Marshal Marie rubbed her head. “This is a mess. Shouldn’t we be returning to the South right now? Why are we watching a foreign nation break up into civil war? And we aren’t even picking sides either, are we?”

“The Southern Assembly is already backing up one side,” said Aziz. He paced around the balcony of the pagoda they were currently staying in, his hand touching the railings every so often.

“I know. It might become a proxy war if the Republic decides to support the Thousand Flowers faction,” said the marshal. “The mess back at Feng-Lang was back enough, but seeing a nation with millennia of history break up into infighting within a month is a real eyeopener."

Colonel Aziz sighed. The attack on Eo-Seu had gone on with far less resistance than he thought was humanly possible. The Lifespring’s troops were puppets that only responded to external stimuli when Spring Fury’s main body landed, and the East had crushed them effortlessly.

Whether it was the outcome of a deal a Paragon had made with the Lifespring or because the Lifespring was fighting for his life, however, the colonel had no idea. But Spring Fury had been successful in the earlier half, and as Eo-Seu was gradually reconquered, the troops had grown more and more complacent.

And then, disaster struck.

The God of Water passed away, and his troops, which had been docile up until then, began to gather together once more. Five Demigods, Conrah’s familiar spirits, had escaped from the collapsing Divine Kingdom, and together, began to rampage across Eo-Seu.

Fortunately, Thunderbolt had left the battlefront there back then, as they had been recalled to help tidy up Feng-Lang. An enormous explosion had vaporised its shores earlier on, killing over a hundred thousand people and injuring even more. Their new deployment orders meant that Thunderbolt had escaped the massacre through pure luck, and then, as things continued to devolve, Marie had exercised her own authority to suspend Thunderbolt’s operations.

A few weeks had passed as Thunderbolt waited for new orders from the Republic. But the Plenum had split up, with both sides blaming each other for the disaster at Feng-Lang and the overwhelming defeat at Eo-Seu.

Marie sighed. She looked up at the night sky, and tossed some hardtack into her mouth. “Well, at least we managed to distance ourselves from this ongoing war.”

“True,” said Aziz, looking at the lovely aesthetics of the pagoda Thunderbolt was staying in. It was one of the pagodas under the Tekkadan zaibatsu, which had offered to shelter them in recognition of their deeds.

Thunderbolt had relocated itself into Mi-Zu, which was now under the control of a civilian body rather than the Plenum. The zaibatsus had made their will known to the squabbling Plenum — don’t fight in Mi-Zu, or we’ll support whoever was attacked.

Feng-Lang, however, had turned into a minor battleground and negotiation site. Its civilians were continuing to flee to Mi-Zu, but tensions were running high in the latter as the number of refugees continued to balloon. The only safe place now was Seireiden, which had enforced martial law and curfews.

“Well, I suppose we should do some tourist stuff for now,” said Marie. “Let the troops and all relax, right? Curfew’s from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., and given our status, we should be fine.”

“Touring at this time…” Aziz shook his head. “Marshal, you’re a really extraordinary person.”

“If we keep the boys and girls cooped up here, they’ll grow restless. Things will happen, and then they’ll start to snowball. We’ll let them have fun as long as the situation permits, so we don’t expend our social capital too quickly,” Marie explained.

“Social capital?” Aziz asked.

“It’s a new thing I learnt. Seireiden has an excellent bookstore,” said Marie.

“Bookstore, eh?” The colonel cupped his chin. “Well, I want to be more sophisticated too…”

“Then it’s decided,” said the marshal. “Pass down my order: the troops of Thunderbolt are free to leave our holding area, as long as they abide by the current curfew, as well as the laws and customs of Seireiden.”

Aziz saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”

He picked up the Radio artefact sitting on a table and spoke into it, disseminating Marie’s words to the company commanders. After a minute or so, he returned to Marie, who had moved over to another balcony. “Orders relayed.”

“Thank you, Aziz,” she replied. “Let’s talk about our tour tomorrow. Do you have any place you want to go to in particular?”

The colonel cupped his chin. “Well, I overheard someone on the Radio a month or so ago, talking about ice-cream. I asked around about it afterwards, and it seems like it’s a luxury food. Apparently, it’s cold and sweet.”

“Cold and sweet…” Marie licked her lips. “Sounds like my cup of tea. We’ll go there, then. Anywhere else?”

“None I can think of right now,” he replied. “You?”

“Hmmm…how about Takamagahara? The place that Pauline mentioned,” said Marie. “It’s a dwelling place of the great gods.”

“You just wanted to explore that place, right?” The colonel rolled his eyes. “You must have been thinking about it ever since we arrived at Mi-Zu, for you to suggest that everyone gets to become a tourist. The you I know would balk at the sheer amount of paperwork required.”

“Paperwork?” Marie asked. “What paperwork?”

“Forms Eleven-C to Twelve-H need to be filled up and approved, right? When a CO wants to give his or her troops a few days off…” Colonel Aziz tilted his head. “Did they change it recently?”

“Ohh — those forms,” said Marie. She nodded her head. “They’ve been approved.”

“Everything? When did you have time to do these forms? And besides, the relevant service chief…” Aziz ground to a halt. He had just realised something, the reason why Marie was so lackadaisical about this.

“Go on,” said Marie, grinning. “Go on.”

“The relevant service chief must approve,” Aziz continued lamely. “This…is probably the worst abuse of power by a Chief of Air in the history of Orb. Marshal Marie, I must formally protest your nonchalance to established protocols and the rule of law.”

“Functionally, there really isn’t going to be a difference, colonel. But if you insist, I suppose I could get the company commanders to do up the relevant forms for the outing. It’ll be your idea though,” said the marshal.

Aziz found his mouth twisting into a grimace. “Fine, ma’am. Just get them to do it. Better that than you trample custom this flagrantly.”

“Well, you’re an honest one, at least…” She shook her head. “Go and issue my orders. I’ll do something more important in the meantime.”

The colonel glanced curiously at her, and then picked up the Radio.