Published: August 10, 2026
Lizel was crossing Sars Great Bridge alone.
The sky was a little cloudy, but the sun, now high overhead, shone through the white clouds and was bright enough.
Still, it might rain tomorrow.
"If it does, I wonder if they'll be okay."
Lizel murmured inwardly as he looked ahead, where a makeshift camping ground had been set up.
Right beside the bridge, along the lakeshore, were the demonic bird cavalry, who had arrived in Sars just yesterday. They were the elite of Astarnia, having flown all the way here across the sky.
If he walked halfway across the bridge, he could see into the camping ground.
The familiar demonic birds strolled about leisurely while their partners chatted with them about something. Had lunch already ended? Everyone seemed relaxed, even while maintaining discipline.
Along the lake beside the camping ground, Lizel could see Sars's merchant boats, brimming with entrepreneurial spirit.
They must have spotted a business opportunity and rowed out with their goods aboard. In front of those merchants, a few demonic bird cavalry members had gathered. Perhaps they had found something that caught their interest.
"(Yesterday, they said the Astarnia envoy entered the castle, so maybe they're free.)"
Lizel thought of one royal family member.
He had accompanied Lizel when they returned from Astarnia to the Capital City. Most likely, it was him again this time.
When countries hold repeated negotiations, the envoys they exchange almost never change partway through. Even if they represent a nation, trust is first built between individuals. Unilaterally replacing an envoy is no different from destroying the trust painstakingly built up over time.
If so, then the royal palace guards were surely assigned to protect that royal family member.
In that case, the person Lizel was looking for should still be somewhere in the camping ground before him.
"Um."
By the time he finished crossing the bridge, he was rummaging through his pouch.
What he took out was a flute. A small wooden flute, its surface smoothly carved.
Untangling the string with his hand, Lizel placed the flute between his lips. Fiu, a high-pitched note rang out.
The demonic birds in the camping ground turned toward him for a moment. Most of them quickly lost interest, but one of them kept staring at Lizel.
The man walking beside it sharply scanned the area, looking for whatever had caught his partner's attention.
"Mr. Nahas."
Stepping off the stone bridge and onto the dirt ground, Lizel called out.
Nahas, whom he had not seen in a long time, was staring back in complete surprise.
After relocating, within Sars.
Over freshly brewed coffee, Lizel and Nahas were sharing the joy of their reunion.
"You really were in Sars."
"I wrote it in my letter."
"Well, yes, but still."
Lizel led Nahas to a café with a waterfront terrace.
He had visited the place frequently ever since The Elder Gentleman introduced it to him. Nahas had been to Sars before, so Lizel had thought it might not feel especially novel to him, but apparently that was not the case.
Right after being shown to a terrace seat, Nahas kept glancing down at the floor several times, looking uneasy.
"This is the first time I've ever drunk coffee on top of water..."
"There's a restaurant where you can eat inside the water, too."
"I can't even imagine that..."
Lizel drank his freshly brewed coffee and let a smile slip.
It was amusing, because Nahas was so calm while perched in the sky, which felt even less stable than being over water.
"You didn't enter Sars before, right?"
"That time? Yes, that's right. Only Prince His Highness and his guards were granted entry permits."
"Now that you mention it, things were a little tense, weren't they?"
"It was more than just a little for Sars, but yes."
The "before" he referred to was when Lizel and the others returned to the Capital City from Astarnia.
The three of them had been mixed into the envoy traveling toward Sars at just the right time. It had been a luxurious yet easygoing journey, made possible thanks to the lobbying and arrangements of Arim, the royal brother.