“So…this is the power of money?” Aziz patted his chest, his heart still beating madly from the close shave with death. At the last moment, he had expended all his qi to produce the thickest barrier he’d ever created, sparing him from a rather…holey fate.

In front of him was the kid named Nalus, who was apologising over and over again. Waving him away, Aziz said, “It’s understandable that something like this might happen. Weapons have no eyes, and when we’re caught up in the heat of battle, we cannot always control our strength.”

The little lieutenant quivered, and Aziz couldn’t help but reach out to pat his shoulder. “There, there.”

“This demonstration shows just how superior an Engine is compared to a Dynamo, though,” Marie said. “We’ve always known that, but maybe it’s time to get our company commanders an Engine each.”

Small murmurs of assent followed.

“But where do we get Engines nowadays?” Titania asked. “They were rare items to begin with. I don’t think the Republic has that many in stock either. I know some shops that have a few Engines, but every single one’s going for rather astronomical prices.”

“With the impending war, even the most flawed of Engines now command a premium,” Oberon added, brushing his grey hair back.

“We might be able to secure some in a month or two, though,” said Marie.

“In a month or two?” Aziz asked.

“Yeah. It’s in the works. A centralised reward system to entice reclusive masters over to World’s End. The Hall of Guardians.” Marie rubbed her chin. “It’s like the reward exchange in the East, remember? When we went over to help.”

Aziz recalled seeing a place where resources were being traded for one’s contribution to the war between the East and the God of Water, and then nodded. “In that case. we can get some there?”

“That’s probably the case,” Marie replied.

“There’s also something like that in Ark City,” Nalus said. “Or at least, the old Ark City. We could trade in resources we harvested from Heritage, in exchange for weapons, materials and almost anything else. Pity it’s gone now.”

His words sparked off a small flurry of words.”

“Harvesters…man, I’ve forgotten about that after some time.”

“How nostalgic. It’s a pity that the lecturers were assigned elsewhere when we fled to the Wildlands, or else we could have stayed together.”

“I know, right? It’s as if our time as Harvesters was in another life…does anyone still remember that tiny lecturer?”

“The tiny lecturer? Ah, that boy named Gaius?”

Aziz’s ears twitched at a familiar name, and then he nudged Marie.

Marie nudged back. “You also heard that familiar name?”

“Yeah. How could I not?” Aziz shook his head and grinned. News about the Pint-sized Railgun, now the Lost Star, was rather intermittent after Spring Fury ended in disaster for both the East and the God of Water. His initial disappearance had made even the Republic’s State Council excited; such a strategic asset would have helped to rebalance the power differential between them and the Assembly.

“Wanna try asking about him?” Aziz asked, his eyes glittering.

“Go ahead,” Marie replied. “After all, you were the one who sent him to this Harvesters thing.”

“I was?” Aziz rubbed his head. “I must be getting old. My memory’s all screwed up.”

“Just go already.”

Rolling his eyes, Aziz turned to the bunch of kids in front of him. “By chance, are you talking about a boy with a kid sister called…”

“Nakama,” Marie whispered. “You also forgot that?”

“…Nakama,” Aziz finished his sentence, ignoring Marie’s second utterance. Giving a rough estimation of the two siblings’ height, he looked expectantly at the small crowd, who had fallen silent.

“You know of him?” Nalus asked, excited.

“He used to have this moniker, the Pint-sized Railgun,” Aziz replied. “Back when he fought in the war between the East and the late God of Water. He was most famous for creating huge explosions that took out vast swathes of the enemy.”

Nalus’ eyes glittered. “Where is he now?”

Aziz’s smile faded slightly. He vanished after Operation Spring Fury. Rumour has it that the Human God wanted to capture him, however. After the Lifespring was murdered, rumour about how Gaius supposedly killed the great god flooded the Five Lands. They were, of course, dispelled months later, but the little fellow has never shown up since...well, until he showed up in the North, unconscious.”

“Unconscious? What happened to him?”

"The Human God happened to him."

A woman with rabbit ears frowned. “Why would the Human God want Gaius?”

“Beats me,” Nalus replied. “But if he’s still alive, that’s good enough. He’ll be sad to hear about Senator Alexandre’s passing, though.”

“Yeah,” Aziz muttered. “I still remember the senator quite well. He was a nice guy. He dropped by during our training to check on us, came to console us whenever a few of my mates never came back during the Second Extermination, and helped to settle our families into Ark City back then.”

His vision blurred for a second or so. Brusquely rubbing his eyes, Aziz looked out at the night sky. “Now that I think about it, when Ark City fled to the Wildlands, what happened to our beds and belongings?”

Marie shook her head. “Turned into a small grave, I guess. That usually happens to the beds of those who never came back, right?”

“True,” Aziz replied. “Look at us. We must be getting really old. Thinking about our death and everything.”

“Thirty-five isn’t really that old though, for a Knight.” Marie did a twirl. “I’m still as sprightly as when I was before the Second Extermination started.”

“Wait, how old are you again?”

“…I can’t remember all that well. We lost our documents when Ark City escaped to the Wildlands, remember?” Marie sighed. “And it’s not like you do either, right?”

“That sucks,” Aziz muttered. “But I suppose war has a nasty habit of making people forget even the most basic of things.”

“Once we have time to restore the records,” said Nalus, “we might be able to help out in this regard.”

“Assuming we win the war, that is.” Aziz stretched. “Well, let’s hope that this Hall of Guardians thing works as advertised.”

After exchanging a few more words, some gutsy fellow wanted to challenge Marie, and so continued the exercise.