The ship was independent enough to move by itself across the sea, beneath the calm waters, thousands of glimmers resembling stars were the constant view
Vladimir was sitting, his gaze holding some resentment, remembering how he lost so easily and was a hindrance in the fight Ria, for her part, was asleep at Vladimir's side, who simply couldn't help having his personal suspicions
—"Are you the type who gets bothered by interrogations?" said Vladimir
—"As long as you're not bold, we'll be fine" replied the emissary of the flames "Kyou" was sitting, being somewhat large and burly, his body took up a good part of the ship
—"Well, first... it surprises me that we can sail this easily on the sea of souls, is it because of your presence?"
The emissary laughed lightly, raising his sight to the glow of the moon
—"Partly, but there are two other reasons. The first is that I'm concentrating my Ether strength on the ship, avoiding lesser souls... ah, and also because it's not such a risky distance, Ritharion and the desert are somewhat close, very convenient for us"
—"Okay..."
Vladimir glanced toward the sea from time to time, swallowing a little saliva, he spoke
—"Why do you need bodyguards like us? I mean, you could have given Amaya and Ryouji a good deal, couldn't you? Such strong people at your back..."
—"I think there's something you don't understand, Vladimir"
—"Huh?" he raised his gaze, his eyes opening wider than usual
—"Fighters that good are of no use to me if they're so strong that they'd betray me whenever it suits them, they hate me, an alliance is impossible... besides"
[...]
—"You're like a perfect human, but you waste your ability"
The emissary's words surprised Vladimir
—"Sorry...? The... perfect human, me? I mean... a few hours ago you saw how Amaya used me as a hostage, and I was a hindrance to Ria, a hindrance to a little girl!"
—" I'll explain everything in detail during the rest of our trip... we'll arrive tomorrow, we'll eat something stored in the backpacks and begin my objective... and before you ask, I'll see to their reward, my two stars deserve very good treatment in their new life"
[...]
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Dawn was rising, for some strange reason, as always, it was cloudy
Kaede was turning slightly as she walked, cheerful, she wasn't used to going out without proper supervision, she could have fun
—"Let's go see... Ritharion!" she shouted excitedly, raising her arms to the sky and looking at Ritharion
It was an immense circular city, despite being so big, no building was of a size considered tall, maintaining a subtler atmosphere, and from what it seems, the roads connect everywhere, and the noise of the people is nonexistent
Shiro advanced to Kaede's side
"Before coming here, I couldn't smile at anyone, it disgusted me, I felt that it would satisfy the people who thought I was wrong"
Kaede turned to look at Shiro happily, smiling, showing her teeth
"But..."
—"Let's go, Kaede" said Shiro, with a slight smile
"Only she can make me smile, maybe"
And so, the two advanced toward their day off, which would completely change the course that Alma Rigel gave him...
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
However calm his walk appeared, his head hurt... spinning and spinning, at some moments he could fall
—"Are you okay, Shiro?" Kaede raised her hand to Shiro's shoulder, trying to steady him
—"Relax... it's nothing"
"Hey, Alma..."
Shiro was trying to call your attention
"You didn't have to cause me pain, since when can you do that?"
"That doesn't matter, Shiro, you have to leave Ritharion immediately, tell everyone to get out of there"
"Huh?"
"Before it's too late, Shiro"
"But, Alma..."
"Shiro."
The sweet tone of Alma Rigel became more authoritative
"Listen to me, the days when you laugh... could disappear, get out of there, please, it's still very early"
"Early for... what?"
Alma's voice broke up on its own, she couldn't find the words, so... Shiro's body suddenly went limp, closing his eyelids and losing control
Before he kissed the ground, Kaede took his body with force, highly worried, she clumsily took out her cell phone, but she snatched it away
—"H-hey, wait!"
White, straight hair down to the limit of her neck, covering part of her forehead, she calmly set down Kaede's cell phone
—"There's no need to call anyone and make a fuss, I'll... I'll protect him" said Kira
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
—"Shiro, you can hear me, right?" said Alma Rigel
—"What are you supposed to... want? Today I was supposed to be at peace, can't I ask for that?"
—"I know... I know, but... forget it, he's already here, to hell with talking, do you remember what you mentioned to me about breaking physical strength?"
—"Yes...?"
—"Use it"
—"W-wait, am I going to fight?!"
—"Yes, don't die, you don't have the right yet"
Little by little, the light reached Shiro
—"Why do you speak... as if you knew everything...?"
Alma didn't respond, Shiro opened his eyes somewhat dizzy, his head was in a comfortable place, so he could state with relief that it wasn't the ground
Upon raising his sight, she only let him see half of the sky, he was lying in Kira's lap
—"Awake, Shiro?"
—"Uh... um... yes"
It was the first time a girl who, did this, it's normal to be embarrassed, isn't it?
Kira helped Shiro get up gently
—"Does anything hurt?"
Kira took Shiro by the shoulders, it was easy to have direct contact since they were both around 1.80
—"No, I'm fine now, it seems it was temporary"
Kira looked at him with some distrust
—"I have a question for you" said Kira
—"Yes?"
—"Could you tell Kaede to call Selina now, or rather, the mansion? A crisis is probably approaching, I can sense someone storing too much Ether in the distance, so-"
Before she could keep talking, Kaya ran up from behind, she was wearing her work armor, totally gold with some black details to make it presentable
—"Kira... they have to evacuate the city, call the house of the megaphone"
—"I did a while ago, I don't know why we haven't heard it"
[...]
"Why is the atmosphere so heavy all of a sudden? Even I can feel it... but Kaede not being here unsettles me"
thought Shiro
In an instant, the screams of the citizens of Ritharion began to spread everywhere, people ran around Shiro, the elf Kaya, and Kira Children, women, men, flee desperately, Kira rose up to a rooftop, looking into the distance toward the middle of the city
—"But... what...?"
The middle of Riharion was reduced to ashes, there were no flames, just a destruction created silently
—"Wait... that was 3 entire streets...the people who lived there...?"
Kaya advanced to Kira's side, Shiro beside her, having had to help him up
—"I don't like this... only advanced maho cards can do this... it's a spell that uses Ether and the scarce mana" murmured Kaya with some fear
The screams grew more distant, people ran desperately, they didn't try to help keep calm, for Kira, it would be a waste of time
—"It's my duty to introduce myself"
A somewhat arrogant male voice emerged, indecipherable to Kaya and Shiro
He emerged with his hood in the air in the middle of the explosion made behind him, which took a large part of Ritharion, And so, Vladimir Deveroux levitated in the air, looking directly at Shiro, Kaya and Kira
—"Bodyguard (star) of the emissary of the blue flames, representing the perfect human, Vladimir Deveroux"
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Smoke began to emerge near Vladimir, a sign of the explosion behind them
—"It's impossible, I can detect that your card isn't maho, how did you do that spell?" said Kaya very pensively
—"What are your names?" said Vladimir, loudly to be heard over the distant screams
Kira took a step forward, in position to draw her card if necessary
—"You have 10 seconds to tell me what you're doing here and why"
Vladimir laughed lightly
—"10... 10 seconds...?" Vladimir counted them on his fingers
—"You also have 10 seconds to get away from him, according to the emissary's description, this one is Mimosa" said Vladimir
—"Here, right?"
That dull voice came from Ria, who was standing next to Shiro, Ria's knife pressed against Shiro's rib, one false move and he would regret it
—"Bodyguard of the emissary of... oh, my line... the emissary of the blue flames, representing speed in diminutive, oh what an annoying nickname... my name is Ria, just Ria"
Kira looked at Ria with a murderous gaze, while Kaya took subtle steps to the edge of the rooftop And so, behind Vladimir, he finally emerged, a burly, large body, appearing invincible, the emissary of the blue flames laughing lightly
—"This city brings me bad memories, I'll destroy it at my leisure and fulfill my objective"
And so, Shiro Mimosa and the emissary Kyou exchanged their first glance