#selsera

Selsera: Arius. We’ve finally arrived. This is the foremost city of Keter Sanctuary, the Floating Sky Island, Ketergia.

Arius: Amazing. . . This is all man-made, right?

Selsera: You always complain that we’re always in the countryside, so I brought you here. Be thankful.

Arius: Thank you very much! (She said it as harshly as always, but maybe this is Master’s way of being thoughtful. . .)

Selsera: Ketergia is a combination of nine floating islands. Each island regularly moves around, but they never crash into each other.

Arius: I’m a scientist, but the power to make all these huge islands float in the sky. . . it’s beyond my imagination.

Selsera: I feel the same, as a magician. Well, as expected of the holy kingdom known in ancient times as the United Sanctuary, it’s a grand structure combining the best of science and magic.

Arius: Oh, something flew across the sky just now. Maybe a bird?

Selsera: So you’ve seen them. That is a Cloud Knight.

Arius: A Cloud Knight?

Selsera: The Order of Heavenly Knights- that is the Cloud Knights. With their base here in Ketergia, they are a group who was formed to protect Keter Sanctuary from threats both domestic and foreign.

Arius: Ah, the singular form of the Order of Heavenly Knights would be Heavenly Knight, and the singular form of Cloud Knights is just Cloud Knight.

Selsera: It does not matter which of those names you call them by. In addition, their flight powers seem to be tied to their armor.

Arius: Hmm. There’s probably some sort of propulsion device attached to it. I wonder what its power source is?

Selsera: What are you talking about, with your propulsion devices and power sources? It’s obviously flight magic that has been cast on the armor. (This is why scientists are. . .)

Arius: Ah. . . well, you could say that, too. (The relationship between science and magic is hard. . .)

Selsera: Their trademarks are their winged weapons and that ability to fly.

Arius: Whoa, another one flew by! It must be nice, being a Cloud Knight.

Selsera: By the way, it seems there is no limitations to what races can become Cloud Knights. Why don’t you try applying, Arius?

Arius: Ah, I’ll have to decline. . . I’m actually scared of heights.

Selsera: Ho. . . is that so. Then, -!

Arius: Ah- ! Master, stop it! We’re above the clouds, you know. What am I going to do if I fall- ?!

Selsera: It’s fine. If you fall, I’ll make you float with the power of magic. Just like clouds.

Selsera: Arius, have you heard of “gallowsball”?

Arius: Yes. When I was little, I watched matches on the Internet, sometimes.

Selsera: That’s unexpected- such an extreme sport.

Arius: My family would get fired up, but it was a little too violent for me. . . ahaha.

Selsera: So you didn’t like it, after all. That sounds like you.

Arius: Besides, traveling with Master means that I have barely any connection to the Internet or television. (We’re always separated from civilization on some mountain, or a faraway sea, or an island, or some ancient ruins. . .)

Selsera: Even so, you must have heard the name of Team “Diabolos”.

Arius: Yes, the famous Diabolos brothers. The fourth son Matt, third son Steve, second son Richard. . .

Selsera: And the first son, Bruce. By the way, all four are demons. Always raring for a fight, planet Cray’s delinquents.

Arius: It seems like there’s plenty of wild stories from both in and out of the stadium- like how when one of the opponent’s team members wanted to back out of the game, they chased them to the edge of the continent. . . or how they got into a huge fight outside the stadium and changed the course of a whole river. . .

Selsera: Truly a man (mhmm, mhmm). Although, of course, you cannot play gallowsball with only four people.

Arius: Diabolos boys, girls, officers. . . From players to cheerleaders and coaches, all the way to behind the scenes, there are a lot of people involved, huh? But everyone’s pretty scary. . .

Selsera: That’s because there’s a rule that you can use firearms as long as it’s an indirect attack. Tackling people, explosions, traps, anything. I quite like it. It’s a shame I don’t get many chances to see it.

Arius: (I’m so glad I’m living a life free from gallowsball.)

Selsera: Fufufu. Arius, to think that there would be a familiar ball in this kind of place. Come, Muu-chan! We will play at gallowsball with the staff MacGuffin.

Selsera: O my apprentice Arius, do you know of the Red Temple of Dawn?

Arius: “Red Temple of Dawn” ?

Selsera: A temple that lies within a mountain in the heart of the Dragon Empire. It’s said that the history of the Red Temple of Dawn is as old as humanity itself.

Arius: Wow. . . So does that mean that a dragon priest presides over it? Since it’s in the Dragon Empire.

Selsera: No, the keepers of the shrine are a human priest and women known as the “Blaze Maidens”.

Arius: I see, there are humans in the Dragon Empire, too. Blaze. . . that must mean the girls perform ceremonies related to fire?

Selsera: Mm. They train at the shrine, too, but the Red Temple of Dawn’s main purpose is to worship and guard something precious that is only found there.

Arius: Something precious that is only found there. . . does that mean some sort of great treasure? Like an idol of a god?

Selsera: An egg.

Arius: An egg?

Selsera: But it’s not just an egg. It’s a holy dragon’s egg, revered since ancient times. Someday, when that egg hatches, it is said that the world will take back hope and the future.

Arius: That really is something important.

Selsera: It’s quite treasured. Once a year, during the “Festival of Alba”, the Blaze Maidens pray for the egg to awaken and dance through the night as an offering. Now that I think about it, I heard a rumor that something strange happened during this year’s Festival of Alba. . .

Arius: Hmm~ I want to go see it someday, that Red Temple of Dawn.

Selsera: Do you want to go visit now?

Arius: Yes. I want to see the dragon’s egg and the Blaze Maidens!

Selsera: Very well. Well, I can ride on Muu-chan’s back and fly there, but you must walk across countless high mountains, and overcome cliffs that are said to lead to certain death if you fall even once.

Arius: Ehh?! Ah. . . I’ll have to refrain this time around.

Seeker of Knowledge, Selsera

A sadistic and selfish magician whose age is unknown. Has a vast amount of knowledge about the planet Cray.

Adventuring Scientist, Arius

Selsera’s curious and lively apprentice. Has plenty of scientific knowledge.