Finally, I can Retire, Or so I Thought

A short while later, after the city’s defenses broke the undead wyvern attack, Dion sat surrounded by Aria, Luna, Cleo, Sheila, and Mei standing behind him. He remained silent, looking down, while Gina slept soundly in his lap.

”So, what do you say? Will you help me?” Olga asked once more.

”Here’s the thing, Lady Olga. May we return to our domain first? There are things we need to settle back home,” Luna answered, shooting Dion a side-eye as if to say, ”You need to lay out every single secret in your territory first before we decide whether to destroy Minatheras or not.”

”We will send you our decision by letter,” Cleo added, glaring at Dion with a look that clearly communicated, ”When we get home, tell us everything without hiding a thing or I’ll dissect your brain, I’m dying to know why our domain appears in an ancient legend’s relief.”

”Hmm... Very well. But we don’t have much time. I understand my request sounds a bit absurd, but please consider it. All of this is for the sake of humanity,” Olga said, glancing toward Dion, perhaps hoping he would chime in.

Dion remained silent. It wasn’t that he couldn’t answer, but rather that he refused to, still unable to gauge the true motives of the woman before him. He kept weighing what Olga stood to gain or lose from Minatheras’s destruction. Since Olga kept staring at him, Dion finally spoke up.

”They are right, Lady Olga. We must head home immediately. There is something we need to check on at the house, but we will carefully consider your request. I ask that you be patient with us,” Dion said, trying to be diplomatic.

Dion caught a brief flash of disappointment on Olga’s face, though it lasted only a few seconds before her expression returned to its usual composure.

”I understand. If that is your decision, I accept it. As a gesture of goodwill, allow me to escort you back to your territory,” Olga offered.

”Huh... How?” Sheila blurted out.

”Escort us? You mean in a carriage or something?” Mei asked.

”Hmm... Could you explain what you mean, Lady Olga?” Aria asked.

”Follow me,” Olga said, standing up.

They all stood and followed Olga out of the room, walking down the corridor to the lobby. Olga then led them down toward the basement, the stairs situated right across from the mansion’s main entrance. Reaching the bottom, they entered another hallway and kept walking.

”Hmm? Hold on... Isn’t this...” Dion thought to himself.

Dion noticed numerous runes covering the walls, ceiling, and floor. They were similar to the ones in his underground chamber, except these runes glowed and pulsed with life, as if light flowed within them. At the end of the hallway stood a solid wall that appeared to be a dead end. With no doors on either side, the hallway looked completely bare, leaving everyone, including Dion, puzzled.

Olga reached her hand out toward the wall. Suddenly, a bright blue light flared across its surface, splitting the wall down the middle. ”Click.” The wall slid open. Luna, Cleo, Aria, Sheila, and Mei widened their eyes in surprise. Beyond the wall lay a massive command center packed with people hard at work. In front of them stood a wide, black granite slab that functioned like a massive display screen, projecting live visual feeds.

On both sides of the room were console-like desks covered in colorful glowing runes. Dion turned and watched a man typing on a long rune-covered stone slab that looked just like a keyboard. Before him, a black stone monitor displayed scrolling lines of text resembling typed syntax or command prompts.

”What... is this room?” Cleo asked.

”As you can see, Mageford is no ordinary city,” Olga replied. ”Everyone, prepare for immediate departure,” she called out to the personnel inside.

”Understood, Lady Olga,” the crew responded in unison.

The room instantly burst into coordinated action. Operators pulled thick cables and plugged them into sockets embedded within the stone consoles. The main screen displayed the exterior of Mageford, a city sitting inside a deep canyon, spewing trails of smoke. A stone command chair emerged from the floor, and Olga took her seat.

”Um... What exactly do you mean by escorting us, Lady Olga?” Dion asked.

”Let’s move. Sever the chains!” Olga commanded.

”Clang!”

On the screen before them, colossal chains snapped apart, sending a massive shockwave trembling through the floor. The circular island sitting in the middle of the canyon began to rise slowly into the air. The main screen split into two views. One showed the city’s exterior, where the outer building walls flipped and transformed into defensive barricades identical to the ones at Dion’s estate. The streets were deserted, as all citizens had taken shelter indoors. Magic watchtowers deployed heavy barriers that enveloped the entire city from top to bottom, shielding the whole floating landmass.

Luna, Aria, Sheila, and Mei could hardly believe their eyes. The entire city of Mageford was lifting into the sky, carried aloft by the island beneath it. Dion stood jaw-dropped at the sight. Once the island reached a stable altitude and its lower subterranean structure fully cleared the canyon, the display switched to a first-person navigation view, just like the cockpit screen of an aircraft.

Dion looked around, taking in every detail of his surroundings. Absurd as it felt, the entire setup was clearly the bridge of a floating island or what could essentially be described as a giant floating mothership. Cleo’s legs gave out and she sank to the floor, but a thrilled smile spread across her face. Sheila and Mei stood frozen in silence, completely lost for words. Luna and Aria, who usually bickered constantly, were now standing peacefully side by side, holding hands as they stared at the screen. Only Dion appeared relatively calm, gently stroking the sleeping Gina in his arms.

Olga swiveled her seat around to face Dion, offering him a subtle smile that left him even more baffled by the mysterious woman.

”As you can see, this city is a surviving fragment of the Kingdom of Xandor. And now, it is returning to where it belongs,” Olga stated.

”W-what? Hold on... Are you saying... you intend to move this entire city... from top to bottom... straight to my domain?” Dion asked.

”Hmm... We are heading straight for the seal at the heart of the Dark Forest,” Olga replied with a smile.

”B-but why only now?” Dion asked.

”Because the seal down below has finally been opened, and the crystal pyramid, the city’s core power source, has been restored to its proper place. It was all detailed in the underground records,” Olga explained.

”What?” Dion gasped in shock. ”So... that’s what that crystal pyramid was for,” he thought to himself.

”This is... incredible... absolutely incredible,” Cleo murmured in awe.

Suddenly, the door behind Dion opened. He turned around and was surprised to see Johan and Astrid step inside. Both bowed respectfully toward the seated Olga.

”Everything has gone according to plan, Lady Olga... My apologies, Your Highness,” Johan corrected himself with a deep bow.

”Thank you, Johan,” Olga replied smoothly.

”Wait... Your Highness?” Aria asked, looking at Johan in confusion.

”Ah... Yes, my apologies. I forgot to mention. Lady Olga’s full name is Olga von Reinhold. She is the daughter of the previous King of Minatheras,” Johan revealed.

”That’s right... Forgive me for keeping it hidden. Granford was my mother’s maiden name, and during my time in Minatheras, I felt much more comfortable using hers,” Olga added.

”W-wait... If Lady Olga is the child of the late king... that means...”

”Correct, Luna. I am your older sister. Though we have different mothers, we share the same father,” Olga interrupted gently.

”I... I see... Um... It’s nice to meet you... Sister. I never imagined I actually had a sibling,” Luna replied awkwardly.

”This is completely unexpected... I had no idea at all,” Aria said, visibly startled.

”Same here... I didn’t catch wind of this either... even though the Shadow Hand manages intelligence across the entire kingdom,” Mei added.

”Well, isn’t that great? Our place is about to get a lot livelier! Hahaha!” Sheila laughed.

”Indeed... I am truly standing inside a living legend,” Cleo remarked, still brimming with excitement and looking ready to leap for joy.

”Please compose yourself, Royal Mage. You are in the presence of the First Princess of Minatheras,” Astrid teased lightly.

”Quiet, Astrid,” Cleo snapped back, annoyed.

”This means Astrid and I will be accompanying you back home. We look forward to working with you,” Johan said.

”Ugh... Right,” Cleo replied, barely suppressing an eye-roll.

Meanwhile, Dion remained quiet. Still holding Gina, he walked over to two operators sitting in front of the main display consoles, where a pilot in the center held a ship-style helm. He gazed at the moving blue sky rendered on the screen ahead, taking in the grand scale of the setup.

”This is... unreal,” he thought to himself.

He then turned to look at Olga, who was now chatting casually with Luna, Sheila, Aria, Cleo, and Mei behind him. A faint smile touched his lips.

”So my gut feeling that Lady Olga was hiding something just came down to her being Luna’s half-sister... In that case... it makes total sense why she wants to destroy Minatheras after her kingdom was usurped by someone else. But... this means my territory just gained an entire city out of nowhere... On top of the city back home... I... won’t have to deal with heavy work or extra responsibilities, right?” Dion thought to himself.

”Kyuuu... kyuuu,”

”Gah... No way. I’m trying to retire here, and I definitely don’t want to be a king... Don’t go talking nonsense,” Dion chided Gina in a whisper.

”Kyuuuu,”

”I don’t care if you think it suits me, absolutely not,” Dion told Gina, prompting the little dragon to shake her head and slap her own forehead with a paw.