Aldrich spent the next day showing Levi around the city since they had been interrupted the first time. He also didn't want to go back home while his cousin was around. So, instead, he took Levi to every single place of interest within the city walls he could think of.

"It can't be that bad," Levi said.

Aldrich blinked; he had been lost in thought. "What?"

"The reason you're avoiding going home," Levi continued.

Indulging his friend, Aldrich had tried to pass off the third food stall as a sight worth seeing, but Levi started suspecting he was stalling. He wasn't one to say no to free food, though. "It can't be that bad. You should give your cousin a chance."

Aldrich shook his head. "There is something up with him, and I am the only one who can see through his facade for some reason. And before you say I'm just jealous of all the attention he's getting, I'm not."

"I wasn't going to say that," Levi defended. Aldrich replied with a dry look. "Okay, maybe I was. How about I come with you?"

Levi shoved the last of the sausage Aldrich had bought him into his mouth. "I can't say I'm the best judge of character, seeing as how my only companion for multiple years was a voice in my head."

[You should count yourself lucky to be graced by my presence every single day, Abaddon commented. Most don't meet me and live to tell the tale.]

"Yeah, yeah," Levi answered. "Anyway, if there is anything out of the ordinary going on with him, I should be able to sniff it out."

Aldrich chuckled. "Like some kind of hunting dog? Is there a specific reason your senses are better than a regular human's?" Aldrich asked as they moved through the crowded road towards Aldrich's home.

Levi shrugged. "Must have something to do with Abaddon."

Aldrich had suspected as much. Twice now, Levi had absorbed one of those soul fragments, and both times his appearance had gotten a bit more draconic. The brown in his hair was being overtaken by the white, and if Aldrich looked close enough, he could see a few scales on his face. He wondered what that meant and what would happen when he changed completely.

"Have you... ever thought of what-..." His thought was interrupted by a yell from behind them.

"Excuse me! You two! Wait up."

Aldrich and Levi glanced back to see a person trying to push through the crowd to reach them. It was a girl with bright pink hair and thick-rimmed glasses. She finally broke through the crowd but then tripped and fell flat on her face.

Aldrich offered her a hand as she slowly got up and adjusted her glasses. "Are you alright?"

"Who, me? I'm fine; I'm used to falling on my face," she said with a nervous laugh, dusting off her clothes.

Aldrich realized there was something familiar about her clothes. His eyes were drawn to the symbol on her shoulder, a red cross. "You're a member of the Order of the Cross."

The girl followed his gaze to the cross on her shoulder as if she needed reminding. "Y-yes, I am. Second Class Commander, North Star Astra. Astra D'Armate."

Aldrich's relaxed demeanor suddenly stiffened. His arm shot up in a salute. "Apologies for my impertinence, Commander."

"O-oh, there's no need for such formalities," Astra assured, her voice shaky. "I'm the one with a favor to ask after all."

"A favor?" Levi repeated.

Astra nodded curtly. She moved forward with a sudden burst of energy and held both of Levi's hands in hers. "You guys... met the knight of Brilliance in person."

"Uh, yes once," Levi answered, confused.

Astra let out a squeal which she then tried to conceal by clearing her throat. She sounded a lot more serious when she continued to speak. "I'm afraid I'm going to need a full report of your encounter." And then added in her squeaky voice from earlier, "Pretty please."

Levi had no idea what was going on. "Well, we were actually on our way to-"

"We'd be delighted to, Commander," Aldrich replied, cutting him off.

The girl almost shook with excitement. "Please come with me then."

×

They followed Astra through the city to a grand-looking building. Multiple banners hung from the walls, all with a red cross on them. The headquarters of the Order of the Cross.

While they were walking, Aldrich had given Levi a brief explanation of the hierarchy in the knight orders. The girl, Astra, was a second-class commander, two ranks above Aldrich, who was just a knight. Levi was surprised that such a nervous person had that high a position.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

As they walked through the building, Astra received numerous salutes, to which she replied with a few words or an awkward wave. She let out a sigh of relief when they reached a secluded room she told them was her private quarters.

All over the room were posters and illustrations of star constellations and astral bodies. Her desk was cluttered with writing tools and parchments of paper with even more drawings. She kicked a few dozen papers out of the way and offered them a seat.

They sat down carefully, trying to avoid crumpling any of the parchments. Across the desk from them, Astra had produced a parchment and quill. She stared at them earnestly. "Please tell me everything about your encounter."

So Aldrich began to tell her everything he knew about Kazuki Enya from their meeting. Astra listened raptly, with small squeals of excitement at some details. "Is it true his armor shines like the sun?"

"It was pretty bright," Levi recalled, probably because of the impossibly high temperature it was constantly at. He wondered what kind of metal it was to resist melting. "Is there a... specific reason you're so interested in him?"

Astra, probably realizing she had let herself get a bit too excited, straightened up in her seat. "I-it's nothing weird; he's just... really fascinating. And really hard to get an audience with."

She set down her quill, got off her seat, and walked over to the wall decorated with dozens of constellations. "I'm a bit of an astrology enthusiast, if you hadn't already noticed. No one like him has ever been recorded in the archives. Like... ever. He's akin to a star on earth."

She whipped around suddenly, her eyes gleaming. "Thirty-two years ago, an unprecedented amount of heat materialized in the Yoake region of the Shinkoku kingdom. I'm almost certain that it was the first manifestation of Sir Kazuki's virtue.

Even at that stage, his heat was enough to plunge the whole region into a period of perpetual drought. And he's only kept getting hotter. By my estimations, the average temperature of the earth has risen by at least 90% since this occurrence, and in a few dozen more years, it will be too hot for life to be sustained entirely. Isn't that fascinating?!"

"Wait, what?" Aldrich asked.

The girl continued, unbothered. "To my knowledge, the king has some measures in place to keep his heat contained to the space around him. The reason why we aren't all dead right now. But it won't last forever."

A loud knock at the door cut off Astra's lecture. She hurried over to the door and swung it open. Behind it stood a stern-looking woman in armor, a red cross across its breastplate. Her piercing blue eyes stood out against her darker skin.

"Ethos, I uh... wasn't expecting you so soon," Astra stammered. She began to kick some of the parchments strewn on the floor behind her.

The woman, Ethos, began to speak. "Apologies, this was urgent. I-..."

She trailed off mid-sentence as she realized there were two other people in the room with Astra. "And who might these two be?"

She stepped past Astra and into the room. "I know you; you're Alistair's son," said to Aldrich.

Aldrich stood up hastily and saluted. Ethos turned her gaze to Levi next. Her eyes widened for a second. "And you... are the boy with the dragon's soul. We finally meet. We were informed of your arrival and... unusual arrangement."

"Hello," Levi replied casually.

Ethos kept her eyes locked on him. "There is much I would like to discuss, but sadly there are pressing matters to which Astra and I must attend."

Aldrich hurried to Levi's side and grabbed his arm, tugging him towards the exit. "We'll get out of your hair then, Commander. Pardon us."

Ethos nodded. "Farewell then. We will meet again. Soon."

Levi took one last look at the woman as Aldrich dragged him past Astra and out of the room. Astra waved frantically at them as they moved down the hall, past all the knights going about their day.

"We'll continue this later, alright!?"

The rest of her words were lost in the cacophony of noises.