A young couple flew through the skies, holding hands and twirling around in what looked like an attempt to emulate butterflies.

“I wonder what we look like from the ground, though,” Gaius mused out loud. “After all, trying to dance while flying and carrying bulky backpacks doesn’t exactly scream elegant to me.”

“It’s elegant to us, and that’s all that matters,” Isabelle, who was his dance partner for an airborne waltz, replied. “So? Does it tickle that romantic nerve of yours?”

“Not that much. I think it’s the backpacks.” Gaius jiggled his shoulders, and then shrugged. “We should find some day to play without wearing them.”

He looked at the floating city in the sky. “It hasn’t been that long, right? And yet, the new Ark City’s already up and operating. Everyone sure is efficient.”

Using the word efficient was pretty much the understatement of the year, though. Cities weren’t meant to be built within a year, but the survivors of Ark City hadn’t just built any ordinary city. Oh no. They had decided to create a floating city, one that would be invulnerable to a conventional ground invasion. While they were at it, all kinds of weapons were also installed on it, turning it into a mobile fortress.

“Are we just going to enter like this?” Isabelle asked.

“Well, if the plan works, we won’t face any trouble,” Gaius replied. “There’s probably someone who recognises me out there, right? I’m just worried that they won’t recognise this.”

Isabelle glanced at the white cloak on his back, and then shook her head. “It’s ragged. I’ve patched it up so many times that…”

Gaius hung his head. “Figures.”

“B-but it might still work!” Isabelle grabbed his hand. “They might still recognise it as a lecturer’s cloak!”

“Not with you laughing whenever you say that last bit,” Gaius replied. “Is it really that hard to believe that I used to be a lecturer? Besides, I remember that you were quite conscious when I brought you back to Heritage Basestation.”

“My memories of that time are quite blurry.” Her eyes lit up. “I do remember a girl with rabbit ears, though! And a nice warm fire.”

“Is that so?” Gaius frowned. “I think that girl was named…Mai. Or was her name Mei? I can’t remember. My memory’s going bad nowadays.”

“Well, as long as you don’t forget me,” said Isabelle. “Go ahead and forget about any other girls, other than Nakama.”

“Already done.” Gaius grinned back. “Right, do you want to do a lap around the new Ark City first? It’ll be interesting to study a floating city, right? How can such an artefact exist? I also want to know.”

Isabelle rubbed his head gently.

“What’s that for?”

“Nothing in particular, why?”

That didn’t stop her from rubbing his head for the next ten minutes, however. Since Gaius enjoyed it, he was quite happy, but he wasn’t quite sure what that brought that on.

As the new Ark City grew larger, Gaius wondered how the other Harvesters were doing. Nalus, the late Magnus’ son, was probably doing his best to live up to his father’s reputation. The previous Campmaster had died a heroic death, but that fact meant little to a child who had lost his father to war.

He sighed heavily.

“What’s wrong?” Isabelle asked.

“Just thinking about some people,” Gaius replied. “The fact that Ark City is now floating is symbolic in so many ways.”

“To rebuild. To break free from the past.” Isabelle let out a sigh. “The Human God has wronged the beastfolk. Even now…”

“Are you thinking that they’re willing to let bygones be bygones?” Gaius asked, a faint smile on his face.

“That’s the impression I got from the new Ark City, yes.” Isabelle frowned. “Why? Do you have a different inference?”

“Yes.” Gaius narrowed his eyes. “That’s an awful lot of cannons there, right? All jutting out, like spokes in a wheel.”

“How powerful is each cannon?” Isabelle asked, curious. “I’ve never seen on in action before. I hear that they’re really destructive, though.”

“Well, to put it in perspective…” Gaius tilted his head and extrapolated from the North’s artillery. “If this city were to hover above Lumari and fire the cannons on it, Lumari would be destroyed in less than thirty minutes, with near-total casualties.”

Isabelle froze.

“It can probably wipe out an infantry army with absurd ease too,” Gaius continued. “This Ark City is a floating fortress, but it’s also a weapon. A really big weapon. It is likely that only the North would be able to stop its approach, with their new-fangled Locomotives. No other nation has an air force strong enough to prevent it from closing in their territory.”

“Does that mean…”

“It depends,” Gaius replied. “It is a threat well done. The Assembly will be forced to apologise, to make concessions. The Republic, the beastfolk successor state, will tread around Ark City carefully. Even though they are on the same side.”

“Not to mention about the East and the West,” Isabelle added glumly. “What a mess.”

“I’m beginning to feel that this world will not be at peace, even if we make it through the demons and the Abyss.” Gaius sighed.

“Me too.”

His heart was a bit too cold for his liking, so Gaius moved in to hug Isabelle. It would seem that his mental age had decreased substantially over the past few days, but it was hard not to, with someone as perfect as her.

Well, it did alleviate the differences in mental age between the two of them, but still…

Gaius shook his head as new points of interest appeared in his vision.

Small groups of fliers were now visible, each of them performing high-speed movements at the speed Gaius rarely saw. For some reason, he had the feeling that these people were a fold or two more skilled than the Republic’s elite fliers he saw at the Eastern-Lifespring war, and as they continued to draw close, that impression intensified.

Their speeds were comparable to his own normal speed, which was impressive, given that he was using an Engine.

“Who are these people?” Isabelle asked.

“Looks like Ark City’s guards,” Gaius replied. “C’mon, let’s not stare at them too much. They might stop us or something.”

Putting on a burst of speed, the two hurtled towards the huge floating city.