After hours of flying through a storm, the ship managed to escape the heavy rain without further complications other than being soaked down to the bone. The tactician was trying to warm herself up inside the engine room that was heated thanks to the hard working motor that was kept running on mana.

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t even seem to mind the cold and was simply sitting on the very corner of the room with her head against the wall.

‘I wonder how close I am to finally solving this matter once and for all.’ She closed her eyes and all if not the most painful memories began to flash in her mind one by one, her expulsion from the Grand Academy, her mother’s death, Luke’s death, Neiliel’s passing, Laura and Lawslow’s sacrifice, her father’s death and when she thought she had lost Krieg forever to the void. ‘I must become stronger to protect those around me.’

The ship rumbled a bit which made something fall on the floor and roll against her feet. Once she noticed it was a glass container she picked up and stared at it. One of the empty mana tanks had fallen from the shelf behind the engine.

She closed her eyes and began to focus on the vial at first pouring just a bit of her mana, faint strings of light enveloped her hand, coiling gently around the backside of her hand into the vial. As she began to feel the flow from her wrist she slowly increased the output and before long, the glass started to glow light blue, leaving the otherwise dark room with an eerie ambience.

On the opposite side of the room, the paladin was beginning to regain consciousness only to notice a faint light coming from across where he was sitting. His vision was still a bit blurry when he looked at Leona for a brief moment his eyes seemed to spark.

“Lena?” The paladin’s voice was muffled due to the helmet he was wearing. “Is that-”

Before he could take a step further, the flat side of a longsword suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Not a step further.” Krieg was holding the blade while looking at him. All the while Leona was so focused on charging the vial that she didn’t notice what was going on beside her. “What were you going to do?”

“Huh?” The paladin glanced at the weapon first then to the person who was holding it, he then lifted the visor of his helmet and rubbed his eyes. “Wait… who are you?”

“Krieg.” He answered. “The person you were approaching is my liege Leona. What did you want with her?”

“Leona?” He turned to the tactician who was still concentrated in her task to notice them having a conversation. “Ah… I see, so it was a dream after all.” He sighed before turning to him once again. “My name is Reinhardt Lorraine. Paladin- or should I say, former paladin of Arcadia.”

“Your servant told me as much.”

“Wait… is Elaine here? Where is she?”

The moment he raised his voice the elf suddenly dropped behind Krieg and peeked from beneath his extended arm.

“Rein! I’m glad you’re okay!”

She ducked beneath the knight’s blade and charged into the paladin for a tight hug. Krieg sheathed his blade and walked near Leona who had just finished charging up the glass tank.

“Princess, he is awake.”

“Hm?” The tactician glanced to the side and noticed the man standing in the middle of the room with Elaine latched onto him. “Ah, I’m glad Phoebe’s healing magic aided in your swift recovery.”

“Phoebe?”

From his confused reaction she deduced he really wasn’t conscious when the high elf was healing him.

“My friend and traveling companion.” Leona explained. “She’s currently piloting the ship as we speak. You should get some fresh air if you’re able to walk.”

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She made her way out of the engine room with Krieg right behind her and as the paladin made his way through the doorway all they could hear was the gasp of surprise as it left his mouth.

“Woah…” He slowly walked to the edge of the ship, seeing how they were so high in the air made him excited and a bit anxious at the same time. “How… how is this even possible?”

“Londrian engineering and dwarven ingenuity.” Leona answered. “Your friend Elaine told us you two were on your way to Arivaul, since we are heading to the same town I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give you two a hand. However, I'd like a favor in return.”

Before she could continue, the paladin knelt with his head hanging low and seeing him do that made Elaine do the same.

“Whatever it is, as long as it is within my capabilities I’ll do my best to follow it through.” He said with determination. “My blade is yours, lady Leona.”

“Now, now, no need to bow before me.” Her face was a bit flustered since she wasn’t expecting that reaction from him. “I wanted to know from you, someone that belonged in the Lorraine family household for as long as you did, what drove Alexander to do the things that he did up until now?”

“Alex huh…” Reinhardt stood up and folded his arms. “He wasn’t always like this, at least, not until my father died. Ever since our family adopted him, he would always go out of his way to aid anyone he was able to. After all, that was our family’s oath. ‘To protect those that can’t protect themselves.’ Despite how war was tearing through the kingdom, he and my father would always go out of their ways to aid those in need, especially villages near the frontlines.”

“Then… your father…”

The paladin nodded.

“He died at the hands of a demon while protecting defenseless villagers. All of us grieved his parting, but since I was the next in line of succession, I quickly took my father’s title and place in the army as we worked under the Lothaire family.” He sighed. “Alex’s animosity must have come from then and truth to be told I too was shaken by how little Lena cared.”

“Lena…” Leona muttered under her breath as the name sounded familiar. “Do you mean Lena Lothaire?”

“Yes, last paladin of the Lothaire family, her title was more of a formality as she wouldn’t go to the battlefield herself but despite that, her unrivaled intellect for tactics earned her high praise from queen Eleonora.”

Leona folded her left arm underneath the right elbow as she held her chin with the right hand, deep in thought.

‘Then… why did he want to know about something my mother made…?’ She was racking her brain to think of something so she could have some sort of plan but the more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn’t know much about her foe. ‘But what could that be…?’

“Princess, it seems Phoebe wishes to speak to you.”

Krieg got her attention and pointed to the high elf who was waving her left arm.

“I see thank you Krieg.” She turned to the two guests and bowed slightly. “If you excuse me.” Upon walking up the staircase the noise of the helices came back as she needed to shout in order to talk to Phoebe. “What is it?!”

“Arivaul’s in sight, where do you want me to land?!”

“Anywhere, not in the middle of the town!”

“Alright! Tell the others to hold on tight!”

Leona quickly made her way down the stairs and instructed everyone to hold on tight the edge railings of the ship as they started to slowly descend towards what seemed to be a large clearing in the middle of the forest.

The town itself was rather small, there were only a few wooden houses around an odd stone monument that on closer inspection seemed to be an entrance to somewhere deeper underground.

Phoebe made sure the ship landed on the very edge of the town which startled many of the citizens that were going about their day. As soon as they stopped, Leona looked at the high elf with a stern expression and she simply answered.

“Hey, you said not in the middle of the city.”

From outside of the ship, they could hear the voice of someone clearly annoyed by their sudden appearance.

“What in tarnation is this?!”

Leona peeked over the railing and noticed there were a few guards with dark uniforms wielding halberds as weapons. She didn’t recognize those soldiers which only made her feel anxious.

“Great…” She muttered under her breath before turning around to the four people standing behind her. “Krieg come with me, the rest of you stay here, if you hear trouble you are allowed to fire your bow Phoebe.”

“Got it.”

Leona took a deep breath and appeared over the railing, waving to the soldiers below.

“I’m the one responsible for this ship! I’ll be right with you in just a moment!”

The soldiers looked at her and then to one another and one elbowed the dumbstruck recruit as he whispered something in his ear before taking off in a hurry.

‘Great, I hope we can skip the politics.’

Leona thought as she made her way to the ladder on the other side of the ship.