Toaru Hikuushi e no Seiyaku:V4Part7

Part 7

I still haven’t gotten used to the wind in this city.

The cold, crisp winds that blow through the high altitudes. The distant atmosphere, where you can barely feel the breath of the people. Even the street trees, clearly not native to this city, seem to reach their green branches uncomfortably toward the too-close sky.

The capital of Urano, Pleiades.

According to Urano mythology, it was prophesied to one day rule over heaven and earth, this giant floating city in the sky.

As you walk along its streets, clouds pass right by you. Even when the sky brightens, the sun rises late, and the afterglow lingers long after sunset. The scenery changes as the island constantly moves, offering an ever-shifting view—one month, you might gaze out over the open sea, and the next, you might be overlooking a rugged mountain range and red earth.

Daily life isn’t much different from ground-based cities. The city’s infrastructure is well-developed, with large seawater distillation plants ensuring a stable water supply. Since the city itself is mobile and armed, transportation costs for long-distance trade are kept low, generating enormous profits for the island over time.

With a total length of 55 kilometres, a width of 24 kilometres, and a circumference of 220 kilometres, it takes about four hours to drive around the island’s outer ring road. The island is the pinnacle of Urano’s civilization. In the Evangelis district, where the royal palace and government offices are located, a vibrant marketplace is lined with colourful storefronts, and the wide streets are bustling with smiling citizens and the laughter of children. Most residents of Evangelis are wealthy, and their bright clothing and loose wallets make for a lively market filled with spices, meats, seafood, fruits, silks, carpets, and dazzling ornaments from all over the world.

—A paradise in the sky.

That rhetoric, which I’ve heard countless times since coming to Pleiades, echoes faintly in my ears.

I’ve even forgotten how to sigh.

Mio Syira shut the curtains on the view of Pleiades spreading out below her. The cheerful, clear view only irritated her now that she had lost her heart. She wanted to live curled up in a dark room, turning her back on her own existence.

But the situation wouldn’t allow even that small desire to be fulfilled.

“Do you not need the sunlight? I don’t mind. Now, let’s go over things again. Stab my right eye with that fountain pen.”

The female tutor, a woman in her fifties who looked emaciated, commanded something violent in an eerily calm voice.

Mio gripped the fountain pen in her right hand.

Without hesitation, she approached the tutor and, as she passed by, reversed her grip and aimed the pen’s tip at the woman’s right eye.

“Your bloodlust is too obvious. Your left foot is too slow to step in.”

The tutor grabbed Mio’s wrist and criticized her. The pen tip stopped just short of the eyeball. Mio didn’t even nod, simply distanced herself from the tutor and repeated the action.

Once the form was correct, the tutor sat down and urged Mio on.

“Next, break my neck.”

Mio nodded, moved behind the tutor, grabbed the top of her head and jaw like a steering wheel, and twisted sharply.

“You still hesitate.”

The tutor, now lying flat with her face horizontal to the ground, grabbed Mio’s wrist and critiqued her. At first, it had been unbearably creepy, but Mio had gotten used to it by now.

She had stopped thinking.

She simply absorbed the techniques taught to her. That was all that mattered.

As long as Mio’s family could be saved.

After spending all day learning assassination techniques, Mio ate dinner alone in the dining hall. A dedicated housekeeper took care of her daily needs, allowing Mio to devote every moment to training as a special operative.

Mechanically, she spooned soup into her stomach while gazing up at the grand chandelier.

Eating alone in the vast dining hall no longer felt lonely.

She was just a bird in a cage. A beloved pet toyed with by Zenon Kavaris, the deputy minister of Urano’s foreign affairs office. As long as she accepted that fate, her siblings wouldn’t have to suffer the same.

Mio lived in Zenon’s private villa. Located in a resort area at the foot of the Petra Mountains that ran through Pleiades, the villa had been Mio’s solitary confinement for nearly a year.

A team of tutors trained Mio relentlessly, turning her into a special operative. At first, she resisted, but eventually, she grew tired of thinking, and now she simply followed instructions—learning to deceive others, gather information, destroy facilities, and assassinate key figures.

If she ever refused, the same line would be delivered without fail.

“If you want your family to suffer, that’s fine by me.”

Those words alone left Mio unable to resist. No matter how repulsive the training, she had no choice but to kill her emotions and accept it.

—I’ve already thrown my own happiness into the trash.

—As long as my brothers and sisters don’t have to go through this, it’s fine…

Telling herself this, she endured the daily training.

After finishing her meal, the housekeepers mechanically cleared away Mio’s dishes. She had never spoken to them. Aside from her education, Mio had no one to talk to—only Zenon, who visited the villa every few months to check on her.

Following dinner was a lesson in wiretapping and reading intercepted letters.

As Mio stood up from her chair, not thinking about anything, the door to the dining hall opened.

“How have you been, Mio?”

A gentle smile, but with a cold glint behind his glasses.

It was Zenon Kavaris, who had visited the villa for the first time in three months.

Mio lowered her left foot and bowed her head in a formal gesture.

“Thanks to you, I am in good health, sir.”

Her voice was devoid of emotion, reciting the words she had been taught by her tutors, without a single thought behind them.

“I keep telling you, there’s no need for such formalities,” Zenon said, shrugging, gesturing toward a chair with his chin. “Sit down. I want to get a good look at your face.”

Mio sat back down in silence.

Zenon placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face, carefully studying her expression.

“You’ve lost your spark. You used to be much more lively.”

“……………………”

“Well, I suppose that’s to be expected with this lifestyle. But your charm lies in that vivaciousness and intelligence of yours. If you lose that, you lose your value. That’s not a good sign.”

“……………………”

“I have some good news for you. Would you like to hear it?”

As he played with a strand of her hair, Zenon whispered softly. Mio didn’t nod.

“I suppose you don’t know how to answer a question that’s not in your textbooks, do you? Such rigid programming… But it’s fine. The efforts of Chrono Magos have paid off. Your second eldest brother managed to defect to Harmonia yesterday. He’ll be coming to Pleiades soon.”

For the first time today, Mio’s face showed a trace of human emotion.

“Yan…?!”

“He was being sheltered by undercover operatives in St Vault, but managed to escape via the Zunjin Dynasty. You’ll see him soon.”

Mio rose slightly from her chair, staring at Zenon in disbelief. She couldn’t hide her joy.

“Thank you… Thank you so much! I never thought I’d see him again…”

The gratitude was genuine. Yan Syira, the second son of the family and a former high-ranking official in the St Vault Empire’s central government, had disappeared after the true identity of Ethan was revealed. But thanks to the help of Chrono Magos, Zenon’s network of influential figures, he had successfully fled the country.

“That makes your sister and two brothers safe. Now, we just need to rescue your parents and your two younger brothers and sister… but that’s proving to be a bit more complicated. However, I’ll continue working on it.”

Mio’s father, Ethan, mother Greta, brothers Dominic and Kazuki, and sister Bonita were still missing, having been detained on the island of Crossnodal. According to Zenon, Chrono Magos was doing everything it could to secure their release, and if the operation succeeded, they would be brought to Pleiades to reunite with Mio.

“Please… I beg you… save my parents and siblings…”

Mio could only cling to Zenon. After all, he had already saved her sister and two brothers, bringing them to safety in Pleiades. Mio understood that she was the lifeline for her family’s survival.

For the sake of her family, she could endure any humiliation.

That was the only reason Mio kept going.

“I will do my best, as long as you continue to do as I say.”

Zenon said this with a smile that appeared friendly but was loaded with malice.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Mio knelt before Zenon.

“…At your will.”

I don’t care what happens to me anymore. As long as Zenon is satisfied and my family is saved, I will remain a lifeless puppet.

Zenon looked down at Mio with satisfaction, then stroked his chin.

“…However, it’s difficult. Your appeal as a woman is undeniable, but right now, you’re more of a beautiful doll. If you had a bit more liveliness, more humanity, you could become an even more captivating operative.”

He gazed at the ceiling in thought, then suddenly smiled as if an idea had come to him.

“…Let’s move, Mio.”

“…?”

“There’s a royal villa deeper in these mountains called the Lamia Palace. A very important person lives there, but they’re suffering from terrible loneliness. Perhaps you could be a comfort to them.”

Mio could only look back at Zenon’s smile with suspicion.

“Your mission is to befriend that person. Simple, right? Much easier than learning assassination or tailing techniques. It’ll be a nice change of pace, for both of you.”

Zenon seemed to have already made the decision. He called for the housekeeper and ordered Mio’s belongings to be packed. Her opinion was irrelevant.

That night.

Just before getting into bed, Mio’s eyes caught a glimpse of her reflection in the window.

At the same moment, a sharp pain pierced through her chest, and the faces of Kiyoaki and her comrades overlapped with her own expression.

She should have forgotten them by now. The bonds she herself had thrown away. But despite thinking how pathetic it was, she couldn’t help but wonder how they were doing now.

She wasn’t seeking forgiveness.

It was undeniable that she and Reiner were the ones who had guided Urano’s air forces to Air Hunt Island.

So, she didn’t want to be forgiven. She wanted them to hate her, despise her, curse her. She was prepared to accept that fate.

—Kiyoaki must have already forgotten about me.

—Illia, Cecil, the captain, Kagura… they must all hate me by now.

—That’s fine. I hope they forget about me, too…

She told herself this, but the tears began to flow on their own.

In her mind, she could still hear that oath.

"Even if we become enemies, we will not hate each other"

"Friendship is eternal."

The naive promise they made, without knowing what the future held.

Now that the cruel reality had come crashing down, she knew that nothing was truly eternal.

How could they not hate her, after she had betrayed her comrades to Urano in exchange for her family’s safety?

Even as she scolded herself for her weakness, the tears wouldn’t stop.

—Idiot. Idiot. Idiot…

Over and over, she cursed herself, eventually averting her gaze from her reflection in the window.

The departure was the next morning.

Dressed and ready, Mio climbed into a carriage drawn by two horses. Zenon saw her off from the entrance.

“I can’t accompany you due to work, but I hope you get along well. I’ll see you again in a few months, and by then, I expect you to have built a good rapport with our friend.”

Zenon waved with an innocent smile, and Mio responded with a polite bow.

“…I will do my best.”

“Good. You’ve been briefed on the person, right? They are crucial to Urano’s future, so make sure not to upset them.”

“…I will do my best.”

Repeating the same reply, the coachman whipped the horses, and Mio left Zenon’s estate.

She felt no regret about moving to a new residence. After all, she was just a puppet now, no longer burdened by human emotions.

As she rode, she replayed the information about her new charge in her mind, as Zenon’s tutor had explained to her earlier. Her only goal was to ingratiate herself with them, as that was the only way to please Zenon and secure her family’s safety.

The road began to climb steeply, twisting through unpaved switchbacks. For a royal villa, it was in a rather remote location. Along the way, they passed a large checkpoint, where a dozen heavily armed guards kept a close watch on the desolate road.

The soldiers’ armour seemed unusual. They didn’t look like Urano soldiers. Perhaps they were personal guards assigned to the important figure Mio was being sent to serve.

As the carriage passed under the thick canopy of trees, a massive gate loomed ahead. It was more like a fortress than a villa. The coachman presented identification and travel permits to the guards, who scrutinized Mio’s profile through the carriage window before opening the gate.

The estate was vast, with sentry towers equipped with gun turrets scattered throughout the grounds. The mansion itself had an old-fashioned colonnade, and a tall round tower stood behind the main building.

—It feels like a prison.

That was Mio’s first impression as she was escorted inside.

A tall, armed guard greeted her. He had sharp, melancholic eyes and slightly long Gray hair. Even Mio, who usually didn’t care about others’ appearances, felt her heart skip a beat at his strikingly beautiful features.

After introducing herself as the new attendant sent by Zenon to take care of the important figure, the guard, who had an androgynous face, turned his back to her without a nod and walked deeper into the entrance hall.

When Mio hesitated, he turned back with an irritated look and barked at her.

“What are you doing? Follow me.”

He seemed quite arrogant. Feeling slightly annoyed, Mio silently followed him.

There were few people in the large mansion, and the furnishings were covered in dust. It seemed like an unusually barren place for someone important to live, reinforcing the impression of a prison.

The guard began to climb a spiral staircase. It was long, and no matter how far they ascended, the top didn’t seem to come into view. It must have been the tall tower she had seen from the garden. Was this where the person she was to serve lived?

—Like a prisoner.

That thought crossed her mind as they reached the top of the stairs, where the guard stopped in front of a door. He seemed about to knock, but then reconsidered and looked down at Mio with a stern expression.

“I don’t care what your mission is here, but remember this. If you do anything suspicious, I will personally throw you out.”

It seemed he was the knight in charge of protecting the important figure.

Without much interest, Mio responded curtly.

“As you wish.”

The knight gave her a puzzled look before finally knocking on the door.

“I’ve brought the new attendant.”

A thin, girlish voice answered from inside.

“Please come in.”

The knight gestured with his chin for Mio to enter.

“Go in. And I’m warning you again—don’t do anything foolish.”

Without replying, Mio opened the door and stepped inside.

The top room of the round tower was sparse, with only the bare minimum of furnishings. A few history books, encyclopedias, and maps of the world compiled by Urano filled the bookshelf. A statue of Saint Aldista stood atop the shelf, hands clasped together, gazing into the void.

A narrow skylight in the dome-shaped ceiling let in a sliver of sunlight, which fell in a white shaft, like an inverted funnel, upon the girl sitting in the chair.

—She looks like a doll.

That was Mio’s first impression.

Kneeling, she introduced herself.

“My name is Mio Syira. I will be taking care of you from today. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Mio raised her head and met the eyes of the princess seated in the velvet-covered chair.

At that moment, a painful pang struck Mio’s chest.

—She looks like me.

For some inexplicable reason, that thought crossed her mind.

“Thank you for your service.”

In a refined, small voice, the princess responded.

Her black hair was neatly cut at her shoulders. She wore a plain white blouse and a navy skirt, with a simple pendant at her chest. When Mio had been briefed by her tutors, she had expected a more regal, grandiose figure, but in person, the princess appeared modest, clean, and graceful.

—She seems kind…

Once again, Mio’s gaze was drawn to the white light surrounding the princess.

She seemed as fragile as a sculpture of ice, as if she might melt into a puddle in the sunlight. The concentrated sadness emanating from her pressed down on Mio’s chest.

Could this pure, untainted girl really have once led a nation to ruin and annihilated Urano’s fleet at the Holy Spring?

—The saviour foretold in the ancient myths.

A figure who Urano had awaited for over two thousand years. And yet, all that reflected in her grape-coloured eyes was sorrow.

—The heir to Urano.

According to prophecy, this girl would one day become the king of Urano and unite the world, bringing eternal peace to the heavens and the earth.

—The girl who calls the wind.

I wonder… can we become friends?

—Nina Viento.

END Volume 4