Chapter 19

"Uhm-... Rayto-san. Why are we stalking that person?"

Lux... apprehensively asked as he and Rayto hid behind a wall that led to a dark alleyway, west of Crossfort, close to the edge of town.

Lux, who had been dragged over... by Rayto, darted his gaze from the hooded person along the alleyway to Rayto.

A wry, or rather, nervous smile on his lips.

Rayto who had been asked such a question, nodded his head. "Good question."

He replied curtly, but his attention wasn't even on Lux.

Rayto's gaze was still fixed on the black figure moving past the dark alleyway.

Rayto's behavior and why he was doing this, confused Lux, but he didn't ask any other questions.

Let's just watch... Lux thought this, simply nodded his head before continuing to watch.

The hooded figure, after walking through the straight narrow alleyway, turned right, just after a fork at the end of the narrow passage.

Seeing this.

"Lux."

Rayto called his name, and Lux also nodded his head in unison.

Both tightly gripped their sword devices hanging on their waists as they proceeded down the narrow alleyway, with Rayto at the front.

Getting to the fork in the road, Rayto turned right.

"Dead end?"

Rayto muttered, surprised, as he approached the wall that acted as a barrier dividing that narrow alleyway into two.

Rayto raised his left hand to touch the wall, while his right hand tightly gripped his sword device.

Lux, watching Rayto's back, soon joined him and saw the dead end as well.

"Solid wall... unless there is some kind of mechanism."

Rayto thought aloud, his left hand feeling the rough texture of the wall while he slightly pressed some parts.

"No... A dead end," Rayto sighed, shaking his head.

But almost simultaneously, he pursed his lips, then he looked up at the roofs above.

"Hold on a minute."

Lux, who had also moved to the nearest adjacent wall—one that belonged to a building, turned to look at Rayto, who appeared to be warming up?

"R-Rayto-san, what are you..."

"...Up there," Rayto muttered, pointing at the rooftop.

Up... there?

Before Lux could speak, Rayto had already lunged at a wall, then lunged towards the adjacent one.

Then he repeated the process until he grabbed the edge of a house's rooftop adjacent to the wall that acted as a dead end.

Using the edge of the rooftop as support, he flipped onto the roof.

"E—Ehhhh!"

Lux widened his eyes, gobsmacked at what Rayto had just done.

W-what is he? A super hooman?

Then, just as Lux was looking up at Rayto on the rooftop in a new light—heck, that wasn't even the word either.

"Nothing up here either."

Rayto's voice cut through the air bringing Lux back too which was then followed by Rayto jumping down from the rooftop.

Landing perfectly on the ground.

'That was a one-story building though,' Lux thought, even though he smiled at Rayto. 'Just what type of body does Rayto-san have?'

Well... It was no wonder Rayto was that strong.

But then, at the same time, Lux was also curious.

"By the way-... why are you chasing that person?"

Lux questioned with a tilted head.

And... Rayto, who for one, wasn't going to hide it, so he simply told Lux, "That person is involved in some serious matter."

"Some weeks before yesterday's duels, I saw that person having some shady dealings with someone who looked like a soldier of this kingdom."

Rayto, after saying those words, paused, his hand on his chin thoughtfully.

"If I remember correctly. That soldier said something about a rebellion or something along those lines-"

"W-what!?" Lux didn't even wait for Rayto to finish before interrupting him.

"Remnants of the old empire?" Lux muttered to himself; his expression somewhat complicated.

It was also now that he remembered what Rayto had said earlier. If his ancestors were watching him, they'd be rolling in their graves.

There were people from the old empire who hadn't given up on trying to bring back the old empire's conduct.

Most of them had presumably fled after the rebellion to h.de in secret.

"If that is true, then Rayto-san-..."

However, ...

Before Lux could continue, Rayto interrupted, raising his index finger.

"Stop it... Your worries are unfounded here. I was surprised and wanted to find out if they had some kind of base here."

Rayto explained curtly.

He then raised his middle finger, forming a number 'two' hand sign with both fingers.

"Moreover, they are a divine drag-rider."

"Divine..." Lux echoed, his voice trailing off.

As Rayto continued, he began walking away from the alley, with Lux following behind.

In the whole world, there are only a few divine drag-riders.

If one were to count, there wouldn't be more than 20.

Even if there were more, they wouldn't reach thirty.

For Lux, the only divine drag-riders he had known till now were his brother, himself, and, just yesterday, Rayto.

And now, hearing from the divine drag-rider he had just met yesterday that he had also come across another divine drag-rider before that.

Lux was beginning to question a lot of things.

 Sure, noble families like the four great nobles might have one or two hidden—no, even having two itself is too much.

Divine drag-riders are not just rare; like special armaments, they are even rarer to find in the ruins.

Its like a bad gacha rate, having a 0.01% rate with no guaranteed at a certain number.

That was how rare it was.

"Divine..." Lux's voice trailed off as he muttered those words but soon regained his cool.

They exited the alleyway, heading into the streets.

Instead of going back to the cafe they had come from, Rayto led Lux to another place.

Along the way-...

"That aside, Rayto-san, I've been wanting to ask, how do you move that fast?"

 "Even if the frame of your Drag-Ride was designed to be a speed type, that wouldn't explain your unnatural speed."

Lux who was naturally curious about Rayto fighting style asked Rayto this in expectation.

If he were to speculate, it was similar to a technique he had created.

However, a general specialized Drag-Ride wasn't capable of bearing that much load.

And besides, one would need to b actively controlling the load which would put a large amount of strain on one's body.

This technique seemed similar to what he had seen Rayto do yesterday.

And...

Lux had a feeling it was the same concept.

"Ah... you meant overdrive?" Rayto asked.

?

"Overdrive? That's the name?" Lux tilted his head to the side, watching Rayto nod twice in confirmation.

"You know a drag-machine is capable of working thanks to the force core," Rayto explained.

"The force core has a safety module of itself; the energy used to power the entire Drag Machine is kept at a safe point."

"However, using overdrive removes that safe point."

Lux, who wasn't one to talk immediately, said, "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Sure," Rayto nodded. "It's a dangerous move, but I can... to some extent control that dangerous move."

"Eh?"

Lux was stunned speechless.

Someone able to manipulate the output of a force core?

Was that a joke, ...?

Or was that another way of telling him not to pry much?

Lux couldn't be sure.

Afterall-...

That's impossible!

Lux thoughts were along those lines.

-Just as Lux had those thoughts in surprise or pure shock (?), they had already reached their destination.

"We're here already."

Rayto said, leaving the speechless Lux as he went to the door of the place and opened it. "Hmm?"

"Will you come in or just stay there, looking surprised?"

"A-ah. I'm coming," Lux replied, following Rayto inside.

As they entered, Lux and Rayto—mostly Rayto—were immediately greeted by a maid who bowed her head curtly.

She then directed both of them to a corner covered by a small wall, a different section in the pub.

The maid then adjusted the chair for Rayto, who sat down, motioning for Lux to also take his seat in front of him.

"Thank you."

After this, the maid bowed and handed an envelope to Rayto. "Sir, this was delivered during your absence."

It was a small white envelope with a red seal on it, the symbol of the new kingdom.

Rayto paused for a moment, examining the envelope before addressing the maid.

"Who brought this?" he asked.

The maid nodded. "If I recall correctly, it was a woman with pink hair. She said her name is Reile Aingram."

"Reile-san?" Lux interjected, surprised.

... As Lux had interrupted. The maid looked over at Lux blankly before turning back to Rayto.

"A-ah, I'm sorry," Lux apologized nervously.

"No, don't worry about it." Rayto said with a wave of his hand, before narrowing his eyes towards Lux.

"Lux, do you know this person?"

Lux nodded. "Yes, I do. Reile-san is like a friend to me. I was acquainted with her when I was younger."

Though Lux spoke those words, he said them in a trance like manner.

His gaze was fixed on the letter that Rayto was holding.

"I see... An acquaintance, huh?"

Rayto mumbled those words.

He then paused. His expression shifting into one of indescribable disdain.

[Side quest.]

[Quest details]: [Join the Royal Knights Academy.]

[Quest reward]: [A fool's masks?]

"Damn it!"