Chapter 3: The Red Sea.

  The gates lowered gently, the wind was calm, and the soldiers prepared for whatever might come their way.

  King of Volny:

  Harpya:

  King of Volny:

  On their way, they are interrupted by a messenger who says the situation is under control, and the messenger hands over a scroll showing something like a hologram with a map of the regions that had problems.

  Harpya is impressed and asks what it is. A soldier asks how he didn't know what a cartographic scroll was. Harpya feigns ignorance, saying he's from the countryside and doesn't know much about the capital's technologies.

  The soldier finds this strange and says he's also from the countryside and knows some technologies, but he doesn't insist on continuing the questioning.

  The relieved king says they are dismissed and those on guard duty can return to their tasks. He tells Harpya to return to the castle, and Harpya asks the king if he can train with the soldiers. The king agrees and asks Nyx to guide him to the training field.

  Upon returning to the castle, Ida is happy and runs to hug her father, saying she's glad to know the situation is under control.

  The king gently taps his daughter's head and says: "It's alright, Ida, don't worry about me, hahaha, don't fill your head with bad thoughts, it must have just been a false alarm or something, the soldiers have already taken care of it."

  Ida smiles with relief as she looks at Harpya and says she's glad they didn't engage in combat. Harpya says she has nothing to fear.

  Ida:Harpya:

  Ida smiles and says she'll be waiting for him.

  The soldiers stare at Harpya and murmur about how close he was to the king and the princess. It wasn't envious gossip, but rather surprise at learning that someone seemingly from the countryside had enough battle experience to be the king's escort, yet didn't know much about technology and was so close to the princess, who had always been isolated and highly sought after in the kingdom.

  They return to their duties and await further orders. Before Harpya leaves with Nyx, he asks him to wait while he fetches something from his room. Harpya enters and retrieves his flute to test something. He glances at Isz, a look of pity and sadness.

  In the training field, Harpya tests his flute, but it doesn't produce any sound, no reaction, no power, not even sharp enough to cut.

  Harpya thoughtfully says he already knew this had happened, but he wanted to know how.

  Nyx asks what was wrong and that the flute wasn't just an instrument.

  Harpya says no, and that it was his relic, but it wasn't working anymore, nor did it even react to him.

  Nyx:

  Harpya:

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  Nyx shows him the training dummies, targets for shooting, and various equipment. Harpya gets excited and starts training alone. His new sword was simple but light, and he could use some wind magic along with the blade.

  Harpya swung his sword like the wind, cutting through several training dummies, practicing precision with new weapons, and learning a bit about the new equipment. Some soldiers were impressed and asked how he knew how to use magic, since the alchemists died in Vein and few in Volny knew it.

  Harpya lied, saying he was raised by an ancient alchemist and that he learned to fight alongside him. The soldiers believed him and asked him to be their instructor.

  Harpya initially hesitated, but seeing the soldiers' enthusiasm, he remembered that this new kingdom had embraced him and Isz, so it was the least he could do for them.

  After spending the entire day instructing them in combat, the soldiers say he was very good, but they thought it would be difficult to find anything Harpya had described and that they would only be able to stick with the combat and frontline lessons.

  Harpya returns to the castle in the afternoon and wonders what he was thinking instructing them to fight against specters and devilhands; that enemy doesn't exist here.

  Harpya takes a bath and puts his uniform back on. He enters his room and Ida is holding Isz's hand with a sad look.

  Ida:

  Harpya:

  Ida nods in confirmation.

  Harpya:Ida:

  Harpya gets scared and says: Please, you don't need to worry about that anymore, Ida. I'll bathe him and help with the rest.

  Ida:

  Harpya:Ida smiled and said that if he wanted to make up for it, they could just go out at night to explore the city. Harpya agreed, and the two left.

  The city at night was large, well-lit, and full of shops and establishments; the streets were clean, and people walked peacefully.

  Harpya was impressed, but not only him. Ida didn't seem to go out much and kept an innocent gaze wandering around, accompanied by Harpya and her maid. Harpya smiled slightly, seeing the happiness on Ida's face as she spoke of a few places she frequented and liked to go. In the city, the population greeted her normally, but with surprise at seeing her so calm and with her new guard.

  Harpya looks at the airship and says he's impressed and has never seen one before. Ida says it looks really cool and she's never ridden in one. Harpya says they can ride together someday.

  Ida invites Harpya for ice cream. Harpya asks what it is, she gives an innocent laugh and says it's time for him to try it.

  They spent the whole night talking, laughing and having fun. Harpya couldn't even imagine the peace he was experiencing.

  Ida:Harpya:

  Ida looks sad, but Harpya says that if it would make her happy, he would go.

  Ida is happy and hugs his arm, and they walk back to the castle. People comment on whether he was a suitor or something like that.

  Suddenly, a wounded soldier appears, murmuring: Sea, sea, they're in the sea, I don't know what they are.

  The soldier falls, and Harpya helps him.

  Harpya tells Ida to go back to the castle quickly. He asks what it was about, but it's soon revealed.

  A deformed monster, resembling a fusion of bodies, spitting blood that melted everything it touched.

  The monster was murmuring: Mother, moon, child, new era.

  Harpya draws her sword and cuts off one of the creature's arms. The guards rushed to help. Harpya uses a wind slash, cutting more pieces off the monster, which asks where it came from.

  The monster lunges, and Harpya dodges. The monster advances towards a family, but Harpya uses another, stronger gust of wind and defeats the monster.

  The guards arrive and see the crowd applauding Hapya. Impressed, they ask how he easily defeated that thing. Hapya says he simply has experience with this and asks them to surround the area and report to their superior.

  Edward suddenly appears with some wounded soldiers and tells Harpya that the monster came from the sea. He was at the port when he saw soldiers screaming and saw the water red as if it were a red sea.

  Harpya thanks him for the information and says he will stay there with the guards until they investigate what happened.

  Edward:

  Harpya:

  Edward nods and says he will ask for reinforcements near the boats as well.