The Celestina Empire, Imperial Royal Capital Regnieburg, Scarlet Palace, 18th December 1523, 3 days after the Operation: Doom Wrecker
The Scarlet Palace, or known as the palace that was famous for its flame-based ornament, is close to the Nomad castle. It is also a palace where King Daara the 19th and Crown Princess Rosaria along with some servants take shelter. After Shiki and Zilva evacuate them, they are being given lodging at the Scarlet Palace as a refugee under the authorization of the Main Council Great Emperor Sacchito and Emperor Hillem.
On that palace, they were served by some of the Palace Maids. Some of the servants who work as the Verlaine chefs are being taught by the Celestinian chefs to make some food and drinks. Some of the maids are also being taught from scratch as they are being trained on almost everything about the service inside the Scarlet Palace.
“This is really… amazing. I’ve never seen the interior of the castle like this before, let alone the country itself.”
King Daara the 19th first-hand experience the national power of the Celestina Empire by his own eyes. Even his daughter, Princess Rosaria able to experience what it looks like to stay at the Royal Capital of the Celestina Empire. A very tasty culinary, well-served health care, and also civilian service that was fast and accurate. What they also feel amazed are the ornaments that are made by the citizens of the Celestina personally. It makes the castle more elegant while maintaining its humble appearance. What makes them curious the most is the profession where every Celestinian citizen are commonly found, adventurers.
Rosario once wants to experience her life as an adventurer, while Shiki and Zilva will guide her to ensure that she can learn from them on how to go on an adventure. Both of them comply with Rosaria’s requests, and since they are escorting Rosaria, not to mention Shiki is getting closer to her after he found out that she likes sweets. Strawberry Shortcake, Tiramisu, she loves sweets, particularly cake.
At the garden, Zilva is attending to Rosaria while Shiki is on some errands.
“Lady Silverain, why are you still with me? Aren’t you supposed to be reporting my arrival to your superior and awaiting your next order?”
“No, Princess. Master Shiki is my superior, so he will handle everything regarding the refugee from the Verlaine Kingdom. I’ve been tasked by him to protect you while he’s away.”
“Hmm… I wonder what kind of cake he will bring this time.”
While relaxing, Rosaria is enjoying her green tea. The tea imported from Japan on Earth is one of the best quality the Celestina Empire can get. On Earth itself, only a few countries are allowed to open diplomatic relations with the Celestina Empire. Japan is one of the countries that form a diplomatic relationship with the Celestina Empire after the Fourth Interstellar War.
“Aaaahh… This tea makes me feel good when I drink this in the garden.”
“I thank you for the compliment, Princess.”
Once she finished her tea, she places the cup on the table and looks at the sky. On the sky itself, she saw a Firefly-class Heavy Frigate is patrolling around the sky of the capital at an altitude of 5,000 meters above the sky. Seeing that warship where she believes it was huge, it makes her curious.
“Does Celestina always have that warship to guard this country?”
Looking at the frigate flies above the capital, Zilva nodded.
“Yes. We have some warships that came down here for a routine patrol.”
“Does that mean this country has reached the sky that once my Kingdom dreamed of?”
“Yes.”
Rosaria watches it with amazement. Since they took refugees to the Celestina Empire, they haven’t done much activity outside the castle other than negotiating with diplomats and some sightseeing.
“I would like to go on an adventure if I’m allowed.”
“When do you want to go, Your Highness?”
“Tomorrow is possible.”
“I… I will arrange it immediately.”
Since this is Rosaria’s personal request, Zilva plans to report it to King Daara the 19th, but Rosaria stop her as she did not want this to be reported to her father.
The Next day, Chivalry Dungeon, 9th Floor, 19th December 1523
“Over there!! Over there!!”
“Oops!”
Shiki pulls Rosaria before she can be caught fire by a horned devil skull head that emits green flame, known as Green Abyss. They managed to reach the 9th floor in under two hours while the threat of this dungeon itself was at B rank from the start. She also saw metal armor moving around but without anyone wearing it. Three shots from an archer annihilate the Green Abyss monster.
“Bullseye.”
“S-so… Are you guys often venture to the dangerous dungeon like this all the time?”
“Yes. We often hunt for material and equipment here. Our difficulty just went higher because we’re accompanying a Princess.”
Normally, the task of gathering materials for up to the 10th floor can be classified as B+ rank, but since they are escorting Rosaria, their task level is increased to at least A- rank. She suddenly shivers as she senses something dreadful is approaching.
“W-why I can’t move?”
“Scout! Look around!”
“Chief!! A Knight of Yami spotted along with two Bloody Knights!”
“What?!”
Knight of Yami, its threat is rated as S rank. Wielding two large spirit sword, it was escorted by two Bloody Knight, a heavily armored knight with spiked sword and spiked shield, covered in blood. Both of the Bloody Knight is rated AAA+ rank for the threat. While the boss of this dungeon that lies at the 15th floor of the labyrinth, the Abyssmal Cavalier Knight, is rated S+ rank for the threat.
“It’s unusual for them to roam here unscheduled!”
“Form a battle formation!! We will take them down!!”
When they sense another magic power from the rear, it turns out Rosaria prepare a fire spell from her hand. She’s willing to join the fight rather than just being a burden for them.
“Allow me to fight as well! I’ve been taken here and I cannot be a burden for all of you!”
Shiki at first concerned about Rosaria, but since she wants to fight, he allows her to join the fight. If Shiki and Rosaria were excluded, the average rank of the party with Zilva is around S- rank.
“Show us what you got.”
“Fireball!”
Rosaria was able to adept at using short-spell thanks to Shiki’s guidance. She missed several times, but when one of it hits the Raydric, it goes staggered a bit. This surprises Shiki and the others as she could have magic compatibility at least at B rank.
“Stun it!! Stun it again!!”
“Okay!!”
Motivated by the party members, Rosaria immediately casts another fireball to annihilate Raydric. Shiki will stay close to Rosaria since he wants Zilva and her party to defeat the Knight of Yami and the Bloody Knight while he will handle those who come to Rosaria and himself. After subjugating it, they took the loot and returned to the guild to report.
Two Hours Later, Adventurers Guild
“Welcome! Oh, I see you brought a good prize today.”
One of the guild’s official appraiser is examining every one of the loot taken by Zilva and her party. Some of the members also go to the receptionist to report about the sighting of the Knight of Yami and the Bloody Knight on the 9th floor that was not on the routine schedule for monster inspection by those bosses. Once the report was received, the guild will put up a quest to reevaluate the Chivalry Labyrinth.
“Ooohh, these materials have a good quality, yes, yes.”
After making some examination, he makes a calculation on how much each of the party members will be rewarded.
“Each of you will receive 7525 Ceny or 7 small gold coins, 5 large silver coins, 2 medium silver coins, and 5 small silver coins. If all of you are agreed with this result, please hand over your card so I will input it immediately.”
The receptionist looks at Rosaria as she hands her a new adventurer’s card.
“I apologize for taking so long. Since you are a refugee from the Verlaine Kingdom, the process was a little complicated. Would you like to also input your money into this card or in a sack of coins?”
“Umm… A sack of coins if you don’t mind, please.”
“Thank you. I will prepare it shortly.”
Looking at Shiki, Rosaria wondered when she can officially take her part as an adventurer.
“Shiki. When I can sign-up to become an official adventurer?”
“Just be patient, Rosaria. Until we can form an official diplomatic relationship, you will remain to use that provisional card.”
“Sorry for the waiting. Here’s your reward.”
The receptionist hands a sack of coins to Rosaria, she bows to her.
“Have a nice day.”
Rosaria feels like she’s now rich since this reward is equivalent to living a normal citizen’s life for around a month, at least. She didn’t know what to use it, but she immediately remembers when she saw her own dress that was quite battered because of today’s adventure not to mention her dress was not suitable for adventure.
“Mr. Shiki, can I go to the equipment shop?”
“Why do you want to go there?”
“I want to shop for a new adventurer set of dress. Since I cannot use my official dress when I’m on an adventure, I would prefer to buy it so I can use it immediately for the next adventure rather than using my official dress.”
“Alright. Please, come to this way.”
Leading her out from the shop, they eventually arrive at the Adventurer’s equipment shop. The shop was bustling as people are trying to find the best equipment for them. Further inside, there was a restricted area that was meant for S rank above. A shopkeeper that was guarding it greets him.
“Good evening, Master Shiki.”
“Good evening. I would like to buy a set of armor for her.”
“Is she’s with you? All right, please come this way.”
Normally, people under S Rank are unable to access it. The only exception is if there is a person who is at the party and has a recommendation from at least an SS Rank adventurer. Since Shiki is at SSS Rank adventurer while Rosaria’s rank has yet to be decided, she was given an exception.
“Princess. I would like you to make your own design for your new set of suit.”
“M-my own design? And please call me Rosaria, not Princess.”
Rosaria pouted a bit and Shiki giggle.
“Alright, alright, Rosaria. Would you please design it? This is where all of us got our signature suit for the adventure. Don’t worry about the specifications nor capabilities since it’s already been installed inside the suit.”
“O-Okay.”
Shiki is wearing a light black and white armor suit, which was suitable for an assassin. On his neck, he also wears a blue scarf to keep himself warm. Zilva herself was wearing light white armor and red clothes inside her armor along with a red scarf on her neck.
Rosaria start designing her own clothes. There are hundreds of base design which she can modify it to suit her preferences. She takes a look at each of them while making some modifications to fit her capabilities as a magician. Once she finishes setting up her clothes, she saw a pedestal start blinking.
“Please step on there, Rosaria.”
“O… Okay…?”
Following Shiki’s order, she steps on the pedestal, and all of a sudden the curtain close and they can hear something from her.
“Eeek!! W-What is this?! Ah!”
Zilva immediately hits Shiki’s head before he can even think about something lewd.
“O-ouch…”
“I have to remind you, Master, that we’re escorting the Princess here.”
“Y-yeah…”
Unless Rosaria can take Shiki as her boyfriend, he will try his best to get close to her as much as he could. After a while, she came out with a new dress. A white robe with a black flame pattern that covers her body to her legs, between her feet and knee, but leaving her belly button exposed. For her waist to down, she was wearing a skirt that goes down to her knee. For armor protection, she receives pauldrons on her shoulder and she also can raise her hood to protect her head from rain or some threats that can go to her head. Inside her robe, she wears white and black clothes, suitable to the name of her homeland, Blate that comes as Black and White.
Overall, the protection she receives is an automatic repair for clothes, gradual health regeneration in consumption of her mana, instant-kill guard, and meditation to recover her mana and stamina faster when she is recovering her strength. Anti-drench protection to prevent her clothes from complete wetness, reduced damage received up to 25 percent, and warm temperature inside the robe to prevent her from hypothermia. Since it was an S-Rank shop, all of the equipment is basically forged with a base ingredient of a Sage Ore.
For the weapons, she receives an S-Rank Sage Spear Staff “Scarlet Flame”. This allows her to fight in close-quarter combat should she was able to master her flame magic to the earnest as Shiki and Zilva saw her potential to become a Fire Wizard, a sub-class of Wizard.
“You look gorgeous in those clothes.”
“T-Thank you. But, what about my clothes?”
“Don’t worry, it will be given at the cashier.”
Walking to the cashier, Rosaria takes a look at the bill itself. She was surprised to look at the price itself.
“The total is 7425 Ceny. It is also included the discount as well.”
Since she got 7525 Ceny from the last hunt, she can afford it. Normally, Sage Ore can go as far as up to a hundred thousand Ceny for a set of armor if it was a highly-concentration Sage. Since she’s using the low-grade concentration or less than two percent for Sage Ore, that price was considered affordable.
“Thank you. Please come again.”
She wears her new set of the dress as she also carrying the dress that she once used. Returning to the Scarlet Palace, both Shiki and Zilva bid her farewell as they are escorting her to the Royal Quarters.
“We will excuse ourselves for today.”
“Thank you for the adventure today. Looking forward to our next adventure.”
“Call us when you want to go on an adventure.”
Once leaving, she went to the hall where his father saw her return with very different clothes than she usually uses.
“My daughter, what happened to you today?”
“I go on an adventure with them. Thanks to them, I learn a lot by just going to an adventure with them.”
At first, he was about to deliver an official protest to the Empire that they allow her to on adventure. But, since it was her own decision and she insists on it, he can’t blame the Empire. It’s natural for a father to be worried about her daughter’s condition.
“But, are you alright? You didn’t get hurt somewhere, do you?”
“No. Thanks to Shiki and his party, now I know that I can’t be a burden to them.”
Relieved to hear that, Rosaria and King Daara the 19th turned themselves in for the night. Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, they will receive an unforgettable memory in their lifetime.
Video Conference Room, Scarlet Palace
“So that’s how it is.”
“Hmm…”
Cecilia listens to the report made by Shiki and Zilva. Since they can’t do anything about it, Shiki practically holds the responsibility to allow Rosaria to go on an adventure with them. Because they can’t keep them in the palace forever, sometimes going out is the best solution for them.
“But, it’s good enough that she was able to learn directly on how our system works on the adventure. Unfortunately enough, we can’t issue an official adventurer card until we can open a diplomatic relationship with them.”
Shiki understands what Cecilia meant as he also can’t risk of issuing an illegal adventurer card since the card was directly linked to the entire Empire and any country affiliated with it, so forging a fake adventurer card is a very bad move for smugglers.
“Shall we take them to the space tomorrow?”
“Pardon?”
“Taking them to space outside the planet. Having them go on an adventure on the space once in a while.”
“Are you sure about that? I mean… Their technology level is very far from reaching a Space Age.”
“No worries. Besides, we do plan to give them a spaceship as a gift from us.”
“But, that makes the Kingdom of Verlaine a superpower if that happens, is it?”
“Definitely. However, it also serves as a gateway to the outside of the Third Civilization so Sacchito and Emperor Hillem already make a plan to expand the defense perimeter all the way to the Third Civilization. Right now, it’s limited to the Rodenius Continent.”
Thinking about it, Shiki just noticed the Kingdom of Verlaine’s value for the Celestina Empire. But, it is also a good opportunity for him to study it further.
“Oh, and… Make sure you bought a ring suitable for her.”
“C-Cecilia!!!”
Shiki turns red hearing that teasing. Even the Main Council tease him so he can wed Rosaria and become the noble of the Verlaine Kingdom, although they believe that Shiki wants Rosaria to rule rather than him once they took back the Verlaine Kingdom.
“Shiki. I wonder if you can spare some of your units to inspect Ravernal’s Satellite?”
“Things that dwells in the space? Do you have a team of engineers on standby?”
“Feena already prepare everything. She prepares several squads of a mechanic and a magic engineer to inspect it. To see that the satellite is still operational, I would like to run an investigation based on how long it has been operated.”
“I will. I just need to redirect some of my personnel first.”
“Thank you. Yuuna will be their guide for tomorrow morning.”
The Next Day, Regnieburg Drydock Sector 14
King Daara the 19th and Princess Rosaria are amazed to see the Firefly-class Heavy Frigate docked at the drydock in a closer view. It has a name on it, known as Light Spear that will bring them into outer space for the first time.
“This is amazing…”
Such large warship is now waiting for both of them to get on board. In front of the entrance, Yuuna Caskett is welcoming them in person.
“Greetings, Royal Family of the Verlaine Kingdom. I’m Yuuna Caskett, the adjutant of Grand Duchess of Mechania, Feena Minazuki. As the request from the Main Council, I will be your guide to take both of you to outer space to spend a night at one of our Orbital Defense Platform.”
Guiding them into the warship itself, both of them saw several of the crew are also boarding the ship. The ground crew and the ship crew are coordinating each other before they can start the countdown timer to launch into space. The King and Rosaria are being taken into the Officer’s Quarter that was used by the officers.
“Attention, all personnel! The countdown timer has been initiated, T-minus 3 minutes!”
The crews immediately go into their position for the launch while the King and Rosaria are being taken into the Observation Deck. They take their seat as the belt was strapped to make sure that they will stay where they are when the starship takes off.
“What is going on?”
“We’re about to take off.”
<<Anyone on the Observation Deck. We need confirmation!!>>
“This is Observation Deck!! All clear and good to go!”
<<Roger that!!>>
Soon, they felt the pressure of being pulled as the Frigate takes off into space. Since the Frigate was installed with the G-Diffuser, the side-effect of the G-Force can be reduced.
Aboard the starship, they saw the specification of the Frigate itself. Designed to be a part of the escort fleet and Support operation, the Firefly-class Frigate was made two variants. First is the Heavy Frigate where there are more armaments such as one Rail Magnetic Accelerator Cannon 460cm, Four Double-barreled Cosmo Matrix 38cm Hybrid Cannon along with 14 Point Defense Gun 12cm to defend the Light Sniper variant from small craft and boarding aircraft and providing support fire while the starship was also loaded with two dozens of missile pods where each pod houses twenty-five missiles each, mainly AARMS-1 (Archer All Purpose Missile Space-1).
For the Light Sniper variant, it was equipped with one Buster Rail Magnetic Accelerator Cannon 550cm to snipe the enemy warship from the distances further, but they have fewer defenses and several support arsenals, such as two Double-barreled Cosmo Matrix 30cm Hybrid Cannon, ten pods of AARMS-1, and 8 Point Defense Gun 12cm.
Both complements for the crew are classified since they can’t spread the information further on the New World. Both are produced differently, for Light Sniper, it was produced by Forestry Special Assembly that also produces a Radar-class Prowler while for the Heavy Frigate, it was produced by Mechania Heavy Machinery. Currently, only Elim and Balie Corporation that was licensed to make a new class of frigate with two variants, Raziel-class Heavy Sniper Frigate and Light Frigate.
King Daara the 19th and Rosaria soon saw the sky slowly turned black and under half an hour after launch, the starship has entered low orbit. When they are at the low orbit, as Shiki and Zilva unbuckle their belt, their body floats. They also felt their body start to feel weightless.
“W-w-w-what happened!?”
“Rest assured, we’re at zero gravity now.”
“W-w-what!?”
When Shiki unbuckle both of the seat belts, they can feel it by themselves as they start to float due to zero gravity. Looking back at the window, they saw the view of their home planet.
“Father, look!”
“Is that…”
“It’s beautiful…”
This is the first time they saw their home planet from the space as the Frigate goes further into the middle orbit, in awe of the beauty of their home planet. Soon, they saw hundreds, maybe thousands of spaceships flying around the middle orbit. There, they saw a gigantic ship, with the name of Radiant is patrolling and escorted with at least a hundred space warships.
“That ship was huge!”
“It is. It’s the lead class of the Radiant-class Supercarrier, Radiant. It has been on services for around three hundred years.”
“T-Three hundred years!?!?!”
Yuuna comes into the observation deck as they slowly step on the floor while the gravity increased a bit.
“You will be resting on that place for tonight.”
Pointing to one of the Orbital Platform, nicknamed Moonlight Aura, it is one of the Orbital Platform that was mainly used as a recreational facility for the Celestina Citizens. The platform itself is now being used exclusively for those who have been selected by the Main Council to invite those who will play an important role in the development of the New World by forming a diplomatic relationship with the Celestina Empire.
When the spaceship docked, while still feeling nervous about the gravity itself, they are being guided by the crew at the Moonlight Aura.
“Welcome to the Moonlight Aura station.”
The servants welcome them and when they can walk normally, they are being guided inside the facility. What they saw is something that they will remember for their entire life. Inside the station itself, there are hotels and also some recreational facilities. Built with a size of 1023,5 meters in length, 784,5 meters in width, and 321,2 meters in height, it is one of the most popular recreational facilities made by the Celestina Empire.
The facility provided is hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, small amusement parks, parks, and lodging for the crew of the station and the facility staff. For transportation, aside from the starship, it can be also accessed through a train station that is currently being constructed to continue the Galaxy Railways project.
“It’s amazing…”
Both King Daara the 19th and Rosaria can’t stop feel amazed at how superior the national power of the Celestina Empire is. They can even prepare the space station for entertainment and tourist. Taken into the Moonlight Aura hotel, they are welcomed by Feena Minazuki, the Grand Duchess of Mechania.
“Welcome to Moonlight Aura. I’m Feena Minazuki, Grand Duchess of Mechania.”
“I-it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Today, you can enjoy our condiments to your heart's content. You can travel anywhere you want in this station. Your room will be on the top floor, where you can enjoy the view of the space at night. But first, let’s have lunch together.”
Taking a lunch together at the rooftop of the restaurant, they are being served another food that common people look at it as luxurious food. During lunch, the King asks Feena some questions.
“Why a country like you does not have any interest in conquering other nations? Most countries, such as Superpowers are often tried to use power to dominate other nations. The recent war, such as Rodenius War also happens because the Kingdom of Louria wants to conquer the entire nation.”
“We don’t have that interest. Besides, the Celestina Empire is often being targeted as a part of conquest or subjugation by other nations. We also take our time to expand since our vast land has yet to reach the eligibility where we can expand it to the other planet. One of the reasons is because of the abundance of the resources and one of the features that every country on every planet in the galaxy dreamed of.”
“What will it be?”
“Regeneration of Resources.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You got Silitsa Magic Mine Gem if I recall it correctly, yes?”
“Yes, it does.”
“Think about it. What will happen if your resources keep regenerating and you can keep producing it without worrying for it to be depleted?”
“W-w-w-What?!”
If that feature was on the Kingdom of Verlaine, it will be certain that the Kingdom of Verlaine can be focused solely on mining.
“We do have limitations since we need to match the regeneration with the mining rate itself. It was a land run by the deities for the first and we were entrusted to take care of it.”
“What is your purpose if you manage to help us in recapturing the Verlaine Kingdom?”
“I want to study your magic gems first. Also, since we could be fighting the Papaldia Empire soon, my objective is to steal their magic gem processing technology so your country can produce it. Of course, we will upgrade it so the Papaldia Empire can be beaten for it.”
“Isn’t that supposed belongs to your country then?”
“No. It will be yours when we steal it. Just call it a reparation payment from the Papaldia Empire.”
Another thing is they notice that a Main Council member like her was able to roam freely. Normally, leaders of the nations are often occupied with work.
“I apologize if this question was a rude one. How come you can roam freely while in common sense for the leader of the nations, they barely can do what they want?”
“We’re the leader of the nations, but we entrusted our mantle of the governing to the Emperor of the Celestina and the Prime Minister that governs my territory. Ruling the land for hundreds of years eventually fed you up. We’ve already asked the deities to be released from our services to maintain the land, but it seems rather, they do not allow us to leave our position as caretaker of the Empire. So, for the solution, we appoint the Emperor to take the Main Council’s mantle and Prime Minister for each territory to take each of the Main Council member’s mantle.”
“In practice, you can’t release your own services from the Empire without the deity’s permission, is that correct?”
“Exactly.”
But, for the Main Council to rule the Empire for hundreds of years, surely they are now only acting as a supervisor for the country itself. Still, the Main Council remains held the highest authority to rule the Empire.
“I thank you for the lunch, Your Royal Founder Highness Minazuki.”
“Just call me Grand Duchess Feena if you want to remain with honorifics.”
“Yes, Grand Duchess.”
Looking at Shiki and Rosaria that are talking to each other, Feena teases them.
“Shiki. Go on a date with her, it’s your chance to get closer to the princess today.”
“F-Feena!!”
Shiki and Rosaria only blushing when she teases them both. The King also notices this but didn’t expect that Feena teases them. Standing up, Feena leaves them to Shiki and Zilva.
“Have a nice date, Shiki.”
Blushing, Shiki throws a knife, but Feena was able to catch it easily.
“So, where do you want to go, Rosaria?”
“Take me anywhere. I want to explore this station!”
King Daara the 19th only looks at his daughter curiously while Zilva only giggles looking at Shiki and Rosaria is about to go on the date.
“Your Majesty, please take a rest inside the hotel. Don’t worry about the Princess.”
“R-right…”
When the situation comes to Shiki and Rosaria alone, they can’t help but to see their face redden when looking at each other.
“S-so… Where do we go?”
“A-a-anywhere you wish for.”
At first, they went awkward as Shiki makes his first move by taking her into the observation deck. Since he knows that Rosaria has sweet tooth (loves sugar), practically cheesecake, he bought some cake so they can enjoy the date. Although the date only lasted for a couple of hours, they enjoy the moment of spending time together.
Night Time, inside Moonlight Aura Hotel, Royal President Suite Room
In a room where it was deemed very luxurious for the citizen of Verlaine Kingdom, King Daara the 19th and Princess Rosaria only feel like they are actually being treated the same as they are being treated at the royal palace, only for this time they got more luxury items.
In the living room itself, they are talking about what happened today as they are gazing into the New World Planet.
“I don’t think father will be here if you decide to stay in the Verlaine Kingdom.”
“Yes. Because of them, I owe them my life. To receive this kind of service makes me feels like the Kingdom still existed in my heart.”
Their experience of staying aboard the Space Station Moonlight Aura makes them want to form a diplomatic relationship with the Celestina Empire as soon as possible. However, since their Kingdom has been defeated by the Papaldia Empire, they could wonder if there is any chance for them to have the Kingdom back.
“Look at their national power… Even one ship alone can conquer the planet.”
Looking at the space warships patrolling around the middle orbit, it feels like when they can form a diplomatic relationship with the Celestina Empire, they can make their Kingdom prosperous.
“My daughter. Once this war is over, I would like to abdicate my throne to you.”
“F-father!?”
“I will be no longer able to guide the Verlaine Kingdom to the new era with all of this sudden change. But you, my daughter, you are capable of leading our Kingdom to a better future. I will remain as your advisor and guidance, bring our Kingdom back into prosperity once this war is over.”
“Yes, father…”
They continue to chat with each other further until they return to each of their room and turn themselves in for tonight.
The Next day
Both are feeling refreshed after resting at the hotel last night. Now, they are being escorted to a smaller ship, a Grenadier-class Corvette. Both the King and Rosaria are curious as they wondered where is the Frigate that took them yesterday.
“Where is the ship that took us yesterday?”
Yuuna looks at one of the Refit and Repair stations.
“We will bring you there when we’re on our way back into the Empire.”
Once they are aboard, the ship departs back into the planet. On route to it, they saw Light Spear is currently docked at Refit and Repair station nicknamed Spanner from the Observation Deck.
“The ship is currently on the regular maintenance schedule. It will check every system onboard and make some adjustments.”
They saw engineers and crews are checking each of the components itself. It’s a disciplined crew and engineers, able to work in unison. They also saw it from zero gravity itself. Although they are not well-used for it, they feel comfortable having their body floats and there are no up and down. Later, they are being guided to their seats.
“Please fasten your seat belts. We will be entering the orbit in around two minutes.”
Fastening their seatbelts by the crew, soon they start to feel the gravity again as they saw the Corvette slowly on fire as they are commencing the re-entry from the orbit. Both of them saw the hull emits some fire, but since there are no alarms, they are concerned that the aircraft may crash into the surface. Surprisingly, after several minutes, there is no sign of fire again as the starship continues to make its descent into the deck where they are boarding it yesterday.
Before it arrives, they are given a tour around the Corvette. Weapons system, crew quarters, officer quarters, also a deck for the fighters that can load itself up to 4 Fighters. After several hours, they arrived at the deck and being guided back into the hotel. For both King Daara the 19th and Rosaria, it was the experience that they may only feel it once in their lifetime.
Celestina Empire, Capital of Natunia Territory, Hereford, CIISA Command Headquarters
The situation in the council room was serious. They are preparing for the evacuation operation in the Kingdom of Selarong.
“Is everything ready?”
“Yes, everything will be carried out according to the plan.”
They will commence the operation in a day as the Papaldia Empire is about to make landfall at Sulbar. This because they only have a time limit for a day before they make their landfall.
“Is King Dimas has been notified of this?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Along with the personnel that is stationed around the town of Sulbar and the West Castle. All of them agreed to fight for the other day.”
“Good. Let’s evacuate all of them.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Cecilia will be monitoring the event from the monitor as they have to do this right at one night before the Empire makes landfall. They are aware that the Wyverns are going to keep an eye on them, so they have to make this count.
The Kingdom of Selarong, Royal Castle of Gowok
“I see…”
King Dimas receives information from Luciana that was on station there.
“Yes. This is at least we can do to help your Kingdom. We will evacuate all of them out of Sulbar as quickly as possible in one night.”
“Very well. I approve of this task. Please evacuate them safely.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The city of Sulbar has been notified in secret as the operation will commence once the people start resting on the night.
Operation: Sweet Dreams, Town of Sulbar, 11th January 1524
This operation is a high-risk operation. Not only do they have to do it in one night, but they also have to ensure that every single of the civilians are evacuated safely. It has to be conducted one day before the Papaldia Empire lands on the beach. Celestina deploys three Units of Zealot Strike Force, consisting of Maya, Lyrallei, and Cecilia’s Unit. To speed up the evacuation, Sofya and Alicia dispatch the 1st and 2nd Dream Sleeper Corps.
The City of Sulbar has around fifty thousand in population and it’s a perfect choice to dispatch two Corps to evacuate the city without waking them up. The Zealot Strike Force also requested 7th Dream Sleeper Crops, specialized in making everyone fall into a deep slumber to participate. Supervising the operation itself is Maya Lyliat and Luciana Rune Aeria. From the side of the Selarong Kingdom, Sentiko is in charge of supervising the evacuation.
“Let’s start, Sleep Into The Dreams.”
The magicians from the 7th Dream Sleeper Corps chant a spell together, covering the entire town with sleeping spells to put all of the soldiers and civilians to sleep. The Celestinian adventurers have already been evacuated earlier, so there are no Celestina citizens inside the town.
“How long will the Spell last?”
“Until morning.”
“Good. Let’s get to work.”
The Zealot Strike Force immediately goes into the city. They need to clear the houses around the shore first for a start. Each squad is assigned to one house, and evacuating them into a sleeping pod can take up to 3 hours, depends on how much the resident inside the house.
“Keep an eye on the wyverns; they scout frequently.”
“Yes, sir.”
They must keep up their guard while some of the snipers and spotters saw the Papaldia Wyvern Lords are approaching the sky of Sulbar to do a night reconnaissance.
“Seems there is not much activity on the town tonight.”
“Heh. I bet they will be panicked once we attack this town first.”
“You got that right! Besides, we will show these barbarians that messing with the Empire will be resulting in the destruction of their Kingdom!”
Although they sent a squadron to recon the town, they found no sign of suspiciousness around it, including the castle that was stationed west of Sulbar town, near the shore.
“I heard Her Highness Remille takes over the 1st Foreign Affairs Department, they say that she wants to meticulously educate the Celestina Empire.”
“That huge land can be a very big prize for us. If it was shared, then we may be able to become a noble and rule that land.”
“Haha! True that!”
After doing some reconnaissance, they return to the Dragon Carrier to take a rest.
“All clear.”
Slowly, the Zealots are evacuating the sleeping citizens into a sleeping pod while the body doubles are summoned to be linked with their bodies and minds. Even when they died because of the attack, their actual body will not be affected, but their mind could feel it.
“Come on, come on! Hurry up!”
“Castle is clear!”
Sentiko looks at the evacuation progress. It’s been three hours and they have done evacuate half of the city and the entire castle. If this can keep up, they can finish it before the morning rises. Luciana looks at the report while Sentiko approaches her to ask some questions.
“Where do we take these bodies?”
“To the capital. We also going to make some of the body doubles for the Celestinian adventurers. We do need to use them as a bait to make sure that the Papaldia Empire captures them.”
“So why the Empire is willing to go as far as having this much to evacuate all of them?”
“It’s because this country holds historical value, especially during the Diponegoro Era.”
“Diponegoro Era?”
“Yes. It happens around eight hundred years ago, during the Diponegoro Wars on Earth. We found that this Kingdom has similarities to it, so we want to invest in tourism to maintain its tradition while your Kingdom can also teach us about your way of tradition.”
“I see…”
He didn’t ask a further question about it while the evacuation is still underway. The evacuation was smoother than they expected since the Celestinian scouts stationed around the shore are expecting another Wyvern Lord patrol, but it seems they didn’t send another for tonight. One of the personnel came to report.
“Ma’am. We’ve managed to evacuate another two personnel stationed on the deserted island three kilometers away from the shore.”
“Did you replace their bodies with a double?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Excellent.”
“Those two. They are being assigned to give us an early warning if the Papaldia Empire decides to attack us. They’ve been permanently on station there for the security of the town of Sulbar.”
“I see… Well, good thing we evacuate them on time.”
The evacuation continues while the magicians from the 7th Dream Sleeper Corps are drinking their mana potion to maintain the spells. Two hours before the sun rises, all citizens have been evacuated and their body double has been placed in order.
“Ma’am! We’ve evacuated every last one of them, including those who are hiding at a certain spot at the town!”
“Excellent work. Lift the spell and let’s get out of here.”
With the evacuation completed, all of the citizens of Sulbar are being taken into the west of Capital City Gowok, the temporary base camp for the Celestina Empire to monitor pods. At that camp, around fifty-five thousand pods are being settled at around 16 square kilometers and five floors high to accommodate all of them.
And now, the Celestina Empire will play their card to draw the Papaldia Empire’s arrogancy and plunge them into despair.
