Drettonus(English Version)

16. Ritual

    Once again, Mitsuko teleports with Reiko, this time to the ruins. As the two start to look around them, Mitsuko's attention is drawn to smoke rising from the wreckage a few meters away.

   "It must be them! Let's go!"

   "Could you please go ahead? There's something I must do first."

   "Is it that important?!"

   "Yes. I have to notify my father of the current situation, so that he can lift the alert and order the isolation of this place. It would be a problem if citizens showed up here."

   "(That means you want to hide everything under the blankets as always...)
    Tch... Whatever!"

    Mitsuko runs towards the smoke as Reiko begins her report. Upon arriving at the smoke's location, Mitsuko finds Vektor, Sych, and Yuko walking.

   "Guys! You fine?!"

    Sych and Yuko pant in exhaustion, while Vektor cracks his sore shoulders, groaning in pain:

   "Ow... I thought I would die..."

    Mitsuko catches up with the three, and is greeted by Vektor:

   "Hey there, Mitsuko... You look fine."

   "I am, but how about you?! How did you survive that?!"

   "Ah... To be honest with you, neither I know how did we get through that alive."

    Yuko explains what happened:

   "When the airship was about to crash into the castle, I made an ice barrier at the last moment. Since everything happened so quickly, I didn't have time to shape a barrier that was efficient enough to withstand the impact."

    Sych continues:

   "It was then that I reinforced the barrier using my psychic powers, making us able to protect ourselves from the collision. However, the ground around us was completely destroyed, and we were detached from the castle's structure. We were then thrown here by the force of the impact, but I managed to cushion our fall. Still, it was exhausting to use all our power to defend ourselves from something so sudden."

    Vektor concludes:

   "I'm still kinda disappointed that I didn't do anything to help this time... Sorry for involving all of you into this mess."

    Mitsuko just responds:

   "No need to apologize. The important thing is that everyone is okay. If there's anyone to blame for all this, it's not any of us. Now, follow me! Let's find Reiko and get this over with so we can go home! She's not far from here."

    While this conversation is taking place, Reiko finishes her report. Before she has time to go to Mitsuko, she sees a mini-airship approaching her. After waiting a few seconds, she sees the mini-airship land, and from there come out Kder and Hayato. Desperate, Hayato runs towards the princess:

   "Reiko! Are you okay?"

   "Yes... Mitsuko Kageki has used her teleportation to take us... K- Kder?! What are you doing here?!"

   "Kder defeated me earlier, but then when my airship malfunctioned, we both fled in my emergency mini-airship."

   "S- So that was it..."

    As Reiko uneasily looks at him with a saddened gaze, Kder slowly approaches her, without losing his formality:

   "It's an honor to see you again, Princess Reiko."