1. Sophia

"Enemy flagship destroyed."

The Claudia unit being discharged from the center of the ship could be seen clearly through binoculars.

"Greyhound's new artillery mount ... the test was a success," Alex said with relief heard in his voice.

"The vanship team also successfully coped with the task at hand."

"Good. Everybody did an excellent job."

This was our first battle, yet Alex speaks with dignity as if he was always the captain. Perhaps this is what is commonly referred to as "talent."

"But before we leave, I would like to meet the captain of our allied ship face to face."

"Face to face?"

"Yes. I'm interested in seeing what sort of man the ship's captain is, to do so well in that battle."

Of course. I'm also wondering about what kind of person he is.



2. Vince

The flagship of the enemy fleet is lost. The remaining ships that have also lost the capacity to fight have put up their flags of surrender. And of course, all of the remaining ships that are still in the air lower their weapons.

"Send them a signal to 'surrender'."

"Roger."

"What are the names of the ships with whom we fought together?"

"We'll find out now."

"If what the Prime Minister said was true, that we needed a capable captains. Then these ones..." I muttered.

"Did you say something, captain?" asks Rumolt.

"No, nothing..."

"Ah, okay. So ... the ships are the Naiads and the Phoebus."

Rumolt specifies the names of the ships as he carefully peers through the binoculars. And from the names of the ships we can figure out which captains they are.

"Good. Find out who the captains are. And send our allies an order to conduct operations to disarm the enemy ships."

"Understood."

Within the field of view, Rumolt is approaching the black ship.

"Approaching the ship ahead of us," Rumolt reports, but I see it already. The black plated armor of this ship ... I've seen it somewhere before. The design of the ship is very different from those in Anatoray and Disith. And next to it flies a vanship. Where have I seen it before? As I'm deep in thought, the ship continues to approach. And judging by its lowered down guns, not with hostile intentions, either.

"Despite the fact that they were our ally in this battle, we've never seen it before," Rumolt turned and looked at me. No, I've seen it before. But since I'm not positive about that, I agree.

"Looks like it."

"There's someone on the bridge."

Our ships are now very close. There are two people on the bridge of the ship. And at that moment I remember where it was that I've seen that ship before. This ... it is really...

"Princess Sophia ... and Alex?"

Both of them were here to greet us. When we come alongside each other, I see a smile on Alex's face. He is seems like he may have even chuckled a little. Was this fun to him? Obviously he's one of those types who laugh even during a battle. And as for this - it's the same ship that I've seen before in pictures sent to me by Alex. And it looks like he's the captain of it.

"That's interesting."

"Is something wrong, captain?" Rumolt asks, thinking that he heard an order of some sort.

"No, just talking to myself."

On the other side of the ship is the mast, where an Anatorian flag flies high. And right above it, as if out of a courtesy, is the imperial flag. How sarcastic. And yet the fact is that it flies on this ship - a specific initiative of the Prime Minister. How interesting.

"Captain, what action should we take?"

"Do nothing."

"But how..."

"Princess Sophia is on board that ship. Pretend to not take note of that."

"Not take note of that?"

"Yes. I'll make the reports."



3. Alister

"So nothing was ever found."

Once our vanship lands on the Silvana's flight deck, Tatiana takes a deep breath. Indeed, we found nothing going out on reconnaissance. Then we hurriedly rushed to the battlefield, but everything was over by the time we arrived. Apparently, Tatiana is unhappy that for this first battle we just flew from place to place.

"So it seems. But never mind that, we still have plenty of time~"

"Really? You think so?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it."

Hearing that, Tatiana laughs lightly.



4. Sophia

"This means the ship belongs to Vincent."

When our ships passed, I saw a familiar face on the bridge. And Alex too, when he saw him, could not help but smile.

"Not bad." After saying this, Brigadier General Percival lightly runs his fingers from the corners of his mouth down to his chin. An old habit of his. The general always did this when he was in a good mood.

"General!" Alex quickly turns when he hears the voice behind him. Seeing his face, Percival smiles broadly.

"I have nothing more to teach you. I can now return safely home to my daughters with a sense of confidence."

"But, General..."

"I'll leave the future to you. So protect the future for our children."

"..."

Without saying a word, Alex salutes. With a retaliatory salute, the Brigadier General turns around the leaves the bridge. As Alex watches him, his expression softens. I've never seen such an expression on his face. It seems that Alex has changed.



5. Vince

And then, the ship disappears in an unknown direction. After that, and upon preparing the report, I submitted it to my superiors. As a result, I was summoned by the Prime Minister and told to keep quiet about everything that happened. But later, I still learned that the name of Alex's ship is the Silvana. As well as that it is an independent rebel ship, which is under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister himself.

Can that ship always be relied on in such situations? What about in situations where the battle is left unsupervised by the Guild? Indeed, it seems that times are changing.

Despite the fact that that sort of information about the incident had to be kept a secret, I was soon transferred to another military unit and appointed chairman of the board of dealing with equipment for the new ship. It seems as though I caught the fancy of the Prime Minister. And by the way, we ended up finding out commander back then. He hid on the ground shaking with fear. Apparently, he didn't like my report, and after the commander had taken a number of political steps, I found myself out of favor with all of the heads of the military. Well, being in such a situation yet having a good standing with the Prime Minister is just what I needed.

More interestingly, I wonder when I'll see that guy again? Him and Princess Sophia. And will there ever be a day where she'll stand next to me in that manner? Hell, I envy that fool.



6. Lucciola

"Ahh, that was fun," says Lord Dio as he puts aside a chess piece.

"Do you mean the chess game?"

Obviously not meaning he meant that was what he meant by fun, the Lord waves his hand. All the same, no matter which side it's looked at from, the current discussion cannot really mean chess. The discussion was definitely about the battle that just occured. And nevertheless, I intentionally aimed to miss with my answer, so Lord Dio could happily respond.

"Fooled you, Lucciola."

"'Fooled' ... sir?"

"I didn't mean chess, I meant the recent battle!"

Rising from his chair, the Lord touched the screen on which a video is being played. Then he turns to me and throws his hands up.

"To be overtaken by only two ships ... Disith is pathetic."

"But the ground artillery also joined in the battle..."

Hearing that, the Lord snorts.

"The ground artillery joined toward the very end. After their plan for a surprise attack failed, Disith didn't stand a chance."

"Is that so..."

"So it's settled!"

"What exactly is, sir?"

"That I'll definitely fly in the sky, in one of those small flying objects one day."

When Lord Dio makes a decision, he does not change it. There is no doubt that he will be flying, no matter what it takes. And yet, Lord Dio saying such extravagant things simply makes life more fun. Living in the palace is like being in a sterile room, and with time you begin to feel as though you're suffocating. But when I'm near Lord Dio, in these instances I am filled with a sense of assurance that I am alive.

"So then, we'll fly in it together!"

That's right. After all, if I can be by Lord Dio's side, I'll go with him anywhere.



<— Chapter 3