After a few minutes of idling around, Aziz finally realised why the name ‘Commodore Tenouji’ sounded so familiar; he’d scolded one of his subordinates a long time ago, back when Operation Spring Fury was underway. Chuckling at his nostalgia, he leaned on the wall behind him and looked at Marie.

“What are you thinking about?” Aziz asked, looking at the complex emotion his boss had on her face. “You seem very distracted.”

“I’m just wondering about Ark City’s military,” she replied. “From what we know, they were holding off the demons for three years before they fled for the Five Lands, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Is it possible that the demons might have come up with some countermeasures against their tactics back then?”

Aziz froze. “Three years…depending on how Ark City fended them off, it’s very possible. I mean, I would do the same if I spent an entire month facing the same types of attacks over and over.”

“Exactly,” said Marie. “And isn’t it odd that Ark City didn’t seem too focused on keeping up with technological developments when they returned?”

“Well, they were one of the most advanced beastfolk cities, right?” Aziz replied. “That shouldn’t be too odd, so — wait, lower that fist!”

Marie bopped him on the head lightly and rolled her eyes. “We’re comparing a single beastfolk city to the entire Five Lands. I wouldn’t expect them to keep up with technological disparities at all, especially since Ark City was focused on protecting itself against the demons.”

“At most,” she continued, “they would have made significant advancements in the area of war. But even then, it’s unlikely that they could surpass any of the Five Lands in that regard.”

“Now that you mention it…” Aziz tilted his head. “What was our personal best for our fastest Dynamo user?”

“That’s you, idiot. I think it’s two hundred and eighty, officially. If we count the time when we went to World’s End with the Paragons, it’ll be around six hundred metres per second?” Marie tilted her head. “I’m not too sure. But the point is that any one of Ark City’s fliers can leave you in the dust.”

“Don’t talk about that,” Aziz muttered, “and you’ll still be my boss.”

“How boring.” Marie shook her head and pulled out a book. Flipping through it, she soon lost herself in the pages.

A few seconds later, Aziz did the same. He hadn’t had much time to read the books he liked; most of it was spent on reading papers and theses that researchers and officers came up with. It was rather rare for him to have time to read about things that were unrelated to the deputy commander of the First Aerial Division.

Humming a little tune, he flipped through his book. It was a romanticised version of how Champion Octantis set up her own home in the South, but there were, as usual, some absent parts. The latter half of her life, the one in which she and the other Cardinal Champions chose to kill themselves in a secret tomb, was not recorded.

If it had been, Aziz wouldn’t mind checking out such a historic place. There might be treasures or something there…although it was probably cleaned out by now. Flipping through a few more pages, he heard some familiar voices, and then looked up to see the commanders of his three battalions.

Before he could do anything, however, Titania and Oberon had walked forward. Exchanging a few quiet words with the others, they soon stalked off, leaving Aziz and Marie alone.

“Feels like we’re getting more and more distant from them by the day, right?” Marie asked. “They’re all so busy, and we only get to exchange banter every so often now.”

“Yeah. If we were fighting together constantly, things would change, but now that we’re just sitting at the top of tall buildings and doing paperwork, there’s really little left for us to do.”

He ran through the names of Thunderbolt’s commanders, and felt a bit rueful. Due to the nature in which both him and Marie had risen to power, they were far more familiar with Thunderbolt than the other two battalions. Since they were now leading a division made out of those three battalions now, the two of them had seen it fit to distance themselves from Thunderbolt…even if neither of them liked it.

“It’s always like this,” Marie said. “I thought I would maintain close contact with the other cadets when I was training as an officer, but in the end…”

Aziz sighed. “Probably doesn’t help that quite a few passed away. It’s hard to think about, after all. Remember that gathering I wanted to set up for Senator Alexandre? It’s probably not going to happen…no one wants to see for themselves just how many people died in the Second Extermination. It’s just too hard to think about. We fought the Southern Assembly, and we’re now working alongside them…”

“Feels like a betrayal, doesn’t it?” Marie smiled, bitterness etched into her face. “Will we return to a great war after all these is over? When everyone’s veins are filled with fury and madness?”

Aziz didn’t know how to reply to that. After all, he’d witnessed his own share of fear directed at the North and at Ark City in recent weeks. The other nations were too uneasy, given their overwhelming technological and military might.

Was it understandable?

Very much so.

But would it bode well for the future, even one in which the Demon God was defeated?

That was an entirely different question.

Aziz looked at the bustling command centre, and yet, he could see small little groups. Cliques of soldiers that were grouped according to loyalties, all done according to some primordial urge. For the first time, he wondered if the combined forces of the Five Lands were really as cohesive as the Pinnacle made it out to be.

Against the demons that Ark City described, could they really put up a fight?

He wasn’t all that sure.