The Hero King, Reincarnate to Master the Art of War (LN) - Volume 11 - Chapter 3

Chapter III: Inglis, Age 16—Far-Off Highland (8)

“Oh no!”

Plunged into a dark void, Inglis leaped back up as soon as her feet touched the ground, trying to escape through the gap opened in the Greyfrier sarcophagus. Instead, she saw it silently close before her. She grunted, flying through space where the gap once had been. It was proof that she was completely cut off in a separate dimension.

“Well, this isn’t good.”

Opening the liminal sepulcher—the Greyfrier sarcophagus—required the intervention of a god or divine knight from the outside. It was a dimension cut off from outside time and space entirely, and no attempt to restore those connections from the inside could succeed. Only when its gates were opened from the outside was that possible. Therefore, no matter how much aether she used...

“Aether Strike!”

Blammmmm!

The blast of aether roared as it disappeared into the distance. It didn’t seem that destroying anything would help the situation.

“Hmm.” If she didn’t return soon, Rafinha would be worried. And as Rafinha’s guardian, the last thing she wanted to do was worry the poor girl. Beyond that, she was worried about what might happen to her, given that Tiffanyer, Maxwell, and Charlotte were still out there. Fortunately, the flow of time inside the Greyfrier sarcophagus was completely different, so even if it took Inglis some time to escape, it would only be a little while outside.

Disrupting Inglis’s contemplation was a person passing by. She was an elegant, beautiful girl whose pale hair had a slight aqua tinge. She seemed to be looking around nervously.

“Princess Meltina, from Venefic?!” Inglis called out, only for her hand to pass straight through the princess. She didn’t exist. She was only an illusion.

“Is this the sepulcher’s own memory?”

She had seen similar things in her past life while training within one. Of course, not Princess Meltina, but those who had entered it to train before her. The visions were a welcome distraction during her monotonous days of training. Put simply, they were scenes from the past that were recorded within the space.

And then, near Princess Meltina, another person appeared. “Eris...”

Chronologically, Eris had entered just before Meltina. She betrayed no sign of anxiety, looking forward and striding steadily, with dignified beauty. This was in contrast to Meltina; it had not been Eris’s first time here, and her determination was clear.

Inglis decided to follow the path that the visions of them awoken from the space’s memory laid out. For some time, she passed through empty darkness. Then she came upon the faint glow of pillars—no, some kind of cylindrical device.

There were two, arrayed side by side. Their central parts were made of some sort of transparent, glasslike material, and inside she could see human women. “A hieral menace? But—!”

The device itself was no surprise, nor that people were inside. She knew hieral menaces were created within the Greyfrier sarcophagus. Her surprise came from who these people were.

To one side, there was a determined-looking woman with long scarlet hair.

“Sistia...”

The Steelbloods’ hieral menace—but that wasn’t particularly surprising. Sistia was a hieral menace after all. She must have been made somewhere. It must have happened here in Illuminas’s Greyfrier sarcophagus. It was no shock for the space to recall her.

Inglis’s shock was from the person in the other device. Inglis never expected to see her...

“Yua?!”

It was definitely Yua. But what was she doing here? Was Yua a hieral menace? She had said and done nothing that would make Inglis suspect it. After all the time Inglis had spent around her, she had never sensed anything that would indicate Yua was a hieral menace.

At least, nothing other than her power, Inglis corrected herself.

If Yua had become a hieral menace, why would she be Inglis’s senior classmate at the knights’ academy? Sistia raised similar questions. Why would a hieral menace created in Illuminas now be with the Steelblood Front, an anti-Highland organization? Could it have something to do with her devotion to the black-masked leader of the Steelblood Front?

Inglis pondered all of this until the ceiling above her suddenly collapsed, and rubble came raining down.

“Wh—!” Was this a connection to the outside? She didn’t know what had happened, but it seemed like a good chance to escape. “No, this is an illusion too!”

As she brought up a hand to shield herself, it slid straight through the rubble. This, too, was a memory from within this space’s past. At some point—Inglis couldn’t know for sure—before Eris and Princess Meltina had entered the Greyfrier sarcophagus, Yua and Sistia must have been inside. And at that time, it must have been broken into from the outside.

She could see someone rise from the rubble. Likely whoever had broken in. She could only see their back, but it seemed to be a young man. Either a god or a divine knight, if he was capable of this. She couldn’t be sure, due to not being able to see his face, but she had a strong suspicion that he was the Steelblood Front’s black-masked leader. Perhaps this was how he and Sistia had met.

That didn’t answer how Yua had ended up at the knights’ academy, though.

But then, as if to answer Inglis, the vision continued. The man who she assumed was the black-masked leader of the Steelblood Front had broken into the Greyfrier sarcophagus from the top—so forcefully that he smashed the floor as well. The Greyfrier sarcophagus could not be destroyed from the inside, but when a gap to the outside opened, it became physically connected and could be destroyed by the force of impact. A hole opened in the floor near the device containing Yua. The device began to tilt forward, just to...

“It fell?!” Inglis watched as Yua in the device dropped downward.

The young man also gasped, looking at the hole. Inglis was staring through it as well—down to the sky, and then land far, far below. The Greyfrier sarcophagus must have been in a quite different place then. And on that faraway land, she could see a faint rainbow-colored glimmer.

“Is that...a Prismer on the surface?”

This memory suggested Yua was caught up in the destruction of the Greyfrier sarcophagus and had fallen right before a Prismer. How had she gotten to the knights’ academy from there? She had seemed to have no memory of hieral menaces, or of what had happened to her before the process to become one began. If that was just an act, she would make a great actress—but Inglis didn’t think that was the case.

“And then what of her memories?”

Charlotte hadn’t seemed to recognize Liselotte either. Did becoming a hieral menace mean losing one’s memories? Inglis couldn’t tell if it was deliberate or accidental. In any case, if Yua—her memories gone—had fallen from Illuminas, and due to the shock, she awakened before she had fully become a hieral menace and eventually wandered her way to the knights’ academy...

From Yua’s aura, and from her ability to absorb the Prismer’s powers, it seemed she might still be becoming one. Although, she had her suspicions over whether Yua herself would remember clearly. Inglis would have to talk with her about it after returning to Chiral.

“No, that should be if I return.”

At some point, the memories of the space disappeared—Eris and Princess Meltina, Yua and Sistia and the young man she thought was the black-masked leader of the Steelblood Front all faded into oblivion.

“Let’s get started, then!”

Efforts and experiments in order to return—alone in the darkness, Inglis stood ready.

◆◇◆

“That was delicious!” Rafinha returned a piscine skeleton, carefully picked clean, to her plate.

“Is that all, Rafinha?” Leone asked.

“Only a single portion, again?” Liselotte chimed in.

Both looked at her in worry. That was an unnaturally small amount of food compared to her usual appetite.

It had been five days since the battle. Wilma had accepted Charlotte’s terms and departed Illuminas for the Papal League’s lands with Wilkin. In exchange, Wilma had demanded that the Highlanders who wished to accompany her could. Myce and the other refugees had made their decisions, and around seventy percent of the group went with her while everyone else stayed in the ruins of Illuminas—Rafinha, Leone, and Liselotte among them.

Currently, only a small amount of land remained around the central laboratory, and most of the underground passages were flooded. More than half of the laboratory itself had been toppled, but somehow, the remnants held up through the wind and rain. The food supplies they all relied on now came from the fish in the surrounding seas. They endured while waiting for aid from the rest of the Triumvirate. If they could make contact with Theodore, a rescue effort by Karelia would also be welcome.

“I’m getting a bit tired of eating fish, so that’s enough for today. I think I’m going to go take a walk.” Rafinha set off from the central laboratory.

“Okay. We’ll see you later,” Leone said.

“Be careful!” Liselotte reminded her.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Rafinha answered.

Her smile lacked any of her usual energy, both Leone and Liselotte noticed. It didn’t seem like she was just tired of the number of fish they’d been eating.

“It’s not just that she isn’t eating, she doesn’t seem to have been sleeping well either,” Leone noted. This was unusual for Rafinha, who was noted for enjoying good meals and good rests.

“It makes sense, though,” Liselotte noted.

“Yes, it does...”

The two could understand how Rafinha felt—truly. They were suffering much the same. Their initial reactions of “Well, Inglis is always fine” had faded over the days, and their faith that she had survived was faltering. They would never shed tears over it in front of Rafinha because of it, of course, but when they had found themselves alone, their eyes had become teary more than once or twice.

Inglis was a bit of an odd one, just wanting to fight no matter the situation or the vibe, but her laser focus on getting stronger ended up making her words and deeds reliable. No matter how grim the situation, as long as she was there, one way or another she’d get the job done in the end. And even though she was so extraordinarily strong from Leone and Liselotte’s perspective, she wasn’t arrogant at all—her kindness extended not just to Rafinha, but also to Leone and Liselotte and the people around them as well.

Inglis often insisted that she was only interested in fighting, but sometimes the implications of what she said forced one to wonder where she had come up with such ideas. She almost struck them as someone far older, with the depth of personality that being an adult gave. How that could be possible, they didn’t understand, but regardless she was a reassuring presence in their lives.

And to lose that... If it was so difficult for them, they couldn’t even imagine how hard it was for Rafinha, who had been around Inglis all her life. If Rafinha wanted to be alone, they wouldn’t dare stop her. They could only watch over her. They were sure she wanted to cry when she was alone. She must have been reluctant to show that side of herself.

“We didn’t really manage to accomplish anything, did we?” Liselotte pondered. “We lost Inglis and Lady Eris, and Illuminas has been reduced to shambles...”

“Wilma did save us, though. We should be thankful to her for that,” Leone reminded her.

They were forced to admit defeat. If Wilma hadn’t accepted surrender in exchange for the safety of others, who knew what would have happened to them and the surviving Highlanders?

It was worth noting that it was all due to Charlotte’s kindness in extending negotiations for surrender. They could have just dragged Wilma away and wiped out the remaining Highlanders. If left to the discretion of Maxwell or Tiffanyer, that surely would have happened. Maxwell was a general from Venefic, currently at odds with Karelia, and Tiffanyer was a foe they had defeated in Alcard. Venefic would want to reduce Karelia’s warfighting capabilities by even a little bit, and Tiffanyer nursed her own grudge. It was due to Charlotte holding the two back that they were still alive.

Chief Academician Wilkin had not stopped Charlotte either. It seemed Wilma had been his chief concern, and he had only been relieved that she had obeyed.

And before Charlotte had left Illuminas, she had asked Liselotte, “So, what will you do?”

Leone had still been unconscious at the time, and Rafinha beside herself, so Liselotte thought neither would remember—but it had felt like an invitation to join her, one Liselotte had rejected because she could not abandon her friends or her home in Karelia. Hence her refusal—but looking at Charlotte’s reaction, she felt some sort of close connection. Her name, her appearance—her willingness to demand Wilma’s surrender rather than simply killing them, and her appeal to return with her. Something almost like a mother’s love—that was the impression Charlotte’s behavior gave Liselotte; at least, that was the impression she had wanted to take from it.

When they returned, she would have to speak with her father, Duke Arcia. If Charlotte really was her mother, she wanted the two to meet. Perhaps someday they could be reunited as a happy family.

“Anyway, if we don’t make it back... No one will be able to tell the story of what happened,” Leone said.

Liselotte agreed. “Indeed... However, I do regret that we managed to accomplish so little.”

Neither she nor Leone could even contact the rest of the Triumvirate or Karelia. Over the past few days, Myce and the other remaining Highlanders had been attempting to restore the central laboratory’s communication facilities. All the two could do was wait. The Star Princess, which had come with them from Karelia, was intact and operational, but they couldn’t bring themselves to abandon Myce and the others to their fates. Illuminas was, in any case, an island cast adrift in a vast ocean. They couldn’t believe that a Flygear could reach Karelia from here.

Thus, they took on the responsibility of protecting the remaining Highlanders from the Prism Flow and magicite beasts while scouring the nearby waters for fish for everyone to eat. While Myce and the other Highlander civilians could not wield Artifacts, they could use magic—but they were peaceful people, unused to combat. When confronted by magicite beasts, they seized up in fear. It fell to Leone, Liselotte, and Rafinha to guard them, a job for which they were much appreciated. The city had exclusively relied for its defense on the mechanical dragons, commanded by Wilma and the other knights. Wilma was gone along with Wilkin, and while the mechanical dragons had been left behind, the emergency overrides allowing those other than knights to control them had not been restored, and they were mere decorative sculptures for the central laboratory.

“Anyway, we need to eat enough to make up for Rafinha! We’ll be busy fishing tomorrow, so we need to keep up our strength!” Leone announced as she hefted a freshly grilled fish skewer. That was the only thing left to be said.

“Indeed. We must do what we can.” Liselotte smiled back, and also lifted a skewer.

And thus, the two set to their task of devouring fish.

“We tend to eat the same things repeatedly when on deployment,” Liselotte said. She wasn’t as tired of the food as Rafinha was, but even she had grown bored of three meals of fish a day. In Alcard, it had been dragon meat, and even that had grown stale after a while. First meat, then fish.

“Well, at least this is less fattening than dragon meat, I hope,” Leone responded. They had found themselves growing a little bit chubbier while subsisting off dragon meat. The snugness of their clothes had induced shrieks of dismay from each. Why was it that Inglis and Rafinha had eaten far more than they had without gaining weight at all? It was simply unfair.

“I suppose we’re still fine for now, though?” Liselotte responded with unease.

“P-Perhaps. These certainly aren’t our normal clothes.”

While they had arrived clad in knights’ academy uniforms, while staying in Illuminas they had worn ceremonial garb. The robes they wore were loose and flowing, so they hadn’t been able to judge whether they’d gained weight.

There was mutual silence, which faded into ill ease. They both decided to double-check, just in case...

“Leone, could you look the other way for a moment?”

“Could you do the same?”

Turning not to face each other, they slipped off their robes. Below was their underwear, the same as always, which they inspected to see how tight it was and whether any extra flesh had appeared under that tightness.

“How are you, Leone?”

“Fine for now, I think. Phew...”

“And myself as well. That’s a solace.”

Just as the two patted themselves in relief...

Rafinha came rushing back. “Leone! Liselotte!”

“Eeek!” the two cried, clutching for each other in shock—unfortunately.

“Huh?! Um, uhh, errr! Ohhh, okay, yeah, I’m not really surprised! I think it’s beautiful how close you two are, yeah!” Rafinha nodded as if latching on, all by herself, to a very deep understanding. “Sorry to interrupt you just when it got good! Go ahead, you don’t have to stop for my sake!”

“It’s not like that!” the two replied in unison.

“Come on! You don’t have to hide it! ♪” Rafinha waved her hands self-effacingly.

She was acting, to put it bluntly, like an old maid. An improvement, to be sure, over the somber mood that had prevailed, but still.

“Really, it’s not like that!” Leone protested.

“We just wanted to be sure of something!” Liselotte agreed.

“That’s fine. Whether you’re right for each other, right?”

“Not at all!” the two replied as insistently as they could.

“We were just each checking ourselves to make sure we weren’t overeating and gaining weight!” Liselotte finally managed.

“Ehh? Really? And here I was all excited,” Rafinha said disappointedly.

“You have entirely the wrong idea! I mean, it’s good that you’re feeling better than before...” Leone began.

Rafinha’s eyes were glittering with enthusiasm. Perhaps this misunderstanding was not purely a bad thing. “Huh?” she asked. “I wasn’t myself?”

“Huh? Er, yes... You’re not eating as exuberantly as you normally do.”

“Don’t worry, I really am just tired of fish. Tomorrow I’ll eat a lot, though.”

“We thought you were going off to cry alone rather than worry us...” Liselotte said.

“Oh? Ah ha ha ha, I mean, right after Chris sank, of course I was so shocked that I cried and cried, but I’m fine now. Tears won’t change anything. Sorry for making you worry.” Rafinha smiled in embarrassment.

“So it really was just a walk?” Leone asked.

“Well, not really. I thought I’d get a little diving practice in.”

“Diving?” Leone and Liselotte replied as one.

“Y-You’re really thinking of free diving to look for the Greyfrier sarcophagus?!” Liselotte sputtered.

“Th-That’s kind of unreasonable,” Leone agreed.

“I knew you’d say that, so I’ve been sneaking off to practice,” Rafinha said.

Leone and Liselotte were silent. It was certainly true. Both of them would have found it too reckless and tried to stop Rafinha.

“But if Chris said she was going to do it... Well, you’d let her because you think she just might be able to, right?”

“I suppose. I’d think that, yes,” Leone said.

“Yes. If it were Inglis, well, just it being Inglis would be enough,” Liselotte agreed.

“Right? Right? And just before she sank, she said to me, she said that we’ve spent all our lives together and she thought some of her power rubbed off on me—like how Mr. Dragon’s dragon lore got into her and your Artifacts.”

“Is that even possible? I admit I’m not well read on that sort of subject...” Liselotte said.

“But the dragon’s power really did do that, so we can’t say it’s impossible,” Leone noted.

“If I can use some of her power, then maybe I really can do that dive! That’s why I’m practicing! It beats sitting here crying, right?” Rafinha remarked impishly.

Seeing her smile, Leone and Liselotte felt their hearts clear up and their spirits rise. Rafinha was strong. Although it must have been more painful for her than for either of them, Rafinha had no doubts Inglis was alive and had already started to think about what she could do. It was that strength of mind that let her keep smiling through Inglis’s constant antics, and let her stand straight rather than be twisted by feelings of inferiority or resentment. And that strength, that brilliance of her heart charmed those who observed her.

Honestly, the two thought they had a lot to learn from her. Despite her appearance, Rafinha seemed like someone with the qualities of a leader who could guide them. Her smile made them want to support her, and it gave them strength.

“Got it! I’ll help out!” Leone announced.

“And myself as well,” Liselotte chimed in.

Shortly after Leone and Liselotte’s declarations of assistance, someone else came running in...

“Rafinha! Leone! Liselotte!” It was Myce, who immediately noticed that Leone and Liselotte were still in their underwear. “Oh, whoops! S-Sorry! I was in a hurry!” He blushed and looked away.

“No, we’re sorry!” Leone said.

“We’ll be dressed right away!” Liselotte agreed.

“What is it, Myce?” Rafinha asked, ignoring Leone and Liselotte who were still dressing.

“I saw something coming from far away! I need to let everyone know!”

Rafinha clapped her hands. “Oh, that’s right! I saw something from the shore too! That’s why I came to get them!”

“Something...like magicite beasts?” Leone asked.

“If that’s the case, then we need to intercept them!” Liselotte said.

“Yeah, let’s go!” Rafinha agreed.

“Me too!” Myce said.

“Okay, but if anything happens, you have to leave, Myce!”

“Okay! Thanks, Rafinha!”

They nodded to each other, and flew out from the ruins of the central laboratory. After the recent attack, Illuminas, which was once a huge and advanced city, was left with nothing but a small piece of land around the central laboratory. Less than a tenth of what had existed before. It was a small island at this point, so the shore was just nearby. After mounting the Star Princess, parked in front of the ruins, it took them a mere thirty seconds to reach the water.

“I see something, but...what is it?” Rafinha asked.

“I can’t tell—just that there’s something there,” Leone agreed.

“It’s hard to see things in the sea at night,” Liselotte said.

Looking down at the waves from the Star Princess, they saw large shadows passing by the shore, but it was so dark, they couldn’t tell what they were.

“But if they were magicite beasts, they’d have probably already attacked,” Rafinha continued. “Maybe they’re just big fish?”

The three had fought fishlike magicite beasts several times since arriving on Illuminas, but all of those had been ferocious, going on the attack as soon as they sensed the trio’s presence.

“Hold on a second!” Myce said, as he raised his hand toward a mechanical dragon perched farther down the beach. On his palm, one of his stigmata began to glow. The girls assumed this was how Highlanders used magic directly. The chest of the dragon began to glow as well, and the armor on its shoulders shifted and began to emit a light that illuminated Rafinha and the others.

“Wow!” Rafinha gasped. “It lights up?”

“Yeah. Mechanical dragons have spotlights.”

“So you found a way to control the dragons even though you’re not Wilma!” Leone remarked.

“That’s incredible,” Liselotte said. “If we can use the dragons, perhaps we can get everyone out of here!”

Rafinha summed it up. “Yeah! That’s great, Myce!” She hugged him and patted his head.

Myce was not only a smart boy, but he was also a curious one. That much was clear from how he went about his everyday life. And it wasn’t just childish whim—he was the son of Illuminas’s Vice Chief Academician, outshone only by Wilkin himself. The Second Academician, his mother, had chosen to stay on Illuminas and organize the remaining Highlanders. Rafinha and friends had met with her several times. She had taught him well; he was well prepared to become a researcher himself.

“Well, this is the only thing I can do so far,” Myce said. “I can’t make them fly or fight yet. We haven’t been able to recover the data and recreate the process yet... I’m sorry for getting your hopes up.”

“Oh, I see. Well, that’s fine. This is helpful too!” Rafinha said.

“It’s definitely a step forward,” Leone agreed.

“Indeed,” Liselotte said. “Having a better view of our surroundings is important too.”

As they looked toward the waters illuminated by the mechanical dragon, the fish they had seen earlier popped their faces up. It seems they were attracted by the light. Rather than scales, they had smooth skins, and their faces were round, gentle, and almost adorable.

“Oh, wow! Those are really cute fish!” Rafinha exclaimed.

“They’re chirping at us? How lovely!” Leone remarked.

“I didn’t know things like this lived in the surface seas!” Myce said. “They’re amazing!”

The eyes of the landlubbers Rafinha and Leone shone just as brightly as those of Highland-raised Myce.

“Oh, those are dolphins!” Liselotte, who grew up by the sea, immediately recognized what they were.

“Oh, dolphins!” Rafinha said.

“This is the first time I’ve seen them for myself!” Leone said.

“Sometimes they come to the sea near Charot,” Liselotte explained. “They’re very clever, and get along swimmingly with people! We used to have them at our family’s private beach! This really brings back memories.”

“Of course a ducal family would have pets like these,” Rafinha commented. “Not like Chris who wanted to adopt a magicite beast.”

Leone laughed at that, and Liselotte said, “Well, I suppose for Inglis that’s possible...”

“Liselotte, is it okay if I touch them?” Myce was clearly fascinated by the dolphins.

“Yes,” Liselotte said. “It won’t make them swim away, and I’m sure they’re as curious about us as we are about them.”

“Then, time for a water landing!” Rafinha announced.

The Star Princess approached the surface of the water before its propulsion cut out and it began to float on the surface. It was built to float on water. They had been taught at the knights’ academy to avoid such situations in case of malfunctions, but this was a special case. The dolphins were quite unafraid of the Star Princess; in fact, they crowded within arm’s reach.

“Go ahead, Myce, you can touch them,” Liselotte said.

“Okay... Sorry, dolphin, but can I pet you?” Myce tentatively extended his hand toward a dolphin.

“Wow, it’s so smooth! It feels like a wet eggplant! They’re so cute! ♪” Rafinha, on the other side of the Star Princess, was petting another dolphin as hard as she could. The dolphin didn’t seem to mind; if anything, it seemed to welcome the pampering with a smile.

“Ooh, then I’m gonna pet one now!” Myce said. “Wow, they’re super slippery!”

Leone smiled as she stroked a dolphin. “You’re right! They must be friendly, considering they’re letting us touch them so much!”

“When they get more used to people, sometimes they even let you ride on their backs as they swim,” Liselotte explained. “I did once when I was a child, and it felt wonderful... I truly enjoyed it.”

“You can do that?! I wanna try! I hope they stay here until they get to know us that well!” Myce also smiled as he continued petting the dolphin’s snout.

“But why are there so many here all of a sudden? Did something happen?” Leone tilted her head in confusion.

“They normally travel in pods. They move between places where they feel comfortable. The flooded passages below are a perfect place for small fish to hide, so I’d imagine it’s like a feast for them,” Liselotte said.

“Ah ha ha ha! It’s so fast!” Rafinha had already straddled a dolphin and was circling around the Star Princess.

“Huh?! Already?!” Myce exclaimed.

Leone was in disbelief. “H-How are they so used to you in no time at all?!”

“That’s incredible! It took days for me...” Liselotte muttered.

All three were stunned.

“Just look them in the eye and let your hearts communicate! If you do that, they’ll understand what you want to say... Wheeee! ♪” As Rafinha was explaining the finer points of human-dolphin communication, the dolphin carrying her suddenly sped up and made a great leap, sending them flying through the air. “Wooooow! They can do that? This is amazing!” Rafinha grinned from ear to ear from the back of the dolphin, which leaped again and again.

“I want to try too!” Myce said. “Umm... Look them in the eye and let our hearts...”

“Communicate, I think she said?” Leone prompted.

“How is this supposed to go?”

The advice had been extremely abstract and completely centered on the psychological aspect. Perhaps Rafinha had some special charm that the dolphin had recognized, or maybe it was a very friendly dolphin, or maybe it had befriended a human before.

“Can you dive to the bottom of the sea?” Rafinha asked. “My best friend is down there! I want to go see her, but I can’t make it by myself!” she said to the dolphin.

Splash!

As if to say leave it to me, the dolphin dived straight down.

“Wow!” Myce said. “It really listened to her! You’re lucky, Rafinha!”

“But she can’t breathe underwater!” Leone gasped.

“It’s dangerous! She’ll drown!” Liselotte said.

The dolphin, and the girl on its back, dived deeper and deeper, until finally the girl split away. Rafinha took a deep breath as she came back to the surface. “Phewwwww! Haaah... Haaah... I can’t hold my breath that long.”

“Are you okay, Rafinha?!” Myce asked.

“Yeah, Myce... I just won’t be able to keep up with Mr. Dolphin if I can’t hold my breath longer.”

Rafinha’s body suddenly popped up out of the water. The dolphin had returned and was lifting her with its back. It chirped, seemingly worried about her.

“Ah ha ha, sorry. I need to practice that.” Rafinha’s smile was shining brightly.

“Phew... I was worried. I’m glad you’re okay,” Leone said.

“But that was a huge pick-me-up! I feel so much better!”

Rafinha had a strong heart. She was moving forward far faster than Leone or Liselotte had expected. However, that didn’t mean that she wasn’t sad, that she wasn’t hurting. Perhaps the contact with unexpected visitors had lessened that pain a little bit. For that, they were grateful to the dolphins.

Whirrr... Whirrr... 

Suddenly, from the sky behind them, on the opposite beach, the group heard what sounded like faraway machines.

“Ah! That’s—!” Rafinha said.

“It sounds like a flying battleship!”

“But where could it be? I can’t see it.”

“Hold on, I’ll light it up!” At Myce’s command, the mechanical dragon’s light turned to the sky near where the sound was coming from. But it was cloudy and dark, so they couldn’t see it yet.

“Did someone notice that something had happened to Illuminas, and come to rescue us? Maybe Dux Jil or Ambassador Theodore!” Rafinha suggested, ever the optimist.

“Either way, we’re saved!” Leone said.

“Yes! And not a moment too soon. We don’t know when this land will sink!” Liselotte said.

“It’s probably one of Illuminas’s satellite islands, I think,” Myce said. “No, wait, if the Floating Circle and the machinator aren’t functioning, I don’t think they can move either?” Myce’s frown as he puzzled over the options reminded the trio of a budding engineer.

“We should go find out!” Rafinha said. “Let’s go, everyone!” She hopped into the Star Princess from the dolphin’s back and grasped the Flygear’s control stick. “Wait for us! We’ll be back to play with you later!” She remembered to smile at the dolphin she had rode on first.

The Star Princess lifted off and climbed toward the sound.

“Ah, I see it!” Rafinha announced. The approaching flying battleship entered their vision through a gap in the clouds.

“Wh—?!”

The moment they saw it, they were filled with tension. If it were just a ship, to whom it belonged might be in question, but a single glance at its rider made it obvious: the faceless giant was straddling its hull.

There was no mistaking it. They were under attack!