Heavenly Castle

Blau Empire】

An armored soldier was running frantically and come to a stop in front of a huge stone castle. Sweat dripping from his forehead, standing up straight even though his shoulders are raising up and down indicating he is out of breath.

「What’s the matter?」

When the soldier who guards the gate speaks, he replied while breathing roughly.

「Con, conveying. At the sky, a mysterious object is flying…… it, it’s heading, in this direction……!」

「Mysterious object? What on earth are you talking about?」

「Enough of that, hurry, report it to the high ministry! It’s already approaching close to Beesh City!」

Seeing the soldier’s serious expression, the gatekeeper turns his back in a hurry.

He barges inside the castle and hastened his pace through the dark green carpet. While everyone turns their head to the gatekeeper, he proceeds to the second floor and addresses the person who is standing in the back of the aisle. He then raises his voice.

「Excuse me, Riggan-sama!」

The man called Riggan turned around and knitted his brows to the state of the disorganized soldier who left his gate watch duty in a hurry.

He is a well-built man of about forty years old. He has a neatly trimmed mustache, and sharp eyes that glint occasionally.

The soldier who arrived in front of Riggan opened his mouth while looking directly at Riggan.

「A message, sir. I was informed that a mysterious object is flying above the Beesh City in the south, sir. He said, it is heading towards this direction.」

「A mysterious object? No way, this isn’t a big dragon by any chance is it?」

As Riggan asks the questions in a low voice, the soldiers reflexively turns his eyes away.

「I, I do not know. However, with all due respect, sir, I think they will not mistaken a dragon with a mysterious object……」

When the soldier tells that, Riggan keeps silent while narrowing his eyes. The sweat on the soldier’s cheek starts to fall and drip from beneath his chin.

Riggan who was contemplating nodded and raised his face.

「I understand, leave.」

「Yes, sir!」

Riggan turned his back to the soldier and headed towards the back of the aisle and went upstairs.

Going up the stairs, two soldiers were standing guard.

「I wish to seek an audience.」

When Riggan says no more than that, one of the soldiers quickly walked through the aisle and stopped in front of the big door.

A short time later after the soldier left, he came back again.

「Please.」

As soon as he heard that word, Riggan moved in front of the big door. The door is already opened, and a woman in a maid dress is holding one of the doors with both hands.

「Excuse me.」

Riggan said so as he entered, where in there was a big desk in the dim room laid out with a thick carpet and a man with long white hair was sitting still.

He’s a man with oval-faced whose cheeks are thin enough that it becomes hollow. He is almost or past 60 years old. The hollow around his somewhat droopy eyes resembles a skeleton.

That man sat on a big luxurious chair with a backrest, placed his hands on the desk and raised his face.

「What’s the matter?」

The man spoke, his voice was hoarse.

「It is a unique one, but there was a report of a flying object in the sky currently approaching towards this direction from the south, I will report it just in case.」

「A flying object in the sky…」

The man narrows his eyes on Riggan’s report.

「……Do you have any idea?」

「… No, nothing at all」

Upon hearing Riggan’s response, the man lifted the edge of his mouth.

「Interesting…… You said that it’s heading this direction. I want to see it.」

The man stood up after saying that. Immediately, the maid who stood in the corner of the room silently walked towards the man.

The man placed his hand on her shoulder and walked towards Riggan, slowly passing by the side of the desk.

Riggan reflexively glanced at the man’s left leg.

The man’s left leg is missing below the knee. He was wearing something similar to a prosthetic leg connected with a rod, and a loop wrapped around his legs.

「Where is it now?」

「I heard that it’s above the Beesh City.」

Hearing Riggan’s words, the man became silent and gazed at the doorway.

「…… So it’s far beyond the border. No wonder no one have noticed it until now. If so, are we too late to stop it if we send soldiers back traveling on horses?」

Murmuring with ‘butsu butsu’, the man looks at Riggan.

「It will arrive at the Imperial capital by today or tomorrow at the latest. Perhaps, the messenger was ahead of it because it’s a flatland with a well-maintained highway from the Beesh to the Imperial city. It’s going to arrive anytime soon.」

When the man says that, Rigan wrinkled his brows.

「An object that flies in the sky … There is no way we can opposed it only with the magicians here. Even the mechanical longbow will not shoot upwards that high.」

「Gather all the available magicians, even if we can’t do anything considering its height.」

「Hah.」

The man’s shoulder trembled and he laughed. He grasped the maid’s shoulder who supports him naturally.

「Is there anything left I have not seen yet….? Interesting.」

The man muttered so and laughed again.

【Taiki’s POV】

When we go to the operation room of the castle, Ayla looked around with excitement.

「Th, this is…… I have never seen a room like this. Is this a room for magical research?」

Ayla murmured excitedly as she watched me manipulate the screen panel.

The outside scenery was shown on the screen. While laughing to Ayla with her eyes wide in surprise, I point at the terrain in the camera.

Although the forest was continuing for quite some time after crossing the mountain, it looks like we finally arrived in the open field. The grassland is spreading out in the screen.

I’m looking at the screen while explaining about the camera, and suddenly something appeared inside of the screen.

「…… It’s a city.」

When I mutter that reflexively, Ayla looks towards the screen.

Then, she covered her mouth with her hands to express her confusion.

「…… No way, that’s Beesh City?」

「Do you know it?」

When I ask, Ayla answers while looking at the screen intently.

「May, maybe…… that big two towers are characteristics of the Beesh City so……」

When I look at the screen as she said that, there are indeed big towers on both sides as if sandwiching the city. Because the image is shot from above, the height of the tower is difficult to measure, but it seems to be a considerable size.

「Which country is the Beesh City in?」

「…… It is a city in the middle of the Blau Empire. It is a great country that has a hostile relationship with the Azul Kingdom where I used to live.」

When Ayla said that anxiously, she looked at me with a worried expression.

No, don’t worry. I will look after you from harm, you know?

Staring at the anxious Ayla, I smiled gently in order to reassure her.