Prologue: A Busy Homecoming

A ship advanced through the air with an audible flap as its sails swelled with wind. A thick carpet of trees spread out below it. Levitating ships were able to get over this because they sailed through the air and only had to deal with a clear sky with nothing to impede them.

This ship was part of a squadron over ten strong. They continued their flight, eventually reaching the edge of the forest...

◆

In a corner of the academy city of Laihiala in the Kingdom of Fremmevilla, some students looked up to the sky after a noisy gust of wind.

“Oh? Those are levitating ships. Is today the regular delivery? No... And there’s a lot of ’em too.”

They seemed confused at seeing the large ships in the sky. Levitating ships passing overhead wasn’t in and of itself strange. The people’s shock over them had lessened over time.

However, that did not apply to fleets as large as what they were seeing now.

What the students normally saw were cargo ships making regular deliveries. During those times, they never came in groups of more than two. In the first place, levitating ships were still rare and precious, so they’d never even heard of there being enough of them to form an appreciable fleet.

“Hey, look at the crest!”

It didn’t take long for them to notice the larger ship at the center of the formation. It was around twice as big as the rest and sported a larger emblem to match. No one in Laihiala would fail to recognize the silver phoenix with spread wings.

“The Order of the Silver Phoenix! They’ve returned!”

The ships slowly slid over the center of the city, trailing joyful cheers.

Then, something jumped out of the large ship in the center. It was most likely a silhouette knight, but it formed a rainbow ring of light, which it used as footing to slide through the air.

It made for its destination in the city, its thrusters screaming. As it got closer, its form became clear to the citizens, who shrieked in terror. This machine seemed to be picking a fight with the accepted definition of silhouette knight—it was absolutely monstrous.

Its visor was fiendish, like a person in a fit of rage. It sported a total of eight arms, and while its upper half was that of a silhouette knight, its lower half was a monster’s. The citizens couldn’t even be confident it really was a silhouette knight.

And such a thing was descending in the middle of the city. A panic befell the people, and they screamed as they rushed to escape inside.

But there were some who went the opposite way, coming outside.

Selestina Echevalier came out onto the road, and the bizarre silhouette knight approached. The rainbow ring gradually shrank as the machine descended.

It crammed itself into a small square in the residential area. Its intake and exhaust system settled, and the rainbow glow gradually disappeared. It used its long arms to prop itself up on the ground and stopped in a parked position—its name: Magatsu-Ikaruga.

Selestina had her hands clasped in front of her like she was praying when a small figure jumped from the machine. He landed gently on the stone pavement, and she waved her hand energetically in greeting.

“Mom! It’s been too long, I’m back!” Ernie exclaimed.

“Ah... Welcome back, Ernie,” said Selestina.

The Order of the Silver Phoenix had embarked on a second survey of the forest before what would be the second great expedition, but they had also gone to find her son, Ernesti, who had gone missing fighting a powerful monster during their first outing. Selestina let out a heartfelt sigh of relief.

She jogged over and gave a gentle hug to Ernie, who seemingly hadn’t changed from the time she’d seen him off. “I’m so glad you’re okay... I was so worried when I heard you were lost in the Great Bocuse Forest.”

“Sorry, mom. I was a little too reckless.”

“Oh, no. I heard that you protected everyone. You’re a knight captain, Ernie—you just did your job. And you came back, so everything’s all right.” Selestina smiled airily as she gently stroked Ernie’s hair.

He smiled back and pointed behind him. “The order came to get me. And I’m not the only one who came back.”

Adeltrude “Addy” Alter waved from one of Magatsu-Ikaruga’s open cockpits. Selestina smiled and waved back, and Ernie separated himself. “I want to take my time and catch up, but there’s something I have to do.”

“I know. You need to report to His Majesty, right? Have a safe trip, and do your job as knight captain properly.”

“I will!” Ernie nodded energetically and returned to Magatsu-Ikaruga while waving. He once again took to the sky, and Selestina saw its fiendish form off while massaging her chest, trying to calm her heart.

◆

That day would turn out to be a tumultuous one for Konkaanen.

“Emergency! Emergency! The... The Order of the Silver Phoenix has returned!”

The moment a messenger burst inside in a panic, the entirety of Schreiber Castle broke into an uproar. King Leotamus immediately canceled all of his plans for the day and set to questioning the messenger.

“So, is it only the Order of the Silver Phoenix who returned? How many levitating ships are left?”

“Your Majesty! It looks like they have quite a few. Also, the lord knight commander descended from the ship and should be arriving soon—”

“What, the knight captain?!”

Everyone present gulped, starting with Leotamus. The Order of the Silver Phoenix’s knight captain was coming. That meant...

Then, while the place was still in an uproar, the main cause appeared. The boy with soft purplish-silver hair and a small build—Ernesti Echevalier—bowed in greeting to the king and various assembled nobles and knights.

“My apologies for causing so much trouble to Your Majesty. Ernesti Echevalier, knight captain of the Order of the Silver Phoenix, has returned.”

“Y-Yes. First... Allow me to express my joy at your safety. Only you could have returned from the Great Bocuse Forest safely.” The king couldn’t help but sigh, seeing how boldly the little knight captain had presented himself.

Leotamus had always thought that it wouldn’t be strange if Ernesti, of all people, had survived. However, it was still extremely shocking to see him actually return.

The Great Bocuse Forest was overflowing with monsters and didn’t lend itself well to survival. On top of that, from the reports he’d been given, the monsters they had encountered were powerful and atrocious—beasts never seen in Fremmevilla’s history. Even then, he’d returned, smiling, like it was only natural. It was as if the silver phoenix really was immortal.

“You keep surprising me,” said Leotamus. “At this point, I don’t believe the word ‘impossible’ even exists in your dictionary.”

“Of course it does. I was only able to return because of the great efforts of many people,” Ernie replied.

“Mm, you mean the Order of the Silver Phoenix. It was somewhat reckless, but they left for the forest believing you were alive. What wonderful trust they have in you.”

Leotamus thought back to the caustic words that were said to him when they’d left, and let out a slightly strained chuckle. Though they’d achieved the great feat of retrieving Ernesti, he needed to extract some sort of recompense. Pondering this, he sank into thought.

“About my return, Your Majesty, there are those I would like you to see.”

“Hmm? From your knight order?” Leotamus asked. “That can be done later—”

“No, Your Majesty. I’m afraid they are not ‘just’ from my knight order.” Suddenly, something terrifying seemed to mingle into Ernie’s smile.

Did he borrow the aid of a party other than the Order of the Silver Phoenix during the first survey?

An indescribable and ominous atmosphere settled, and as they had come this far, there was no going back. Reflexively, Leotamus was about to stop the boy, but Ernie heartlessly continued on before he could.

“They are denizens of the Great Bocuse Forest, not members of the Order of the Silver Phoenix. I developed friendly relations with them during my travels.”

Every single person, from the king to the knights to even the servants, doubted their own ears.

◆

“What are those?!”

Outside on the outskirts of the capital were training grounds meant for silhouette knights.

The Royal Guard knight order was led here by Ernie and his extremely ominous words. The fleet, including the flagship Izumo, was moored above these grounds, and some of the vessels were unloading their cargo because this place was large enough.

Among the unloaded cargo were the guests from the levitating ships.

But in truth, could they even be called guests? The fact that they needed a place this large to allow them to disembark meant that they were terribly large—large enough to lock eyes levelly with the king and the others, who were on a high observation balcony. They were giants, after all, of height equal to a silhouette knight.

These were astragali, as introduced by Ernesti.

Both the king and the knights stared dumbly, their mouths agape. These giants were somewhat similar to silhouette knights, but they were also completely different. First, it was obvious to see they weren’t mechanical. They blinked, their faces could emote, and their mouths moved when they talked.

“Giant...people?! Beings like this live in the Great Bocuse Forest?!” King Leotamus was desperately suppressing the feelings that were welling up within him. Gigantic people that were like duel-class monsters but completely different existed. The giants looked this way and that, observing their surroundings with anywhere between three and five eyes.

Surprise, tension, and fear mixed together and threatened to scoop the king’s feet out from under him. Meanwhile, Ernie faced the giants as if nothing were wrong.

“Everyone! This man here is the leader of our genos—but here, we call it a country. His Majesty, King Leotamus.”

“Indeed. Look, there are so many ‘humans’ here.”

With that introduction, the giants leaned forward and looked at Leotamus and his group. Though he’d been trained in mind and body to be a king, it was all he could manage not to scream. But, ignorant of what was in the humans’ hearts, the giants continued to talk as they pleased.

“So this is the magister’s country. From what we could see from the ship, it is quite large,” said the Parva Marga.

“Looks bigger than Metropolitan!” Nav exclaimed.

“Hmm, what is this? I’d heard it was a human settlement, but it is quite large.”

“Perfect. We should make our own quarters as well.”

“Good idea! Then first we must hunt and earn today’s sustenance.”

“Fortissimos of Rainbow, is there a forest with prey nearby?”

“There is, but you can’t go in and hunt without permission,” Ernie replied.

“Is that so?”

The giants were excited as well, seeing the Fremmevillan king for the first time. Hearing them talk about their impressions made them seem like excited bumpkins from the sticks. Meanwhile, the king finally regained his calm. His face was clearly tense, but he still drew himself close to Ernie.

“E-Ernesti! What is the meaning of this?! Giants?! What have you brought home with you?!”

“Right, well, explaining would take a terribly long time...” Ernie hesitated.

“Just make it as short as possible!”

“I met them in the forest and we became friends.”

“That doesn’t tell me anything!”

Ernie spoke with his usual smile, but even that couldn’t make the subject seem more reasonable. But because there was no one to retort, the scene was just devolving further and further into chaos.

“Also, Your Majesty, there’s something else I must tell you. In a sense, this is bigger than the astragali,” said Ernie.

“Th-There’s more?” Leotamus was mentally drained already just from meeting the giants, and now he looked up at the sky in total exhaustion.

“These astragali aren’t the only ones I met and fought in the forest. I found survivors of the first expedition. And they controlled monsters to attack, so I defeated them.”

The king’s eyes rolled back in his head as he fainted.

◆

The next day:

Because things were getting out of hand, it was decided that a meeting would be held later. The place would be, once again, the training grounds on the outskirts of Konkaanen. There was plenty of room since it was made for silhouette knights, and it was secluded enough not to let the secret of the giants get out.

Indeed, the astragali were still a secret.

“Heh heh heh... Heh ha! Heh hah hah hah hah hah! You’ve brought back an incredible souvenir again, Ernesti! Absolutely thrilling! Ha ha ha ha!”

“This isn’t a laughing matter, father...” Leotamus muttered.

The previous king, Ambrosius, laughed uproariously, exasperating his son. The Parva Marga tilted her head in confusion as she watched the previous king laugh, which only caused him to laugh harder. It must have really hit him in the funny bone.

“Heh heh... Whew. Yes, well, so while the Great Bocuse Forest is dominated by monsters, the deepest parts contain much more. To think that giant people exist! The world certainly is full of surprises. It seems I can’t just enjoy my retirement in peace.”

Thinking he could not handle this alone, King Leotamus had asked the previous king for help. He was now starting to regret that decision, though.

At any rate...

With both the king and previous king in front of him, Ernesti once again launched into a detailed explanation of what had happened to him in the forest.

He talked about how he had become stranded after allowing the fleet to escape. Then, he had met the astragali clan, Genos De Caelleus. He had battled one of them, and then he and Addy had come to stay with them. Then, he spoke of the large battle between the giants—their sage’s query—and details of the goblins.

Once everything was out in the open, the wrinkles on the king’s forehead deepened along with his exhaustion.

“We thought it would be extremely difficult to find you in the forest, but it seems I was wrong. I should have known you would not stay still,” he said.

“It is because I searched for any option available to me to escape the forest. I would not have survived had I stayed still,” Ernie replied.

“Still, you’ve done far too much!” Leotamus shot back. He couldn’t hide the great sigh he let out upon seeing how nonchalant Ernie was.

“Heh heh heh! Leotamus, you’re the one who sent this rowdy little brat to the forest. Of course he’d do something crazy,” said Ambrosius.

“That’s not the problem, father,” Leotamus muttered. “At any rate! We must think well about what to do now. Those giants are a significant problem, but...the biggest problem is the survivors. How astounding that there would be any!”

The king had finally regained his gravitas after calming down.

Then, Ernesti sent a signal. When he did, the members of the Order of the Indigo Falcon, who had been on standby, brought something in. Something so large it needed a silhouette knight—six times the size of a human—to carry.

“This is the core of the supermassive so-called daemon lord that the survivors used,” Ernie said.

The object had been strictly guarded, and it looked like a large crystal ball. Both the king and previous king peered at the object with great interest, and they could see a pair of vague humanoid shadows inside.

“Those shadows are the rulers of the beginning—the two who first led the survivors. That is what I’ve been told,” Ernie continued.

“Alves? Unbelievable.”

Someone let out a sigh. Alves were a reclusive people who had made a deal with humans and were closely protected.

“I cannot even fathom why they joined the expedition. There are no longer many surviving records of the first expedition. The founding of this kingdom was marred by chaos, after all.”

“Our kingdom was born because this happened and that group was destroyed. Everyone assumed this was but history.”

The first expedition had crossed the Auvinier Mountains to conquer the eastern half of Setterlund—the greatest military operation in the history of humanity. However, they had folded to the danger posed by the many monsters in the forest and should have been nearly decimated.

But that was only what the west accepted as history. In truth, the survivors had wandered the forest until they had met the astragali and were able to build what amounted to a country for themselves.

“The many people living there were called goblins, and they knew not where they came from. The only ones who knew were Oberon—the alvan king who was their ruler—and their noble class,” said Ernie.

Ambrosius sank into thought. Though the discovery of and contact with another race—the astragali—was a matter of great importance, what was most important was the future. Still, there was a lot to uncover of the first expedition’s past. This was something the entire Kingdom of Fremmevilla could not ignore.

“It is impossible now, but I would have liked to meet this Oberon,” he said. “But this daemon lord you speak of... Bringing back the alves that were its core is enough. I will need to go to the alvan home and speak to their elder soon. She might know what happened at the time.”

Considering an alv’s lifespan, this wasn’t impossible. The Great Elder Kitleigh had definitely been alive during the founding of the kingdom, at least.

“They had become mired by their own ambitions, incorporating themselves into a control system that would allow them to subjugate monsters. Thanks to that, our paths diverged, but it’s the truth that this allowed the goblins to survive in that forest.” Ernie straightened up and bowed to the two. “We do not need this core. If possible, I think we should seal this thing away forever. And so...I would like Alfheim to manage it.”

“Very well. I hear that they sleep until the end of their lives before joining the great flow. I do believe they need some sort of resting place, even in their current state.” The king nodded magnanimously.

What they had were the corpses of two alves who had acted as guardians to people. Given that Fremmevilla had no need for the technology to control monsters, it needed to be sealed somewhere. If so, putting the alves to sleep with their brethren would be the best thing to do.

Ernie rubbed his chest down, relieved. Not everything had gone as planned, but it seemed he’d be able to fulfill part of his promise, at least.

After the daemon lord’s core was carried off, Leotamus turned back to Ernie. “So, what happened to the country of those left behind in the forest?”

“Right. At the moment, it is not large enough to really be considered a country. There is a town where they live alongside the astragali. However, their faction is weak; it hasn’t been long since they lost their leader. I don’t know how long they will remain stable,” said Ernie.

“How difficult. They are with duel-class giants, after all,” said Leotamus.

It was possible for the two races to communicate and live alongside each other. However, giants and humans were fundamentally different. It wasn’t hard to imagine how difficult living together would be.

“There is also the matter of the guests you brought back.”

“Indeed, Ernesti. What is it they desire, coming all this way?”

Ernie pondered the question for a moment. “They became interested in us after seeing the Order of the Silver Phoenix in action. They decided it was necessary to see our country after they heard we were returning home.”

“Then they see us as a threat?”

“Indeed. And if so, the question becomes: How much strength do you think we should show them?”

“Hrm...”

Royal Guards in Kardetolles were stationed at the training grounds in case the giants were to go on a rampage. The giants were interested in these silhouette knights and proposed a fight, saying, “Would you like to pose a query to Argos?” But the knights didn’t understand the meaning of that and so didn’t respond. Incidentally, Addy was waiting in the ship with Magatsu-Ikaruga, ready to calm things down if such a thing became necessary.

Leotamus glanced over at the giants who were spending their time in the training grounds as they pleased. “How should we treat our guests? This will affect the very direction of our kingdom—it cannot be decided in a day. So in the meantime, Ernesti, you must take responsibility and demonstrate our hospitality. Rather, there is no one else who can.”

“Certainly. I understand.”

They would also need to avoid being noticed by others, but Ernie had an idea. It was likely that people could treat them as weird silhouette knights from the Order of the Silver Phoenix.

But Leotamus shook his head at how easily Ernie gave his assent. “There is one more important matter to discuss.”

He looked at Ernie, who reined it in and regained his focus. But before the king started talking again, he hesitated for a moment. “About the...future of you and the Order of the Silver Phoenix.”

Ernie nodded and straightened up...

◆

1285 O.C.

The meeting of the astragali and the Order of the Silver Phoenix, along with the Kingdom of Fremmevilla, sparked a major revolution. The wave of a new age was approaching, even before the air could settle from the Grand Storm of the West.

Part 17: Prelude to the Great Aerial Age Arc

Chapter 73: Leaving the Nest

In the capital of Fremmevilla, Konkaanen:

Leotamus Haalce Fremmevilla, eleventh king of the Kingdom of Fremmevilla, faced a young boy in Schreiber Castle, which stood in the middle of the capital.

His name was Ernesti Echevalier. He possessed a small build and lovely, girlish looks, and while at first glance he seemed weak, he was actually the kingdom’s most problematic knight—someone who could always be found involved in Fremmevilla’s next big catastrophe.

The former king, Ambrosius, was the one who’d put him in his position, and it was unclear to Leotamus, who had not been king long, whether his view on that matter was keen or clouded. What was clear was that the boy’s influence was now far beyond a single kingdom’s knights.

Delegating things is the essence of being king. Still, this is a difficult matter, he thought. He stared at the small figure sitting across from him and slowly sank into his seat.

“I will be frank here. When I heard you’d fallen into the Bocuse, I thought you were dead,” Leotamus said.

“My deepest apologies for causing you such worry and heartache, Your Majesty,” said Ernie. “However, there was not a single silhouette knight to be found in the forest. I only did what I did because I felt I needed to return as soon as possible.”

“To think you’re persistent enough to survive even there.” Leotamus sighed and shook his head. “Your being here just means your strength surpassed my imagination. In a sense, that is a joyous thing. However...”

The king narrowed his eyes. He vividly remembered what he’d felt when he’d heard the report of Ernie’s survival. “It is impossible for you to win every gamble you make. This incident has taught me that painfully. We were complacent and hubristic, thinking you could make anything possible. No matter how capable you are, you are but one person. You are in no way omnipotent. But you are excellent enough to make us forget such an obvious thing.”

The boy had defeated a division-class monster and quelled the uprising in the west—overwhelming achievements that served to hide a simple truth with their shine. Though the silver phoenix was a hero, it was not immortal. Even with history’s strongest armor—Ikaruga—it was possible for the grim reaper’s fell hand to reach him.

“Father told me that the Order of the Silver Phoenix was founded to protect you while at the same time allowing you to express your ability to its fullest. In truth, the order’s achievements are unprecedented, and the silver phoenix has only grown with the passage of time. And it’s not just the order that’s grown, Ernesti. Your own fame is now unshakable. It would be fair to say you have fulfilled your original role and more. And so, I feel it is time for things to change.”

Ernie waited quietly for his next words, and Leotamus delivered them solemnly. “I will add new knights to the Order of the Silver Phoenix.”

“That is...rather unexpected. So you are expanding the order’s scope?” Ernie blinked and tilted his head.

Leotamus nodded and continued, “In accordance with that, each of the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s companies will be named new knight orders of their own and be made independent.”

He meant that growing the order was not the only thing that would happen, and this caused Ernie to tilt his head to the other side. “I have heard your intent, Your Majesty. However, if all of the order’s members become independent, would that not mean the Order of the Silver Phoenix is being disbanded?”

“I have no intention of doing that. Your order’s name is already well-known across the Occidents. It would be pointless to disband you now. That is why I am changing the order’s form,” Leotamus explained.

Ernie straightened out his head.

“The new knight orders will still be beholden to the Order of the Silver Phoenix. I am simply saying that now, what used to be mere companies will be entire knight orders. Put simply, the strength you have at your disposal has grown.”

The Order of the Silver Phoenix functioned because Ernie was at the top. From now on, its structure would instead be layered, with multiple knight orders within its fold. Ernie understood that much, but he still had some questions.

“If that is the case, Your Majesty, why not simply increase the order’s size?”

“The most striking difference would be...that the new knight orders would have different roles from the Order of the Silver Phoenix. From now on, in times of crisis, you must first send your subordinate knight orders.”

“Erm... In other words, I’m not allowed to move first anymore?” Ernie asked.

Leotamus nodded solemnly. “Fremmevilla has undergone major changes, even while you were in the Bocuse. Strengthened silhouette knights, the spread of levitating ships, great advances in windine-style knights, and more. Time marches forward, even including this new, gigantic race or the forest expedition. The role of the Order of the Silver Phoenix will only get bigger. From now on, you must be protected. Also...”

Ernie felt Leotamus’s aura change, which caused him to blink. The king seemed the same, but the corners of his mouth told a different story. “Your order’s company commanders have been quite rambunctious, haven’t they? They displayed the ability to brave the Bocuse as well during this incident. So why not give them the status they deserve?”

“Um...” Ernie blatantly averted his gaze. Unfortunately, he couldn’t quite get away from the king.

“As they so passionately told me, they have brought me both achievements and troubles. I believe they should be given an appropriate responsibility.”

“Yes... Oh, right, on that subject, Your Majesty. My duties as a knight runner aside, what about silhouette knight development? Will that continue to be part of the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s mission?”

The attempt to change the subject was obvious, but the king nodded, pretending not to notice. “Of course, and I will assign new personnel to that effect. Let’s see... Why not people from the National Silhouette Knight Laboratory?”

“From the national lab? But haven’t our duties been split?”

“Recent times have brought remarkable changes, and you stand at the very forefront of it all. That is probably why so many wish to join the Silver Phoenix—to witness it.”

Olvàr, the head of the national lab, had likely made the appeal. Either him or someone in a similar position. But between levitating ships and windine-style knights, the Order of the Silver Phoenix had had to send people over to explain things, meaning their personnel were already mingling.

“I will be selecting the staff in question. And with your new size...I must have you accomplish a lot more. After all, you brought back a mountain of trouble.”

“Yes, my liege...”

In a sense, Ernie was reaping what he’d sown.

After his audience with the king, he returned home. On the way, he was met by Addy, who’d come to get him.

“Welcome back! What did His Majesty say?”

“Right. Everyone from the Order of the Silver Phoenix will be going to a new knight order,” Ernie reported.

Addy froze for a moment, her mouth agape. “What?”

They hurried back to Fort Orvesius while Ernie explained.

◆

Fort Orvesius, the base of the Order of the Silver Phoenix, was in the midst of a huge uproar with the order’s return.

Silhouette knights were practically being thrown into the workshop as people unloaded the levitating ships. Meanwhile, their knight captain had returned from his audience with the king.

“And so, His Majesty is changing the form of the Order of the Silver Phoenix and creating new knight orders as well,” said Ernie.

Consternation and bewilderment shone clearly on each of the company commanders’ faces—Edgar, Dietrich, and Helvi. They exchanged looks as David, the chief of the knightsmiths, furrowed his brow.

“New knight orders? Didn’t they refuse once already?” he asked.

The commander of Second Company, Dietrich Künitz, folded his arms together and said in a clearly unhappy voice, “I kind of forced the issue when we went into the forest to save you...”

“You really took after our knight captain, didn’t you?!”

He had sounded proud, but now he averted his gaze.

“At any rate, we can’t avoid this.”

“It’s looking like we have no choice but to just brace ourselves and take it this time, huh, Dee? Our debt’s a little too big,” said Helvi Olbarri, commander of Third Company, with some exasperation. Dietrich had barged in to see the king directly in order to save Ernesti; he was the one who had roused the knight order.

“Hmm...but making the companies independent? Even mine?” Helvi continued to ask.

“At the very least, this applies to every knight,” Ernie replied.

“I see. I wanted to stay, though.”

“After everything you said to me? Really...”

“Wait a second, please. With so many knights being excised, who would be left behind in the Order of the Silver Phoenix?” Edgar C. Blanche, commander of First Company, interjected with a concerned expression. If First through Third Companies were being made independent, that would mean all of the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s firepower was being converted into new knight orders.

In response, Ernie pointed at himself, then the boss, then Batson. “I’ll still be here. The knightsmiths will stay too; this only concerns the knights.”

“Of course I’m staying no matter what!” Addy exclaimed with a solid hold on Ernie. She held the title of knight captain’s adjutant and so wasn’t part of any company. Even so, regardless of this loophole, she would never consider leaving Ernie’s side.

“So I’m staying too. That’s a relief...I guess?” Batson Termonen, Ernie’s childhood friend and a knightsmith, sighed.

Addy turned to him while keeping her hold on Ernie. “That’s right. We need you to move our levitating ships, Batty!”

“Hold up, Addy. You know I’m a knightsmith, right?”

As the childhood friends teased each other, Edgar furrowed his brow. “Then the Silver Phoenix would be more of a smithing order than a knight order. Are you really okay with this, Ernesti?”

“Though we’re splitting into separate knight orders, the Order of the Silver Phoenix isn’t disappearing. I’m told it will be more like a formality of procedure. Our duties will not change.”

“Are you going to obey because this is an order from His Majesty?” Dietrich stepped in to ask.

“That is one reason. First, the previous king already paid special attention to me. Also, keeping the future in mind, the king is right that we will need more people. Not to mention...” Ernie clenched his fist. “Though it all worked out in the end, Ikaruga still fell. I need to temper myself so that will never happen again.”

“I mean...is Magatsu-Ikaruga not enough? It’s a monster of a machine.”

“Magatsu-Ikaruga is the result of an emergency measure. It won’t last. Even if I wanted to keep it permanently, it would need major redesigning!”

“Zat so?” Dietrich abandoned this line, seemingly unable to be bothered to pursue it further.

“Well, if our knight captain is this much in favor of it, I suppose there’s nothing else to say. But...wait a second. If so, that would mean we’re rising up in the world,” said Edgar.

They would be jumping from company commanders all the way to knight captains. Exempting Ernie, who’d found himself a captain out of the blue, this was a meteoric rise.

“Congratulations, you will now be required to look after an entire knight order.”

“Hrm... Honestly, it just feels like way too much trouble.” Dietrich sighed and shook his head.

Members of Second Company, who had been listening quietly until now, gathered around him.

“In other words, Commander Dee is gonna become Captain Dee!”

“Whoo! Captain!”

“Awright, Captain!”

“Agh, shut up! Hey, wait, stop—!” Dietrich shouted as he was tossed into the air in celebration.

Ernie walked over to Edgar and Helvi.

“To think I would become a knight captain, even of a small order,” said Edgar.

“Do you hate the idea too, Edgar?” Ernie asked.

Edgar spent some time staring down at his hands, but eventually he turned to look at Helvi.

“Just do what you want,” Helvi said to him. “There’s no more room for regrets.”

“You’re right. I understand, Ernesti. I will take the post.”

And so, that only left Third Company. Helvi was its commander, and unusually, she was avoiding giving a quick answer.

“About that...” she started. “Could you give me some time to think?”

“Okay.”

She was looking at Edgar, who was now surrounded by First Company. Ernie nodded; she was surely thinking about this in her own way.

Now that the conversation with his knight runners was finished, that left the knightsmiths. The leader of said smiths, David “The Boss” Hepken, folded his arms together while stroking his beard.

“So nothing’s changing for us except we’ll be getting more people.”

“They should be coming from the national lab,” Ernie said. “So let’s keep going with our R&D here in Fort Orvesius!”

“I’ve gone over there a couple times, so it’s not like they’ll be completely fresh faces. If you’re fine with it, kid, I don’t mind either.” The boss nodded.

Batson raised his hand. “Hey, Ernie, are we keeping the Izumo?”

“I think we are. You all are crewing it, after all.”

Relief spread among the knightsmiths. Their main job was swinging hammers, but they still didn’t want to abandon crewing a levitating ship.

After making a circuit through the knight order, Ernie once again looked out across all his subordinates. “Now, it’s going to get busy. We’ll be getting more hands, but we’re also getting more to do. For now, let’s start with calling the astragali over.”

“Oh, right. I wonder how Pary is doing,” said Addy.

“I’m more worried about the Royal Guards who were assigned to watch over them...” said another girl.

The worries of the girls weren’t far off the mark.

◆

The next day:

Ernie and the others returned to the training grounds on the outskirts of Konkaanen. The giants were tired of the training grounds by then and quickly agreed with his proposal.

“Then I will have you all come to the fort. I’d like to hold a welcoming banquet for you, but unfortunately, we don’t have the time to prepare,” said Ernie.

“Do not mind us, magister,” said the Parva Marga. “Anything would be better than being here with nothing better to do than watch the sky.”

“She’s right. If we stayed much longer, we would make Argos angry,” said Nav.

The two astragali children exchanged fed-up looks. In the end, there wasn’t much to the training grounds other than their size. Not being able to move as they pleased only helped to make them bored of the place more quickly.

And so the astragali would move, carried on carts towed by Tzenndrimbles. The levitating ships that had helped carry them this far had been sent to the national lab for maintenance and so weren’t available.

When the centaurs operated by Third Company appeared, trailing clouds of dust, the giants’ eyes widened.

“What are those? They’re half beast! How outrageous...”

“Hrm, so this is what the humans’ phantom beasts are like!”

“Wow... Hey, are those strong?” Nav asked.

“You cannot challenge one to a query, Nav.”

The giants timidly observed the Tzenndrimbles and the carts they towed. They knew quite a lot about monsters, but it seemed the centaur knights were out of the realm of their imagination. When they were told to get on the carts, they made their uneasiness known as they inspected every inch of the vehicles.

“It’s fine. They’re based off of silhouette knights...or what you would know better as phantom beasts. Though I can’t guarantee they’ll be comfortable to ride.”

“So phantom beasts come in all shapes and sizes, much like the beasts of the forest. Hrm... Very well. Witness me, Argos!” The Parva Marga hardened her resolve and stepped onto a cart. After some exchanged glances, the rest of the giants fearfully followed her.

In order to camouflage the astragali, they were made to wear mantles designed for silhouette knights. With those on, they would look like silhouette knights from far away. They were extremely suspicious up close, but it would be difficult to be able to see them from close enough while they were on moving Tzenndrimbles.

“Well then, I’m counting on you.”

“Yep, I’ll take care of it. Awright, everyone, we’re moving out!”

Third Company’s replies chorused as they got into formation in their Tzenndrimbles and started running, their now heavier carts in tow.

The procession chose to make their way using relatively less populated roads. They were supposed to be moving in secret, so they were taking careful steps to make sure the giants weren’t discovered.

Though the astragali were anxious in the extreme at the beginning, it didn’t take long for them to get used to their situation. Centaur knights were definitely bizarre, but the carriages they rode in were a fresh experience and very convenient. Some even leaned out of the carts on the way to take in the scenery.

“Interesting, so it can run as quickly as the fastest beasts of the land. Hrm, could we not take these to tour the area, Fortissimos of Rainbow?”

“No, you’re likely to cause confusion and chaos. Please behave for a little while longer,” Ernie replied.

“Very well... But we must see the humans’ country so that Argos can see through our eyes.”

“Could we not simply ask these blended beasts directly?”

“They are my subordinates, so they would prioritize my orders. Also, please call them silhouette knights,” said Ernie.

“Grrr...”

The giants were curious. They’d volunteered to come all the way to the humans’ country, after all. Even after this, every time something happened, they would make a huge, excited fuss. Ernie had to stop some of them from falling off the carts, but they made it to Fort Orvesius safely.

“So this is where you live, magister,” said the Parva Marga.

“It is not a forest, yet not a village. It looks so strange!” Nav shouted.

The Parva Marga looked up at the fortress. Meanwhile, Nav was energetically turning this way and that. These forts were made to house silhouette knights, so they were plenty roomy enough for astragali. It was also much more interesting than the sparse training grounds, which only served to further stir the giants’ curiosity.

“We can’t allow anyone else to know about the astragali just yet. For now, please use this place as a base,” said Ernie.

“This is vexing, Fortissimos of Rainbow. But it does seem like we will see some interesting things here, at least.” Genos De Flaum’s Fortissimos looked around.

The hangar was filled with pieces of the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s strength: starting with Ikaruga and Kasasagi, then Aldiradcumber and Guairelinde, and onto Kardetolles and Tzenndrimbles. There were also carts and chariots as well. It was something to behold.

“Please be patient for just a little longer. Once your ‘outer skins’ are complete, you’ll be able to move about somewhat,” Ernesti promised with a smile.

◆

One day, a group paid a visit to Fort Orvesius.

“We have come from the National Silhouette Knight Laboratory! We are the knightsmiths that will be joining the Order of the Silver Phoenix.”

“Welcome to the Order of the Silver Phoenix, and to Fort Orvesius.”

It was a group of knightsmiths wearing national lab insignias. As one might expect, there were a lot of dwarves. One of them, a dwarven girl, took a step in front. She was probably their leader.

She was about Ernie’s height, and she wore her long hair in a braid. She grinned and stuck out a fist with a hammer still clutched inside it. “I’m Desileah Johansson, and I...used to swing my hammer for the national lab’s first workshop. We’ll be in your care, Chief Hepken. Also, it’s been a while.”

“I heard people would be coming from the national lab. So it’s you, Desileah!”

Ernie’s gaze bounced between the two dwarves, and he tilted his head in confusion. “Do you know each other?”

“We sure do. I went over there to take care of business regarding levitating ships and Twediannes, remember? I ended up talking to her back then. And you should know that she’s Workshop Chief Gaizka’s granddaughter.”

“I see. I thought I recognized that last name.”

While the pair talked, Desileah was staring at Ernie with rapt interest, panning her gaze from head to toe. “So you’re the knight captain of the Order of the Silver Phoenix! I hear about you a lot. You really are as small as they say—it’s rare to see a knight with the same stature as a dwarf. Ah, but anyway, I gotta thank you for what you did for my gramps.”

“Oh no, he’s the one who shaped the Kardetolle into such a wonderful machine. Is he still doing well?”

“Almost too well! But as you might expect, he’s retired now because he’s so old. He still shows up at the workshop to swing his hammer all the time though, so I can’t let him outdo me!”

“That sounds just like the chief.”

Desileah raised her arm, showing how muscular she was. It was clear to see that she must have been working hard, and her body was trained into a shining example of a knightsmith.

All of the knightsmiths of the group, including Desileah, looked quite young. Of course, there were humans as well as dwarves—these were the youngsters who would carry the next generation on their shoulders.

“I know this isn’t the kind of thing you say about yourself, but I was valued highly in the national lab. You can expect a lot from my skills,” said Desileah.

“Not that we were ever really worried about that,” the boss said.

That was when a young knightsmith surged out from behind Desileah. “I’ve heard so much about the Order of the Silver Phoenix! It’s an honor to be able to see your skills up close!”

“Of course, we swear to work hard and not shame the national lab.”

Ernie smiled and nodded, but then he adopted a more serious expression. “Then let’s start right away. Right now, the Order of the Silver Phoenix is experiencing a problem I would like you knightsmiths to solve.”

“Oh? Sure thing. This can be like an audition.” Desileah smiled boldly.

Though the rest of the group from the national lab murmured in hesitation, they didn’t take long to agree as well. They thought of this as a good chance to show their skills, but...

“Great! Then I’d like you to prepare some outer skin,” said Ernie.

“Will it need to be special in some way?”

“No, it won’t be a capacity frame or anything. Just regular armor.”

The knightsmiths showed their confusion. Everyone here was the cream of the crop when it came to silhouette knight technology; the national lab had expected much from them. It wasn’t as if they specifically were needed to make simple outer skin.

“What makes this difficult is that it has to be matched to specific ‘bodies,’” Ernie continued. “Still...please understand that this is an important job and pertains to the order’s duties.”

“Yep. We’ve got a pretty complicated situation on our hands,” the boss added. “Something only those prepared should get involved with. If you don’t want to do this, you can go back to the national lab for a little while.”

This bit of kindness from Ernie and the boss was wasted. After a group discussion, Desileah and the others turned back to them with fearless expressions.

“Anyone who’d back out now wouldn’t have come in the first place. We’ll do it.”

“Well then, please follow me,” said Ernie.

And so, the knightsmiths encountered a national secret—

“Hmm... I must say, Fortissimos of Rainbow, this place is nice, but I am somewhat bored. Can we not go hunting?”

“Oh? You have come with another large group. Is whatever you would have us wear not ready yet?”

The knightsmiths of the national lab froze, their mouths agape. No matter how skilled they were, their brains couldn’t keep up when faced with something they could never even have imagined.

Humanoids the size of silhouette knights were walking and talking. They had varying multitudes of eyes that swiveled to look at the group. These giants were people the size of duel-class monsters.

“Wha— Hepken! What is the meaning of this?!” Desileah shouted.

“It’s exactly as you can see,” the boss replied. “These giants are called astragali. Our captain met them deep in the Great Bocuse Forest, and they helped him out. Now, they’re visiting our kingdom.”

“We weren’t told about any of this!”

“I mean, it is a secret,” Ernie replied. “I’m planning to disguise them as silhouette knights so they can walk around. So we need to prepare some outer skin fitted to their frames.”

At this point, Desileah was rendered speechless, her mouth flapping with no sound coming out. Then, the Parva Marga approached the group and sat down. “Are you all from the magister’s genos? I am told you will be creating armor for us. Thank you for this, human smiths.”

“Ah, yeah, sure...” Desileah was just barely able to bring herself to reply, and she very quickly and suddenly realized why everyone around the Order of the Silver Phoenix feared them.

◆

While the Order of the Silver Phoenix was going about their duties, Schreiber Castle was also the center of great activity.

The nobles of the kingdom were all gathered in a great meeting room in the castle. This was, of course, exempting those with urgent matters to take care of, so it was actually more like ninety-nine percent. And, as one might expect, King Leotamus was leading this gathering.

He looked at the nobles, tension showing on his face, and slowly opened his mouth. “Astragali... With the encounter of this unknown species, one of the secrets of the Great Bocuse Forest has come to light. Beasts aren’t the only thing lurking inside—creatures with language and intelligence are as well.”

The Order of the Silver Phoenix’s information about the giants they’d brought back with them had been spread among almost all the nobility, so they were now considering the timing for revealing this to the people.

“The Great Bocuse Forest has been too much for humanity to deal with, but taken the other way, that also means it has not yet been touched by human hands. If we can break into the area, it should yield much for us.”

A ripple spread through the nobles. Finally, hundreds of years after Fremmevilla’s founding, the shape of the kingdom was changing. The scouting mission led by the Order of the Silver Phoenix had been preparation for that.

“In the past, our territory was filled with monsters. The forest was but a dream within a dream. Now, though...”

The nobles who nodded wore confident expressions. They were backed by the cutting-edge silhouette knights created by the Order of the Silver Phoenix. These silhouette knights—head and shoulders above the others in terms of power—had allowed them to deal a blow to monsters and stabilize their territories. The kingdom had never been this peaceful in its entire history, by anyone’s reckoning. That was how safe Fremmevilla had become.

“If we are to step into the forest, we must take the hands of those already living in it.”

“The astragali... No, you mean the humans who live inside?”

“To think there were survivors of the first expedition. I knew there must be something lurking within the forest.”

There were already occupants dwelling in the land the kingdom was about to step foot in, and that brought with it its own problems. However, the king simply chuckled softly and softly said, “Luckily, thanks to the efforts of the Order of the Silver Phoenix, we are already in good standing with both of them. So there is no choice but to make use of this.”

Everyone nodded. They already knew how much progress the scouting run done by the Order of the Silver Phoenix had given them.

“People will eventually be able to make use of the forest. We are now on the long road there,” the king said in closing. With that, the nobles bowed as one.

But outside this circle of nobles stood one elderly man—the previous king, Ambrosius. He had been listening this entire time, never choosing to say anything. He was simply, quietly, thinking about something.

◆

Unaware of the topic of discussion in the castle, said astragali were...

“The size shall do, human smith, but the armor lacks color.”

“Indeed. This does not mark our genos. I have an idea: Why not decorate it with furs from a beast?”

...carrying on energetically as usual.

“Agh, shut it! We’re not taking requests! All of you care way too much about small details for how big you are!”

Once again, Desileah was at her wit’s end as she worked in Fort Orvesius. The source of her headaches was right in front of her, quibbling about the smallest of details.

“None of our silhouette knights have anything like that. Stuff like that will make it look all weird and suspicious,” she said.

“None of us mind.”

“We mind! I’m begging you, drill it through your skulls why we have to go through all this already! Gah...”

Said headaches were gigantic people standing at around ten meters in height. At first, she had been astonished and even terrified by their presence, but after a week, all that had been blown clear across the Bocuse. Sadly, humans were very adaptable. And when it came to picky customers, the difference in their stature mattered little.

“In the end, one’s armor must be hunted by oneself. I cannot calm down in this.”

“Argos cannot watch over us in this. I am amazed how Genos De Rubel could keep their eyes closed in such equipment.”

They had been quibbling like this the entire time, and she was not the only one getting fed up.

As they argued, the boss continued to swing his hammer. “Hey, big guy! This is what you promised to do because you wanted to wander around our home. We’re not making this for the same reasons as your usual armor, so just wear it without causing a fuss!”

The giants exchanged glances.

“Then I suppose we must.”

“But I will request you add color to this eventually.”

“Sure thing. Talk to the captain about that,” the boss replied somewhat offhandedly, but that seemed to placate the astragali for now.

As he continued to throw orders around, Desileah approached him. “It’s finally quiet... Hey, Hepken! Do something about these guys, seriously!”

“Hah! Nice work, Desileah. I get how you feel, but this is an order from His Majesty, so we just have to work with what we’ve got.” The boss could only shrug in the face of Desileah, who was making her irritation known in the way she twirled her braid around.

“I came because I wanted to create new silhouette knights, not play tailor to a bunch of annoying customers!”

“Don’t get so riled up. You just came at a bad time. You’ll be mired in silhouette knights so much you’ll get sick of it eventually.”

“Are you talking from experience?”

“It’s common knowledge in the Order of the Silver Phoenix. The kid never stays quiet. Like how he suddenly made silhouette knights fly,” the boss muttered.

“Come on, there can’t be anything more to do after making them fly...” Desileah’s face twitched a little as she saw the faraway look in his eyes.

◆

But the knightsmiths’ efforts bore fruit. The astragali’s outer skin was completed, and the giants’ original armor was entrusted to the Order of the Silver Phoenix.

“Thank you so much, knightsmiths. With this, the astragali can go out instead of feeling cramped inside,” said Ernie.

“I’m so tired...”

After all the pain and exhaustion the knightsmiths had endured, the astragali actually looked somewhat like silhouette knights while wearing their armor. Still, their sizes were all over the place, and they fidgeted too much (silhouette knights stayed still when not being commanded with purpose), so there was definitely something out of place with them.

“Anything more than this isn’t our job. You need to train those huge lugs,” Desileah said, sighing as she watched the giants fidget and adjust their armor.

“This is only a temporary disguise, so there’s no need to go that far,” Ernie said wryly, trying to soothe her.

Then, a shadow fell over them. When the two looked up, they saw a slightly shorter giant.

“Magister.”

“Parva Marga. That looks good on you,” Ernie replied.

“Really now?” the Parva Marga replied after some thought. “I put this on because it was necessary, but it is stifling.”

“I can’t see in front of me!” Nav complained.

The Parva Marga’s armor was on the lighter side, but it was also covered by a large cloth mantle. Beside her, Nav was adjusting the position of his helmet, unable to find a position that felt right.

The helmets were made so that those with three or four eyes could see, but it still narrowed their vision. In fact, even the current configuration risked revealing that what lay inside were not eye crystals but real eyeballs. Still, Ernie decided to let that pass, assuming that it would be fine as long as no one got a close look.

A different astragali approached—a Quintus Oculus, and thus larger than the average giant or silhouette knight. Given his size, the sight of him in armor was overwhelmingly terrifying.

“We have changed our appearances as promised, Fortissimos of Rainbow. I would like you to guide us now.”

“I know. Ah, but everyone’s still busy,” said Ernie.

The Order of the Silver Phoenix had been forced to reorganize and were thus very busy at the moment. None of the company commanders were free, as they were swamped with choosing new personnel.

“I suppose there’s no other choice. Addy and I can—”

Just as Ernie was about to give his orders, an order member rushed up to him. “C-Captain! Emergency! A sudden guest—” the knight paused for breath.

“Guest? I haven’t heard anything about a guest.” Ernie reacted to the knight’s panic with confusion, but he headed for the reception room.

◆

The West Fremmevilla Highway was a vital road for the nation that ran through its heart. As always, a great many carriages went to and fro along its length. Though some time had passed since the introduction of levitating ships, the pricey vessels were not yet widely spread. The transport of goods was still mostly handled by carriage.

But there were changes—every once in a while, a centaur knight would appear along the road towing a specially made cart. These carts had spread along with the Tzenndrimbles, and so had become increasingly more common to see.

“The human country is a large one.”

“There are phantom beasts here and there too. The Rubels did not have anywhere close to such numbers.”

Atop one such carriage towed by a Tzenndrimble, the Parva Marga narrowed her eyes and looked around. Astragali settlements dotted the forest they lived in, but the area they occupied was far from the width and breadth of this human nation. This was partially due to the sheer number of them, but also partially because the humans had put forward concerted effort to avoid damage and losses caused by monsters.

As the carriage approached a town, she could see large fields. Areas close to towns, where it was easier to gather fighting power, were safer and thus more conducive to farming.

“Oh? So the humans raise plants.”

“Such a method only works because of their size. Doing this would do nothing to fill our bellies.”

The sight didn’t hold much for the generally carnivorous giants. One of them then pointed down at the road they were traveling down. “This so-called road is quite convenient to travel along. Should we make some as well?”

“It would be difficult to carry so much stone. In the first place, animal trails are enough for us.”

Being able to ignore the state of their footing was something only astragali, with their characteristic toughness, could do. The stronger an individual specimen was, the less contrivance was needed for the race to live.

The giants continued to make noise over anything that caught their eyes.

The cart wasn’t only holding astragali but silhouette knights as well. There was one person watching the excited astragali from the head of the carriage.

“Hrm... These astragali are rather clever, aren’t they? It seems our ways of life are different, but we can definitely share our cultures,” the previous king, Ambrosius, muttered to himself while basking in the wind.

Ernie plopped down beside him. “Naturally, since we can understand each other’s languages. They have their own unique culture too. There have been some instances where what we meant didn’t get through, but this happy coincidence was still a lucky break for the survivors of the first expedition. Still, Your Grace... I was very surprised when you came all of a sudden and asked to see the astragali.”

“Indeed, since the idea just happened to come to me. I figured I would need to see the nature of these astragali we will be dealing with from now on. Don’t worry, I won’t get in your way. Tell your order to pretend I don’t exist.”

“Oh no, we could not possibly do that,” said Ernie.

Even Ernie had been surprised when Silvatiger had arrived at Fort Orvesius out of nowhere. What’s more, its pilot had asked to see the astragali, which led to now.

“Now I just need to speak with them directly. Are any of them particularly easy to talk to, Ernesti?” Ambrosius asked.

“If you would like, I could introduce you to my apprentice.”

“Oh? An apprentice, you say? Sounds interesting. Well then, Ernesti, regale me with tales of your travels in the forest until we arrive. How were the lives of the first expedition’s descendants?”

“Well, at first they were forced to serve a certain astragali genos...”

The pair’s conversation was swept away by the wind as the carriage continued along the road. Eventually, the group left the highway and entered a forest. The Tzenndrimble slowed as it had to negotiate the not-quite-road it was traveling over. Finally, it stopped well inside the forest, far away from any town or road—a place still occupied by monsters.

“This phantom beast is convenient for travel, but it is still tiring.”

“Mm, this forest feels much the same as ours. It has been a while since my last hunt—I fear I may have gotten rusty.”

The giants split up and happily wandered into the forest. It seemed they had already forgotten they were wearing different armor than usual.

Following the giants, the silhouette knights also rose out of the carriage with a silver one mixed among the Kardetolles.

“Oh? Their skill at defeating monsters is impressive.” Ambrosius grunted after seeing the giants defeat the first monster they found.

“Everyone here is an elite of their clan, worthy of being called a Fortissimos. Though this may not be our forest, they will not lose to any half-hearted opponent,” the Parva Marga proudly replied. She’d remained behind since Ernie had asked her to keep Ambrosius company. Nav was also there as a guard, but it seemed his mind wasn’t all there; it was obvious he really wanted to go hunting.

The former king was looking at the two giant children with joy, but then he seemed to suddenly remember something. “By the way, astragali girl—I believe you’re called Parva Marga—I have a favor to ask of you.”

The Parva Marga looked to the silver tiger and tilted her head in confusion.

◆

At the same time, Ernie was piloting a Kardetolle farther into the forest with the other giants. “I understand you’re all excited, but please don’t spread out too much, okay?”

“But, Fortissimos of Rainbow, it has been too long since we have been able to stretch our limbs. And it seems these beasts will make perfect decorations!”

“Erm... Hunting is fine, but I don’t know about making decorations of them.”

He guided the giants while being exhausted by their freewheeling ways. But then, a Kardetolle rushed over.

“C-Captain! Emergency!”

“Urgh. I’m getting déjà vu,” Ernie muttered, turning around. His bad feeling turned out to be right.

The order member shouted, “The former king! Over there!”

“Oh no... I left him unattended...” Ernie couldn’t help but look up to the heavens in despair, but now wasn’t the time for that. He gave notice to the astragali he was accompanying before having his machine rush off.

“What is the meaning of this, Par?” Ernie asked when he arrived.

“Oh, magister. That silver phantom beast wanted to know of our strength.”

“This is a proper query for Argos!”

“So His Grace was after this all along,” Ernie muttered. “Ugh... What do I do now?”

Ernie’s Kardetolle clutched at its head in a skillful show of piloting. This was in reaction to what he was seeing: Silvatiger facing off against a Quintus Oculus.

“Should we not have done this?” the Parva Marga asked.

“This isn’t your fault, Parva Marga. But we can’t leave this situation to play out as it will,” Ernie replied.

While he was wondering what to do, the two combatants roused their fighting spirit. Silvatiger’s lance was pointed straight at the giant.

“What’s the matter, warrior? Weren’t you going to teach me what an astragali is?” Ambrosius taunted.

“Grrr...”

Silvatiger emitted a sharp killing intent, different from anything given off by a forest monster. The astragali warrior felt this unfamiliar pressure and smiled. “Phantom beast! One who would challenge a Fortissimos! Open your eyes and witness this!”

The giant took the initiative, charging in with great vigor. However, Silvatiger’s spear boasted more range, and the giant was forced to block a sharp attack from it with his club, forcing him backward. Silvatiger followed up with a flurry of thrusts, and the giant was unable to defend against all of Ambrosius’s skill despite his tough body.

A symphony of dull metallic clangs rang out as the giant’s metal armor was hit. The giant jumped backward to create some distance, not willing to stay within range. He had gotten off light, but only because Silvatiger purposefully targeted the spots where his armor was thickest.

“It is incomparable to a beast’s horns...”

Goldleo and Silvatiger excelled in raw strength, even among the newest cutting-edge silhouette knights. What’s more, because they were given to royalty, they were made of very high-quality parts and always kept in pristine condition. It was as strong as or perhaps even stronger than a Quintus Oculus, a higher-ranking astragali.

“But I still have eyes. Come, O flame. Igniadre!”

Red fire manifested in the giant’s outstretched palm. Ambrosius smiled. “Oho! So you can cast magic without help. Interesting... Now show it to me!”

The astragali unleashed a torrent of fire stronger than a standard overspell. Silvatiger spun its spear quickly, wiping away the incoming flames. However, that was exactly what the giant wanted—the Quintus Oculus had charged in following his spell. Silvatiger was caught on the back foot, still in the motion of its swing. The giant raised his club as Silvatiger made to intercept—

But then, a shadow jumped in between the two combatants.

There was a grunt of surprise, and when they recognized the shadow as a Kardetolle, both Silvatiger and the giant adjusted their aim.

Silvatiger whipped out a kick. The Kardetolle swiped its sword toward the incoming leg’s armor, absorbing the impact of it with the flat like a club. The moment the kick was turned aside, the Kardetolle activated its back weapons and a light flashed. Silvatiger used the momentum from the parry to jump away, and the spot where it was just a moment before was struck by spellfire.

“What?! You’re aiming at me!” Ambrosius shouted.

Blocked by the resulting spray of dirt, Silvatiger frustratedly fell back. At the same time, the giant attacked from the opposite direction. The Kardetolle didn’t panic; it used the shield equipped to its left arm to block. The club scraped away at the surface of the shield, sending out a flashy shower of sparks.

The Kardetolle then made a large step toward the giant, throwing its sword aside to grab the giant’s armor. Its ether reactor howled, instantly upping its output. Strand crystal tissue flexed, exhibiting its great strength in exchange for copious amounts of mana.

The Quintus Oculus was lifted bodily into the air, the momentum of his charge used to help throw him.

“Uwaaargh!” Though he was surprised, the Quintus Oculus reacted quickly. He twisted in midair and rolled on the ground to bleed off the momentum. As he did, he got back up and pointed his club at the interloper. Funnily enough, Silvatiger did the same, and they formed a sort of line.

Having stopped Silvatiger and the Quintus Oculus, the Kardetolle slowly turned to them. “What is the meaning of this?”

Ernie’s voice was lower than usual, and the other two quickly let their weapons drop.

“Ernesti, we were in a good spot. Please wait a little longer,” said Ambrosius.

“Indeed, Fortissimos of Rainbow. Interfering in a query should be out of the question for any Fortissimos.”

“Is that all you have to say? We should have been here to hunt, astragali. And as for you, Your Grace... I’m afraid to say that we do not need a spear to guide our guests,” said Ernie.

Silvatiger awkwardly averted its gaze. “I mean, having a quick spar is the best way to get to know each other. Yes... It was the natural course of action. It was a good fight, astragali.”

“And you have shown your bravery, human. However, this query is not yet over. We must reach a proper conclusion in front of Argos someday.”

Neither showed a shred of contrition; it seemed Ernie’s words had no effect. It was rare for Ernie to sigh, but he did now.

“Human and phantom beast, your spear proved to be very sharp. It would have been better to receive weapons like that instead of this armor.”

“I wouldn’t be against providing some, but no matter how powerful the weapon, it won’t make you stronger on its own. Are you able to wield this, astragali?”

“Though I may see your back today, that does not necessarily hold true for tomorrow,” the Quintus Oculus replied.

“Indeed.”

Both Ambrosius and the Quintus Oculus broke out into low laughs. It seemed they’d gained some sort of mysterious understanding of each other. At any rate, Ambrosius was bound to receive a scolding from Ernesti on the way back.

◆

In a certain part of Laihiala Academy City was a café.

This café was located slightly off the main street and had long been a favorite hangout of students. It was a little ways away from the academy itself, so it was known as a nice place for quiet relaxation.

Edgar and Helvi could be found today in this nostalgic place of business. Because they had been based in Fort Orvesius since graduating from the academy, they didn’t have much chance to spend time in the city, and it had been who-knew-how-long since they’d been able to visit this place. Even so, their cups filled with tea carried a nostalgic flavor, and they couldn’t help but smile.

“So? You’re a fresh, new doe-eyed knight captain. Aren’t you busy?” Helvi asked as she leaned back heavily in her chair.

Across from her, Edgar was sitting in his usual posture. He nodded seriously. “Honestly, it weighs on my shoulders, even though we’re just in the preparation phase. Now that I think about it, it’s amazing Ernesti was able to do whatever he wanted despite all this.”

“His entire point is to go wild. Even if he’s not doing anything, he’ll end up charging wherever he pleases, and it’s tiring just trying to keep up with him.”

The Order of the Silver Phoenix was home to a great many unique personalities, but their knight captain was the most egregious of all. That was why the direction they took had always been clear, and they’d never been lost as to what to do. All the order members were constantly working their hardest in an environment where that was all that was asked of them.

Edgar didn’t have the confidence that he could do the same thing.

“I don’t think we have to force ourselves to imitate him,” said Helvi. “You have everyone from First Company, so whatever you’re doing now will still work.”

“All I do is rely on them.”

The order was being held together entirely because he was with familiar people. Familiar subordinates were the most reliable thing a new knight captain could have.

“Awww. Both you and Dee are getting more and more knight captain-like. But I guess you both were always skilled, so it kind of feels like it was always going to happen.” Helvi chuckled dryly.

Edgar spent some time staring down at his cup, but eventually he steeled his resolve. “What about you? I heard that Third Company still hasn’t given an answer.”

“Aha, so that’s what you were really after.” Helvi grinned.

“You’re qualified to be a knight captain as well, Helvi. You led the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s Third Company.”

“Sure, but it’s a little different in my case. It just doesn’t feel real.”

“But His Majesty...”

“You know, don’t you? Third Company really likes new toys.”

“Hmm. Well, yes. Your people have always jumped on the new models our knight captain created, whether it be the Tzenndrimble or Twedianne.”

In terms of just piloting, both First and Second Companies had laid their hands on the new models as well. However, Third Company went much further in their testing and exploration. There was much that had only been achieved because of their efforts and noble sacrifices.

“So I know some folks definitely want to stay with the Silver Phoenix,” said Helvi. She then laughed, suggesting that there’d be problems if they were only left with knightsmiths, but Edgar didn’t believe those were her real feelings.

“You could just let those who want to stay, stay,” he said. “More importantly...I want to know what you want, Helvi.”

“Yeah...but that’s why I’m thinking of just not bothering to create a whole knight order out of Third Company.”

Edgar’s eyes widened. It looked to him like a weight had been lifted off of Helvi’s shoulders when she said that.

Refreshed, she puffed out her chest. “I never really wanted to become a knight captain, even though I said I did to compete with you and Dee.”

Each company of the Order of the Silver Phoenix had its own characteristics. First Company was simple and true, specializing in defense. Second Company was dauntless and fierce, charging in like madmen. Meanwhile, Third Company was self-reliant and individualistic.

“In the first place, I joined the Order of the Silver Phoenix because of the behemoth incident,” said Helvi. She was referring to their encounter with a behemoth, a division-class monster. Having survived that walking disaster that could have ruined Fremmevilla itself, she’d started to desire power.

“After that incident, I became a test runner for the Tellestarle.”

The Tellestarle was the first prototype they’d made—even before the Order of the Silver Phoenix was founded. When its reactor had first made noise in that little corner of Laihiala Academy, she had immediately volunteered to become its test pilot.

“Back then, all I was thinking was that I refused to be discouraged by that incident, which was why I was a little surprised that being a test runner for that prototype was so fun. Once I tried doing it, I found it suited me.”

While being a fighting force, the Order of the Silver Phoenix was also a team of engineers at the cutting edge. That special environment was where she belonged.

“When I think about what I want to do, I just feel as if there’s so much more I want to know and accomplish as a knight runner, and that there’s no appeal in being a knight captain for me. So I won’t accept it. Is...that selfish of me?”

Edgar stayed silent for a while. Eventually, he sighed and his expression loosened. “No. It seems like you’ve done as Ernesti asked and found what you truly want to do. We’re the Order of the Silver Phoenix, after all. If that’s what you’ve decided on, Helvi, I have nothing more to say.”

“Thanks. To tell you the truth, I already talked about this to everyone in Third Company! They all said they’d follow their own hearts.”

The Order of the Silver Phoenix’s third company chose a different path from its first and second. Some joined up with First and Second Companies, while others stayed with the Order of the Silver Phoenix as test runners—just enough so that the remaining pilots wouldn’t represent too big a fighting force. Of course, there were some who loved new things too much.

“I see. That sounds just like Third Company...I think,” said Edgar. He let out a sigh of relief, tinged with a small amount of sadness as well. The three of them had been leading their own companies since the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s founding. And now, they were about to split up and follow their own paths. Naturally, he had some attachment to what they were losing.

Edgar hung his head slightly after that, but then he saw Helvi grinning in the corner of his vision. He had a faint inkling of what was going to come just before the shocking news.

“And so! I’m going to join First Company. I’m going to be supporting you from now on, so take good care of me!”

“What?!”

The man most famed for his defense in the entire Order of the Silver Phoenix was actually quite weak once his defenses were breached. He froze for a while, his mouth agape, before he managed to forcefully rein in his expression. “No, er, wait a second. The way this conversation was going, weren’t you going to stay with the Order of the Silver Phoenix?”

“Oh? But aren’t you all still part of the Order of the Silver Phoenix too, even though your names have changed? It’s the same thing. Just leave the piloting of any new models or Tzenndrimbles to me.” Helvi cackled, satisfied by Edgar’s shocked face.

No wonder he’d never figured out what she was doing—she’d teamed up with Ernesti to play this little prank. While Edgar was lost for words, Helvi suddenly furrowed her brow and pouted. “What, you don’t like me joining you? Then maybe I’ll go bother Dee instead.”

“No, that’s—” Edgar reflexively jumped up to stop her.

Helvi burst out into laughter. He’d fallen for it, and she couldn’t stop laughing. “It’s a joke! A joke! You should have just been honest if you were going to make that face.”

It took a moment before Edgar was able to say, “Right. I’m sorry, Helvi. I want you to support me from now on, so please take good care of me.”

“Good, good. Being honest is best,” Helvi said, silently holding out her hand.

Edgar took it reverently, and the two smiled at each other.

“You’re surprisingly lax in some ways, Edgar, so I’ll be very strict with you!”

“Really? Well, I hope you’re not that strict.”

“See, there it is!”

“Grr...”

With this, Helvi had found where she belonged. Though the companies were splitting up, they all carried with them what they had gained from the Order of the Silver Phoenix and would be walking forth with hope in their hearts.

The time for them to leave the nest was approaching...

Chapter 74: The Captain’s Decision

Inside the workshop in Fort Orvesius...

Knightsmiths in silhouette gears were scurrying about carrying parts. In the middle of the hubbub, a super heavy-duty crane was holding up a large lump. It was an ether reactor—a silhouette knight’s power source, equivalent to its heart.

The crane extended its chains with a loud noise, lowering the ether reactor to its rightful place. The intake and exhaust system started to breathe, awakening the reactor with something like a huge yawn.

“Awright, it’s connected. It’s moving! Commencing mana transmission!”

“I can confirm continual Physical Boost. Nothing abnormal with the main reactor, and the sub reactor is working as normal too.” Batson spun his arm around, giving a signal. When he did, the slumbering giant awakened, and the scenery its eye crystal saw was displayed on its holomonitor.

“Okay. With this, the sleepy Ikaruga is finally back to its old self.” The boss—David—looked up at the machine and broke into a smile. The two large reactors, Behemoth’s Heart and Queen’s Coronet, had been reinstalled into their rightful places, returning the flag unit Ikaruga to its original power.

Said flag unit was a far cry from the normal form of a silhouette knight, with its demonic face and six arms, but it was made specifically for this knight order’s captain: Ernesti Echevalier.

Desileah and the other knightsmiths from the National Silhouette Knight Laboratory looked at it in awe. It was almost legend to them—the strongest defect.

“So this is the flag unit of the Order of the Silver Phoenix.” Desileah let out a sigh. “It’s even more ridiculous than the rumors.”

“Captain Echevalier is also the one who invented the sub-arm. Still...how do you even control six of them?”

“So those reactors are the rewards he got for bringing down a division-class monster...the most powerful ones in the kingdom. I hear that without those, Ikaruga would be nothing but junk.”

“So that’s why it’s history’s best defect.”

Only a few people knew the truth behind the large reactors—that Ernie had made them himself. Though these newcomers might learn that fact if they were to continue with the Order of the Silver Phoenix.

“The national lab is one of our kingdom’s foremost development organizations at the cutting edge of technology, but we never see something so niche there. I’m jealous of this place for being able to do whatever they want.”

As Desileah and the others talked, the boss finished his checks and came over. “So how’re you guys liking Ikaruga? True, it’s a defective machine, but it’s also our masterpiece.”

“Must be sarcasm, with how you’re puffing out your chest in pride.” What colored Desileah’s face as she looked up at it was true envy. While knightsmiths were engineers, not artists, they were naturally still attached to their creations. And it was rare for someone to have the opportunity to create something accepted so widely as the best.

“My gramps is way too energetic for his age, and I’m jealous of him too,” Desileah continued. “He’s able to keep aiming to be the best at his age, after all.”

“Well then, Desileah, what is it you want to do?” asked the boss.

Desileah pondered the question for a moment before muttering, “I want to challenge my own limits.”

A little ways away from the knightsmiths, Ernie and Addy were looking at Ikaruga as it laid on the maintenance table.

“Good, good. In the end, this just fits. Ikaruga is your partner after all, Ernie,” Addy said as she looked up at the large object next to Ikaruga. This other silhouette knight, named Kasasagi, also needed Behemoth’s Heart and Queen’s Coronet to operate properly. That was why Ikaruga had to be deployed with great restrictions on its abilities during the battle in the Bocuse.

“Ah, but I want to do something about Kasasagi too. Don’t you?” Addy asked as she poked Ernie in the cheek. To Ernie, Ikaruga was his one-and-only partner. Even so, he did feel some attachment to Kasasagi, seeing how they’d fought together.

“Ikaruga fell during that battle with the kratovastias. It can’t stay as it was.”

“Still, don’t you think those kratovastias are really special compared to other monsters?”

Kratovastias were like the natural enemy of silhouette knights, since they could launch projectiles of corrosive bodily fluid that could destroy metal. That ability did seem a little too special.

“You’re right. It won’t be good for Ikaruga if I only think about fighting those.”

“Plus, all you really have to do is use Storm Coat.”

“Maybe it would be better to make Storm Coat into individual silhouette arms and group those together.” Ernie compared the restored Ikaruga and the now-empty shell of Kasasagi. “What would be the best result here? I can’t save both; I’ll need to think about this.”

Despite what he said, Ernie smiled like he was having fun.

◆

A group of giants advanced through the forest. Their armor was mismatching, and their strides were just as unique—strange for silhouette knights. Naturally, inside these suits of armor were astragali.

“There are beasts here too, just like our forest. However, there are truly a great many human settlements.”

“Their roads are solid and they possess many phantom beasts. I suppose they would find themselves threatened by nary an old beast.”

As the astragali talked, a group of silhouette knights followed them. One of these machines was silver and stood out in a major way.

“The Great Bocuse Forest—the forest where you astragali live... Are there a lot of monsters there?” The sore thumb of a silhouette knight was Silvatiger, piloted by the former king, Ambrosius.

“More than there are here. They provide us sustenance.”

“I see. Certainly, you would need something duel-class at least to feed people of your size.”

Ever since the astragali’s first outing the other day, whenever they decided to go out, Ambrosius would show himself after a while.

Every time he joined, the order knights who were there thought about how he seemed to have way too much free time, even though he was retired. Naturally, none of them ever said anything. More importantly, he spent this hunting time chatting with the giants and getting along fairly well with them.

He was once again enjoying a completely normal and natural chat when a white silhouette knight quietly sidled up to him. “Excuse me, Your Grace, but it is our job to escort these astragali. Please let us do it.”

“Hmm? Edgar, these astragali are quite conversational. There’s no need to read so much into things.”

The white Aldiradcumber shook its head. “No, sire. This is to avoid exposing you to danger.”

“What do you think I am?”

“I have heard from the captain that you have already challenged one of them to a fight. Please restrain yourself.”

“Grrr. Curse that Ernesti. He’s good.” Realizing he was at a hopeless disadvantage, Ambrosius cleared his throat and tried to change the subject. “Look, Edgar. The astragali are a large and rough people. They are intelligent, but smaller races like us can’t help but compare them to duel-class monsters.”

The astragali visiting Fremmevilla were all representatives of their genoses—the few elite of their race. There were still many astragali left behind in the Bocuse.

“This all to say that being their opposite is no mean feat,” Ambrosius continued. “What’s most important is to learn about them, and the best way to do so—to see into their true nature—is to talk to them.”

“But in their culture, fighting takes precedence over talking... They refer to these rituals as ‘queries,’” Edgar replied hesitantly.

“Exactly. In the end, they are rough and aggressive. I’m sure they feel most at home in battle.”

Part of the reason the giants would regularly go out to hunt was in order to earn their own food. But more fundamentally, it was because they liked to fight. They prized being able to take down their prey with their own hands.

“There may be many knights in our kingdom, but I have to wonder how many of them could fight an astragali. I would guess that, other than your order, only the royal knights would be capable. If we must live beside them, they must respect us and decide to do the same.”

On that point, Edgar agreed. The Order of the Silver Phoenix had intervened with the astragali’s war for the same reason.

“And so, as one who leads the knights, I must be the first to gain an accurate measure of these astragali’s strength,” Ambrosius concluded.

“No. Please restrain yourself,” Edgar flatly shot him down.

“You don’t bend at all, do you? You may be a more formidable enemy than Cnut. You know that you don’t have to feel pressured to perform, even if your lover did join your knight order.”

“Wha— Y-Your Grace! That has nothing to do with anything! I am only doing my duty as a knight—”

“Gah hah hah hah! I’ll leave it at that. If we get too absorbed in this conversation, the astragali will leave us behind.”

The two silhouette knights, silver and white, walked on through the forest, leaving behind the former king’s laughter and Edgar’s immeasurably deep sigh.

◆

Meanwhile...

“So this is the ‘city’ in which you live, magister,” said the Parva Marga.

The Parva Marga, also in a set of disguising armor, was currently in Laihiala Academy City. Of course, she wasn’t alone—Addy was riding on her shoulder. Also, for several reasons, Nav was not with them.

“Sorry, Pary. I know you’re a good egg, but we still can’t let you roam free in this city. You need to keep up your act as a silhouette knight, after all,” Addy apologized.

“That is no problem, Magister Addy. I simply feel I must witness this with my own eyes.”

The pair of girls continued through the city’s gate. Addy had taken care of all the formalities beforehand.

“Okay then, I’ll guide you through town!” Addy started. “First, there are a lot of shops around here...”

The Parva Marga walked slowly through the city. The roads here were made wide, assuming silhouette knights would be using them. They were perfectly ready to accommodate the Parva Marga, who was small for an astragali.

She’d been told in no uncertain terms not to do anything weird, so she did her best to walk while maintaining her posture. Loaded carts moved around her feet as the city’s residents came and went. Everything that entered her sight would catch her interest, and she would end up stopping, turning this way and that to see as much as she could.

“Oh? What a small silhouette knight. Is it a new model?”

“Yes! We’re currently in the middle of testing it,” Addy replied.

Several people called out to them while they walked. As part of the vaunted Order of the Silver Phoenix while also being a resident, Addy was quite famous among the people of the city. They naturally drew a lot of attention, as she was accompanied by some new machine that was neither a full silhouette knight nor silhouette gear.

“I know you’ll probably be fine, but watch out for your surroundings.”

“Yes, I will. We won’t cause any trouble for the people of this city,” Addy replied.

She did so in a friendly manner every time someone called out to them. And while they stopped so Addy could talk, the Parva Marga turned her helmeted head in every direction so her four eyes could take in the sights. She was observing what she could see of the city through the small gap in the helmet in great detail.

“Each individual human is far smaller and weaker than us,” she said. “Those like you magisters are rare, and that is why you group together. You lay down stone and protect your settlements. You create phantom beasts...”

In the past, the race that used to be called goblins was weak and did not interest her. However, that might just have been because there were so few of them. When enough of them gathered to make a so-called country, their might would bloom into something like what she was seeing now.

“Seeing the goblins, Genos De Rubel built Metropolitan. As I thought, this strength is not to be underestimated.”

As she and Addy slowly walked along, they eventually reached Laihiala Academy. They continued through the silhouette knight entrance and sat down in an empty area. The knightsmiths had been informed about this beforehand, so the area had been cleared out. The order’s name was very powerful in this city.

“Well done, Pary,” said Addy. “You’re free to do whatever you like here!”

“Not moving is actually quite tiring...” the Parva Marga muttered.

“Aha ha... Makes sense. Nav couldn’t stand it either, which was why he didn’t come today.”

The Parva Marga removed her helmet and took a deep breath. It was tiring wearing armor you weren’t used to, and that was only made worse because she had to pretend to be a silhouette knight.

“But are you sure you didn’t want to go hunting with everyone else?”

“Argos commanded me to see more and know more. There is so much that is interesting to me, so I have no time to spend with my eyes closed.”

The Parva Marga closed her two upper eyes while looking at Addy with her remaining ones. She’d seen what a goblin village looked like, as well as how it looked after some development. Even so, Laihiala Academy City far outstripped that.

It was Fremmevilla Kingdom’s largest or second-largest city. It was only natural the Parva Marga was interested.

“What is this place?” she asked. “Not even the astragali would need such large buildings to live, let alone humans.”

“It’s called Laihiala Knight Runner Academy and... Er... It might be hard to explain a school to you. This is basically a place where you learn, I guess.”

The astragali lived in separated clans and so didn’t have anything like schools. It was easy to pass on skills and knowledge among the whole genos, after all. A more heavy-handed interpretation would be that the genos itself was fulfilling the role of a school, and it seemed that was how the Parva Marga understood it.

“I see. So it is here you learn to control phantom beasts,” she said.

“Exactly! Everyone from the Order of the Silver Phoenix used to be students here too,” Addy replied.

“So it gathers fresh, young eyes to make a new genos?”

Still, it was hard to fit the concept of this academy into astragali culture. Not that explaining that the order had essentially taken over the school to found said knight order was ever going to be easy.

“We were born and raised here, after all!” Addy exclaimed. “I only hope I can show you around more, Pary.”

“What else is there to see?”

“Well...there’s my house, and Ernie’s house. Oh, but you definitely wouldn’t be able to fit inside...”

“You are Magister Ernie’s wife, no? Do you not live together?”

The moment Addy heard that innocent question, she froze with a smile on her face. After a moment, she turned awkwardly, the smile still plastered on her. “Uh...yeah. Of course, naturally. It’s basically like that.”

“What is wrong, Magister Addy? That expression is...amazing. Did you see something strange?” the Parva Marga asked.

“It’s fine! Nothing’s wrong! You’re basically right!” Addy replied quickly.

The Parva Marga looked puzzled. Addy let out a strangely empty laugh.

“If I made a mistake...” she started. Even though it wasn’t the Parva Marga’s fault, it was a while before Addy came back to her senses.

◆

That night, when Ernie returned home...

“I have something to talk to you about, Ernie.”

“Addy? Weren’t you guiding the Parva Marga?”

For some reason, Addy was waiting for Ernie in his room. She came to his room often, but something was different about her this time, which made him suspicious.

“I showed her around properly, so don’t worry about that. There’s something more important we need to talk about here.” She went straight in for the hug as soon as Ernie entered the room.

Though this was normal, Ernie still put on a wry smile. “We can talk without you hugging me, you know?”

“You might run if I don’t keep a hold of you.”

That gave Ernie pause. “What is it you want to talk about?”

Now, he was concerned. He noticed when he tried to quietly escape her arms that she had a solid hold on him—her arms weren’t budging. Addy was a knight runner, so her body was well trained, of course—but even so, her strength was unnatural.

“Are you even using Physical Boost?” he asked.

It was completely impossible to escape. He looked up only to find the expression on Addy’s face slightly scary.

“Hey, Ernie, I want to continue our conversation from the forest. You’re okay with it, right?”

Though her voice sounded happy and pleasant, her smile didn’t reach her eyes. Whatever was going on in her head, she seemed absolutely serious.

“You said it yourself in the Caelleus’ village, Ernie...that I’m your wife.”

Instantly, Ernie realized that he would be unable to escape, in more than one way. He let out a deep, deep sigh and hugged Addy back. “I did. But...”

“Shouldn’t we tell our moms now?”

“Ugh... There’s no stopping this now, is there?”

With Ernie in an unbreakable hold, Addy seemed to be enjoying herself very much. He spent the next while looking at her and thinking. Something must have happened to kick this off, but that must not have been all.

He somehow managed to straighten up while still in her grip. “Addy. We were only pretending in order to avoid trouble with the astragali.”

“Yeah... I know. But we can just make it real...can’t we?”

She stared deep into Ernie’s blue eyes. Suddenly, she noticed how unconfident her own reflection looked.

“You want to be with me,” Ernie started. “But I... I’m sure that from now on, I’ll continue to think only about silhouette knights. Making them, piloting them...and I’ll get into more dangerous situations too.”

“I know that. You can keep going as you are, Ernie. That’s just how you are, and I like you how you are.” Addy then muttered something about how she couldn’t stop him anyway.

“Do you want me no matter what, Addy?”

“I mean, look at how cute you are! And there aren’t any other cool boys around anyway!”

“Erm...”

“You taught me so much about magic too. If you weren’t around, I don’t even know what I’d have been doing. I...probably would have gone to the academy, but maybe I wouldn’t have become a knight.”

She’d built a fairly good relationship with her family, the Serratis. But if she’d remained a regular old town girl or a weak knight, she might not have forged those bonds.

“You helped me a lot, so now it’s my turn! I’m your adjutant, after all. Also, I don’t want to give you to anyone else!” She tightened her hold on Ernie.

He stayed like that, thinking in her arms for a moment. But soon enough, he looked back up. “Addy.”

“Yeah?”

“Will you continue to be by my side from now on?”

“Yes, absolutely! I will even if you don’t want me to!”

“I understand. Then...”

“E-Ernie?!” Addy’s face shone with expectation as she looked at him. That all tilted diagonally after what came next.

“Please wait a little longer. I’ll go prepare.”

“Errrniiieee! Do you really need to prepare anything after we’ve gotten this far?!”

“It’s a secret. I might as well try to surprise you, since we’re doing this anyway,” he replied. He seemed to be having a lot of fun.

Addy knew the face he was making. It was the face he made when he’d decided he was going to do something for sure. That face meant Ernie would overcome any and all obstacles to make it happen. She gave up with a long sigh.

“I get it. You keep your promises after all! I’ll wait.”

“I do. And I’ll make sure not to keep you waiting too long.”

After that, Ernie stretched and they shared a quick kiss. Addy wasn’t sure if she should be happy or sulking, so she settled on petting Ernie until she’d had her fill.

And so, Ernie started taking fierce action. Of course, it would involve the Order of the Silver Phoenix...

◆

The next morning:

The sound of horse hooves rang loudly as a Tzenndrimble rushed toward Fort Orvesius. It went in and headed straight for the parking area, where Ernie and Addy climbed out. This was routine, and the order member who was on watch saluted the two of them.

“Good morning, Captain!”

“Good morning,” Ernie replied. “By the way, is the boss where he usually is?”

“Yeah, I think he and the others are in the workshop.”

Ernie nodded and walked straight there. The order member watched them leave, thinking that something was about to happen again.

Then, in the workshop...

This place, which usually housed the entirety of the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s fighting forces, seemed very empty because all three companies were out now. The only things moving inside were knightsmiths in silhouette gears.

Naturally, when Ernie came into the workshop, he went straight toward Ikaruga. And naturally, Addy followed after him. Ikaruga—now with its ether reactors back in their rightful places and in its full glory—was sleeping quietly on a maintenance table. Ernie took a moment to gaze at it before turning his eyes beside it.

His goal today wasn’t Ikaruga, but the thing beside it—Kasasagi, the half-assed silhouette knight with only an upper half. It no longer contained any ether reactors and had thus lost its Physical Boost. Because it couldn’t maintain its form without the spell, its parts had almost all been dismantled.

“Huh? Are you going to do something with Kasasagi, Ernie?” Batson asked. He came over, the feet of his silhouette gear clanking on the floor.

“It obviously won’t be able to move like this, so I’ll have to do something.”

Kasasagi required an enormous amount of mana to use its various functions, and the reactors that provided this mana had already been moved to Ikaruga. Both machines were niche things that expended a lot of mana, so there had to be a choice.

“You’re going to fix Kasasagi even though you have Ikaruga?”

Not only were the reactors limited, there was also only one of Ernie, its knight runner. Batson had to wonder why he would need two silhouette knights.

That was when Addy lightly rapped her fist against her palm. “I see. If Kasasagi doesn’t move, we can’t form Magatsu-Ikaruga!”

“That was only an emergency measure to deal with the kratovastias. We won’t actually need to do that again,” said Ernie.

“Oh, we won’t?”

The form where Ikaruga and Kasasagi linked to become Magatsu-Ikaruga had contributed greatly to the fight against the supermassive daemon lord, but it currently didn’t have much use.

“Hmm...but couldn’t we just leave it, just in case?” Addy asked.

Magatsu-Ikaruga wasn’t special only because of its massive combat strength. It was formed from two silhouette knights—meaning Addy’s intent was clear.

Ernie returned a soft smile. “Heh heh, don’t be so hasty. Just wait a little, okay?”

“Ernie, that’s a little disturbing...” Addy muttered.

“He’s definitely plotting something,” Batson added.

With all they’d gone through together, these childhood friends couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.

Meanwhile, Ernie, who was in a great mood for some reason, looked around. He quickly found the person he was searching for. “Boss!”

“Huh? Oh, it’s you. What’s up? There weren’t any plans to take Ikaruga out today, I believe.” David—the boss—seemed puzzled.

Normally, Ernesti would go back to his office work after having his fill of staring at Ikaruga. Since they’d returned to Fremmevilla, there hadn’t been anything threatening enough to require Ikaruga to take action.

“You’re right, there aren’t. But I was thinking of doing something new.” Ernie continued to smile as he tilted his head.

The boss groaned at how cryptic the boy was being. He let out a sigh and then took a deep breath before turning around and raising his voice. “Heeey! Anyone who’s free, c’mere! The captain’s got orders!”

A moment of utter silence took over the workshop. The transplants from the national lab hesitated, wondering what was going on, but it didn’t take long for Desileah to realize the time had come.

“Now I can confirm the rumors of our captain’s skill...”

Before she could even finish her sentence, the other knightsmiths jumped into action. They quickly stopped whatever they were doing, cleaned up their tools, and grabbed chairs as they gathered around the boss. Some of them wheeled out a blackboard that had been stowed in a corner, then placed it next to Ernie.

While Desileah stood there in a daze, the knightsmiths had prepped the room into a meeting space. She couldn’t understand why they seemed so used to this. Then, Desileah and the other newcomers returned to their senses and hurriedly joined the circle.

Once the boss confirmed that everything was ready, he steeled himself and stared at Ernie. “Okay, let’s kick this off. Say whatever you want, kid. Are we finally messing with Ikaruga?”

“No. I want to rebuild Kasasagi.”

The knightsmiths couldn’t help but look over to the pile of junk that was Kasasagi. It was a gathering of mystery pieces—given that normal silhouette knights used only metal, but this thing also had monster parts and wood. The thought of trying to do something with that made the knightsmiths’ faces twitch.

“That thing? But we already moved the ether reactors to Ikaruga.”

“Of course I don’t plan to rebuild Kasasagi in its original form. I originally made it as a stopgap, after all. I think we should take this chance to completely overhaul the design.”

Kasasagi was a product of madness, born of the extreme situation of being trapped in the Great Bocuse Forest.

“To tell you the truth, there’s no need for Kasasagi to stay as it is. I honestly think a normal Twedianne is better. But the features I added to it are useful. Right... If I had to say, I’d want to break down its features and extract them,” Ernie said with an airy smile as he jotted down a simple diagram on the blackboard. “When I talk about Kasasagi’s greatest of features, I of course mean the ether ring generator.”

“I mean, I agree with that. That’s exactly why it needed Behemoth’s Heart and Queen’s Coronet,” the boss said.

The ether ring generator was a device only mounted on Kasasagi, even though levitating ships and flying silhouette knights existed. It would be very useful, but it was clear why it hadn’t spread: the unbearably high mana cost of its usage.

That was when Desileah parted the crowd to come to the front. She looked at the simple diagram of Kasasagi and shot a question toward Ernie. “I heard about this from David. This thing makes the main part of an Etheric Levitator unnecessary. But isn’t that in itself unnecessary as long as the Etheric Levitator doesn’t break?”

“You’re right, which is why it consumes so much mana,” Ernie replied. “But it’s interesting, isn’t it? The result isn’t what’s important here, but the process—which gave birth to a certain interesting technology.”

Desileah clearly looked confused. From what she’d heard, the ether ring generator was nothing but a backup Etheric Levitator. Not only that, it was fairly difficult to use. So, Ernie added an arrow to the blackboard, indicating the Etheric Levitator on a silhouette knight.

“The ether ring generator’s biggest selling point is here. By using the mana pool, it creates high-purity ether. As a side effect, this turns the silhouette knight itself into an ether filter.”

The boss lightly rapped his fist against his palm. Beside him, Desileah came to a realization. “Which means we won’t need etherite anymore?!”

The implications of such a thing were incredible. Flying silhouette knights today had to dedicate a significant amount of weight and space to etherite. Eliminating the need for that would cause a revolution in their design.

Unfortunately, Ernie responded with a slow shake of his head. “That might be a bit hasty. If you try to completely replace the ether an Etheric Levitator needs with purely mana, you would quickly dry out your mana pool.”

“R-Right... I guess it wouldn’t go so well right off the bat.” Desileah came back to her senses, clenching her fist without meaning to.

Beside her, the boss stroked his beard and muttered, “But we would still be able to carry less etherite, right? Also, if the Etheric Levitator ever actually breaks, you’d still be able to use it as a backup.”

“The most important point is that it becomes possible to change the amount of ether while activated. This function would allow a Twedianne to fly even more freely through the air. Furthermore, it might even be possible for levitating ships to use this.”

A ripple ran through the knightsmiths.

“That sounds pretty useful. Being able to change altitude would fix one of the Twedianne’s greatest weaknesses.”

Ernie himself had pointed this weakness out in the Great Bocuse Forest. While the Etheric Levitator was a very powerful device, it struggled to allow altitude changes.

“I see... This is interesting,” Desileah breathed. This was the Order of the Silver Phoenix—a place that created new technologies. A place she was now part of. The feeling hit her; it finally felt real. Her face broke into a wide smile.

But immediately, Ernie opened his mouth. “Which is why I want to use this to improve both the windine and warrior styles.”

“H-Hey, wait a second. I get that this is useful for Twediannes and the like, but where did the warrior-style come from?!” Desileah blurted out. Her earlier feelings had immediately been thrown into chaos. Why were the close-combat warrior-style of silhouette knights being thrown into the mix?

The old standard of silhouette knights had come to be referred to as “warrior-style,” as they used swords and other melee weapons to fight on the ground. Naturally, they had nothing to do with Etheric Levitators.

Ernie responded to the question with a smile. “Because of the new knight orders that have spawned off the Order of the Silver Phoenix. Edgar and Dee made their decisions, and we’ve fought together for a long time, so I thought I’d give them a present since we have the opportunity.”

“Uh...and so you’re going to make an entirely new model for that?” Desileah and the rest of the knightsmiths who came from the national lab deflated slightly. Who would create an entirely new silhouette knight as a souvenir? New models weren’t so easy to make as to be able to gift them as lightly as he was suggesting.

In contrast, the order’s veteran knightsmiths didn’t seem to pay any mind to what Ernie said. They held a mysterious trust in him and knew he was liable to say and do stuff like that.

“You say that, but both Aldirad and Guairelinde are very good machines,” said the boss. “I think it’d be difficult to mess with them any further. Also, if you want to make new silhouette knights, you’ll need to consult with their knight runners.”

“Of course they’re good. It’s obvious when you look at the achievements Edgar and Dee have accomplished with them. But I’m not trying to make an entirely new model of silhouette knight—just a present.”

“What are you even talking about...?” Desileah threw in the towel, repeatedly shaking her head.

Ernie started to draw something new on the blackboard. It was a silhouette knight and a set of armor that looked like wings that would be equipped to it.

“I’ll be making use of their halo coats,” Ernie declared.

The boss stayed quiet for a moment before his eyes flew open. “So that option was available. The Twedianne itself doesn’t have to be the one supplying mana.”

“This will become a new part of our Option Works. At the same time, it will connect the ground to the sky.”

“Interesting. Let’s try it.”

While Ernie and the boss continued to plot with disquieting smiles, Batson and the other knightsmiths watched on with resigned expressions.

◆

The next day:

Kardetolles carried large loads through the inner yard of Fort Orvesius.

The most standout piece was an Etheric Levitator. Halo coats were originally meant for rapid deployment from levitating ships, which was why their Etheric Levitators were extremely simple and cheap. However, this piece was a proper model for use in a windine-style knight. It could lift something up above the clouds with enough ether.

Batson waved his hand once he confirmed the mounting. “Boss! We’re all ready!”

“Okay. Time for the drive test. We’re starting the ether reconversion!”

“Roger!” Addy, who was inside a Kardetolle, verbally confirmed the signal and started up the device. “Confirming injection of ether into the Etheric Levitator. I got a little used to this from Kasasagi.”

The process of converting mana back into ether was basically the same as it was in Kasasagi, so Addy was experienced at this. Unlike back then, they weren’t right in the thick of a battle. Addy, having piloted Kasasagi some, was able to do it quickly.

The Kardetolle’s mana pool was steadily being drained, turned back into ether to be fed into the Etheric Levitator. In turn, the rainbow light coming out of the Etheric Levitator grew stronger. Soon enough, the Levitating Field was formed, and the Kardetolle slowly floated into the sky.

“Good. It’s going as expected,” said the boss.

Desileah sighed. “He really made the Kardetolle float...”

“And? This isn’t the worst he’s done.”

The Order of the Silver Phoenix had gone through a similar test before. But this time, there was a set of winglike armor keeping the silhouette knight stable.

“It was awful back then... The girlie was spinning around like a top,” the boss said, reminiscing.

“What the heck?”

“I mean, we tested a lot of different things. Thanks to all that, we came up with the Twedianne. In other words, it’s the result of accumulated effort.”

Desileah crossed her arms as she looked up at the floating Kardetolle. The Order of the Silver Phoenix also experienced failure. This should have been obvious; after all, they were a group of berserk engineers, and the first word anyone would think to describe them with was “unprecedented.” There was never any road or signage on the path they were treading—only the flag being raised by their knight captain.

While the two dwarves talked, the Kardetolle continued to ascend, getting higher than the roof of the fort. That was when a silhouette knight that was waiting above took action. Once the Kardetolle reached its height, it approached and gently stopped the test machine. It looked like the two silhouette knights were supporting each other, and the boss narrowed his eyes.

“I think you could call that...Magatsu-Ikaruga?” he wondered aloud.

“They’re not linked magically, so I don’t think you can,” Ernie said. “But it does follow the same thought process.”

Because the floating Kardetolle had no thrusters, it couldn’t actually move anywhere despite being stable. By pairing it with an actual flying silhouette knight, it became possible for them to move.

“Kasasagi could lift up a giant or another silhouette knight on its own, but there’s not necessarily a need for that. You could make up for that kind of feature through different equipment or combinations. The greatest benefit of this is obvious, as you can see: A single flying silhouette knight can carry a regular silhouette knight.”

The knightsmiths nodded to each other as they watched the flying silhouette knight supporting the Kardetolle.

Desileah was deep in thought for a moment, but then she suddenly looked up. “This definitely looks useful, Captain, but wouldn’t this make everyone much slower? Or do you plan to equip warrior-style knights with Magius Jet Thrusters as well?”

“That wouldn’t be impossible, but I think that would be too taxing on the mana pool. Let’s start with allowing them to be carried.”

Desileah couldn’t tell if he was bold and reckless or safe and reliable. It would take a little longer for her to understand the captain of the Order of the Silver Phoenix.

And so, the experiment ended in success. The boss and the other knightsmiths would now start adjusting the ether reconversion function. The plan was to eventually add this to Twediannes as well, not just halo coats. While the main group made progress on this, Ernie gathered the other available knightsmiths.

“It should be fine to leave the rest of the work on the ether reconversion function to the boss and the others. Besides that, I’m also thinking of making a new model.”

“A new model? But aren’t the new knight orders busy?” Desileah asked, puzzled. Even if they made one, who would test it?

“Actually, there’s one more silhouette knight in need of rebuilding: Addy’s Sylphianne. I used its parts to build Kasasagi, after all.”

“Ah, so you’re going to fix Sylly! But...as a new model?” Addy’s face brightened before she tilted her head in confusion. If it was going to become a new model, it would no longer be Sylphianne.

“It just means it won’t be the same shape as before. I’m going to be adding new features to it anyway... It’s fine, leave it to me.”

“Uhhh... Okay, but what are you planning to do, Ernie?”

Addy couldn’t help but wonder what the end product would look like. After all, no one but Ernie could even envision it.

Desileah stepped forward. “Fine. You showed me something pretty interesting, so we’ll be the ones to make it for you. That’s why we came from the national lab, after all. Let us prove our skills.”

“Okay. I’m counting on you.”

And so, the Order of the Silver Phoenix burst into action. Every day, the lively sound of hammers could be heard from the fort.

Chapter 75: Let’s Select New Members

While the knightsmiths of the Order of the Silver Phoenix were secretly going wild, the knight runners gathered in Konkaanen. By royal decree, they were to found new knight orders, and so they had to go to recruit more knights.

The candidate knights had been gathered from all over Fremmevilla, and the selection venue was packed. After all, these knight orders were to be made by the will of the king himself and subordinated to the Order of the Silver Phoenix. Rumors abounded, which caused more than a little fuss.

The first thing out of anyone’s mouth was a sigh from Dietrich. “This is so annoying...” He was sitting on a chair in a waiting room, his elbow propping him up and his legs splayed wide. He was clearly not enthused about this.

Both Edgar and Helvi put their hands to their heads in exasperation.

“Dee,” Edgar started. “We’re going to become knight captains! That means you’re going to have responsibility, so shape up and show some dignity!”

“Will the knights from my company really be okay in your order?” Helvi had to wonder aloud.

“You say that, but I would have been happy just being a company commander in the Order of the Silver Phoenix. Also, I thought I said I’d leave the selection to you, so why did I have to come too?”

“It’s just basic manners to come see the people who will become your subordinates. How could you ‘leave that’ to other people?” Edgar replied.

It was Edgar and Dietrich’s first duty as new knight captains to select their new knights from the huge crowd in the venue. But it was another matter entirely whether those people were motivated to do so. Dietrich didn’t even try to hide his lack of enthusiasm. In contrast, Edgar was getting more and more excited every day. Dietrich wondered internally if he’d ever seen Edgar thrive like this and came to the conclusion that he hadn’t.

Then, he thought of a great idea.

“Oh, here’s a plan. You two pick my new knights for me. I don’t mind if you do it—I trust you.”

“Your mouth only seems to work well in times like this...” Edgar muttered. “Dee, your only option is to work properly and grow your awareness as a knight captain. No complaining now: First Company! Take him!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Gragh! You guys?!”

Knights formerly of First Company dragged Dietrich off. Edgar and Helvi exchanged a look before heading off to the venue themselves.

There were some training grounds for silhouette knights close to Konkaanen. This place was normally used by the Royal Guard, but today it was buried in a huge crowd of knights.

These knights all wore uniforms with slightly different emblems. It was clear they were Fremmevillan knights, but they were also definitely not of the same order. They lived scattered across the kingdom, but now there was a reason they were gathered here today, and this anticipated opportunity had the entire place abuzz.

Several people were walking through the hall of a building a little ways away. The front and rear of this procession were occupied with Royal Guards, while King Leotamus was in its center.

The group stopped all of a sudden and listened to the resounding voices. The king turned around and asked, “Edgar, Dietrich, can you hear that? So many of the kingdom’s knights have gathered here. And you know what they want, don’t you?”

“Indeed, Your Majesty!” Dee snapped off. “This whole thing is getting so big that it’s weighing on me more and more.”

“Hey, Dee!” Edgar shouted before composing himself and clearing his throat. “Ahem. Your Majesty. The weight of all these expectations only motivates us to shape up even more.”

Both of them straightened up as they replied. However, the amount of respect in each of their words was quite different. One was very serious, while the other severely lacked motivation.

Helvi was behind Edgar, and she quietly rubbed her temples as the rest of the Royal Guards around them showed their exasperation.

The king let out a small chuckle. “That weight is only natural. You became the shining example of what it means to be a knight, so now it’s time to fulfill that responsibility, no?”

“It is exactly as you say, Your Majesty,” Dietrich said, averting his eyes.

Edgar opened his mouth to speak, but when he saw how Dietrich had responded, he closed it again. Normally, he would have warned his friend, but they were in front of the king. It was his only source of relief that the king himself didn’t seem to mind.

The group set off once again toward the spectator seats of the training grounds. Once the Royal Guards announced the king’s arrival, the gathered knights quieted down. The king climbed up to the tallest observation balcony and sat down.

“Proud knights of my kingdom, it gladdens me to see you all gathered here today. As you’ve likely already heard, I have commanded the founding of new knight orders. You have all come here to become part of these new orders, and for that, there will be one more test.”

This was all old news, but hearing it put into words still got an audible reaction.

Leotamus allowed a slight pause before continuing. “As you all know, the Order of the Silver Phoenix set out into the Great Bocuse Forest to uncover its secrets. The forest is no longer a land of mystery; eventually, many will enter it. The change brought by levitating ships is happening faster than any of us can imagine. So, in preparation for this future, we must build up even more strength.”

As they listened to the king, the gathered knights quietly seethed with a strong will. They keenly felt that they would be the bearers of this new future, and it filled them with pride.

“Knights! I expect much from your abilities, and I’m confident you can withstand this duty. So, allow me to introduce the captains who will lead these new knight orders. Both of you, come forward.”

Edgar and Dietrich had been waiting behind the king, and now they came forward. Suddenly, the gazes of all the knights in the crowd gathered on them. The sudden pressure was enough to make them flinch, even though they were veterans of many intense conflicts. The power of the gazes had gone far past mere fervor and was approaching killing intent. Even Dietrich’s expression had frozen into a serious face. There was no room for motivation to even become a factor in this situation.

“I’m sure at least some of you know that these two are strong knights who just recently sailed across the skies over the Bocuse with the Order of the Silver Phoenix. They rescued their captain and are now founding their own knight orders. Their names: the Order of the White Heron and the Order of the Crimson Peregrine!”

A ripple spread through the gathering of knights. They repeated the new names to themselves, committing them to memory.

“Soon, the time will come for you to cut open the path for our nation. Knights! Show me that you have the strength to do so!”

The roar from the knights shook the training grounds.

While the crowd was fired up, Dietrich let out a sigh. “Seeing so many people gathered is just so embarrassing.”

“It’s a wonderful thing. So many people have come just to join our knight orders.” Edgar nodded, full of confidence.

The king called out to them from behind. “They all harbor great expectations of you, given to them by none other than you yourselves. That’s how high you’ve climbed.”

“We will do our best not to forget that,” Edgar replied.

“Then I’ll leave this to you. The knight orders belong to you, so you choose.”

The king left, walking past the three bowing knights. The test to be chosen to join the new knight orders was about to start. At the same time, this would be the trio’s first job in their new roles.

“Hmm... My own knight order, huh? Well, I guess I’ll at least try to pick out some people with talent,” said Dietrich.

“Every one of them has been chosen to come all the way here. There probably aren’t any obvious dropouts,” Edgar commented.

“You’ll need to make sure Dee doesn’t slack off either,” Helvi added impishly.

“You two have it great, don’t you? With Edgar as the captain and Helvi as the vice-captain. I bet things’ll go swimmingly for you guys. My knight order’s made from Second Company, you know! I’m so worried that it’s going to end up a gathering of fools who only know how to charge in.”

While feeling the tension of the roles they’d been shackled with, the three knights chatted to relax themselves as they walked down into the venue...

◆

“Whoa there, calm down! If you want to get into our knight orders, you’ll have to beat us first!”

“Pick up whatever weapon you feel most confident in!”

“And let’s get to a battle!”

“Let’s get on with this annoying fight!”

“Stop it, you idiots! What’s even got you fools so excited?!” Dietrich shouted.

Second Company—or rather, the Order of the Crimson Peregrine—had appeared, striking inexplicable poses. They’d been with Dietrich since the Order of the Silver Phoenix, so of course they’d joined the Order of the Crimson Peregrine.

The knights who’d come to take the test all stared at these veterans, keeping their distance. The preemptive strike that was their entrance had worked too well, and it was hard for anyone to actually make a move. Dietrich covered his face in his hands before looking up to the heavens. He wanted to run away, for a lot of reasons.

Unaware of his feelings, his order members seemed satisfied.

“Oh man, so much happened since we joined the Order of the Silver Phoenix. Finally, we’ll have peons of our own, Captain!”

“So we need to make sure they’re fearless!”

“Wait, you guys. I don’t want to just have a bunch of dangerous people, got it?!” Dietrich retorted.

“Oh, come on. It’s too late for that, isn’t it?”

Oh no. If this goes on, I’ll be in charge of a nest of loose cannons. Dietrich shivered, feeling the danger. That was when a shadow came over his head. He quieted down and looked around to find a man so large he blocked the sun.

“You are...Knight Captain Künitz of the Order of the Crimson Peregrine, I believe.”

“I am. Who are you?”

The man narrowed his eyes and smiled, patting his bald head. He was over two meters tall and had an obviously well-trained body. He was very large in both height and width, and it was clear he was proud of his strength.

“My name is Gonzoss Ütrio. I recently graduated from Laihiala Academy and became a knight.”

“You’re fresh out of the academy?! Ah, ahem. That means you’re our junior, I see. You don’t look that young, but...”

Because of the way in which the Order of the Silver Phoenix had been founded, they’d recruited almost solely from Laihiala Academy, which was essentially their old haunt. Dietrich was surprised that he had such a burly junior, but he was still impressed.

Then, Dietrich’s subordinates butted in.

“Whoa there! Hold on a second, big man! You’ll need to bring us down first if you wanna talk to the captain!”

“Oh come on, you know there’s no rule about that!” Dietrich shouted. “If I let you all talk, nothing will get done, so get lost!”

While Dietrich’s subordinates were trying to push past each other, Gonzoss drew closer with a single heavy footstep. “Captain Künitz, I have something to ask of you before the test.”

“Huh? Personal discussions aren’t a good idea, but I’ll at least listen since you’re my junior and all.” Dietrich was a knight captain and on the side of those in charge of the test. There were many things he could not grant should Gonzoss ask for them.

Gonzoss took out a book and reverently held it out to him. “May I please have your signature?!”

It took Dietrich a long time to process what had just happened. “What?” he eventually said, a blank look still on his face as he looked up at Gonzoss.

It didn’t take long after that for him to regain his senses and close his mouth, after which his gaze wandered down to the book in question. The title written on the cover was...

“Order of the Silver Phoenix...Chronicles?” Dietrich read aloud.

“Yes! It went on sale recently in Laihiala. I must say, it was a tough time trying to get my hands on one. They were sold out everywhere! I cannot tell you how many theaters and playhouses I visited...”

“No no, wait a second. Wh-What is that?! And you said something about theaters?! What’s going on?!”

“Oh, you didn’t know? The theatrical show of the Order of the Silver Phoenix Chronicles is extremely popular! I especially like the part covering the order’s exploits in the west—”

“Wait! What’s even in this book?!”

Dietrich ripped it out of his junior’s hands and started to flip through it. He landed on a random page and picked out a passage to read: The Order of the Silver Phoenix headed west to save the friendly nation of Kuscheperka, which had fallen into a perilous situation. Leading from the front was the Crimson Blade... The moment he reached that part of the passage, he immediately snapped the book shut and adopted a beautiful throwing form with book in hand, but he just barely regained his sanity in time to stop.

“I’ve dreamed of it so many times,” said Gonzoss. “Swarming throngs of the enemy! The Order of the Silver Phoenix, standing against them resolutely, refusing to give even a single step! And the Crimson Blade standing at the very forefront of it all!”

“Uh... Yeah. Ah, er...um...sure.”

Dietrich’s eyes swam. He wasn’t embarrassed or ashamed of anything the Order of the Silver Phoenix had done, but things were different when someone was telling him his own story.

With sparkling eyes, Gonzoss innocently pressed the attack. “It was one of the climaxes of the theatrical production. I went to the theater so many times just to see that part!”

“I’m just surprised they actually made a play of it...” Dietrich groaned, worn out.

According to Gonzoss, the Order of the Silver Phoenix Chronicles was a popular show, so he had to assume that many of the knights here had seen it.

Time to run, Dietrich concluded. Just as he turned to follow his instincts, his subordinates blocked the way out. Why did they have to be so on the ball only in times like these?

“The Order of the Silver Phoenix is legendary,” said Gonzoss. “And you are one of the most prominent names in the order: Künitz and his crimson blade. When I heard you were founding a new knight order, I knew I had to get in.”

“The real legend is the captain, Ernesti. I’m just a company commander.”

“Even so, I admire you and how you cut a path from the front.”

Dietrich could not stop sighing. He’d never been exposed to such pure admiration before. He would never cower in the face of an enemy, no matter how powerful they were, but this was too much for him.

“I wish to join the Order of the Crimson Peregrine! Of course, I will show you skill worthy of it,” said Gonzoss.

For a while, Dietrich stood frozen, his fists trembling. Eventually, though, he looked up with determination. “You’re right. This is a place for testing, so I’ll test you. But there are so many confident knights here; there’d be no end to it if I decided to fight each one of them—not that I want to in the first place. Still, I’m feeling a little motivated now.”

Gonzoss grinned, showing his teeth.

A little while later...

“Dee? Are you really going to have a mock battle?” Edgar wondered aloud.

A Kardetolle entered the grounds with heavy footsteps. Edgar saw a familiar face climb inside, and his eyes widened a little in surprise. Dietrich had been so against all this, and now he was personally testing a candidate? He had to wonder what had happened to change so much.

Sensing the start of a mock battle, nearby knights gathered around with shining eyes. They were about to see a knight captain fight against a regular person—none of them could afford to let the chance go.

“True, the actual testing was left up to us, but I didn’t think this would happen so fast,” said Edgar.

“I knew he wouldn’t be able to calmly interview them...” Helvi muttered.

Edgar and Helvi pointed exasperated gazes at their compatriot as Dietrich closed the cockpit of the Kardetolle. He jiggled the control yokes a little, checking the response. The training Kardetolle was well tuned and moved fairly well, even compared to Guairelinde.

Then, Gonzoss had his machine step forward as well. Dietrich saw his equipment and scrunched his eyebrows. “Oh? A Flexible Coat. So that’s what you’re good at.”

“Yes! I am good with heavy weapons and shields. These fit me best, even in the academy.”

“Then Edgar would’ve been better for you,” Dietrich muttered. “Oh well, whatever. We don’t question others’ weapons of choice.”

Even shields and armor could be weapons depending on who was using them. What the Order of the Crimson Peregrine needed was skill and fighting spirit. Also, being partial to a particular weapon would be best.

“Well then, I’ll follow your lead,” said Gonzoss. “I hope for your instruction!”

Gonzoss’s Kardetolle came out of the gate with great momentum. Dietrich’s unit stood still, not even taking a stance. Gonzoss was piloting a Kardetolle with a Flexible Coat, but he was on the attack. Meanwhile, Dietrich’s machine with its twin swords waited almost defenseless. Normally, one would expect the roles to be reversed. Even so, Gonzoss did not feel like he had the upper hand at all.

“The Crimson Blade’s weapons are as swift as they are unparalleled! The only way to match them is to be as solid as a boulder!” he shouted.

His machine concentrated the plates of its Flexible Coat forward, making sure that there were no gaps a sword could fit through. It continued ahead, attempting to tackle Dietrich’s unit.

In the face of this incoming wall, Dietrich finally made a move. “You certainly are tough. Then allow me to test that defense you’re so proud of.”

Instead of dodging the straight-line tackle, Dietrich activated his machine’s back weapons. His opponent was protected by a Flexible Coat—no matter where he shot, it wouldn’t have much effect.

So, Dietrich concentrated his fire on one side. Though he was using weaker training-use silhouette arms, they did still have some power to them. He didn’t miss the moment Gonzoss wavered due to the unbalanced concentration of impacts, and he closed in instantly. He reversed his unit’s twin blades before slamming in a full-force blow in the spot where the overspells hit.

“Grfwh!”

Having taken continuous, concentrated blows on the same side, Gonzoss saw his machine tilt over. He tried to fix his silhouette knight’s posture in a panic, but Dietrich only used that opportunity to circle around to his side. Gonzoss immediately redeployed his Flexible Coat, trying to solidify his defenses on the side Dietrich was at.

However, that was exactly what his opponent wanted. Dietrich’s unit casually thrust out with its swords, stabbing the joints holding up the Flexible Coat. It twisted its wrists, twisting the swords along with it.

Gonzoss paled. It was too late, though—the joints were in the middle of redeploying the armor plates before the foreign objects were stuck in, and now they flexed themselves into destruction. Now, instead of extra defense, the armor plates on one side were nothing but dead weight.

“As expected!” he exclaimed. “But it’s not over yet!”

He immediately cut away the broken armor plates of his Flexible Coat. Having extra armor only on one side heavily affected the machine’s balance, but he was able to forcefully compensate and go on the counterattack, stabbing his machine’s own sword—which was held in the opposite hand to the side that Dietrich attacked—at Dietrich’s silhouette knight.

Instantly, he felt an impact as the sword was sent flying. Dietrich could read Gonzoss like the back of his hand, and it was extremely difficult to best him in a duel of swords.

“Not yet! I still have weapons left!” Gonzoss shouted.

The loud shout coincided with movement from his machine’s Flexible Coat. He was no longer thinking of defense—he would use the armor to attack his opponent.

Before that could happen, spellfire hit his machine’s legs. It hit his Kardetolle’s pivot foot, and its stance crumbled. The Flexible Coat became a weight that swung the silhouette knight around, throwing up a cloud of dirt as Gonzoss fell.

He was in a silent daze for a while after, gazing at the slanted scene displayed on his holomonitor. So this is the Crimson Blade. This is the strength of a knight captain. I know, obviously they’re strong, but I didn’t think I wouldn’t even stand a chance.

“I am defeated! I certainly did fail there. As expected of the Crimson Blade!”

“Stop calling me that!” Dietrich shouted. “Anyway, you rely too much on your weapons. If you learn to adapt as soon as you mess up, you’ll get a lot stronger.”

I see how useless grades in a school are when pitted against the real thing, Gonzoss thought. He allowed himself to let go of the small amount of confidence he had in his skills.

“But, well, your mindset of fighting back when you’re cornered isn’t bad,” Dietrich admitted. “I can train you from square one to fill in what you’re missing.”

“Yes, sir! I will work...hard? Sir Knight Captain? Does that mean—”

“Okay, get up already! Knights shouldn’t be lazing about on the ground!”

The Kardetolle got up in a hurry and saluted. The sight of a panicking Kardetolle cracked Dietrich up, and he trembled as he let out a small laugh.

With the fight over, he turned around, only to find a line of people waiting for their turn. “Crap, I messed up. I should have seen this coming.”

In the privacy of his cockpit, he facepalmed. It should have been obvious this would happen if they were given the chance to have a mock battle with a knight captain. This was no time for tests.

“Times like these are what we’re for, Captain Dee!”

“Leave the mock battles to us! Actually, that sounds like a drag, so let’s just have a real scrum against them all at once!”

“I told you guys to stop that!” Dee shouted, beating back his subordinates who had jumped forward in anticipation. Then, he got out of his silhouette knight.

Heedless of the noise coming from Dietrich’s side, Edgar continued his plain testing, determining the applicants’ aptitudes with Helvi.

And so, the two knight orders welcomed their new recruits.

◆

Recently, Desileah Johansson, a knightsmith new to the Order of the Silver Phoenix, had been spending her time at her wit’s end. Today was no different.

“Stop! That’s a silhouette knight’s helm, not yours! Are you half asleep?!”

In front of her was a large humanoid with stature to match a silhouette knight’s—an astragali. He stopped and looked down at the dwarf making noise at his feet before once again twisting the head of one of the lined-up silhouette knights.

“Come on, listen to me! I told you to stop!”

“Hrm? I am just borrowing it for a while. It looks similar—what could be the problem?” the astragali asked.

“Seriously?! Who do you think has to fix these after you use them, you stupid waste of space!”

In the face of Desileah’s howling, the astragali gave up and retracted his hand. Instead, he pointed at his head. “But you are the ones who told me to wear a helmet when going outside. There is no honor in these stone helmets. They all look the same.”

“That doesn’t mean you can take one from just anywhere!” Desileah said with a sigh. “This is awful.”

As she seriously pondered whether to just give up on this entire conversation, someone came running over with light footsteps.

“Good morning. You’re up early.”

“G’morning.”

Desileah turned around to see Ernie and Addy passing by. They tended to come to Fort Orvesius at roughly the same time every day.

This was Desileah’s saving grace. “Perfect timing! There’s a problem, Captain. Come with me for a second!”

“Yeah, yeah... Yes, this is a problem.”

Ernie looked at Desileah, the astragali, and the silhouette knight with a twisted head in order and managed to suss out what was wrong. Still, he looked confused.

“Seriously, will you do something about these big lugs?!” Desileah pleaded.

“It’s certainly a problem, but their customs and culture are different from ours. We can’t keep telling them to one-sidedly follow our ways forever.”

“That’s... I get what you’re saying, but this is just causing more work for people. We have stuff we want to do too.”

Every time an astragali did something, someone from the Order of the Silver Phoenix had to deal with it. And when it came to fixing objects, that job would naturally fall on the knightsmiths. Though they didn’t mind some extra work, naturally it would start to bother them if the jobs piled up.

“This is just going to be hard on everyone if we don’t do something soon, huh?” Ernie muttered.

The astragali had been listening quietly, and he nodded. “At the very least, something is needed to change our eyes.”

“Well then, astragali, allow me to guide you today. Once we leave the road and enter a forest, I doubt anyone will see us, so is there anything you want to do to let off some steam?” Ernie asked.

The astragali’s eyes seemed to glint. “Let off steam? Then I do have a request for you, Fortissimos of Rainbow...”

He’d apparently thought of something fun, judging from the size of his smile.

◆

“So this is what you wanted.”

“Yes. Everyone has been thinking Argos must properly witness your strength, given you are worthy of the title of Fortissimos of Rainbow, Magister Ernie.”

Addy shrugged from her position on top of the Parva Marga’s lap. She seemed somewhat exasperated.

The other giants were gathered, surrounding Ikaruga. Judging from the atmosphere, this was no innocent crowd excited for a sports match or something.

“Are you really okay with something like this?” Ernie asked.

“There is no mistaking it, Fortissimos of Rainbow! We have always wanted to question your strength that allows you to destroy kratovastias!”

They were inside a forest, far from Fort Orvesius or any roads or settlements. Specifically, they were in a section sparsely populated by trees. The reason they were there was, naturally, to hold a query against Ikaruga.

After the call went out, almost all the astragali that had come to Fremmevilla decided to take part. Nav was also included in this, but the Parva Marga—Ernie’s apprentice—was simply spectating with Addy.

One of the astragali encircling Ikaruga looked around—first at his comrades, then at his opponent. “Fortissimos of Rainbow, I must say that the number of eyes are too mismatched. A query must be properly held, otherwise no answer will be reached.”

“Oh no, there’s no problem there. Ikaruga and I will welcome your efforts with all our might. If you stay without your eyes fully open, well...you’ll spend the rest of the day asleep.”

A stir rippled through the astragali. They realized that any concern for Ernie was unnecessary now, so they bared their teeth in vicious smiles.

“Heh heh heh... Well said. That is the attitude of a true Fortissimos! Then we must show our strength here as well. Witness this, Argos!”

With that sacred starting announcement, the astragali all took action. They each held up their weapons and charged at Ikaruga. This in no way seemed like training or some sort of mock battle. The astragali were letting out all the frustration they’d built up from being hidden away in their attacks and were in top form with excellent morale today.

Ernie also began to move while listening to the footsteps of all the incoming giants. “This is training for me to handle being outnumbered as well. Now let’s go, Ikaruga. We need to show them our power so they don’t get bored!”

His fingers danced across a keyboard, activating Ikaruga’s functions one after another. Its intake roared like a war cry as it made its move. The Magius Jet Thrusters all over its body activated, spewing fierce jets of fire. The blue menace took to the skies to intercept its incoming opponents.

“What?! So surrounding it is meaningless,” said the Parva Marga. “That reminds me, this phantom beast is different. In the forest, Magister Ernie piloted the Kasasagi—does this mean this is his original?”

“It is. It was broken in the first battle against kratovastias,” Addy answered. “That’s why we all helped salvage it and build Kasasagi. Ah... There goes one to a Rahu’s Fist.”

The Parva Marga nodded. She knew that Ernie had built a silhouette knight in the village of the people who used to be called goblins. It was incomplete and strangely shaped, but it could fly. That was Kasasagi. “The astragali here are the elite from many different genoses. Yet Magister Ernie seems completely unaffected by how many Fortissimoses there are. Oh, he blocked two at once.”

“Ikaruga never really cared how many opponents it had. That goes the same for Ernie. Oh...he threw one. Wow, an astragali flying.” Addy looked up, saw all four of the Parva Marga’s eyes convey confusion, and chuckled. “Ernie’s really small, isn’t he? He never stops when he fights. His style is to keep moving and take advantageous positions so he can hit his enemies where it hurts the most. That’s why he prioritized the range of his Magius Jet Thrusters the most when he built Ikaruga.”

The Parva Marga blinked and looked down at her proud-looking magister on her lap. It didn’t take long for her to nod in agreement, though. “You know Magister Ernie well, Magister Addy.”

“Of course I do! I’m his wife, after all!”

As they continued to have a leisurely chat, a single silhouette knight continued to fly circles around the astragali.

◆

Meanwhile, in Fort Orvesius, now empty of astragali:

“Ahhhhhh! It feels so nice to see so much space in the workshop! Now I can concentrate on smithing! This is the best!” Desileah shouted.

“You...were really tired, weren’t you?” the boss muttered.

Desileah had become a little bit broken. David made sure to keep some distance as he watched the girl dance in joy. He was just far enough away that he clearly really didn’t want to get involved but was also scared of leaving the situation be.

“We have such a fun project on our hands, but there were so many interruptions... Now we can finally make progress while they aren’t around!”

“Arrright, fine,” the boss capitulated. “Must’ve been terrible for you. So what’re we making? You seem really invested.”

“You wanna know? Really? Then I guess I should make an exception, just for you,” said Desileah.

“Were you...always like this?”

The boss took another step away, but Desileah was so excited that it didn’t seem like she noticed. She actually looked about to break out into song. In fact, she did start to hum as she happily produced a blueprint and spread it out on a table.

“This is...a windine-style knight,” said the boss. “The girlie’s Sylphianne? But it’s got a lot of weird stuff slapped on. I bet the silver kid is the one that drew this up.”

“You can really tell, huh?”

The boss had started looking much more interested as soon as the blueprint came out. He studied it closely, his finger tracing the lines of the drawing as he grinned. “How many of his blueprints do you think I’ve seen? I know his habits, and most of all, who else would even think of something like this? Still, you don’t see this color too often. Did you have a hand in this too?”

Desileah sighed. “Right on the money. You really surprise me, David.”

Her eyes widened slightly. She could tell that the experience the boss had accumulated was monumental, given how he was able to derive all that from just a look at the blueprints.

“So you’re just going to attach plain crystal plates all over it? They won’t work as armor; what’re you trying to pull?”

“That’s what’s so interesting about it. You’ll just have to look forward to the finished product.”

“Is that so?”

Desileah put the blueprints away now that the boss had gotten a good look. She gathered her fellow transplants from the national lab, and they all happily got to work.

“Okay! This is our project! Let’s light a fire under our asses and get to it!”

The group raised a shout in response. Every one of them was motivated. The boss was a little exasperated, but he still sucked in an excited breath—he understood their feelings. The joy of being a creator was seeing something as yet formless take shape.

“We can’t afford to lose to them, huh? Hey, Batty! We’re going to shave a little more weight off the equipment! It’d be hard to mount as it is!”

“Whaaat?! Boss, there’s nothing left to shave! In the first place, even a sword is plenty heavy.”

“Don’t be a damn fool! Look at how well the guys from the national lab are working. You’ll shame the Order of the Silver Phoenix if you let them get ahead of you!”

“Come on, let’s just get along...”

“What does getting along have to do with anything? Stop quibbling!”

The boss disappeared deep into the workshop, greeted by the screams of his fellow knightsmiths.

◆

A group of astragali slowly trudged along a road, the sunset to their backs. The shadows they cast were long, wavering as they pointed the group forward.

After the battle with Ikaruga was over, none of them were left unscathed—they were all in tatters. But at the same time, none of them were fatally wounded either. This was more a testament to the astragali’s toughness than to Ernie’s level of control.

“So that is the strength of the Fortissimos of Rainbow. I understand how he exterminated the kratovastias—our great enemy.”

“I have never seen one so strong. He is more fearsome a foe than any beast.”

“For nothing to have hit, even with so many Fortissimoses working together...”

“Gaaahhh, it didn’t work at all!” Nav shouted. “I can’t believe even the silhouette arms didn’t hit...”

They each had their own opinions of their battle against Ikaruga. This group of astragali were all the elite chosen, and they were completely helpless against Ikaruga. With how big the gap in power was, they felt resignation rather than frustration.

The Fortissimos of Genos De Flaum walked over from the group when he noticed a particularly short example of his species. “You only watched the query, Parva Marga of Genos De Caelleus. You should have joined us.”

“I am the pupil of the Fortissimos of Rainbow—Magister Ernie. I already saw the result; there was no need for me to ask.”

“Ha ha! So you had the benefit of foresight. But your companion fought.”

“I believe this will be good for Nav.”

Genos De Caelleus, to which the Parva Marga and Nav belonged, was the clan Ernie and Addy had first encountered. They had fallen to the brink of annihilation due to conflict with Genos De Rubel but had been able to stand back up thanks to Ernie’s assistance, and now they were at the forefront of all the genoses.

The Fortissimos smiled, commenting about how it was impossible to tell where Argos was looking. Then he said, “Incredible that he is such an accomplished warrior but is also capable of teaching a Marga. Truly fearsome. If he had been an astragali, I believe he may have been our great Sextus Oculus.”

“Humans do not have different occuli like we do. Instead, they are split into many different positions and ranks. I believe the magister is a leader—something like the chief of a genos.”

Genos De Flaum’s Fortissimos nodded with an appreciative grunt. He had seen many people obey Ernie since coming to this land. What’s more, Ernie had commanded the ships during the battle against Genos De Rubel. When translated to astragali sensibilities, it made sense to consider him the chief of a great genos.

“You have become quite knowledgeable of humans. It is only natural—the Fortissimos of Rainbow was one of the Caelleus, no? But there is no guarantee that we astragali and the humans will continue to walk together.”

The Parva Marga pursed her lips, momentarily lost as to how to respond to Genos De Flaum’s Fortissimos. She glared at him resentfully, but the Fortissimos pretended not to notice.

“Certainly, here we are but Viatori,” she said. “But there is also no guarantee that this will continue to be the case.”

“You are wrong. Looking at the Fortissimos of Rainbow should provide you the answer: The humans have phantom beasts that can equal or overpower us. If that is fact, what if they become enemies? The sights we see may then become filled with hardship,” said the Fortissimos.

Before answering, the Parva Marga glanced over at Ikaruga, who was leading the group. As an enemy, it would be too powerful to overcome. She knew that better than anyone.

“The humans are capable of shutting our eyes. We must think of how to divide the scenery we see,” the Fortissimos continued.

There was no problem as long as they were here as guests. However, many issues would suddenly pop up should the two races oppose each other.

“Most likely, we will not be able to see that result,” said the Parva Marga after a moment’s thought.

“Oh? Why is that?” The Fortissimos seemed puzzled.

The Parva Marga turned to look at him straight. “Thus far, the forest separated us. But now, that separation holds no meaning. The humans possess ships capable of traveling across the sky. On the other hand...our Fortissimoses must walk through the forest.”

“So if it were to be possible at all, it would come at the cost of shut eyes. I see. Closing our eyes willingly out of fear will render us unable to see what will come next.”

Since coming to Fremmevilla, the Parva Marga had seen many places while accompanying Ernie or Addy. She knew of the scale and number of their settlements. She’d seen their relationship with silhouette knights and the occasional levitating ship flying overhead. The power of these humans was overwhelming by her estimation. On top of that, they already knew where the astragali lived. The more she thought about it, the more she came to realize just how hard it would be for the astragali to gain the upper hand in this relationship.

Genos De Flaum’s Fortissimos felt nearly the same way. The Parva Marga’s opinions were simply more concrete.

“We astragali and the humans will not remain separated forever,” she said. “Most likely, our meeting with my magisters was guidance from Argos De Primus Oculus. We cannot let this chance escape us, lest we lose his great gaze.”

The meeting between the two races could have gone an infinite number of ways. But out of those, they’d met Ernesti first. That had greatly influenced both sides.

When Genos De Flaum’s Fortissimos heard the Parva Marga’s determination, his mouth twisted into a ferocious smile. “So you would appeal to the humans’ mercy? It seems we’ve changed places with the old goblins.”

“Of course not. Magister is...part of our genos. We can coexist.”

“Truly?”

The Parva Marga nodded. Then, after some hesitation, she revealed the thoughts that had been stewing in her head all this time. “It seems they call this a ‘country.’ It is larger than a genos—a gathering of an entire species. I believe we astragali should make our own country. We cannot be separated by individual eyes or individual genoses. We must open our eyes as one great people.”

“Heh heh heh. My apologies, but you sound like Genos De Rubel’s Fictus Rex.”

The Parva Marga narrowed her four eyes unhappily, which only caused the Fortissimos to laugh even harder.

“Our goals are different,” she said defensively. “Also, we will not exterminate other genoses—we would unite and become larger than the sum of our parts.”

“Indeed. We must come together to look at the same scenery. We astragali are not alone now. However...making a country? Seems interesting.”

The young giant girl had set her four eyes on a sight completely different from the others. The experience of almost falling to ruin must have made her grow, he thought.

“And so, we will need more eyes,” the Fortissimos continued. “All of us here are chosen Fortissimoses. We may not balk at any challenge, but our eyes are still not quite enough.”

It was a worrying problem. At the moment, they had no choice but to rely on the humans’ flying ships to come here. Naturally, the Fortissimos didn’t expect them to bother transporting the astragali en masse all this way.

However, the Parva Marga had an idea to solve that as well. “I have a proposal for both humans and astragali. But first, I must talk to that.”

◆

On another day from that outing, the astragali were in their usual silhouette knight disguises. This time, there was someone outside of the Order of the Silver Phoenix participating.

“I must speak with you, elder human warrior.”

“Oh? You have business with me specifically, astragali girl?”

Ambrosius, in his Silvatiger, looked surprised at the Parva Marga, who’d come to him. He smiled and opened his cockpit to face her in person.

“I heard that you are this country’s leader. If you are, I would like to borrow your wisdom,” the Parva Marga said.

“Oho. Very well, my large friend. If my much tinier self can help you, I will.”

An astragali, who had intelligence and yet revered power, wanted to borrow the wisdom of a human. Ambrosius saw how interesting this turn of events was and narrowed his eyes in mirth.

“I have seen much since coming to this land—many things I could not have seen had I stayed in the forest. And I have started to think of the meeting between humans and astragali.”

Her four eyes held steady on Ambrosius. Eyes don’t lie, whether you be human or astragali, eh? thought the former king.

“We will continue to see each other from now on, I believe,” said the Parva Marga. “But...our lands are far, and there are no astragali here. This imbalance will warp a great many sights.”

“Oh? In other words, you want us to bring you astragali here, and you need ships for that.”

The astragali girl shook her head. “We must be looking at the same scenery because we are so different. That is why...I would like to build a road connecting our country and yours.”

Ambrosius gulped. It was a natural thought to have, but a preposterous thing to propose. The Great Bocuse Forest had yet to be fully explored, and the astragali lived much too far away. It was only possible to go back and forth using levitating ships—and thus no one had even considered traveling to and fro over land.

The former king fell into silence for a while, eyes closed and thinking. Eventually, he opened his eyes once more and looked at the astragali girl. “Hmm, you speak of administrative matters. I’m sure you thought your request only required strength, but there are many people to be considered. Of course, that is only natural. You are not humans like we are, so what will change among the astragali?”

He plopped down on Silvatiger’s chest armor and started stroking his chin. “Yet forging a road through the forest is a bold idea. It would be a great undertaking that would be closely tied to the prosperity of our country as well. However...either way, everyone is interested in the Bocuse. In which case, my large friend, it would be exciting for both sides to reach out to each other.”

Ambrosius smiled boldly. He manipulated Silvatiger to extend its hand. Hesitantly, the astragali girl did the same, and they shook.

Chapter 76: A Knight Captain’s Job

The nobles of Fremmevilla gathered at Schreiber Castle. Its meeting room was inundated in this country’s leading class.

King Leotamus would normally be at the center of a meeting like this, but this time things were slightly different. For some reason, the one addressing the nobles was the former king, Ambrosius.

“So the astragali will form their own country? And they are proposing a great road that pierces through the forest...”

“Indeed. The proposal came from an astragali girl. What a bold idea,” Ambrosius confirmed enthusiastically.

The titter coming from the nobles was endless. No one had even thought of the idea brought by the astragali girl—the Parva Marga.

“My apologies for the rudeness, Your Grace, but even coming from you... Erm... This idea is somewhat reckless.”

“Also, as for this news that no astragali country exists yet... What should we do about that?”

Everyone’s expressions were dyed by bewilderment. None were sure how to respond, and their gazes wandered before concentrating on one point in the room.

“Lord Dixgard, please, it is your duty to counsel His Grace, is it not?”

“I have already given my position to my son,” Cnut replied. “Now I am simply a sounding board. If you ask knowing that, I cannot guarantee I will listen.”

The crowd quieted down when they saw how resigned and free the former Duke Dixgard looked. Only one person in the room looked strangely satisfied: Ambrosius.

That was when King Leotamus opened his mouth with a sigh. “A truly grand idea, father. So grand that it is hard to consider as a mere human. However, it is something to think about.”

“Your Majesty?!”

The nobles had thought that their king would admonish his father, so they looked upon him with shock. In the end, they were blood, and it was impossible to go against blood.

Leotamus saw how shaken the nobles were and quietly shook his head. “Don’t be so hasty. No one said it had to happen right now. And weren’t we always intending to step into the Great Bocuse Forest?”

“Certainly. The results achieved by the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s survey were too great. But following that with this is far too rash.”

The Order of the Silver Phoenix had used their might to obtain important information. They had come back with the news that a great threat lay in the forest, along with unknown prospects.

“According to their report, certainly,” Leotamus agreed. “That is why this need not happen right away. By the way, do we not have our own worries? For example, I believe you may be finding yourselves with slightly too much military might on your hands, no?”

The nobles exchanged looks. In recent years, the new silhouette knights had been distributed to all their lands and had greatly reduced damages from monsters. This had started to change the smaller villages and settlements all over the kingdom. In short, there were now too many people.

Up until now, Fremmevilla had had to operate assuming damage and losses from monsters. The stability they’d wished for had come with an unexpected price. The problems arisen from the peace they’d found would not rear their heads right away, but that event was not far off in the future.

“Thinking of the future, it will be necessary to develop the Great Forest anyway. The kingdom must become larger, which means we must expand our territories.”

Fremmevilla would never be free of monsters, as it bordered the Great Bocuse Forest. However, they now had the means to defend themselves and more. It was enough for them to strike out into monster territory, and now was the time.

“Think of the future to come, everyone,” Leotamus called. “We will set forth with hope in our hearts. But realize now that voyaging in the dark is extremely difficult. We need a guiding light—the light of a star.”

What the king said made the puzzle pieces fall into place for the nobles.

“The astragali’s country will be our guiding star,” Leotamus continued. “For when we eventually step foot into the Great Forest.”

He nodded. Without meaning to, he locked eyes with Ambrosius and noticed his father smiling happily.

“I am impressed by Your Majesty’s wisdom,” said Cnut Dixgard. “However, I’m afraid to say that this all-important light... Well, we have yet to see the true form of this supposed country of astragali.”

Leotamus nodded. “Exactly. I’ve been told that the country is still in the midst of its birth. And so, should we not help them? If we are to be long-standing allies, we should be able to be good friends as well. Also...”

He fit in a meaningful pause as he looked around at the crowd. “We needn’t be the only ones to undertake the construction of a road through the Great Forest. Why not have them contribute as well? The time will come when future generations...our descendants will shake hands.”

The two prospective nations were separated by the Great Bocuse Forest. The time would come when they would shake hands, but that time was far in the future—longer than the span of a human life. The Great Forest was just that big.

Even so, Leotamus was determined to sow the seeds. “The time has come. We will make the existence of the astragali public and point the way to the future for our kingdom. But the people will only be worried if we have but a vague ideal to guide them forward. Hurry the preparations for the Order of the White Heron and the Order of the Crimson Peregrine—the sword and shield that have inherited the wings of the Order of the Silver Phoenix. They will cut open the way for us.”

The nobles nodded and bowed. From now on, the Kingdom of Fremmevilla would take even more concrete steps, preparing to step into the Great Bocuse Forest.

◆

As usual for Fort Orvesius, home base to the Order of the Silver Phoenix, the place was filled with the sound of hammers.

“So this is the new Sylly?” Addy looked up and down at a lump of metal occupying the center of the workshop. As something being built by the Order of the Silver Phoenix, the lump was obviously a silhouette knight—but more specifically, it was a windine-style knight that flew and fought in the skies.

What made it obvious at first glance was the lower half of a fish particular to this style of silhouette knight. This section housed an Etheric Levitator similar to that in a levitating ship in both form and function.

Though Addy was looking interestedly all around the machine, Ernie pulled her along to a dwarven girl who was in the middle of work. “It’s still a work in progress, though. How’s it going, Desileah?”

“Ah, Captain. Well, we’ve packed in the bare minimum. The ether reactors are loaded and connected too, so it’ll move if that’s all you need it to do.” Desileah wiped away some sweat and puffed out her chest proudly.

Then, the boss appeared carrying a blueprint. He let out a sigh when he realized what they were looking at. “So you’ve fixed Sylphianne too. But I gotta say, even though I know it’s the same every time: That is a weird look.”

“Aw, what? I think it’s pretty interesting,” said Ernie.

“You mean the fact that it’s got another arm now?” the boss muttered somewhat exasperatedly. His reaction was understandable—the silhouette knight they were looking at had a large extra arm growing out of the humanoid upper half. Thanks to that, this Twedianne was looking even more bizarre than most.

“Your Ikaruga is one thing, but why does Sylphianne even need the arm?”

“It looks like an arm now, but the plan is to make it a Flexible Coat in the end, just like Kasasagi. Also, this one’s official name is Sylphianne-Kasasagi III!”

“What?! You’re just tacking on all the names?” Addy cocked her head with a hard-to-read expression, despite how confidently Ernie had declared its name. Desileah had probably already known about it, since she slightly averted her eyes.

Meanwhile, the boss put his head in his hands. “That’s awful, kid. It’s just hard to say and nothing else. Either one would be fine, but don’t just stick them together!”

“It’s just the official name. I think we can just colloquially call it Sylphianne.”

“Then I guess it’s fine,” said Addy.

“Is it really?! Of course the girlie would be fine with it...” the boss muttered.

While the trio were happily trading jabs, Desileah crossed her arms. “The captain’s bad taste aside...”

“Huh?”

“It’s true that this thing is going to be a handful. Flying silhouette knights are already complicated and hard to master, and now you’ve piled even more on top.”

Desileah was staring at a blueprint posted up in front of her. It laid out the structure of Sylphianne-Kasasagi III, but there was so much cramming the page, it looked like the paper would melt. The only silhouette knight it could be compared to was Ikaruga.

“Since you’re set on having literally everything and the kitchen sink on it, the magius engine is a mess. Also...” She paused to sigh and glare at Ernie. The look of criticism he didn’t remember earning caused the boy to flinch slightly. “You made this, Captain. You, a general knight, made something that would have even specialized parsers throw in the towel. What are you?”

“I don’t know why you’re asking that. Understanding magic is the basics of being a knight. I’ll try even harder for the sake of silhouette knights!” said Ernie.

“That’s not what I was getting at...” Resigned, Desileah looked up to the heavens. Regardless of his knighthood, Ernie’s calculation ability was nothing short of abnormal. But at the same time, it made sense to her. It was because such a strange knight captain existed that the Order of the Silver Phoenix was able to continue charging down unexplored territory.

Desileah sighed again. “Ugh, looks like we’ll have to train our parsers up a bit more. They might not be enough to make it here.”

The parsers who’d been listening in jumped a little, their shoulders trembling. But no one noticed.

Then, Addy came back, done with looking Sylphianne all over. “Heeey, Desileah, can I take it on a test flight?”

“Hmm... Let’s see, just wait a little. There’s no ether in the Etheric Levitator yet... Hey, wait!” Desileah wasn’t fast enough to stop Addy before she climbed up the machine with practiced ease, poking her head into the cockpit and looking around at the various bits of machinery inside.

“Huh. The cockpit is kinda like Kasasagi’s—or Ikaruga’s, technically. Wow, there’s even a keyboard. I wonder if I’ll have to use it?”

But what would she use it for? Addy had to wonder, knowing it probably wouldn’t be simple given how Sylphianne III was now combined with Kasasagi.

“But I did my best with Ikaruga, so it’ll probably work out! Okay, then I’ll take it for a bit of a walk. Get out of the way, everyone!”

“Huh? Addy, what are you talking about? There’s no way a Twedianne can wa— Hey!” Desileah shouted.

Addy happily pulled on a lever. She raised the output of the Etheric Levitator, eliciting a high-pitched whine of intake. The machine’s hung head now lifted, its crystal eye properly capturing the scene around it. Power suffused its crystal tissue, and its gigantic arms gripped the ground. The chains supporting Sylphianne were loosed, allowing the machine to fall to the ground with a thud.

Sylphianne was being supported by its large arms and fin stabilizers, and it immediately started to walk with horrible scraping sounds. It used its arms and fin stabilizers like legs to crawl along the ground like a lizard.

“Oh. How forceful.”

Ernie and the boss were the only ones casually seeing it off. All the other knightsmiths in the workshop were utterly pale. They were essentially fleeing, with only Desileah lashing out with great spirit.

“W-Weren’t windine-style knights supposed to not be able to walk?!”

“They just aren’t suited for it. As you can see, it’s not totally impossible.”

“How can you be so calm?! How much strain do you think moving like that is causing the machine?!”

“Would that not also be part of testing?”

“Of course not! What is wrong with this knight order?!” This was when Desileah’s suspicions turned into concrete belief. This place wasn’t sane.

◆

Addy crawled a circuit around the training grounds before returning, satisfied. “Good, good. These weird arms work well! But I knew it, Sylly’s not good on the ground.”

“Oh, come on. You didn’t need all this to confirm that, did you? It’s a flying silhouette knight,” said the boss.

“How are you so calm, David?” Desileah’s emotions had cycled all the way back around to being weary.

Beside her, Ernie and the boss started a serious discussion for some reason.

“So this means if worse comes to worst, they can come crawling back home,” said the boss.

“Maybe, but if they fall from the sky, there’s no way the frame will be intact. I don’t think this feature will have much use,” Ernie replied.

“In the end, they’re more suited to flying, huh?”

“And there’s one more reason the machines made here are so ridiculous. They just aren’t being used in a normal way,” Desileah said.

Batson and the rest of the order were listening to the conversation calmly, as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, those from the national lab had distanced themselves. They were unsure whether they should allow themselves to get used to this way of doing things.

“Okay. Also, we nicely wrapped up the linking function we were thinking of separate from Sylphianne,” said the boss. He then spread the blueprint he was holding to show everyone.

Ernie excitedly followed the lines on the paper, quickly revealing a look of surprise. “We originally planned to float them for transport, but this is quite different.”

“Having them just float wouldn’t be interesting. And remember the forest? The flying knights were a little lacking in firepower, weren’t they? So I thought this would be useful.”

The pair grinned at each other. Even with a charitable interpretation, they looked like they were plotting an evil scheme to everyone else.

“With the addition of the Sylphianne formula, the windine and warrior styles can flow together,” said Ernie.

“The prerequisite would be broad use of Sylphianne. It eats so much mana that no one normal would be able to use it,” said the boss.

“Yes, making it widespread is important. Let’s quickly hold a meeting with everyone...”

Ernie looked ready to bolt off, blueprint in hand, when someone approached him.

“Captain, you’ve got guests.”

“What? There was nothing scheduled,” said Ernie.

An interruption had arrived. Ernie and the boss exchanged looks and reluctantly went to see who they were.

◆

When Ernie reached the reception room and saw who was waiting for him, he blinked. “You’re...guests?”

“Heya, we’re back.”

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“It feels strange to be treated as guests.”

He was visited by Dietrich, Edgar, and Helvi—his former company commanders who were now in their own knight orders.

“True. Being a guest does feel strange,” Edgar agreed with Helvi. “It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long since we were last here as part of the order.”

“I still consider myself part of the order, though,” said Helvi.

“Yeah, yeah, keep flapping your mouth,” said Dietrich.

“I don’t mind that you came, but...why are you here, and being treated so formally at that?” Ernie asked, cocking his head. Though they’d gone to separate knight orders, they were still longtime friends. Normally, they wouldn’t need to be treated as formal guests.

“Naw, we wouldn’t bother with this normally. But today we have people with us,” said Dietrich.

“Seriously, all this authority is so bothersome...” Helvi muttered.

That was when Ernie realized that the reason they had to come as guests was because of their subordinates. Recently, Fort Orvesius had started to feel deserted with how quiet it was. Today, though, it was plenty lively.

“So this is Fort Orvesius. This is the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s base! The one everyone from Laihiala goes on so much about!”

“Even other knight orders know of this place. They say that His Majesty personally funded its construction...”

Knights from both new knight orders were gathered in the fort. They were looking around wide-eyed at the entrance, exchanging what rumors they’d heard about the place. But one person was far more ardent than the rest.

“So this... This is the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s base! Where are their silhouette knights?! I would love to— O-Ohhhhhhh?! What could that unfamiliar silhouette knight be?!”

“Hey, Gonzoss, bring it down a notch.”

“M-My apologies!” Gonzoss snapped straight, but it was too late in a lot of ways. Dietrich and the rest of his group had returned, and his face was already colored with a tinge of slight regret.

Ernie looked up at his friend. “You’re quite the proper captain now, Dee.”

“Stop it. I know the position doesn’t suit me.” Dietrich had his head in his hands.

Gonzoss seemed to realize something when he saw the small boy talking equally with his captain, and he seemed to slide forward. “Could it be? Could you be the esteemed leader of the Order of the Silver Phoenix?!”

“Uh, yes. I am?” Ernie barely even made it up to Gonzoss’s chest. A person that large with a bald head was insistently pressing him—naturally, Ernie was a little startled.

Meanwhile, Gonzoss was moved to tears. “To think I would be lucky enough to lay eyes on the legendary captain of the Order of the Silver Phoenix! I... I’m so moved!!!”

“Uh... There’s a lot that concerns me about this, but first: legendary?”

“Ah, well, erm...” Dietrich floundered for an answer to Ernie’s question. “It seems we’ve become the subject of some plays and books. He’s an especially avid fan.”

“I...don’t know how to react to that.”

While Dietrich explained, Gonzoss took something out of his pocket, quick as lightning, before kneeling on the spot. He reverently offered the object to Ernie. “Lord Captain Echevalier...please! If you don’t mind! Sign this book!”

“He’s pretty unique, isn’t he? Your order seems fun,” said Ernie with a smile.

Dietrich averted his gaze, trying to run from Ernie’s look.

Ernie the knight captain aside, the others had distanced themselves somewhat as they watched on.

“These are the members of the new orders. But it looks like there’s someone weird mixed in,” said Batson.

“I mean, it’s his order. Of course there’d be weirdos,” said the boss.

“Not that we can talk...”

The gazes of the boss and Batson stabbed into Dietrich as they talked, clearly refusing to take a look inward.

At any rate, now that everyone was here, Edgar clapped once to get their attention. “First, allow me to introduce you all. These are the people of our old order: the Order of the Silver Phoenix. And this is...”

He paused to indicate Ernie. “Our origin and the captain of the Order of the Silver Phoenix: Ernesti Echevalier.”

“Nice to meet all of you,” said Ernie.

Ignoring the disgraceful sight Gonzoss had just exposed...

As one might think, no one had expected the small boy with feminine looks to be the legendary and honorable leader of the Order of the Silver Phoenix. An unabating titter spread across the crowd.

This was when a member of the Order of the White Heron hesitantly raised a hand. “Which means he’s our knight captain’s knight captain. But that leaves the question...what do we call him?”

“Well. Uh...right. Lord Knight Captain, I would say,” said Dietrich.

“Oh, come on. You two lead your own orders too, you know. It would have to be...Cappy?” Helvi suggested.

“No one but an old friend would be comfortable with that. Why not ‘the silver kid’?” the boss tried.

“That’s even more restrictive. No one but you could do that, boss,” said Batson.

The noisy debate continued until once again, Edgar stepped forward. He was new to leading a knight order, but his love and respect for the Order of the Silver Phoenix prevented him from wavering. Thus, with as much respect as he could muster, he confidently declared, “The Order of the Silver Phoenix is the origin of both the Order of the White Heron and the Order of the Crimson Peregrine. And so, he should be referred to as ‘Grand Captain.’”

Silence reigned for a moment until Addy muttered quietly, “Ernie... A grand captain despite his size...”

“Pffft!” Dietrich cracked.

Ernie turned around, a disconcerting smile plastered on his face, and Dietrich hurriedly covered his mouth. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do anything about his shaking. And on top of that, it was obvious from his eyes that he was laughing under his hands.

“Dee?” Ernie said.

“Oh, nothing... Lord Grand Captain. Nothing at all. Sir,” Dietrich answered. Ernie stared at him hard as Dietrich desperately tried to fight the urge to laugh.

Ernie sighed. “I prepared a parting gift for you two, but with how Dee has treated me, he won’t be getting his.”

“Nooo! Come on, don’t be stingy like that, Grand... Pfft... Cap—gaha!”

“You’re not convincing anyone.”

The dam to Dietrich’s laughter finally broke when he saw how unhappy Ernie was, and he slipped into uproarious guffaws, drawing laughs from everyone else too.

After that, Ernie chased after a yelping, cackling Dietrich until he finally drew his gunlike staff. Once that happened, the rest of the Order of the Silver Phoenix started betting on whether or not Dietrich would be able to escape.

“Did I say something weird?” Edgar wondered aloud as he watched the pair chase each other.

“Uh... You have nothing to worry about, Edgar,” Helvi replied.

Meanwhile, the new order members were at a loss as to how to react as they watched the two captains chase each other around at needlessly fast speeds.

“Ohhh! The Order of the Silver Phoenix is even strong at tag! I... I’m so moved!” Gonzoss gushed loudly.

Correction: every member except one.

◆

At any rate, once Ernie was satisfied, the group entered the workshop and walked among the arrayed silhouette knights.

“This is like an exhibition hall of our kingdom’s most advanced machines.”

It was impossible to tell who had said that. Tzenndrimbles and Twediannes joined the officially adopted Kardetolles in the lineup, so the impression was completely understandable. That was when a question popped into one knight’s head.

“Hey, does that mean we’ll be piloting one of these too?”

That got everyone to look around. Their knight orders were linked with the Order of the Silver Phoenix. That came with the natural assumption that they would be piloting the same machines.

Edgar nodded. “Introducing you was part of the reason we came here today, but the main purpose was to set our order’s battle formations.”

“Think hard. You two are the stars of this show, after all,” said Helvi.

The subordinate knights allowed themselves to get a little excited as they gathered in a meeting room. This room used to feel spacious when it only had to contain the Order of the Silver Phoenix, but now with the addition of more orders, it couldn’t fit everyone.

Edgar was about to start the conversation off like usual when he realized that this wasn’t the usual situation. He let out a quiet chuckle before reining it in. “His Majesty desires for us to succeed the role the Order of the Silver Phoenix had been fulfilling. However, one of the major pillars of the order is silhouette knight development, and that is a little outside the domain of an average knight.”

With that said, Edgar glanced over at Ernesti. He, a knight runner, was indeed standing at the forefront of all the order’s silhouette knight development. At the same time, Edgar realized that he himself was not that level of special.

After that pause, Edgar continued. “We will do what we can. The Order of the Silver Phoenix has achieved great things in many areas. However, that also means that it has been forced to do all these things. The fault in this case lies mostly with our grand captain here, though.”

“Nothing I did was anything special. Anyone could do it if they applied themselves,” said Ernie. The boy was grinning, but the smile had an ominous shade to it.

Edgar returned this smile in kind, and the order members’ gazes swam uncomfortably at this exchange.

“Basically, our equipment won’t be changing at all, right?” Dietrich said, extending a lifeline.

Ernesti nodded, and a slight stir rippled through the crowd. “The Order of the Silver Phoenix is currently resting its wings, so what’s expected of all of you is to swing your swords in our place. In other words, you’ll be expected to exterminate powerful monsters while having proficiency in all silhouette knights to the level of being able to teach and display new developments.”

“What heavy expectations,” Dietrich said. “Okay, Edgar, my Order of the Crimson Peregrine will take on the combat. You can take care of the teaching.”

“Our talents lie in different areas,” Edgar replied. “Even if you offer us up, you won’t be able to decrease your own workload.”

“Damn!”

“You’re a stubborn one too, huh?” Helvi teased.

“Ha ha ha... Anyway.”

Ernesti stood in front of the meeting room’s blackboard. Edgar started turning the knob beside the board with natural ease. The gears bit and creaked as he lowered the board to Ernesti’s height. Ernie held up a piece of chalk like usual and started writing on the blackboard with furious speed.

“Speaking of your roles, let’s boil down what that means when it comes to combat. First, your warrior-styles will handle antimonster combat and defense. This is the same as what every other order is doing. You will be adding Tzenndrimbles to that for transport and the new windine-styles to claim air superiority. Your levitating ships will also be helping with that.”

Pain and despair started to fill the order members’ faces as they saw the mass of words denoting their expected roles grow and grow. The amount being expected of them was more than one or two normal orders could handle. By their standards, any order that could handle all this would be Royal Guards in both quality and quantity.

The knight captains joined their subordinates in this feeling, it seemed. Edgar’s brow furrowed and he crossed his arms as his eyes chased the ever-growing wall of words. “Having you write it down like this is, well... It makes me feel as if you’ve been saddling us with too much.”

“It’s amazing how he made only three companies do all that, huh?” Helvi said.

Please save us, Captain! Vice-Captain! the gazes of the order members seemed to plead.

Though the pair had their subordinates’ hopes on their shoulders, Ernie just smiled airily. “But the Order of the Silver Phoenix managed this, so I’m sure you can too.”

“Oh yeah, you’re right.”

With that, their hopes were dashed completely.

“The Order of the Silver Phoenix Chronicles is a wonderful work, but many people feel that they did too much for it to be realistic. But! For it all to be the truth! It is an absolute honor to now be part of the history that will go on these pages. Hah! Hah! Hah!” Gonzoss alone was happily smacking his bald head while laughing heartily. Everyone around him was staring at him resentfully, as if telling him this was no laughing matter.

“We will be expected to have proficiency in a wide variety of machines in order to accomplish our missions. We gathered you all here because you’re all skilled knight runners. However, you still won’t be able to use an unfamiliar silhouette knight to its fullest potential. So, Grand Captain, I would like for you to help train them,” said Edgar.

“Of course, I’d be happy to. Silhouette knight training is important, after all!” Ernie exclaimed. “Luckily, Fort Orvesius has the perfect set of facilities for this. Please use them freely.”

Though Ernie’s smile was as fluffy and airy as it usually was, the order members were starting to see it as more and more frightening. One of them hesitantly raised their hand. “Um... So in the end, what kind of silhouette knights will we be piloting?”

At this moment, Dietrich, who had been letting the other two take the reins this entire time, got up off his ass. “Hmph! We’ll start with basic training to see the extent of your abilities before splitting you up according to your aptitudes. We’ve been given full discretion as to how to organize our fighting forces, so we should be able to source silhouette knights for all of you.”

A bit of life came back to the disheartened masses. Most knight orders only had access to mass-produced Kardetolles. Though these would be adjusted for their pilots’ individual qualities, it was normal for the pilots themselves not to have a choice. So, having a choice of models was a luxury—the stuff of dreams. In this sense, the Order of the Silver Phoenix, which had provided something akin to personal units for each of its members, was quite special.

Dietrich nodded happily when he saw the group perk up. “Then let’s get started right away. Let’s see... Why don’t we start with seeing how you handle silhouette gears? We can move on to horse riding from there, and end with flying.”

The expressions of the order members clouded as they heard multiple ominous sounding terms come up in short succession. The first two aside, the last one had them all scratching their heads.

“Fly, you say? What do you mean?” one of them asked frankly.

Dietrich silently pointed out the window. The group’s gaze followed slowly, and they saw a solid wooden turret. It looked like a watchtower, but its placement was strange. It was also oddly tall—taller than a silhouette knight as it towered over the rest of the fort. The order members couldn’t help but gulp.

“By fly...you meant actually fly?! I-I don’t mean for this to sound rude, but jumping from that height would cause major injuries.”

“Of course we wouldn’t make you do that.”

The members had been growing more and more cautious because of how ridiculous everything had been sounding all this time, but now there was a palpable sense of relief. Of course they wouldn’t be made to jump off that tower. What would be the point in that?

“You won’t be jumping off of it. You’ll be jumping off of it with Descendrads.”

Once again, their hopes were utterly dashed. Heedless of the crumbling wills of the order members, Dietrich proudly started to explain the Descendrad. “This is a type of silhouette gear—an exceptional one that can glide. The formula for Aero Thrust is carved inside it, so there’s no need for you to even compile the spell yourself. Though thanks to that, it does cost a fair amount of mana.”

Dietrich’s expression froze momentarily, and he gave the order members a serious look. “None of us know if you’ll end up going with warrior-styles, Tzenndrimbles, or windine-styles. But no matter what you choose, you need to be trained so you’ll be safe no matter what happens. So don’t worry.”

At this point, the order members had no idea what they were supposed to not worry about.

“In the past, I found myself totally powerless against a behemoth. My sword was completely ineffective—but I won’t let any of you feel that way. Luckily, I can guarantee that your silhouette knights will be the most powerful available. So the rest is up to us to be worthy of them.”

Dietrich confidently announced this to the room, but the order members only felt fear. What would they be expected to fight?

◆

Screams from knights of the Order of the White Heron and the Order of the Crimson Peregrine came from the vicinity of Fort Orvesius.

They were all running wearing heavy armor. This armor was the training-use silhouette gear created with great care by the Order of the Silver Phoenix. They were adjusted to be close to the old Motor Beats, which forced their wearers to constantly be processing script and expending mana. They were being forced to wear this defective product and run around the fort, so even knights confident in their stamina were giving up the ghost.

Dietrich was leading from the front, but he dropped off and came back after lapping the group. “Running isn’t bad every once in a while. It was a good change of pace.”

“You really don’t stop once you get going, do you?” Edgar remarked.

“Ugh, our knights really aren’t up to snuff,” said Helvi.

“Hmm... Well, they’ll get used to it eventually, even if it’s hard now,” said Edgar. “This training is necessary for anyone who will pilot a windine-style knight, and it’ll be useful even if they don’t.”

The screams continued from behind them. Edgar and Helvi were a little unsure about their choice in knights, but they figured that if the recruits could overcome this, they would become stronger. They could only ask for their newbies to do their best for the moment.

As they deliberated, Ernie came over. Batson, the boss, and other knightsmiths trailed behind him. “Perfect timing. I have something I want to show you captains.”

“Us?” Dietrich asked.

“Only the knight captains? Hey, what about me?” Helvi said with a pout.

“You come a bit later. Just look forward to it,” the boss replied.

“So I do get something...”

The trio’s plan today was to select the unit types for their subordinates, so they had to wonder what the knightsmiths were going to show them.

Ernie responded to their doubtful expressions with a wide smile. “I have a parting gift for you two, since you’re about to leave the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s nest.”

“Right...you said that before. Now that you’ve reminded me, I’m pretty curious as to what it is,” said Edgar.

“Grah, this kid kept rushing us, saying there was some kind of ceremony. It was awful, you know?” the boss said.

“Sorry about that,” said Ernie. “But His Majesty was the one who decided on this schedule, so please direct any complaints his way.”

The boss snorted, puffed out his chest, and grinned. “Hmph! We were rushed, but we didn’t cut corners. Take a good look. Go get it, lads!”

“Got it, boss!”

When the boss gave the signal, Batson and the rest of the knightsmiths, who had been in their silhouette gears, ran off. They went deep into the workshop and pushed out a large cart, exposing a large pair of swords to the sun.

Dietrich’s eyes widened. He looked the cart all over, from front to back. Though they sported some strange detailing, they were definitely swords. He scratched his head, making his bewilderment clear. “Ha ha ha, I never thought I’d be getting swords from you. Is this some sort of silhouette knight souvenir? That does sound like something you’d think of.”

They were indeed a memento.

But in the first place, weapons were consumable goods, especially when it came to a silhouette knight’s close combat arms. Those needed to be replaced fairly regularly. That was why swords with fancy designs on them were only good for decoration—and it was natural for Dietrich to assume that.

As an aside, Ernie would happily decorate his machine.

However, this was the Order of the Silver Phoenix, and there was no way Ernesti would be satisfied with handing over a simple memento.

As expected, the boy slowly shook his head. “No, these aren’t mere souvenirs. This is a new set of equipment meant for combat. The cores of these swords contain Emblem Graphs.”

“What? So they’re silhouette arms,” said Dietrich.

Generally, a silhouette knight weapon that contained an Emblem Graph was called a silhouette arms. However, Ernie and the knightsmiths did not nod in agreement; they simply maintained impish smiles.

It only took a moment for Dietrich to have a realization, and his expression changed. “Wait. Swords with silhouette arms inside? No, it can’t be. Are these...Bladed Cannons?”

That term was enough to make Edgar and Helvi lose their heads.

Bladed Cannon—the name of one of Ikaruga’s main weapons. A normal silhouette arms was fragile due to the silver plate needed for Emblem Graph inscription and thus not suited for melee combat.

But a Bladed Cannon combined large reinforced plates with the Physical Boost spell to allow close combat while also containing an Emblem Graph. It was an all-purpose weapon that allowed high-powered, long-range attacks while also being useful for melee combat.

“Close, but no,” Ernie answered. “Bladed Cannons are definitely powerful, but there are a lot of problems with them.”

“Right. Only Ikaruga can make use of those. After all, they eat a ridiculous amount of mana.”

Of course, there would have to be some sort of trade-off for such excellent functionality. In the Bladed Cannon’s case, its handling was unique, and it consumed an enormous amount of mana.

The high-powered overspell consumed a larger amount in exchange for its power, and the Physical Boost on the blade consumed more mana the longer combat went on. In other words, the prerequisite behind the Bladed Cannon was an extreme surplus of mana, which only Ikaruga could provide.

“So these really are just mementos,” said Dietrich.

“Hey now, who do you think we are?” the boss asked. “Yer right that Bladed Cannons are difficult little things. But who says we have to use them as is?”

“Which is why we split the functions,” said Ernie. “This is a strengthening silhouette arms specialized for close combat. I call it an enchanted sword!”

The trick was revealed to be surprisingly simple. Only Ikaruga could use Bladed Cannons in their full form. So, the obvious fix was to limit the function of the weapon to lighten the mana load. By limiting the sword down to its original use as a melee weapon, the mana requirement became tolerable for a normal machine, resulting in the enchanted sword.

“They’re less mana intensive than they were before, but they still cost some. That means they’re a little hard to use. But you two will be fine with that, won’t you?” Ernie asked.

“My word, I don’t think I can refuse with such hopes placed upon me,” said Edgar.

Pushing limits was Ernie’s specialty, and his company commanders’ role was to chase after him. With that in mind, a single weapon was basically nothing to overcome.

Dietrich stared at the swords with a concerned expression on his face. “Two swords... So one each for me and Edgar. Can you make more?”

“I’m not sure,” Ernie replied. “It’s hard to make the sword with the silver plate filigreed throughout. I had to push the boss and the others pretty hard to make these.”

“Oh, come on. Gimme a break. Do you know how much we had to work for those? It’d be a mountain of effort, even with Batty and Desileah around.” The boss scowled, to which Dietrich returned a shrug.

“All this new stuff makes me jealous. If you don’t want it, I’ll take it,” said Helvi.

“Of course I want it. I’ll gladly take my parting gift,” Dietrich shot back.

The two new knight captains headed over to their own silhouette knights. They activated Aldiradcumber and Guairelinde in order to pick up the swords. The weapons themselves were large and ostentatiously decorated—their sizes ballooned to contain the function of the silhouette arms within.

“Even if it is a little more obedient, this still is one of Ikaruga’s weapons.”

“Sure is an honor to have so much prepared for us, isn’t it? All the other knight orders will be jealous,” said Dietrich.

Even though these weren’t Ikaruga’s Bladed Cannons in their true form, it was easy to see how they were related. These enchanted swords would become a symbol of what they’d inherited from the Order of the Silver Phoenix.

When the two machines held up their swords, Helvi started to softly clap at their feet. This applause quickly caught on with the knightsmiths, their clapping resounding loudly in their silhouette gears. The two captain silhouette knights basked in the thunderous noise as they obtained their new weapons.

When the pair exited their machines, Ernie welcomed them with a full-faced smile. “There’s also a little something I’d like to discuss with you two: What would you think about repainting them?”

“Hmm? But, Ernesti, our personal silhouette knights are already distinctive and fairly well-known. We were told not to change them too drastically,” said Edgar.

“I wasn’t planning to. But they need adjusting anyway to be able to make use of the enchanted swords, so I figured we might as well use the chance to make them more captain-like. You have new equipment, so just putting them on as is would look strange. Please, let us remake them into perfect new forms just for you!”

“So you’re saying your bad habit’s flaring up again,” said Dietrich.

“I suppose it would be futile to try to stop you. So what are you planning to do?” Edgar asked.

Ernie cleanly ignored all the dead-eyed stares from those around him as he held out his hand over his head. “About that... It’s your turn, boss!”

When Ernie smoothly stepped aside, the boss took his place while needlessly puffing out his chest. “Awright, then allow me to explain! Don’t worry, we already know your machines inside ’n’ out. We’ll get this done quick, so no need to hold back!”

“We know, but you look like you’re plotting something untoward,” said Edgar.

“Well, that’s rude,” said Ernie. “This is our real job now.”

“They may have gotten worse now that we’ve left...” Helvi muttered.

The trio of former company commanders let out strained chuckles. Though their positions were changing, Ernie absolutely wasn’t. But that was just like him.

The boss confidently produced a blueprint and spread it out. Despite everything the trio had said, they still peered at the paper with keen interest.

“And...you’re really claiming this is just a new paint job?” Dietrich asked.

“Hey, is this supposed to be mine?” Helvi asked. “I mean, it looks interesting.”

“What are you planning to do to our orders, Grand Captain?” Edgar asked.

All three of them had different reactions, but their expressions all froze on their faces. Ernie’s smile seemed oddly wide as he started to laugh.

“Wow. Well, at least it doesn’t seem like we’ll be bored for a while yet. By the way...” Having gotten a decent look at the blueprints, Dietrich turned around and pointed at Guairelinde’s new, intricately decorated greatsword. “Could I try out that enchanted sword once? I’m curious about how well it cuts.”

“Okay. Then let’s head to the training grounds,” Ernie agreed. “By the way, there are some warnings I should give you about its use...”

◆

“How long are we going to have to do this...?”

Meanwhile, the order members continued to run without much chatter. They keenly felt the weight of their training-use silhouette gears. Normally, silhouette gears were supposed to aid the motion of their wearers, but these actually put a great strain on them. Their stamina and mana pools were constantly being pushed to their limits.

“Wait, where did the captain go?”

“He disappeared after he passed us.”

When one of them started to look around apropos of nothing, the ground suddenly wavered, followed by a loud noise and fountain of dust and dirt. Everyone froze in shock. Then, in a panic, they looked around to see a pillar of a dust cloud coming from Fort Orvesius.

“What happened?! Did a monster appear or something?!”

“Impossible! The cloud is coming from inside the fort! Also, that should be where the training grounds are.”

“Training grounds? There?”

This was not the time to be running. The order members pushed their exhausted bodies toward the rising cloud.

When they reached the training grounds, they found Guairelinde, frozen in place after swinging a sword. That alone would be normal, but there was a large hole extending from the blade’s tip. Dietrich was at the silhouette knight’s feet, shouting something.

“What did you put into it, Ernesti?! This is way past the level of it just cutting things good!”

“Well, we managed to strengthen the sword enough, so we added a little something on at the end,” Ernie replied. “It’s pretty powerful, isn’t it?”

“There’s a limit to things, you know?! It’ll blow me away too!”

“Which just means you should be careful. Everything is worth trying,” said Ernie.

Edgar looked at his wit’s end while Helvi had backed up, ready to run at a moment’s notice. The boss and the other knightsmiths were watching from a distance while confusion spread among the new order members.

“The Order of the Silver Phoenix really is an amazing place, huh?”

“Are we going to do the same things?”

“Seriously?”

“Ohhh, the sword bestowed upon him from the grand captain! Wonderful! This will definitely carve a new chapter in the history of the Order of the Silver Phoenix!” Gonzoss shouted.

And so, Aldiradcumber and Guairelinde entered the workshop to be remodeled.

In the meantime, the new order members continued their aptitude tests. The days were filled with them running, jumping, and falling. Gradually, the formation of both new knight orders started to solidify, and they were split off into more individual training according to what models they would be assigned.

Time passed, and the moment came to unveil the Order of the White Heron and the Order of the Crimson Peregrine in Konkaanen.

Chapter 77: Wedding Before the Storm

A white line stretched across the blue sky. This line, seen clearly through the cloudless weather, had a mermaid-like creature at its tip. The machine twisted every once in a while as it flew at high speed.

“Mmm! The new Sylly feels so nice!” Addy laughed happily while experiencing the feedback in her control yokes. She stomped on her stirrups, raising the thrust and causing it to spew a longer jet of fire. The sight from this holomonitor was in no way inferior to what she saw in Sylphianne. In fact, this one was adjusted to reflect her experiences and preferences, so it responded even more smoothly to her controls. As the test runner of the initial Sylphianne, she was the most experienced at windine-style silhouette knights, so she was perfectly satisfied with this.

As she let off the thrust, the machine slowed down and spread its wings. Sylphianne-Kasasagi III—or Sylphianne for short—was equipped with large wings that also served as a Flexible Coat. With these wings, its stability during straight flight was the best among all current models.

After entering stable flight, she started looking through the array of buttons in front of her. “Uh... They’re still working on the new stuff. But for now, it can fly, so this is fine.”

The machine was newly made to allow it to fully recover its functions as a flying silhouette knight. But there were many other things added on as well, which still needed various adjustments.

“Still, it doesn’t feel the same without Ernie. Mweh heh heh heh heh... Let’s work hard, Sylly!”

As if to respond to the expectations of its knight runner, Sylphianne shot through the air like an arrow, its thrusters spewing out the longest jet of fire they could.

◆

“I’d heard flying silhouette knights were fast, but seeing it is something else, huh? She’s already basically a speck up there.” Selestina tilted her head gently as she looked through the window at the receding form of Sylphianne. Not even a decade had passed since the concept of aerial fighting forces had first been introduced to the world. Knights aside, normal people would have heard rumors, but not many of them would have ever actually seen one. She was one of the more knowledgeable given her connections.

A sigh came from beside her. “That little tomboy. I can’t believe Addy is now one of the most famous knight runners in Fremmevilla. Time sure does fly.”

The voice belonged to the mother of the Alter siblings: Ilmatar “Ilma” Alter.

They knew that their children had climbed up to important positions, but still none of that knowledge felt real. That ended now. It was obvious even to them how much value the best flying silhouette knight in the kingdom had, and now Addy was flying it.

“Kid’s moved to the neighboring kingdom too. I’m proud of my children, but it’s a little lonely here now,” said Ilma.

“It is, isn’t it? Those kids are impulsive like little birds but strong like the largest of eagles. I’m glad to see them flying so freely. But...”

The memories of Ernie and Addy falling into the Great Bocuse Forest together and not coming back were still fresh. They believed their children would always come home, even from the most desperate of situations—and their hopes had come true. Still, at the same time, it made the two mothers realize that having strength was not the answer to everything.

Tina softly caressed the edge of the desk beside her. This touch was laden with sympathy and gratitude.

“We are nearing Konkaanen. Please look that way, everyone.” That was when Ernesti popped up and pointed their gazes outside the window. Everyone followed and saw the city at the foot of the Auvinier Mountains.

“My... Such a large city looks so small from the sky,” said Tina.

“I still can’t believe I got to see this in my lifetime,” said Ilma.

The sight of the capital from the sky was something Ernie and his order were already used to, but that wasn’t the case for the vast majority who hadn’t ridden on a levitating ship.

“It’ll be some time before the ceremony begins. Please enjoy the sights at your leisure,” said Ernie.

They were in the flagship of the Order of the Silver Phoenix: the Wing Carrier Izumo. Specifically, on its observation deck.

The room was furnished with refreshments, having been prepared for personal guests of the order’s captain. It was only natural for his and Addy’s families to be treated well.

“But, Ernie,” said his father, Matthias, “isn’t this ship a little too big for simply traveling from Laihiala?” He looked around, unable to calm down.

Levitating ships were cutting-edge technology that had yet to spread fully throughout the kingdom. These ships excelled in their speed, and the Izumo was likewise much faster than any carriage despite its size. The distance between Konkaanen and Laihiala was already easily covered by a carriage, so to Matthias, such an exaggerated ship wasn’t necessary.

“There’s another big— I mean, important guest today, you see. This ship is necessary.” Ernie nodded flatly.

Matthias let out his umpteenth sigh of the day. “I was surprised back when you said you’d get your own silhouette knight too. But now you have a large ship under your command. I’ll be living the rest of my life in a state of shock.”

Everything got much bigger in scale whenever Ernie was involved. Just accepting this situation was already a heavy burden—a burden that was almost too much for a normal teacher.

“Also, another big step will be taken today,” Ernie said cryptically.

Matthias watched the capital grow ever larger, and his gut clenched once again. It was already decided that a new page of history would be written when this ship reached the capital.

◆

Gonzoss looked up at the levitating ship sliding over the capital’s airspace and smiled wide. “Oh, it seems our grand captain has come. Ah, how beautiful the Izumo is! Did you know that it ventured deep into the Great Bocuse Forest and came back?! It’s the greatest levitating ship of the current...”

“Ah, okay, yeah. Just shut up, will you? You’ve told us already.”

Though his colleague gave a cold, blunt response, Gonzoss wasn’t deterred. He continued to praise the Izumo over and over. Those around him were used to this already, so they ignored him.

“Oh, the captains are out,” a veteran from the Order of the Silver Phoenix muttered to himself.

The Izumo’s bottom opened up while knights outside watched, and something jumped out as soon as it was completely open. It spread winglike plates of armor midair, proceeding as if it were sliding through the air. It described a loose arc before coming back down to the ground, revealing it to be a pair of silhouette knights: one red and one white.

“Okay, let’s go to our captains. Everyone, mount up! This is our unveiling, so we’ll be laughingstocks for a while if we mess this up. Put your backs into it!”

“Yeah!”

The knights of the new orders had been relaxing during this rest time as they pleased, but now they climbed into their machines. Parked Kardetolles roared as they started to suck in air and stood up. Beside them, figures like small mountains stirred. Equine bodies that went up to a Kardetolle’s shoulders were topped by humanoid upper halves—these big machines were Tzenndrimbles.

The mobilizing knight orders quickly formed ranks and raised their flags. One featured a white field and a crest with a heron and a shield. The other featured a crimson field and a crest with a sword and a peregrine falcon. Both orders marched forward together, their footsteps eliciting heavy thuds.

Horse riders rode ahead along the central road that ran through the capital, announcing the procession loudly with their trumpets. The people made way for the large knights while looking at them with keen interest.

The silhouette knights marched down the now-empty streets. Most of them were Kardetolles with a wide variety of Option Works. There were also Tzenndrimbles in the middle of the formation, towing large carriages.

At the same time, more silhouette knights sliced through the air above. Twediannes raced ahead of a fleet of levitating ships, all heading for Schreiber Castle.

The sight of a mixed formation of brave knights—both on land and in sky—elicited a thunderous cheer from the citizens.

Two silhouette knights awaited the arrival of the knight orders in front of the royal castle. One was in pure white armor, equipped with a Flexible Coat—the flag unit of the Order of the White Heron, Aldiradcumber. The other was in crimson armor, equipped with twin blades and large pieces of additional armor containing Magius Jet Thrusters on both shoulders and hips—the flag unit of the Order of the Crimson Peregrine, Guairelinde. They both looked largely the same as before they were improved.

When their orders arrived, the pair led them to a plaza in front of the castle. This created an array of silhouette knights on the ground and more knights along with levitating ships in the air.

King Leotamus smiled, satisfied at the majestic sight of both knight orders. He whispered to his retainer, “They’re a bunch of little rascals, but it seems they can clean up nicely if they try.”

He slowly panned his gaze across the arrayed knights before solemnly declaring the start of the ceremony. The composition of both orders would here be displayed to both citizen and noble.

“I am sure you know them well—these are the brave knights who have learned much in the Order of the Silver Phoenix and have triumphantly returned after striking out into the Great Bocuse Forest.”

Cheering flooded from the packed audience of citizens. Both knight orders stood proudly, their flags held high. At the same time, the name of the Order of the Silver Phoenix could also put heavy pressure on them. Still, none of the knights felt they would lose to such pressure.

“With the advent of levitating ships, the path into the forest has been opened,” said Leotamus. “We are heading into a new age, and all of you will be at the forefront, clearing the way. I expect much from you.”

“We will carve your words into our hearts,” Edgar replied.

The people had likely internalized this upcoming age as one where they would set out into the Great Bocuse Forest. They would not be afraid of the forest or of monsters, instead proactively setting forth into the unknown. It would be like back when Fremmevilla was first founded, when the people were filled with vigor. However, the king’s words meant something slightly different. And the footsteps of truth were already close.

The fervor of the ceremony reached its peak now. The Wing Carrier Izumo moved slowly, dropping altitude around the outskirts of the capital. Once again, its bottom opened up. The Izumo was twice the size of a normal levitating ship, so of course it could hold much more.

A large number of giants appeared from inside the ship, setting foot on the ground. They wore outer skins with unusual designs, making them somewhat similar to silhouette knights. This not-very-unified group moved as they pleased.

Then, another strange giant flew out from the Izumo’s upper deck. It was Ikaruga—its thrusters roaring loudly as it landed in front of the group of giants. A smaller giant stepped forward from the group toward Ikaruga.

Ernie, in Ikaruga’s cockpit, responded with a slow nod from his machine. “It’s time, everyone. Let’s go.”

The group moved forth with Ikaruga leading the way. Horse riders waited for them at the entrance to the capital before once again riding ahead to announce them.

The citizens, already roaring from the founding of the new knight orders and the king’s speech, made way for this new group while looking at them curiously.

The silhouette knight leading the group was terribly unique. Its terrifying demonic mask could only belong to the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s Ikaruga, no matter where in the world one looked. So with it at the front, the rest of the group had to be from the Order of the Silver Phoenix.

However, they were totally unfamiliar. Not even one Kardetolle could be seen among them. Could they be new models? It was possible for the Order of the Silver Phoenix. And so the crowd held their own hopes as the group reached the royal castle.

◆

The king was informed of their arrival, and he raised his hand. With this signal, the nobles went quiet, followed by the citizens. All of their attention was gathered on the newly arrived group.

“When the Order of the Silver Phoenix set out into the Great Bocuse Forest, they made a tremendous discovery. Today, I will reveal that discovery to all of you.” Leotamus pointed to the group behind Ikaruga, directing all gazes there. “The Order of the Silver Phoenix fought the monsters lurking within the forest and won. And...they met those who would become new friends during this battle.”

A stir rippled through the onlookers. Being pressed into a fight in the forest wasn’t surprising. It was a paradise for monsters—an evil land that rejected human hands. There should have been nothing there that would take the side of humans, but...

The answer was already in front of them. The giants ripped their helmets off—an action unthinkable for true silhouette knights.

Finally, the people saw what lay under the helmets.

It was faces. Not planes of shaped metal, but living faces.

There were also eyes. Not two, like a human, but three, four, or even five eyes all in one head.

A beat after the helmets came off, the creatures tore the rest of their armor off as well. This revealed fleshy, living bodies covered in clothing made of monster hides.

“They are astragali,” Leotamus announced.

The group was definitely alive. Living beings with size that rivaled a silhouette knight—true giants.

There was a moment of silence, followed by a great shriek. The group resembled humans but were definitely not. In fact, they were closer to monsters. These anomalies had appeared when up until now, monsters had been nothing but enemies. The people could not accept them so easily.

The ceremonial grounds erupted with noise, and now Ikaruga made its move. It beckoned the Parva Marga forward and lifted her up, placing her on its shoulder pauldrons. From there, she called forth the rest of the group.

Heedless of the gazes of the shocked people, Ikaruga and the giants lined up in front of the king.

“We will live together, fight together, and claim victory together. Here and now, I declare our friendship...Your Majesty,” said the Parva Marga.

“Indeed. Well met,” Leotamus replied.

That short exchange showed that these giants were not enemies. The crowd held their breaths and waited, allowing Leotamus to continue. “I understand your surprise. There were many secrets hiding within the Great Bocuse Forest, and the astragali were one. A group representing their people have gathered here, and the depths of the forest are what we should call their country.”

The repeated bombshells had the crowd agog. The only thing they knew for sure was that they were witnessing something monumental.

“I hereby declare our friendship with their country,” said Leotamus in kind. “There is no more heartening a friend to have in overcoming that forest, which has been taboo since the rise of our kingdom. We will extend our hands to each other and eventually cross this forest.”

Silence reigned for a moment before thunderous cheering broke out.

Fear toward the Great Bocuse Forest wouldn’t disappear overnight. Their foray into the forest would have been more of a timid fumbling around, only possible thanks to levitating ships.

But then a new factor had entered the formula: astragali, who had always been living in the forest. With their help, would not even the most ridiculous of boasts become realistic? The people’s swelling hopes for the future gave rise to shouts of delight.

King Leotamus saw how happy his people were, and he nodded in satisfaction.

To later generations, he would become known as the Giant King, a moniker conferred to him because he was the first in history to walk alongside the astragali. And today would come to be known as the first day when human and astragali would come to walk together.

◆

Some time had passed since the ceremony of multiple surprises.

Since then, people were abuzz with talk of the astragali. This was only natural, as their existence was monumental—a turning point for humanity.

As for the astragali of rumors, they were delighted at first to no longer have to hide themselves. However, they were now fed up with the flood of requests from people who wanted to meet them.

Since they displayed in no uncertain terms that they were not enemies, many people would of course be interested in them. Added to that was the fact that the astragali could understand language. The requests were endless as people were filled with morbid curiosity.

However, the astragali were devotees of the unrefined and uncouth; communicating with words was not their way, and they disliked having to do so. In the end, the role of communicator fell to the Parva Marga, who was more amenable to talking than the average giant. Recently, she’d been spending her time being pulled this way and that along with Nav and the Order of the Crimson Peregrine as guards. Thanks to that, the impression many had of the astragali became based off of her.

Behind the scenes, almost all the astragali had been going on a rampage, testing their strength against the kingdom’s knights. This made for a big disconnect between the impressions the people, the nobles, and the knights had of the giants. But for better or worse, there was no one to correct this.

In this storm of fervor whipped up by the astragali, Fort Orvesius was awash with the sound of hammers as usual.

“Hmm... This is good workmanship,” said Ernie.

“Of course, since we don’t have to babysit them anymore!” Desileah clapped, showing how rejuvenated she was feeling.

Ernie turned a satisfied gaze at the machine in front of him—a silhouette knight lying still in a corner of the workshop. It was Sylphianne-Kasasagi III, and it was finally nearing completion after repeated adjustments.

“I gotta say, I thought you were insane when you first said we were doing this,” said Desileah. “But it turns out this is pretty interesting.”

“You’re wonderfully skilled. As expected of a knightsmith from the national lab. Now then, this finally completes the preparations...” Ernie nodded happily.

Desileah furrowed her brow a little. “I can guarantee the quality of the finished product. But, Captain...are we really going to do that?”

“Of course we are. That’s why I asked you.”

“Well, you’re the boss. We got to build something interesting, so I guess it’s up to you to decide what to do with it, but...”

Ernie moved, heedless of Desileah’s exasperated look; he would continue to do whatever he wanted. “The work is going well. So let’s finish this up!”

◆

As usual, Addy had come to visit the Echevalier home.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Addy. Let’s go!”

“You seem excited, Ernie...but you’re still cute, of course!”

As if he’d been lying in wait for hours, Ernie welcomed her. From behind him, Addy cocked her head, puzzled by his energy. They were, of course, going to Fort Orvesius. This was their usual routine, so there should have been no reason for his excitement. Something really good must have happened, or...

Ah, I can feel it. Something really bad’s happened, she thought. All the experience she’d built up to this point told her to brace herself internally.

What’s more, this time Ernie insisted on piloting the Tzenndrimble on the way to the fort. The cockpit was adjusted for Addy, which meant it was too big for him—so he had to use Full Control to brute-force things as they pretty much flew for the parking area in the fort.

Ernie’s buoyant mood continued as he took Addy’s hand in his and made for the workshop with light footsteps. Meanwhile, Addy’s confusion only deepened.

“Oh, they’re here. The preparations are complete.” There, the knightsmith named Desileah was waiting for them, her chest clearly puffed out.

“What’s going on, Desileah? Ernie’s been weird the entire morning,” Addy asked.

“Isn’t that the usual?”

“Yes, but that’s not what I mean!”

It seemed to Addy that Desileah knew what was going on. She wasn’t certain what was going on, but it definitely involved those two, so it likely had something to do with silhouette knights.

“Then let’s go look at the crystallization of my efforts already!” Desileah declared as she firmly pointed toward a somewhat familiar but still different silhouette knight.

“Sylphianne... Wow, it’s done!” Addy’s face bloomed into a wide smile.

After Sylphianne had finished the tests on its basic functions, Desileah had taken it upon herself to finish up the rest, which was why it had been a while since it was activated.

Now that it was fully ready, Sylphianne-Kasasagi III looked bigger than ever.

Its basic shape was still the same as before: a windine-style with a Flexible Coat. What had changed was its outer skin. Now, there were sections covered in transparent, crystalline armor as part of the decoration.

“Wow, it’s so pretty! So you used crystal plate for the outer skin?” Addy asked.

Silhouette knights usually had steel armor and crystalline muscles. Of course, only the steel armor was visible from the outside—the cold and hard exterior displaying its purpose as a weapon.

But Sylphianne III was different. Its clear, crystalline outer skin added beauty to the steel giant. Every time Addy showed surprise, Desileah’s chest puffed out even more. Her skills and sensibilities were being displayed in full here.

“The makeup is perfect! But crystal isn’t hard enough, right?” Addy asked.

“Of course, it’s more brittle compared to normal outer skin,” Desileah explained. “But this one is meant to move fast, so I think we can ignore defense somewhat. Also, it’s not like I took any of the armor off.”

In fact, she’d placed crystal over the regular armor in a lot of places, which meant Sylphianne hadn’t lost much defense, if any.

“Now, the Sylphianne I imagined is complete. The purpose was—” Ernie started.

“To make it cuter!” Addy finished.

“Uh... That’s not a bad thing, but the new Sylphianne consumes a lot of mana because I added a bunch of new features,” Ernie explained. “That’s why we had to make the pool bigger. This is just in case, so even if you lose this crystal, it won’t pose a big problem.”

“Aw, but it’s so pretty! I don’t want the crystal to break,” Addy said with a pout.

It seemed she was already attached to the new Sylphianne, and she circled around it over and over, looking at it from every angle. Light hit the crystal armor, refracting into a rainbow of colors. Every cycle, her expression changed.

“Also, this is equipped assuming it will be paired up with Ikaruga,” said Ernie.

“Magatsu-Ikaruga, you mean?” Addy asked to confirm.

“Yes. The big draw is being able to reconvert mana into ether even from the halo coat, since the ether ring generator is a big strain on mana even with Ikaruga.”

After one more cycle, Addy hugged him. “So you remembered, Ernie!”

“I did promise you. Ikaruga will be with me no matter where I go. And you want to be there too, don’t you, Addy?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll follow you even if you try to leave me behind!”

The two looked up at Sylphianne. Beyond it, in the deepest part of the workshop, was Ikaruga—the silhouette knight Ernesti had made for himself. And he had made Sylphianne III to accompany it.

Ernie escaped from Addy’s arms and turned around to look up at her with an airy smile. “I thought you’d say that, which is why I made this. This machine is proof that we will be together, no matter where we go. In other words... Um... It’s kind of like an engagement ring. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Ernie...”

Behind them, Desileah had frozen with her mouth agape, but the pair either didn’t notice or didn’t care. In fact, that was true for pretty much anything around them.

“Let’s get married, Addy. And let’s make silhouette knights and pilot them together!” Ernie proposed.

Overcome by emotion, it took a moment before Addy responded, “Yes!”

She then once again wrapped Ernie up in her arms.

Meanwhile, the workshop had become so terrifyingly quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was wondering what those two were talking about. They were all frozen, no one able to keep up with the conversation.

Desileah was among them, but finally she regained her senses. “Wha— What the hell?! So we weren’t building the latest, most cutting-edge silhouette knight... I mean, you cannot be serious that this is why we built this thing!”

Had anyone ever made an entire silhouette knight to serve as an engagement ring in the long history of humanity? In the first place, who would even think of such a thing? What girl would be happy being gifted a huge silhouette knight?

Desileah’s exasperation reached its peak, and she sighed as she turned around, only to once again be shocked into a frozen state.

“I see, I see... Good for you, girlie! You did it, kid!” the boss gushed.

“Wow, it really happened.”

“Ooohhh, finally, our grand captain’s done it! This is great. We need to celebrate! We need to prep a party! Let’s start by servicing Ikaruga!”

“You seriously kept us waiting! Right, we need to tell everyone in the new orders too! Hey, messenger!”

“Right-o! I’ll rush over in a Tzenndrimble!”

The boss and the rest of the knightsmiths were all crying and celebrating together. Only Desileah and the national lab people were frozen. She couldn’t help but face the sky and let go of a lot.

“Oh, come on, isn’t this where you should act fed up?” she muttered. “Seriously, I do not get anything about this knight order.”

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting?! That! Kid! Is finally settling down! What could make you happy if not that?!” the boss shouted.

“Yep,” a knightsmith agreed.

Desileah and her group aside, the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s members all crowded around Ernie and Addy to celebrate, tossing them into the air. The congratulatory shouts continued for seemingly ever, as the fuss lasted throughout the rest of the day.

As an aside, Sylphianne’s official designation was later revised to “Sylphianne-Kasasagi III Engaged.” But because it was so long, everyone (including the ones who named it) shortened it to Sylphianne when talking about it.

◆

After a long, lengthy pause and a short sigh, Leotamus responded to the report he was given. “Oh? I see. So the captain of the Order of the Silver Phoenix is getting married. Very good.”

“Still, I’m surprised that boy can do something as normal as marrying someone.” Those were Leotamus’s true feelings. They were far too blunt, but no one could deny them.

“At any rate, the captain of the Order of the Silver Phoenix is now engaged. This is no small thing.” The king pondered for a while before coming to a decision and handing out some orders.

◆

The Echevalier household was festooned in a festive atmosphere.

“Congratulations, you two. I’m so happy you’re going to be together.”

Once Ernie and Addy told their families they were engaged, both groups came together to celebrate and congratulate them. Though one might ask whether anything about their relationship was truly different, having the form of it be so clear and explicit would definitely be a change. The two mothers, Selestina and Ilma, were especially happy, celebrating as they held each other’s hands.

Then, Addy noticed something. “Oh no, mom! If I leave too, you’ll be alone. Uh... You live close anyway, so should I stay with you?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Kid is already going around doing whatever he likes, and you can come home anytime you like anyway.”

“Right. I need to find a way to tell Kid eventually too!”

Addy’s older twin brother, Archid, was off gallivanting around the neighboring country of New Kuscheperka. They hadn’t seen each other in a while, and Addy was excited to see what kind of reaction he would have when she told him. It was probably going to be something like, “Finally.”

Meanwhile, Matthias came up with a sealed letter in hand. With some confusion on his face, he showed the letter to Ernie and Addy. “Ernie, I’ve received a message from His Majesty about your marriage.”

“What does it say?”

“It pertains to the venue. He wants you to hold it in the capital. You’ve led the Order of the Silver Phoenix to a great many achievements, so it seems he wants to have the wedding at the center of the kingdom.”

The captain of the Order of the Silver Phoenix was in a pretty strange position. The majority of the knight orders in this country were under the command of a noble. Either they protected a designated area and were called guardian knight orders, or they would move according to a single noble’s wishes. That was why when a major figure in such an order was getting married, the ceremony itself was usually arranged by the noble who governed their territory.

Technically, the Order of the Silver Phoenix was under the direct control of the king. On top of that, their standing in the kingdom was especially unique. Currently, almost all of Fremmevilla’s silhouette knights were designed by the Order of the Silver Phoenix—or rather, by Ernesti himself. What’s more, though his fighting forces had technically split into the Order of the White Heron and the Order of the Crimson Peregrine, in effect, the amount of military strength he could command had only increased. With the achievements he’d built thus far, he was a singular figure; it was doubtful if anyone in the history of the entire kingdom could rival him.

In terms of importance, no noble could compare.

Under orders from the king, the wedding ceremony would be held in Konkaanen, in the plaza in front of the royal castle. This was extremely unusual treatment for a mere knight captain, but no one objected.

“It seems His Majesty will not personally be attending the wedding, but...this has still blown up to ridiculous proportions.” Matthias was frozen stiff, his expression equally solidified.

Tina turned once again to the newly engaged couple. “You’re right. So let’s obey His Majesty in terms of the location. But what kind of wedding do you two want?”

Ernie and Addy exchanged looks.

“I want to dress Ernie up nice,” Addy replied immediately.

“I want to line up with all the silhouette knights in the kingdom,” said Ernie.

“My, that sounds fun,” said Tina. “Let’s try asking His Majesty.”

“Wait! Wait just a second, Tina. You two know those aren’t things you request for a wedding, right?!” Matthias realized that these kids would turn the whole wedding into a ridiculous affair if he let them do as they pleased, so he resolved to add himself into the wedding planning.

◆

And so, time passed.

Konkaanen was known as one of the biggest cities in the kingdom. As it had used to serve as a forward base during the country’s nascent days, Fremmevilla’s capital still had remnants of that time in the form of forts dotting its territory. It combined both beauty and defensibility.

There was a venue for ceremonies close to Schreiber Castle. Normally, it was used for rites conducted by the Royal Guards, but now it had become an exhibition area for the silhouette knights used in the kingdom. Scarily, the purpose was not actually to exhibit these particular silhouette knights—they were supposed to just be background. Naturally, it needn’t be said who had asked for this.

Ernie and Addy’s wedding was not just open to friends and family but to the general public as well.

The news had spread throughout the capital, and many attendees packed the area on the day of the wedding. The free booze and food provided by the king probably had something to do with it as well. This was already an abnormally large wedding for a single couple, and what’s more, there were astragali in attendance too.

These giants had been the subject of every rumor since the day they’d been unveiled. Who would believe they would attend a human’s wedding?

The city’s citizens watched these giants from afar. The feeling they gave off was very imposing, after all, since they were all armed.

That being said, this wasn’t a show of hostility. The most formal of dress among the astragali was wearing objects made of monsters they’d killed with their own hands. This was their version of showing respect to their Fortissimos of Rainbow. The Royal Guards, who were acting as security for this event, were very reluctant to let the astragali through, but they were forced to relent from the explicit permission of the event’s organizer.

The Parva Marga was on careful watch so that the other astragali would not ruin the proceedings too. She showed great enthusiasm for this role.

The wedding was now more than just lively; it was almost a tiny war. But a little ways away, its protagonists were preparing.

“I’m coming in. Are you ready?” Ernie said after a pause and a knock.

He then entered the room. Today, he was sporting the full formal dress of a knight captain. The only use he had for this outfit was for when he had to act as the leader of the Order of the Silver Phoenix. The coat was made of the highest-quality fabric with a large crest of his order sewn on.

In the end, Ernie had never grown out of being very short, but he still could look good when dressed nicely—ignoring the warm, protective looks from everyone who saw him today.

“I just finished. Let’s go, Addy,” he said.

The waiting room contained not just Tina and Ilma, but also Stefani, Addy’s half sister. They were surrounding her as they made her up.

The women split to either side as Ernie entered. He saw Addy nervously sitting there, and he smiled. “You’re more lovely than ever today, Addy. Like a silhouette knight with extra armor.”

“Is that a compliment? No, wait, it probably is coming from you, Ernie.”

Addy’s expression, which had been shining with anticipation, instantly shifted sideways as the surrounding women sighed. Even so, she recovered quickly. This was the usual with Ernesti. Now, it was her turn to get a good look at him, and she extended a wavering hand after a moment. “Ah, Ernie is so cute when he’s well-dressed. And a little cool too... I wanna hug...”

“I’m sure you do, but you can’t move too much right now. You’ll undo all our work.”

Because she was in a dress with perfect makeup done by her helpers, she couldn’t afford to move carelessly at the moment. Full of excitement and nervousness, Addy held back for a little while before trembling awkwardly like a machine without oil. “Uggghhh... I’m happy, but this is hard... I can’t enjoy this rare occasion...”

“I thought you would change a little now that you’re getting married. My word.”

The women who’d been helping her sighed with light exasperation. They couldn’t believe how little these two had changed, even when getting married. But it was also part of their charm.

Ernie chuckled wryly for a bit before gently holding out his hand. “It’s about time. Let’s go, Addy.”

“Yeah!”

They took each other’s hands and walked off.

◆

The date was 1285 O.C. Today, a new married couple was formed in the Kingdom of Fremmevilla.

This couple had defeated monsters, settled a war in another country, explored the forbidden Great Bocuse Forest, and met the astragali. They were a tiny knight captain and his aide who had brought—and would continue to bring—great change upon the Kingdom of Fremmevilla.

Though they thrived in times of great upheaval, today this couple was content to be happy and bask in the congratulations of others.

Part 18: Floating Continent Disturbance Arc

Chapter 78: Live like a Drifting Cloud but Chase like a Buffeting Gale

The wind howled, tearing apart clouds and making a noise like a scream as it passed by behind.

A single sword sailed through this turbulent sky. No, it was not an actual sword. It was a levitating ship formed so sharply and keenly it was like one.

This supposedly large ship danced like a leaf in the wind, shaken terribly by the wind. Its bridge was a war zone. Angry shouts abounded as someone clung to the steering device, screaming about needing to reclaim control.

While everyone was desperate to regain control of the ship, the large figure in the captain’s chair alone stood imposingly, emitting a joy that seemed out of place. “Good. This storm’s just as big as I was told! Ha ha! This means the information was correct!”

“Your High—Young master! Please sit down! We’re in a terrible situation!”

Scolded from multiple angles that now wasn’t the time, the “captain” reluctantly sat back down. The second prince of Fremmevilla, Emris, propped himself up on his elbow and furrowed his brow unhappily as he listened to the creepy creaking of the ship. “But all this is what we expected. This is exactly why we made the Golden Mane.”

Kid screamed back while clinging to the bucking steering wheel. “Well, sure! Agh, whatever! We already came out here on our own. I can’t even imagine how angry Lady Eleonora will be when we get back...”

“Don’t worry about it! We’ll just confirm the information and bring it back. This will be a boon—not just for us, but Kuscheperka too! Probably!”

“That was definitely an afterthought for you!”

There was no way their yelling would calm the storm down. The FRN Golden Mane was the newest and fastest ship, but it still couldn’t take on the biggest threats nature had to offer so easily.

Before long, Emris glared up at the sky swirling with the storm. He seemed sure of something now. “Hey, Kid, full speed ahead. Set the Magius Jet Thrusters to maximum output. We need to punch it!”

“Whaaat?! We really will wreck ourselves if we eat too much mana!”

“We’ll be fine as long as we can get through this! This is the last push.”

“Agggh, seriously?! I thought I was ready, but this is just awful!”

The crew raised the ship’s speed, half out of desperation. The groaning came with jets of explosive flame as the Golden Mane suddenly burst forward. Its sharp, swordlike hull cut through the gale winds, plunging onward despite the storm. Then, some time passed as the crew prayed...

...and suddenly, the sky in front was clear.

“Huh?! We’re through?!” Kid shouted.

“As expected of my Golden Mane! A storm of this size can’t stop us!” Emris said.

The storm lurked behind them, but their immediate surroundings were awfully peaceful and clear.

“Young master! Look there! Wow... Amazing...” someone shouted, and everyone looked at the scene unfolding beyond the window. Gently sloping land splayed out under them, a grand tapestry of forests and nature—but it ended unnaturally, becoming air.

Indeed. This land was surrounded by nothing but air. There was neither sea nor more land surrounding it.

“Ha... Ga ha ha... Honestly, part of me was thinking this was all just a tall tale.”

“And you still had us dive into that storm?!” Kid shouted.

Emris cleared his throat to distract from the accusing stares before puffing out his chest. “Well, anyway! We’re here, at the rumored floating continent! Okay, you louts, get ready to land!”

“Yeah!”

The world of humanity greatly expanded after the Grand Storm of the West thanks to the power of the levitating ship—first to the ends of the continent and over the sea, then to the unknown lands farther beyond.

This was a land of wonder that floated in the sky—a floating continent.

With a new continent beyond the sky as the stage, the curtains on a new upheaval were rising...

◆

It was morning. The sunlight highlighted the silhouette of the townscape. Of course, there weren’t many people on the streets; it was too early. This was the time when they were still slowly awakening, shivering from the residual cold.

A pattering of footsteps resounded down a particular hall. When its owner arrived in front of a particular room, she slowly pushed open the door and peeked in.

“Erniiieee... Wake uuuppp... Oh, you’re awake.” Only Addy’s head was inside the room, still covered by the door’s shadow. She immediately noticed that Ernie had already finished changing, and stopped all pretense, opening the door fully. “And here I was planning to kiss you awake. Boo.”

“You can’t do that after I’ve woken up?” Ernie asked, and she bounded over with a smile. She hugged him like always, and they exchanged a kiss. They stayed in each other’s arms for a while.

“Okay, charging complete! I’ll go cook breakfast now,” said Addy.

“That was quicker than I expected. Before, you would’ve grumbled and tried to stay like this a bit longer.” Ernie was confused when Addy easily broke the hug. Normally, this would raise a lot of questions, as it was very unusual given how she’d been up until now.

She simply flashed a smile. “It’s fine! We can just flirt it up at night!”

“Uh... Well, yeah, I guess...”

There was nothing Ernie could do about that. Their families were waiting too, so they had to hurry to the dining room.

The Echevalier family was more well-off than most, but their breakfasts tended to be simple. This was mostly due to how much effort cooking was. After everyone had gathered, they would immediately start eating.

Once Addy was finished helping Selestina clean up, she started preparing to leave. Ernie was ready to go already, dressed a bit too elaborately for just going to Fort Orvesius. Of course, their destination lay somewhere else.

“We’re going to the royal castle today, aren’t we?”

“Yes. I need to consult His Majesty about something.”

His business wasn’t anything big, but they still couldn’t very well have an audience with the king of Fremmevilla in their usual attire. Once they’d properly dressed themselves, they got into the Tzenndrimble and made for Konkaanen.

The capital wasn’t far from Laihiala—a Tzenndrimble covered that distance quickly. Once they arrived, they parked the Tzenndrimble and entered the castle. The people of the castle were already notified, so they easily let Ernie and Addy through and led them to a room. The pair relaxed there, and eventually King Leotamus arrived.

“I seem to have kept you waiting,” he said.

This wasn’t an official audience. Once their simplified greetings to the king were over, they quickly moved on to the main topic.

“Thank you for giving us your time today,” said Ernie. “I know you’re busy, so I’ll make this quick: This is about the other day.”

“Hmm... That matter?”

“Indeed. Our honeymoon!”

Yes. Their honeymoon.

Honeymoons were a relatively recent concept in Fremmevilla. But their main purpose was for nobles to introduce themselves to others. Normal citizens had nothing to do with the practice.

The reason was simple: Monsters prevented travel. Only those who could muster enough military might to protect themselves could move freely, which mainly meant nobles. On that point, while Ernie didn’t have a noble title, he had more than enough strength. In the first place, he was the strongest single knight in the entire kingdom. While him having a honeymoon was unusual, he did fill all the prerequisites.

Leotamus hemmed and hawed to himself with crossed arms for a small while, his brow furrowed. “I see, and this is a good time as well. The new knight orders have been doing well, so there isn’t much on your plate. However, the problem is where you want to go. Do you really intend to travel all the way to Kuscheperka?”

“We do. I fought there with my wife in the war, so we know a lot of people there. Also, my brother-in-law is there as a retainer to His Highness Prince Emris.”

While Ernie was all smiles, the king looked somewhat troubled. The honeymoon custom was real. But it was also rare for a honeymoon to take a couple to another country—that essentially only happened with royalty. So, Leotamus spent a while in thought, but eventually he let out a sigh and nodded.

“Very well. I suppose it is too late to say anything now. Certainly, you have played a big part in restoring their kingdom; they will not treat you unkindly. There is only one problem left.” The king narrowed his eyes. “If you go, you must leave Ikaruga behind.”

“How could you say that, Your Majesty?! And why?! Ikaruga is my family! It should go with me to greet them!” Ernie couldn’t help but jump out of his seat.

The king pushed him back down and sighed. “No, silhouette knights are nothing like that. As for why, you and it are far too powerful. Kuscheperka has been well on the path to full revitalization since the war. Their lands are also relatively peaceful. It is not a place where you bring something as strong as Ikaruga.”

Kuscheperka was certainly a friendly nation. However, entering their borders with a fighting force required proper procedures. Fremmevilla had been able to ignore this because the kingdom had been in crisis before, but normally it was not something one could do so easily.

“Also, if you are going to travel with silhouette knights, you’ll naturally need to maintain them. But who could possibly maintain Ikaruga? They may be a friendly nation, but we cannot reveal all our secrets.”

Silhouette knights were hungry beasts. Frequent maintenance was needed to keep up their abilities, which required human hands. Ikaruga was especially bad on that front, and there was a lot about its construction that was a secret.

That was why its maintenance was only done by its special team—the Order of the Silver Phoenix. That was why not even Ernesti could insist on bringing Ikaruga to his honeymoon. He continued to fret and ponder until the moment his last strand of resistance broke, and he reluctantly nodded.

“I understand. But going empty-handed would be nothing but reckless.”

“I know. You may take Kardetolles. Those will pose no problem being maintained by the other side.”

There were few problems with a Kardetolle in case of an emergency. They had participated in the Grand Storm of the West and were the basis of Kuscheperka’s Laevantias. Technologically, they were very close, and so there was nothing secret about them.

Ernie scowled a little, but he was convinced—if only barely. It was extremely disappointing that he couldn’t bring Ikaruga, but at least he could use a silhouette knight. He was no longer in danger of being forced to go without and face silhouette knight withdrawal.

Suddenly, Leotamus visibly relaxed. “I hesitate to ask you to take care of a personal matter, but would you be willing to check in on my fool of a son when you arrive? No need to do anything more than give him a greeting from me.”

“As you wish. I was always planning to report to His Highness Prince Emris, so I will do as you ask.”

“I’m counting on you.”

With the conversation over, Ernie and Addy left. However, he was still in thought, even in the Tzenndrimble on the way home.

“No schemes, Ernie. We can’t bring Ikaruga with us.” Addy gave him a steady stare, putting a nail in the coffin.

No matter how much Ernie wished for it, they couldn’t go against a direct order from the king. One might think that there was no danger of anything weird happening, given that silhouette knights were too big to sneak out, but Ernesti was involved, meaning nothing was guaranteed.

He put on an unnatural smile and looked back up at her. “I know. Of course I won’t ignore His Majesty’s orders. But...”

The moment Addy felt a spark of relief, Ernie’s next words brought back her wariness with full force.

“His Majesty ordered us to use Kardetolles...but he never said we couldn’t modify them.”

“You’re definitely splitting hairs at this point.” Addy pinched Ernie’s cheeks lightly. The king didn’t stop him, thinking it would be too harsh because he could see this coming. But Ernie wasn’t the type to stay quiet and accept restrictions as they were. He clenched his fists and happily accelerated the Tzenndrimble.

“In fact, since it’s going to be my partner for the time being, I need to make it easier to use. Now that that’s decided, I need to prepare for our trip. Come on, Addy, let’s hurry!”

“Uhhh...”

The centaur knight ran, carrying a scheming, runaway pilot.

◆

It took a month for all the preparations to be finished.

“It became a huge thing in the end. I wonder if we’ll really be okay...” Addy couldn’t suppress a sigh. The silhouette knight that was only vaguely familiar was parked in a kneeling position in front of her.

Though it still vaguely resembled a Kardetolle, its silhouette had changed drastically. Anyone who had been with the Order of the Silver Phoenix for a while would recall what used to be termed the captain’s “toy box.”

If anything, this new machine was like the next generation of that.

Addy thought back to how satisfied Ernie seemed to be and decided not to worry about it too much. It was important to be magnanimous.

A Tzenndrimble appeared from the rear of the workshop with a great noise. It was towing a carriage behind it. The just-finished silhouette knight stood up and slowly moved onto the carriage. Knightsmiths in silhouette gears wound steel wire around the machine with practiced speed, fixing it in place.

“Ah, Addy. With this, we’re ready,” said Ernie.

“Hmm... We’ve got a lot of luggage now.”

This Tzenndrimble would serve as their transport during their journey. One centaur knight with one carriage might have been a bit much for a personal trip, but it was actually quite modest for the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s captain.

“Well, whatever. Ah... Finally, I can have my honeymoon with Ernie. Heh heh heh heh...” Addy grinned and squirmed.

Suddenly, a shadow came over her. She looked up to see a large, four-eyed girl—the Parva Marga—staring down at her. The girl’s eyebrows were low, and she looked concerned. “Magister Ernie, Magister Addy. I feel like I should not be imposing myself upon this trip.”

She was currently balled up a little, making herself even smaller when she was already small for her species, and giving off a very apologetic air. Meanwhile, Nav was behind her, looking completely unconcerned.

“Why worry? It’s our duty to see and experience different things, isn’t it?” he said.

“Yeah, it’s totally fine. You’re both our disciples, after all! We gotta introduce you too!” Addy looked full of baseless confidence.

“If you say so, magister. I am also interested to see what lies beyond the mountains,” said the Parva Marga. She personally thought that it would be boorish to intrude on a couple of newlyweds. But, Nav aside, Addy herself seemed excited about this, so the Parva Marga thought that she might have simply been overly sensitive. As long as Addy was with Ernie, that was all that mattered to the girl, and it didn’t matter who else was around. This was obvious to see, given how they were playing around with each other and ignoring everyone else, even now.

“More importantly...you two will be the first astragali to cross the mountains,” said Ernie. “We will protect you as much as we can, but...”

“No need to look so worried. I may be small, but I am still a budding Marga. Also, I have the magia you taught me, magister,” the Parva Marga replied.

“And I’m here to protect the Parva Marga! I even got better at using silhouette arms! Just leave her safety to me!” Nav exclaimed.

Beyond the Auvinier Mountains was the Occidents, the place where humanity thrived—and they were going to bring a pair of duel-class giants there. The Kingdom of Kuscheperka might have been a friendly nation, but that didn’t mean the Fremmevillan delegation could act with total impunity.

“Her Majesty Queen Eleonora is interested in you too,” said Ernie. “We’re here as well, so don’t worry about the trip.”

The reason the two astragali were going to accompany them on their honeymoon was because of a request from the Kuscheperkan royalty after they’d been notified of the trip.

Just the other day, news of the astragali that had so shaken Fremmevilla had finally crossed the mountains into Kuscheperka. They’d even learned that the astragali had founded a country deep in the Great Bocuse Forest and that they had become friends with Fremmevilla. It was no wonder why Kuscheperka was interested. They wanted a chance to talk to the astragali too, and that was when they’d heard that Ernesti was coming on a trip. It was the perfect chance.

Though a mission had been stuck onto their honeymoon, Ernie and Addy didn’t mind. To them, the Parva Marga was basically family.

As an aside, nobody but the Parva Marga could have been sent to Kuscheperka. After all, the astragali were very warlike. Though they might not have seen it that way, their culture of duels they called “queries” made for a big gap in worldview. It might have been an influence from her teachers, but the Parva Marga’s personality was relatively temperate for an astragali, so it was only natural to pick her. Nav, of course, insisted on accompanying her as a guard, but that was within everyone’s expectations.

“The preparations for your departure are complete, Ernesti. Your orders, please.” Nora Frykberg of the Order of the Indigo Falcon approached Ernie and the others. As for why she was here... “Please rely on us for the duration of the trip. We will make sure not to embarrass ourselves as servants of His Majesty.”

“There’s no need to be so uptight. There may be a mission attached, but this is still just a trip.”

Only the newlyweds could actually think that this was a simple trip when they were crossing national borders.

Of course, Nora and her fellow knights were not mere servants. They were the group’s guards as well as sentinels for the astragali. Also, they were tasked with gathering information in the Occidents. When it came to accomplishing missions discreetly with a small force, there was no better than the Order of the Indigo Falcon.

“It’s been a while, and I hear that Kuscheperka’s been recovering well. Let’s have fun at our own pace!”

“Understood.” Nora nodded sincerely, giving no sign of her true mission.

◆

The group left Fort Orvesius and crossed the Auvinier Mountains within a day to stand on Kuscheperkan soil for the first time in a couple years.

As the carriage-towing Tzenndrimble approached, the border checkpoint grew noticeably more active. When it came to centaur knights and a flag bearing a silver phoenix with its wings spread, it would be too much to ask the Kuscheperkans to be calm. The flag belonged to the heroes of the Grand Storm of the West—the Order of the Silver Phoenix—and their influence had yet to fade. The knights guarding the checkpoint respectfully allowed the Tzenndrimble through.

“It’s an honor to meet the heroes who saved our kingdom!”

“We’re here on a personal trip, so please,” said Ernie.

While the entry formalities were being processed, gazes from all over stabbed into Ernie. The memories of the fierce god dashing across the battlefield were still fresh.

“Yes, sir! If that is the case, I will send a fast horse ahead of you. Her Majesty and His Excellency have been waiting for you.”

“Please do. We will be making our way at our own pace, while giving our greetings to people.”

“Understood!”

A horse ran out of the checkpoint. It was, of course, carrying a report for the queen, but it would also be stopping at various points on the way to inform others that Ernesti would be visiting.

During the early stages of the Grand Storm of the West, the eastern territories had been the main battlefield. And so, many people had been involved during that time. Though this was a personal trip, Ernie and Addy couldn’t very well ignore those people. They had a fair number of places they intended to visit.

The formalities were finished without a problem, and the group entered Kuscheperka. They were not in a hurry, so the Tzenndrimble walked at a leisurely pace.

Addy stretched while thinking of the acquaintances they would be meeting. “I wonder if Eleonora is doing okay. I hope Kid’s being a good knight for her!”

“Ha ha ha. I think it’ll be fine as long as the young master is keeping quiet.”

“I think that’s too much to ask. This is him we’re talking about, after all.”

This was just a light exchange they were having on the road. But oddly enough, their joking conversation was right on the mark.

◆

In Dervankhul, capital of New Kuscheperka, the shadows of a ruined kingdom had been wiped away, and now the city was peaceful and thriving.

That day, a silhouette knight was guided through the main street of the capital by a horse rider. If it had been a Laevantia—one of Kuscheperka’s formally adopted mass-produced machines—it would not have been a rare sight, but it wasn’t. A large commotion spread among the people as it passed.

“Look at that flag! That’s the Order of the Silver Phoenix!”

“Ohhh, so it’s one of our saviors. How reliable looking!”

“A Tzenndrimble! Just seeing it walk is so impressive!”

“It’s going to the castle. Must be to greet Her Majesty.”

Nobody was unfamiliar with the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s name, as they had played a great role in restoring Kuscheperka. Of all the rumors, the half-human, half-horse Tzenndrimble was overwhelmingly symbolic, and so was the most famous of the order’s silhouette knights.

The Silver Phoenix lay on the outside of common sense, but as allies, their fearsomeness turned into reliability. Cheers followed the Tzenndrimble as it walked.

“Glory to Kuscheperka!”

“Glory to Her Majesty!”

“And glory to the Order of the Silver Phoenix!”

The procession entered the castle, seen off by a cheering crowd.

◆

“It is good to see you well, Your Majesty,” said Ernie.

“It’s been too long, Sir Ernesti. I am glad to see you haven’t changed.”

Ernie and Addy reunited with a familiar face in the audience chamber of the royal castle. The current queen of Kuscheperka, Eleonora Miranda Kuscheperka, sat smiling on the throne.

“You are of the Silver Phoenix. Please, feel free to relax.” Martina Alt Kuscheperka, Eleonora’s aunt and guardian, nodded. They hadn’t seen each other since the Order of the Silver Phoenix had pulled out after the war.

At that time, the queen had still been desperately trying to cover her lack of ability. But now, she was totally calm, with a presence befitting someone of her station.

“It’s been too long! You look good, Helena!” Addy exclaimed. “Yep, you’re super queen-y now!”

“I am, thank you,” Eleonora replied. “I heard you came in a Tzenndrimble, Addy. You’re working hard as a knight runner, I see.”

“Of course! Also, I’ve got another cutie to add to Tzenny now!”

Some things change with time, and some stay the same. Eleonora had been keeping up her queenly aura thus far, but it quickly came crashing down as she revealed a more relaxed expression. The way they held hands showed how friendly they were.

“She’s a queen, Addy. You know that’s rude,” Ernie chided her softly.

“We don’t mind, Ernesti,” said Martina. “Rulers need breaks too. Also, you helped us through that war. No one will complain.”

Ernie had to wonder if they were being too informal with her, but since Martina allowed it, he let it slide.

It was a problem of station. And as she said, no one stopped them. In fact, they looked on warmly. In the meantime, conversation bloomed between the girls.

“...and also, we have a huge announcement today!” Addy said excitedly.

She smoothly sidled over to Ernie’s side and grabbed onto him like usual. Ernie put on a strained but knowing smile, and they both turned to face Eleonora.

“Uh, well, we got married,” he said. “So part of the reason we came all this way was to tell you.”

There was a beat where surprise reigned over the entire room. That quickly broke, though, and was replaced with shouts of celebration.

“My! Congratulations. That is wonderful news,” said Eleonora.

“Oh my. So you... Time sure does fly,” said Martina.

“Hee hee hee! I finally managed to catch Ernie! Now we’ll be together forever!”

“Okay, Addy. Calm down.”

Even if they were now married, it didn’t seem as if the way they acted around each other had changed. The somewhat nostalgic exchange had Eleonora break out with laughter. “You get along as well as always. I’m so jeal...ous...”

She suddenly trailed off, causing Ernie and Addy to exchange looks. She had been so happy just a moment ago.

He cocked his head and asked, “By the way, we must also greet His Highness Prince Emris. Where is he? Archid should be with him too. Erm...”

The moment he mentioned that name, Eleonora’s expression went completely blank. This finally made the situation clear. Ernie’s gaze swam in the air before he finally gave up and looked back at her.

“So,” he said after a long, long pause. “What did he do this time?” He had gone straight past suspicion; this was a confirmed fact.

While Eleonora’s shoulders drooped instantly, Martina opened her mouth, looking bone-tired. “That idiot and his knight decided to fly off in a ship.”

It turned out to be just your average, everyday international incident.

Ernie let out a big sigh. The mood in the audience chamber had turned strange. “Ugh, that prince. What does he think he’s doing?”

“I could say the same about Kid. Why didn’t he do his job and stop the young master?” Addy piled on.

“You say that, but given Kid’s position and strength, I doubt he could’ve,” Ernie countered.

“Hmm...”

Ernie and Addy were quite concerned, though both were ignoring that this was perfectly in line with their usual antics. Emris and Kid were acting too freely, even if they were in a friendly kingdom whose rulers were Emris’s relatives. Even Ernie was a little lost as to how to respond.

“Yes, exactly. There was nothing to be done. Sir Archid serves Prince Emris. That is why they left together... It’s not as if he left me behind! But maybe he could have resisted just a little more. Yes, just a little, I think!” Eleonora’s eyes weren’t focusing, and she had on a strange smile as she muttered under her breath.

Ernie and Addy looked at Martina, their gazes pleading her to save them, but she only averted her eyes with a smile.

Still, they couldn’t just allow Eleonora to go on. Ernie sighed, switched trains of thought, and bowed. “Errr... I deeply apologize for the actions of our i—young master.”

“It’s already well-known that he’s an idiot. Also, we owe your kingdom a lot. We would not censure him too strongly for a slight transgression, but... Well...”

Whether an entire levitating ship would count as a slight transgression would differ from person to person. As for Martina, she was on the side of wanting the queen to do something about it.

“In the first place, where did they go? Even our i—young master wouldn’t go too far...I don’t think.” Ernie had a thought that made him tilt his head. It was true that the Emris he knew was the type of person to charge forward whenever he found something interesting. In other words, there would have been a cause for this recklessness. He was absolutely right.

“Yes. Let us walk you through what happened.”

The group moved, after which Martina started telling them of a legend that was now spreading throughout the Occidents.

◆

“It all started around when the fighting stopped. The Jaloudek Kingdom’s decline saw the spread of levitating ship technology to the neighboring countries,” Martina said.

Jaloudek had been a big enough threat to bring Kuscheperka to ruin once. Both sides were desperate to bring in new technologies, but Jaloudek, on the verge of destruction, did not have the means to keep a lid on theirs.

“And so with a means to sail the great skies, people started to fly about with no heed to national borders,” she continued. “In the midst of this, there were some who struck out south over the ocean. There is no extra land to be claimed in the Occidents. Anyone who wanted to discover something new would naturally have to leave the continent.”

The flying ships Jaloudek had developed had great potential. There was no need for much improvement—just a straight imitation of them was enough to be a great driving force behind expansion.

“Some among those adventurers hit the jackpot. I heard they found an island in the ocean to the south.”

“The new land everybody had been wanting, huh? That’s very interesting, but is it really enough for His Highness to set off like that?” Ernie asked. Something didn’t quite click with him.

Martina slowly shook her head. “If it were just an island, it wouldn’t have been worth much attention. However, there is a truly interesting detail about it. That island, it... It flies.”

Silence fell across the room. Addy’s eyes were wide like saucers, while the smile disappeared from Ernie’s face.

“Did they really find a flying island?” Thinking about it wasn’t getting him anywhere, so he had no choice but to parrot the words back as a question.

Understanding how he felt, Martina nodded. “It sounds made-up, doesn’t it? But the rumor has spread through multiple countries. It’s a bit much to simply laugh and dismiss it.”

“Uhhh... I see! I think I understand what happened after, even if you don’t explain,” said Addy.

“The young master rushed away, saying that he would verify this story with his own eyes, and Kid was powerless to stop him, right?” Ernie said.

Martina’s wry smile was enough to give them their confirmation. Everyone let out a sigh.

“Even so...to go off without a word... He definitely could have said at least something,” Eleonora said unhappily.

“Uh, he probably—definitely—most likely feels at least a little guilty about that, I think. Yeah.” Addy scooted a noticeable distance away from Eleonora. The queen still didn’t seem satisfied by that.

After some thought, Ernie looked back up. “I understand what happened. The young master’s actions are a serious problem for our kingdom as well. As someone given a sword by His Majesty, it is my duty to admonish him.”

“That’s, well... Sir Ernesti, are you not newly wed? Are you sure you have the time?” Eleonora regained her senses in time to have her expression cloud over. She wanted to go out and find the runaway Emris—and, more importantly, Kid—but she and Martina had a duty to uphold. On that front, Ernie and Addy were free.

Ernie gently took Addy’s hand. “No need to worry. Our plans for our trip have only been extended somewhat. Right, Addy?”

“Exactly. Mmhmm, I’d be okay going anywhere as long as it’s with Ernie. Also, I need to have a word with Kid too! Leave it to us, Helena. We’ll drag him back even if I have to tie a rope around his neck!”

“My! If that happens, please hand the rope to me as well.”

“Huh? U-Uh, well... I’ll try...” Addy’s eyes swam. It seemed that caused her to get a little worried for her twin brother’s well-being.

Martina cleared her throat, simultaneously clearing the mood. “Well, either way, it would help us greatly if you were to take action. We can save the lectures for after they’ve returned.”

“Understood. We will take responsibility for the actions His Highness have taken as people of Fremmevilla.” Ernie smiled back to Martina, and so their plans were changed. Then, he regrouped and broached a new subject. “So our plans have changed somewhat, but...while this was a trip to tell people we’ve been wed, there is also someone we’d like you to meet, Your Majesty.”

Eleonora and Martina gasped. They had an inkling of what guests Ernesti had brought with him.

“Could it be...? I have heard that you met with a race of large people.”

“I have. You are completely correct, Your Majesty,” Ernesti replied.

Eleonora and Martina looked at each other. Their faces betrayed extreme hesitation and some curiosity. Eventually, the queen stood. Her aura had completely changed—she held herself now as a ruler of a nation.

“I will go to meet them. I must first know what kind of people they are. Also...it’s not as if my visitors this time will be rude invaders.”

That got Ernie to smile.

After that, the group went to where the silhouette knights were parked. The Parva Marga and Nav should have been waiting in the carriage.

On the way, Ernie softly muttered, “Nora.”

“Right here,” she replied after a moment. She had appeared behind him, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Send a message back home...and tell them we’re going to go and drag our idiot—HisHighness—back. Also, tell them to prepare for either the Order of the White Heron or the Order of the Crimson Peregrine to deploy. Please.”

“I will send someone to deliver the message,” said Nora. “But, Sir Ernesti, do you believe a battle will break out?”

While delivering a message was all well and good, readying a knight order was not. That kind of order was definitely reserved for when a battle was on the horizon.

“We are heading to a place claimed by none but sought after by many. It would be nice if we could drag the young master back, but...we don’t know who we’ll encounter on the way.”

“Understood.”

With that one word, Ernie felt the presence behind him disappear. The Order of the Indigo Falcon was skilled; the message would probably get home quickly.

“This is becoming really big, isn’t it?” Ernie said.

“Isn’t this just the usual? Anyway, Kid’s so pathetic,” Addy said. “He should have done more to stop the young master!”

“Kid’s pretty weak to the flow. There’s a large chance His Highness knew that, which was why he brought him along.”

Emris tended to rush headlong into things, but he was also surprisingly thoughtful. Being strangely well prepared in weird situations was probably something he got from the previous king. Ernie sincerely wished that the man would use that skill for something other than petty schemes, which showed how much Ernie was ignoring his own actions.

◆

That day, the queen appeared in the silhouette knight parking area in a very rare show. Of course she wouldn’t come during work hours, but even if she were to have an outing, she wasn’t likely to visit the parking area. The reason the queen had to come despite this was because her guests had some special circumstances.

The knightsmiths who were usually working in the area moved to make room for the knights. The silhouette knights lined up in the parking area all had a single knight runner standing by beside them. This scene was proposed by the captain of the Order of the Silver Phoenix. The trust placed in him was great, but that was still no reason to do away with any precautions.

When Ernie appeared, accompanying the queen, the beings sitting in the carriage stood. They were a bit smaller than a standard silhouette knight but bigger than silhouette gears. They saw the approaching group and removed their disguise helmets.

Eleonora let out a noise of shock. “Ah, so these...are the astragali,” she muttered, trembling. The beings that were revealed resembled humans but were definitely not.

A girl with four eyes looked back at her. “It is good to see you for the first time. I am the Parva Marga of Genos De Caelleus. You are this...country’s...leader, yes?”

“I’m Nav, from the same genos! I’m just a guard, so please talk to the Parva Marga instead of me.”

A long breath, not unlike a sigh, came from the knights. They could understand language. While their speech was unique, they could be understood. It was possible to communicate with such large, almost inhuman beings. This was a new experience for all of them.

Eleonora took a step forward. “I am Eleonora Miranda Kuscheperka, the queen of this nation. You...astragali...may I call you by your names?”

The Parva Marga nodded and slowly walked forward. Tension ran through the crowd when they saw her approach Eleonora. It was clear that the Laevantias around them moved.

“Your Majesty, please step back. We will stop the giant.”

“No...do not do that. They are trying to forge a new bond with us. We cannot move forward if all we do is cower in fear,” said Eleonora.

“But—!”

There was no doubt that astragali were mysterious beings. That was why Eleonora turned to Ernie; he knew everything she needed to learn.

“Sir Ernesti,” she said.

Ernie nodded and approached the Parva Marga. He nimbly jumped up to her shoulder, using the hand she extended as footing. Then, he sat down. It seemed they were both used to this, like they’d done it a million times.

“Please be at ease, everyone. They are not dangerous. After all, the Parva Marga is my disciple,” said Ernie.

There was a long pause before Eleonora said, “Disciple?”

It wasn’t just her. Martina and the knights were all taken aback. Astragali were unknown creatures to them, but that wasn’t the case for Ernie and Addy. That was why they could act so familiar.

Eleonora’s gaze bounced between the tiny Ernie and the large giant girl. Ernie should have only met these astragali recently, and yet he claimed she was his disciple. It was truly perplexing.

However, Ernesti was always doing strange things. Considering that, Eleonora finally let out a quiet giggle. This surprised everyone around her, but it served to erase their hesitation. They approached the Parva Marga without fear.

The Parva Marga lowered herself and sat on the spot, allowing their eye levels to be a lot closer. Eleonora sucked in a large breath and calmed down. This was like when she’d stepped onto the battlefield in the past—though she might have been much more nervous this time.

Ernie nodded from his position on the Parva Marga’s shoulder. The leader of the Silver Phoenix would help, just like before. This was more heartening than anything to the queen.

The Parva Marga had four eyes. This at first seemed eerie to her, but now that she was getting a closer look, those eyes looked intelligent and peaceful. She was definitely not a violent being. What’s more, the astragali herself desired to talk. So as a queen, Eleonora felt she had to respond to that.

She hardened her resolve. “We are of different species, but we can talk to each other. We are in the midst of a great upheaval, and this meeting must be a part of that.”

The Parva Marga happily narrowed her eyes. “We only live in the forest. However, your human countries... You may see those who have set off to see different sights coming through Fremmevilla.” She slowly extended her hand. “And so, we desire to walk alongside humans. We wish to see the same sights, and not let the difference in our sizes get in the way.”

“I think that is wonderful.” Eleonora smiled and took the large hand in her own.

Chapter 79: Setting Foot on the Floating Land

The ship, shaped like a sharp sword, cut through the hanging clouds.

“Hwachoo!”

A loud sneeze resounded across the bridge of the Golden Mane. Emris leaned back in the captain’s chair as Kid furrowed his brow at the helm.

“What’s wrong, Kid?” he asked. “You caught a cold here of all places?”

“Uh, I dunno,” Kid answered. “It’s pretty cold up here.”

“Hey now, we’re about to partake in the main dish. Now’s not the time for this.”

“I know, I’ll be careful. But...” Archid trailed off as he turned to look outside the window at the sprawling land before them. It was surprisingly hilly. The land mass was also large, with dense forests that seemed to stretch on forever.

If that was all, though, they could have just gone anywhere in Fremmevilla or the Occidents to see the same sights.

“I was disappointed that there wasn’t really anything special about this place,” said Kid. “It’s as if some random chunk of land just up and started flying.”

“We don’t know whether it was always flying or if it just floated up at some point. Either way! First, we must step on the land ourselves!” Emris punched his palm with impatience, eliciting exasperated looks from the rest of the bridge crew.

The normal scenery actually made the floating continent seem even odder. This was a strange land unreachable if not for the power of levitating ships, which was exactly what had drawn them here.

“Wait a second, young master. Please use your head at least a little. You know it’s gotta be dangerous out there,” said Kid. “This isn’t the Occidents—there haven’t been any people here ever. We can’t even begin to predict what could be waiting for us.”

“That’s why we came all this way, isn’t it? Did you forget already?”

“No! I’m telling you not to just hurl yourself out there!”

Emris grumbled and sank into the captain’s chair. The sight of him with his eyes closed and arms crossed was fairly majestic, but everyone knew he was thinking of something stupid and were appropriately on edge. Truly a testament to his people skills.

Eventually, Emris opened an eye. “Still, we came here with only one ship. We don’t have enough people to be too cautious.”

“Honestly, I think it’s amazing we made it this far...”

“This is partially thanks to you too, you know? That being said, can you really say you’ll be satisfied just looking from up here?”

Kid didn’t reply immediately—Emris was making a good point. He didn’t like the idea of not setting foot on new land when it was right there. He would never have come if he weren’t the type to have the prospect of adventure set his heart ablaze. Everyone here was united in wanting to experience this “land of the sky.”

After a long pause, Kid finally said, “I understand. But you need to stay here, young master. We’ll survey it for you.”

“What?! That’s not fair, Kid. I won’t let you have the first step!” Emris yelled.

“Just shut up and stay here! The general needs to stay alive to lead!”

Emris loved being the first into the breach, so he was very reluctant on this front, but he relented because the entire bridge crew was in line with Kid. If one thought calmly, there was a high probability someone had already stepped foot on this land because the rumors had spread so far in the Occidents. They just hadn’t thought of that in their excitement.

At any rate...

It was out of the question for the captain of the ship and second prince of Fremmevilla to lead the way. So, Kid was next in line. Considering his abilities, he was the best choice too. What’s more, he had a special skill that was perfect for situations like this.

The ship slowed down and gradually descended near one of the floating forests. From above, it looked like a totally normal expanse of trees. The hangar at the stern of the ship slowly opened up, and the view only got wider.

Kid decided to peek out the edge to fire himself up. “It doesn’t seem like there are any monsters around for now... Okay, let’s take a run around!”

“Yessir!”

With Kid as the lead, several knights jumped out of the ship. Not unassisted, of course—they were wearing silhouette gears.

The large suits of armor safely landed with the help of the Aero Thrust spell, and the party started curiously testing their footing.

“Ohhh, it’s solid land. It feels even more firm than the deck of the ship.”

“I was a little worried it would be as light as air.”

They were on a piece of land floating in the sky, after all. Even if it looked like ground, they couldn’t be completely sure. And it didn’t seem like they were upsetting the balance of the land mass with just a few people landing on it.

“Yeah, you’re right. This isn’t solid ground,” Kid said.

They looked around once again. Starting with Kid’s, each of their expressions shifted to surprise. The forest seemed completely normal from the air, but now that they were on “ground” level, they realized it was really strange.

“What’s this? There’s something leaking out. Rainbow...light?”

The trees of the forest were decidedly not normal. They emitted rainbow light from several spots in their bark, and not with uniform brightness either. This was not something one would see with typical groundbound trees, and they found it both mystical and creepy.

Suddenly, one of the knights had a thought. “This kind of looks like the light from the Etheric Levitator, doesn’t it?”

“Huh? So you’re saying these trees are what make the land float? Then cutting them down might make us crash-land,” said Kid.

He and the knights shivered and exchanged looks. They couldn’t be sure that was the case, but it definitely seemed possible. After that, everyone kept a distance from the trees.

“Ah, well, let’s just be careful for now. And we should keep looking around—” Before Kid could finish his sentence, there was sudden movement from the FRN Golden Mane. More knights wearing silhouette gears jumped from the ship and descended to their position.

“Message for you! Another ship has been sighted. All hands are to return!”

“What?! Agh, damn! So we can’t even explore at our own pace?”

They had just disembarked and hadn’t even done anything yet. While grumbling about the terrible timing, Kid and the initial group immediately made to return. They grabbed onto the chains hanging from the ship and were yanked up with a speed that would make one think they were weightless.

Once the silhouette gear squad returned, the Golden Mane immediately activated its thrusters. Kid tore off his silhouette gear in the hangar before hurrying back to the bridge.

“There’s another ship?” he asked. “Of course there is. Why wouldn’t there be people here who beat us to the punch? So, young master, what do you want to do?”

“Dunno. We haven’t even confirmed what flags they’re flying. But they don’t seem peaceful.” With that, Emris let Kid have a turn at the telescope.

When he looked in, he definitely saw the figure of another ship. Because it was far away, he couldn’t make out any details, including any insignias that would denote its allegiance. However, there was another oddity that was clear. “Wait, is that... Is it getting attacked?!”

There were birdlike objects swarming around the other levitating ship. What’s more, they were far too big to be regular birds. After all, they were clearly visible even from this distance and comparable in size to the ship itself. They were no doubt duel-class monsters.

“So there really are monsters here. And flying ones at that,” said Kid.

“The ground itself is flying. Why wouldn’t the monsters?”

“I don’t think that logic really passes, but whatever.”

This continued for a short while, but eventually Emris turned around and started shouting orders. “We should wait and see for now. There’s no guarantee that ship is friendly. But there’s also the possibility that those monsters might just happen to notice us. Prepare for aerial combat, everyone!”

“Yessir!”

The crew quickly took their places. The Golden Mane’s armor opened up on either side of it, revealing point-defense silhouette knights. This ship was equipped with two on each side for a total of four.

The rear thrusters spat out even more fire as the ship accelerated. They advanced, putting more distance between them and the mystery vessel.

The observation officer shouted, “Look! The ship!”

Everyone turned to look at once.

As they watched, the mystery ship started to list. The occasional flash looked to be magic phenomena from the monsters, and from what they could see, there were explosions happening where the smoke was coming from the ship. The mystery ship was taking more and more damage, until finally it reached its limit. An especially large flash happened, and it dropped from the sky.

“Those flying monsters are trouble. We need to put more distance between us,” Emris grumbled unhappily. The Golden Mane continued to retreat with all speed.

Right after the bridge began to relax somewhat, a frantic scream from the observation officer came through the speaking tube. “This is bad, young master. They found us! They’re turning around!”

“What? They’ve got good eyesight. But this ship is quick. We might be able to shake them off—” Emris said.

“That won’t work! Those monsters are fast!”

The monsters turned and set their sights for their next prey without even confirming the death of the mystery ship. They flew like the wind, swiftly closing the distance. The Golden Mane used Magius Jet Thrusters as its main method of locomotion, and it boasted greater speed than most levitating ships. If the monsters were catching up to it, pretty much no levitating ship could escape.

“They’re awfully fast—must be the size difference. Change our facing, we’re going to intercept them!” Emris realized they wouldn’t be able to escape, so he quickly formulated a new plan and made his orders.

The boat started to rotate, attempting to turn its broadsides toward the approaching monsters. They needed to avoid allowing their stern, which housed their thrusters, to be attacked, and this angle made it easier for the ship to fight anyway. If the beasts were definitely going to catch up, it was better for the Golden Mane to meet them from an advantageous position.

There were a total of five monsters chasing after the ship. The largest one that seemed to be leading the flock flew at the front, with the other four following.

Emris groaned as he looked through the telescope. “This is bad. They don’t look like your average bird. They’ve got too many legs!”

The monsters flapped their wings as they raced through the air. Their heads, which were stuck out in front of them, were tipped with sharp-looking beaks that resembled an eagle’s. They had large wings that were nearly as wide as they were long, with a still large body underneath. Also, they had four legs, like terrestrial beasts.

These were gryphons, fierce hunters of the sky.

“I’ve never seen these monsters before. But that shape... If we’re careless, they could get on top of or into the ship,” said Emris.

If these monsters were simple birds, the ship could have dealt with them. However, their strange shapes were supported by powerful Physical Boost magic. That was why monsters of duel-class or greater were so threatening.

“Hey, switch with me!” Kid entrusted the helm to another crew member and turned to Emris. “Yes, this is a bad situation, young master. I’ll go help with the defense. I’m going to borrow a Kardetolle!”

“Hmm? Then I should take my Goldleo and—” Emris started.

“Just shut up and sit down, boss!” Kid yelled back.

“Grrr...”

Kid managed to sit the dissatisfied Emris down in the captain’s chair before running off for the hangar. “This is a pickle. If I mess up, the young master’s definitely going to come out swinging.”

He grumbled as he hopped into one of the spare Kardetolles packed into the ship. As for the Tzenndrimble he normally piloted, it was being used as this ship’s main source of mana, so it couldn’t be deployed.

A corner of Kid’s heart lamented this situation—fighting aerial enemies would be so much easier with the Tzenndrimble’s VLJT—but now wasn’t the time to ask for the impossible.

“I’m going up!” he shouted.

The loud creaking of gears resounded as the elevator rose, bringing Kid’s Kardetolle to the upper deck. He swiveled his machine’s head around and saw that the monsters had finally drawn near.

“Intercept them! Don’t let them get close!” Kid’s shout saw the Lesvant Viedes on either side of the ship to start firing. They were equipped with multiple silhouette arms and had large enough mana pools to fire them all at the same time.

Trails of fire crisscrossed the sky, but naturally the gryphons weren’t fool enough to fly straight into the curtain of flame. They scattered, diverting around the spellfire while attempting to approach.

“We see you!” Kid shouted as he activated his Kardetolle’s back weapon. Though his machine didn’t sport as much long-range firepower as the Lesvant Viedes, it was enough to fill the gaps. The fiery projectiles grazed past the monsters’ beaks and stopped them in their tracks.

The monsters squawked unhappily and continued to try to slip through the attacks. They were proving to be extremely agile for their size.

“Damn. Flying monsters really are so annoying!” Kid shouted.

“Don’t give up! We need to prevent them from hitting the ship no matter what!”

The ship wouldn’t hold if monsters of that size and strength were to grab on. Though it was cutting edge, there was still a limit to a levitating ship’s durability. That was why Emris was so wary.

The curtain of fire put out by the silhouette knights was endless, and the monsters couldn’t quite find an avenue of attack. But the Golden Mane also couldn’t shake off its pursuers. Both sides were lacking a deciding factor.

The first side to bring change was the monsters. The large gryphon that looked like the leader forcefully charged through the curtain of spellfire.

“Ha ha! So in the end, you’ve still got a bird brain. Concentrate your fire on that one—we’re bringing it down now!” Emris shouted.

The silhouette knights immediately did so. But Kid’s eyes widened when he saw what lay on the other side of the fire. “What the heck is that?!”

The leader-looking one was not just larger than the rest of the pack; it was exceptionally larger. But its size alone wasn’t what was so strange.

It had three heads.

This strange monster—a cerbergryphon, if it must be named—glared at the fire and opened all its mouths at once. The faint light of magic started growing within.

One head spewed wind, a swirling and raging gale. One spewed fire, fierce flames that burned the very air. And one spewed lightning, causing bright flashes to run through the sky. This specimen was truly worthy of the moniker of monster, as each of its fierce magicks easily blew away the incoming spellfire.

“That thing’s dangerous! But don’t think we’ll be done in so easily!” Kid had his Kardetolle take a stance with its sword and shield in response to the incoming torrent of magic.

It rapidly fired its back weapons, managing to cancel out the cerbergryphon’s wind with bursting overspells. Then, it held up its shield and caught the lightning. A silhouette knight’s shield was made to be proof against overspells. The inner side of it was lined with material to insulate it from magic, protecting the user. The raging lightning jumped to the ship and dispersed. The last attack to deal with was the fire, and Kid’s Kardetolle cut it apart with its sword.

Having cleared the fearsome attack, Kid glared at his enemy. “It— It’s coming!”

A single gryphon charged through the space opened by the cerbergryphon. It shook off the spellfire from the Lesvant Viedes and went straight for the ship. So, Kid’s Kardetolle ran across the upper deck.

“I won’t let you!”

It held up its shield and blocked the gryphon’s path. The monster spread its wings and tried to forcefully change direction. It seemed to slide in the air and come at the Kardetolle from the side.

The Kardetolle’s back weapons glowed as it launched its spellfire. With a big flap of its wings, the gryphon dodged the attack. Then it let out a shrill shriek as it swiped with its sharp claws. The Kardetolle ducked.

“Those big wings are a blind spot for you, aren’t they?!” Kid shouted.

The Kardetolle shot back up, rushing behind the gryphon at the same time. It raised its sword and attacked the monster’s unprotected back as it went by, but...

“What?! That’s—” Kid started. He was shocked by what he saw through the holomonitor. Something was there, at the tip of his machine’s blade. Something on the gryphon’s back. It looked like a saddle. Clearly artificially made by someone and attached to the monster. But more than that, there was a being sitting in it.

“Th-There’s a person?! Why is that person riding a monster?!”

Confusion and shock dulled the movement of Kid’s blade. The opening lasted only a heartbeat, but the gryphon was able to make use of it to attack. It flapped its wings to whip up a fierce wind, instantly accelerating away from the ship.

“Guh... I made a mistake. I need to focus! Even if it’s being ridden by a ‘human,’ they attacked us.”

Kid clenched his control yokes harder. He’d let the best chance he’d likely ever get to finish this fight slip away, and though he ground his teeth at the thought, it didn’t take long for him to switch tacks. He would only be surprised once.

Still, his opponent retaliated before he could fully regroup. The cerbergryphon attacked Kid’s Kardetolle. It was quite a bit larger than a normal gryphon, so of course the power behind its charge was incomparable.

The Kardetolle didn’t have the leeway to intercept. It barely managed to get its shield up, but it wasn’t enough to kill all the mass and momentum behind the attack. Metal crumpled and crystal tissue shattered with a horrible sound. Both sides soared across the deck and into the air.

“Ah, crap...” Kid muttered.

The cerbergryphon spread its wings and flew. But what about the Kardetolle? It didn’t have Magius Jet Thrusters. Neither did it have wire anchors. So, it had no means to travel through the skies. All that was left to it was to fall and die.

“Damn...it aaalll!” Kid yelled before kicking the emergency release lever hard. The torso armor covering the cockpit was forcefully ejected, thrown out into the air in front of him. He released the seat belt and jumped out as well.

With gunlike staff in hand, Kid used the falling Kardetolle as footing to jump. He cast Aero Thrust, shooting himself up.

Powerful wind tossed Kid up. The roaring of the air only lasted a moment before he plugged his ears. He described a large arc, aiming for the deck of the ship—but before he could land safely, the cerbergryphon got in his way.

It was a duel-class monster. A normal human was far too small to match something that would normally need a silhouette knight. Just a flap of its wings would be lethal.

“Graaahhh!”

Kid attempted to escape using Aero Thrust coupled with Air Suspension. Taking a direct hit might turn him into mincemeat. The gathered air protected Kid’s body—but it was not enough.

The gryphon’s wing was merciless as it burst right through the air cushion. Kid’s body was sent flying like a leaf in the wind, twirling and spinning as he fell.

Then, the gryphon that had run away returned. It opened its large beak and flew at the falling Kid...

◆

“Hey, what happened to Kid?!” Emris asked, his face pale.

“It looked like he managed to escape, but I don’t know what’s happening on the upper deck!”

They could see the Kardetolle fall from the bridge. The only one fighting in a silhouette knight was Kid. And on top of that, the answer Emris got was not a good one. Spellfire was being exchanged with the monsters up on deck, so it was too dangerous to send anyone up there.

“He’s his apprentice. I know he won’t go down that easily, but...” Emris clenched his jaw. He wanted to go out in Goldleo, but the crew was stopping him. Yet the situation didn’t stay like that for long.

The persistently attacking monsters actually started to move away from the ship.

“Did they give up, or is this the limit of their territory? I don’t know, but this is our chance. We’re going to withdraw at full speed! And someone go pick Kid up from the upper deck!” Emris immediately shouted.

“R-Roger!”

The bridge crew hurriedly took action. The Golden Mane spewed a long jet of flame as it fled.

Emris let out a sigh and sank into the captain’s chair. Then, as he was checking their losses, the crew member who had gone to the deck returned with a pale face.

“Young master! I didn’t... I didn’t see Kid anywhere,” he almost screamed.

Emris jumped up, his eyes wide.

◆

Winged monsters proceeded along the strange forest that sparkled in rainbow colors. The group was made of gryphons led by a larger, three-headed gryphon.

They were flying low with their wings spread, almost grazing the trees. One of them was lagging behind the others. The reason was obvious: It alone carefully carried something—something humanoid—in its beak.

The gryphons were saddled with riders atop them, and the rider of that lone gryphon was staring at that humanoid.

Chapter 80: The Knight and the Girl’s Pleasant Prisoner Life

A gentle wind tickled his skin. He could feel soft sheets with his hands. Kid slowly regained consciousness, and he opened his eyes...

He gasped. “What happened to the ship?! And the monsters?!”

Spurred by panic, he bolted upright. The sheets on top of him were sent flying, and he saw the room he was in.

“Wait, where am I?” Kid shook his head to clear his mind.

This clearly wasn’t his room on the Golden Mane, which he’d been staying in for a while. In fact, he didn’t recognize anything about this room.

The walls and floor were wood, but when he looked closer, he couldn’t see any seams of wood being connected or placed together. It was as if the entire thing had been carved out of one giant block. Hesitantly, he looked down, and he saw that his bed was also strange. Instead of being placed there after the fact, it was like a lump protruding out of the floor. The bedding felt like cotton and was filled with dried leaves for cushioning. No matter how much Kid looked around, he could see no stones or metal anywhere.

He tried to twist his perspective and rack his mind however he could, but none of his efforts bore any fruit. He’d never seen anything like this in Fremmevilla, Kuscheperka, or anywhere in the Occidents for that matter. It was totally alien.

“In the first place, I’m amazed I’m unhurt after falling from the sky.”

Kid gave his body a once-over, and he seemed to be in good health. He was hungry and thirsty, but it wasn’t bad enough that he would fall over at any moment.

He slowly stood. He was a little unsteady on his feet, but he managed to make his way to the window—what was probably a window, anyway. It was a rounded part like a hollow in a tree. There was even a thin cloth covering that turned out to actually be a thin, slightly transparent leaf. It was a little rough to the touch, but Kid pushed on it to see what lay outside...

“Seriously... Where am I?” He stood frozen, his mouth agape at what he saw.

He was expecting a gathered mass of buildings, but that expectation was immediately betrayed. He was surrounded by trees cloaked in rainbow light—the same as the trees he’d seen on the floating island. Judging from the density of the trees, he had to be somewhere deep in one of those forests.

Then, Kid fearfully looked down. He had thought he was in a room built on solid ground, but then he felt the wind blow by. Judging from his distance to the surface, it seemed his room was built on top of a tree—or hollowed out of one.

“I don’t really get it, but I take it this means there are people living on this floating land.”

There were homes—homes placed together like a town. This grouping would naturally join with others to be called a country. This flying piece of land was not as untrodden as was once thought. And Kid had been captured by these natives.

“Those monsters... Were these people using them? If so, I wonder if the ship is okay.” Kid thought back to the flying monsters, big enough to be duel-class or more. They were enough of a threat to seriously endanger a levitating ship equipped with point-defense silhouette knights. If such powerful monsters were in the service of people, that would make them an even bigger threat.

Kid needed to bring this information back no matter what. He racked his brain, trying to think of a method to do so. Then, he heard a faint creaking from behind him. He was so distracted by the scenery that he’d missed the presence at the entrance.

He turned around in a panic and locked eyes with the girl who had just entered. She reflexively stopped as well.

To Kid, she looked human, at least.

She was somewhat shorter than him. Her skin was pale, and her hair was long. Like this room, her clothes were simple and made of processed plants. She was carrying a tray in her hands.

She must have thought Kid would still be sleeping, as her eyes widened when she saw him standing by the window.

“Uh, erm... Did you save—” he started, thinking they shouldn’t just stand there staring at each other. The moment he did, the girl suddenly jumped forward, her movements crisp. She threw away the tray and closed the distance between them in a straight line. Kid responded with pure reflexes, obeying the instincts embedded in his body to reach for his waist.

“Wha— It’s not there?!” he shouted. His hands had come up empty. He looked down in surprise to see neither the gunlike staff he’d been wearing nor its holster. He should have expected this, since he’d been in a bed, but it was a lethal opening in this situation.

The girl stuck out her hand, aiming for his throat. The thrust was sharp and fast, and it seemed like it might pierce through his neck despite her being empty-handed, but she stopped just short.

Kid could feel the cool touch of her fingers on his skin. Her fingertips were not deadly weapons, but they were still touching his throat. He slowly raised his hands so as to not alarm her.

This was to communicate that he wouldn’t resist, and it seemed this got through to the girl. Her sharp gaze pinned him in place from close range, but she stopped. A beat passed with both of them frozen, staring at each other.

“You’re the one who saved me—” Kid breathed.

“Be quiet.”

He immediately closed his mouth. The question he was about to raise might have been rude, but her response was overly harsh. Kid lamented internally. If only he didn’t have those fingers to his throat, he could have tried being more eloquent. Then, the girl seemed to have thought of something, as she withdrew her hand. She was still wary of him, but the fact that she was no longer openly aggressive was a source of relief.

The girl retreated toward the door. Kid stayed quiet and saw her off, his hands still raised.

“Do not do anything unnecessary.” With those words, she disappeared beyond the door. Immediately after, Kid heard heavy scraping from beyond.

“Oh come on, they bolted it? They’re really careful, huh?” Kid couldn’t help but sigh. It seemed he was not a welcome guest. “Which means this definitely has something to do with the monsters. I mean, we did point our swords at them, but they were the ones who attacked first!”

He checked around on his person and the room for his belongings and discovered that not a single thing remained, let alone his gunlike staff. He’d expected this, but they were definitely thorough.

“No matter what I do, I’ll have to conserve my energy. And...I’m hungry.”

He had no idea how much time had passed since he’d fallen from the ship, but he’d been feeling hungry this entire time. Still, he couldn’t make any moves while he had yet to understand the situation, so he decided to go back to bed.

A little while later, the heavy sound came from the door again. Kid got up and waited, wondering who would be on the other side this time.

Soon enough, the door opened to reveal a large and solidly built man. Kid looked up, taken aback. The only point of comparison he had was Emris, but the man in front of him looked even larger. The biggest difference was that this one had hair reaching down past his waist.

The girl from before came after the man, almost hidden by his shadow. As before, she glared at Kid with a sharp gaze. The large man stopped and looked down at him, not moving a muscle when they locked eyes.

“Could we...talk?” Kid ventured, keeping the girl in sight. Given what had happened earlier, getting attacked out of nowhere was a real possibility he wanted to avoid.

Instead of nodding or anything, the man opened his mouth. “I am Suojiro, who holds the position of Wind Reader.”

“Ah... I am a knight runner belonging to the Order of the Silver Phoenix of the Kingdom of Fremmevilla. My name is Archid Alter.”

Kid wondered if the people living here even knew of the Occidents. He didn’t expect them to understand his titles, but since the man had introduced himself, he had to return the gesture.

The man did not display any outward reaction. Instead, after a long bout of silence, he just opened his mouth again. “I know that you surface dwellers gather to form many different flocks and have been creating your little nests all this time. But what have you come to hunt up here?”

Kid paused to consider his reply. “An adventure.”

The man used his gaze to bid him continue, so Kid reluctantly explained. “This is the land that floats in the sky, right? We only discovered this place recently. So the young master... Ah, that means my boss. He wanted to go on an adventure to this unknown land.”

Suojiro’s lack of reaction made things so hard. The girl wasn’t making any attempt to hide her exasperated expression, so Kid actually felt more at ease with her.

“So we just used a levitating ship to forge past the storm when those monsters—” Kid paused to correct himself. “Those four-legged birds attacked us. Do you need any more explanation than that?”

“No. I understand well that you are fools who would offer your necks to gryphons,” said the man.

“Well, that’s hard to argue...” It was true that this situation was a result of how brazenly they’d approached this whole ordeal. In a sulky tone, he asked, “So? What do you and those...‘gryphons’ plan to do with me?”

“Nothing. Now that we know your goals, we have no business with you.”

“Then can I go home?”

“No. We have no reason to forgive trespassers.”

“Thought not.” Kid tensed up a little. He was empty-handed without his staff, and he was up against a large man who was probably formidable when it came to melee combat. He didn’t believe he could put up a good fight, but he also couldn’t afford to do nothing.

Surprisingly, though, Suojiro promptly turned on his heel. “Take care of him, Hogara. You captured this prey, so he is your responsibility.”

“Wha—?! Suojiro?! I don’t—” The girl called Hogara, clearly unhappy with this arrangement, attempted to argue, but she closed her mouth when she got a good look at Suojiro. Instead, she turned to look begrudgingly at Kid, who shrugged as if to say this wasn’t his fault.

“Listen here: Do not do anything unnecessary. Don’t cause any trouble for me!” the girl spat before quickly chasing after Suojiro. She seemed to be in a hurry, but she still made sure to drop the bolt on the door.

“So they’re going to totally ignore what I want? Well, I guess I am a prisoner. That reminds me...I forgot to ask for food.” With no idea what to do next, Kid flopped back on his bed. The situation was not going to improve, but he also wasn’t in danger of dying. “I guess I’m fine, as long as I don’t starve to death.”

Just as he sighed, Kid heard something faintly and got up again. “Huh?”

Then, he came eye to eye with its source.

The door was still closed, so any visitor would have had to come from the window. Indeed, there was a head popping in through that opening. “Hey, are you really a surface dweller? Wow, that’s so cool! This is the first time I’ve seen one. Huh, so that’s what they look like...”

“Oh come on, don’t surprise me like that,” said Kid.

The new visitor was a smiling girl who was looking him up and down. She looked younger than the Hogara girl, and though the air about her was completely different from Hogara, she also wore her hair very long. It seemed to be a characteristic of this group of people.

The girl had at some point come to sit on the lip of the window, continuing to observe Kid from head to toe. Unlike Hogara, who constantly fixed him with a glare, this girl’s eyes were filled with curiosity.

“Hey, hey, is it true that surface dwellers can’t fly? Then how do you move your nests? Ah, are your nests in the ground too?” she asked.

“Will you listen to me?! Of course we can’t, though if I had my staff, maybe...” Kid started to answer, but something caught inside of him. He quickly found the reason. When he’d looked out the window earlier, he’d seen that this room was pretty high up. So how did a girl like her manage to get up to the window?

Heedless of Kid’s gradually stiffening expression, the girl seemed to have thought of something and clapped. “I see! Then you just need that staff thing of yours!”

“Huh? Well, yeah, but...”

“Then wait just a second, please!” With that, she jumped out of the window, completely catching Kid off guard.

He reflexively reached out and ran toward the window. “Hey, wait! Uh... Huh? She’s gone?”

He poked his head out, but he couldn’t see even a shadow of the girl. He looked around in a hurry, but he really couldn’t see anyone. He had no idea what had happened to her or how she was moving.

“Ugh, are all of them like this? What do I even do?” Kid scratched at his head, feeling even more irritated. A knight without his sword or staff was powerless. His only option in this situation was sadly to just pray to the heavens for food.

◆

A single sword-shaped levitating ship flew through the sky: the FRN Golden Mane.

“It’s no use, young master. We can’t see Kid anywhere.”

“Right. Good work anyway.” Emris sank into the captain’s chair. The attack of the flying monsters had seen them lose a single Kardetolle along with its knight runner: Kid, who had gone missing. They’d spent some time searching the area after the monsters had left, but they hadn’t found anything.

“I can’t believe this happened to him,” said Emris. “We can’t go back until we find him.”

“Do you really believe Kid is still alive after all that, young master?”

“Like he’d die so easily. Kid’s his disciple, you know? The only problem is how we find him.” There was not a shred of doubt within Emris. The bridge crew exchanged looks and let out small snorts.

Emris was right—Kid was one of the strongest knights of the Order of the Silver Phoenix. He wouldn’t die just from falling off a ship. The name of the Silver Phoenix held enough weight to make them seriously believe that.

He hemmed and hawed with his arms crossed until he suddenly clapped. “Okay. We’re going to find those four-legged birds’ nest. He might have fallen there.”

“Please spare us having to face them head-on.”

As far as the crew was concerned, if Kid was in the monsters’ nest, it was because he was dinner. Also, they were unsure if the Golden Mane had the combat strength to take on a nest of flying monsters. Flying in without a plan would only mean a repeat of their earlier loss.

That was when the observation officer raised a shout through the speaking tube. “Emergency! Ships sighted ahead! There are several... Fleet strength!”

“What?! Drop speed! Keep our heading, but be ready to start evasive maneuvers anytime.” Emris immediately shouted orders to the bridge before yelling into the speaking tube, “What about their flags?! Do you see them?!”

“They’re still too far away... No, I see them! That shape belongs to Eleven Flags!”

“What?! What are those upstart merchants doing here?” Emris sharpened his gaze into a glare as he looked out at the cloudy sky. More and more shadows of ships were coming into sight.

◆

The sound of full sails flapping in the wind filled the air. The large fleet of levitating ships cast shadows on the floating island as they proceeded. There were over twenty in total.

The flags they flew bore eleven cups—the flag of the federation of city-states that controlled the southern part of the Occidents: Eleven Flags.

The fleet was flying in a loose formation, with four larger models forming the center of the group. The bulk of the fleet was composed of standard cargo ships, but these central ones were once again larger. Of note was their thick armor, gleaming dully in the light, which said that these were meant for battle. These were the newest ships of Eleven Flags and this fleet’s flagships: armored ships.

There was a great sigh. “Every single dang day is the same! I’m sick of it! I’m so tired of living on this ship!” The voice was shrill, coming from one of the armored flagships’ bridges. It belonged to a young woman wearing gaudy clothes.

This caused the senior gentleman sitting in front of her to frown. “And I am tired of listening to you complain. Who was the one who was so excited to experience riding a levitating ship?”

“I invested in this ship personally!” she shouted defensively. “It is the perfect ride, of course. Even so, there are limits.”

Every time the lady opened her mouth, her voice echoed off the walls. The gentleman put his hand to his brow as the man sitting next to him—a relatively young one, considering his company—leaned forward.

“No, no, I agree,” he said. “The journey was so boring that this ship’s alcohol stores are almost gone.”

“Then should I lend you some from my ship? I’ll make it cheap for a fellow flagship,” said another man, this one looking to be the eldest present.

“Don’t need it. Your tastes don’t match mine,” the young man flatly rejected.

The armored ships were, of course, shaped differently from standard levitating ships. In most cases, the stations for controlling levitating ships were placed surrounding the captain’s chair. In this case, though, there was a needlessly large and nice table placed right in the middle, and there were even decorations and paintings on the walls. It was as if this were a parlor room in a proper mansion.

Three men and a woman were sitting at the table. They were each dressed lavishly and were obviously not the ones crewing the ship. In fact, they were clearly of a status to be as far away from labor as possible. These four were engaged in scattered chatter when a crew member ran to them, panting.

“I have a report! Ship sighted ahead! She seems to be alone, allegiance unconfirmed!”

The relaxed mood changed instantly, though each person reacted differently.

“My! How could this be? We have impudent rats who would dare put their hands on my asset! Sweep them away,” said the lady.

“Our asset. Watch your words,” another replied.

“Why does a single ship even matter? This is exactly why we have a fleet, isn’t it? So...I wonder if they have booze on board?”

“Either way, we should have any who do not benefit us leave the stage.”

Though they digressed somewhat, it seemed they all agreed on their plan. “Deploy the cutter units.”

“Right away!”

A light blinked on the armored ship. The surrounding ships received their orders and deployed accordingly, opening the rear hatches to their holds. Smaller levitating ships appeared from inside, sliding out into the air. They were very small for levitating ships but still a size bigger than a silhouette knight.

As each one took to the air, they opened their sails. High-output Blow Engines shone as they magically induced wind. The sails filled to their limits, and the cutters soared past the fleet.

The front of the bridge was made of glass. The four people sitting at the table watched as the cutters sailed off, cheering them on.

“They are of wonderful make—I think so every time I see them. Are they not in high demand from other countries?”

“Hey now, they’re our most cutting-edge models, not something to be carelessly handed over.”

“Ho ho! But levitating ships are in high demand for every nation. I believe it would be a chance to do some business.”

“At any rate, we must concentrate on what is before us first. I do not know where that ship comes from, but let us use them to further our trade.”

A signal came from the armored ship, and the cutters reacted accordingly. Their sterns creaked as they raised, revealing silhouette knights. These were equipped with sub-arms on their backs, which were holding silhouette arms—wizard-style knights.

With their weapons at the ready, the cutters approached. The unknown ship reacted in kind. It looked to be moving slowly at first, but as soon as it noticed the cutters approaching, it started to turn.

“A useless effort. Cutters are the fastest of all levitating ships in accordance with their size.” The elderly man smiled.

Though it wasn’t exactly a trigger, this was the moment the unknown ship suddenly accelerated heavily. All four of the people sitting at the table popped out of their chairs, their eyes wide with surprise. They stared intensely through the telescopes they grasped tightly in their hands.

Cutters could outfly any standard levitating ship. And yet, the unknown ship was easily able to pierce through their blockade.

The group of four froze in silence. By the time they regained their senses, the unknown ship had already left.

“Huh... They’re good. To think there’s a ship that can shake off a cutter.”

“Truly the speed of a cornered rat. This is going to be trouble.”

“How can you be so calm?! Agh, I can’t see them anymore! But wouldn’t that ship be perfect as an express courier?! I want it!” the lady screeched.

“No matter how fast the horse is, it is useless if it cannot be tamed,” the older man said.

This caused the youngest man’s smile to deepen. “Oh? I beg to differ. Training a horse is certainly hard work, but people are much simpler. Just throw money at them and they’ll jump on the opportunity, drooling all the while.”

“Either way, we cannot negotiate if we cannot catch them. I wonder which nation is in possession of such a fast ship? There should at least have been rumors...”

Since the Grand Storm of the West, every country was racing to develop high-performance levitating ships. They wanted these ships faster, more numerous, and stronger. At this point, war could not be fought without levitating ships. In fact, the technology was even having great influence on material distribution and logistics. That was why spies were deployed everywhere by everyone to gather information. And yet, the ship they’d seen just now lay outside of their ability to imagine.

“Looks like we have a handful of a business rival.”

This was enough of a shock to make them expect a lot of trouble in their business from now on.

◆

“Ugh, they sent their cronies at us right off the bat! What rude people!”

“Well, of course they did. They have no idea who we are.”

The FRN Golden Mane had fired its Magius Jet Thrusters at full blast to shake off their pursuers. Emris was still fuming, though, while completely ignoring how rude he himself usually was. Though the crew was exasperated by this, there was no choice but to run.

Emris leaned, elbow on chair, after he was done complaining for the moment. “I expected to have to race other people, but I didn’t think it would be Eleven Flags. I hear they made a tidy profit during the war; it seems they managed to put together a fleet with the money.”

During the tail end of the Grand Storm of the West, Jaloudek was falling to ruin. Eleven Flags was the first to detect that and send in their forces. Jaloudek had been weakened by their defeat and so lost a portion of their lands and their hold on levitating ship technology.

“But that was still an absurdly large fleet.” Emris paused to think. “What are they trying to do here?”

Eleven Flags as a country was essentially a gathering of powerful merchants. Accordingly, they were very sensitive to opportunities for profit. This meant there was something about this land that they could stand to profit enough from that they would send such new ships and weaponry.

“Ha ha ha! In other words, now we’re hunting for treasure too! An adventure, a race against other nations, and a quest to find Kid too! This is getting interesting!” Emris clapped happily, a fierce smile on his face.

The rest of the crew could only beg internally for him to spare them, though.

◆

Some time had passed since Kid had fought the monster and fallen, becoming a prisoner to the denizens of this flying land.

Today, he was bewildered.

“Erm...” he started.

In front of him was a smiling girl. Her attitude toward him was much different from Hogara, and she was currently holding something out to him: a basket filled with his belongings. Surprisingly, his gunlike staff was included; he could see it sticking out of the basket. As he’d said in their earlier conversation, he could cast magic as long as he had it. So, though it would be in a weird fashion, he could fly. Of course, that wouldn’t be all he was capable of.

Pushing down his knee-jerk desire to look up to the sky—something he’d done so much recently that he’d gotten tired of it—he sighed instead. Kid reined in his expression but looked back at the girl instead of reaching for the basket.

“You really brought my things. Thanks... But this is a weapon. I’ll be able to use magic; I’m a knight,” he said.

“Wow!”

“Yeah. Wait, no that’s not what I meant...”

Kid put his hand to his head, wondering how he should phrase what he wanted to say to get it through. He had no idea what the girl wanted in bringing him his things. Giving a prisoner back their weapon was far too dangerous a gamble to try to win said prisoner over. He could have understood such a tactic if Suojiro was the one handing it over, but this girl was smaller than Ernesti. Her smile seemed totally free of malice, as carefree as if she were handing over lost goods. This was a perfect chance, but Kid didn’t want to drive this harmless-looking girl into a corner.

“What do you even want from me...?” he muttered.

Totally ignoring his distress, the girl spoke with the smile still on her face. “Then let’s go out! Follow me!”

“What?”

She dropped the basket and went for the window with no hesitation whatsoever. Kid was struck dumb by what was happening in front of him, but then something strange started to occur.

The first thing he saw was the girl’s back, including her hair, which reached down to her waist. It had looked like normal hair before, but from the back he saw it was different. Finally, he noticed that the hair was not in fact hair but a mass of something that resembled plumage. This wasn’t decoration but something actually growing out of her—a mutation on human hair.

The strangeness continued. The feathery hair split to either side of her, lifting her up. The split started from her neck down, seeming attached to her back like true wings. With this, Kid could predict what she would do next.

He hurriedly stepped toward the window, trying to stop the girl. “Wait! Are you people— No, please tell me your name first.”

The girl slowly turned back and tilted her head, her wings still spread. “Ehjiro!” As if she couldn’t wait any longer, she jumped out the window immediately after.

This time, Kid saw what happened. Ehjiro flapped the pseudo-wings on her back, which created a strong wind. She was light and took nimbly to the air, accelerating quickly. Kid’s mouth hung open as he stood there frozen. It took a while for him to regain his senses.

“I see. So this is what the people of this aerial land are like.”

The basket with his stuff was still in front of him. He couldn’t afford to continue sitting and doing nothing, so he picked up his gunlike staff. Kid was a normal human, so he couldn’t fly. Still, with the magic he was trained in, he could do something similar.

“Is it really okay for me to leave? Well, it’s better to just go after her than stay here and worry, I guess. Let’s go, Aero Thrust!” Kid jumped out of the window and activated a spell. Compressed air bounced him forward, allowing him to soar through the air.

A big tree loomed in front of him. He shifted around and kicked off it, changing direction and accelerating once more. He deftly slipped between the trees, chasing after Ehjiro while “dashing” through the air.

“This is a pretty big village!” he commented, looking around as he went. He could tell there were pretty, strange buildings dotting the forest. These were shaped out of the trees themselves, which acted like pillars, along with other pieces of wood added on. Almost all of them were very high up, which made sense for a race of winged people.

“Dammit, she’s fast!”

Kid had let his guard down for a moment and almost lost sight of Ehjiro, so he redoubled his efforts. There was no actual need for him to follow her, since he was out of the room now, but any friendly presence in this strange place was precious. He couldn’t very well afford not to.

Meanwhile, Ehjiro was openly observing him as he desperately jumped from tree to tree.

Eventually, the pair made it out of the forest and into a clearing. Ehjiro landed with a gentle beat of her wings, while Kid used Aero Suspension to make a safe but sudden stop. He looked around warily, but there was a small figure jumping about in front of him.

“You fly without extending your hair feathers? Surface dwellers sure are interesting! I’ve never seen something like that before! Aha ha, I’m so glad you came out with me!”

“This is the first time I’ve seen someone with feathers too. Hey, is everyone here like you?”

“You came this far and didn’t know? Yeah, all us harpies can fly like this!” Ehjiro said as if she were stating an obvious fact, but she puffed out her chest anyway.

Kid had no words. A flying island was already too big a story for him, but now he was dealing with a race of winged people—harpies. His mind took a brief escape from reality as he thought about how good a tale this would be.

“Okay, then let’s start the special thing!” Ehjiro, as always, paid basically no attention to Kid’s mental state.

Kid followed her at a moderate pace. “This is going to become a big problem, isn’t it?”

The first thing that came to his mind was Hogara’s face, glaring at him balefully, but he chased that image out and decided to put aside his worries. He didn’t exactly owe the girl anything. In fact, it was more likely she’d come attacking him since he was a prisoner walking around freely. Kid wondered if the girl walking and humming ahead of him would be any help in that situation; he couldn’t help but worry in the end.

“Agh, I don’t care anymore! Whatever happens, happens.”

He was already outside. There was no way things would go back to the way they were if he were to return as if nothing had happened. So any worrying he did would be useless. Suddenly, though, he suspected they might have chased after him right away, and he turned to look behind him out of fear. Luckily, there was no raging girl there. Instead, the only person near him was a happy Ehjiro.

Without the trees of the forest, all that was around them was undergrowth. What was even here to do? Kid had spent his time so far desperately chasing after the girl in front of him, but now he had time to wonder. According to her, whatever they were doing was special, but what could they be doing in this empty place? Having gotten that far, he suddenly realized the other factor that would come into play when dealing with the harpies that lived in this flying land.

Kid looked up in a panic, but it was too late. The sound of fierce wing beats and strong wind came down on him before he could do anything—a beast was descending at him. He could see its large wings, four strong-looking legs, and sharp beak up close as it looked back at him.

It was, of course, a gryphon—the flying duel-class monster that had attacked his levitating ship along with the harpies.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me...”

There was no time to blame himself for letting his guard down around Ehjiro because she was so young. Kid was already face-to-face with a duel-class monster with nothing but his staff. He wondered if it would have been better to stay in his room.

But completely heedless of his nerves, Ehjiro happily waved her hand. “Watoh! Over here!”

As she waved, the young gryphon apparently named Watoh descended smoothly toward them. It landed surprisingly quietly for its size, trotted over, and started to playfully push its beak against her. It looked like it knew how to control its strength, as Ehjiro happily hugged it.

For the umpteenth time today, Kid froze with his mouth open at the sight. “A duel-class monster...tamed by a person?”

The monster heard Kid’s dazed muttering and turned to glare at him.

I see, so it won’t make a move because Ehjiro is here, Kid thought. It’s like a silhouette knight. These monsters must be the fighting force of this land.

In Fremmevilla, monsters were enemies and nothing else. The bigger they were, the more striking this relationship became—at duel-class and above, they were considered unable to coexist with people at all. If this weren’t the case, silhouette knights would never have been made.

It seemed the young gryphon was also very wary of Kid. The air between them was extremely tense, but there was someone here who wasn’t able to read the mood.

“Okay! Then try getting on Watoh, Kid!” Ehjiro said.

It took a long while for him to process that. “Huh? Get...on? What?”

No one would blame him for asking such a stupid question. He hadn’t heard such a suggestion in his entire life, after all. He’d never even imagined riding a monster, if imagining attacking one from above didn’t count. He wondered why she would even suggest such a thing, and then he finally realized her goal.

Damn, so she was testing me! he thought. I let my guard down. Of course I wouldn’t be let outside with no purpose...

It was unthinkable for someone to spend this much time and effort on a powerless prisoner. Kid unwittingly started staring at Ehjiro, but she simply tilted her head silently and innocently. Was she really testing him? His confidence in that conclusion started to waver, but for now, he decided to stop thinking too much.

The gryphon raised its head with a low growl. It glared suspiciously at Kid, but that was all. He firmed up his resolve and approached the monster. Unfortunately, it seemed this young gryphon had no intention of cooperating; it backed up accordingly while trying to intimidate him.

Meanwhile, Ehjiro had moved to the shade of a nearby tree and was watching the proceedings. She was the one who’d suggested this, but it looked like she had no intention of helping. In other words, nothing would happen unless he managed to ride the monster.

“Heh! Fine. If that’s how you’re going to be, I’ll take you on!” Kid shouted. “I’ll show you I can ride your monsters!”

“Fighting” monsters was the specialty of knights. Though the end goal of this was a little different from the usual, those were just details. Also, Kid had an advantage. The gryphon wouldn’t suddenly attack him with Ehjiro watching. He gauged his distance while closely observing the monster.

It was big enough to be one of the stronger duel-class monsters. It had threateningly strong limbs, a large body, and even larger wings. The more Kid looked, the more he was realizing how tough an opponent the gryphon would be.

“I don’t have the leeway to try any tricks, huh?”

His only weapon was in his hands. He had no silhouette knight or even silhouette gear. On top of that, there was only one option he had to ride this duel-class monster. He resolved himself, casting Aero Thrust to leap into the air. He cast the spell multiple times in quick succession, positioning himself over the monster. Then, he found what he was expecting and smiled.

“I knew it. You let harpies ride you, after all!”

There was what looked like a saddle on the gryphon’s back. He remembered this detail from when he’d fought one in his Kardetolle. So his prediction that there would be something he could use to get on top of it was correct. As long as he managed to catch the thing, he could do it. Kid decided to end this before the monster could make a move.

Suddenly, the gryphon started to flourish its wings. They were duel-class size, so they were capable of crushing even the toughest and heaviest of humans like a fly. Kid brandished his gunlike staff, his mind compiling his intended script, resulting in magic that unleashed compressed air. Then...

“Watoh! No!” Ehjiro yelled.

Watoh froze. Kid, still in midair, missed his next intended spell and almost veered off-course, but he managed to force it back on track. The gryphon was flustered, which would be a huge chance for him. Kid forced himself to cast spell after spell, flying for the saddle.

“Okay. Exactly as expected. They need to control these things, after all.”

It had been hidden from him under the monster’s rough fur, but the gryphon also had reins attached to it. The harpies would use these while sitting in the saddle to handle their mounts.

“Now then, I managed to get on top, but... How do I control this thing?!”

The gryphon had stopped its attack after Ehjiro’s rebuke, but it was obviously unhappy that a stranger was on its back. It bent its legs, storing power in preparation to flap its wings. Kid realized what it was about to do, and his expression froze on his face.

◆

Hogara, next in line to become Wind Reader of the harpies, had her eyes wide and sharp in anger. She moved in a straight line toward her goal at a speed befitting someone of her pedigree.

She’d only noticed that the prisoner escaped when she’d come to bring his meal. This duty was nothing but a nuisance for her, but the current Wind Reader had ordered her to do it, so she couldn’t blow it off. So, she’d reluctantly gone to fulfill the task, only to find the inside of the room empty. She knew that surface dwellers couldn’t fly on their own, so it would have been near impossible to escape by himself. This had given her a bad feeling, so she’d gone out to ask the townspeople, which was how she had found out her bad feeling had been right on the mark.

“Ehjiro... Seriously, that child!!! I know she’s the first’s chick, but there’s a limit to what she can get away with!”

She flew while letting out all the curses and diatribes she could think of. She had an idea of where Ehjiro would go, which was backed up by the villagers’ testimonies. She arrived at the gryphons’ living area just in time to see a strange sight...

A gryphon flapped its wings and took to the sky with great force. Powerful wind was created from its wings, supporting its large body. Gryphons were monsters—beasts that could manipulate magic. Its body was far too big for those wings to lift on their own, but that was nothing with the added help of magic.

Sadly, the gryphon was the only one who could benefit from this magic. Kid experienced the full force of the inertia created by this and was nearly peeled off it.

“Damn! Hey! I don’t have any wings, you know!” he shouted.

A harpy could have done something in this situation, since they could fly, but that option wasn’t available to him. He could only rely on the skills he’d trained in.

“Physical Boost! Full power!” He converted the mana in his body to strength. The advanced spell reinforced his body, giving him the ability to resist the beast’s raging winds. “Heh! Now it’s a test of guts, monster!”

The gryphon spun as it flew, producing a textbook tailspin. It twisted its body several times and even added in sudden drops, but the foreign element on its back refused to let go.

The gryphon realized thrashing about in desperation wouldn’t work, so it started to ascend in a straight line. A duel-class monster’s magic ability was immense. And while the types of magic a monster could use were limited to what its species was good at, such a restriction only made the strength of that magic more powerful. And so, the duel-class gryphon shot up like an arrow.

Inertia and wind pressure buffeted Kid relentlessly. He gritted his teeth and endured, though. Maintaining one’s processing ability even in a painful situation was part of a knight’s fundamentals. More than that, the one who had taught him this was none other than Ernesti, the avatar of the unreasonable in this world.

“My teacher will lord it over me if I get done in here!” he yelled.

After a period so long it seemed like forever, the gryphon’s speed suddenly dropped. The wind that had been beating on Kid settled, making keeping his posture much easier all at once. But he didn’t have time to breathe. The gryphon was done going up, which meant it was time to go back down.

He had been ready for this; he’d thought it had been weird that the monster wasn’t making its move. He observed the gryphon warily. The monster ignored him, looking off into the distance.

“What? What’s over there?” Kid noticed it immediately, since he was already keeping his eyes peeled. It was far away, like a mountain obscured by distance, and drawing a line in the sky. A gray and black line—smoke. “Is that smoke from my friends?”

The gryphon let out a short cry. There weren’t many problems more pressing than the thing on its back, but it understood that this sight meant something important.

It took Kid only a moment to make the decision. “Okay. Hey, let’s go back. We need to tell the harpies about this.”

He pulled on the reins. The gryphon was still a little hesitant, but it turned around instead of resisting. It was strange how obedient it was being; it even descended slowly enough not to threaten to throw Kid off.

“What was all my effort for?” he wondered. “I really can’t say I mastered riding it now, huh?”

Though he wasn’t quite satisfied, he had technically managed to ride the gryphon. When they returned to the ground, Ehjiro literally jumped for joy. “Aha ha, wow, Kid! This is your first time, but you still managed to come back without Watoh throwing you off! Surface dwellers are even more amazing than I thought!”

When the gryphon’s feet were firmly on the ground, Kid jumped off. Then, he cocked his head. For some reason, Hogara was here too.

“Uh... Anyway, I have something I need to tell you. Over that way—” he started.

“You stupid surface dweller, do you know what you just did?” Hogara interrupted him. Her originally stern looks were turned up even more now, and Kid was worried she would transform into a monster if she were to keep going.

“Ehjiro’s the one who told me to ride this gryphon,” he said. “I think she was testing me. I succeeded, see?”

“What need is there to test you?!”

Hogara turned to look at the small girl, who was smiling widely. Could she have done all this on her own discretion? Kid couldn’t help but droop his shoulders. Only the now-receding adrenaline from his adventure was keeping him from showing it too much.

“That talk can come later,” he said, trying to steer the conversation back. “I saw something weird up there.”

“Later?!” Hogara rounded on him. “That’s not something you can deci— What?” She was about to grab him when her expression changed to one of consternation.

“I saw smoke. And it definitely wasn’t your regular campfire. There’s a big fire somewhere in the forest.”

The young gryphon padded over and let out a growl. It appeared to be agreeing with Kid—seemed it was a pretty calculating sort. Hogara’s expression immediately shifted as she seriously gave that some thought. It didn’t take long for her to decide what to do.

“Hurry. We’re going back to the village. The first must hear of this.”

“Hey, hey! He did pretty good up there, didn’t he?” Ehjiro asked happily.

“Why do you always do things like this?! You don’t think before you act! I’m going to have the first discipline you properly!”

It seemed this really was a regular occurrence with Ehjiro. Once again, Kid couldn’t resist facing the heavens. Then, the three of them hurried back to the village.

Chapter 81: Let’s Search for the Sleeping Treasure

Kid and the others were welcomed by the sound of hectically flapping wings when they rushed back to the village.

The smoke rising from the forest was clearly visible from everywhere in the village. Kid had to wonder how many harpies were living here, as many of them were flying around restlessly and tittering to each other. Hogara took a quick look around before making for the center of the village with a flap of her wings. There awaited a large, expressionless man with his arms crossed—Suojiro.

“Wind Reader! The forest is burning, most likely the neighboring village!”

“Have you confirmed this with your own eyes?” Suojiro asked.

“Ah, well...” Hogara hesitated. “Ehjiro let him onto a gryphon on her own, and apparently that’s when he noticed.”

She was forced to admit to her negligence first thing, which deflated her. She turned a harsh look over at Kid, who replied with a shrug that said he was shocked by the accusation. Suojiro’s brow moved slightly, but otherwise he made no reaction.

“Hmm... We must investigate. Send half our gryphon riders, and have the rest guard the village.”

“Right away!”

With orders from their Wind Reader, the gryphon riders quickly deployed. They spread their wings in concert and flew for where their gryphons awaited them. Hogara looked like she wanted to go with them, but she hesitated because Suojiro stood still.

“What do I do?” Kid wondered aloud.

He was frozen, idle in the midst of all this activity. He was curious, but in the end, this was a problem for the harpies. There was no reason for him to stick his nose into this matter—but Ehjiro wasn’t the type to let him just sit by and watch.

“Then I’ll go too. With Kid!”

It took Kid a long moment to process that. “What?”

Ehjiro’s hand was suddenly raised, which took him aback. Suojiro’s impassive gaze turned to them. Kid’s eyes bounced restlessly between the large man and the girl beside him.

“Um, wait a second. I mean, I’m...you know. Hey, Ehjiro, you know I’m a prisoner, right? You shouldn’t take me t—” Kid attempted to reason.

“Fine,” said Suojiro.

“Wha— It’s okay?!” Kid retorted to the large man’s easy agreement with all he had, but Suojiro ignored him and turned around.

He’d turned to his next target, Hogara, who flinched at his gaze. “Second, I leave guarding the rear of the flock to you. Let’s go.”

“Tha— Gh... Damn you, it’s your fault!”

“Okay, I have to object to that.” Kid turned his eyes from Hogara’s resentful gaze, only to see Ehjiro with both hands up in celebration. The two girls really were polar opposites.

◆

Harpies landed in the gryphons’ area one after another. Gryphons were paired with specific gryphon riders. With practiced ease, each harpy rushed over to their partner. They took to the air to grab onto the saddles on the gryphons’ backs. With a pull of the reins, the large duel-class monsters let out cries and ran.

Each beat of the gryphons’ giant wings was accompanied by a powerful gust of wind. The wind was spurred by magic, so the gryphons accelerated quicker than reason would suggest. Since they were duel-class, their magic let them speed up at an incredible rate. Kid had personally experienced how they could leave their riders behind. However, those who had qualified as gryphon riders were no normal people.

The harpies spread their wings at the same time and activated magic. They created wind and accelerated in concert with the gryphons. Rider and mount flapped their wings in unison, launching into the air.

Kid looked up at the launching gryphons. “Ugh, wow. No wonder they can keep up with monsters.”

Though a part of him was avoiding reality, the instigator of his current situation approached mercilessly from behind.

“Okay, Kid, let’s go too!” Ehjiro exclaimed.

“No, don’t give me that. Why am I here, really?”

While more and more gryphons were leaving, Watoh was patiently sitting next to its master, waiting to be mounted. It seemed a little unhappy that Kid was once again next to her, but it wasn’t acting out.

“Now now, don’t say that. We’re in trouble too, you know?” Ehjiro replied.

Kid used Aero Thrust to climb onto the saddle and gripped the reins. He still didn’t look comfortable; he was a human, not a harpy, so he had no choice but to use Physical Boost to try to withstand what was coming. There was no getting out of this, so he had no choice but to put his back into it.

So, as he was compiling the magic, Ehjiro sat down behind him. Her small hands reached out to claim a solid hold on him. A rigidness overcame him, fixing his body in place as a terrible premonition took hold.

“It’ll be fine. I’ll push you, Kid,” said Ehjiro.

“Push? Hey, what do you me—”

“Take off, Watoh!”

Ignoring Kid’s protest, Watoh flapped its wings. At the same time, Ehjiro also spread hers, creating her own wind. Though they were both small, they had plenty of power. They managed to take to the air without anyone falling off.

“Agh, fine! Whatever happens, happens!” Kid alone was screaming in desperation, his voice reverberating as he rose into the air.

◆

Fire swirled and blazed. It endlessly swallowed the green of the forest, producing black smoke. The trees that grew on this flying land had their unique traits, but they were still plants. They were unable to run and could only allow themselves to be taken by the fire.

“This is awful,” Kid said.

The fire was very widespread. It was impossible to imagine how much more of the forest it would take.

The three-headed gryphon Suojiro was riding led the group, which slowly circled overhead. Though these gryphons were duel-class, it wasn’t so easy for them to survive this swirl of fire and smoke, and it was hard for them to get any closer. Everyone watched the fire silently, with the gryphons occasionally letting out sad cries.

“What happened here?” Kid asked. Ehjiro was clinging onto his back and was so quiet that it was like her earlier energy was a lie. It didn’t seem like she would answer.

Instead, Hogara brought her gryphon closer. “There was a village here. About the same size as ours. I...had a friend here. She was bad at riding gryphons... I wonder if she managed to get away.”

“I get it. That’s enough,” said Kid.

There was none of Hogara’s usual vigor about her. It was as if the brightly burning fire below had sucked out all her strength.

Kid suddenly realized he was gripping the reins too hard, and his eyes widened. He took deep breaths, allowing the tension to seep out of his body. The energy shifted to his thoughts, telling him to take action. A knight should not be standing still in the face of difficulty.

“Okay! Watoh, get to the front of the flock. Hurry!” he said.

He wasn’t too sure how to control a gryphon. But Watoh heard him, shook its head a little, and gave its wings a powerful flap.

“W-Wait!” Hogara shouted. She was a little late, but she chased after Kid once she came to her senses. In the meantime, Kid and Ehjiro had come side by side with Suojiro’s cerbergryphon.

“Hey, Suojiro! I want to ask you something!” Kid shouted.

“Oh? What is it?”

“I want to get a better look below. May I descend?” He felt Ehjiro stir.

Suojiro usually made decisions quickly, but this time it took a few moments before he answered. “Very well. Hogara!”

“Uuuggghhh, I know! I just have to look after them, right?!”

“Thank you!” Kid said. “I owe you one.”

As soon as they got permission, Watoh made a sharp descent, separating from the flock. Naturally, it didn’t try to descend straight into the fire; it went for the edge of the forest.

“Sorry for making a decision on my own,” Kid apologized.

“Oh, no. It’s fine. Do you know something about this, Kid?” Ehjiro asked, leaning out of his shadow.

He directed a grim gaze toward the forest and replied hesitantly. “Nope! That’s why we’re going to look. There should be some reason for this.”

“A reason?”

“A reason why the forest is on fire! This wasn’t some normal battle, and this is unnatural for an invasion. That’s why there’s got to be some special reason. If we don’t find it, we won’t know what to do!”

Now closer to the forest, Watoh slowed down, looking for a good place to land. It found a space between the trees and touched down quietly. Kid jumped off right away, as if he couldn’t wait. He looked up to see the ominous smoke still spewing upward; he didn’t have a lot of time.

“Which direction is this other village, Ehjiro?” he asked.

She pointed silently, right toward the center of the fire.

“I have no idea who did this, but how could they? Damn, is there nothing we can do but look around near the fire?” Kid reached down for his gunstaff and prepared himself. Luckily, fire was just fire. It wouldn’t come attacking him like a monster would. “You wait here, Ehjiro. Ah, don’t worry. I won’t run or anything.”

“I’m not worried about that. But will you be okay?”

“Just leave it to me. Knights exist for times like these.” Kid held his staff and calmly cast Physical Boost. He used his overflowing strength to dash into the forest.

A little bit later, Ehjiro heard more flapping sounds descending toward her. She looked up as Hogara jumped off her mount. There was no need for the girl to wait for the gryphon to land.

She saw Ehjiro standing alone and looked around. “Where is he?”

“He went into the forest. He said he wanted to find a reason.”

Hogara sighed. “Does he even know what branch he’s on? Are all surface dwellers like him? Ugh...”

“They’re not. I think Kid is special.” Ehjiro nodded confidently.

Hogara shot her an exasperated look, but she quickly turned back to the forest. Smoke was still rising from the trees; it would be hard to describe anyone who would charge into such a place as normal.

“I wonder if that’s true. I wish he’d think of the one who has to watch him.”

Of course, that included Ehjiro too.

◆

Kid pushed through the undergrowth, walking through the forest while being careful of tree roots. Rainbow colors shone faintly from the trunks, making this densely packed wood strangely bright.

“Still, this forest is going to make my head hurt,” Kid groused as he carefully proceeded. The vegetation here on this floating land was something you would never see on the surface.

“The smoke still isn’t coming this way. It’d definitely be tough to get close, huh?”

Naturally, he didn’t want to go poking around in the middle of a raging fire. He could only pray that the source he was trying to find wouldn’t be burned away.

As he searched, he realized a completely unexpected change was happening. He put his hand to his chest to slow his heartbeat, which had suddenly jumped. His breathing grew ragged, and the desire to throw up assaulted him.

“What’s going on? It’s way too soon for me to be out of mana.”

Kid was Ernesti’s disciple. It should have taken far more than this to deplete his mana. He himself also felt like he still had much more to use, but these symptoms only became worse with time.

“I don’t get it. Nothing’s changed, but...”

He was far away from the flames, and he wasn’t surrounded by smoke either. This was totally baffling. It felt as if the very air he was breathing had become heavier; his footsteps slowed. Now, just as he was considering whether he should turn back, he came to a clearing in the forest.

“Wh-What?!”

In the clearing was what looked at first glance to be a rock jutting out from the ground. It hindered the tree roots in the area, creating a small clearing. But what shocked Kid most was the pattern running across its surface—he saw the nature of it.

The pattern was exposed ore mixed into the rock. But unlike normal ore, this was clearly shining in rainbow colors, much like the trees. He knew what this was, which was why...

“Etherite?! That can’t be! Why would something like that be in a place like this?!”

He felt a terrifying sense of incongruity from it.

Etherite was an ore made of solidified, high-purity ether. It dissolved in the air, so it was basically impossible to see exposed etherite like this. And yet, it was right in front of his eyes.

Kid hesitantly looked down. He was on a floating island. This phenomenon and the properties of etherite suddenly clicked together. Kid shivered, immediately thinking of that. It was a totally natural thought process; anyone would have gone down the same path with a little consideration.

“If there’s enough etherite for it to be exposed here above the ‘ground,’ I wonder how much is underneath? Oh crap, this is bad! There’s no doubt that this is what the invaders are after. They have to be after this flying land itself!”

Up until a little while ago, etherite had been totally worthless. There was no use for something that dissolved in air. But everything had changed when levitating ships came on the scene. They were a wonder of technology that could fly freely through the air. And what was needed to activate their Etheric Levitators, the most important part of the ships, was mass amounts of high-purity ether. At the moment, the widely accepted method of obtaining it was to extract the ether from etherite.

After the Grand Storm of the West, levitating ships had spread throughout the Occidents, and the demand for etherite was still skyrocketing. So what would happen if a mother lode of etherite were to be found in such a situation? Not only that, if it was able to jut out of the ground, it obviously wouldn’t take much effort to dig up.

Kid stared up at the sky. He thought of the smoke, and the harpies who had attacked his ship out of nowhere. The events connected within his mind.

“So that’s why the harpies are so wary. Someone wants to make this place a battlefield, just like how they burned this village!”

No matter who they were, it was easy to imagine that humans in search of etherite would consider the harpies nuisances. And now, the forest was on fire.

Kid clenched his fists with an audible sound.

That was when the strength left his legs, and he fell. He couldn’t tense his limbs, and his vision started to go dark. And yet, his heart was beating loudly at a mile a minute.

“Huh? Oh crap, this is definitely not good. If this keeps...up...”

Kid heard the sound of footsteps on grass approaching. He saw Hogara through his blurring vision, who was looking down at him exasperatedly.

“Are you an idiot?” she asked.

“Ha ha, maybe. I have...no excuses...”

Her expression changed when she saw how much trouble he was having breathing. With a sigh, she grabbed him by the nape and dragged him back. As Kid got farther and farther from the rock, he started to get better.

“Owww... I’m fine already! Hey, lemme go!” he shouted.

And so, she threw him roughly to the side. Kid rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, I think I really am okay now. Anyway, thanks for saving me.”

“Do you not even know how to fly? You’ll only cause trouble for me if you fall over randomly,” said Hogara.

“Come on, I already said I was sorry.”

There was nothing wrong with the forest’s air. It seemed the etherite was what had caused whatever had been wrong with him. So, he decided in his heart that he would not approach it again without preparation.

Kid regrouped and turned to face Hogara. “Hey, do you know what that stuff lining that rock is? That ore that shines in seven colors, I mean.”

“The rock? You mean rainbow stone?”

“That’s probably it, but we call it etherite. Is it pretty common— I mean, for example, would you find it near your villages?”

Hogara tilted her head, confused by the question, but she still replied honestly. “It isn’t all that uncommon; you can find it anywhere. Of course it’s also near the village.”

Kid hesitated to reply. He understood the aim of whoever had burned this forest. And he knew what would happen if they were left to their own devices. “Let’s talk to Suojiro. There’s something I need to tell everyone.”

◆

Having returned to the skies, the group detoured around the smoke and slowly regrouped with the flock before returning to Suojiro’s side.

“So you’ve returned, one who was caught by claws. What did you see?”

“Yeah, I figured out a lot, including why you attacked my ship.” Though he was the center of attention of all the gryphon riders, Kid stared only at Suojiro. “First, there’s something I need to make sure of. Do you know what levitating ships—those large boats—are? You harpies have been fighting those, haven’t you?”

“The one you fell from? Indeed, we have.”

“I see. I think I understand what the people you’ve been fighting want, including the one who set fire to the forest. They want etherite...what you call rainbow stones.”

“I do not understand how surface dwellers think. Even young chicks can pick up a rainbow stone. What point is there in fighting to the death over them?”

A titter spread among the group. Suojiro and the rest of the gryphon riders were confused, while Hogara was half in disbelief. That was how unexpected this all was for the harpies.

“Those levitating ships require etherite to fly. To us, no matter how much of it we have, it won’t be enough; it’s very valuable. Enough that it is worth making enemies of you harpies.”

The noise didn’t stop as many opinions started being thrown about. At the front, Suojiro kept his eyes closed for a while, nodding in satisfaction for some reason. “We would not have known this; there was worth in you being here. So what do we do, warrior of the surface? Do you and your ship also seek rainbow stones?”

All the harpies’ gazes gathered onto Kid. He was the only “human” here. While they were traveling together, he was still a prisoner. These stares carried real pressure, but Kid stared back at the large man. “No, I’m not a warrior, I’m a knight! Pillage and arson are what bandits and robbers do. I would never!”

“Oh? I wonder if the sound of your feathers beats true. Still, while you may think that way, would others?”

“Well...” Kid couldn’t reply right away. True, Emris and the rest of the FRN Golden Mane’s crew would agree with him. It wouldn’t be hard to get them on his side. However, when it came to decisions on a national scale, things were different. Etherite was now a strategic resource, something that could sway a nation’s plans. Would any of them be willing to give up on such an abundant source? In the back of his mind, he pictured a certain queen who was working hard to support her country. Would she...

“I don’t know right now. First, we need to stop these invaders,” he said. “I don’t like how they do things. If I were the type to overlook such atrocities, I wouldn’t have picked up my staff and sword in the first place.”

“How brave of you. But the bird that flies too high falls just as fast.”

“Well, I walk on the ground. I’m going to do things how I like.”

A low laughter was coming from somewhere, causing the harpies to look around sharply. In a very rare show, it was Suojiro whose usual stern expression had broken down slightly. “Very well. Then...I suppose we can continue to fly with you for a while yet, ‘knight.’”

“Well thanks, I guess.”

Suojiro’s mouth returned to its usual line before he spread his large wings out. “No one is left here—we should return. There is much to think about.”

The Wind Reader and cerbergryphon turned around, and the other gryphons followed. Watoh joined the flock as well, and Kid watched the smoke recede into the distance from on top of the saddle.

“This is no longer the time for an adventure, young master...” He put his hand to his head for a moment as he complained about his absent leader.

◆

The shadows of the clouds slid over the surprisingly hilly landscape of this floating land mass. Even this mysterious island was not higher than clouds.

Amid the gently flowing shadows, something moved much quicker: strange ships that flew through the sky with their sails billowing—levitating ships. These ships flew the symbol of Eleven Flags and traveled the sky as if it belonged to them.

Most of them were cargo ships, but there were two larger ships in the center of the formation. These were much more heavily armored—literally called armored ships—that served as the fleet’s flagships.

“My, my, how wonderful! This rainbow shine is more wonderful than any jewel!” A shrill voice reverberated across one of the armored ships’ needlessly large bridge. Eleven Flags was a federation of city-states, and Yolanda Lanfrankie was a member of its congress. She closely observed the container in front of her, impressed.

The container was tightly shut, but its contents—etherite—shone with faint rainbow light.

“It feels like just yesterday this stuff was worth less than a pebble on the side of the road, but now it’s more precious than gold. This is why business is so interesting!” a young man replied with an insincere laugh.

Yolanda’s smile disappeared. The young man was totally unreserved in the face of a congresswoman, essentially one of the rulers of Eleven Flags. His name was Tomarzo Biscopo, another of Eleven Flags’ congress members. However, he belonged to a different city than Yolanda. He owned the other armored ship in this fleet.

She sighed. “What a vulgar turn of phrase. I cannot believe a congressman cannot understand this beauty.”

“Wow, that’s harsh. But its looks don’t matter. Its true worth lies here.” Tomarzo knocked on the desk and grinned. “Levitating ships, I mean. I gotta say, that big ol’ pompous kingdom was pretty good. These days there’s no place in the world—and by that I mean the west—that doesn’t have one of these babies.”

He cackled as he poured some booze he’d taken from the ship’s hold for himself. He’d sought it out immediately after boarding Yolanda’s ship. It was his usual bad habit, and the lady chose to look back to the container, knowing it was foolish to even try to engage.

“Whew... This place is like a jewelry box. I wonder how much treasure is buried within it,” Yolanda said.

“Heh heh, that’s a good one. But we’ll have to do something about those birds before we can open this box. I think they’re...monsters? This is why I can’t stand such uncivilized places.”

Yolanda responded with an obvious scowl, putting a damper on the conversation. The young man ignored her and emptied his cup.

“Are you sure those aren’t simple vermin?” she asked. “How filthy, and they’re mucking about in my treasure chest!”

“Heh heh! It makes sense they’re desperate, though, since we burned their nest. But we still have moves to play, right? Since it seems those pesky birds have a sense of camaraderie.” His laughter knew no end, and he opened up a second bottle.

Yolanda didn’t even bother trying to stop him, but suddenly she raised her head. “Indeed, those birds are in the way. But...those small beings on their backs were quite beautiful, don’t you think?”

“Huh? You’re free to think so, but you’re not planning on capturing one, are you?” Tomarzo scowled again. Of course, this didn’t come from a place of kindness. “They’ll be trouble, for sure. And will they even have any use?”

It wasn’t unheard of for the winner to enslave the loser whenever humans fought. However, it would be extremely difficult to force a harpy, who could freely fly and use magic, to obey. In fact, it would be incredibly dangerous too.

Such an attempt would be troublesome and have almost no merit. In other words, it had no value to him. However, Yolanda thought differently.

“Oh? Then I have a good idea,” she said. “Simply stuff them. With that, they will never be rude again, and their beauty will be preserved to decorate the ship.”

“What?! Well, yeah, that would make them easier to handle, but... Man, I thought you had bad taste before, but I see I was giving you too much credit.”

“It seems it’s too early for me to be teaching such a child about beauty.”

It was hard to know for sure what she was imagining. The woman let out a strange laugh, which instantly sobered Tomarzo up. Beautiful things were to be admired—those were her words. But she was also overflowing with arrogance, looking down from on high; it was a position of her own making.

“Wow, I’m really feeling sorry for those birds...” he muttered in exasperation.

That was when a messenger ran onto the bridge. “I have a report! A flock has been sighted on our heading! They seem to have taken the bait!”

“Oh my, speak of the devil,” said Yolanda.

“Oho! I bet they came to take a look at the ‘nest’ we burned,” said Tomarzo. “That means there’s another one nearby.”

He sadly put the bottle away. In the blink of an eye, he was back to being sober, and he turned around. “I’ll go back to my ship. Don’t let your guard down.”

“I should say the same to you. I would appreciate it if you didn’t get in my way.”

The two armored ships separated. The cargo ships surrounding them each launched their cutters, which took formation in the sky.

◆

The flock of large gryphons flew with their wings spread. These monsters were being ridden by harpies.

They were normally powerful creatures—rulers of the sky—but now they were wavering unsteadily in the air. The sight of the burning forest was the sight of their burning homes for both the harpies and gryphons. Naturally, they weren’t unfazed.

“There’s something in front of us!” The feelings experienced by the flock were suddenly interrupted by the Wind Reader’s shout. The others hurriedly turned to stare ahead and saw a small, wavering shadow in the air.

“Is it a stray gryphon?”

“It might have belonged to the attacked village. We’re going over to it!” Suojiro commanded.

The flock turned. When they approached the shadow, they found that it was indeed a stray gryphon, and it was in terrible shape. It was wounded all over, its legs dangling uselessly under it. It was still bleeding, releasing a misty trail of blood with every flap of its wings.

It was clearly using everything it had just to stay in the air. But when it noticed the approaching flock, the wounded gryphon seemed to regain some of its strength.

“The gryphon is alone? No, its rider is there too!” Suojiro commanded his cerbergryphon to deftly approach. On the stray gryphon’s back, a harpy was slumped over, not moving. Once he’d gotten close enough, he moved the wounded harpy over to his gryphon.

“The wings still move. Well done protecting your rider,” he said.

The harpy was wounded and unconscious but still alive. The gryphon’s wounds told the story of how far it had gone to protect its rider. The flock covered for the trembling, weak gryphon as they continued on their way.

But then, they saw them—more wavering shadows in the distance. Countless ships and large, heavy-looking suits of armor.

Wind brought about by silhouette arms carried the ships with silhouette knights on them forward. These were small and fast cutters.

Seeing the flags with eleven cups flapping in the wind, Suojiro shouted to the rest of the flock. “Prepare for battle, gryphon riders! The enemy comes!”

He adjusted his hold on the unconscious and wounded harpy, preparing to fight. The gryphons moved to intercept the cutters that had flown swiftly ahead of the armored ships.

Watoh was flying in the middle of the flock. It looked around at the harpies as they raised war cries to rouse their spirits and glared at the incoming ships.

“Those flags... I forget which country that means,” said Kid. “Hey, are they the ones who burned the forest? Are they your enemies?”

Ehjiro had been so energetic and noisy, but now she kept her mouth shut, also glaring at the incoming ships. Judging from the extreme animosity emanating from the flock, it seemed safe to judge this force as their enemy.

“Damn, they came with silhouette knights. Those are probably wizard-styles too. And I can see a big boss behind them.”

The ships were obviously well armored and equipped with point-defense silhouette knights for antiair combat. Even from this distance, Kid could see how much of a threat these armored ships posed. He gripped the reins tightly and took a deep breath.

“Okay, let’s go too.”

“Those aren’t your friends, Kid?” Ehjiro asked shyly.

He raised his hand and pointed. “Those flags aren’t mine, and they’re not an ally’s either. And I told you, didn’t I? They’re basically bandits, and I can’t forgive them. In this situation, I’m fighting them as a knight.”

Gryphons overtook them one after another. Kid saw that Hogara was among them, and shrugged.

“You set fire to the forest and hurt our brethren!” she shouted. “You vessels of malice, beings of evil, begone from our land!”

The gryphons let out cries as they opened their beaks. They created swirling wind, forming it into tornadoes. This was met with spellfire, burning bolts of magic that bounced off the tornadoes. Wind and fire mixed, announcing the start of the battle.

The fight started with the harpies at an advantage. Gryphons were fast, and they could use powerful wind magic. Meanwhile, though cutters were also fast, they were not nearly as maneuverable. On top of that, their spellfire had a hard time finding its mark; most of it ended up burning nothing but air.

“This is all you have?! And you still dare rise to the skies?!” Hogara’s scream was accompanied by a short cry from her gryphon. The pair swooped in faster than the others, closing the gap quickly and unleashing its storm breath on a ship’s hull.

Instantly, the ship’s sails tore, and its mast snapped. The blow jostled the silhouette knights, making them drop their silhouette arms. And with the silhouette knights wounded, the cutter had no means to resist. The harpies, burning with rage, laid into them, dropping the ships one after another.

“Beat them down so they can never again lay their hands on our forest!”

“Yeah!”

This achievement saw Hogara and the other harpies boil over. They were angry; their home had been burned, and their neighbors had been hurt. They pressed forward, intending to finish the job.

Then, the cornered cutters changed tactics. They fell back, allowing the ships that had been waiting behind to come forward. The ships paired up and advanced at a strangely slow pace.

Atop their gryphons, the harpies laughed.

“They seem to know nothing of how to fight in the sky!”

“In the end, they’re just surface dwellers away from their home!!!”

Among all the gryphons, Watoh alone lagged behind. Kid could hardly be blamed—humans were far less adapted to the sky than harpies were. Even though Ehjiro was helping him, the gap wouldn’t be closed so easily.

However, it was because he was behind that he saw it.

“That’s weird. Why are we winning so easily?”

“Because we’re so strong!” Ehjiro replied confidently.

“That’s true. But that’s exactly why it’s weird. If they’re this outmatched, how did they manage to win against the other village?”

There was no way the timing of meeting this enemy was a coincidence. That fleet had to be the one that had burned the harpy village. So why were they losing so badly? Kid’s doubts were quickly answered in the worst way.

The harpies rode the flow of battle, advancing ever farther. The ships in the rear had paired up, but Hogara and the other riders pressed the attack regardless, thinking they would be no threat.

“Hmph. They think they can claim victory with just numbers— What?!” Hogara interrupted her own scoffing; she couldn’t believe her eyes. There was a small figure on the bow of a cutter. She was bound tightly to the prow with tough steel wire—a harpy girl.

“Mehzume?!” Hogara shouted, memories coming unbidden to the forefront of her mind. She recognized the girl as one who’d lived in the neighboring village. They would talk whenever she visited, and the girl who had lamented her lack of talent in riding gryphons was now in front of her, completely different.

She was slumped over her bindings, unmoving. It was unclear whether she was alive or dead. Its storm breath would definitely hit her as well, though. Hogara screamed and pulled on her reins. Her gryphon bit down on the magic it was about to unleash in a fluster.

“Y... You bastards!!!”

Though her rage had reached even further heights, she couldn’t make a move. Horrified, she clenched her jaw so hard that her molars creaked from the strain. She turned, trying to slip past the cutter—unfortunately, that was exactly what the enemy wanted.

Suddenly, a thin shadow unfurled in front of her. The two cutters had cast a net, and she’d been too slow to realize. Hogara and her gryphon charged headfirst into it.

These nets were originally meant to be used against silhouette knights. They were woven of steel wire and terrifyingly tough—even a duel-class monster wouldn’t be able to escape easily. The gryphon flailed as hard as it could, using its claws and wings to try to free itself.

“Dammit! Damn it all! With just some wind, something like this would...” Hogara gave orders to her gryphon, and this time it opened its mouth, fully ready to unleash its storm breath.

But before it could, the cutters made their next move. The silhouette knights riding on their backs brought up strange tubes. They pointed the tips of these tubes at the gryphon, which immediately spewed smoke—smoke laced with anaesthetic made by burning a certain type of plant.

The gryphon squirmed uncomfortably. The large duel-class monster was naturally resistant to drugs, but the smoke had great effect on its harpy rider.

Hogara struggled, but she ultimately fell unconscious, and the furious efforts of the gryphon to escape notably dulled. The smoke wasn’t working on it; it simply didn’t want to hurt its unconscious rider.

This situation was completely new to the gryphon. It had never considered that the small partner it flew the skies with would fall unconscious and leave it behind. Gryphons were brave, clever, and proud beasts. But right now, that sealed its fate.

“Ha ha ha! You can only blame that strange attachment of yours, you lowly beast!” the knight runner shouted. He had his silhouette knight raise its silhouette arms, aiming its back weapons at the captured prey. There was no way to miss at this range.

The gryphon naturally felt the threat to its life, so it continued to squirm, trying to escape. But there was a limit to how much resistance it could put up while trying to cover for its rider.

The silhouette knight fired at the gryphon’s head. It would normally have been able to easily dodge, but not in this situation. The impacts threw its head back, as the flames burned its feathers. As one might expect, a duel-class monster wouldn’t be killed in one hit, but that toughness wasn’t much of a boon in this situation.

Multiple shots struck home; even a duel-class monster wouldn’t be able to withstand this onslaught forever. Its head, having been the focus of this fire, was terribly burned, so much so that it could no longer open its eyes. Spellfire burst against its wings, legs, and torso, each impact rocking the gryphon’s large frame. At this point, it knew its fate, but it still used its remaining vitality to open its foaming beak, using what magic it had left to create wind...

But before the magical effect could be fully realized, more spellfire assaulted it. The impacts mercilessly shaved away its life. Its neck broke, dangling powerlessly at an unnatural angle. The proud sky beast would never move again.

“Ugh, these monsters are so persistent.”

“So? We still need to carry the damn thing. I hate how heavy they are.”

Having lost its life, the monster could no longer maintain its magic. It was still ensnared by the net, but now it was nothing but dead weight. The two cutters returned to one of the armored ships, carrying the dead gryphon and its unconscious harpy.

“Here you go, your delivery is here!”

The two cutters released the monster carcass on the armored ship’s deck and turned around to find their next catch.

The ship’s crew, which had been on standby, ran over, peeled the harpy off of the dead beast, and threw the unconscious Hogara roughly to the ground. They then carried her inside the ship. Now, they just needed to deal with the monster carcass.

“What do we do with this thing? Make a pelt out of it?”

“They didn’t tell us anything in specific, and tanning it would be a pain. We’re throwing it away.”

Someone gave a signal, and a silhouette knight stood up. The steel giant grabbed the monster carcass and unceremoniously threw it over the side of the ship. It tumbled in the air, eventually disappearing between the trees.

◆

Multiple harpies had been caught by the same trap. The rash and hot-blooded gryphon riders had surrounded the cutters, but their concern for their friends bound their wings. This hesitation created an opening for the silhouette knights to assault them with spellfire.

Late to the party, Kid witnessed a disastrous scene. “Dammit! How rotten can these people be?! And they call themselves knight runners?!”

Kid wanted to grind his teeth. He couldn’t think of anything to overturn this situation. In the first place, he wasn’t riding a silhouette knight but a gryphon he wasn’t used to. He wasn’t sure how much help he’d be.

Then, Suojiro’s voice reverberated throughout the battlefield. “Fall back! We must retreat!”

The cerbergryphon flew into the group of cutters and unleashed its triple breath attack. This allowed the harpies to finally escape, but they hesitated to follow orders.

“Wind Reader! How can you allow these despicable fiends to go free?!”

“I allow them nothing! However, there is more to consider than just this moment or this village. We must sacrifice our wings in order to win.”

Already, multiple gryphons had been captured, thinning their numbers. This also meant that multiple harpies had fallen into their clutches. If they continued to fight, they would inevitably suffer large casualties. They couldn’t be so heartless.

And so, the gryphons and their riders had no choice but to fall back, glaring as the cutters continued to ridicule and taunt them. There was nothing to be gained from sacrificing even more of their brethren.

But there was one gryphon that was going the opposite way: Watoh. It quietly slipped away from the confused flock, detouring around the battlefield.

“Kid? What are you planning to do?” Ehjiro asked.

“I’m going to save Hogara... No, I’m going to save everyone.”

Ehjiro’s eyes widened slightly with shock. Though she normally did as she pleased, she was still part of the group—of course she worried for her kidnapped brethren.

“I will not allow this injustice to stand,” said Kid. “A war between people and harpies may be unavoidable, but there’s still a right and wrong way to do things! Burning homes and using hostages as shields isn’t right!”

This might have been nothing but empty sentiment from Kid, since he had taken time to interact with the harpies. But he knew that whoever had taken them had no intention of treating them properly.

“But there’s nothing we can do! It’s impossible...” Ehjiro wailed.

“Put the other way, we have no chance of winning if we don’t save the hostages,” Kid replied.

Ehjiro’s eyes widened once again as she looked at him. His gaze was locked onto his target in the distance: the armored ship that Hogara had been taken to—the enemy’s base.

“What do I do? What should I do? Think... There should be some sort of way,” Kid muttered to himself. He knew he should have been able to think from a different perspective as the only one among the harpies who had knowledge of the Occidents. “Do we sneak in? No, we have no idea how big the crew is.”

He clenched his jaw. They couldn’t just save Hogara. There were most likely a great number of harpies still inside, since they had already attacked one village at least.

“So we actually have to sneak into that huge thing, but getting back out would be crazy... Is there no choice but to take over the ship?”

Either way, they would have to get in close to the large ship in order to sneak inside. That alone would be difficult in the extreme. The armored ship was surrounded by cutters, which were putting up a strict guard. And gryphons stood out too much, large and powerful as they were; they were totally unsuited for stealth.

That was when a cry was raised from the retreating flock. “There are more ships coming from behind!”

Kid turned around in a panic and saw another fleet coming from a completely different direction. The harpies were already losing, and now their avenue of escape was being cut off as well.

“Dammit! They still had forces to spare?! How many ships do they have?!” Kid shivered as resignation crawled into his heart. Every moment saw this situation getting worse, with the harpies now surrounded.

Chapter 82: The Conclusion Lies Beyond the Flames

The large beasts flew gracefully, their wings spread wide. Congresswoman Yolanda of Eleven Flags watched the flock of gryphons run and laughed shrilly. “My, my! They were so rambunctious at first, but now look how pathetic they are. These are supposed to be monsters of myth? They’re nothing but wild beasts!”

The hostage tactic using their captured harpies had been utterly effective. They would normally have had trouble fighting gryphons head-on, but now the monsters were nothing but cornered prey. They even looked comical in their current state. After getting her fill of laughter, she leaned back in her chair, and that was when a restrained knock came from the entrance to the bridge.

“Excuse me. We have found something that needs your attention.”

Soldiers then filed into the room, bringing an object onto the bridge. It was covered in a cloth, and turned out to be a bound person—no, a young harpy girl. She was unconscious, likely still under the effects of the drugs from when she’d been captured. They reported that her name was Hogara.

Yolanda immediately stood and inspected Hogara closely from head to toe. It didn’t matter to her what name the girl had or what she thought. She only had one concern: her value as merchandise.

“This...is better than anything else you’ve brought me.”

The girl was beautiful, even by Yolanda’s aesthetic sense. She was not only young, but her features were all symmetrical, and her form was wonderful. Her skin was also smooth and completely unblemished. The reason they’d used drugs for capture was to prevent any unnecessary damage to the goods. The most standout racial characteristic of a harpy was their long hair, which was incredibly hard. Yolanda knew that this hair changed shape when they intended to fly.

“Hee hee hee... Something this good is worthy of decorating my ship, beautiful as I am. Indeed, I’m looking forward to seeing her completed.”

The soldiers listened silently and expressionlessly. Anyone who knew the meaning of that would have doubted her sanity, but no one who would be shaken by something like this would have been able to work for her in the first place.

Her ecstatic trance was broken by a soldier who ran in. The soldier faltered when met with the unhappy gaze of the congresswoman, but a sense of duty saw said soldier stay firm instead of running away.

“I-I have a report! An unknown fleet has appeared on the other side of the cornered monsters!”

“What?” Yolanda responded. “Such vulgar guests, to interrupt my enjoyment. That Tomarzo boy can handle the likes of them. I’m busy at the moment.”

“But... Oh, no! Yes, ma’am!” The soldier’s expression twisted upon hearing her unreasonable order, but Yolanda didn’t seem to care. Her mind was filled with thoughts of how to process the material in front of her.

◆

A fleet of levitating ships not belonging to the Eleven Flags army stood in the way of the harpies. With enemies to the front and back, they were heavily shaken.

“So we are already prey in their trap.”

“How can we fight in such a situation?!”

Though they were surrounded, it was possible for them to break through. Gryphons were powerful monsters, more formidable in battle than a human ship. But they probably wouldn’t be able to avoid even more casualties. The enemy’s tactic of using captured harpies as hostages was vicious, but that was why it was also so hard to counter.

As the leader of the flock, Suojiro the Wind Reader had to make the decision. He thought mostly of his cerbergryphon’s unease. Silently, he looked over toward the new fleet. No change could be seen in his usual tightly controlled and stern demeanor. Eventually, he called out to someone unexpected.

“I have something I would like to ask of the surface dweller among us. You declare your flocks using flags, correct?”

Kid squinted in a panic, trying to see. Now that he was having a good look at the fleet ahead of them, he saw that they were flying a different flag. It displayed not the eleven cups of Eleven Flags, but a wave and a bird.

“Wait, that’s... They’re from a different country! They might not be enemies,” Kid reported.

“Indeed, I have memory of that pattern. It is proof of an old promise with us. Everyone, we are going to them.” With Suojiro’s statement, the harpies calmed down. They didn’t hesitate to approach the fleet ahead of them.

Kid alone looked around as Watoh hurried to follow the flock. The person he needed to ask was clinging to his back. “What’s going on, Ehjiro? We—I mean, you have allies among the surface dwellers?”

“We do! It’s not as if we knew absolutely nothing about surface dwellers.” Ehjiro flapped her wings and leaned forward excitedly.

This caused Kid to also pitch forward, but he managed to straighten himself. “Whoa there. In other words, they probably aren’t enemies. Though it would be better if they were actually allies.”

They had thought they were completely backed into a corner, but just the knowledge that those in front weren’t enemies lightened their mood considerably. Still, they didn’t know what these people had come up to this flying land for. So, Kid remained vigilant as he followed the flock toward this new fleet.

The tight feeling of tension was blown away instantly when they saw a unique ship among the fleet.

“Whaaat?! That’s the Golden Mane! Why is the young master here?!”

A familiar ship was mixed in among the fleet. Its silhouette was sharp, like a sword, and the lion’s crest it flew was unmistakable.

“You know that ship?” Ehjiro asked.

“Of course I do! That was the one I was riding on... Yeah. That’s right, that’s the Golden Mane!” Kid’s eyes widened. Was something wrong with the Golden Mane?

Gryphons were powerful, but they were hard to ride if you weren’t used to them. But levitating ships—and the silhouette knights inside them—were his wheelhouse.

Instantly, their options expanded. Kid couldn’t help but jostle the reins, thinking this was a shining joker in their hand. Watoh let out a cry in response and accelerated ahead of the flock. It ignored the ships flying unknown flags and made a beeline for the Golden Mane. But even when faced with Kid’s sudden actions, Ehjiro continued to support him without panicking.

“What’s wrong? Do you have friends there?” she asked.

“Not just that! Heh heh, my partner’s there too! I have a good idea, and if it goes well, we can save Hogara... No, we can save everyone.”

There was no hesitation to Kid’s actions. Seeing how full of confidence he was, Ehjiro nodded. “Okay! Then I’ll help you, Kid. Let’s go save everyone!”

“Yeah, leave it to me! Let’s go!”

Watoh flapped its wings and rose up above the Golden Mane to drop on top of its deck.

◆

The Eleven Flags army noticed the change in the harpies’ behavior. They’d chased their prey to a point where all that was left was to clean the rest of them up, but now another nation’s fleet had interrupted them.

In terms of numbers, the Eleven Flags army had the advantage. However, they couldn’t so easily decide what to do against another force when it wasn’t clear whether they were friends or enemies. In the first place, their hostage tactic was only effective against harpies; it would be completely useless against other humans. They would need to find a change in strategy.

Then, just as they were going to confer about what direction to take, a ship emerged from the other fleet—one with a pointed, swordlike shape...

◆

Those on the Golden Mane noticed the gryphon charging toward its upper deck and panicked. Many people were shouting into speaking tubes.

“This is the upper deck! Emergency! A monster is coming right at us! You’ve gotta intercept it! Pleeeeaaase!”

“Wait! The Shumefleek army is handling matters regarding paired monsters. It won’t attack us...or it shouldn’t. We promised, so we can’t attack them recklessly!”

“Bwaaagh, it’s really coming for us! Waaaaaaghhh!”

As shouting came back and forth through the tubes, the monster had gotten right in front of them. There was no stopping it now; it spread its large wings and descended onto the deck. The ship creaked a little as the monster’s cry blended into the wind.

The crew took cover, hiding as much as they could while still sticking their heads out to see. Their higher-ups had said these monsters were allies, but they still had serious doubts. No one from Fremmevilla would be able to believe it right away. But that only lasted until they saw who jumped off its back.

The face was familiar, and one of them couldn’t help but shout. “Whaaat?! Kid?! Why’re you riding a monster?!”

“Heya! It’s been too long. So after I fell, they took care of me—wait, now’s not the time for that! I need to talk to the young master. I’m in a hurry.”

The crew member’s face froze, but he quickly nodded and pointed to the exit behind them. “Got it, go. If you’re in a hurry, that can’t mean anything good.”

“Thanks! And take care of Watoh!”

“Huh? Hey, do you mean—”

Kid hurried off inside the ship without waiting for a reply. And for some reason, there was a girl clinging to his back. The crew on the deck exchanged confused looks before fearfully turning around. There sat the gryphon, seemingly without a care in the world.

“That’s Watoh, right? I mean, what does he even want us to do with a monster?”

Watoh let out a short cry in response to the crew’s puzzled mutterings.

◆

Kid dropped quickly down the ladder and ran down the cramped passages. He was intimately familiar with this ship, and it didn’t take long for him to burst onto the bridge. “Young master! Everyone! I need to ask you a favor!”

“What? Wait, Kid?!” Emris shouted back. “Seriously, I knew you wouldn’t die so easily, but I never thought you’d come back on a monster! Actually...who’s that girl behind you?”

“I’m Ehjiro! I’m the Wind Reader’s chick, nice to meet you.”

“Oh? My name is Emris, the captain of this ship! Nice to meet you too!”

“The introductions can wait! We’re in a hurry!” Kid shouted, breaking up this strangely instant friendship, and he pointed out the window at the imposing armored ships and cutters of the other fleet.

Emris looked at the large opposing formation and crossed his arms. “The Eleven Flags army, I see. They attacked us earlier when we encountered them too. But we’ve made new friends on this journey, so it won’t go like before.”

“Uh, I’m super curious to hear more, but I need to figure out how to explain this first...” Kid decided to start by pointing to Ehjiro, who was still attached to his back. “These people are called harpies, and they live here, on this flying island.”

“These people?” Emris repeated questioningly.

Ehjiro, who was still inexplicably riding Kid, gave her wings a flap in response. Normally, harpies didn’t differ much from people in appearance, but this show of a clearly nonhuman appendage had Emris and the rest of the bridge crew stare with open and intense interest.

Then, Kid launched into an explanation of everything that had happened to him—from when he’d fallen from the ship, to his time in the harpy village, to how they’d come to fight the Eleven Flags army, who had set fire to the forest.

“Hrm. From what I hear, this reminds me of alves—oh, no, I mean a certain other species. So, you’re telling me they’ve taken this little lady’s friends hostage?”

“And they set fire to the forest too! Their goal is most likely... No, I’ll tell you later.” Kid suddenly cut himself off. The etherite wasn’t a conversation he should be having in front of everyone. They were all trustworthy people, but it was still a very sensitive topic.

Emris sank into thought after that awkward ending, causing panic and worry to arise in Kid’s heart.

“So?” Emris replied. “You wish to take on an entire country’s army to save some natives of this land you happened to meet? Do you know what you’re asking?”

Kid hesitated for a moment, but he still said, “Yeah. I just can’t forgive the way they do things.”

Emris rose from the captain’s chair. Given his large frame, he ended up looking down at Kid, who tried to return the look with strength and confidence. Meanwhile, Ehjiro retreated into Kid’s shadow.

After a moment, Emris grinned. “I see. Then there’s no other choice... Send a message to the Shumefleek ships! We will be engaging in battle with the Eleven Flags fleet in order to rescue the captured harpies! Request their cooperation, and tell them that we’ll explain our reasons later!”

“Aye, aye, sir!”

The crew flew into action, relaying the orders through speaking tubes. The ship’s sails were quickly closed and the Blow Engine stopped. Mana was routed into the Magius Jet Thrusters, and the hull vibrated slightly. The Golden Mane quietly roused its fighting spirit in preparation for battle, like a ferocious beast.

Kid watched this all happen, dumbstruck, but eventually he regained his senses. “I know I’m the one who asked, young master, but are you sure about this? We’re making enemies of a huge fleet.”

“Eleven Flags already picked a fight with us anyway! I don’t like how they do things either, so there’s no ignoring this. We’re going to engage now, while we have an appreciable amount of power on our side. Also, it’s not a bad deal to have these harpies owe us one! But, Kid, their forces aside, going around those hostages is going to be tricky. Do you have a plan?”

“I’ll just have to show you how the Order of the Silver Phoenix does things. I want everyone to lend me their strength, after all...”

The crew listened to Kid’s proposal and reacted with exasperation. Finally, Emris burst out in uproarious laughter. “Ha ha ha! You come up with the craziest ideas! Fine. Everyone, to your places. It’s going to be a contest of speed!”

“Roger!”

“Especially you, Kid. This is your plan—don’t lose focus, got it?”

“Of course not!” Kid replied, snapping off a salute.

“Not!” Ehjiro repeated.

Kid ran for the hangar, Ehjiro still stuck to him.

Emris saw off this comical duo and sank into the captain’s chair. “Did all of you hear that? He’s been gone so long, and the moment he comes back, he does so with a whale of a request.”

“I know, right?” The crew came back with exasperated, but happy, agreement. They were all worried when he’d gone MIA, but he had come back with a huge ask like nothing had happened. It seemed the Order of the Silver Phoenix were all at least a little reckless and mad.

“He really is his disciple,” Emris concluded. “Okay, full speed ahead. We need to get into range first!”

The Golden Mane started to move, bringing change to this battlefield with the entrance of a new force.

The first to respond were Eleven Flags’ cutters. They moved to surround the Golden Mane, swarming it, but it quickly sent out a light signal. Behind it, the other levitating ships—Shumefleek’s fleet—started to advance.

This slowed the action of the cutters. Compared to normal levitating ships, these cutters were speedy but lacked in durability and firepower. They were naturally at a disadvantage in open battle. So, Eleven Flags brought its main fleet forward as well. Both sides got closer and closer, until...

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, the Golden Mane did not stop accelerating. It pointed straight at the middle of the Eleven Flags formation, continuing its reckless charge. The momentum provided by its Magius Jet Thrusters was remarkable, allowing its speed to rival a cutter’s, despite its size. Both its momentum and the distance from its allies only grew.

Congressman Tomarzo Biscopo, who was in one of the armored ships, furrowed his brow. “What speed! I remember that ship... But what does this mean? They’re acting with Shumefleek and those birds!”

Ever since the Shumefleek fleet had appeared, the situation had gone beyond their expectations. Eleven Flags considered harpies nothing but vermin, so they couldn’t understand why anyone would ally with them. This was only made more confusing by the single ship charging toward them at high speed.

“I’m definitely envious of its speed, but what does it think a single ship can do?”

Confusion and doubt started to seep into the Eleven Flags army. Tomarzo shook his head to drive the unnecessary thoughts out. “Hmph. That old granny Yolanda is content to watch from on high... Fine, if they’re going to come at us, there’s no need to hold back. Crush them!”

◆

—Golden Mane, special stern hangar:

This specially designed space was occupied by only one silhouette knight: a Tzenndrimble. This model, which sported two ether reactors to support its needs, was extremely useful as the ship’s source of power.

This knight, which had been quietly fulfilling its duty, was suddenly awoken. Kid jumped into the cockpit, straddling the saddlelike seat and taking a breath. It was familiar; he could feel the control yokes when he reached out, and his feet slipped easily into the stirrups. As expected, he was most comfortable in this familiar saddle. Watoh was a smart little beast, but it was still a monster, and Kid couldn’t help but feel it was tough to control.

“It’s our turn, partner. We’re going to put those bandits down and save everyone. Help me!”

Loud suction noises came from the Tzenndrimble as it spun up. Kid took it as his machine’s response, and he smiled.

Then, Ehjiro’s face poked out from the cockpit’s entrance. She was upside down as she looked around curiously before her eyes settled on Kid. “So this is your partner. It’s totally different from a gryphon. This one’s real hard.”

“Of course it is. It’s a silhouette knight, not a monster. It can’t fly either.”

“Oh really? I don’t get it!”

It wasn’t clear if she actually didn’t get it, or if she did, or if she just didn’t care. She didn’t hesitate to slide into the cockpit, sitting right behind Kid as if that were her designated spot. She spread her wings, seemingly confusing this for a gryphon, and cocked her head.

Kid patted her on the head and told her that wouldn’t be necessary. “Well, there are things it can do because of that. Watch, I’m going to create a path for everyone who was captured.”

He smiled boldly and gripped the control yokes. Meanwhile, the Golden Mane had pierced deep into the enemy formation.

◆

Tomarzo’s armored ship advanced slowly, taking formation with the levitating ships protecting its surroundings. It was a slow ship, easily outpaced by the cutters racing ahead of it. The enemy had plunged far forward, and because they were human, Tomarzo had decided to no longer use the hostage tactic. Once inside spellfire range, the cutters unleashed scattered shots. This was followed immediately after by a fierce barrage from the Golden Mane.

“W-We can’t get close! What is this curtain of fire?! It’s only one ship!”

The storm of spellfire seemed like it would burn the very sky, and it completely blunted the cutters’ advance. The Kuscheperkan Lesvant Viedes mounted on the Golden Mane were the newest models reflecting all of the experience the nation had accumulated during the Grand Storm of the West. Their tried and tested abilities were far above the machines possessed by Eleven Flags. The burning spellfire forced the path open.

“Hey now, you’re getting a little too carried away there!” Tomarzo lost his temper, and he had his armored ship get in the way of the enemy ship. The heavily armored ship would use its large hull as a wall to stop them. It surrounded the Golden Mane along with the cutters, attempting to crush it instantly.

“Oh man, what a waste. You can at least preserve the secrets of that speed as you fall!”

Even the Golden Mane, with all its speed, would find it hard to pierce through such a dense curtain of fire unscathed. Tomarzo was sure of his victory, and he let out a whoop.

At the exact same time, Emris laughed heartily from the captain’s seat. “So a real fighter came crawling out, eh? And yet one of the large ones is running. Is your cargo that heavy? That one’s the target, men! Full speed ahead! All hands, brace yourselves! We’re going to tear them apart!”

The Magius Jet Thrusters mounted on the rear of the ship fired at full blast. Their loud roar saw the ship shoot off like a comet with a trail of fire. The thrust tested the limits of its design, making the hull creak. The ship’s own abilities were more of a threat to it than the enemy’s attacks.

Instantly, it busted through the Eleven Flags formation, leaving the cutters behind. This was the Golden Mane’s biggest selling point. Its overwhelming speed let it do whatever it wanted on the battlefield.

“Impossible! Is that really a levitating ship?! Damn, it got behind us— Wait... So that’s what they want!!!” Tomarzo screamed. They were after the armored ship in the back, which was hiding behind the rest of the fleet. That ship was where all the gryphons and harpies were being held. And so, the reason behind the enemy ship’s strange movements had come to light. “No... It can’t be! Are they idiots?! They’re after the birds we caught?!”

The Eleven Flags army was spurred to action, changing their heading.

Then, they noticed that the Shumefleek fleet was approaching now, chasing after the Golden Mane. The group of gryphons was now flying with this fleet too.

“Ugh! Leave the fast one alone! All ships, intercept the main enemy force!” Tomarzo shouted angrily into a speaking tube. The Eleven Flags army hurried to obey.

Meanwhile, Yolanda watched as a single ship charged at hers, and her expression twisted. “How could they let a fly slip past?! That fool Tomarzo really is all talk. Do something, quickly!”

She hadn’t needed to say all that—the soldiers were already moving. The armored ship lumbered around, turning to point its silhouette arms toward the incoming ship.

Having gotten past all other obstacles, the Golden Mane slowed down. They were now facing an unprotected armored ship. They judged the distance and instantly reversed thrust, killing their speed.

Emris grabbed a speaking tube and shouted, “We’re in range, Kid!”

“Got it! Let’s go—this is our specialty. Burn it into your eyes!” Kid excitedly unleashed the script. The command traveled from the Tzenndrimble through mana and silver nerves, reaching a device mounted on the ship and awakening it.

It was a Vespiary—two rows of sixteen missile launchers, making for a total of thirty-two that fired in unison.

Crimson flame fountained out as missile javelins took to the skies. They leveled out after a moment, following the order of the script and flying through the air. Their target: the armored ship.

On its bridge, Yolanda saw the incoming threat and panicked. “Wh-What are those?!”

“Those are the levitating ship killers we were told about in reports, aren’t they?! Those are supposed to be Kuscheperkan weapons!”

“Whaaat?! Th-Then, is that a Kuscheperkan ship?! O-Oh no!”

The Kingdom of Kuscheperka had dominated the Grand Storm of the West, defeating Jaloudek to claim victory. They were the greatest rivals of Eleven Flags and required the most caution. But they were supposed to be recovering from the damage inflicted on them during the conflict and not have time to pursue the rumors of this place. But in the face of levitating ship killers, any regret or lament was meaningless.

While confusion spread on the armored ship, the missile javelins approached, accelerating and holding hidden lethality within.

“I need to aim...to go through the deck to avoid the armor,” Kid said to himself.

The best feature of missile javelins was that they could be controlled midflight using the silver nerves attached to them. The thirty-two javelins being controlled by Kid, a skilled knight runner, flew at their target with unerring precision.

Armored ships certainly boasted high defense. However, their armor didn’t mean much against missile javelins that could aim for their weak spots. The weapons elicited terrifying screams of tortured metal as they stabbed one after another into their target. They had picked up more than enough speed and so easily ate through the ship.

“I’ve got you now!” Kid exclaimed. “Cancel the detaching script! Fix it in place using Physical Boost!”

The silver nerves fed their attached missile javelins with orders and mana for propulsion. Normally, they would detach when they reached the limits of their length, ending the ability to guide the projectiles. But they stayed attached in this instance because they’d been fired from such a close range, and because Kid had ordered it.

The launching device was now connected with thirty-two wires, which firmly tied the two ships together.

“The bridge is up! Are you bastards ready?!”

“You know it! Let’s go!”

Kid’s ridiculous idea—using missile javelins to make a bridge—had been successful, and the knights raised a cheer. They were in silhouette gears, waiting on the upper deck. Now was the time for phase two of the plan—charge in.

Aero Thrust spells roared as the heavy suits of armor took to the air. The wires between the two ships were terribly unreliable as footing, but some instability was no problem for them. Aero Thrust gave them the ability of flight, limited though it was. And so, the almost unbelievable act of committing a high-altitude tightrope walk began.

“We’re going too, Ehjiro!” Kid shouted.

“Okay! Wait for me, Hogara!”

Having left his Tzenndrimble, Kid had grouped up with the silhouette gear squad. Ehjiro was flying beside him, her wings deployed.

Kid was the only one not in a silhouette gear. But he was a member of the Order of the Silver Phoenix—and one that had been taught directly by its leader. He used his excessive magic skill to fly ahead of the silhouette gears and reached the enemy ship first.

“E-Enemy attack! The enemy has boarded—”

“You’re in the way! Shut up!” Kid stuck out his gunlike staff, and lightning flashed out of it. The full-power spell burned the Eleven Flags soldier as it passed through and wreaked havoc inside. He quickly dispatched the rest of the enemy forces and established a bridgehead. The silhouette gear squad arrived shortly after, and they surveyed the scene with the missile javelins still stuck into the ship.

“Hey, ‘Captain’ Kid! What do we do now?”

“Our first objective is to release the harpies. We’re heading for the hold.”

“Yessir! Then let’s go bust some heads!”

Kid brought up his staff and stood with the silhouette gears. The crystal tissue inside their suits of armor sang a high-pitched tune as they used magic to transform strength into destructive power. Walls and other barriers were crushed and tossed aside as they started their advance.

◆

The javelins traveled through the sky. They spewed fire as they accelerated, stabbing into the armored ship.

“Oh crap! What is up with that ship?! That’s no joke!” Tomarzo watched with wide eyes as Yolanda’s armored ship was assailed. He’d only let one weirdly fast ship past him. How could he have known that it was equipped with levitating ship killers?

In a good showing for the armored ship, it hadn’t flinched after being hit by the javelins. But it was easy to imagine that the attack wasn’t over. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should go to help, but he quickly changed his mind.

The Shumefleek fleet was right in front of them. Their ships might have been mediocre, but their numbers weren’t to be underestimated. Also, because they were joined by the vermin Tomarzo had almost managed to eradicate, his force was pinned down. He couldn’t turn around so easily.

“Damn it all! Yolanda, you greedy old hag, make sure you cut your way out of that scrape yourself, you hear?!” The only thing he could do was shout angrily in Yolanda’s direction, hoping she would succeed.

◆

Yolanda was at the peak of confusion after not only eating an unprecedented missile javelin attack to create a makeshift bridge, but also a boarding action by the enemy force.

“Th-The enemy ship! It looks like...it attached itself to us with wires!”

“Eek! They’ve boarded us! They’re in huge suits of armor!”

A complicated mess of screaming filled the speaking tubes. They were no longer filling their original roles; it was nearly impossible to get an accurate picture of the situation.

“What are you doing?!” Yolanda shrieked. “The fools marched right into our clutches! Surround and crush them!”

“W-Well... They’re wearing strange suits of armor! They’re frighteningly strong, and—”

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear excuses,” she continued shouting. “Hurry and exterminate those pests!!!”

The soldier closed his mouth after Yolanda’s shrill tirade. He simply nodded silently and ran off.

“Damn it all. Has everyone lost their minds?!”

Indeed, this entire situation was ridiculous. They were up at high altitude, flying so high that any fall would be fatal. Who would expect a boarding action in such a place? The Eleven Flags soldiers were not prepared for this. But also, the enemy was much too strong in the first place and was making their merry way to the center of the ship with all the momentum they’d started this assault with.

“Gather anything that can serve as an obstacle! Anything! Make a wall!”

The Eleven Flags soldiers desperately constructed barricades. Armored ships were large, but only by the standards of a levitating ship. It wouldn’t take long to completely block entire passageways by piling up objects. Not to mention, their enemies were essentially isolated, having charged into their base. The soldiers figured it would be easy to defeat them with such a big difference in combat capability.

“They’re coming! Everyone, staves up!”

The soldiers lay in wait on the other side of the barricade. Their enemies were like helpless animals caught in a trap. They tightened their grips on their staves.

“Move, or I’ll make you!” came a shout from beyond.

As soon as they saw the enemy, they launched spells in the place of words. There was nowhere for the enemy to escape—

But such resistance only lasted a moment. A densely packed gust of air swirled, creating a thick curtain. The spellfire was deflected by the air, with not a single bolt piercing through.

“Dammit! Damn it all!”

“Don’t falter, push them back!” This shout of encouragement quickly changed to a scream.

A menacing clump of flame came flying from beyond the thick curtain of air. It was an intermediate spell of the basic fire family: Flame Strike. It held great explosive power even among other intermediate spells, and it bit into the barricade. It continued to explode, scattering flames all around and instantly destroying the makeshift wall.

“What are these people?! Are they insane?! Th-They’re going to sink the ship!”

Multiple screams came from the soldiers, mixed with tears. Levitating ships weren’t invincible, after all. If one were to catch fire, or the floor were to break, or a hole were to be punched through a wall, or if they fell from the ship for any reason, there would be no saving them. Being on a levitating ship was a gamble between risk and convenience.

And yet, their enemies were throwing around powerful spells seemingly without a care in the world. It made the soldiers doubt their enemies’ sanity or if they had any concept of fear at all. At this point, their feelings went all the way past lament into anger at this absurdity.

And now, stepping over the wreckage created by the Flame Strike spell, came knights in full suits of large armor. The remaining soldiers frantically resisted, but none of that bore any fruit. While the armored knights looked like they might have been slow on their feet, they were actually very agile. Not only that, their defenses were as high as they seemed. They could dodge magic or even simply swat it away as they charged right through to rain steel punches down on the soldiers.

It didn’t take long for the Eleven Flags forces to be decimated.

“All levitating ships look mostly the same internally. We should be close to the hold,” said Kid.

“Man, this ship’s as spacious as it looks on the outside!”

Kid and the silhouette gear squad continued their way through the armored ship. It was nearly impossible to stop them in such a confined space. In the first place, it was almost impossible for unassisted humans to fight silhouette gears, and that was ignoring the fact that they were being supported by Kid’s ridiculous magic ability. They were, at this point, walking examples of the absurd.

Having literally stepped over every obstacle, they finally kicked open the door that led to the hold. Instantly, all manner of projectiles came flying at them from the other side.

“Die!!!”

Some of it was magic—explosive spells that meant they obviously didn’t care to preserve their ship anymore. There were also crossbow bolts and even random scraps of metal. The silhouette gears leaped into the midst of this intense welcome.

“Raaagggh!!!”

Kid and the others had expected an ambush. The silhouette gears used their arms as shields, forcing their way inside. Kid ran through the path they opened while Ehjiro brought up the rear, popping her head up to see here and there, since the silhouette gears were large and blocked her line of sight.

The silhouette gears swatted the spellfire aside. Lightning flashed from Kid’s gunlike staff, shooting down the incoming bolts. The rest were turned aside by the armor like mere pebbles.

Then, the group went on the attack like the surging tide. The ambushing soldiers were met with steel fists, sending them spinning through the air. Lightning spells were also unleashed continuously, each striking one of the staff-wielding soldiers.

In the blink of an eye, half of the defenders were gone, and the remaining soldiers all surrendered. In the face of such an outrageously overwhelming gap in power, they would naturally lose their will to resist.

“Okay, all of you behave. If you try anything funny, I’ll get them to send you flying,” said Kid.

He had the soldiers tied up in a random corner. Finally, he was free to calmly look over the interior of the hold along with Ehjiro.

“That’s what we’re looking for.”

The armored ship’s hold was pretty huge. Part of it was occupied by what looked like materials harvested from animals that were piled up without much care. Near that were a bunch of harpies thrown into a crude cage. Considering a harpy’s magical abilities, the cage didn’t seem like it would be enough, but the threat of hostages probably made it so.

They were taken aback by the bombastic entrance of Kid and the silhouette knights, and that turned into wariness when they realized they were his goal.

Kid panned his gaze over the inside of the cage. “You’re the harpies who were taken from the village, aren’t you? We came to rescue you.”

Silence, wariness, and hostility radiated back at him. Kid shrugged. “That figures. Hey, Ehjiro, you’re up.”

“Okay!”

Ehjiro flew over with a flap of her wings. Once they saw her, a commotion rippled through the group of harpies. She came to stand beside Kid, clearly not wary at all. In fact, she seemed mysteriously smug.

“You’re from the neighboring village...” one of the captured harpies started.

“Yeah!” Ehjiro replied. “Uh, I’m sure you’re surprised, but Kid’s telling the truth! We came to save all of you. So let’s get out of here first, then we can go back home!”

The captured harpies exchanged glances, but it didn’t take long for them to come to a decision. “Okay, we believe you. You don’t seem to be under their control.”

“Thanks for the smart decision,” said Kid. “Okay, take care of this.”

“Yessir.”

A silhouette gear approached, the armor humming. Wariness returned to the harpies for a moment, but the knight didn’t pay it any heed as he forced the cage open and stepped inside to check on them.

He then continued to crush their simple shackles. “Can all of you escape on your own? Is anyone unable to move?”

“Yes... They broke some of our wings. Also, the ones who were just captured have yet to wake up.”

“Okay, leave them to us. Anyone who can move should follow that girl there.”

With their shackles off, the harpies who could move did so and gathered around Ehjiro, who was now riding on Kid’s shoulders.

She spread her wings. “Follow me, everyone!”

Before the harpies left, they spared a glance for the pile of animal parts. They spent a small moment in prayer before following after Ehjiro.

Meanwhile, the silhouette gears were picking up the harpies who were unconscious or unable to move. The suits of armor, laced with crystal tissue, were able to easily pick up a person. They were also very durable as long as they were fed with mana—perfect for doing heavy lifting.

The group made to leave the way they came, back toward the Golden Mane. Kid was searching among the crowd of escaped harpies, his face still stern despite how well the rescue was going.

“Hey, you, did you see Hogara? She should have been captured too.”

“They took some of us away from here. They were selecting the young ones, so if she isn’t here, well...” The harpy who replied to Kid slowly turned toward the Eleven Flags soldiers.

All of them stared at the ground, refusing to make eye contact. Each footstep they heard coming closer made them sweat more.

“Oh? Hey, these aren’t all the harpies you captured, are they? I’m told there are more,” said Kid.

“No! Th-These are all— Gwargh!”

Instantly, lightning struck the soldier who replied, sending him spasming on the floor. After the first sacrifice, Kid selected another with a point of his gunlike staff.

“So. Where are they?” he asked.

The next soldier did not resist. He pointed up, clearly desperate. “Th-The best ‘materials’ were brought to the bridge. Lady Yolanda likes to inspect them personallYYYYYY?!”

A bullet of pressurized air struck him in the jaw. There was no salvation for the honest either.

Kid turned on his heel. “There are more. I’m going to head to the bridge; the rest of you take care of them for me.”

“Sure. I know we don’t have to worry about you, but this is technically enemy territory. Be careful.”

“I know.”

WIth that, the line of people returning to the Golden Mane left, and Kid jumped up the ladder that would lead to the bridge.

◆

Ehjiro had taken the lead as the group of harpies walked forward. There was no one left to stop them. They went to where the missile javelins were stabbed into the ship and took flight.

The silhouette gears that escorted them also took to the air, moving along the silver nerves that connected the two ships. The comparatively intact harpies went with them to the Golden Mane.

Then, one of the knights took the time to look around. He sensed something clearly wrong with the skies. “What’s that?”

One of the clouds in the sky had suddenly become much thicker. It now cast a larger shadow over the land, leaving the battle between levitating ships in monochrome. Inside this cloud, one part was colored unnaturally.

“It’s...long?”

It felt to him like something terrifyingly big was moving inside, giving him a premonition that made his whole body shiver.

◆

If the Etheric Levitator was the armored ship’s heart, then the bridge was its brain. And so, the passageway to the bridge was strictly guarded by soldiers.

“There’s only one enemy! Don’t let him through!”

“Too bad, I’m coming through anyway!” Kid shouted.

Sadly, they were inside the cramped confines of a levitating ship. Kid boasted firepower worthy of being Ernesti’s disciple, so his enemies’ defenses were as paper to him. He happily attacked, threatening to destroy the very passageway.

“Why...are you not scared...of being thrown off the ship?”

“Oh, if that happens, I can fly with magic,” Kid replied.

The soldier wasn’t even given time to appreciate his ridiculous answer before he was hit with a bullet of compressed air, slamming him through the door behind him.

Kid stepped into the now open room and asked the lady waiting inside, “This is the bridge, right? Give my friend back.”

“DIE— AAARGGGH?!”

A soldier had been lying in wait inside to ambush him, but Kid immediately hit the soldier with lightning, forcing said soldier into a strange dance. With his gunlike staff at the ready, he checked the rest of the bridge.

In normal levitating ships, the bridge was filled with equipment needed to control the ship. However, this armored ship’s bridge was furnished nicely and looked like a parlor room. Kid felt like he’d stepped into a castle somewhere, making him actually feel fed up with his enemies.

“Man, this place is weird. So? Are you the captain of this ship?” he asked.

Yolanda, the lady in an extremely fancy dress in the back of the room, shivered. “I cannot believe how utterly rude you are. You must go through the steps if you want an audience with me.”

“Oh? Is this good enough?” Sparks shot out of Kid’s gunstaff.

The dismay was clear on her face when confronted with a spell ready to be cast. “W-Wait! Don’t use magic. You want those vermin, yes? You wouldn’t want to harm—”

A soldier lifted up an unconscious Hogara, holding a blade to her neck. At the same time, Kid finished constructing his Aero Thrust spell.

Kid ignored the screaming old woman, making a beeline to Hogara. He accurately sent out a weak electric shock to the arm of the soldier who’d tried to take her hostage. Sparks hit his hand, causing him to cry out in pain and drop the blade. Immediately, Kid launched a kick to the soldier’s face, sending him spinning through the air and into the ceiling before falling back down.

“Who’s harming what again?” he asked.

“Ah, uh... You little...! Gh...” Yolanda’s trump card had instantly fallen apart. She was trembling as she scooted backward, but her back quickly hit the wall. Her mind wasn’t able to keep up with this rapidly changing situation.

They should have been the winners of this conflict, having essentially exterminated the harpies. Even if they’d encountered a fleet from a different nation, their armored ships and cutters should have proven a good match for anything anyone else could field. She couldn’t even imagine how one single ship had managed to ruin them so thoroughly. The question worked its way through her body and shot out of her mouth.

“Y-You’re from Kuscheperka, yes?! Why?! Why did you come here?!”

Yolanda did not matter to Kid at all. He didn’t like how she acted or spoke, but she also didn’t look to be a threat or even an obstacle. Much higher on his list of things to do was ensure Hogara’s safety. He quickly picked her up, only turning to answer as an aside.

“An adventure.”

“What?” Even after hearing the answer, she couldn’t understand him.

But then, for some reason, Kid froze. His gaze grew grim, and Yolanda shivered once more. However, he was not looking at the poor old woman, but beyond the window behind her at the sky. He had noticed something odd in the clouds and was concentrating, trying to identify it.

“I feel like something...is looking this way...” he muttered.

The moment he tried to discern what it was...

Suddenly, the clouds began to swirl. A light shone between them, becoming stronger every moment. The coiling clouds were dispersed as a powerful shine appeared, followed by a torrent of fire.

The gushing flame burned its way through the sky like a lance. It struck the center of the armored ship unerringly. The fire spread and raged, heating armor and air alike. Finally, the ship faltered, and Kid had to use the wall to support himself.

“Wha... What happened?!” he shouted.

While he was busy being flustered, the torrent of fire continued to eat away at the armored ship. The thick armor that ensconced the entire vessel could not resist the flames as it turned red-hot. The wood behind the metal couldn’t take this and burst into flame.

“I have no idea what’s going on, but this is bad! Damn, there’s no time!” Kid shouted.

He no longer had the time to be picky about his methods. He immediately shot the glass window of the bridge and jumped out with Hogara in his arms. He thought he could hear Yolanda scream in an attempt to stop him, but he didn’t have the leeway to turn back.

Using all his magic prowess, he ran up the armored ship, aiming for the missile javelins that were still stuck into it and the silver nerves attached to them. He pushed himself to the limit as the flames continued to spread behind him and the silhouette of the armored ship twisted more and more.

“Gwaaarrrggghhh!” With a great shout, Kid cleared the final stretch and laid his hands on the silver nerves. “Now! Deploy script! Resume the canceled operation, and sever the connection!!!”

Immediately, he unleashed the script that lay inside. The missile javelins followed their orders and detached their silver nerves in unison.

At the same time, the rewinding device inside the Golden Mane roared as it retrieved the silver wires. Kid maintained his grip on both Hogara and the wires, and the pair were pulled up quickly. He used magic to remain in a stable position as the heat from the flames licked him. Then, he turned around and saw it.

The torrent of fire that stretched straight from the clouds finally went right through the armored ship.

The overwhelming heat of the fire turned the armor red and caused the interior of the ship to explode, trailing fire as it fell from the sky. The wooden interior burned and disintegrated, with fragments sent flying through the air as it crumbled, not even a trace of its former shape remaining. It was a far too sudden end for such a dignified vessel.

While he was dumbstruck by this, the silver nerves finished being rewound, and they were now on the Golden Mane. The knights and harpies who had escaped beforehand welcomed them.

“Kid! You’re safe!”

“Y-Yeah. That was close. The missile javelins saved us. But that’s not important! What did those flames come from?” Kid had been watching the armored ship fall, and now he shifted his gaze toward the source of the flames.

It was emerging from the clouds. For now, it was just a long, outstretched neck. The head featured a multitude of horns, and it had unbelievably large eyes—each one nearly as large as a levitating ship. Its gigantic wings were open and flapping serenely.

“No... Why? How?! That’s impossible! We should have wiped that off the face of the map! Why is it here?!” Kid’s question came out like a scream.

It was the absolute ruler of the skies, something that had once been created by a major nation for battle: an unprecedented antiair levitating ship. It had fought evenly against the fierce god of destruction—history’s strongest weapon.

The thing had been based off of the ancient and now extinct drakes. Its name:

“Vouivre!!!”

The man-made drake, which had so tormented Kuscheperka during the Grand Storm of the West, had once again appeared in the skies. The situation was once again descending into chaos, with this mysterious flying territory as the stage.

◆

Gale-force winds screamed, tearing apart clouds with their force.

The floating continent was constantly surrounded by these gale-force winds. The storm was unceasing, pushing everything away from it. It would seem mysterious under any scrutiny; the storm that prevented anything from getting inside was like a guardian of the land.

And yet, even against such difficult weather, humanity did not give up. They improved their levitating ships and used their technology to overcome this obstacle.

That day, a new ship appeared over the floating continent. A large sword stabbed its way through the swirling storm—or rather, a levitating ship with a sleek, sharp silhouette like a sword. The fire jetting from its rear gave the sword ample thrust, allowing it to resist the storm.

“Wow, it’s exactly as we heard! The land really is floating in the air. How interesting. I wonder what’s keeping it up?” On the bridge of this ship, the small boy in the captain’s chair was very excited.

An arm extended from the side and grabbed him. “Who knows? Maybe it has something like an Etheric Levitator?”

“Then it would probably be a bad idea to bust a hole in it.”

“You wanted to?”

At the same time, the ship’s deck opened up, and a large head poked out. The giant packed into the ship’s hold took a breath and let out a joyous shout. “Wow... O Argos, can you see this? As expected, the humans’ land is still filled with the unknown! I must witness everything!”

“Ha ha ha!” laughed another giant. “Once the Fortissimos hears about this, his eyes will definitely go wide with frustration and regret!”

The two sets of three and four eyes were shining as they looked out at the horizon.

But there was one person who was quiet among all this excitement. She seemed calm as she made sure to nail down the boy in the captain’s chair. “Don’t forget our goal here, Grand Captain. We have only come to retrieve His Highness.”

“Of course. But let’s start by seeing the sights of this strange place... I mean, we have to go looking for him! Now, it’s time to go, Silver Veil II!”

And now, all the actors were onstage. The battle over this great land in which treasure slept was only beginning...

—To be continued in Knight’s & Magic 10