Magi: The Tale of Faith and Hope

The Road to Balbadd

After Aladdin, the twins, and Morgiana's activities, the fortress's band of thieves was also no more.

"I will bear our hardships, younger brothers," S Nando, the former head thief and the eldest and smallest son of his family reassured his little bros as they trudged through the desert.

"Nii-chan, I'm hungry~" the second and largest son, L Nando cried miserably.

"All of our stored goods and subordinates... all of them lost..." lamented the beautiful third son, M Nando.

"Don't worry..." S Nando told them. "We'll head to Balbadd and gather new underlings. Right now, there is a rebellion and terrorists are there... So let's take advantage of that."

"But, even so, we'll need funds..." said M. "The only thing we managed to grab was this strange bag..." he added, holding up the twins' tote, which was mostly full of a bunch of nonsensical items that the brothers couldn't make heads or tails of. He doubted they'd be able to sell any of it, since it seemed like a bunch of useless junk.

"Nii-chan, over there, over there," said L, pointing at something lying on the ground in the shade of one of the trees in the oasis they had just entered.

"Hm?" S said as they moved closer to get a better look.

"It's a person..." said L.

"He's sleeping," said M. "He smells like alcohol, though... is he drunk?"

"..." S stroked his beard as he stared at the passed out drunk, thinking.

"Nii-chan, I want to drink, too~" L cried, suddenly remembering how hungry and thirsty he was again.

"What should we do...?" M asked S.

"Fufufu..." S chuckled with a grin. "Brothers... It seems luck is still with us. Look! This man's clothes!" he said, pointing out all the expensive jewelry and fine fabrics the sleeping stranger was wearing.

"Wow~ That's really expensive!" M and L said, impressed.

"Let's steal it all..." S said with a smirk.

"Hey, hey... Morg-san is heading to Balbadd so that you can take a boat back to your homeland, right~?" Aladdin said as he strolled along through the oasis with the three girls.

"Yes... and... I wanted to meet you and Faith-san and Alibaba-san again," Morgiana replied softly. "I wanted to thank you..."

"Thank??" Aladdin and the twins said curiously.

"... That's right... by using the treasure, Alibaba-san liberated me from my social position..." Morgiana explained. "He liberated slaves without asking anything in return... In order to fulfill our promise, I will return to my hometown where Goltas could not... I will do what I want to do by my own will... Before I met the three of you, I didn't think about anything... You granted me a free future... I am really grateful... Thank you, Aladdin-san and Faith-san," she said, bowing deeply as she kneeled on the ground before them. "You too, Hope-san... for the things you said back in the fortress... You didn't know me, and yet you both rushed in to help..."

"Oh, hey! You don't have to go that far...!" Faith told her with a wry smile as Aladdin and Hope got a bit flustered upon seeing her prostrating herself like that.

"That's right, there's no need to thank us... rather, I think we should be thanking you! You helped us all escape, after all," Hope reminded her.

"That's right, I'm glad you're happy!" Aladdin said with a smile. "I'm sure Alibaba-kun feels the same way, we don't need any praise! Because, I think, Alibaba-kun is a really kind person!" Morgiana smiled slightly at that.