Heavenly Castle

“Still haven’t found them?”

The soldiers, who were close to that voice, nod with troubled faces.

“I’m sorry…… We are searching hard, but the whereabouts of the two are still……”

When one person reported that on their behalf, the man sighed deeply.

He is a well built elderly man. A white beard was grown as if to outline his round face and a gold crown is on top of his white hair with the same length as his short beard.

That man, who wore a plain reddish brown mantle, leaned his body on the back of the large chair and exhaled from his nose.

There are figures of soldiers all over the scenery that can be seen in the front and it is a situation exactly like a search that leaves no stone unturned. The same is true for the places that are not visible to the man.

The soldiers are not cutting corners, but rather putting their efforts in with all their might. Precisely because he is seeing that, the man waited quietly without raising his voice.

And, at that moment, a loud voice resounded from the left side of the man. As if to transmit the voice, the other people also raised their voices and it immediately turns into a commotion.

“What is it? What happened?”

When the man asked that while he looked around the surroundings restlessly, a soldier, who’s standing nearby, ran in the direction where the voice came from.

After a while, the soldier returned and told his report.

“Your Majesty Zepten! I heard that His Highness Yanual and Her Highness Yuri were found!”

Hearing that report, the man called ‘Your Majesty Zepten’ stood up from his chair and broke into a smile.

“O, ooh……! I see, well done! Then, where are the two!?”

“They will be here soon!”

“I see!”

As soon as he became cheerful, the soldiers around him smiled with relieved expressions to Zepten who become restless in a different sense this time.

Before long, Yanual, Yuri and Ditzen appeared before Zepten who was waiting eagerly.

Zepten had a slightly curious face towards the three who are walking while being surrounded by the soldiers without riding on a horse, but he instantly changed his expression.

“I have many things I want to say, but first of all, I’m glad that you’re safe, Yanual. Yuri.”

When Zepten said that, Yanual and Yuri bowed, and Ditzen hurriedly kneeled on the spot.

“Good grief…… If you went out somewhere, you should bring a servant and convey a word to the local governor before going out, okay?”

When Zepten said that in a gentle tone, Yanual raise his head.

“I’m really sorry for making you worry.”

“Umu. It’s fine if you are safe. However, why are the three of you in this kind of place……”

Yanual showed a meaningful smile to Zepten’s question.

“I have a very interesting report on that matter.”

“It is very interesting, isn’t it?”

Yuri also raise her face and agrees to the words of Yanual. Seeing the shining eyes of the two, Zepten’s cheeks became stiff.

“It’s not a very good report when you say it like that…… When was it? If I remember correctly, there was also a time when you put a frog inside the futon……”

When Zepten muttered that with a distant look, the surrounding soldiers laughed awkwardly.

“Did something like that happened?”

“It is really interesting. It is true, you know?”

Yanual and Yuri said that while approaching a little to Zepten, and both of them pointed at the sky.

“There was a country above the sky.”

When he announced that, Zepten and the soldiers froze up for a moment, and they smiled awkwardly again.

“HAHAHA. That’s certainly interesting. Right, everyone?”

“No, really.”

“His Highness is good at jokes.”

Yanual pouted to those who laughed while saying ‘interesting, interesting’.

“It’s not a joke. Look, over there.”

Seeing Yanual who looked up at the sky and points somewhere while saying that, Everyone lifted their heads while smiling wryly.

“Hahaha. It’s been a while since His Highness’s joke is elaborate…… Hmm?”

“Wha, what is that?”

“In the sky, some black shadows is……”

The soldiers, who found something floating in the sky, voiced out their surprises.

“No way, it’s a dragon……”

“I think there’s no dragon with that kind of shape.”

“But it’s quite big.”

While looking at the confused soldiers, Zepten opens his mouth.

“Perhaps, that is the country located above the sky? It looks small for that……”

Yuri shakes his head from side to side to those words.

“No, those are the golems of Taiki-sama.”

“Go, golem? No, wait. Golems? Is the person called Taiki moving several golems by himself? How come those are flying in the sky?”

Zepten asked questions one after another, but he noticed that there is an expert behind Yanual and Yuri and he called out to him.

“Ooh, come to think of it, Ditzen was in that place. Ditzen. She said that it’s a golem, but how can those golems fly in the sky? Is it a country that possess a technology like that?”

When Zepten asked that, Ditzen, who was bowing while kneeling, raised his face vigorously.

“…… Your Majesty! I will go study in that country above the sky!”

When Ditzen announced that as if to roar, Zepten knitted his brows and looked down.

“No, that’s fine with me…… but could you answer my question?”