The sunlight, which had been streaming in from the windows, vanished abruptly. It wasn’t anything particularly startling, since clouds had existed for millennia, but Gaius could feel a huge existence take up station above the phrontistery.

Like him, the Knights were also beginning to look around. Their senses were finer than the other Squires here, which meant that the moment that thing above the assembly hall made its appearance, they too could sense it. And, well, the constant humming was a dead giveaway.

“I’m sensing something odd,” Isabelle said, now fully awake. “Countess, can you feel it too?”

“Something really big.” Reinford stared at the ceiling. “It must be the new invention of the North’s. Looks like the rumours were true after all.”

Gaius surveyed the other students. Most of the Squires hadn’t noticed the oddity above them yet, but the unease of the Knights was evident. After a few more moments, Mrs. Clara appeared in front of Class 1-S with the other teachers.

“Students. Your ride has arrived,” she said, in a chorus with the other teachers. “Follow us out, and try not to let your jaw drop. You are about to see the greatest invention in the past ten thousand years, an artefact whose magnitude will blow you away.”

She grinned, and then beckoned the class to follow. Streams of students filed out of the hall, only to stop halfway when the first to leave stopped moving.

“Don’t hold up the line!” Mrs. Clara raised her voice. Similar instructions were being issued to the other classes, and Gaius couldn’t help but be even more excited to see what the Pinnacle had prepared for them. He had a hunch that the man had specifically done this to show off to the countess for some fun reason, but it was a pity that he couldn’t grab Kolya by the collar and ask him about it.

After a minute or so, in which the people at the back took a few steps back, the lines began to flow again. The pattern was similar — the ones who just stepped out would freeze in shock, someone behind them would push, and then the line would continue to move. It didn’t take long before Gaius and company could leave the hall, and when they did, the boy sucked in a deep breath.

He could see why everyone had made such a commotion.

Because the sight in front of him hadn’t truly existed on Earth, the source of most plagiarised inventions by otherworlders.

“What on Orb…” Isabelle placed a shoulder on Gaius and whispered, “Your world has something like this? This is unbelievable!”

“No, Earth definitely doesn’t have this. The closest thing we ever had was a huge balloon that exploded and killed everyone on it, an airship.” Gaius replied, still in shock. His legs were now acting on auto-pilot; Gaius found himself too engrossed in the impossible construction floating above their heads to actually direct his legs properly. “Something that looks like this doesn’t exist in reality, only in fictional works.”

He continued to stare at the sleek, metallic construction hovering in mid-air. It was huge. At the very least, it was half a kilometre long. What looked like futuristic laser turrets were emplaced regularly at its sides, while smaller artefacts that looked like the ones he’d seen on the Eastern defence lines were placed in a grid-like pattern above and below the hull.

“What’s its name?” Isabelle breathed into his ear, her grip on his shoulders tightening.

“It’s probably a—”

Gaius’ words died off when a familiar face rippled into existence above the crowd. It was Pinnacle Kolya and Oracle Galina, a triumphant expression on their face. The din died down for a moment as the students stared at the two people, and then an uproar blasted outwards as both students and teachers recognised the leaders of the North.

“Alright. Pipe down, pipe down. Thank you for your tumultuous reception. For those who don’t know, I am Pinnacle Kolya, ruler of the Mortal Light Dynasty. The Phrontistery of Scientific Reasoning is my alma mater” — he indicated the school uniform he was wearing right now— “and for that reason, I’ve lent a hand to your field trip this year. Of course, I also want to show off the brainchild of the artificers of the North.”

He glanced at the Oracle. “Sofia, the honour is yours.”

She grinned back. “This is an item of technological fantasy from Earth. It has been in the works for more than a decade, and makes use of advanced artificing theories to operate.”

The Oracle’s smile faded somewhat. “In truth, this was a project thought up with our friends in the Southern Continent, the beastfolk. Ark City was home to great minds, and we used to have regular exchanges with them.”

Gaius felt the air leave his lungs for a moment. Nakama had also reacted in a similar fashion, her little hand pulling on Gaius’ shirt. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking of right now, and for that matter…neither did he. How were his students, the adorable kids who he had trained? The senators, who were truly good people? The staff, who had worked in the background?

He hadn’t had time…or he didn’t want to think about his loss. Ark City’s sudden disappearance had resulted in the loss of many people he cared about.

And he didn’t like that feeling. He didn’t know how to approach it either. If possible, he didn’t want to think about it too much — just as he stopped thinking and feeling when Paragon Saito brought time for him with his own life.

The whirlpool of emotions continued to churn for a few more moments, before he dispersed it forcibly. He didn’t want to feel right now. He was no stranger to loss and pain, but he knew that there would be a chance to mourn when a true peace came. Giving in to his feelings now would be pointless.

After all, there were four years left before the demons invaded. If Orb made it through that, Gaius wouldn’t mind reliving the memories of those who passed.

But now wasn’t the right time.

He glanced back up at the Oracle, who had been similarly overcome with her own emotions. He could feel the crowd’s confusion, but before anyone could say anything, she said, “This vessel, the Unity, is an Ark-class military transport, the designation in honour of the missing and fallen.”

“Now, I know everyone must be curious,” said the Oracle. “But let me not waste time explaining it here. Let us board the ship first. There are comfortable seats inside, a good place to talk.”

She clapped her hands, and a long ramp began to unfurl out from the ship.