A little under thirty minutes later, outside of a mansion, in the eastern reaches of the empire…

…Fffwooooopfffffffff… Fwwwwfffoooooopffffmmmmm…

A low, rumbling noise resonates in the lightly cloudy skies above. Two armored guards standing outside a large mansion's fence of wrought iron bars are looking up, and furrow their brows at a distant object flying above. They exchange narrow-eyed gazes, then return their attention back up as it dives towards the mansion on top of a hill.

「…You think that's it?」

One of them asks, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand.

「Probably. What else could it be?」

The other guard shrugs.

…Fwwwwwwwwwoooooooopffff!… Ffffwwwwwwwooooopfmmmmm!…

As it descends lower, the noise grows louder. A patrol approaches the gate, and the armored men walk outside, joining the two to investigate the flying object.

It extends its legs out of its belly and causes tempestuous winds as it nears the ground, throwing snow coating the road leading down to the fields below aside. In the mansion's second floor window, a woman's pretty face takes a peek at what's happening outside, then quickly disappears. The legs touch the road and the noise grows louder, becoming nearly deafening before easing into a whine.

…Ffffffwwwwwwwwwwmmmmmmmmmm…

Flames stop spewing from the cylinders at its sides, and the dark object opens. The mansion guards grip onto their halberds in surprise at the sight of the armored men who take a step down the opened ramp, only to stop and look at them, seemingly confused. Both sides exchange puzzled and uneasy glances, and a young blonde woman with a sword at her hip runs out of the mansion's door towards the gate.

「…Is Lady Abelstroff there!?」

One of the guards shouts anxiously towards the armored men standing in the cramped space inside of the object.

「She is…」

One of the white-armored men calmly replies.

「…Show us! Let us see her!」

The guard anxiously replies. The woman with her golden hair curled into drills runs across the freshly cleared path towards the gate, where the guards at the rear extend their arms to keep her from running out ahead of them. The armored men begin to walk down the ramp.

「Let us clear out and make space first…」

One of the men in white armor nonchalantly replies in a lightly frustrated voice and mostly fatigued voice. They begin disembarking from the ramp.

「L-Lady Abelstroff!? Are you there!? Are you alright!?」

One of the guards takes a nervous step back, unwilling to act aggressively, but unable to relax as well.

「…I'm fine!」

A female voice echoing off the metal walls replies from within.

「Let us see her!…」

Another guard exclaims. The mansion guards relax slightly when they hear the woman, but remain on edge while trying to peek inside the aircraft.

「Ah. Lady Abelstroff…」

The frontmost guard utters out when he sees a young girl gracefully walking down the ramp, pinching and lifting her dress, carefully descending to meet them. The guards at the rear lower their arms and step aside, letting the drill-haired woman through. When the younger girl sees the woman behind the guards, she begins trotting towards her with a relieved smile on her somewhat gloomy face.

「Uuuhuuu!… Sisteeeeeer!…」

Fwap.

The two run into each other's arms, and the younger girl begins sobbing again into the woman's chest. The older sister's drills briefly jiggle up and down, stretching like springs.

「There, there. You're home now… Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?」

The drill-haired woman asks, petting the younger sister on her golden head with white gloved-hands.

「No… But they were thinking about it…」

Hugged into her, the young girl shakes her head between her sister's breasts. The woman's face shifts from a gentle smile to a thinly veiled murderous scowl.

「I will never let father send you anywhere without an army to follow you… Go inside and have a hot bath. Your dress is all wet.」

「Mhm…」

Still speaking with a soft and warm voice, the older sister gently nudges the younger one towards the mansion doors. She nods her head in response, wiping the corners of her eyes with the back of her cold fingers, and heads home. The drill-haired woman waits for her sister to get out of their earshot, then turns her cold, glaring eyes to the armored strangers standing outside the gate.

「Those kidnappers… Did you kill them?」

She asks with her hand idly resting on her sword's grip.

「I think we got 'em all.」

The large man with a tower shield to match casually replies, resting his gauntlet on top of his shield too.

「Good. Though I'm sure they didn't get what they deserved…」

The drill-haired woman nods her golden head with a stern tone, and glances over her shoulder, watching her sister disappear into the mansion.

「…My little sister is engaged to an Adalor boy. Had they found out about this, the kidnappers would be cursing the day they were born, before dying in agony.」

She adds with an ugly scowl on her otherwise pretty face, framed by two smaller drills at its side.

「…Are the Adalors aware that torture is illegal in the empire?」

The man with the tower shield asks while casually leaning onto it.

「I'm sure, but their family is like a well-grown tree. It's illegal here… Like many other things. They have plenty of unsavory contacts, it wouldn't be hard at all to bring them where it's legal.」

The woman nods and steps outside the gate with her blue eyes turned towards the landed aircraft.

「Unsavory contacts like the kidnappers?…」

The large man asks in a faintly jesting tone as she walks past him and up to its side.

「Ones that are smart enough not to dare raise their hand against us, at least… What is this thing? And how did the information about the kidnapping spread so fast?…」

She asks while pacing back and forth beside the aircraft, looking at it while her anger is slowly replaced with curiosity.

「…It's been a little over an hour since we have learned that she was kidnapped, but I thought someone had relayed a message.」

The drill-haired woman asks, tilting her head at the armored man standing outside the ramp. Most of them are idly admiring the lavish mansion's exterior.

「It's a vee… Something. I don't remember. As for the information… We've been told not to talk about it too much, it's a matter of the empire's security.」

The man with the large shield looks at the VTOL aircraft with her, then nonchalantly shrugs his armored shoulders in reply with a noisy metal clatter.

「I understand… But what about this… Thing? Is it magic? It's magic, isn't it?」

She asks while looking directly into one of the engine's exhausts, and standing under it.

「So I've heard… Dunno, though.」

He nods his helmet and shrugs again.

「That's pretty incredible… Everything I saw in the Academy of Magic was incredible, but there's things like these out there too?… I've heard about the battle fortress, but…」

With her other hand supporting her elbow, the woman raises her gloved hand to her chin and places it between her thumb and finger, staring at the aircraft with childlike awe.

「…Ah? Ahh, uh… Ahem. Pardon my manners. I am Selafina Abelstroff, perhaps you've heard about me… Who do I thank for rescuing my sister?」

Her cheeks flush a little when she realizes she's more preoccupied with the magic vehicle than the matter at hand, and showily clears her throat as she returns back to the man with the shield.

「Her majesty and her marshal… I've heard about a young Abelstroff lady, but I didn't know your name.」

The man with the tower shield nonchalantly replies with a nod, and straightens out.

「Ah… But surely you're expecting some sort of a reward?…」

「None. Is that all? Do you need help with anything else, or are there any criminals troubling you?」

Selafina's head perks up, and her golden drills jiggle up and down as she quizzically spreads her hands. The stranger with the large shield remains nonchalant.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

「No, but…」

Her hands slump at her sides, and her face gains a bemused expression.

「Then we have to return. Pleasure to meet you, Lady Selafina.」

The large man replies while waving his hand above his hand, motioning the rest of the men to return into the aircraft. They begin climbing the ramp by pairs.

「Wait!… At least tell me your name!」

Selafina takes a few hasty steps after the three men still outside. They abruptly stop in their tracks on the ramp and look at each other.

「…I'm known as Roland the Wall… The butcher is young Julius, and the other fellow is William… And we have a couple other good men.」

「I'm not a butcher, though…」「I'd take a reward… Not allowed to, right?…」

Roland introduces himself then points his hand at the man coated in blood, before pointing at the relatively clean one. Julius bows a little, while William flashes a quick wave.

「…Oh, and stay away from those things at the sides! They're pretty dangerous!」

Roland exclaims a warning to Selafina from within the aircraft, and the ramp closes.

…Ffffffwwwwwwwooooooommmmmmm…

Heeding the warning, Selafina backs away towards her guards at the gate as the engines spool up, and begin to spew out strong winds.

…Fffffffffwwwwwwwwwoooooooooopfffffffffffffffff!…

Another tempestuous gust blows pleasantly warm air over her and the mansion's guards. The black aircraft lifts its legs off the patch of the lightly snowy road amidst a thick blanket of white covering the hill. It ascends higher, folding its legs into its belly like a fat bird in flight, before noisily soaring away at a high speed, only accelerating as it goes…

…

Around the same time, in the Academy of Magic, in the headmaster's office…

Corvus is sitting at his desk, reading through a letter with a focused gaze. He lets out a troubled sigh, furrowing his bushy brows.

Knock knock…

A soft knock comes from the door ahead. He lifts his tired gaze up to it.

「Ahhh… Come on in.」

He sighs again before calling out. The door opens and Aria squeezes her gigantic hat in through the doorway, before giving the door a light push to shut it.

「Headmaster, we have a little unusual of a quandary… Three students had just arrived and they're asking for rooms…」

The big-hatted professor says, but her voice trails off when she lifts its brim and looks at the old mage's troubled face staring at the letter.

「…Is something bothering you, headmaster?」

She asks, becoming a little troubled herself.

「Ahhh, it's just…」

Corvus lifts his gaze up from the letter and adjusts his glasses, thinking as it idly drifts back down to the sheet of paper in his hand.

「…The grand master is asking me if I could handle the Federation's official business for a few days… In the event of the battle fortress's mobilization.」

He says after a moment of pause, takes his glasses off his nose, and rubs the bridge of his nose with a visibly weary face as he sets the letter down.

「The batt-!? Headmaster, what are they planning?」

Greatly concerned, Aria leans onto the headmaster's desk with one hand and lifting her hat's brim with another.

「I don't think I should be sharing internal Mage Federation information-」

「Not even with me!?」

Corvus replies and Aria cuts him off, leaning in a little closer.

They look at each other for a few moments of silence, and Corvus lets out a long, troubled sigh as he puts his glasses back onto his nose with a soft clatter of their hinges.

「The grand master is convinced that- Well, a lot of it pertains to a secret matter of a certain student, but they're convinced that student is abusing…」

He replies, before quickly stopping himself before divulging too much. His voice then trails off as he thinks.

「…Rather, threatening the use of dangerous and forbidden magic to benefit a certain… Kingdom. I don't know if that's true… Frankly, I don't think it matters…」

Finding the appropriate words, Corvus corrects himself. He shrugs, continuing while Aria listens.

「…The Mage Federation should not concern itself with such issues. Moreover… The grand master is asking me for my opinion on the matter…」

「And that being?…」

Aria chimes in, straightening out and crossing her black-gloved arms.

「I am categorically against taking any action, of course. But I'm afraid if I simply say so without providing any arguments, my opinion will be discarded.」

He shrugs, helplessly spreading his hands for a brief moment.

「Which kingdom?」

She asks, tilting her massive hat ever so slightly.

「I can't tell you. What I can tell you is that it would cause quite an upheaval if they were to mobilize the battle fortress against it.」

Corvus bluntly replies, then apologetically adds with a shrug of his shoulders.

「You can't tell even me?」

The professor asks, lifting the brim of her hat with her brows furrowed.

「Professor… It's not a matter of trust… I know you would keep it secret, but we have an understanding with the student to keep it private. It's private for the student's sake.」

Corvus awkwardly adjusts his glasses and explains, spreading his hands. Aria lets out a frustrated sigh as she crosses her arms again.

「I understand. So, what are you going to tell them? I wish I could help, but if you're not going to tell me…」

She shrugs her bare shoulders and looks down at Corvus behind his desk with her mouth slightly tilted aslant.

「Well… That kingdom is home to a dangerous man. A very dangerous man. I'm certain the Federation would regret antagonizing him, and that's exactly what I will reply with.」

「…Which man?」

The headmaster replies with his bushy brows elevated a little, and adds a small nod of conviction. Aria immediately asks another question.

「…I'm afraid I can't tell you that either. It would most certainly identify-」

「Agggggghhhhhhh… Corvuuuuusss…」

He replies with an awkward, apologetic grimace. Aria lets out a frustrated groan with a roll of her eyes.

「Well, what can I do, Professor Aria?… Setting that aside, what about those three students? Are they from afar?」

The old headmaster lowers his head, once again spreading his hands. After a moment, he raises his gaze back to Aria and adjusts his glasses.

「Oh, not really…」

She replies with a mildly annoyed smirk and a markedly sarcastic tone.

「Well, in that case-」

「…Just a little past the Temurian Wastes, that's all.」

Corvus shrugs his shoulders lightly with a gentle tilt of his head, before Aria actually finishes her sentence with a tight-lipped grimace on her face, interrupting him.

「Whe-? Wha-? Wh-?… Temuria!?…」

The headmaster's eyes snap wide open and his bushy brows shoot up in surprise as he stammers.

「…Well… It might be a little too early, but it'd be incredibly ill-mannered to tell them to find someplace else… Send them to Julva, will you?」

The old mage quickly composes himself and awkwardly adjusts his glasses again.

「Sure thing…」

Aria nods, and turns to head for the door. She stops after a few steps and lets out a long, loud sigh.

「…Headmaster, don't concern yourself with the Federation all too much either. The Academy should be the center of your attention.」

She adds over her shoulder with a serious expression, lifting the brim of her hat slightly.

「Well, that may be so, but…」

Corvus nods in agreement, and Aria nods back to bid him farewell, leaving without another word.

「…Mhhnhhh.」

The headmaster lets out a quiet, troubled little groan as his gaze drifts down onto the letter on his desk…