Chapter V: Inglis, Age 16—The Bichromatic Dragon
Whirrr... Whirrr...
Meltina awoke in the middle of the night to a strange rumbling noise. The ceaseless whine of the flying battleship’s engines as it soared through the sky blended with a gurgling—the sound of her own stomach.
“Well, that’s not good.” Meltina sighed and rubbed her belly as she sat up in bed. It was nowhere near mealtime yet, but she was quite hungry.
She was no longer an imperial princess of Venefic, just a student at Karelia’s knights’ academy accompanying the investigation of an ancient dragon. Her life at her villa had lacked in freedom and camaraderie; she far preferred her current school life, surrounded by Inglis, Rafinha, Leone, Liselotte, and—really—everyone around. She had learned a lot about what a fortunate, precious thing it was to be accepted as a friend. However, it was a bit inconvenient to not be able to eat whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted.
“Hmm...”
She got up from her bed and stretched to loosen up. Her bed was a simple bunk, fixed to the wall. It was hard enough to leave her stiff in the morning. There were other similarly furnished bunks in the cabin—a total of four. The cabin was so small that it seemed packed full with the beds alone. It was a bleak environment, apparently dedicated solely to the mechanical task of sleeping. Then again, this was, in the end, a warship, and one with a large crew. Even having a room in which to sleep was fortunate. Liselotte sometimes slept in this cabin as well, but now Meltina was alone. The two of them took turns looking after Rochefort, who was in the next cabin.
After finishing her stretch, Meltina headed for the door, thinking that she might head to the canteen and see what she could find. She walked down a passageway lined with similar doors, headed astern. These cabins were along the starboard side of the bow, while the canteen was all the way in the back. She passed by a number of crew before a voice called out to her.
“Lady Meltina, what seems to be the problem?”
“Ah, Sir Rafael.”
“What has you up at this hour?”
“Oh, nothing in particular...”
Seeing Meltina’s hand on her stomach, Rafael knew what was up. “Ah, I believe I can help. Follow me.” Rafael grinned as he led her off.
“Um, I couldn’t possibly take up your time when you’re already so busy...”
If she was acting formally as a princess, that would be one thing, but she was a normal student here. Rafael, the commander of the Paladins and Karelia’s greatest knight, leading her to a midnight snack was absurd.
“No, it’s fine.”
Grrrgl!
This time, the sound didn’t come from Meltina. “Looks like I’m in need of refreshments too, ha ha ha.” Rafael smiled and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
Meltina chuckled. “Then I welcome your company.”
They walked side by side to the stern of the ship.
“How’s Sir Rochefort doing?” Rafael asked.
“Well, no real changes, but with how he’s been, I can’t say he’s doing well.”
“I see. Well, Rani, Chris, and Lady Arles are doing their best to save him. Try to keep his spirits up so that he can hang in there until they make it back.”
“Yes, of course! I hear the two of you met on the battlefield... Thank you for showing such consideration for a foe.”
“I don’t hold any grudge against him, and I don’t think he holds any against me. Plus, he’s an instructor at the knights’ academy now, and I’ve heard that Rani and Chris are his students. It sounds like he’s been good to them. They’re important to me, so it’s only natural that I’d like their teacher to be well.”
Meltina laughed. “Yes, I think he’s a very good teacher. It’s hard to believe a former general took to it so well—he even supervises our independent training after lessons.”
“I’ve heard Chris has been sparring with him a lot.”
“Yes, that’s right. I’ve been doing my basic training near their practices, and he complains, but he puts up with it.” Meltina chuckled, thinking of her new daily routine. It was physically hard work that left her muscles aching every day, but mentally it was peaceful and happy.
“To the extent possible, I think us knights who’ve been granted Runes shouldn’t use them to fight against other people, but to protect them from both the Prism Flow and magicite beasts. Otherwise, we end up having to fight people who aren’t fundamentally bad.”
“Yes, I agree... I don’t want us to fight.”
When Meltina talked to Rafael, everything he said seemed to make perfect sense. Talking to Rafinha gave her a similar impression; they really were brother and sister. Rafinha was more enthusiastic, energetic, and lively, while Rafael was calm, refined, and quietly confident, but they truly were both wonderful—especially Rafael. Talking to him made her heart flutter. She didn’t recall feeling this way about someone before. She couldn’t help but keep staring at his face.
After continuing down the hallway for a while, Meltina and Rafael arrived at the ship’s canteen at the stern.
“Sorry to bother you. Have anything we can eat?” Rafael asked a man in a white chef’s outfit.
“Again, Sir Rafael?” The young but stout man sighed.
“I’m sorry. I can’t focus when I get hungry, and I’ve got all sorts of paperwork to get through.”
“Couldn’t you just ask Lady Ripple to help you? If you went to sleep earlier instead of snacking, we wouldn’t be pressed so hard to make ends meet with food.”
“Well, that kind of thing isn’t really her forte. Lady Eris could help... But until she gets back...”
“I see, that makes sense. Well, if you’re looking for volume rather than flavor, how about the usual?” The man took out a loaf of bread about the size of someone’s head. It was a hard bread, with a thick crust, but it was sprinkled with sugar before baking, giving it a deliciously toasted look.
“Of course. I love those.”
“Well, that’s good to hear! It’s nothing special, just something I made to have on hand, but it still is my cooking.”
“Actually, I’m sorry, but could I get a second one?” Rafael asked, motioning with his eyes toward Meltina.
“Hmm? Oh, for her. Sure, got it.” Seeing Meltina’s face, the man understood what was needed and produced another loaf of bread just as big.
“Thank you.” Meltina bowed politely as she took the bread.
“Never thought I’d see a girl with an appetite that stands up to Sir Rafael’s. And then there’s those other two... I think we’re gonna go through all the provisions we managed to pack aboard. Next time, give me a little bit of warning before we take kids like that on.”
Rafael laughed. “Sorry about that. Anyway, thanks.”
The ship’s canteen had several chairs which could be folded down from the walls, so there they sat. Each took a bite of their bread.
“Oh my. The crust is firm, but the inside is soft and fluffy. And the toasted sugar is so aromatic...” Meltina began.
“Isn’t it? I know he said he was going for volume more than flavor, but it’s delicious.”
“It really is! It’s baked so perfectly.”
As they enjoyed their delicious midnight snack of bread, though, a knight spotted Rafael and rushed over. “Sir Rafael! There you are. Sorry to interrupt you during your meal.”
Seeing how he was comported, Rafael’s expression sharpened. “No need for apologies. Did something happen?”
“Several knights on the night watch have gone missing.”
“What?! Is someone attacking us?!”
“I don’t know. I and a few others have searched, but we haven’t found any signs of a struggle or bodies.”
“So we aren’t under attack? But there are people missing?”
“Correct, sir.”
“That’s worrisome. Let’s be cautious, then. Gather more people and search the ship. Even if something is going on, we’re in the sky—there’s nowhere for an adversary to escape to. I’ll come along. Lead me to the scene.”
“Yes, sir. It’s this way.”
“Meltina, you take care as well. Rendezvous with Liselotte, and keep an eye on your surroundings. Take care of Sir Rochefort, as well.”
“Yes, understood.”
Rafael hurriedly stuffed bread into his mouth as he left with the knight who had issued the report.
Meltina had wanted to talk to him a bit longer, but she certainly couldn’t object given the circumstances. She quickly finished what was left of her own bread and peeked back into the ship’s canteen to thank the man who had baked it.
“Er, excuse me!”
No answer. The only sound to break the silence was the far-off noise of the flying battleship’s engines.
“Huh? Where’d he go?”
She hadn’t seen him leave out the front of the canteen. Was there another passageway? She didn’t know, and she didn’t see him, so she didn’t expect an answer to come.
“Thank you. It was delicious!” she called.
With a polite curtsy, she headed back down the shipboard passageways toward the starboard bow. She went to check the room where Rochefort was recuperating, since it was so close to her own. Liselotte was likely watching over him now. Meltina decided to join them, as Rafael had advised.
“Muster! First, second, third squads to the hangar!”
“Intruder alert! Beginning a sweep of the entire ship!”
As the chaos erupting across the ship washed over her, Meltina opened the door to Rochefort’s cabin. “Liselotte, how is Mr. Rochefort—”
Whooooosh!
Instead of a reply from Liselotte, who she expected to be there, all she heard was a roaring wind. The hull had been blown out, and outside air was rushing in. The force of the wind took her off her feet, and she stumbled to her knees.
“Wh-What’s going on?! L-Liselotte! Mr. Rochefort!”
She called their names, but they were nowhere to be found. Perhaps they had been in the room when it had been blown out.
“What happened here?!” Meltina approached the hole in the hull to look outside, but the wind was so strong that she was afraid she would follow downward. Just to be on the safe side, she drew her aqua-colored whip-sword Artifact and wrapped it around the doorknob as well as her hand. She used it as a lifeline to lean out the hole in search of the duo.
“Liselotte! Mr. Rochefort! If you can hear me, respond!” But nothing reached her ears except the howling of the wind.
Attracted by the noise, several of the knights aboard rushed over to Meltina.
“What happened?!”
“Did someone attack?! You there, what’s going on?!”
“I don’t know! I came to check on them, and I found the cabin gone!” Meltina said.
“So there is an infiltrator?!”
“If we don’t do something about that hole, the whole ship might fall to pieces!”
“All right, patch this space up!” The knights rushed to make emergency repairs to the hull.
“Be careful! If you need it, use this whip as a lifeline. You should be fine if you hold on to the parts without blades!” Meltina said.
“Roger that!”
“Will do!”
As the knights entered the room, another appeared behind them. The new arrival was not wearing the uniform of the Paladins, who reported to Rafael. Instead, she was a knight with red hair—one of Chancellor Riegliv’s two bodyguards.
“Lady Echidna?! What’s wrong?”
“We’ll handle things here. You should go back to guarding Chancellor Riegliv. We don’t know what might happen!”
“Understood!”
The lady knight, Echidna, rested her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist as she gave them all a nod. In the next instant, she unsheathed the blade with blinding speed. The slash as it left its scabbard cut through the doorknob where Meltina had secured her whip-sword.
Meltina stumbled, her balance lost. “Ah?!”
“What?! Lady Echidna?!”
“What are you doing?!”
As the knights gasped in surprise, Meltina went flying out the hole. “Eeeeeek!”
She found herself thrown into the sky, falling helplessly. Humans were not meant to fly, and she couldn’t help the wave of instinctive fear that struck her.
If I just resign myself to my fate here, I’ll never change from who I was. I’ll always be the powerless person living locked away in a villa who let herself helplessly be sold to Highland.
Meltina refused to live that life again. She was different now; she would fight back with whatever she had. She had to.
“But...! Not yet...!” She stretched out her whip-sword as long as she could, aiming it at the flying battleship as it pulled away. Somehow she managed to hook the final link around the vessel’s armor. “I did it! Wait—aaah!”
Unfortunately, it hadn’t planted itself securely enough to hold her, and it quickly came loose.
She’d tried her best, but now she was out of options. She closed her eyes and tensed up.
But a moment later, she felt as if she were floating, surrounded by warmth.
“Meltina! Are you all right?!”
“Ah! Liselotte! Thank you! Yes, how about you?”
It was Liselotte, flying with the pale wings of her Artifact’s Gift and cradling Rochefort—and now Meltina. With Liselotte’s right hand dedicated to holding her Artifact, things were quite cramped.
“I am fine. And as you can see, Mr. Rochefort is safe as well!”
“Hey, Princess. Glad you’re okay.” Rochefort was conscious, though his face was pale and lifeless.
“Anyway, let’s head back! We mustn’t be left too far behind, or we’ll never catch up!” Liselotte put all her strength into her wings and headed for the flying battleship at full speed.
“What on earth happened?” Meltina asked her.
“I’m not quite sure...but there may have been an undying made with mana extract! Some kind of liquid dripped down from the ceiling, took human form, and smashed through the hull... Mr. Rochefort ended up getting sucked out!”
“Mana extract?!”
“Yes. It was smaller, but I think it was quite like that...thing...General Maxwell controlled!”
The memories came welling up whether Meltina wanted them to or not. She remembered when a company led by General Maxwell had invaded the villa where she lived. Then, Maxwell had captured the dovish faction, which he claimed “sought to raise the imperial princess as a figurehead in rebellion against the Emperor,” an accusation she knew nothing of.
True, many around her held what might have been described as moderate views. She did, almost unquestioningly, as her tutors had. Not free to leave the villa herself, she had invited scholars and intellectuals from far and wide in the hopes of broadening her knowledge. She believed many of them had been moderates, but not once had she thought of rising in rebellion or seizing the throne. The current emperor was her half brother and much older than her. Even though they shared a father only, she found the idea of fighting her own family unthinkable.
As a result of her being accused of a crime she did not commit, Venefic had rounded up all her familiar faces—the guards, the servants, the tutors, anyone connected to them—and sent them to Illuminas. Only Meltina had escaped, when she happened to encounter Inglis; the rest had, she had heard, dissolved into mana extract. She hated the very idea of that nightmarish substance. She’d never forget the pain of learning what had happened to them.
“Meltina! Meltina! Get a hold of yourself! Your face has gone all pale.” Liselotte shook Meltina with the arm in which she carried her.
“Ah! Y-Yes, sorry! So, General Maxwell is aboard the ship?!”
“I’m unsure if it’s him, but there could well be a collaborator or a traitor.”
“Ah! Then—”
“Did someone come to mind?”
“Lady Echidna, one of Chancellor Riegliv’s aides, made me fall from the ship! She just might be...”
“I see, so there might be a spy from Venefic among Chancellor Riegliv’s aides.”
“Anyway, we have to save everyone we can! If they’re using mana extract from Illuminas, that means it was made from the people who once served me. The very least I can do is to let them rest in peace!”
“Yes, of course! I’ll get you there as fast as possible!” Liselotte’s wings flapped faster as she trailed the airship. They had almost caught up. But just then, the hull exploded outward from the lowermost area, which housed the hangar for Flygears and Flygear Ports. The wreckage scattered in front of Liselotte’s path.
“When—?!”
“Eeeeeek?!”
Liselotte was shocked but spun to dodge, and Meltina, shrieking, spun her whip-sword Artifact in a wide arc in front of her. Its blades were arranged in a circle, and when they connected, the power of its Gift created a gleaming veil of water. It became a shield to deflect the debris.
“Thank you! You saved us!” Liselotte said.
“I-I just did it without thinking... I’m glad it helped,” Meltina said.
“This is a sign you’ve been training well. You’ve been working hard, that much is obvious.”
“Thank you...!” Up until recently, Meltina had been so unclear on what it took to be a knight that she wasn’t sure whether the word started with a k or an n, so she was happy to be praised by Liselotte, who was undoubtedly the real thing. It gave her some much-needed confidence.
“We can get in through there!” Liselotte flew through the hole blown in the hull near the hangar. There, a large force of knights was trying to surround a single enemy, a huge round lump that seemed partly liquid. There was no other way to describe it. Additionally, it was completely lacking in surface adornments like a magicite beast’s.
“Wh-What is that thing?!”
“Don’t get too close! It’s already killed more than its share!”
The knights seemed to be blocking the mass’s advance deeper into the hangar.
“It doesn’t matter how—just protect me! It would be a loss for the country if its chancellor fell here! Attack!” There was palpable tension in Chancellor Riegliv’s voice. Next to him was his male bodyguard. It seemed that the Paladins had come to the fore to protect Riegliv, who was cornered in the hangar.
“I knew it, this is—!” Just as Liselotte spoke, the clump began to form itself into the shape of a human, but several times larger. It had no face, bore no expression, and its limbs were short and stocky. “This is the mana-extract giant General Maxwell controlled! It’s smaller than when I saw it in Illuminas, but...!”
“Th-The mana extract... Ahh—” Meltina drew in a breath sharply. If it had been created from the sacrifice of those who had been taken to Illuminas with her, how sad a fate that would be. They had been peaceful, with no ill will toward Karelia. She couldn’t stand this desecration of their lives.
“For now, I’ll help them!” Liselotte put Meltina and Rochefort down safely behind a wall nearby. “Meltina, take care of Mr. Rochefort!” However, as soon as she landed, she wavered on her feet and fell to her knees. “Agh!”
“Liselotte?! Are you okay?”
Blood flowed from her right knee. “It was the debris before. It appears I didn’t avoid it completely.”
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