A carriage stopped in front of Marchioness Kulkova’s mansion, and a man disembarked gracefully. On his flowing cloak, twelve golden swords crossed a white background.
A member of Maria’s staff received him and escorted him to a chamber serving as the Imperial Magic Division’s impromptu war room.
“Princess Fiona, Lord Oscar, I’m glad I made it in time,” the fellow said cheerfully. “Apologies for the intrusion.”
“Think nothing of it, Ser Hartmut,” Fiona said with a welcoming nod. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
Oscar bowed his head deeply.
As one of the Twelve Knights of the Emperor, Hartmut Barthel stood above all other imperial swordsmen. He was also Count Barthel’s heir and the older brother of Oscar’s right-hand man, Jurgen Barthel—the man now being held captive by the Kingdom...
“I specially requested that His Majesty allow me to join you. I swear to follow your instructions to the letter, so please feel free to use me as you see fit.” Hartmut executed a graceful bow.
“Thank you, Ser Hartmut. Let me tell you what we know so far,” Oscar said, gesturing at the documents laid out on the table. “Nineteen people have been captured, including General Rancius and eight other members of the Twentieth Regiment, as well as Jurgen and nine members of the Magic Division. By imperial decree, rescuing them is our top priority.”
“Understood. There was also some sort of box, I believe?”
“Yes. An alchemical device. It creates a map of the surrounding terrain by channeling an earth magician’s mana. It was in Jurgen’s possession.”
“Ah, the one His Majesty told him to use as part of his mission. Am I correct in saying that their rescue comes first, and taking the box back is our secondary objective?”
“Yes,” Oscar said, inclining his head. “Ser Hartmut, I’d like you to lead the main rescue force. Her Highness will accompany you. Meanwhile, I’ll deal with the box.”
“Interesting. Could I ask if there were additional instructions regarding the box?”
“You’re as sharp as ever, Ser Hartmut. Baron Kenneth Hayward is currently in the city of Lune.”
“The genius alchemist? I suppose that means they intend to deliver the box to him.”
“Yes. His Majesty has ordered us to retrieve the alchemical device and abduct Baron Hayward.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“The ship will be fitted and the cargo loaded within thirty minutes.”
“Thank you, Norbert.” Maria nodded to her knight commander, then turned to the other three. “There you have it. Let’s head to the pier, shall we?”
Maria led Fiona, Hartmut, and Oscar into a wide underground passage with a high ceiling. The stone pavement beneath their feet was immaculately paved. Before long, the passage opened into a massive subterranean cavern—the “pier”—where an enormous “ship” was moored.
Of course, this pier was no harbor, and that ship was no boat. In fact, there wasn’t a single body of water anywhere in sight.
“Due to the suddenness of your request, we only managed to prepare one ship. I apologize, Lady Fiona.”
“Please don’t, Lady Maria. I’m so grateful. With this airship, we’ll have no trouble infiltrating southern Knightley.”
The Markdorf had been researched and developed in the Kulkova marquessate. They’d chosen it because the imperial decree had said “by any means necessary,” and the Markdorf, as the lead ship of its class, was outfitted with specialized, deployable armaments—although those were still in the testing phase. They’d obtained permission for its use from Emperor Rupert VI himself. It was obviously one of the Empire’s secret weapons, but rescuing the prisoners took priority, even if that risked exposing its existence to the Kingdom.
“Commander, we’ve assembled forty members of the Division and one hundred soldiers from the Fifth Regiment’s First Battalion,” reported Marie, Fiona’s adjutant.
Everyone participating in the mission lined up behind her, ready to raid Lune and rescue their comrades.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ascend to an altitude of ten thousand. Close the bulkheads.”
“Starboard bulkhead closure complete.”
“Port bulkhead closure complete.”
“Slide deployed. Wind resistance reduced to one-tenth!”
“Sky Contrast deployed. The Markdorf is now invisible from the ground.”
“All functions normal.”
Standing on the bridge, Fiona, Oscar, Marie, and Hartmut couldn’t make heads or tails of the instructions and reports flying between the “sky sailors,” the crew who’d worked and even lived with the R&D team in the Kulkova marquessate for some time now. Before that, the crew had been training on the Empire’s previous airship, which it’d had since ancient times.
The Empire bordered no seas, but with its airships, the endless, boundless sky could become its sea. And these sky sailors currently piloting the Markdorf were at the forefront of this endeavor.
Oscar cocked his head. “Hmm...” he murmured.
Fiona knew that look. “Mast— Ahem...” She paused, recalling Hartmut’s presence. “Vice Commander, is something wrong?”
Oscar surveyed the bridge. “I’m curious about the helmsmen...”
All six members of the crew wore the same uniform, naturally, but they all had their hoods up. Oscar found that strange, seeing as the bridge wasn’t cold and the voluminous fabric could make it harder for the crew to see their surroundings. You could barely make out their faces at all, in fact.
“Elmer, isn’t this ship amazing?” Oscar asked suddenly, his voice echoing across the bridge.
The captain smiled, realizing he must’ve made a mistake. “You’ve always had a sharp eye, Oscar! Ah... Hell...”
At that moment, he and the other five crew members pulled back their hoods.
“I can’t believe you let them steer the ship...” Oscar said, shaking his head.
Yes, the Markdorf’s crew mostly consisted of members of Shooting Spree, Oscar’s former adventuring party associates.
After ascending to ten thousand meters and beginning their flight south, they finally explained themselves.
The B-rank party Shooting Spree and its six Imperial adventurers had a long, familiar history with Oscar. Of particular note was the fact that two separate members had placed near the very top—third and eighth—of the Empire’s fiftieth-anniversary tournament six years ago. As a result, Shooting Spree became an overnight sensation. However, the rumor was that they’d retired from adventuring shortly after...
“This is the last place I expected to run into you lot,” Oscar groaned.
“Aha ha ha ha...” Elmer chuckled wryly. He was the leader and swordsman of the party. The other five either scratched their cheeks in embarrassment or smiled awkwardly.
“What can we say? Once the tournament ended, the imperial family and Marchioness Kulkova invited us to work for them. Not just me and Zasha, mind you, but the entire party. And get this—they wanted us on an airship! They asked if we’d be interested in helping develop a new one, the first in centuries, and become part of its crew. As adventurers, how could we resist?”
“They sweetened the pot by throwing in a mansion in the marquessate,” Zasha the dual wielder chimed in. “The salary’s great too.”
“And some people are just born to fly, you know?” Jusch added.
Her twin sister Rusch nodded vigorously. “Exactly!”
They were both archers.
Mesalt the healer nodded with his usual enigmatic smile, and Anne the scout gave a small shrug. The party, who had shared both joys and hardships, was clearly still on good terms even after six years.
Meanwhile, Fiona, Marie, and Hartmut listened to Oscar reunite with his old friends from a short distance away.
“So this is Shooting Spree,” Hartmut said, recalling the tournament.
“I was also in the audience that day,” Fiona remarked, picturing the scene. “The dual wielder came in third, and the swordsman made it to the quarterfinals.”
“I watched the semifinals and finals myself. Truth be told, those matches gave me goose bumps.”
“Goose bumps? Even on one of the Emperor’s Twelve?” Fiona asked.
“Yes. Particularly the battle between Lord Oscar and the elf...” Hartmut replied, his lips curling—but there was neither warmth nor kindness in that smile.
Fiona studied him. “Did you want to fight him?”
“Not only Oscar. Her too.”
Then something flickered across Hartmut’s face so quickly that Marie thought she had imagined it.
But Fiona knew what she’d seen: the glee of a battle maniac. He was one of the Twelve Knights of the Emperor, after all. It wasn’t surprising that fighting captivated a part of his heart...
Fiona let out a small sigh.