Within the Royal Palace of Arxhige Kingdom, a group of people were seated around a large conference table. Each of them had a stack of paper in front with varying thickness. The conference was still not started yet because the most important figure had not arrived yet, which was normal because right now the time was still earlier than scheduled. The ones already present were the representatives of various territories within the Kingdom. Some of them were talking to each other, but they were generally waiting in anticipation for the arrival of the person in question.

Ding! Ding!

The clock in the conference room struck two, and the door opened revealing two persons, both of whom emanated a heavy air of authority with their stern facial expressions. Without saying any word, all other people in the room stood upright facing them as a sign of respect.

The ones who had just come in was Arxhige Kingdom’s reigning Queen, Vierrastine Arxhige, along with her advisor, the Royal Archmage Sedhoust Grasmord. Both of them were among the well-known Legendary Heroes who had dealt a decisive blow against Calamity, thus beginning the age of peace which had been lasting for many years. Thanks to the achievement, they were now held in high regard among the people, and they would still have been even without the position of Queen and Royal Archmage respectively.

The Queen and the Royal Archmage walked to their designated seats, passing all the people who still stood upright. Once the Queen arrived at her seat, she elegantly sat down with the help of the Royal Archmage. Once she was properly seated, she spoke with her eyes straight, addressing all other people present in general.

“Let us all sit down.”

All the other people around the conference table immediately complied, sitting down on their respective seats while trying to minimize the slightest of noise they made. Once all the people were appropriately seated, the Queen spoke again in a dignified voice.

“Thank you for coming from afar to gather here today. We shall now start the Annual Kingdom Conference”

And with her words, the Annual Kingdom Conference began. The main purpose of which was to report the developments of each territory and the ongoing situation they were facing, and also their general plan over the next year until the next Annual Kingdom Conference. From there, the Queen could give instructions or let each territory leader continue as they were as deemed necessary.

Over the course of the next few hours, the conference has been going on without a hitch like any previous years, but the atmosphere seemed to get heavier for some reason during the recent few minutes.

“The last one, is Anzel Dukedom I believe.”

As she spoke, the Queen’s eyes were directed straight at the representative of Anzel Dukedom, who was Hans Vander, the second son of the former duke, James Vander. James Vander was said to have died from illness two months ago. The successor duke currently reigning was the first son of James, namely Eric Vander. James Vander had left behind three offspring; two sons and one daughter. James’ wife, Jane Vander had already passed away long ago, right after giving birth to Julia Vander, the youngest child and the only daughter, who by now should be about 17. James had never married another woman, preserving his love for Jane.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Hans stood up, and then he began reading over the report about Anzel Dukedom’s currently ongoing development, financial status, and plans for the future. Both the Queen and the Royal Archmage listened to Hans intently with the same expression as shown to any previous representatives.

“And that was the end of the report...”

Hans put down the paper he had been holding on the table. His eyes were averted from the gaze of the Queen and the Royal Archmage, and one could easily notice the worry and nervousness written all over his face.

“Hans.”

The Queen spoke, calling Hans by name.

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty!”

“All other territories are represented by either the respective lords or their aide, but in the case of Anzel Dukedom, you are not either. Has something happened which made Eric send you in his stead?”

Hans’ face turned pale upon hearing the question from the Queen, which was spoken in a stern tone of speech. He remained silent while some faint whispers could be heard from other representatives, silently pitying him for what was coming for him.

“Her Majesty is waiting for your answer, Hans.”

The Royal Archmage spoke, breaking the silence. Hans, while still shivering, mustered his strength to speak up, and he finally could give an answer.

“T-Tomorrow is supposed to be our late mother’s birthday and also... the 30th anniversary of our parents. So... Eric wanted to pay respect to their graves...”

All other representatives in the conference room immediately noticed both the Queen and the Royal Archmage raising their eyebrows, which was a clear sign that they were upset. Everybody immediately braced themselves, anticipating a wrathful speech going to come out from the Queen.

“That is unacceptable.”

Some people could be heard gulping right after hearing the short sentence coming out from the Queen’s mouth. Meanwhile, the Royal Archmage visibly nodded, telling that he thought the same.

“Indeed. It is unacceptable.”

Hans was figuratively dead. His face basically turned white upon hearing the words from both the Queen and the Royal Archmage. The others in the room couldn’t imagine what kind of punishment would befall Hans and likely Eric as well for the apparent act of disrespect.

However...

“Why did it have to be you instead of his aide?”

“Yes, if Eric had sent his aide you wouldn’t have to miss such an important day, Hans.”

The eyes of Hans and also every other representative went wide upon hearing what the Queen and the Royal Archmage had just said. Nevertheless, Hans immediately replied.

“Unfortunately, the aide in question had an accident and is now hospitalized. In truth, Eric still wanted to come himself, but I volunteered because... I knew he wouldn’t be able to take missing the day.”

The Queen’s face remained unfazed for a brief moment, but then she slightly lowered her head and let out a small sigh.

“My, my... Eric, he has the capabilities to be a duke and his heart is in the right place, but it’s the very same heart which held him down. Pity...”

There was a brief silence before the Queen raised her head, looked straight at Hans, and resumed speaking.

“Hans, I believe the day coming tomorrow is as important to you as it is to Eric, and you have shown us your resolve to put aside personal matters in favor of duty, and that is commendable.”

The Queen smiled as she spoke the latter half of her speech, and there was another brief silence before she spoke again.

“I have known James Vander for a long time. He was a great man. He had his flaws, but still a great man regardless. The last time I spoke with him, he told me how proud he was to all three of you, and he expected great things from you all in the future. Eric has his flaws too, and I am pleased to see you covering him for that. I hope you will keep up the good work, all of you.”

Hearing the Queen’s speech, Hans froze up momentarily, and then he bowed deeply to her.

“I feel honored hearing your words, Your Majesty.”

“In any case, let us resume the conference.”

The conference then resumed, and about half an hour later it was concluded. With everything having been taken care of, the Queen stood up from her seat and walked away, followed by the Royal Archmage. All other participants of the conference stood upright, showing their respect as this was happening.

Later, the Queen arrived at her private bedroom. As she entered, the Royal Archmage followed right behind, entering the bedroom along with her.

“Close the door.”

The Queen spoke without looking back, and the Royal Archmage complied, closing the door shut. Now, the two of them were alone in the room, and after a couple seconds of silence she did something very contrasting to her public image of a stern, yet wise and patriotic queen of the kingdom.

“Aaaaah!!”

The Queen screamed as she dived onto her bed, then she curled up and rolled herself left and right back and forth. Seeing this, Sedhoust Grasmord the Royal Archmage let out a little sigh as he smiled and approached the woman who was currently not Queen Vierrastine of Arxhige, but Vierra the overly anxious girl.

“Sedhoust! Did I do well? Did I say the right thing? I didn’t say something embarrassing, did I?”

Vierra spoke while still curled up on her bed, hugging her pillow tightly to the point that her face was mostly covered by it, and Sedhoust could only see her eyes which clearly displayed her worry.

“Come on, Vierra. Do you have to do this after every single time you deliver a speech?”

Sedhoust spoke with a chuckle following. This side of Vierra he was looking at right now was the side very few knew, outside the members of their adventurer party in the distant past. Sedhoust was pretty much already desensitized over the years this has been happening, and so he just sighed with his hands on his hip.

“Anyway, I agreed with what you said, and the others back there looked impressed, so I say that you did well.”

“Really?”

“Yes. We both know that personal and family matters have to be put aside in favor of duty for people like us and the lords. However, that is just a guideline and in practice it’s a case by case basis. In the recent case, what has been done was still within the bounds of regulations, and the people involved have made the right call, in my opinion.”

“Yes... Eric steeled his resolve to come in person when his aide was unavailable, and Hans volunteered to cover for Eric because he knew Eric wouldn’t be able to focus on his current circumstances... So, did I say the right thing...?”

Vierra asked the last question while still curling up on her bed and hugging her pillow tightly, with her pleading eyes staring at Sedhoust, who let out another sigh with his eyes rolling.

“Yes, yes you did, Vierra”

“...”

Vierra didn’t say anything in response other than some illegible mumbling. Sedhoust once again rolled his eyes and sighed, knowing exactly what he had to do after experiencing this countless times throughout the years.

And so, Sedhoust walked close to Vierra who was still in the same position as before, sat near her on the same bed, and began caressing her head, which was covered in medium-length wavy reddish brown hair.

“Urrrrrr...”

Vierra let out a strange, yet somewhat cute voice as Sedhoust caressed her head with an annoyed face.

“Come on, Vierra. We’re both already over 40. Act like your age.”

“Don’t care... Urrrrr...”

Vierra just kept enjoying her time, with her face clearly displaying her innocent pleasure while Sedhoust kept caressing her head. Less than one minute later, Sedhoust stopped and walked away from the bed. Not paying any heed to Vierra’s pouting face, he spoke.

“Now that the annual conference is over, there is something I want to talk to you about.”

Sedhoust’s tone of speech was straight, clearly showing that the imminent topic was serious. Noticing it, Vierra rose into sitting upright posture on the bed and her facial expression reverted back to the dignified face befitting the queen of the nation.

“I suppose this is related to your sudden leave several days ago, isn’t it?”

“Yes, indeed.”

“Alright. Tell me about it. There must have been something extraordinary enough to make you fly at full speed to Keith and breaking windows along the way.”

Sedhoust cracked a little smile hearing Vierra’s words.

“So you know already.”

“Nobody else can fly at high enough speed that the resulting wind pressure breaks windows and blows everything over. In any case, what did you and Keith find?”

“Well, we found people.”

“People?”

“We found a bunch of people, most definitely survivors of a crashed aircraft. I saw the remains of the aircraft with my own eyes, and from there I can say with fair confidence that those people came from a civilization way beyond ours.”

“Survivors? Were they hurt? Did you help them?”

Sedhoust looked out a nearby window, basking himself in the afternoon sunlight. It took him a couple more seconds until he gave his answer to Vierra.

“As far as I could see, most of them were physically fine. However, they spoke in an unknown language so we had difficulties in communicating. At least we tried to offer them some shelter in town but they either refused or didn't catch our message, not sure which. Nevertheless, it seemed that they wished to stay near the crash site for a while, so I’ve had an adventurer team standing by. By the way, a lot of them seemed to be military personnel, since they wore uniforms and wielded unknown weapons.”

Vierra didn’t immediately speak in response to Sedhoust’s words. Instead, she lowered her head and put one hand under her chin briefly.

“Where is the crash site?”

“It’s at the inner part of Quatonne Forest... wait! You’re not meaning to go there, aren’t you?”

Sedhoust turned his head to Vierra, who was now standing upright while sporting a serious facial expression.

“As the queen, I’m obliged to provide aid for troubled people within my territory, no matter where they come from.”

“Yes, I know that. But there’s no need to attend to this personally. Just delegate the task to someone else. I’m just telling you this to inform you and see if you would like to issue a specific order for the matter.”

“My order as the queen is for you to take me to those survivors.”

Sedhoust smirked hearing Vierra’s words, and he could easily notice that her face no longer displayed seriousness. Instead, it was clear that she was pouting.

“Heh, you want to see the survivors so bad? Don’t tell me you’re curious about them.”

As Sedhoust spoke, he approached Vierra who was still standing upright with her arms folded and her face remaining the same. He then gave her a gentle caressing on the head.

“Urrr... So what if I do?”

“Uhh... fine.”

“Yaaay!”

Sedhoust rolled his eyes. He just couldn’t win against Vierra when it came to this. He would have opposed more strongly had Vierra not been a very capable queen outside the childish antics of her.

“We have to clear your schedule for the following three days. Thankfully it is sparse enough already.”

“Oh, I don’t want to startle them so introduce me as simply Vierra, okay?”

“Got it.”

With things settled, Sedhoust left Vierra’s bedroom and began to think about the preparations he should make. Vierra’s schedule indeed happened to be sparse for the following three days, and so did his own. But having to cancel classes again within a relatively short time made him feel bad about himself.

The next day came, and both Sedhoust and Vierra went to Keith’s guild first thing in the morning. Keith was all up and ready with his RV by the time the two of them arrived, and they all left with it immediately.

“So how’s life nowadays, Your Highness?”

Keith asked the question casually while driving, and Vierra gave her reply.

“Nothing extraordinary. The annual conference yesterday went smoothly without any major snag.”

“Good to hear. On my side, my guild is as lively as always.”

“Sounds more exciting. Being a queen is pretty boring. All the stifling formalities and stuff make me want to sneak out like in my childhood days.”

“Hahahaha! You better don’t do that for real! Someone’s gonna get mad at you!”

As Keith cheerfully spoke, Sedhoust just folded his arms and sighed quietly. Vierra’s eyes glanced at him and she briefly giggled.

The trip to Quatonne Forest went without a hitch, and they arrived at the edge of the forest when the sun was still high enough from the horizon, thanks to departing earlier than back then. Keith kept driving the RV into the forest until they reached a point where the vehicle couldn’t proceed any further.

“The crash site is about one hour walk from here.”

Sedhoust spoke to Vierra as the group stepped off from the RV. Vierra stretched her arms out and took a deep breath with a delightful face.

“Ahh, it’s been too long since the last time I was outdoors like this!”

Sedhoust just smiled seeing Vierra’s delight. Soon, he noticed that Keith took something from the storage space at the back of the RV. It was something familiar to him and also to Vierra.

“You brought your Gaia Bulwark?”

Keith grinned after hearing Sedhoust’s question, then he put the object down flat on the ground. Gaia Bulwark was Keith’s signature weapon, which was a black tower shield nearly as big as Keith himself, which was saying a lot because Keith was basically a giant among men.

“Yup! Hop on!”

Sedhoust and Vierra looked at each other, and they both threw a smile before stepping onto the laid down tower shield. Keith soon followed, and now the three of them were lined up standing atop the tower shield with Keith being at the front.

“Ready or not, here we go!”

Drrrd!

With a rumbling sound, the ground around the shield moved in a way that the shield was continuously pushed forward, essentially making it a form of transportation faster than running on foot. This was the handiwork of Keith, being highly proficient in Earth Weave magic thanks to his relentless study and training on top of his natural affinity towards the element.

Thanks to the faster method of traveling, the crash site was within sight within less than half an hour. In order not to surprise the survivors, Keith stopped the ride, carried the shield on his back like a backpack, and then they continued by walking on foot.

Once they were just a stone’s throw distance from the survivors’ encampment, a few people noticed them coming. Keith and Sedhoust waved their hand, and they waved back. The ones noticing the group were not the survivors, but the adventurer team Fledglings who stayed with the survivors to help guard the place. In particular, two members of the team of three; Kurt Warden and Anna Huntsman.

“Welcome back Master Keith, Master Sedhoust, and... Your Maj-?“

Before Kurt could finish his greeting, Vierra put her finger over her mouth, signaling him to keep the fact that she was the Queen secret from the survivors. Kurt immediately nodded, showing that he understood, and so did Anna.

“So, what happened while we were away?”

Sedhoust immediately asked the question, and Kurt gave his answer.

“They kept inspecting the wreckage of their vessel, and there has been no monster attack over the last few days. So, nothing important other than...”

As Kurt spoke, one of the survivors approached the group. Sedhoust remembered that this lady was Elana Mayer, seemingly the leader of the survivors.

“Hello again, Sedhoust, Keith, and who is this pretty lady?”

Sedhoust couldn’t hide his surprise seeing that Elana spoke the common tongue fluently. Elana seemed to notice, and she smirked slightly. Kurt immediately resumed speaking in order to explain.

“Yeah, by learning from our team, all of the survivors now can speak common tongue fluently like that. They claimed to possess some kind of memorization magic which helped significantly, but I still can’t help feeling amazed.”

Following up with Kurt’s explanation, Elana then added her own information.

“Literacy is a different story, though. Anyway, I’m Elana Mayer. Nice to meet you.”

Elana approached Vierra and offered a handshake. Vierra accepted the offer, and the two firmly shook hands.

“You can call me Vierra.”

“Then you can call me with just Elana. In any case, now that we can talk properly, let’s get somewhere to sit down.”

Leaving Kurt and Anna staying guard, Elana then led the trio towards one of the bigger tents in the encampment. Inside the tent, there was a rectangular table with chairs around. Sedhoust could immediately assume that this tent was functionally similar to ‘war room’ tents in military encampments. There were two other survivors standing by inside, and both of them threw some kind of salute in unison upon noticing Elana coming in.

“Sit anywhere you like. Albert, get some drinks for everyone.”

“Yes, mo- ma’am!”

One of the two men responded and left the tent through the other side. The trio then sat down, followed by Elana.

“Now where should we begin...?”

Elana briefly went into a thinking posture, and after that she began speaking with her eyes straight at the trio.

“Since my side is the outsider, I believe it is more appropriate if I explain first about ourselves. In simple terms, we were a team of researchers on a journey to explore uncharted territories, but we stumbled upon an unfortunate event and our ship crashed here.”

“So, the big thing outside is your ship?”

Sedhoust asked the question despite knowing the answer. He merely wanted to hear a confirmation from the other party, which was currently represented by Elana.

“Well, it was. It is now not much more than a pile of metal debris. Some sections are still functional, either fully or partially, but none of them can help make the vessel move. The preliminary conclusion is that we will be stuck here for a long while, if not forever.”

Right after Elana said that, the guy previously asked to get some drinks returned, bringing four strange-looking sealed bottles. He then put one bottle in front of each person and went back to his previous standby position.

“Thank you, Albert”

“No problem, mo- ma’am!”

Elana seemed to be smirking at Albert for a very brief moment before reverting to a straight face and looking back at the trio with her hands unsealing the bottle in front of her.

“Well, that’s the gist of our situation. Do you have any specific questions?”

Sedhoust was then the first to speak in response as Elana drank her drink.

“So, with the situation you’re in, what’s your plan?”

“We obviously can’t stay here in the wilderness for too long. Too dangerous, especially if we encounter monsters like back then. So, we’re planning to move out in a day or two and find a place to stay.”

“Let me help you with that!”

Vierra spoke with visible excitement. She then immediately resumed speaking, not giving anyone else a chance to respond.

“I know someone who owns an inn. I’m sure I can persuade him to let all of you stay there for the time being!”

Elana seemed to be surprised for a brief moment, but then she shook her head.

“Thank you for the kind offer, but we can’t just suddenly barge into someone’s property, especially that we have no way to pay for it.”

Hearing Elana’s refusal, Keith grinned and pointed one thumb to himself.

“Hahaha! I’m that someone, so it’s not sudden at all! You can pay for your stay later, so don’t worry about that!”

Elana slightly smiled with her eyes looking straight at Keith.

“I will consider the offer then. Thank you.”

Elana then looked straight towards the trio in general, and spoke again.

“By the way, I’m now curious about all three of you. You seem to get along very well, but your looks suggest that you have vastly different backgrounds. Can you tell me about yourselves?”

Answering the question, Sedhoust spoke.

“We were adventurers of the same team in our younger days. After our adventuring days were over, each of us lived in our own ways, though we still live in the same city.”

“I see. So that’s why.”

“Further details can come later. Right now, I have one concern about you and your men.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Just from a glance, I can tell that you came from a civilization way more advanced than ours. Are all of you ready for the prospect of living in a technologically backward environment compared to yours?”

Elana’s facial expression turned more serious than before. She briefly glanced at the two men standing guard before looking straight at Sedhoust once more. She then began speaking with her eyes closed.

“In the first place, all of us didn’t expect to survive the crash. When the ship came down falling, we all sat tight on our seats, holding hands with the feeling of acceptance that most of us, if not all, wouldn’t make it. Indeed, a lot of us didn’t make it, and it was a tragedy...”

Elana lowered her head, and the two men standing guard visibly lowered theirs as well. There was a brief silence before Elana resumed.

“All of us who survived made a promise to the fallen. We promised that we will make the most out of the lives we have been granted, and we will accomplish our mission whatever it takes. Living in a harsher environment isn’t our biggest concern.”

As Elana spoke the last part, she opened her eyes and displayed a facial expression filled with determination. Seeing this, Vierra spoke to Elana.

“I’m sorry for your loss and I admire your resolve. However, I sincerely hope that any fine details in your mission shall not spark any conflicts between your people and ours.”

Vierra spoke in a dignified tone and stern facial expression, which made Sedhoust panic a little inside.

Vierra! Why did you just suddenly go into queen mode!?

Elana showed a slight sign of surprise on her face briefly before speaking her answer to Vierra’s speech.

“Thank you for your sympathy, and there is no need to worry. Despite what I said, none of us will raise unnecessary conflict. As previously stated, our initial mission is to chart uncharted territories. Nothing more.”

“That is reassuring. Thank you.”

The short meeting was then adjourned, and everyone walked out from the tent. After stretching his body a little, Sedhoust glanced at the wreckage of the large vessel, which should be too large to move according to his knowledge and common sense. Once again, he felt intrigued at the possibility of learning the technology of an otherworldly civilization. Therefore, he asked a question to Elana.

“What are you going to do with the remains of your vessel, by the way?”

“We’re in the process of stripping off usable parts we can carry. As for the rest of it, no choice but to leave it here.”

“I see.”

“Speaking of which, how far is the nearest civilization from here?”

“There’s a village within walking distance once you’re out of this forest, but the city where we live will take you about three days walking.”

“I presume you have some sort of vehicle, then?”

“Indeed, but sadly not large enough to fit all of you in. Otherwise I would have offered the ride.”

“I see. It is what it is, then. I have to resume work, so I shall take my leave. If you need something you can talk to one of my men.”

Elana then left the group and walked away towards the wreckage of the vessel. There was nobody else nearby around the trio, so Sedhoust spoke to Vierra.

“And that’s that. Are you happy with what you saw?”

“They are interesting, and Elana has a pretty lovable attitude. She seemed to be loved by her men too. Did you notice that guy almost calling her ‘mom’ twice?”

Vierra slightly laughed after asking the question. Sedhoust and Keith also laughed upon hearing it.

“Plain as day.”

“She must be a mother figure to her men.”

After Sedhoust and Keith spoke, Vierra spoke to Keith.

“Keith, I hope you can provide them a place to stay when they get to the capital city later in the future.”

“Say no more!”

Keith proudly exclaimed while patting his own chest. Sedhoust then folded his arm and lowered his head briefly before walking to Kurt who was sitting on a rock not too far from the group. Anna was with him, and this time Leon was there too.

“Kurt.”

“Master Sedhoust. What do you need?”

“The survivors are going to leave this place in a day or two. I want your team to escort them on their journey to the capital city. Though if they decide not to go there for one reason or another, you can leave them and return to the city. Either way, I’ll reward you.”

“Understood, Master Sedhoust. Leave it to us.”

Kurt proclaimed his affirmation, and his partners nodded with determined eyes behind him. Sedhoust glanced back at the wreckage once again, feeling an excitement inside which he couldn’t show to anyone else. He was determined to learn everything about the otherworldly civilization, and nothing would stop him.