Chapter 33
Chapter 33
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Forbidden Night Flight
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Kayer."
'Hm?'
The Aerial Knights' base as night deepened.
It was the hour when wyverns, having finished their patrols and training, had returned to their nests in the hangars.
Magic lanterns dimly illuminated spots around the base.
Someone called out to me from beside a building shrouded in darkness.
"Over here, here..."
'No way! It's Aegis!'
The princess of the great empire, Aegis, who even here at the Aerial Knights' base was guarded by elite knights.
She glanced around cautiously, beckoning me like a stray cat from the shadows.
"No, Princess..."
"Shh! Be quiet. I slipped away from the elite knights."
The usually prim and lofty Aegis pressed a finger to her lips, tense as she scanned all directions.
'Heh. Cute.'
A cautious side of Aegis I rarely saw.
She was adorable enough to bite.
"Come on."
'Regular uniform?'
Not her imperial training garb embroidered with golden thread, but a standard air plate uniform like mine.
With those words, she carefully stepped into a dark alleyway.
'Why call me out at this hour?'
If she were someone I loved, we might share a lover's tryst in the dark, but ours wasn't that kind of relationship.
She hurried ahead without slacking her vigilance.
'Haven't eaten dinner yet...'
The Aerial Knights' base overflowed with sights to see.
I'd been observing everything, etching questions into my mind.
That's why I hadn't even had dinner.
'But what's this bad vibe?'
A princess wouldn't do anything bad, but an ominous feeling crept up in my head.
Moreover, Aegis had clearly ditched her elite knights to wait for me.
She was definitely up to something.
'Oh, this place!'
We arrived silently at a spot I knew well.
The cursed hangar where Bebeto resided.
Creak.
Aegis opened the small door to the hangar first and entered.
'Why here?'
Various scenarios flashed in my mind.
'Suspicious... and ominous.'
The noble imperial princess leading me like a thief to Bebeto's hangar.
I shook my head and followed her inside.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
'Whoa! What's this?'
Inside Bebeto's hangar, lit by a faint portable magic lantern.
'Why's the saddle here?'
The two-person saddle essential for riding a wyvern sat inside the hangar.
"Bebeto, tomorrow I have to return to the palace. I don't know when I'll be able to come out again. Before then, I want to give you the sky."
'Return? A gift?'
A puzzle I couldn't piece together.
Click.
'A key too!'
Aegis inserted a key—stolen from somewhere—into the massive iron chain lock around Bebeto's ankle.
"Pr, Princess. What are you..."
"Sir Kayer, please. Help Bebeto... see the sky."
'Why's she tearing up?'
They say a beauty's greatest weapon is tears.
Aegis's large eyes brimmed with them.
She wasn't the proud imperial princess I knew.
"Haha. Don't worry. Bebeto's one of us, right?"
"Thank you. I knew you'd understand my feelings."
With those words, a bright smile bloomed on Princess Aegis's lips.
'Oh! God!'
What virtue from my past life? Lately, world-class beauties surrounded me.
Joy surged and churned in my chest.
"Shall I saddle him up?"
"Yes!"
Switching to iron-man mode at the princess's delight.
I lifted the two-person saddle and positioned it before Bebeto.
"You hear that? Tonight, we're going for a ride!"
Bebeto's golden eyes flashed excitedly from the moment we entered.
Not a word from him.
'Levitation magic would make this easy.'
Perfect for saddling, but I smacked my lips instead of casting.
I didn't want to reveal I was a mage right now.
Not even to a princess.
'The texture's killer!'
I'd seen it a few times, so I hefted the over-10-kg saddle onto Bebeto's leg and climbed up.
The feel of Bebeto's warm fur.
Dense black fur etched with golden stripes over tough hide—perfect.
Couldn't even compare to the fur on Mom's occasional mink coats.
'But can he fly alright?'
Bebeto had been isolated here nearly since birth, whenever that was.
I worried if he could lift us with his hefty frame.
'Aw, but he's a wyvern, after all.'
Not some chicken that could barely hop a few meters.
Bebeto, born of crossbreeding, stronger than ordinary wyverns.
I trusted him.
No, a deep affinity for Bebeto welled up as faith.
Clank.
"All set. Now... you're free."
Rustle, rustle.
A round leather muzzle on the beak, leather straps linking neck and wings—two-person saddle complete.
Aegis had already removed the chains.
Rumble rumble rumble.
The chains fell from his legs, but Bebeto didn't move.
As if unable to believe, he gurgled and blinked his huge eyes.
"Try moving, Bebeto."
Aegis stroked his leg with slender fingers.
I felt every bit of her earnest wish as I finished saddling and stepped beside her.
Grooo.
As if drawing courage from her words, Bebeto let out a trembling cry.
Then slowly moved a leg.
Thud.
One step, yet the floor quaked from his massive motion.
'Why's my heart shaking?'
The flight of wyvern outcast Bebeto mirrored my trembling heart.
Rustle.
'Eek!'
Suddenly, the princess grabbed my hand.
Flutter.
Watching Bebeto's movements with joyous eyes, she'd unconsciously seized my nearby hand.
Her soft, cephalopod-like palm made my heart pound like a hammer blow.
'Thanks, Bebeto!'
Without him, how could a mere trainee knight like me hold a princess's hand?
'Hold on, the saddle's two-seater!!'
I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut.
Never dreamed things would progress(?) this fast with Princess Aegis.
'Alright! If I'm becoming a Sky Knight, gotta fly once with a beauty like this!'
Whether my guts were naturally big or born bold, confidence felt natural.
I steeled myself.
No embarrassing screams like my first flight with Irene.
"Um... Kayer."
"Y, yes?"
Even with eyes open, blissful scenes with Aegis played in my mind.
Her call reached my ears.
"The door..."
Unable to ask me to let go, she pointed at the door, face flushing.
"Yes, sir!"
I shouted like an elite knight and dashed to the hangar door.
'No washing this hand for days! Mwahahaha!'
Inputting the warm feel of Aegis's hand in my right into my mental hard drive.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
"Crown Prince! Princess Aegis has vanished!"
"What? Aegis!"
Poltviran, crown prince yet forced by imperial tradition to complete wyvern flight training.
Mid-sip of wine, reminiscing on the grueling sessions finally ended today, he heard of Aegis's disappearance from the rushing elite knights.
'What a headache, that wench!'
Unlike his mother the consort, Aegis and Razsion were born of the rightful empress.
If something happened to the emperor's beloved Aegis, the fallout would surely hit him.
"Declare emergency alert and find the princess's location at once!"
"Yes, sir!"
Marquis Mermos, top officer of the Aerial Knights and vice-commander of the Imperial Sky Knight Guard, was here, but for imperial issues, the crown prince held supreme command.
Knights gathered before the prince's quarters shouted assent.
"Y, Your Highness! Word from the watchtower—they've spotted the princess!"
"Aegis!"
"Y-yes. Report says she's taken off on a wyvern for night flight. But..."
The reporting knight trailed off.
"Speak quickly!"
Sensing trouble, the crown prince commanded sternly.
"Sh-she took off on the cursed wyvern, Your Highness."
"What? The cursed wyvern!"
"Gasp!"
Even the unflappable crown prince looked shocked.
The crossbred wyvern said to curse merely by sight.
He knew it existed here but had never seen it.
Yet the noble princess mounting the taboo wyvern.
'Foolish wench. Heh.'
Shock was fleeting.
Crown Prince Poltviran smirked inwardly at a wicked thought.
"And she's not alone."
Faces of the prince and knights hardened.
"She took off with a male trainee in standard air plate uniform."
"...With a male trainee?"
"Yes, Your Highness. Confirmed by mana scopes from multiple watchtowers."
Dozens of watchtowers ringed the surrounding mountains.
Mages there wielded communication magic and mana scopes.
"Scramble all Sky Knights at once!"
The crown prince's face darkened.
Not mere whimsy flight, but possible abduction—the emperor's wrath would pierce the heavens.
'Damn wench...'
Crown Prince Poltviran ground his teeth.
The moment he became emperor, he'd fulfill his mother's wishes.
Exile the empress, send the princess to some foreign king's bed.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Swoosh—swoosh!
Flap, flutter flap.
A silver moon afloat in a sea of thousands, millions of jewel-like stars.
One wyvern tasting freedom for the first time beat massive wings, slicing wind.
"Haa..."
I exhaled the long-held breath, pouring out the emotion swelling in my chest.
Or tears would fall.
A maddeningly beautiful night sky.
Bliss of being invited to the playground of stars where clouds slumbered.
Inhaling cool night breeze snapped the soul awake; the vast ocean of blue stars seen through tiny pupils was a breath-stealing spectacle.
Prurr.
Tension taut in the reins gripped in my hand.
Bebeto, struggling even to exit the hangar, fixated on the open sky beyond and excitedly flapped huge wings—we'd scrambled onto his back.
And we flew.
Somehow, I ended up in the front seat.
I became Bebeto's Sky Knight pilot.
Krooooaaaaar!
Born to fly, Bebeto ascended flawlessly into the sky without a single mistake.
The night sky rang with his roar.
Like recompense for hellish years, this sudden night's blessing.
Wings flapped till they might tear.
"Haa... ha..."
We'd launched sans helmets for the sudden flight.
Unlike air plates, cumbersome helmets.
Post-training, always tossed aside.
Penalty: wind full in my face.
'Fly! Till my heart bursts!'
Considerable time had passed.
Yet Bebeto showed no fatigue, soaring over mountains and fields.
Under silver moonlight, golden stripes on his black body gleamed.
"A bit... slower... I'm tired."
Aegis, face buried in my back, whispered in my ear.
Wind scattered it, but mana made her voice clear.
She sounded exhausted.
Even Sky Knights couldn't overcome a woman's strength.
Bebeto's wild, erratic flight demanded full grip from her arms around my waist.
Worse, air plate prevented interlocking fingers—she clutched my belt.
She'd hit her limit.
"Bebeto~! Slow down now! The princess is tired!"
I gripped reins but didn't know controls; Bebeto ignored me anyway.
So I channeled mana and bellowed.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
'Smart boy for a monster.'
Like a clever dog, Bebeto understood.
He soon slowed his wingbeats, adjusting speed.
"Ah..."
Speed dropped; Aegis sighed long, loosening her arms.
'Tch, too bad.'
Armor blocked fully savoring(?), but still good.
Thrill of a pretty lady clutching my waist.
I got why early-tasting friends craved motorcycles desperately.
'Hey, happy now?'
Bebeto thrust his long beak, heaving massive lungs.
His dynamic breathing transmitted vividly through saddle and reins.
'Is this why Sky Knights and wyverns are one?'
Feeling each other's breaths.
Ordinary flight like this; battle would demand even tighter bond.
Thus even arrogant nobles humbled themselves before wyverns.
"Ah, so beautiful..."
Bebeto flew leisurely, attuned to mood—Aegis's voice rang clear.
"First night flight. Always imagined it, but..."
Even a princess was just a girl.
Unlike rude noble spawn, Aegis had solid roots.
Her kind, tender heart worrying for Bebeto made this heavenly.
"Thanks. Without you, Kayer, I'd never have dreamed it."
'If thankful, hold hands or kiss instead of words~!'
"Haha, no need. A knight's duty is granting a beautiful lady's request."
My mouth spouted cliché despite my thoughts.
Even I cringed.
"I'll never forget. This night flight with you, Kayer."
Warm confession from the flight girl(?).
'Me neither, of course~!'
Nowhere but Kaliyan Continent could a Korean high schooler fly thus with a noble princess.
'Wonder if Armis is well.'
Apprentice priestess Armis once wished for night flight.
No wyvern then, so Fly spell gave taste only.
'Even I think Kang Hyuk, you're scum.'
Riding world-class beauty princess yet thinking of another girl—pathetic.
But what to do.
Healthy singledom's relations.
'Hm? This feeling!'
Moon and stars lit, but not daylight visibility.
My well-honed mana sensed faint presences.
Something flew from that skyward direction.
Krooo!
Bebeto sensed anomaly too, low growl.
'Wyverns!'
Not gray commons, but ones I knew well.
'Imperial Guard Sky Knights! Damn.'
Things couldn't go smoothly.
Ideal: savor intimate flight, slip quietly back to Bebeto's hangar.
But dream scenario—watchtowers monitored all wyvern takeoffs/landings rigorously.
Didn't expect black wyverns scrambled.
'No free lunch in this world.'
Night flight bliss with Aegis.
Time to pay up.
'Whoa? Full battle ready.'
Closing fast head-on, black wyverns compressed distance instantly.
Twenty-odd heavily armed with blast spears encircled us.
"Princess Aegis, time to go home?"
"Yes?"
"Elite Sky Knights came to escort you."
"Ah..."
Aegis sighed in regret.
"Warning! Steer the wyvern our way immediately!"
Mana-amplified warning boomed.
'Intense.'
Mana infused magic lances glowed.
Twenty aimed at us and Bebeto.
Krooo!
Bebeto snarled irritably.
Tasting freedom briefly, he turned hostile to threats.
'Splendid welcome awaits.'
Black wyverns meant base in near-wartime status.
My hunch right—wyverns emerged from all sides.
Clearly, the issue was Princess Aegis, not Bebeto.
"Bebeto... let's go."
Facing grim reality.
I soothed him.
'If push comes, I'll flip it all!'
Harboring fierce resolve in my heart.