No matter how much of a princess Sera is, sometimes she also oversleeps, like a lot.

  As already mentioned, since it's her extended vacation, I'm pretty much relieved from work under her, so while I don't have duties in the kitchen, I am basically free, and it's either I use that time to return to nature or I'm just really bored to death.

  In the case of the latter, I go to Nero's office in search for something to do, and it always happen that he never puts his books to where he got them from so it's my and Gin's primary duty to tend to his bookshelf. This time however, Gin is out with the knights as he sometimes act as a defense instructor as in terms of combat, he has min-maxed his defense as he has sworn an oath to never kill even in this world no matter what.

  Meanwhile, I found myself accompanying the prince out of his office in search for his "twin" and thus knocked in his shared room with Shiro.

  "Nagi, can I come in?"

  Muffled, his voice could be heard from the other side of the door.

  "A-Ahh… I'm sorry but it's really messy in here."

  "Oh, so the usual."

  "Why do you have to be so harsh every time, Prince Nero."

  It never really gets old when you hear two people with the same voice and same face talk to each other. Regardless, Nacchi opened the door and let us inside the room.

  "My word, this sight never really gets old…"

  Entering the room is like infiltrating a different dimension as colors explode all around, yet still contained at the confines of countless frames and canvases hanged on the walls and littered across the floor. And in the middle of them all are Nagi and Shiro donning coveralls that could be mistaken to Pollock's piece with how much paint has turned into noise on their clothes.

  "I finished much of my work so I have some free time. Care for a spar?"

  "We really do have different interpretations of free time, Your Highness…" Nacchi sighed as he takes off his coveralls.

  Despite him getting knocked down by Gin at an earlier spar, even Nacchi has put on the work on himself evident with how defined his arms have become underneath the garment. When he's not matched with Gin, he actually holds his own.

  "I suppose I'm still drying out an underpainting right now, so I'll oblige."

  "Shirooo~ Let's also take a break. I'll prepare us some refreshments."

  "Wai- Is it time for afternoon tea already, Ringo?"

  That should put into perspective how much Sera oversleeps that it's borderline worrying.

  Just like how much of a whiplash it was to enter the busy sight of Nagi and Shiro's room and workshop, it was the same as we exit the room where we see once more how dull the halls of the palace are, in comparison.

  I at this point sound like a broken record, but in four years, so much has happened, yet some things have also not.

  Visual art, in terms of painting and organic sculptures in a sense captures the essence of living things, is still incredibly foreign to the point that we still question how photography came first, and that drawing is only for drafting and diagram while reliefs can only be found in the kingdom's architectural style.

  Still, it's not as if those branches of visual art are completely devoid in this place as there are evidence of Lascaux-like ancient drawings, but that is the extent of it. There are no artisans here that practice such art, and yet here we are hiding from the public all the paintings that Nagi, Shiro, and by extension Gin and I did for some.

  Only a few within the inner palace knows about the existence of painting, and even from surveying their reactions, we might face an issue that it may instill the thought that people could lose their jobs from this, which is in some ways ironic.

  Humans tend to be more attracted with colors, and the sudden existence of images and portraits with hues giving life to it might threaten the monochromatic photograph industry, and a divide could crack between the common people that views it as a good thing and artisans that put their blood and sweat into their piece of invention.

  Despite our knowledge of art history, it felt as if we have time traveled to a point in the Earth's past, and when it came down to realizing our intentions, it was incredibly hard to come up with a way to make the two sides smoothly and concretely coexist, as reading books is much different from experiencing things first hand.

  "Princess Sera Quira, you really took quite a heavy undertaking for yourself…"

  "You know what…" Nero turned around with his finger raised, "Let's do this somewhere for a change of pace."

  In his command, we walked down to the palace stables and brought out four horses. I can proudly say that all of us can now ride on a horseback after all these years. Gaining height upon mounting on my trustee steed, Maki without the '-baoh', I caught a glimpse of Shiro and Nacchi bringing out a white cloth and pulling up their hoods.

  It was still a surprise to learn that Gin had found an AMM deposit in this world, and he spared no time in recreating the white mask he brought with him. Nonetheless, the best he could do with so limited equipment even when he knows the process of making it is an imperfect and uneven shape that fails to cover the entirety of their faces. Thankfully, the only part that was not sealed were their mouths and not the eyes.

  Even so, it did not stop the two of them from interacting with people outside the palace, as our cover up story is that they were also refugees from war in Orio where their faces suffered from irreparable damage and it seems that citizens of Avarco bought to our lie. Well, if there are some keen enough to recognize their voices, it could be passed up that the royalty is skipping work and walking around town. Still, we would also wear hoods when we go out with them in an expression of solidarity.

  And going back to my horse, no, his hair is not white and he does not defecate like a heavy machine gun.

  "If you're all ready, shall we go?"

  "You heard our captain, shut-ins! We can't miss afternoon tea!"

  "So that was your motivation!"

  A kilometer and some away from the inner palace stand a small baker village that is responsible for most of the processing of wheat as well as the production of baked goods in the capital city. They are also directly involved in trading and mercantile where the village exchanges harvest of rye for wheat and rice, ironic as it may sound.

  In the outskirts of the village is a small villa owned by the royal family used as a place of rest, being simply a home with a study or an office completely absent from it.

  As much as I don't feel indifferent about benefiting from Nero's privilege, there are some things in this world that you should not say no to, especially from those with a seat of power. One word from Nero, and a nearby cafe delivers to this villa fresh pastries and a myriad of drinks for us to indulge ourselves.

  But in times like this, Nero goes to let loose and puts a boring twist on a sparring match where he puts something at stake. And usually, the prize is going to be food. In this case, mangoes don't really grow in Avarco because of its climate, and it's out of season but even then, the patisseries of this village are experts at making anything good which is why the two of them are going to be fighting for the cafe's limited-edition mango pie.

  I say that, but he always gets us one less for how many we are of whatever he requests for just to cement that the losing one never gets it. I guess my employers are quite generous.

  As if a deja vu, the sound of wooden swords striking against each other echoed into the fields while Shiro and I watch and enjoy the clean air that sometimes carries the waft of freshly baked bread.

  "It never feels not weird to look at two identical faces on a swordplay," Shiro blankly let out.

  "Confused on who to cheer for?"

  "It doesn't matter since this doesn't mean I'll get another mango pie.

  And what's got your eyes on now?"

  "Nothing," I say when there was indeed something as a pair of binoculars gives my eyes the magnification that allows me to look way into the central palace.

  "And weren't you the one drooling over the availability of a wide array of lenses in this kingdom?" I added.

  "I definitely did not."

  I'll take it, but I was not dreaming when I saw her gushing, almost crying, over seeing an old camera, and touching it to boot, rather than her prior experience in our world where she could only see it in a display.

  Meanwhile, in getting my cup half empty, I have heard the scrunch of dirt twice as a body impact on it.

  "That's two to nil, Nagi. Are you not going to get a comeback?"

  "I will at least try…"

  Sometimes, I do feel like Nero is just toying with Nacchi. I wouldn't say that he falls behind to Nero a lot, but it just happens that he is seasoned in combat training and real-world experience with a real blade when he is undercover.

  But what Nacchi takes the edge is with creativity, in which what makes him pull ahead against the sheer experience in occasion by employing some tricks that may or may not be dirty.

  Nero complained about it, but of all people to remind him that honor is worthless in a battlefield full of blood, and that your only objective is to stay alive, it came from Nacchi who definitely just ripped that line out from a TV show or anime, but it worked.

  Still, some tricks only work once, and with Nero's sense in combat, there hasn't been a time where something worked on him the second time… and it seems like Nacchi today is on a rut.

  "Sorry, but I'll have the pie this time."

  "Damn."

  And so, after shaking themselves off of dirt, they joined us on the table.

  "Oh, I think I just had an idea, Prince Nero."

  "Do tell, Miss Shiro?"

  "Balloons are out of the question since it doesn't exist here, so why don't you use, like… maybe small sacks of flour or chalk tied on your vital points when sparring?"

  "Uhh… for what purpose?"

  "It's so that there is a visual indicator that a person has been hit as the sack would pop and stay on the skin or cloth."

  "Huh… I do imagine it…

  We are really lagging behind with how advanced your concepts are in your world, huh."

  "I wouldn't say it's advanced, but the breakthroughs we've found are all owed to those that pressed on in pursuit of knowledge, that some may be called geniuses."

  "Our history told us that the first civilization was founded roughly around six to eight thousand years ago when wheel was invented. And the usage of electronics was not more than 300 years ago, and even then, the more advanced devices that we used in modern times were only made decades if not a century ago."

  "This begs the question… of course, the years that we follow does not equate to the real age of the planet. Was it discovered in your world how old your planet was?"

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  "Around, four billion years, I think," Nacchi answered straight. "Before you say that there's so much you don't know about the world, it's a common saying in our home that we're literally just a tiny speck of dust in the universe or maybe even smaller than that."

  "W-Way to ruin my taking everything in… How did you even know I'll say it…"

  "Princess Sera was absolutely stupefied and kept saying the same thing over and over."

  "I blame you guys for putting that much stress on her."

  "She insisted she tell us, when we're reluctant because we knew that that would be the reaction we'll get here."

  "I get that, but in my perspective, I could see how such information can also benefit this world."

  "Oh, you sweet summer child-" I slipped. "Oops, pardon me.

  But while there are plenty of good things that could come out of it, there are also equally-"

  BOOM

  "…There are equally just as many bad things that we don't want this world to suffer from.

  …"

  Compared to our Earth, this world is still more green than gray. Which is why sound could travel farther with the absence of obstacles in a vast field extending into the horizons.

  From the direction of the sound of explosion, I quickly put the binoculars on my eyes towards the capital center to find a small plume of black smoke rising from the edge of the wall.

  "Nero, I got eyes on several armed people rushing inside on horses.

  The west gate has been compromised."

  At once, all of us wore our hoods and sprinted to our horses in the midst of listening to Nero's instructions.

  "Miss Raiha and Miss Shiro are to head over to the east gate. You are not to go anywhere from there without the presence of knights escorting you in to ensure your safety and head to the inner palace.

  Nagi and I will be going through the southern gate. You better have your sword ready with you."

  Under the white mask and the hood, Nacchi nodded.

  "Everyone, proceed with utmost haste."

  "Yes, Your Highness."

  ?…?

  At the sighting of the crown prince and his companion, the gatekeepers immediately let the gates open enough that their horses would fit and immediately closed with the added application of another lockdown measure, which should be undergoing as pipers sound a long and deep sound from their horns, signifying that intruders have breached the capital.

  "Nagi!"

  "Yes!"

  "You have no training on mounted combat so leave your horse and join the rest of the knights by foot. Use the emblem I gave you and have the knights mobilize an advance and scout teams at their discretion. You join us with the knights when you can. I am going ahead!"

  "Please be safe!"

  On the slowed down horse of Nagi, he waved the royal family crest gaining the attention of the knights located at the south wing where he imparted the command that the crown prince brought down to them.

  Amidst the height of alert, Nagi was stunned at the speed at which the knights responded and formed squads with so few words. Thus, Nagi transferred to another horse in tandem with one of the knights and rushed towards the halted advance of the intruders.

  In the sea of people clashing, the absence of the sound of wooden swords striking each other as it was replaced by the sounds of metal blades and painful groans in the sudden battlefield shook him as he was faced with the reality that this is the situation of this world where diplomacy does not always resolve conflicts. Even so, the crown prince has changed his perception and instilled in his mind of what he needs to see this world as and what he signed up for once he took up the sword.

  Even so, in the charge of the knights, Nagi's foot never stepped forward not because of the fear of the battlefield, but instead because he needed to assess the situation.

  In the midst of his observation, the outstanding prowess of Nero cleared a path for his eyes to get a better grasp of the situation. But any more time he uses in an idle, the more the chances that his, the prince's, the knights', and the citizen's lives are put more to danger.

  The metallic sound of a sword unsheathing from its scabbard on his hip was very much foreign in Nagi's ears. He had participated in several scrimmages simulating a real clash of blades, which at the very least prepared him for what was needed to be done for what may or may not come. Now, he is face to face with what he feared that may come, and a tight clench on his sword steeled himself that blood may well be shed in the coming moments.

  And so, he tucked his hood deeper and sprinted right into the brunt of the battle, sneaking into the gaps of the occupied enemies and striking their heads with the flat side of his sword and aiding the knights in bringing the final blows and immobilizing them.

  With his unexpected and unconventional approach within the field, a small tip in the scales favoring the kingdom was enough for the knights to regroup and push back the enemies. However, it was not as if the conflict has been resolved.

  "My word, I feel like I'm going to vomit…"

  "I am sorry you had to experience this so suddenly," with the number of the enemies dwindling, Nero took a step back from the battlefield with Nagi, with the former shaking off the blood from his blade.

  "So that's how truly skilled you are, Your Highness."

  "What can I say, the mango pie energized me.

  Still, we could only fend off those that were left behind while so much of the enemies were able to advance further."

  "I hope we don't have to worry about that."

  In the midst of the sound of blades still clashing, a long whistle traveled far and wide throughout the central walls of the capital. Hearing that, the knights let out a burst of attacks slowing down the enemies and steered away from them.

  "Scatter! Scatter…!"

  The sound was the signal that the kingdom's archers use to signify a strike. But one look at the upper walls further towards the palace, and there were no archers in sight.

  Yet, that one turn away from the battlefield almost made them miss the sudden loud sound and a large breath of fire that plunged the enemies further back.

  "What the…? What just happened…?"

  The knights together with the prince and Nagi reemerged into the battlefield only to find the enemies knocked down and a burnt smell enveloped the air. Further into the capital, the same sound was heard at an interval of thirty seconds and the sound of swords got weaker.

  "This is flour?"

  "What do you mean, Nagi?"

  "The smell reminds me of flour, and…"

  Suddenly, he was made to remember the videos he had watched in YouCube back in the old world.

  "The thing is, flour in itself is highly flammable especially in the air. And when it makes contact with fire, it could create quite a large fireball," Nagi said, as he pointed at the upper walls, where Rin and Shiro could be seen assisted with pulling the drawstrings of the strongest crossbows that Avarco could produce—one with a doused cloth lit with fire, and another with a pouch attached to it.

  "Wait, they are that good at aiming?"

  "Even I'm surprised myself, Prince Nero…"

  As the confusion wanes, the enemies slowly got up on their feet and the battle would then resume promptly. Once again, Nero pulled his sword out, ready to join the fight anew.

  "Prince Nero… remember how I told you that fighting dirty does not mean crap in a real battle?"

  "I… do…"

  "Well, I have another way of taking the enemies' swords away from them."

  From his sword belt, Nagi took off his sword still sheathed in its scabbard. At once, him and the prince sprinted into action, with Nagi still employing his tactics of sneaking into the blind spots of the occupied enemies, and this time sneaking behind them.

  Swinging his sheathed sword on their legs, a short moment of the enemies losing their balance was enough for Nagi to find the opening where their legs are spread apart.

  Nagi's left foot then planted firmly into the ground, assuming what he imagines as a striker's kick towards a goal. The next moment, his right foot launched and struck in between the legs of the enemies… until they collapsed and curled inwards a fetal position.

  Much to the immense discomfort that the knight who have just finished apprehending enemies, they found inspiration to the unexpected assault and followed the approach that the masked man has employed.

  Instead of using blades, the knights used the armor of their shins to knock their enemies defenseless for a few seconds, enough to apprehend them without a bloodshed.

  Meanwhile, in front of the enemy's body plopping down, the look on Nero's face has long left its fierceness and was replaced by a mixture of pure awe and slight disgust as he looked at the street once filled with battle that is now populated with knights huddling in triumph as the enemies are standing no more.

  Still, it did not mean that the camp of the kingdom did not suffer casualties. Walking towards Nero was Nagi whose legs are trembling.

  "What happened to you…?"

  "P-Please don't mind me… I'm just suffering the psychological damage I dealt myself… and my jewels…"

  "…

  To borrow the words that you otherworlders use… You truly are unhinged, Nagi. I feel like that was worse than anything I have seen in a clash."

  "Kgh…"

  "Oh, wow. You guys sure cleaned up here fas-"

  "…!"

  At the presence of the undetected, Nagi's fight or flight response rose with him turning around with the sheathed sword tightly gripping it and swinging it in the same place he had knocked their enemies down…

  And an audible crack was heard.

  "Augh…! What the hell's your deal, Nagi?! What compelled you to go directly for my treasure, you bastard…?!"

  In front of them was Gin that was holding out on his right hand and its disfigured fingers as he cried out in immense pain.

  "Goodness gracious, you're the one that scared me Gram…! I thought you were an enemy for a second so I couldn't pull it back!

  B-But sorry about your hands… Let's get that treated quickly."

  Looking at Gin's hand, Nero felt a great deal of shivers as it was by far the most graphic sight that he had seen in this sudden battle.

  "H-How are you two so calm about this…?"

  "Ah, this… Sure, it hurts like there's no tomorrow, but hey, when that tomorrow comes, I can just brush this off."

  "What he said."

  Feeling that the suspected pastry that he just ate was creeping up into his esophagus, Nero looked away and asked:

  "So the people of Earth are that strong and resilient…?"

  "Not really. It just happened that I'm a special case."

  "…

  I give up."

  ? ? ?

  ?Rin?

  A few days have passed.

  And can you believe that Sera slept through all of that?

  And so for several days, she had to take the work of writing and transcribing an incident report in behalf of Nero as he takes his rest.

  As per the interrogations conducted, the infiltrators were found to be mercenaries that were hired with the intent to kill either the crown prince and his betrothed, or their aides that were supposedly Orions, especially the prince's aide that they deemed an extremely threatening individual.

  From there, dots have been connected but much of it have been based on speculation. It could have been an attack to kill Nero and Sera, who has the most persuasive power to accept Orions into the country. Without them, the nobles in opposition of the presence of refugees will have a bargaining power to force a majority vote to drive them out and exile them. But as things stand, the mercenaries are very unwilling to share any more information as to who hired them, and Nero nor this kingdom does not resort to torture, but it is clear to us that our identities as Orions are contained within the palace. And while we do carry honorary emblems of citizenship with us, it was only something that we use in certain cases.

  On the other hand, elimination of the Orions would mean that we, or at least, Gin has been considered a threatening entity when his physical prowess has been kept under wraps and not recorded in written documents… which potentially means that insider information has leaked.

  This in turn pushed the king to conduct a full-scale investigation in the royal palace and noble domains where no one was left behind.

  Meanwhile, the six of us are ordered not to leave the palace, which is why all of our work are done in Nero and Sera's shared office.

  There, the prince and the princess had addressed us with some of his feelings of the past incident.

  "I am very sorry to say this to all of you, but moving forward… we might have to seek your help as long as you are honorary citizens of our country. We do not know when other threats are going to arise once more, and we deemed that your knowledge would greatly help us."

  Hints have popped up that led to this discussion over a few days, which is why us four outsiders have also held our own meetings in response to this.

  "Pardon our rudeness, but…" Shiro raised her hand, "Are we in a position where we can express our thoughts about this?"

  "Of course we are open to your feelings about this. You were thrusted into this unknown world, after all."

  "Then… on behalf of the four of us, we would be glad to share what we know, but only if it is in the purpose that is used to reduce violent conflicts and towards a developmental and bloodless future.

  We may have only read it in our history books, but we would not want this world to be subjected to the heinous side that our world had gotten into. And we would not want to see this world's nature ruined. Believe me… there was one moment in our history where hundreds of thousands of people died at once in a single moment."

  It was not something we did not want to reveal to this world which does not even scale close to Earth's population, and that the kingdom of Avarco in its entirety does not exceed a million citizens.

  Out of everything that we have told about our world, it was that revelation that, needless to say, shook them the most.

  "If we are allowed to negotiate that, then we would continue to work under you and to the betterment of this country."

  "We do support the stance that all of you stand, but even with our position, we have to direct this to my father. Although I am confident that he would be enthused with it, seeing as he had been supportive of your presence here.

  While it is not yet official, Sera and I would like to express our support in your chosen resolution."

  And as Nero said, while nothing is yet set in stone with our future in our current life, we shook hands on the premature negotiations.

  "And while we find no ways to get our path back to our old world for the foreseeable future, we will be stuck in here with you, for probably years to come," I jested.

  "Well on that topic… once the dust settles, can you help us find a place where Raiha and I can hold a humble wedding ceremony?"

  Needless to say, it was an out of pocket thing to declare right after a serious discussion that concerned our future, and it looks life my oaf fiance is thinking about a different future.

  Well, not that I'm any different from him.

  "What?! Since when have you guys been planning about this?!"

  ? ? ?

  On the hill located outside of the Avarco's capital city, a rumbling noise was heard in its paved road. A rim of light out of nothing wrapped around an unusually large, white carriage with black wheels that is not being pulled by a horse.

  The rumbling noise stopped, and the carriage opened with a man jumping out of it with a grunt.

  "Oh dear, why did my truck have to show up on the edge of a hill… Man, this road is really narrow."

  From his pocket, he pulled out a rectangular slab that he placed to his ear as it lit up while he stared at the view of the castle below him.

  "Operator, this is Driver GO-57, Hitoshi Vecker. Can you give me a response?"

  "This is Operator L20. Have you arrived, Mr. Vecker?"

  "Oh, it's you, Cami. Immediate sighting of this world… and this is neither World Y17 nor this is the country of Inchiostro. It seems that I suddenly took a stop-over here at World M1906, approximate location is… the country of Avarco. It's weird not seeing any skyscrapers here. Cool architecture, though."

  "O-Oh… it looks like I did a misinput on my end when I was processing the request. Sorry about that, haha!"

  "Don't haha me, you dolt. We never know what could happen when we get delays like this, and we drivers don't make these trips willy-nilly. You're gonna have a word with your Head Operator after this, I'll tell you that."

  "You really don't take exceptions, Mr. Vecker…

  Alright, I've verified that your next stop is really going to be World Y17, at Nacht City in Inchiostro. Just for the formalities, you are to pick up our client, Ms. Althea Vanta from that world."

  "I know, I know. Because this is on you, I'd like to request a temporary release of one level to my speed limit so that I can get there on time. And you owe me yakiniku later when we get back. The premium ones."

  "I got you… and I'll have the request ready as fast as I can."

  "Alright, give me an update later. I'll be on my way."

  "Have a safe trip, Mr. Vecker."

  As the call ended, the man promptly hopped back on the truck and the engine rumbled once more. With the vehicle starting to move, the rim of light lit up around the truck once more as though disappearing into an invisible wall until there were no traces left of its presence in the world.

  Next