Chapter 9: Gathering

Don't forget those power stones and to add this fic into your collection!

For those that haven't realized yet, I will be demoting officer ranks for those of importance early on, as we are currently fifteen to sixteen years before the canon story starts.

And as for Giliath, he is only a Brigadier General right now.

*

"You dare to tread upon these castle walls again. You are either crazy, or a foolish man, Giliath Osborne.", The aged woman said in a firm tone, letting her voice reach our ears. Despite her current age, she was able to speak loudly for all of to here.

"Giliath Osborne...?", Captain Richard uttered softly, only to look up. He saw Giliath's towering figure over him. Giliath no matter how he stood, he always had a very firm stature. That often made his presence impose on others, and for a good reason.

"The hell is a General of the Erebonia Empire doing so close to the heart of Liberl!?", Captain Richard yelled out again, only to jump back a couple feet. He then placed one of his hands on the weapon at his side, ready to pull it out at a moments notice.

Unlike the other soldiers around him who had rapiers equipped at their waists, this yellow blond haired man in front of me had a full blown sword. Its scabbard was very similar to those that rapiers sheath into, but it was clear this man had a sword.

That was because this man was Alan Richard, albeit only appearing around nineteen years old. Still, this man practiced the sword for a good reason.

He was a practitioner of the Eight Leaves One Blade school of martial arts. There were many different types of martial arts available to learn in Zemuria. This style was but of one of many schools.

And if I remembered correctly, Alan Richard, specialized in the fifth form of the Eight Leaves, Morning Moon. This form placed emphasis on sword drawing techniques. If one progressed far enough in this style, a practitioner could eventually learn to kill enemies the moment a wielder's sword is drawn from its scabbard.

And that man was currently in front of me, acting as if he was ready to launch an attack.Yet the same voice that just reached our ears a moment ago issued a command to Captain Richard.

"Stand down, Captain Richard. These two are not here to cause harm today."

"B-But Your Majesty...", Captain Richard tried to retort back, only for Queen Alicia to quickly deny him. Giliath smiled hearing this.

"As quick to judge as ever, Your Majesty. It is as you say. Today we only stand here before you as father and son.", Giliath answered Queen Alicia.

Hearing my father declare that, eyes turned toward him. And yet Queen Alicia's gaze shifted from him down to me. A moment passed like this before Queen Alicia placed one of her hands on the bridge of her nose, only to let out a long sigh after, shaking her head a bit.

"That foolish sister of mine. I had feared the worst after learning what had happened, but to think out of all the men she would choose to settle down, she chose you, Giliath Osborne.", Queen Alicia said, shedding some light as to what had happened.

"Her Majesty's sister...Then this child truly is...?", Julia uttered softly, who was the Second Lieutenant next to Captain Richard.

This green teal haired woman was Julia Schwarz, who would eventually become part of the royal guard. She was also the falconer of the bird sitting on my head right now, Sieg. Julia was rather prominent side character in the sky saga. And like Captain Richard, she too would receive training from Cassius Bright, though not to the extent of learning the Eight Leaves One Blade style as I recall.

Yet at this time several figures appeared in sight from the south. They currently surrounded three figures closer toward the middle of the group, appearing as guards for these three. It was this time we were interrupted by a voice that spoke out from this new arrival. This voice was firm, and similar to father's voice. It had an unwavering feeling to it.

"Looks like we stumbled upon something interesting. I had always suspected this outcome after only recently coming to learn of Her Highness's fate.", A middle aged voice resounded in our ears, which drew our attention. As the figures closed in, we saw several soldiers in green approach us. They were just like the ones that were stationed at the castle, who included Captain Richard and Second Lieutenant Schwarz. Seeing this figure appear, Queen Alicia smiled.

"It is great to see you return safely. Did the investigation go as you presumed, Colonel Bright?"

"It did, Your Majesty. And the end result is right before our very eyes, so I apologize in advance to where of what I would report, it would only turn out to be useless. And in the meantime, I've been spending more time with Lena. I know tomorrow will be a day of sadness for all of us, but we should also see it as a day of opportunity.", A firm middle aged voice said, giving his report.

"...", I didn't say anything, only to keep my eyes focused on the third high ranking soldier to appear before us with his personal guard from the looks of it. This man even had a higher rank than the previous two, despite not being as high of a rank as father held. It seems this man was a Colonel right now.

"Oho. It wouldn't be a complete scene without your appearance, Colonel Bright.", Giliath mused.

"And you're as slippery as ever, General Osborne. As long as no form of blood is shed here during this event, I will not refrain you from staying the night.", The middle aged man responded in kind.

Unexpectedly, after this man answered father, he approached us, leaving the figure behind, who stood next to him. This figure appeared to be a very calm and gentle woman, and held a child in her arms.

At this time, a lot of us were taken by surprise after this man bent down onto one knee, bowing right in front of me. He spoke out once again after this.

"It is of great pleasure for you to arrive here, Your Highness. This is our first meeting, but there is no doubt in my mind you are Her Highness's child. Welcome, young one.", The middle aged man responded to me with a smile, and welcome me. The man who others just addressed as him as Colonel Bright.

However, seeing Colonel Bright kneel down in front of me, I only gazed at him for a moment before I started to take some steps. I began to walk slowly, only to completely brush past Colonel Bright. This surprised everyone, and even caused anger to appear in Captain Richard's eyes.

"Hey, you bast--!?", Captain Richard tried to yell back in anger, obviously directed at me. But before anyone could act, Colonel Bright's eyes became serious and gave Captain Richard a death stare. He quickly closed his mouth after receiving this.

As for me, I approached the gentle woman surrounded by green soldiers. Giliath had a glint of light streak across his eyes as he watched my current actions, but remained quiet. It didn't take long for me to arrive in front of this woman.

Or to be more specific, the little child in her arms. The little child appeared no bigger than I was, and was probably the same age. She was a little girl with brown hair. Her hair was currently tied into two little pigtails. She was currently looking right at me without blinking her eyes.

I broke the current silence by speaking out to this little brown haired girl.

"Who are you?", I asked her, which caused her to blink at me.

"Who am I? Who are you to have daddy act like that?", The little girl asked back.

"I don't know. This is my first time meeting him.", I answered her.

"Hehe, you're weird! Don't you know daddy?", The little girl responded with a giggle.

I gently shook my head. Sieg was also gently nestled onto my head as I shook it, but it didn't cause any discomfort. Yet I inwardly retorted in my mind hearing this little girl call me weird.

"No. Would you be able to tell me?", I asked again.

"It's impolite to ask a girl to go first you know!", The little girl yelled back, appearing annoyed this time.

Hearing this, one of my cheeks twitched a bit but I still spoke out again, introducing myself.

"Fine. I'm Naoto Osborne. What about you?", I asked.

"Naoto huh? Now that's better!", The little girl responded happily.

"Nice to meet'cha! You can call me Estelle. Estelle Bright!", The little girl said, introducing herself for the first time.

Sure enough, this little girl was indeed one of those fated three. One of the leading figures in the sky saga.

To think I would meet her, let alone her entire family today...

This was turning out to be quite the gathering to honor the late Crown Prince's passing now, wasn't it?