Rewinding time for a while…

Qua-Toyne Principality, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 24th December 1522 / 223

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs interacted with multiple countries. Now, they are preparing a delegation to visit Celestina, a developed country, to make a diplomatic relationship.

“Yago! I heard you are going to be a part of the delegation to that new ‘Celestina’ country, huh! You’re lucky dog! I also want to come, too!” yelled one of his coworkers.

International delegation were fairly common. There were many countries in this world, and ruler and country names changed often, especially in more moderate countries. Larger countries also sometimes broke up into smaller ones.

There were dangers on the road and while visiting other countries, so it was not uncommon for there to be injuries or deaths while on a mission. The destinations oftentimes had a low standard of living. (Qua-Toyne Cuisine was like, rare for a so-called “barbarian” nation, considered to be on the same level as the Third Civilization’s.) They also frequently had problems with sanitation, disease handling, and/or security. This made delegation work generally undesirable.

However, this mission was a country that was attracting a lot of attention. The preparation materials contain outlandish stories: Karl Schutz and 6th Wyvern Squadron accounts regarding a statement of the iron dragon that surpasses the performance of the wyverns in speed and height; the navy’s report regarding a 300-meter metal ship with no sails.

“This all can’t be true…” Yago kept thinking about it over and over.

Wyverns are priceless weapons, and dragon knights were the cream of the crop, admired by all soldiers as champions of the sky. The same way an average soldier couldn’t compete with a mounted knight, an average knight couldn’t compete with a dragon knight. They could reach a speed of 250 kilometers per hour, fly out of bow range, generate fireballs that completely overpowered human-made weapons, their scales could repel both arrows and knives. The only tamed beast stronger than a wyvern was the “wyvern lord” that was being bred in low numbers in the major civilizations.

Indeed, the only things humans could not tame were specific types of dragons, such as ancient dragons or holy dragons. These were basically considered natural disasters, so the thought of the humans of taming them was dreams within dreams. It would be impossible for even the Second Civilization of Mu to create something the size of a Wyvern yet superior to it in every way.

However, unbelievable it was, Celestina’s flying machine was in fact seen in action in the skies above the commercial city Mayhark by numerous witnesses, so Yago had become quite interested in them.

(This delegation is a chance for me to make it big)

“Let’s start the meeting.”

His thought process was interrupted by the sudden declaration. The five delegates, four of them who were various officials from the foreign affairs bureau as well as General Hanki from Military Affairs, sat together in a small conference room. The chief delegate provided a detailed explanation.

“Our primary objective this time is to evaluate whether Celestina is a threat to our country. As you know, our aerial defensive measures are completely ineffective against Celestina’s iron dragon. We lack any means to defend against that weapon.

Currently, Celestina indicates that it wants to establish diplomatic ties with our country, but, in truth, we know nothing about their aims at all. Whether or not they’re hegemony, or whether they’re like Louria and discriminate against demihumans, we need to determine the real reason they want to align themselves with us.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“We do not know what kind of nation Celestina is, but we do know for a fact that their military technology is very advanced. I believe you all already know this, but we need to be resolute in negotiations while at the same time trying not to provoke them. Keep this in mind when considering both your words and your actions.

One last point: be on the lookout for both Celestina’s strengths and weaknesses. I would like us to identify at least one aspect where we can be considered superior to Celestina. Now, please look at the handout being distributed.”

A new document was handed out to everyone. The delegates all furrowed their eyebrows as they read.

…continental-scale transference?

“This was very surprising to hear, but they told us that their entire island, or we can say all of their territories was sent to this world from their previous world. We have no idea what this means or how it happened.”

This revelation was somewhat plausible; Celestina claimed their mainland was in an area previously thought to be unoccupied, but also full of dangerous navigational hazards. It was unthinkable for a typical emerging country to appear out of nowhere, let alone one with such an advanced society. An entire country transferring worlds… it was almost sounded like one of the Mu’s myths.

The superpower of the Second Civilization, Mu, had a myth saying that, 12,000 years ago, there was a “large continental transference.” This was said to be based on an official governmental record dating back to that time, and Mu’s people sincerely believed in it, but other civilizations considered it as a fairy tale.

“As you can see in this document, Celestina has offered to provide transport via their ships this time. We will depart around noon in one week. Make sure your preparations are complete by then.

We arrive in the evening two days later at a Capital of Mechania Territory called Zaid, where we will be hosted at an inn. There, we will spend three days learning Celestina customs and rules to facilitate our time in Celestina. According to the Celestina Foreign Military Affairs, if we were to go out on our own without understanding those rules, there is a high chance to be trampled to death by a kind of carriage known as ‘gravity car’.

At noon on our fourth day in Celestina, we will use a transport system called ‘Hyperloop’ to leave Zaid and travel to the Imperial Capital of Celestina, Regnieburg. We will arrive in the evening, then meet with the Celestinian’s government on the next day. We will be also invited to the Council Meeting, an annual meeting held by Celestina Empire three weeks later once the diplomatic relations are officially formed. All of the diplomats that come from different countries that reside in another world will participate and we are the first member in this world to participate in it.”

Hmm? This schedule seems strange. According to the document, after 2 days at the sea, we were landing in the evening in Celestina on the west of the island. Except… Celestina was around 1,200km from Qua-Toyne, that’s not a distance that can be sailed in 2 days. Furthermore, the distance between Zaid and Regnieburg was 5,000 kilometers, but we would be leaving in the afternoon and arriving in the night? If we were traveling by way of the iron dragon that appeared in our airspace, it might be possible, but the document said that the ‘Hyperloop’ train was a vehicle that traveled by land.

Apparently, our stay in this country would require us to relearn common sense from scratch.

One Week Later

The delegates gathered at the biggest dock in Mayhark. The weather was very good that day; there were few clouds in the beautiful blue sky, and the temperature was cool. A man wearing an official diplomat suit accompanied by a pair of male and female as an escort spoke to them.

“Honored delegates, it gives me a great pleasure to accompany you on this trip to Celestina. My name is Ambrose, and these two are my assistant, Lana, and Jack. We have been dispatched from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure that your journey is as comfortable as possible. If there are any inconveniences, please do not hesitate to inform us.”

“Are we traveling by boat?” One of the delegates asked gloomily.

“General Hanki, you seem to be unwell, is something matter?”

“Yago, I’m with Foreign Affairs today, so drop the formalities.”

“Ah, in the case – Mr. Hanki, is there a problem?”

“Well, it’s just, when I think of boats, I can’t be excited about it… ship voyages are rough, you know? You gotta worry about capsizing, for one, and natural light can’t get into the ship so below the decks is dark, smelly, and humid. Then, for long voyages, you have to worry about diseases, and the only food to eat is preserved or salted.

Moreover, it’s hard to get clean water, we’ll have to ration water, so I won’t be able to wet my throat whenever I want. Well, this trip is only supposed to take two days, so I would be able to deal with it, but… only two days from the Foreign Affairs Bureau to the country of Celestina? There has to be some kind of translation mistake, because that’s not possible unless we’re going at some kind of godly speed.”

“I was also thinking that there was something weird with the schedule. But, well, when you consider Celestina’s iron dragon, maybe we’re using our common sense too much when thinking about it.”

It would soon be time. From the shadow of a nearby island, a an island-sized white ship appeared.

!!!!!!!

It was huge!! And there aren’t any sails!!!

The gigantic ship laid anchor on the coast and something is open. Suddenly, there is something that flows from the ship into the port, prompting Ambrose to speak.

“The ship laying anchor there is the one our country has sent to transport you all. In truth, we originally planned to dock here, but, unfortunately, the water level isn’t deep enough, so we have to lay anchor out there. If everyone will step on this floating bridge, the operator over there will handle the rest.”

“Excuse me, Mr. Ambrose,” Hanki called out.

“Um, that ship, as far as I can see, don’t have any sails, how does it move? Does the smaller ship also doesn’t use any kind of sails, but they can be also faster? Are… are they’re like the First Civilization magic-powered boats?”

“While I’m unfamiliar with the ‘First Civilization’s magic-powered boats,’ those ships are powered by the fusion engine.”

“fuu-cion… en-jinn’ …?”

“Yes, it is a type of machinery. By igniting the reactor and harnessing the resulting energy to power a propeller at high speeds, you can achieve propulsion.”

“I see… I don’t really get it, but that sounds pretty amazing. And for these bridges, are we not going to worry ourselves should we may fall to the ocean?”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about it. If you’d like, Lana and Jack could demonstrate it first.”

Jack steps his foot on the bridge that flows from the ship, and slowly he floats and heading to that ship. The delegates also follow him, although with some hesitation to enter the ship. Once they enter the ship, they were astonished. Their ship was so bright – there must be a light spirit on board. Once all of the passengers are on board, the light floating bridge retracts and the deck closes it, the crew are positions themselves to sail the ship.

“This… this ship… its made of iron, but how does it float…? And it’s so bright and roomy inside…”

Ambrose escort them to the room that was already prepared for them, and they enjoy every complements provided by the ship. Luxurious food, plenty of water to drink, and the soothing scene that makes them enjoying themselves while passing the time.

Excerpt from Yago’s diary entry for that day

For better or worse, everything stunned me today. I’d seen, heard, not read of anything like this giant ship before. More than that, it was very comfortable inside, it was brightly lit, and the temperature somehow did not fluctuate at all. And even for the ship this size, we sped through the ocean like an arrow. I wonder how the country of Celestina was, seeing that they are capable of making an amazing ship like this?

Within the foreign affairs bureau, everyone thought they were barbarians from a developing country. Now though, while I won’t say it or would never admit it, maybe, to them, we’re the barbarians…

I wonder if Celestina has the power to rival the superpower from the major civilizations…

Two days later

“Everyone, Zaid has now come into view. Zaid is the center of the port town in Mechania and the largest port town in Celestina. You can see the Clements Harbor there. We will use the shuttle bus from the Clements Harbor to the Seraphic Hotel, where you will learn basic knowledge about Celestina.”

Before entering the dock to anchor their ship, something is calling for them. The delegations immediately rush over to see where the sound is coming from.

“Yuuhuu!!!”

“W-Whoa! T-There is a mermaid!?”

Mermaids are the demihuman with upper body of human and lower body of fish. The ones who call them are the mermaids who are patrolling around the ocean. Some are wielding Trident, while some are using an aqua-specialized weapon.

“Is Qua-Toyne delegation with you? Please send our request!!”

“Yes! Yes! I will write it down!”

Clements Harbor could now be seen from the deck. The streets were lined with high-rise buildings, and the city bustled with activity. The shuttle bus came after a short wait to take them to the Seraphic Hotel.

On the ship, we heard from Ambrose that the thing called ‘car’ features three types of varieties to operate. First is the car made fully by technology without using any magic, relying on the planetary gravity engine to move. The second is designed for magic users and the users like that were common at Studia and Geffen Territory. The third, the most common is the hybrid where the vehicle can operate in optimal conditions utilizing a magic gravity engine, an engine that allows users to operate either in magic or technology mode. While there are difference of qualities based on varieties of the cars, the average, working, around twenty years old adult could afford to purchase a car. How luxurious!

We study everything about Celestina inside the hotel. There are traffic lights, a vending machine, the ticket turnstile system, the railway system, and, most importantly, common laws as the one stating that picking something up doesn’t mean it now belongs to you and you will be punished by the law if you are caught. One of the most notable is the Adventurer ranking and merit system. Everyone who forms a diplomatic relationship can register as adventurer since Celestina citizens are all adventurers when their age reaches 12. The adventurers are spread into multiple categories and every six months, they will be evaluated based on merits and which skill-set that have grown. They assured us that, while many things we encounter might seem miraculous, they turn out combines the concept of magic and science so they can easily replicate it once they understand the mechanisms.

How interesting… so when these “traffic lights” are green, the ‘cars’ are allowed to move however they want, otherwise they have to be stopped. For adventurer it was interesting as well, Celestina did not discriminate who they are, rather, everything was rated based on their skills and achievements.

“Mr. Ambrose!! Mr. Ambrose!!” Hanki called out.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Hanki?”

“This city appears to be quite well-developed. Is the capital also as developed as Zaid?”

“Indeed. The population in the capital is incomparable to here, so the high-rise buildings will be taller there. The transportation system has more lines, they are scattered all over the towns and make a solid network. The city center is also very large.”

But, despite that, in this territory is the house of the technology where we learn on every single technology, from ancient to recent technology we have. Besides, the town here is more scenic due to lots of angles to shots to get a good view compared to Regnieburg.”

“Hm, I see… Mr. Ambrose, another question, I would like a chance to observe the Celestinians military, but I imagine it would be impossible?”

“A quarter of our population are active military personnel. Some of the mermaids we’ve seen are also an adventurer while some become military personnel. Wait for a while, I will try to make a call first.”

Ambrose taps his wristwatch and it extends to where they can see who is he talking too. Later, he presses the hologram button as he patching it through to the meeting room as the projector appears in front of them, revealing an official of Foreign of Ministry Affairs. The delegations are surprised to see a human-scale projector appeared before them.

“Ah, delegation from Qua-Toyne. Welcome to Celestina Empire. About the request to observe the Celestina Military, I will inform Grand Duchess Eleonora. You can enjoy it at the Third Day on Zaid, as luck would have it, we are planning to conduct a military training session by the military itself. Of course, we already prepare the seat for the delegation. I hope you guys can enjoy it, see you on the third day.”

Ambrose closes the call and he looks at them.

“Who wants to participate?”

At first, it was Yago and Hanki, but when Ambrose offers them a trip to the space, all of them immediately raises their hands.

Day Three on Celestina, Morning, Marvo Airport

In the morning at Marvo Airport. The Qua-Toyne delegation has already gathered there. They also saw some local tourists that are also excited to board the huge plane in front of them.

“So huge…”

Even the aircraft size is as big as A380-900, that aircraft was designed to complement 75 crew and passengers (15 crew with 2 pilots, 5 engineer, 6 stewardess, 2 tour guide, and 60 passengers). Also, they look astonished to see humans and demihumans chatting casually with each other and military with varieties of uniforms. A lot of them are willing to be enlisted of the military, practically aiming to become a member of Battle Group Valkyrie which consists of Main Council’s adjutant Army, and Battle Group Scharlwarltz, the most prestigious position in the military and adventurer services. To do that, they must enter the War Maidens Squadron league or equal to S+ rank on adventurer.

A twin demihuman rabbits wearing cheerleaders uniform is walking to them. The blue eyes one has a set of batons on her waist while the red eyes one has a set of poms on her waist. The blue eyes rabbit girl introduces herself.

“Good morning, I’m Lily Castella.”

“And I’m Lyla Castella.”

“We’re the assistant of the adjutant for the Great Emperor Sacchito and we’ve been assigned to escort your group during the trip to the outer space.”

(O-Outer Space?! Does Celestina has made the civilization that far?!!)

“Ah, let me introduce you to both of the twins. They are the beast woman twin rabbits, Lily Castella and Lyla Castella. They are the second twins adjutant from our Great Emperor Sacchito.”

(T-The Great Emperor himself even send the adjutant to accompany us?! Just how much privilege we get as we were treated as one of the most important people here!)

“All passengers, please be on board. The tour was about to begin.”

“Please.”

Entering the aircraft, they can feel the interior that went beyond luxury, far surpassing the major civilizations. All of the passengers are seated in the arranged seats as some of them start customizing their seats to fill their desire. Some use a pilot seat while some are using a tank driver seat.

Once everyone is on the seat, the aircraft is taxiing at the runway and takes off. The aircraft goes to an altitude of 30,000 meters and once it’s on the cruise altitude and speed, the tour guide makes an announcement as the floor becomes invisible, now people can see what is going on down there including the delegation group.

“In a moment, we will be arriving at the middle ages of military training or we can call the medieval era warfare. In this kind of warfare, any kind of modern and futuristic weapons are forbidden.”

The screen starts to come into the view and the Qua-Toyne delegates are witnessing how Celestinian Soldiers are fighting using the medieval arsenals. Since their army puts the demihuman and humans together, their battle formation becomes very versatile and hard to predict by the enemies. One particular demihuman that catches the delegates attention is the demihuman cat beast or simply as nekomimi. Its powerful kick can even destroy the steel armor wore by the enemies. Those who are killed or suffer a fatal wound are immediately teleported back to the starting line with full recovery as the training field itself features a fatal damage protection magic so the army can go all out and not too worry about casualties.

Lily then explained the medieval era warfare.

“For this era, we forbid the utilization of the modern and futuristic technology as the main purpose for this is to keep our natural skills and sense of survival honed. One of the most notable ones is a demihuman cat or nekomimi for the beast woman cat where they are being noted as one of the most powerful kick on the Empire.”

The delegates were stunned to see the coordinated battle formation and its troops complements. When they send the wyverns as the air force, some of the demihuman cats prepare to launch their fellow tribes. When they launch it, the demihuman kicks the wyverns abdomen really hard, causing the wyverns to fall to the ground because of shock and wriggles in pain to the point it coughs blood. They who witness how the cat beast tribe fights and if it was facing his troops, they will have difficulties to fight them.

“How powerful is that kick?”

“Fighting Papaldia’s Wyvern Lord could deal serious damage to them!”

They continue to watch the battlefield with a closer look since Hanki was also able to gain more references to be used in the upcoming battle. After ten minutes, the flight continues for around 4 minutes and it reaches the training field where the Modern Era Warfare was applied.

There is no Interstellar Equipment installed here since it was prohibited to do so. The military training drill itself consists of urban warfare and plain warfare. The explosion of the artillery fire, machineguns, and even the tanks on the battlefield makes the delegates speechless about them. Helicopter that can carry personnel to the battlefield, it’s like the Empire is owning the iron firebirds that can transport more people and weight. After observing for a while, they then heard an announcement as the aircraft started to slow down and hold position using an anti-gravity technology to stay afloat.

“We will set the aircraft to the standstill as there will be a CF-1 that will be flying pass through us in 1250km/h”

!!!!!!

“Mr. Ambrose! Am I right to hear ‘One Thousand Two hundred fifty kilometers,’ or is that a mistake?” Hanki was astonished to hear it.

“Yes, the speed that will come here is as at the announcement. Around 1250km/h or Mach 1, the speed of sound.”

“Please take a look at your right as the aircraft is now approaching.”

Putting the wind barrier to prevent shockwave, at first Hanki and the others saw an object with a size of a grain of rice. Suddenly, it’s getting closer really fast and in just less than 30 seconds, the aircraft is approaching and it went past through them.

“It’s flying at the same speed of speed of sound!!” Commented Hanki.

The CF-1 (Celestina Fighter-1) is going up, watched by the passengers. The wings cut the air, making the trails of cloud behind the edge of the wing. With the sound like a thunder, the aircraft emits the afterburner at the back, creating one flame at the engine. The aircraft immediately vanished from the sight.

“……”

Hanki can’t say anything.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, in a few moments, the CF-1 Fighter will be arriving on the left side of the aircraft.”

“Huh!? That fast!?”

“This Aircraft will conduct a barrel roll, where the pilot will experience a G-Force through this dangerous maneuver, after that it will perform an air drifting before returning to the base.”

As it was announced, the CF-1 conducts a barrel roll before doing an ‘air drifting’ towards them before it stabilizes itself and goes to the sky to leave the field.

“So they can perform such a maneuver… Do other countries also able to do the same thing like this?”

While he’s thinking about that, there was an announcement from the pilot.

“Attention, all crew and passengers, please fasten your seat belt. We will now be departing to the Low Celestina Orbit in Mach 24.”

Mach 24?! How fast is this aircraft?! Furthermore to the space?! His astonishing does not dissipate when he feel the G-force albeit reduced thanks to the G-Diffuser to lessen the G-Force gravity on passengers. On the side, he saw two Wing-class LSF-3 (Light Starfighter Type-3) is escorting them to the Low Orbit.

He saw the twins are talking about something while holding their position. Since their boots are equipped with magnetic boots, they can stand still without holding on. Hanki expects that the twins are very strong if they can withstand such pressure.

“Let’s just use that video…”

“Yes… Yes… Okay, no problem…”

He was curious about what are the twins talking about. All of sudden, when the airplane is reaching a Low Orbit altitude, he can feel his body start floating despite he was strapped with his seat belt.

“U-Uwwaaahhh!!”

The delegates are also surprised as they are experiencing the zero gravity for the first time.

“Standby. We will adjust the gravity little by little.”

Using the gravity generator, slowly the delegates feel their gravity returns. It will be surely very worth remembering this moment as the airplane continues to travel to where the next destination will be, outer space.

“Under the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Defense’s authorization, we will now feature the military video about Celestina while transitioning to the space.”

Celestina Imperial Navy Space Command Introduction

“For too many years, we’ve spent an endless journey.”

The video initially features the horizon of Celestina’s homeland, Planet St. Celestina that can be seen from the Low Celestina Orbit. One LSF-3 pass through it, followed by several LSF-3, Feather-class Interceptor Starfighter 10 (INSF-10), Wing-class Starfighter Tail Gunner Variant LSF-22, and Chariot-class Bomber Starfighter-27 (BSF-27). Behind it, Celestina Starship of Firefly-class Heavy Frigate followed by multiple variants of Aerial-class Light Cruiser, Audhumla-class Heavy Cruiser, where some of the ID22-TC was about to enter the Light Cruiser.

“We travel beyond the bounds, carrying the legacy of our forefathers. We travel, explore to the unknown, always ready to face any threat that may come to us. As we always think that there are opponents stronger than us lurks somewhere, we continue to advance.”

They saw traffics around the fleet and the transport craft are coming in and out from multiple Spaceships. When the camera turns back, it views a gigantic Spaceship, the Celestinian’s pride of the Space, Radiant-class Supercarrier with Radiant name embedded on it. That gigantic ship was escorted by dozens of smaller Spaceships as they made a patrol around the horizon of St. Celestina's planet.

“Now, Celestina continues to grow, searching for more countries to be allies, trade, so all of us can grow together in prosperity. We never stop searching throughout the journey as each journey is always meant something to us.”

Seeing the massive fleet flying above the Orbit, then they saw it, the actual Spaceship and the size was magnificent. Radiant docking at the Low Celestina Orbit can be seen by their naked eye, implying the Spaceship was indeed huge. When they saw some of the tourists start to operate their aircraft, Hanki ask them.

“How fast are those what you called ‘Starfighters’?” Yago asks Ambrose about the Fighters.

“The Starfighters have more mobility than the common air force. Their speed can reach Mach 5, 2 Mach faster than our current fighter in service when in the atmosphere due to features installed to support the operational on both inside atmosphere and at the outer space.”

For Celestina and the other country like this, the military power possesses by Celestina explains the advance of its technology. Their iron dragon can fly 3 times faster than the speed of sound while for the Starfighter itself can reach 5 times faster. They are the monstrous equipment that has a flight range above 1,200km. From their point of view, nobody can threaten them. According to Ambrose, the iron dragon during demonstration can be used inside the planet while for the Starfighter, it can go as far as space goes. He was reminded when they were threatened when the iron dragon invades Mayhark, but he realizes that his reaction is wrong. Compared to this combat iron dragon, the one he saw before may not last long in the fight. Which means, he now believes that the iron dragon that comes to Mayhark is just a scout and patrol.

We must form a good relationship with them. Making them an enemy could bring dire consequences that could even make us become the enemy of the Major Civilization.

They cannot become our enemy.

At the Seraphic Hotel

“Hey, Yago?”

“What is it, Hanki?”

“What do you think about Celestina so far?”

“Hmmm…. If I’m going to say two words, it will be ‘very prosperous’ from my point of view. In this hotel, we can change the temperature, and it can be adjusted so we can be comfortable. How much energy did they use to make the building this size? Instead, they do that not to impress us, rather all buildings have a temperature that can be adjusted like this.

You can bathe yourself in a warm bath by just turning a tap water, without the worry of igniting fire. For those who can use magic, they even doesn’t need to touch it at all. The toilet is kept clean. When you go out there, you can go to the vending machine where you can buy either hot tea, cold tea, or even alcohol, and you can choose it based on your taste as well.

There’s a shop that opens all day long and you can get whatever you want there in high-quality. Groceries always sell fresh food. Night is also so bright, even there is some area that is not lit, I feel comfortable walking around this town. Furthermore, we haven’t even visited the adventurers guild.

Compared to our country, their quality of life, from every angle, is higher. I’m frustrating to admit, but it makes me truly feel the difference in our nations’ strengths.

Finally, that war simulation was truly mind-blowing. It felt like a slap in our face, actually seeing the stark difference in our military capabilities, not to mention all of them seem adept at fighting at every era. It completely convinced me that we cannot possibly fight Celestina as an enemy.”

“I’m glad we both came to the same conclusion… In the face of the combat-ready iron dragon, our wyverns would be completely powerless. Celestina is bad for my heart, haha.”

“I, on the other hand, am beyond excited. This kind of advanced, sophisticated country appeared near us, but they don’t look down on others like the Three Great Civilizations do. For our country to be their first point of contact, and for them to not have an interest in conquering us, I think that in itself was a great stroke of fortune. Instead, they want to learn about us and to share their knowledge with us.”

Yago and Hanki continue to chat that day until late.

The next day

It was another cool morning, with clouds high in the clear sky and great visibility. Celestina’s pollution rate was decreased considerably ever since they have been transferred into this world due to the neighboring countries and Celestina’s allies that are still using lots of high pollution factories and haven’t fully recovered from the Sixth Interstellar War. The man with a formal dress, Ambrose, appeared before the delegates and spoke to them.

“Good morning, everyone. Did everyone sleep well last night?

Here is the schedule for today. We will depart to Zaid Adventurer’s Guild at nine hundred hours for a visit. Then, on eleven hundred hours, we will leave the guild to catch the Hyperloop train from Zaid to Regnieburg at eleven-thirty. We will arrive at Regnieburg Royal Station at twenty-oh-five, after which…”

The itinerary explanation continued. After coming to Celestina, the concept of a single, universal time became crystal clear for everyone. A precise device called “holo-wristwatch” was given to each delegate. The time was tracked in units called “seconds”, not to mention an AI installed as a part of the feature to guide them. This device itself was extremely convenient to carry on one’s person. For the military, coordinate time made executing simultaneous attack child’s play. The most shocking revelation was that they were given “solar charging watches” and “power recycling feature.” Meaning that not only as long as there was a light, the watch can operate indefinitely at night, but it’s also very convenient for those who were not able to get any lights like inside the cave for days. The also said the watch’s accuracy would only degrade by at most 1 second over the course of 10,000 years. Upon hearing this, we were simply speechless.

“Mr. Ambrose, I believe that the distance between Zaid and Regnieburg is over five thousand kilometers,” Hanki called out.

“Yes, that is correct.”

“The ‘Hyperloop’ train that were riding today is a land-based vehicle, if I remember correctly from the explanation. Our arrival time is precisely ‘twenty-oh-five,’ does that mean the length of the trip has been predicted down to the minute?”

“Indeed. If there are no accident, monster intrusion, or natural disasters, that will be in fact the exact time that we arrive.”

…It was really pointless to apply the conventions of Qua-Toyne to Celestina.

“I understand, thank you for explaining.”

“Not at all, you are most welcome.”

Going to the Adventurer’s Guild, they saw lots of adventurers wearing any kind of armor. Medieval, modern, futuristic, all of them are wearing their personal suit as the suit was customized according to their taste and they are also gathered to have a chat before taking quests or going to a mission. Yago saw the building across Zaid Town Hall with awe.

“I… Is this the Adventurer’s Guild?”

Lana, Ambrose’s assistant, answered it.

“That’s right. In this guild, anyone can register, and once registered, you will be registered as an adventurer for the rest of your life.”

“So, what is the purpose of this guild?”

“A lot of purpose. In this place, you can take the job that has been put on the request board by those who require our assistance. Monster subjugation, helping run the orphanage, looking for supplies, and many more. For the military, for those who want to become soldiers must reach a certain level. You can say, almost entire of our citizens are adventurers or having a job related to it while around a quarter of it is the active military personnel. All military personnel are mandated to become adventurers first.”

They look at every quest list at the holo-quest board. Some wanted to subjugate goblin, some wants to gather a specific item from a certain dungeon, some were also needed to join a legion to explore the new labyrinth. The reward was tempting but there is a rank restriction to suppress casualties.

“Could we possibly dispatched our adventurers into this place?”

“Oh yes, you can! We actually need more adventurers from outside Celestina so they can experience what it feels like to be an adventurer and staying here to do quests. Of course, if we can find any labyrinth or any dungeons around your country, we can send an explorer legion to explore it and sending the adventurers to subjugate it at once.”

Ambrose then explains it further once Lana finish explaining.

“In every city, we have military, police officers, and adventurers are patrolling together. Military handles threats from military actions, police officers handle the public order, and for adventurers, they handle any monsters that could attack the town. The reason we put the military together with adventurers is to make them adapt quickly if there are enemies that are using monsters mixed with the military to launch the attack. Normally, situations like that can disorient the military, but with the base job as an adventurer, they will know what to do.”

When he was about to explain it further, he heard the door opens loud and saw two girls are carrying a heavily wounded female.

“S-someone!! We need a medic here!!”

“What’s going on?!”

“She got a fatal wound by Crack Crab on Glasis Plains, her shield is destroyed and she got attacked really hard by the Crack Crabs. We manage to defeat it but she sustained heavy damage while our healer is out of commission.”

“Medic!? Is there any medic stationed here?!” Ambrose plans to call an ambulance so the female adventurer can get treated later. For this rate of wound, a High Heal should be enough to sustain it but looking around, none of the Clerics or even Healers are capable to do it.

Yago immediately approaches the wounded as Ambrose tries to stop him. He then cast a spell as they can see his hand start to glow with light.

“This is bad… ,.vmtaiba,eo.,b,a;wsoe4igamoiseo…”

The girl went unconscious as the wound quickly sealed up. This perks many interests at the adventurers guild, especially clerics and elf healer that wants to support their teammates during the adventure.

“Ooohh, look at that!”

“That was amazing…!!! Did you see that just now?!”

“It’s almost he was better than healer using High Heal!”

“Someone!! Please send a recommendation to Navea, hurry!”

People were shouting back and forth.

“Huh? It’s just magic, what’s interesting about that?”

Perhaps Yago is mistaken since the adventurers on the guild right now are only stationed up to C+ rank while the rest are on sortie or adventure. He wonders why they were so impressed with his effort.

On the Hyperloop Train

“My goodness, that was surprising. To think you can heal more efficiently than most of the adventurers that were capable of using High Heal. If Grand Duchess Sofya heard of this, she would love to recruit you to help her apprentices study healing efficiency.”

Ambrose was spewing words of praise to Yago.

“Is that kind of healing unusual to Celestina?”

Yago feel happy that he was basked in praise. Since he had spent all the time being stunned by things in Celestina, being able to surprise Celestinian people back makes him feel quite good inside.

“That kind of healing is unusual since we can’t heal as quickly as Sofya and High Priest Tier. Perhaps when the diplomatic form is made, we can request some elf as a teacher to teach about magic efficiency. I’m sure three Grand Duchess will approve of this.”

“Of course. We can send them to learn together either in the academy or in the adventure field. By the way, how did you contact the other delegates when on meeting?”

“We pursue magic and science altogether. We even learn every principle of science and use it to the point where it is now. The knowledge from the past made us to be able to reach such a degree of science right now. What powers our country is curiosity and taste of adventure.”

They can’t believe what Ambrose has just said as perhaps they have just learned an important national secret. However, for Ambrose and fellow Celestinian citizens, this is a common secret that everyone shares of. Ambrose also explains that Childre, Mechania, and Studia need as many personnel and staff as they can regardless it was from academic or non-academic. Qua-Toyne can send students to study there and they can also send an elf to taught magic on Celestina with better efficiency. Of course, Qua-Toyne can be on the advantage if that happens.

Despite Celestina are learning both science and magic, they continue to develop while they got some difficulties in balancing both of those aspects other than utilizing hybrid technology to complement it. Producing Sage, Warlock, and another high-class mage was also difficult unless they are under the guidance of Sofya, Alicia, and Freya as they are the ruler of Childre, Studia, and Geffen who are specialized in magic. Celestina’s magic combat can be said high enough, but they are still unable to increase it efficiently. The utilization of the science can be something that could be replicated by Qua-Toyne, and they just need to understand it. If it was applied to Qua-Toyne, they could increase the foundation of the country.

“Mr. Ambrose. Can you export the science for this?”

“Due to Celestina’s protocol of technology outflow act in another world, we will export based on your civilization age. However, if it was for the daily and necessary life, you can buy it at bookstores. We will prepare every book that you need and right now, we require a dictionary book.”

“Dictionary book?”

“Yes, dictionary book is the book that contains all of the basic letters and words of each phrase which we need a Common Language from Qua-Toyne. Because we got a hard time translating your documents to our language, we just need one book so the system can update it globally. So, when you need the book in your language, it will be immediately available.”

“Oh, speaking of that. I almost forgot.”

Yago hands Ambrose a large book and he reads it for a while. They felt impressed by each word made by Qua-Toyne’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs are put into the book meticulously. He then hand the book over to Jack.

“Please put that book into the system over there.”

“Okay.”

They saw the book is being inserted into some kind of box. Minutes later, there was an announcement on the train.

“Attention. Common Language has been installed and updated into your equipments. Have a nice day.”

When hearing those announcements as the book disappears inside the box. The delegates are surprised and Ambrose can even translate the written document into their language immediately.

“Thank you so much, this is really helpful for paperwork later.”

The Hyperloop continues to travel smooth and like a breeze.

“At any rate, this Hyperloop train is incredibly fast, isn’t it, Mr. Hanki?” Yago comments about it.

“Indeed, it is. Even at this speed, there’s no shaking for us inside at all, truly a comfortable ride. On the other hand, because we’re going so fast, the mere thought of an accident occurring is quite frightening not to mention if there are lots of monsters trying to stop the train by force.”

“Since its adoption, there were only a few incidents where adventurers are sortied to quell the monsters and there are even no deaths due to monster incidents and accident. The hyperloop is undoubtedly the safest vehicle in Celestina.”

“Oh? How incredible. Unfortunately, hearing that actually makes me more nervous.”

With the passengers engaged in many kinds of conversations, the train ran on.

Partial Excerpt from Yago’s Diary

We rode the Hyperloop train, passing many larger cities before finally arriving in Celestina’s Imperial Capital City of Regnieburg. Even those cities were larger than the capitals of three great civilizations, so it wasn’t much for a surprise to see that Regnieburg itself completely eclipsed them all. Everything in the city moved precisely and purposely, there was a mind-boggling amount people, and it was packed full of building that pierced the skies.

Actually, one of the mountains, Ejey, at 562m above sea level was still taller than those buildings. However, one of the buildings that surpasses them is the Orbital Elevator that can transport everyone up to the skies further.

I would love to work in a country like this, one with the power and resources to build an entire district of high-rise buildings, but not just a delegate; I’ll find a way to make it happen at the diplomatic meeting tomorrow. I would put all my effort into advancing our national interests. I’m incredibly fortunate to be a participant in this moment of history.

The next day – Celestina – Qua-Toyne diplomatic meeting, Large Diplomatic Council Meeting Hall

A lot of media are present and it was bustling to see and document the first diplomatic meeting ever since they have been transferred into this world. Inside the meeting hall, all of the Ministers are present, including Celestina Local Council and a representative from Nine Territory. The guild staff also present to witness and record the meeting. They are waiting for something and Qua-Toyne delegation is waiting on who will be coming. Two of the people show up, but this time they are very identical and the only difference they can make is the suit they are wearing. One is more dominant to black while one is more dominant to red.

“The Main Council enters the meeting!”

At first, it was the Emperor of Celestina and the Nine Prime Ministers. It was followed by eight young girls wearing their signature dress and the last is a male wearing a cream-brown robe. They take a seat at the assigned position and the delegates saw the Twin Rabbits are with them during the third day and standing behind him, putting a serious face as they are on guard stance.

“Good morning, Delegates from Qua-Toyne. Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Sacchito and people call me Great Emperor Sacchito. However, for this meeting, I would like to skip the formalities.”

“I-It’s a pleasure to meet you, Gre—I mean… Mr. Sacchito.”

After exchanging greetings, the meeting has started and the Minister of Agriculture introduces himself and reading the request.

“Thank you. I’m Gusteau, Celestina’s Minister of Agriculture. Please forgive my frankness, but right now, we simply need food, specifically at Studia, Mechania, Byade, and Sahara Territory. To be specific…”

There were countless categories of required food items listed in the document, including those who are requested by Embellia Kingdom, but what was truly astonishing was the amount.

“The total amount needed per year is one hundred million tons?!”

“Yes, I was told that your country produces an astounding amount of food. While that amount does overwhelmingly exceed a food self-sufficiency rate of 100%, we naturally aren’t optimistic that you can meet our needs, so we first want to know how much you can export. Of course, we’re not asking for an immediate answer, but we do want to convey that before the Empire can fall into the food crisis and we would like to have a response as soon as possible.”

Yago, who had been scrutinizing the list, spoke up.

“Seafood items will be difficult to procure, and I’m not sure what ‘cocoa’ beans are, but, for everything else, I believe our country has the capacity to meet at least the amount of requested here. Of course, this all depends on our government’s approval, but…”

“But what?!”

“We don’t have the means to transport this amount of food. Excess food is stored in the granary region, but we lack the infrastructure to transport the food to the port. Even if we somehow could move the food, we further lack the manpower to handle that amount of goods. Finally, we don’t have a ship capable of reaching Celestina, let alone a fleet that can handle that much food.”

“If those problems were solved, then you would export food to us?”

The Celestinians’ side, including some of the Main Council, are discussing. The Minister of Agriculture also asks Alicia, the girl who wears clothes like a Sage, about how they will be able to solve these food problems. Even they can ration the food that gives the Empire an additional two years from the first two years of being transferred into this world. Byade, Sahara, and Childre can’t prevent the demand that keeps rising every year. Alicia then spoke up.

“I’m Alicia, Grand Duchess of Studia, or in your government, I can be referred to as Queen of Studia. If Qua-Toyne agrees, then Celestina Empire is willing to assist with the development of the infrastructure from your port facilities to the granary region. This infrastructure is included in developing a railway system and expansion on Mayhark Port Town so our cargo can reach there to make a shipment. And, for the maintenance costs, Celestina Empire will cover the entire expense for the first two years, and after that, we can share the payment. What do you think of this offering?”

!!!!!!!!

This time, it was Qua-Toyne delegation’s turn to chatter excitedly. To Qua-Toynens citizens, food and water had almost no value, but now they were given an opportunity to enrichen their country by exporting them. Even more, Celestina went ahead and offered to help with improvements to their infrastructure and build a railway system on their own, without even negotiating down first. This could not have gone better for Qua-Toyne. The meeting ended with all parties more than satisfied.

Ten Days Later, A week before The Council Meeting, 16th January 1523 / 224

The cooperation of agreement between the Principality of Qua-Toyne and the Empire of Celestina consist of the following terms:

Qua-Toyne shall export a required amount of food to Celestina. Celestina shall expand the port of Mayhark and develop infrastructure between Mayhark and the Granary Region. This shall be funded by Celestina. Celestina and Qua-Toyne shall continue relations in order to establish diplomatic ties. The currency exchange rate shall be established as quickly as possible. In exchange for receiving food in bulk from Qua-Toyne, Celestina will maintain infrastructure (water, electricity, gas) in Qua-Toyne for one year. After that period, food will be purchased using the established exchange rate. Celestina and Qua-Toyne shall discuss the establishment of a non-aggression treaty. Qua-Toyne will be opened for the adventurers guild to expand and any resources obtained by Qua-Toyne either on labyrinth or a dungeon will belong to them including vice-versa while the adventurers only take the money obtained from adventures.

The Qua-Toyne delegation had obtained extremely favorable trade conditions while also establishing a harmonious relationship with Celestina. After this, Celestina and Qua-Toyne would forge an unbreakable bond and share a common destiny as they challenged the torrents of the world.

Upon the diplomatic agreement was signed, adventurers from Celestina start flocking into Qua-Toyne as the sealed dungeon and labyrinths are being reopened by Celestina’s Adventurers Guild.