kscans

Chapter 2 - v1 - Prologue

He had absolutely no idea how things had ended up like this.

Just yesterday, the Gattoland Air Fleet, the strongest in the world, had filled the skies above Gato Island, departing amidst a shower of confetti from the cheering crowds below. Where were they now? What were they doing?

And who was commanding this enemy air fleet currently looming over Gato Island, unleashing an unceasing barrage of cannon fire and bombs? How had they managed to get so close?

Gaga Gattoland, First Prince of the Gato Kingdom, kept turning these questions over in his mind as he ascended the stone steps inside the Armory Tower with an elegant stride.

For some time now, the Gato Kingdom Castle had been under fire from a mysterious air fleet. Reports claimed the second bailey tower and a portion of the northern castle wall had collapsed. With every boom of the cannons, vibrations shot up through his feet, shaking mortar loose from the stonework and sending a shower of dust and pebbles down on his head. If this attack continued, not only this Armory Tower, but the castle walls and even the main keep would be reduced to a pile of rubble.

We’re just taking this lying down. What is Father doing?

Could it be… that our fleet was defeated?

Impossible. This battle was supposed to have been akin to gutting a small fish with a battle-ax. As an object lesson to any who would defy the Gato Kingdom, Gaga’s father, King Dada, had mobilized an absurdly excessive force to suppress the rebellion at Red Cape: four Holy Orb Successors, five air battleships, and a naval fleet of over thirty ships of the line. There wasn’t a one-in-ten-thousand chance that Dada’s grand air fleet, built up over thirty years, could lose to a provincial lord who possessed only a single air battleship and two medium galley-sails… or so he had thought.

Yet, considering the current situation, the impossible had happened.

Lost in thought, Gaga leisurely reached the top of the stairs and stepped out onto the roof of the Armory Tower.

Under the starry sky, on a rectangular rooftop large enough to be used as a training ground, a girl and a boy were busy inspecting the propeller biplane "Falco" by the light of a perpetual lamp.

The girl, wearing a flight cap, noticed Gaga.

"You’re late, Prince! Run!"

Gaga let the night wind flutter his cat ears, which protruded from his head. He brushed the dust from his silk-collared tunic with one hand and strode leisurely toward the Falco, his long, white-tight-clad legs moving with unhurried grace.

"Don’t rush me, you fool of a woman. Royalty must remain composed, especially in a crisis."

"The building’s going to collapse! Stop walking and run!"

The black-haired girl—Noah Linoa—cut Gaga off. Dressed in an amber camisole-corset, a piratical white shawl, and a riding skirt, she pushed her flight goggles up onto her forehead, fixed her clear blue-green eyes on him, and urged him on.

Despite the castle shaking from the bombardment, Gaga came to a stop directly in front of Noah with an infuriatingly placid gait and a resolute expression.

"Do not order your prince around!"

"I don’t care, just get in already!"

"You will say, ‘Please get in,’ you fool! When will you ever learn some proper manners!?"

As they exchanged fruitless barbs, the miasma engine mounted at the rear of the Falco gave a low growl—burororo.

"..."

The mechanic, Leonardo, who had been inspecting it, peeked out from under the fuselage. This extremely taciturn boy, with his white hair, black eyes, and thick linen work clothes covered by an apron, gestured for the two of them to board.

"Alright, alright, I’m going! Get in, quickly!"

Noah hurried Gaga along as she climbed into the cockpit and checked the instruments. Prince Gaga, climbing into the co-pilot’s seat beside her, let out a huff and fastened his seatbelt. The cockpit was incredibly cramped. The miasma engine was right behind them, so close they could reach out and touch the tail propeller. This biplane was a two-seater, which normally meant there was no room for Leonardo.

"........."

With practiced ease, Leonardo donned his flight cap and goggles. He tied a bowstring from a fixture on the side of the cockpit to his belt, sat on the root of the lower wing to Noah’s left, and gripped the strut connecting the upper and lower wings with his left hand. The silent boy’s deadpan expression seemed to say, "This is all I need," as he waited for Noah to connect the engine shaft directly to the rear propeller.

"Contact!"

Noah’s cheerful voice rang out. The propeller began to spin, and the aircraft started to slowly move forward. Gaga, gazing up at the flame-colored night sky, ordered, "Climb above the Floating Sphere. We’ll close in on the enemy fleet and identify them."

"What? Weren’t we getting in this thing to escape?"

"We are getting in to assess the situation from the air! Once we’re airborne, approach the enemy ships without fear, you fool of a woman!"

"Eh—…Two venny gold coins."

Noah’s demand stunned Gaga into silence.

"You dare try to charge me at a time like this!?"

"Of course. I’m a mercenary. If you can’t pay, get out."

"...Air pirates truly are the lowest of the low. It was my mistake to ever hire the likes of you."

"So, what’ll it be?"

"...This is a crisis. I have no choice. I’ll pay you, now fly!"

"Thanks for your business! Alright, Falco, let’s go!"

Noah pulled down her goggles and opened the throttle. With a roar from its miasma engine, Noah’s beloved Falco rattled slightly as it raced across the stone rooftop.

To allow for emergency takeoffs, the parapet-like wall on the north side of the Armory Tower—the breastwork—had been removed. The Falco picked up speed and launched itself off the tower.

"Hnngh—!"

With a flash of fighting spirit, Noah gripped the control stick with both hands and pulled back hard.

The whine of the rear propeller shifted to a higher pitch. The aircraft, after dipping for a moment, lifted its nose and shot up into the night sky.

"...!"

Gaga glared out of the cockpit at the Gato Kingdom Castle rapidly shrinking from view, at the starlit farmlands, the port, and the sea beyond.

The burning ground spread out beneath them.

And above it, three ominous ship silhouettes were carved out of the starry sky.

Gaga pointed at them.

"Toward Antares!"

Noah glanced over her shoulder at the constellation Antares and confirmed the enemy ships, which flew trailing the seven colors of the Vogstock Effect. She tilted the control stick, banking the aircraft into a turn.

A series of flashes erupted from the ships flying over the northern part of Gato Island. Flaming cannonballs tore through the night sky like fiery claws. Their target was the Gato Kingdom Castle. Not only that, but from the underbellies of the ships, pots and barrels with lit fuses were being dropped on the shipyards and warehouses. Upon impact, the incendiary material inside ignited, setting the buildings ablaze.

He could tell from the color of the flames.

"They’re using Apollo Fire, the fiends…!"

The incendiary material packed into the containers was a mixture of resin, turpentine, saltpeter, and tar residue. Once ignited, it could not be extinguished with water and would burn until it was spent. It would burn through wooden sailing ships, of course, but it would also set fire to the beams, girders, and cargo inside stone warehouses. Indiscriminate bombing with Apollo Fire from air sailboats was currently one of the deadliest methods of attack.

The three enemy ships, flying in a line, followed a spiraling course centered on the castle, closing in on the center of the vortex as they fired.

From this distance, the crest on the flag flying from the foremast was hidden by the darkness. Whose fleet was it? Madria? Ionia? Or could it be… the Black Rose Knights?

"Get closer, until I can see the crest!"

"Shut up! It’s dangerous to get too close!"

The Falco’s wings were just fabric stretched over a wooden frame, making them vulnerable to shrapnel. Noah climbed higher and banked, circling around to the front of the enemy air sailboat and approaching from above and ahead, where their firepower was weakest.

Gaga leaned out of the cockpit, staring intently at the approaching ship.

It was a medium-sized air sailboat, over thirty meters long and about seven meters wide. Its lower hull, specialized for firepower and cargo capacity, was suspended from a massive, blue, cocoon-shaped upper structure called a "buoyancy body."

The "Floating Sphere"—a special atmospheric layer about twenty meters thick that covered the entire planet at an altitude of five hundred meters, also known as the "Sky Ocean"—gave the buoyancy body its lift. The main mast, rising from the top of the buoyancy body, caught the wind, allowing the enemy ship to fly with majestic grace. The Vogstock Particles that filled the Floating Sphere reacted with the "Floating Stone" material of the buoyancy body, creating a seven-colored spray like a bow wave. The ship, reflecting the fires on the ground below and trailing a rainbow wake as it sailed through the starry sky, was breathtakingly fantastical—but it was sowing death and destruction. If the enemy fleet was left unchecked, Gato Island would be reduced to a scorched wasteland.

The Falco passed just thirty meters above the enemy air sailboat.

On the sails unfurled from the six masts protruding from the buoyancy body was a crest of a black rose and a sword. Recognizing it, Gaga bit his lip hard.

"The Black Rose Knights…!!"

The "Warriors of Juno," with whom they had buried a long-standing grudge and resumed trade just six months ago.

The righteous order of knights, directly subordinate to the Holy Juno Orthodox Church, was now, right before his eyes, betraying them and indiscriminately slaughtering the people of his kingdom…!

"This is beyond cowardly, you fiends!!"

Having flown past the three ships, Gaga looked back and roared a curse.

As if in answer, more cannons boomed, and scorched cannonballs carved red claw marks into the night sky, striking the hilltop castle one after another.

"Prince, the sea!!"

Noah suddenly shouted, and Gaga snapped his eyes forward.

On the silver-dappled sea, illuminated by the moonlight, he saw a cluster of lights.

He squinted. A considerable number of large ships were sailing in formation, heading for Gato Island.

He hadn’t heard anything about a regular convoy docking tonight. If that was the case, then that fleet could only be…

"I need a closer look! Descend!"

Noah pushed the control stick diagonally. The tip of the right wing pointed toward the sea, and the aircraft dove sharply. Beyond the windscreen, the enemy ships grew rapidly closer. It was clearly not a trade convoy, but an invasion fleet, with ships of the line at its head and on its flanks. There were fast-moving small galleys, galleasses with rows of cannons bristling like hedgehogs from their hulls, and large galley-sails with long oars protruding from both sides. And on the flags flying from their foremasts, a black rose and a sword—.

"They intend to land!?"

Behind the ships of the line followed a transport fleet centered around large merchant vessels. Their holds would be filled not with trade goods, but with fully armed soldiers and warhorses. A massive naval fleet of over thirty ships, large and small, was now advancing on the Gato Kingdom…!

"The rebellion at Red Cape was bait to lure us out. The Black Rose Knights’ true objective was this all along…!"

Duke Callistratus’s rebellion itself was likely instigated by Commander Ilias of the Black Rose Knights. They had gathered an army and formed a fleet under the pretense of suppressing the rebellion, when in fact their target from the very beginning had been the Gato Kingdom.

If King Dada’s air fleet didn’t return, soldiers armed with swords and armor would land, and the Gato Kingdom Castle would be occupied. The soldiers and servants left in the castle, as well as the island’s inhabitants, would be sacrificed in droves…!

"Damn it! We have to stop them! If we let them do as they please, I won’t be able to face my subjects!"

"Stop them? Impossible. The Falco doesn’t have any weapons."

Gnnn… Gaga groaned, glaring at the enemy fleet. The sacred relic Falco could fly, but it wasn’t equipped with cannons or guns.

Helpless, he could only watch as the three enemy airships began to bombard the urban areas of Gato Island.

Viewed from the Falco flying at an altitude of six hundred meters, the burning island scorched the hem of the night sky, standing out in red against the dark sea. He could almost hear the screams of the fleeing citizens and the frantic clanging of bells.

Gaga snarled like a beast.

I have to stop them. What kind of first prince am I if I can’t save my people?

But I have no way to do it…!!

Just then, Leonardo, who was kneeling on the root of the left wing, poked Noah and silently pointed not at the naval fleet, but to the northeast.

"Hm?" Noah tilted her head, looked in the indicated direction, and then clapped her hands.

"That’s right, let’s go to Red Cape! Maybe the king doesn’t even realize his own home is being bombed!"

"...Red Cape? It’ll take too long to get there now… No, wait, with the Falco…"

Gaga swallowed the reflexive objection he was about to make and thought.

By ship, it would take over an hour even with a favorable wind, but the Falco could get there in less than the time it took to flip an hourglass twice—about ten minutes. If he could inform the Gattoland Air Fleet, which should be at Red Cape, of the Black Rose Knights’ betrayal, and return to Gato Island with them, they could easily annihilate the three airships and the naval fleet.

There’s no other option but to use the Falco’s speed now.

The Falco can deliver an urgent report far faster and more reliably than a messenger gazelle…!

Not bad.

"For an idiot, that’s a fine idea! I’ll accept it, you fool!!"

"You could try complimenting me properly for a change…"

"Silence! Fly to Red Cape!"

Arguing all the while, the Falco banked, leaving the besieged Gato Kingdom behind, and flew toward the friendly fleet twenty kilometers away.

"...Forgive me. I will return soon. Hold on, my people…"

Gaga looked back over his shoulder at the distant silhouette of Gato Island, wreathed in orange flames. Outlined by the fires on the ground, the enemy ships, trailing their seven-colored wakes, were just about to reach the skies above the castle.

If he stared hard enough, he could see over a hundred flight soldiers with gliders strapped to their backs leaping from the airships. Their eerie, moth-like silhouettes were headed for the main tower of the Gato Kingdom Castle. Gliding from an altitude of five hundred meters, the flight soldiers could bypass the castle’s outer bailey and attack the main tower in the inner bailey directly.

I will be back soon. For now, please, escape…!

All he could do was send a prayer that would never reach the soldiers and servants remaining in the castle. The only thing he could do now was to deliver the urgent news to the friendly fleet at Red Cape as quickly as possible, and then rush back here to fight.

Watching the Gato Kingdom being swallowed by the darkness of night, Gaga turned his eyes forward again. Ahead lay only a pitch-black starry sky and a dark sea that faintly reflected the starlight. Gazing at the scene, which seemed to be a dark omen for his own future, Gaga sank back into thought.

How in the world did we end up in this situation…?

Ever since their victory in the Battle of Sea and Air In Three-pronged Strait against the Grapeland Sea City-State Alliance ten years ago, the Gato Kingdom had been the undisputed ruler of the Grapeland Sea, dominating both sky and sea with the strongest fleets. In contrast, the Black Rose Knights had been in decline for the past decade. Just six months ago, they had submitted to the demands of the Chancellor of the Gato Kingdom, Nanahara Yoshiharu, and handed over Commander Ilias’s beloved daughter, Artemisia, as a ward—in other words, a hostage—to finally resume trade with the Gato Kingdom.

But the Black Rose Knights, who were supposed to have repaired relations, had turned on them in just six months, carrying out this large-scale invasion. Even if they managed to occupy Gato Island for a time, it was obvious that the Gattoland fleet dispatched to Red Cape would return and retake it.

Do they not care what happens to the hostage…?

After Gato Island was retaken by the Gato Kingdom, Artemisia would surely be executed. The thought of the fate awaiting Artemisia, whose lovely demeanor had earned her the name "Jewel of the Grapeland Sea," made Gaga’s chest ache.

Though a hostage, he had interacted with Artemisia as if she were family, even showing her around the city when they were alone. Unlike Noah, she was well-mannered, with a modest and reserved personality, a lovely girl whose occasional smiles were captivating. Gaga could not comprehend the obsession of Commander Ilias, who would sacrifice such a beautiful daughter to overthrow the Gato Kingdom.

To make an innocent daughter a sacrificial lamb for his own ambitions.

Have you lost your mind, Ilias? You will regret your folly in hell…!

With seething rage in his eyes, Gaga flew straight for Red Cape.

In the starry sky ahead, he could see the faint image of Artemisia’s sad smile from when they had first met six months ago.

Gaga’s thoughts had drifted back to that first meeting.

Yes, he, his second brother Toto, and his second sister Lulu had met the newly arrived Artemisia on the pier of the Gattoland Airport.

Looking back, Commander Ilias’s plot may have already been in motion even then…