ward. There were three people inside. All three of them saluted.
"At ease," Licht said.
Astrea asked, "Sir, who are they?"
Licht responded, "This is Vox—former stripper; Sylva—an ice magic user who's deathly afraid of water; and Terra—a knight who hates violence and can't fight. Basically, a bunch of Arc Luatine freak-show members, handpicked by Iris herself."
He added, "Idiots who've been knights for more than ten years and still haven't moved up beyond the rank of 5th Class Knight of Fire—which is the entry rank when you join the knights."