Frostveil.
According to what the knights stationed in Ries Island had seen, they had seen a veil cover the sky, and what followed was the large expansion of ice that came from nowhere.
Additionally, it was rumoured that the Black Hero was with this new Drag-Knight.
A Drag-Knight whose capabilities matched and even surpassed the Seven Dragon Paladin.
Not only Frostveil, but Black Hero had been seen on sight too, that was big news.
And now. In front of the said two who were observed by the public as legendary figures, they were now under scolding.
Short black hair, green eyes, wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and a black skirt with a collar around her neck.
Airi Arcadia. Lux's younger sister, sitting in front of both males, scowled at them.
"What on earth are you doing, brother!?"
"A-Airi, calm down. That was—his fault, yes, his fault."
Lux, being in a predicament, pointed to Laurel beside him.
On the other hand, Laurel would have never thought of Lux as someone who could snitch, but it seemed like he was wrong.
"...And please, sir, whoever you are, please don't drag my brother into such a reckless thing anymore."
Airi had said that while politely bowing towards him.
Extremely nice to her brother, but cold to others, huh? Well, it didn't matter anyway.
"I see, my bad. However, if anything, your brother was doing it for the new kingdom's sake, and I captured a threat to the new kingdom, you know."
"Haah. I apologise for my earlier rudeness, but still…"
"Airi, it's okay; if it's Laurel, you can trust him… I guess…?"
Laurel once again looked over to Lux. Perhaps he should kill him.
But that too. It was a joke, by the way.
"So… You're telling me the Heiberg republic is planning a coup in a few months time?"
Both Heiburg and the New Kingdom have been on each other's throat for the longest time now.
It'd make sense.
"And the person we apprehended is one of the masterminds behind the attack."
Hearing him say all that wasn't convincing to say in the slightest, but if Lux had been there, it'd make sense.
"I understand why you're doing this; however, what's the reason why you're doing this?"
Laurel raised an eyebrow as he now folded his arms.
"Little sister, you underestimate me. Do you think I need a reason to do this?"
Obviously, he does.
He does have a reason to.
At the very least, originally, it was for Nidhogg, but now he seems to be already planning on interfering in this world's affairs now that he thought of it.
If he left here, he had another destination in mind.
But at this rate, it's best to keep things to a minimum so as to not derail a lot of things in this world.
He still didn't know how "Fourth Calamity" affected each world.
"Still, freezing the entire route around Ries Island is going too far!"
"Is that so? My bad. I couldn't exactly go easy against a Ragnarok now, can I?"
"Laurel-san, I don't really think you needed all that for a measly Ragnarok prototype."
Hearing what Laurel and Lux said made her eyebrows twitch.
If it came from Laurel, it is understandable; after all, even standing in his presence, she could feel it, how much of a monster he was.
Yet, her brother too had swatted common sense away by calling a Ragnarok prototype measly.
Had he lost his mind too?
No, Laurel must be the cause.
"That—Haah, forget it. But from now on, you two shouldn't cause any ruckus anymore."
Airi had stood up, glaring at the two.
Laurel threw his gaze somewhere else while Lux sat upright.
"Sir Laurel…"
However, Airi called for his name, making him slowly look over.
"Please promise you wouldn't cause a ruckus like this anymore."
His lips quivered, but he had no choice; this wasn't his world.
Perhaps, maybe he had been a little pushy.
"Alright, little sis, I can promise that."
Hearing that promise, she finally heaved a sigh of relief.
Someone like him, it was like he'd popped out of thin air.
None of the Seven Dragon Paladins could pull off what he did.
With Divine Raiment, they should be capable of doing such a thing; however, even ice-based Divine Drag-Machines would have trouble with such a magnitude of an attack.
And what's more was the girl who stood behind Lux.
If she wasn't wrong, wasn't that the Empire's Assassin Blade? Just what on earth has her brother been up to?
Well, it doesn't matter anymore.
What has been done has been done.
"But then, how do we fix this…?"
Lux suddenly asked.
"Simple, send a message to the queen."
Of course, such an answer earned stares from the two, except Yoruka.
As the prince of the old empire and the Black Hero, she believed that much was natural.
"You don't mean…"
"The principal of the Knights Academy, simply relay a few words to her, and that would be it. However, Lux's name carries too much weight. In this case, let an outsider like me do the job. I'll fix the problem I caused."
Laurel had said that, offering a solution.
And when Airi thought about it.
Certainly, it was doable.
But then, she couldn't exactly trust Laurel, and not to mention, Yoruka too.
"Your worry is practically written all over your face; what do you take me for?"
Laurel winced.
He truly started to believe he was long gone from being normal anymore.
And the fact that he couldn't deny it anymore spoke volumes.
"Then, how about Yoruka accompanies Laurel?"
Lux would have loved to follow Laurel; however, like Laurel said, Lux's name and presence carry a certain weight; hence, it had to be people who were unfamiliar with each other.
And hence.
That had been decided.
Now, both Yoruka and Laurel were in front of the Royal Knights Academy.
It was a building resting atop a hill, at the far end of Crossfeed, which was also its first district.
To be precise. They were at the gate's front.
"Going past the front gate would be boring, don't you think?"
"I agree, Laurel-sama."
"Shall we?"
Yoruka nodded.
Rather than walking straight through the door, they flew over the walls of the Academy.
Such a wall was impossibly tall, and no NORMAL, even trained soldiers, would be able to climb such a wall.
However, those two scaled over it without wasting breath.
Having scaled over it, they began walking the walls that surrounded the academy.
Soon, they came over to the coliseum, where he heard sounds of fighting.
CLANG!
Several drag machines were clashing against each other with a loud clang.
"Not enough. Put your back into it!"
"Yes! Celis–senpai!"
"Saniya, assist squad 3 over there."
"Roger, Celis-nee-sama."
Laurel sat at one of the edges of the coliseum, with Yoruka standing as his bodyguard as they watched them train.
Celestia Ralgris.
A beautiful young woman with long, flowing blonde hair, blue eyes, and a buxom figure.
She wore the streamlined suit for piloting yet stood out even among the other Drag Knights training under her lead.
Naturally, as a member of the Ralgris family, she's one of the few that can pilot a Divine.
Also known to be the strongest of the academy and the leader of the Knights Squadron.
"So that's Lindworm."
More than her, he was less interested in her but more in her Divine Drag-Machine.
"She's strong."
Yoruka had commented with an unchanging gaze despite saying that.
Laurel, hearing that, raised an eyebrow as he glanced over at Yoruka.
"Stronger than you?"
Yoruka, however, smiled and shook her head.
"I very much doubt it, Laurel-sama."
"I see."
It does go both ways for both of them.
Strength definitely goes to Celis, and agility for both of them; naturally, Yoruka is superior in technique.
It then all comes down to if Yoruka can touch Celis or if Celis can outmanoeuvre Yoruka.
Still, because of the baptism that had already been performed on Yoruka, he was inclined to believe she would win.
"Let's go then, to the principal."
Royal Knights Academy.
Principal's Office.
Seated was the principal of the Royal Knights Academy herself, Relie Aingram.
A young woman with pink hair that falls under her shoulders, a slender waist, and large breasts, very much like her sister.
She was working on the papers stacked on her desk.
The third years will soon be going for their training, and the first years will be resuming soon.
She had to settle all these.
Plus, she has had an idea for quite some time, but she's still been deliberating how she would go about it.
Especially with the hard-headed nobles of the New Kingdom.
Beside that, she remembered the incident that had happened a day ago.
Frostveil Bay.
Or so they now call that place.
Because of the Frostveil's knight handiwork, in the span of a day. Trade routes had completely been affected.
Merchants from other kingdoms now had to take an even longer route before they got to the New Kingdom's border.
And if the Knights stationed near Ries Island hadn't seen it, they wouldn't have known this was the handiwork of a Drag-Knight.
"Haah. What still, just who on earth is—"
She muttered as she relapsed back onto her chair, looking towards the ceiling when—
"Hello, Relie Aingram."
Startled, she whipped her gaze down to see a young man, seated casually on the couch across from her desk, as though he belonged there.
Black hair streaked with white, and strange, faint lines traced the skin of his neck.
He seemed close in age to her sister or at least older by one or two years but held an unusual air around him.
Additionally, a young girl behind him, glossy black hair, a pair of mismatched eyes with an unsettling edge to her.
Yet, how…
"Who are you….?"
Reile asked with calm, though she was somewhat nervous.
While she was the principal of an institution that trained Drag-Knight, she had zero combat abilities.
Apparently, this young male and female were able to infiltrate the academy without raising an alarm.
Glancing at him, sure enough, he's a Drag-Knight.
And not just any, a divine one at that. Even his companion too.
Was he one of the Seven Dragon Paladins?
"Pardon me." Laurel nodded his head. "My name is Laurel."
Sure enough, he's not one. She doesn't recall one with a name like his.
"Who?"
Relie asked. However, as if taking it as a sign of disrespect, Yoruka gripped the handle of her sword device.
"Stop it, Yoruka, there's no need. That's rude."
"Forgive me, Laurel-sama."
Yoruka said as she released her hand off her sword device.
Laurel then turned over to Relie.
"I don't blame you for not knowing me. However, if I recall correctly, "Frostveil," was it? What do they call me now?"
Reile, who had been keeping her calm, suddenly showed a look of surprise.
However—
"How can I trust that—?"
As she said that, she felt the room temperature drop sharply, the table in front of Laurel freezing at an extreme visible rate.
"You're… him?"
"Looks like you've finally accepted."
Reile adjusted herself in her chair, taking a moment to assess him.
At the very least, she could tell he wasn't here to hurt her.
"But to think that Frostveil was a young man, who would have imagined?"
She said that in an attempt to dig further, but unfortunately, her opponent was Laurel.
"I'm not here for your theatrics. I'm here for one simple thing concerning the "Frostveil Bay" incident. I have some intel about that."
Laurel then began to share what he knew. Additionally, with the Heiberg growing army, as well as the inner workings of the republic.
"This… How can I trust this intel?"
"You really don't have to. In fact, as I speak now, a couple of Knights in the Atismata kingdom have begun to plan rebellion."
"You don't plan on stopping it?"
"Hahaha… I'll be leaving the new kingdom soon; your reliable Black hero will step in—and no, I'm not being sarcastic."
Hearing Laurel say that made her fall back in silence.
Just what were the odds of something like this happening?
No, it's possible as he'd said.
And the Black Hero, she could more or less understand what Laurel was trying to say.
"Then, how are you related to him—the Black Hero?"
"He's my friend. A precious one at that."
Laurel said that while rising up. His time to leave this world is already fast approaching, after all.
Relie, on the other hand, however, opened her mouth to say something but closed it instead.
By the time Laurel and Yoruka would reach the door, their bodies seemingly disappeared into mist.
Left alone inside her office, she couldn't help but let out a languid sigh.
"If everything he said is true, then…."