Cities in the Sky

"Say, Mika, why did you let her get tortured before saving her?" Airi asked.

"You're too kind to understand, Airi. I'm sorry," Mika replied.

"Hah? Just say it!" Airi demanded.

"To put it simply, why are you following me? Is it because Alaric asked you to?" Mika inquired.

"That's none of your business," Airi retorted.

"Exactly. You can follow me for whatever reason you have, but it's different with Eiko," Mika explained.

"If I didn't do that to her, she wouldn't have needed my protection in the first place. She would have just expressed her gratitude and moved on. Now she is desperate for my protection and has sworn her loyalty to me," Mika continued.

"You're cruel, Mika," Airi said.

"Eiko!" Mika shouted.

"Yes, master?" Eiko said.

"Do you know the basics of self-defense?" Mika asked.

"I am familiar with Kendo, a Hinomoto no Sekai martial art that focuses on swordsmanship," Eiko replied.

Mika thought to himself, "Kendo, huh?"

He then threw Eiko an enchanted sword he had obtained from a past quest and said, "Here."

Eiko looked at the sword and exclaimed, "Goblin's Fury? A rare enchanted sword, are you giving this to me?"

Mika replied, "You can keep it if you can defeat Airi in a sparring battle."

"Eh? Why me?" Airi asked.

"Airi, please have a spar with me," Eiko said.

"Well, I don't have a choice anyway," Airi said.

The two of them prepared for battle.

"Azure blade!" she exclaimed, as she spawned a blade made out of azure flame out of thin air.

Eiko positioned her body.

Her left foot was slightly behind the right, with the left heel slightly raised.

She made sure her hips were straight forward, shoulders relaxed, and spine perpendicular to the floor.

With her center of gravity perfectly centered between both feet, she raised her sword, pointing the tip at Airi's throat.

"Here I come!" Airi charged toward Eiko with a battle cry, but the latter remained calm and focused.

With her eyes locked onto Airi's movements, Eiko anticipated the attack and prepared to counter. Suddenly, Airi threw her sword into the air, twirling it rapidly before aiming for a swift kick at Eiko's legs.

But Eiko was ready and leaped high into the air with a graceful jump to avoid her kick.

As Airi jumped to grab her sword back, Eiko reacted swiftly and clashed her blade with Airi while she was still in the air.

The two blades met with a loud clang, sending sparks flying in all directions.

Airi's stance was still off-balance, and Eiko took advantage of the situation to disarm her with ease.

"Surrender yourself," Eiko demanded.

But Airi just replied with a sinister smirk and summoned her sword back into her hand with an "Azure blade!" She then held her sword in a reverse grip and stepped to the side, swinging her arm in a sideway motion to slice through the air.

Eiko was caught off guard and knocked back while trying to parry the attack, and was subsequently disarmed.

"I admit my defeat," Eiko said as she sat with her head facing the ground.

Mika clapped from a distance. "That's pretty good since you were just garbage back then," he said.

Eiko picked up her sword from the ground and brought it back to Mika.

"Forgive me, I'm not worthy of this sword," she replied.

Mika threw the sword away to the ground.

He walked away for a few moments before stopping.

"You can keep it. Practice with it and be useful to me," he said.

Tears were visible in Eiko's eyes, but she tried to hide them. "Yes, master. I will do my best."

"Come on, let's continue to the city," Mika said.

"Hmph, if you insist," Airi replied.

Eiko then picked up her sword from the ground and followed Mika and Airi.

...

...

...

As they walked together, Mika suddenly asked, "Why didn't you fight the bandits back then? Considering your level of skill, you could have easily fought them off."

"I was drugged and when I woke up, I was barely able to move my legs and arms. My legs were tied with a rope and the bandits suddenly had the urge to rape me during their journey to the city," Eiko explained.

"Why didn't they impregnate you?" Mika asked.

"As elves, we have a special ability to prevent unwanted pregnancies through a barrier around our vulva, this barrier physically prevents male genitalia from being inserted and can only be removed with our consent," Eiko explained.

"I see, where's your family now?" Mika said.

"They were all killed during the attack on my village. I was the last survivor. There may be other elves who were kidnapped since we are valuable commodities for the royals," Eiko replied.

Airi looked saddened, "That's so sad..."

Tragic past? Check.

Trust issues? Check.

Valuable commodity? Check.

Struggling against fate? Check.

Possessing unique abilities? Check.

Mentally and emotionally scared? Check.

Doesn't have any family members? Check.

Trying to overcome personal trauma? Check.

Breedable? Check.

She will be a good asset in the future, Mika thought to himself silently.

As they continued their journey to the next city, Airi listened intently to Eiko's story, offering words of comfort and support.

Meanwhile, Mika took charge of gathering food and other necessities for the night, his efficient movements betraying no sense of urgency or emotion.

---

Harvestmoon 24th, Caelumoria, Caelumoria's outskirts, 7:48 PM.

---

"Alright, there it is, Caelumoria," I said.

[System: "Caelumoria - The land of the sky, Caelumoria is a nation of floating cities and airships. Its people are skilled in engineering and magic, and they have mastered the art of flight."]

"Wahhh... It's so high up, how do we even get there?" Airi asked.

"Look over there, Airi! There's a human standing under the shadow of the land over there, with a sign that says 'Welcome to Caelumoria' and airships beside him," Eiko replied, pointing in the direction.

"Well, well, well, Airi, it looks like your eyesight needs some serious adjustment," I said, laughing at Airi's obliviousness to the huge sign right in front of her.

"I mean, how could you miss such a big, bold sign welcoming us to Caelumoria?" Eiko giggled, clearly enjoying the moment.

"Come on, let's go talk to the guy with the airships before Airi misses something else."

"Geez... you guys..." Airi said, embarrassed.

"Let us go and see if we can get a ride on one of those airships," I said.

Airi and Eiko nodded in agreement, and we set off toward the figure under the shadow of Caelumoria.

As we approached, we could hear the hum of engines and the sounds of bustling activity.

There was a sign above the booth that read 'Adventurers' Guild' indicating that it was the registration kiosk.

"Ah! Welcome back to Caelumoria, adventurers! Is there anything we can help you with?" the receptionist asked.

"Can we use the ship to go up there?" I asked, pointing to the sky.

"Ah! This is your first time here. The travel cost would be 10 gold coins," the receptionist replied.

"Eh? That's so expensive," Airi exclaimed.

"I'm pretty sure it's free of charge since we have our Adventurer ID cards," I said, showing my card.

"Ah, right," Airi said as she showed her Adventurer ID card.

"Hmm, it seems you're well-informed adventurers. How about you, miss? I don't seem to see your Adventurer ID card," the receptionist said, addressing Eiko.

Let's see how I can escape paying the fee.

Should I say that Eiko is disabled and illiterate? Ah, no, I still need to pay for her.

What about saying she's underage? Her height is too tall to be considered underage, but her chest is flatter than a third-grader's. I'll keep that option in mind.

Should I say that Eiko is actually a member of the royalty and therefore exempt from the fee? Her clothes are too torn to be royal.

What about saying that Eiko is an important figure in a secret organization and revealing her identity would put her in danger, so she cannot show her Adventurer ID card? I don't know if such organizations exist.

What about saying that Eiko is a ghost and therefore doesn't have an Adventurer ID card? Then she could just fly to the city.

Or should I convince the receptionist that Eiko has amnesia and doesn't remember her Adventurer ID card or anything else about herself? Maybe that's my best option.

"Mika... you're so cruel..." Airi thought to herself, her expression becoming grim as she read what Mika was thinking.

"Pard-" I was trying to say something, but Airi interrupted me by touching the edge of my cloth. I turned to face her, and she gave me a pleading expression.

"Alright, alright," I gave in to Airi's pleading expression and handed the receptionist a pouch of 10 gold coins. "Here you go."

"Thank you, adventurers. You can go to the nearest airship and request to fly to the city," the receptionist said while counting the gold coins.

We made our way to the nearest airship and boarded it, ready to soar into the skies.

"Where would you like to land, adventurers?" the pilot asked.

"Please take us to the capital of Caelumoria," I replied.

I looked up into the sky and noticed that the stars were not visible, possibly due to the heavy smoke and industrial activity.