Up close, Gaius found the task of describing the rebuilt Ark City to be a rather daunting one. Sure, he could spend thirty minutes on describing how awesome it was, since it was a freaking floating city, but now that he was making laps around the place, it seemed a tad inadequate to just slap that one label on it.

The training guards ignored the two of them as they circled around it, clearly unbothered by Isabelle’s overwhelming desire to study the floating city. From the looks of it, there were probably other people who had done the same thing before; Isabelle wasn’t the first, and nor would she be the last.

“This is really more of a floating fortress, though.” Isabelle looked at the giant thrusters that were emitting orange glows. “I was thinking about a floating island with a city built on it, when I heard about a floating city.”

“Funny. I had that same mental image too,” Gaius replied. “But I suppose the Five Lands would freak out if reports about a floating fortress popped up. Floating city sounds far more neutral and less threatening.”

To Gaius, the newly-rebuilt Ark City looked…well, the best image that fit was a spinning top or a cone. The higher segments were thinner and pointy, while the base was rotund. No buildings were visible from the outside; it would seem that the entire city was enclosed within the grey shell.

In fact, now that they were examining it up close, the new Ark City was indeed rotating ever so lightly. Hundreds of cannon barrels pointed outwards from the metallic shell, making it look like a pinecone or something.

If it appeared into the middle of a city, it would probably take far less than thirty minutes to turn it into a smoking ruin. Furthermore, Gaius had a feeling that the floating fortress had far more weapons that were concealed within its dull-grey shell.

“Still, how do these thruster things work?” Isabelle asked, turning her eyes to Gaius.

“Uh. They belch out flame or something?” Gaius replied. “I’m not sure either. But it’s so obvious. Wouldn’t enemies try to destroy these thrusters?”

“Yeah. They really need to protect it better.”

“Hey, you two!” A shout came from behind them. “The underside of Ark City is dangerous! Don’t go near it!”

Gaius turned to see a small squad of soldiers, who were wearing a red and black uniform. He hadn’t seen such colours in Ark City before, and as he continued to look for something that might hint as his origins, a man, with a golden diamond on his right chest, floated forward.

“What’s wrong, boy?”

“This uniform…I’ve never seen it before.” Gaius tried to recall the combat attire of Ark City’s soldiers, but he could say, with some certainty, that red and black was a novel colour scheme.

“You were from Ark City?”

Gaius nodded. “But enough about that for a moment. What’s with the underside and the dangers there?”

“There’s quite a few automated defences there,” replied the soldier. “Sheesh. I keep telling them that they gotta mark out the area, but…”

Gaius exchanged looks with Isabelle, before saying, “So we can’t check it out up close?”

“Nope. Sorry. We used to open it, but after the fifth person experienced a fiery death…”

Isabelle coughed. “Experienced a what?”

“A fiery death,” the soldier replied obligingly. “He decided to try out how hot these thrusters were with his body.”

“That guy’s an idiot, isn’t he? And how are there five such fools?” Gaius rolled his eyes. “Alright, I get your point. Come on, let’s get to the city gate…where’s the city gate?”

“We don’t have a city gate anymore. The entrance to Ark City, however, is over there, sir.” The soldier pointed at one of the many platforms that was orbiting the city. “Just listen to the staff there, and you’ll be able to enter once your credentials are checked.”

“Okay.” Taking Isabelle by the hand, Gaius flew over. Ten soldiers, who were holding what looked like Straight Shots floated around the open-air platform.

“This thing is massive,” Isabelle muttered, as they drew close to the platform.

“Yeap.” Gaius couldn’t quite tell how big the city was, but now that he was really close to the platform, his entire vision couldn’t even take in the metallic exterior.

Gazes fell on them as the two touched down.

“Visitors?” one of the guards asked.

“I used to live in Ark City,” Gaius replied. “But I just want to pay my respects to some people.”

The guard’s expression turned respectful. “I understand, sir. Please, follow me.”

There were three illuminated tubes, each of them leading into the new Ark City, and the guard led them into the leftmost one. As Gaius and Isabelle followed him inside, Gaius asked, “Isn’t there a need to check our identities before letting us into Ark City?”

“By decree of Demigod Eliza, all who seek to pay respect to the Heroes of Ark City are to be allowed inside unconditionally,” the guard replied.

“Demigod Eliza?” Isabelle asked.

“The current leader of the Beastfolk Congress.”

To Gaius, that didn’t really answer Isabelle’s question, but he didn’t press the topic. “I don’t think there’s any point in conveying my thanks, but if you do somehow see her, thank her for me.”

“There’s quite a thick book for that. I can record down your name if you so wish.”

Gaius chuckled. “That’ll just seem insincere.”

The guard chuckled back, and continued to lead them down the tube. After a few minutes of walking, he beckoned for Gaius and Isabelle to continue down a path flush with golden light. He didn’t quite know where the light was coming from, but the golden light seemed quite familiar.

“It’s like Solaris’ tomb, isn’t it?” Isabelle whispered.

“Y-yeah. You’re right.” Gaius smiled.

Their footsteps continued to echo down the passage, and before long, they arrived at a towering, black monument. It was different from the one he’d seen, back in the North, but again, there had been sweeping changes between the Ark City of a few months ago, and the Ark City today. Golden names were inscribed into the black stone, hundreds of them.

At the very top was Constellation Gemini, a name that had resounded through the Five Lands for the past six months or so. Opinion was divided over his choice to stay behind — if the Demon Sovereign truly came into being, it would be his fault. Others lauded Gemini’s choice to stay behind to buy time for the Five Lands, saying that he couldn’t have possibly known about the Demon Sovereign.

Gaius didn’t have much of an opinion, other than respect and gratitude for the Constellation he’d never met before. Sighing, he continued to look down the list of names, and a few familiar ones jumped out at him.

Campmaster Magnus.

Senator Alexandre.

He trembled as these two names entered his vision. Senator Alexandre, in particular, had been a good friend and colleague of his, in his time as a Harvester. As for Campmaster Magnus…his son was probably somewhere in Ark City, still in mourning.

“You knew some of them?” Isabelle asked.

“Mm.” He turned away from the monument. There were a few others there, like a woman cradling a baby. She was dressed in a set of black and white robes, robes that fluttered despite the absence of wind. To her right, a butler stood a few steps behind her. Overall, Gaius had a feeling that she was probably the spouse of someone who fell in battle, who came here often.

It was possible that she knew the procedures for one to pay their respects here. Beckoning for Isabelle to follow, he walked over to the mother-child pair, before inclining his head.

“Can I help you?” the woman asked.

“Are there any procedures or means in which I can show my respect?” Gaius asked. “Something I can do.”

Her three eyes — there was a third eye on her forehead — flashed with sadness. “It seems like you knew some of the fallen personally.”

Gaius nodded in silence.

“There’s a passage over there,” the woman replied. “You’ll find all kinds of items there. No matter what nation you’re from and what customs you follow, you’ll be able to carry them out here.”

“Thank you.”

The passage the woman pointed at led to a small room. There were many things there. Candles. Incense. Origami. Small wooden sticks. Gaius didn’t quite understand what many of them were used for…and now that he thought about it, he didn’t know much about the customs for honouring the dead.

“Isabelle, any suggestions?”

Her dazzling hair bounced twice. “You should just do what you think is best instead.”

Gaius thought through her words, and then nodded. Picking out a piece of white paper, he decided to fold a little lotus. It was something he remembered from his past life, to amuse the children he was raising.

Other than a lotus flower, he also knew how to fold a crane, but there were already paper cranes sitting around. His fingers moved around, and before long, a small lotus flower was sitting in his hands. It was done the same way as the manual taught it, but it wasn’t perfectly done.

“What’s that?” Isabelle asked.

“Something I learnt in my past life,” Gaius replied. “It’s a lotus flower. If you’re interested, I can teach you how to fold it later.”

“Sure.”

After he placed the lotus flower at the base of the monument, where it joined so many other items, he walked over to the woman again.

“Thank you very much,” said Gaius.

“It’s nothing, really.” The woman smiled gently. “Are you here just to pay your respects? Or do you have some other business?”

Gaius glanced at Isabelle, who nodded back.

“We’re looking for someone,” Gaius replied. “Her mother, to be exact. We think she might be in Ark City, so…”

“I see. Do you need help getting in?”

Gaius and Isabelle blinked, before exchanging glances.

“C-can you?” Isabelle asked. “This is Ark City, after all. Aren’t the requirements for entry quite tough?”

The woman chuckled, and then patted her baby’s forehead. “I can expedite the process.”

“We won’t stand on courtesy, then.”

In silence, the small group walked down yet another passageway. To Gaius’ surprise, the guards around the entrance didn’t move to stop them, which could only mean that this woman was probably someone really important, or was related to someone important.

As they turned a corner, Gaius found his steps faltering.

“This is…Ark City?”

He gulped. Tall buildings towered towards the sky…a sky that shouldn’t exist. Gaius knew full well that the city was enclosed inside a cone-like structure, which meant that the inside should be illuminated by artificial light sources. Yet, Ark City was lit up not by light bulbs, but by the same blue sky of the Five Lands.

Just how did they rebuild Ark City, and this quickly at that?

“Quinn,” said the woman, “help them get their paperwork done. I’ll be returning home first.”

The butler nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Dear guests, please follow me.”

They soon arrived at a small, two-storied building. “This is the Office of Returnees. Usually, the procedure takes a few hours, but with Madam Lila’s help, you’ve been placed first in the queue. I’ll need your names, however.”

“T-thank you. I’m Gaius, and she’s Isabelle. We’re looking for Isabelle’s mother.”

Bells tinkled as they opened the door and entered. The butler, Quinn, directed Gaius and Isabelle to a small sofa, while he headed over to the counter. After explaining a few things with animated gestures, he clicked his heels together and nodded at the clerk solemnly.

Quinn returned a few seconds later. “You’ll be processed for entry in five minutes. If you have any papers and proof of residence, do prepare them now, so that you won’t trouble the staff here. If you have requests to meet anyone, do know that they may or may not be fulfilled.”

“Y-you sound rather experienced at this,” Isabelle observed wryly.

“Madam Lila has helped quite a few people before,” the butler replied. “She visits the monument every day, after all.”

“Who…who did she lose?”

The butler made a sad smile. “It’ll be unfitting for me to reply that question.”

Isabelle hurriedly lowered her head. “My apologies.”

“No matter. It is a question that is asked quite often,” the butler replied. “But thankfully, most have the sense not to ask the madam in person.”

With that, he glided away.