Three thousand years have passed, the Great Floating City of Arcadia, currently known as the Kingdom of Arcadia, is still floating up in the sky.

At the heart of the Kingdom lies a neo-gothic castle - the Royal Castle, towering up to a thousand meters. Upclose, visitors have to tilt their head upward to see the entirety of the castle front, but they wouldn't be able to see the peak of it. Medieval houses surround the Royal Castle. Mansions close to the Royal Castle are owned by aristocrats.

The South of Arcadia, not far from the Royal Castle's front, is the town square. The environment in that area has become livelier than before. Merchants sell different types of goods, from ordinary to rare items. Adventurers walk from place to place, trying to make connections or doing errands.

Further south is the public entrance used by flying ships and dragons going back and forth from port to port. People can hire horses with carriages to travel around the Kingdom. Souvenir shops are everywhere as one could never forget to buy one before they leave.

The East of Arcadia, right of the Royal Castle, lies the residential area of the Kingdom. It has private subdivisions patrolling all the time. Buying a house & lot is not as easy as it seems, as buyers must be legal residents and capable of buying one. You have to be a resident for over ten years and a hefty ton of money to own one. Thus, those who want to live here would rent a room in apartments. There are also inns for travelers, especially for adventurers.

The West of Arcadia, left of the Royal Castle, is the most sacred place in the Kingdom. The Church of Gaia and The Holy Garden is here. Believers from across the world would often visit the churches built a thousand years ago. The Holy Garden is exclusive only to higher officials.

The North of Arcadia, the back of the Royal Castle, is the commercial area. Different types of industries are here, producing new products and selling them within a day. There is also a port here other than the entrance near the town square. Covered wagons are everywhere, traveling from place to place.

In terms of races in aristocracy, a large number of them are humans. Only a few non-humans manage to maintain their status. Most of them now have become workers or street beggars.

And due to their endless corruption, they cut off the budget necessary to maintain the Kingdom of Arcadia, and it is now showing signs of collapse.

--

Bathed in sunlight, the throne shines from within as it glimmers in gold. The roof of the throne room is supported by towering corinthian pillars. You have to look up and turn around to see the entire ceiling.

The flooring is made out of marble, a red carpet is placed from the entrance towards the throne room. It’s wide enough to fit two carriages and make an entire parade. From the side of it are known as dark knights wearing gothic armor with stylish wings in their helm, people used to call them Manikas.

Manikas are non-living creatures, they are puppets that follow orders without question. They will kill without restraint and they will abide till the bitter end. Manikas are ancient technology unknown to men, they were already there when the floating city was made.

“Your Majesty, we have already searched the entire library of Arcadia; we still couldn’t find any books relating to the creation of Manikas.”

The king’s advisor speaks in front of his King in the throne room. He noticed the King’s disappointment.

“But… we found a book that tells about the maker of it.”

The king’s advisor finally piques his interest. Yet the King remained silent.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“It doesn’t tell his name, but it says that he lies deep within the catacombs of this Kingdom. If we manage to find his body, we might be able to find some of his artworks about how to create or at least fix the Manikas. With this we w...”

“We’ve been searching for over a decade, are you asking His Majesty to waste his resources out of a whim that there could be lost knowledge out there?”

The financial advisor standing next to the King interjected to his proposal. He's a fat man wearing dark violet clothes. Covered in jewelry from head to toe. Just looking at him, you could no longer see his neck.

“No, I do not wish His Majesty to waste his resources. And I would like to remind the Financial Advisor that this is not out of a whim, we have actual sources to prove it.”

“You have said it far too many times, yet we still haven’t gotten any of it.”

“Financial Advisor, we could have already found it if only you hadn't cut the resources in every expedition we set out.”

“Are you accusing me of incompetency? I already know it's a waste of our time. Thus, I tend to cut it. You should be glad that I’m still funding your fruitless efforts in those times.”

“I-its not fruitless, if onl…”

**Bang**

The huge door in the far end of the throne room opened.

A gallant knight strides towards the King. The people there went silent looking at her. A red eyed woman with blue hair, her armor shines in light blue color.

**thud thud thud**

She walks gracefully while holding her helm. Each step was heavy as she strides on the carpet. Along with her armor that makes a **charing** sound on each step.

It took a solid 30 second fast pace walk to get there.

“Good morning, King’s Advisor. Good morning, Financial Advisor. And to you too, Your Majesty.”

She bowed to each official in the room.

“This is a private meeting, a mere knight is not allowed…”

The King raised his hand against the Financial Advisor, he then nodded to the knight in front of him to continue.

The knight bowed once again.

“I have read the King’s Advisor report about his findings in the catacombs and I wished to explore it.”

“How dare you leak this information to someone else, King’s Advisor?”

“That someone else is the hero of this Kingdom and the daughter of the King.”

“Still, she doesn’t have the jurisdiction to know this level of information.”

“Well, actually, as the…”

“We already wasted a lot of our resources from our previous expeditions, are we also going to lose our princess because someone wrote that there’s a dead body under there, without even telling if there’s treasure along with it?”

“I would like to interject, my lords. As the hero and as the princess of this Kingdom, I am willing to abide by my duty and recover whatever lost treasure I could get in the catacombs.”

The two officials switch their focus to the hero.

“Ha! You don’t even know it yourself!”

The Financial Advisor laughs from his bellies, echoing to the far end of the throne. And he snorted like a pig as he caught his breath.

“As a princess, Father, please. One day, I’ll be leading this country. I don’t want your legacy to end here.”

“You…”

The King once again raised his hand to stop the Financial Advisor from speaking.

“Do you believe this King’s Advisor’s findings, Sora?”

The King finally spoke after the long quarrel between the two officials. His voice weighs heavily, everyone in the room can sense his pride and authority just by speaking.

“Yes, Father.”

Sora stood diligently without stuttering in response.

“Then by the order of the King, I order you to search the catacombs and find…”

The King looked at the Financial Advisor.

“And find whatever the last treasure you could get there.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

The King’s Advisor and Sora deeply bowed.

“This audience is finished.”

The King claps his hand and stands up to exit towards the side of the throne. Four dark knights escorted the King. Rattling sounds of the dark knights echoed to the throne room.

The Financial Advisor glared at the two.

Sora turned her heels towards the exit from where she entered. The King’s Advisor follows alongside her.

The Financial Advisor was the last one to go after watching the two of them leave the room.