“First, we need to transfer to Rave.  Are we aiming for the Imperial Capital?”
“Yeah.  For now, we’ll lie low for about a year—”
“Okay, okay, oka—y, attention, everyone!”

The one clapping and gathering everyone’s attention was the same serious girl who always played the role of organizer.

“Actually, Aisha is pregnant!”
“Haa!?”

Despite the ceremony having only been half a year ago, the first to react was her husband himself.

“No, how is it you haven’t heard about this!?”
“I-It’s my first time hearing of it— Eh, did I mishear?”

At that retort that came out before any congratulation, and with how shaken he was, everyone started laughing.

“Don’t laugh!  For real, are you being serious?”
“Congra—tulations, fa—ther.”
“Speaking of which, isn’t Amil also engaged?”
“I… I-I-I-I-I-I-I’m… in a political marriage… with a noble from the home country…”
“Calm down, calm down, you’re obviously head over heels for her.”
“Things have settled down at the moment, so everyone from Laica should lie low for a while.  How about we take a short break?”

Voices saying, “Agreed,” rose up along with the words, “Congratulations.”  Aisha was smiling with delight, but her husband’s eyes were still darting back in forth in confusion, drawing even more laughter.

Feeling deeply moved, Lutiya murmured out.

“It’s been two years since that disturbance.  I suppose it isn’t all that strange that some of us have become parents.”
“Won’t something like that come up in the home country for you too, Lutiya?”

That could happen.  Lutiya was already sixteen.  It was unexpected, but he might end up used as a chess piece for such a reason upon going to the Rave Empire.  After all, Lutiya was now the only remaining sibling of Emperor Hades.

“Yeah, that’s possible.  Even if we get in touch for next time, I’ll leave about half a year—”

Do—n, a sound like a cannon being fired came from beyond the sea.

The La Baia Military Academy had been built on high ground even within its island.  Standing up to look beyond a half-destroyed wall allowed for the cause to immediately become clear.

They came from the sea, dull, intermittent sounds.  More than anything, it was bright. –The main island was burning.

“…Another riot?”
“Could be.”

Have the people been frightened by the suspicious death of the Grand Duke of Laica?  Are the citizens rampaging?  Or could the remaining remnants of Duke Fairart forces be launching a final offensive?  Any of them were possible, although they had nothing to do with Lutiya and his comrades.

“It might be better to leave Laica sooner rather than later.”
“Yeah, let’s move before the hidden ship is found. We’ll separate here for tonight—”

As if tearing apart their pleasant farewell, or passing judgement upon them, the sky suddenly shone silver.

They looked up in surprise from within the darkness.  Silver magical power raced across the sky as though connecting the stars.  For an instant they braced themselves, thinking it might be a magic circle, but it was a pattern woven with such intricacy that it was impossible to read in full.  Dazzling, it was spun across the sky at a terrifying speed, as if ensnaring the entire world in light.

It was like a meteor shower.

Yet within the instant of a blink, it vanished like an illusion.  It gave the impression of having granted a wish and then burned itself out.

“Wh…at… was that?”
“Who knows…”

Their confusion and silence were shattered by another explosion.  This time, it was close.  They quickly turned to the sound.

The harbor was burning.  The ships within the harbor to the very island Lutiya and his comrades resided were being set ablaze.  Some people on the island might have been riled up by the unrest on the main island.

Lutiya clicked his tongue.  With dragons currently unusable, ships were the only means of leaving the island.  They couldn’t afford to lose them by getting caught up in a riot.

“We’re leaving now. The ship was on the back side of the island, right?”
“Yeah. We didn’t leave it in the harbor, so it should be safe.”
“We should put some distance between us and Laica as fast as possible.  In the worst case, if I can just make it until morning, I can flee to the Rave Imperial Military, but there’s no way I’ll be able to take everyone with me—”

Once more, an explosion erupted.  This time it came from a different direction.  Just as Lutiya braced himself, thinking the situation was turning into something more serious than he expected, a large shadow swept across the sky along with a rush of wind.  Illuminated by the fiercely blazing bonfire were dragons.

Lutiya’s breath caught. A green dragon was at the lead and riding a top of the dragons were people.  For an instant, he glimpsed the armband of the Noitral Dragon Knight Order.  He had heard they were already on the opposite shore.  So, why at a time like this, in the middle of the night— A cold, unpleasant, premonition crawled up his spine

“—Run!”

Dragon fire rained down from above at the same time he cried out.  The flames, scorching even the walls, mixed with the bonfire and flared up all at once. Straining not to be drowned out by the screams that rose up, Lutiya shouted toward the sky. 

“Wait, I’m Lutiya Theos Rave!  The Dragon Emperor’s younger brother!  The people here are civilians, not rebels—”

Someone leapt down from a dragon, and without stopping, pierced a companion.  He hadn’t even been armed.  Falling to the ground with a spray of blood was the same companion who moments earlier had been in shock, eyes darting back and forth, at his wife’s pregnancy.

A piercing scream rang out.

“Wh-why is the Noitral Dragon Knight Order here!?”
“Just run, hurry!”
“Yo-you—!”
“Lutiya, wait!”

Lutiya drew his sword but was grabbed by his shoulder by the vice-class leader before he could leap forward.  He tried to shake him off, but the words muttered by the young man who had leapt down alone from the sky reached his ears.

“As if I’d let you escape, you gutter rats.”

It was a voice he recognized.  It had changed and was much lower, but somehow, that certainty came before anything else.

No way… this can’t be.

He was supposed to be dead.

Yet he showed no hesitation at the anguished screams surrounding them.  He merely raised his spear and pierced another of Lutiya’s companion through the abdomen.  The companion didn’t even have time to brace himself and was then kicked away.  Another trying to flee was cut down from behind as well.  Only then did this assailant turn and his face come into view.

That young man looked nothing like the one in Lutiya’s memories. He had grown taller, and his build was different. The gentle features he remembered were now dark, and shadows laid beneath eyes that had once been clear.  He looked like a completely different person.  Only the color of his hair and eyes might had been the same.

Of those eyes, one was hidden beneath an eyepatch.  With a hoarse voice, Lutiya found himself calling out his name.

“Noi… n…?
“I’m delight you remember me.”

Impossible, Lutiya shook his head.

Two years earlier, the La Baia Military Academy had been assaulted by the Rave Imperial Army under the accusation of nurturing rebels and collapsed. The class leader of the Gold Dragon Class resisted till the end as he tried to protect his fellow students.  Covered in blood, he refused to drop his sword until a dagger pierced his eye and he fell into the sea.  That fact was unmistakable, I saw it with my own eyes.

There’s no way… he can still be alive.

After all, the one who threw that dagger, the one who dropped him into a sea of shock and despair, was none other than Lutiya himself.

“I’ve been looking for you, Lutiya.”

He himself had grown taller too.  His appearance should have changed.  Yet, the other did not hesitate, fixing his gaze straight on him.

“I’ll kill you.”

The class leader of the Gold Dragon Class held Rutiya in his remaining eye as he laughed like a beast that had found its prey.

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