The recon ship landed on the take-off deck of the flagship of the reconnaissance half-fleet Ftuné , the patrol ship Hairbyrch .
“We’re here.” While stroking his injured shoulder, Jinto peered at Lafier’s profile. She had her head in her hands. “What’s up with you?”
“The Great Duchess of Laitpanh ,” she muttered as though delirious. “The commander of this half-fleet is the Great Duchess of Laitpanh. Why now, of all times...”
“Oh, you mean Associate Commodore Sporr? What about her?”
“We, the agreeable Abliars, have never gotten along with the sly and insidious Sporrs.”
“Wow.”
“Not only did I just get saved by a Sporr, I’m forced to meet one in such clothes!” she bemoaned, looking down at her garb. It was a Clasbule-style “one-piece.”
“Boarding preparations complete. Please come this way, Lonh .” The ship commander with the rearguard starpilot insignia proved a tad more tongue-tied when addressing Lafier, though. “Trainee Starpilot Abliar.” Lafier stood up and saluted.
“Thank you very much.” Jinto saluted too, and headed for the air lock room .
Around ten starpilots were already waiting for them at the take-off deck.
The starpilot standing in the center was like a carnivorous butterfly: beguiling, yet fierce. Her rank insignia, associate commodore : she could be none other than Associate Commodore Sporr.
Upon descending from the recon ship, Lafier saluted, and Jinto bowed his head.
Sporr glared at Lafier’s saluting form as though to find fault, and bowed gracefully from the waist. The attendant starpilots emulated her gesture.
“Welcome, Fïac , welcome, Lonh . By the way, Your Highness, please conduct yourself as a member of the Imperial Household on this ship.”
“But...”
“I have not received contact from a trainee starpilot .”
“But Associate Commodore ...” Lafier insisted.
“Besides, I can’t think of you as a trainee starpilot even if I wanted to, with that attire,” said Sporr, delivering the final blow.
“Very well then.” She saluted with indignation. “It’s been a while, Great Duchess .”
“It truly has. I haven’t seen Your Highness since the banquet in celebration of your admission to the academy .” Sporr bowed. “And I must say, I as the Great Duchess of Laitpanh , must too congratulate the healthy manner with which Your Highness is growing. Or at least, I would like to, but it looks as though there has been a gnarl in your eye for beauty. Do tell me, what has led to that choice of clothing?”
“It wasn’t my idea.” Lafier glowered at Jinto askance. “It was Jinto — I mean, the Noble Prince of the Countdom of Hyde ’s idea.”
“Oh my...” Sporr’s eyes opened wide with surprise. “You mean to say Ïarlucec Dreur gave you that garb to wear, and had you dye your hair black?”
“These clothes are an improvement. The first set Ïarlucec Dreur bought me was gaudier still.”
“My, my, my...” Speechless, her crimson eyes turned to Jinto.
Jinto was perplexed and embarrassed. If he explained that it was out of pure necessity, would this Lonh-Nimr (Honorable Great Duchess) understand and be reasonable about it?
“Please forgive me, Lonh .” To his shock, she bowed her head deeply to him, despite his lower rank.
“Uhh, for what?” His confusion only intensified.
“When I heard Fïac Lart Barcér (His Highness the King of Barce) approved the founding of the Countdom of Hyde , I believed it to be the height of eccentricity. I wondered whether it was prudent to make someone ignorant of the ways of the Abh into a noble . I mean no disrespect, but the surface defense weapons of the planet Martinh were not enough to pose any threat.”
“‘Eccentric,’ you say...” Jinto didn’t know what to make of all that.
“But I’ve changed my mind since then. Your achievements more than befit the rank of a dreuc (count), Lonh .”
“Th-Thank you...” What did he do that befitted the rank of count ? Did she mean how he protected Lafier? But going by the flow of the conversation, he doubted that was it...
“The quickness with which Abliars fly into rage, and the intensity of their wrath once aroused, has echoed through all corners of the Empire as a legendary object of fear. Moreover, I’ve heard that Fïac Lamhirh of the Royal House of Crybh is an Abliar among Abliars, in that her fiery rage can be compared only to the first instants of the birth of the universe.”
“Grand Duchess ,” said Lafier. She had something to say.
Sporr ignored her. “And to think that you would dye the hair of that selfsame Fïac Lamhirh black, and clothe her with such bizarre apparel. Though I see the evidence before my very eyes, I can still scarcely believe it. That’s a feat for a lœbec (marquess), no, a laicerec (duke), let alone a count . You have my heartfelt admiration.”
Jinto cast his eyes down. He was unable to accept her words of praise as such. In fact, it seemed as though she was indirectly chastising him for dressing Lafier in peculiar garb.
“Don’t let it get to you, Jinto,” Lafier said apologetically. “She’s using you to make me fun of me. It is in the nature of a Sporr to be as twisted as a molecule of nucleic acid. If I may borrow the Grand Duchess ’s phrasing, Lonh-Painaigr of the Nimïéc Laitpanr (Grand Duchess’s Estate of Laitpanh) is a Sporr among Sporrs, in that she is renowned for having brought the technique of veiled disparagement the Sporr family has refined over a thousand years to the level of an artform.”
“Hohhh ho ho ho!” Sporr threw back her pale white throat and laughed. Then she peered square into Jinto’s eyes for the first time. “But it’s true that I like you, noble prince . I was told you will be a quartermaster starpilot . I invite you to fight under me.”
“Before we discuss the future, there’s a more important matter, Grand Duchess ,” Lafier cut in. She seemed flustered for some reason. “Could you lend me a military uniform ? I’d also like to shed this hair dye.”
“A uniform will be fetched for you on the double. As for your hair, how do we remove the dye? Might a hot bath be to your aid?”
“I tried. It didn’t work.”
“Then what is it we ought to do?”
“I don’t know.”
Lafier looked at Jinto. Sporr looked at Jinto. Jinto looked bewildered.
“Now that you mention it, I feel like there was something about that in the product directions... Unfortunately, I threw it out...”
The two Abh females kept staring.
“Uhhh... There were plenty of those hair dye things on Clasbule, so if we touched down and asked somebody...”
“Just now, I heard somebody somewhere suggest a truly alarming idea.” Sporr shuddered. “The idea goes that the starpilots of my glorious Ftuné should descend onto a terrestrial world still controlled by the enemy. That they should clear away enemy resistance, get their uniforms drenched in enemy blood, capture a frightened and quavering terrestrial citizen , and ask them: Hey, you know how to get rid of hair dye?’ What a dreadful notion! The Ftuné ’s prestige would crash down to the ground.”
Jinto’s shoulders drooped. “You’re right.” With the two of them safe and sound, the fact that enemy soldiers were still holding out on Clasbule’s surface had slipped his mind.