"I really don't like your attitude, kid," Riser said, pulling his hand back from the hole he'd just made in the wall beside Astro's head.
"Well, doesn't seem that obvious," Astro replied casually, glancing at the hole before meeting the old man's eyes.
Riser chuckled as he came back to his sit. "Haha. Well, as long as you and your band of misfits from Fiore can help, that's enough for me anyway."
He didn't bother asking why Astro and the others had agreed to help Sylvain — that was the prince's business, not his.
The old man took another sip of his drink before continuing.
"Margrada has always been tied to a lot of dark wizard guilds in this kingdom. On the surface, she was a noble — she became one after her mother, the previous countess, died. As she grew stronger, Leonardo began to worry. Using underhanded tactics, she had already gathered quite a number of nobles to her side."
Sylvain leaned back at the wall slightly, finishing the explanation for him.
"So, under pressure from those nobles, my brother was forced to marry her elder sister, Velmora. He agreed because it was the only way to keep Margrada's movements under watch. But alas... no one expected those two would be foolish and arrogant enough to actually aim for the throne."
Totomaru frowned.
"What do you mean, foolish enough?"
He did not understand why it would be foolish to seize the throne for themselves. Shouldn't everyone want power and fame?
Riser exchanged a glance with Sylvain and Lisa. Sylvain gave a nod, signaling him to continue the rest again..
"There's a reason Leonardo never thought Velmora would turn against him," Riser explained. "To rule this kingdom, one must possess a relic known as the Aetherkrone — a stuff forged by an unknown great wizard over four hundred years ago. It contains boundless power drawn from nature itself. It's what's kept foreign threats from invading us, since Joya has never been known for its strong wizards like some other kingdoms. Without it, it was impossible for the Rosenwacht family to rule this land."
Gray crossed his arms. "If that staff's so powerful, how could King Leonardo die?"
Riser sighed. "After the last trade war, the continent entered an era of peace. When Leonardo's father ascended the throne, he sealed the staff away so that no one but the royal family would know its location and can free the relic. Leonardo agreed with his decision too and never tried to retrieve it. But if we can secure the Aetherkrone before Margrada, Sylvain can reclaim the throne without much opposition from the nobles."
Riser turned toward Sylvain. The prince was silent, his expression unreadable. Of course he knew where it was. Every king before his father had wielded that staff to bring prosperity to Joya. But for some reason, his father had sealed it — and Leonardo hadn't questioned him.
Astro studied Riser for a moment. The old man seemed kind, yet everything suddenly felt… too convenient. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Astro asked,
"What if we lose? Wouldn't that mean Margrada gets her hands on the stuff?"
Riser paused, then smiled faintly. "It's fine. She has no talent for nature magic — she can't wield the Aetherkrone's power. Her magic is that of destruction; she can disintegrate anything — even other spells. The only force that can counter her is the power of creation and nature. In this kingdom, only Sylvain and I can use it. Sylvain because of his royal blood… and me because of my talent."
He said the last part with a proud gleam in his eyes.
'Again, How convenient,' Astro thought dryly.
He looked toward Sylvain and said evenly, "That wasn't part of our original plan… but if finding that stuff first gives us the upper hand, then we are fine with it."
Astro didn't mind the detour. It seemed Sylvain tended to follow Master Riser's judgment, so he'd probably try to secure the stuff first.
As expected, Sylvain spoke up. "Let's find the Aetherkrone first. I already know where it is — and no, we don't need to travel elsewhere for it. It's right where we planned to go from the beginning. the heart of the capital. The royal castle of Joya."
The room fell silent. Everyone looked surprised — Astro included. The royal castle was under Velmora and Margrada's control now, yet Sylvain sounded certain they hadn't found the relic. It seems like he is sure that only the royal family can find it.. Sylvain did not pay attention to their surprised face, he instead looked at Lisa.
"Wait for us here. We'll come back soon. Once I reclaim the throne, you won't have to hide anymore," Sylvain whispered.
Lisa shook her head. "I may not be as strong as you or Father, but I can fight too. I won't let you face them alone." Her voice carried iron resolve.
Sylvain stared at her for a long moment.
"No. There will be a lot of wizards there fighting against us — one mistake, and I could lose you," he insisted.
But Lisa didn't back down.
"I'm not that fragile, Sylvain von Rosenwacht. And I have just as much duty to this kingdom as you do — especially if I want to stay by your side," she whispered.
For some reason, tears welled in her eyes. As if she was upset that Sylvain did not trust her enough. Sylvain immediately panicked.
"Okay, okay! You're coming too. But only on one condition — you stay close to either me or Master at all times. No exceptions. Okay?"
Lisa stopped crying almost instantly, her face lighting up with a gleeful smile.
Astro watched the whole scene silently, completely speechless. He couldn't help but recall a certain someone back home who had used the same trick on him.
Sylvain sighed, realizing he'd been played, and reached out to tug on both of Lisa's cheeks. She was tall for a woman, but compared to Sylvain's stature, she looked almost petite.
"You do know that if you keep using that trick on me, it'll stop working someday," he warned.
Lisa grinned. "Well, it's worked for so many years already — since we were kids. I'm sure it'll keep working a little longer."
She paused, her voice softening as she whispered. "Possibly for a lifetime."
Sylvain leaned down slightly since he did not hear her. His hand was still on her cheeks."What did you say?"
Lisa froze, staring at his face — the distance between them so small it made her forget her words. Sylvain was about to ask again when he, too, realized how close they were.
They both drew in, almost unconsciously — and for a heartbeat, something else might have happened —
But Astro stepped right between them.
"Save it for later," he said quietly. "We need to move now without wasting any time. Margrada hasn't had much time to prepare defenses at the castle. If we're late, she'll be ready for us since she probably already learnt that we had escaped the prison."
Sylvain and Lisa exchanged a brief glance. A faint blush crept onto Lisa's cheeks before she composed herself and nodded, determination returning to her eyes.
Sylvain on other hand just awkwardly faced Astro. "Only I can pull the Aetherkrone from it's hidden place, but I need a distraction big enough to pull Margrada and her minions' attention away for some time at least."
Astro thought for a moment. "A distraction isn't the problem. But the royal castle should be very huge — we need a way to signal or communicate with each other the instant we create a distraction..Does anyone have any magic that can be used for communication?"
Hibiki stepped forward, smoothing his tie. "Leave that to me. My Archive magic can link our minds. We can communicate telepathically. If Prince Sylvain allows, I can even pull a map of the royal castle from a source and project it into everyone's heads so nobody gets lost."
Everyone stared at him — even Astro — surprised. He'd thought of using Cana's cards for signals, but Hibiki's magic was cleaner, faster, and far more useful in this scenario.
"I am kind of jealous of you now, Hibiki." Astro said, half-teasing, half-praising. If Hibiki can pull it off, then he probably has the best support ability out of everyone Astro has met. Hibiki only smiled at the compliment and offered a quick demonstration of the link. The sensation was brief, like a whisper in the skull, and then everyone tried to talk with each other telepathically to get used to it, already imagining the advantage it would give them.
Astro wrapped it up. "A map and telepathy will make this a lot easier. Let's move to the royal castle now. We can finalize our plan there and adapt once we see the situation."
Sylvain grinned with teeth open "I'll give everyone ten minutes. Get ready, tonight we take control of the royal castle.. The reign of Margrada and Velmora will come to an end."
A cheer went up. No one in the room showed fear — only sharp focus and the thrill of a plan about to be set in motion.
It wasn't until midnight that they reached the royal castle of Joya.
"Come to think of it — have you ever been to the capital of Fiore, Gray?" Cana asked as they stood before the massive walls. From a distance the royal castle already looked huge; up close its true scale became obvious.
Shawn's eyes were wide. "We talked about big, but this castle is way bigger than I thought. It might even be larger than the island I was born on."
Gray shook his head. "I heard Fiore's royal castle is huge too, but now I'm wondering just how big it really is."
Sylvain scoffed. "Fiore's royal castle is big, but it doesn't come close to ours. Also — remember — try not to kill anyone. Most of the guards here are innocent and they are only following orders."
His tone made everyone serious. Wizards rarely killed ordinary people in a fight; even Totomaru wouldn't go out of his way to do it.
"But the real problem is whether Margrada is at the cas—" Riser began, but Astro cut him off.
"She is in the royal castle. I can sense her from here. Unless there's someone else this strong in Joya, that should be Margrada. Right now, she's meeting with other castle wizards — at least forty of them. Most aren't very powerful, though. I believe we can take care of them."
Riser looked surprised for the first time in the night. "You can sense people from here?" he asked. A sensor of that caliber was rare anywhere in Ishgar, no it is probably rare in the whole earthland.
Astro didn't answer directly. He feels like as he was getting stronger, his sensory ability was also growing. He did not bother thinking about testing his limit now. Instead he turned to Hibiki. "Hibiki — connect our minds. I will tell everyone the plan now."
Hibiki nodded and began working.
"Sylvain, can you tell us where the Aetherkrone is?" Astro asked through the link.
Sylvain didn't hide anything. "It's in the throne room, on the first floor in the center of the castle."
Astro looked at the castle map provided by Sylvain, studying possible entry and exit points of the whole map very fast, with his sensor ability he figured out where every guard is at right now in the map. His mind raced very fast as he thought of a plan to lure all the wizards and Margrada with them.
He spoke into the telepathic link, steady and precise. "All the strong wizards are on the top floor right now. We — the Fiore team — will cause a distraction on the north side entrance of the castle to draw their attention." Master Riser, you stay back here for now. As soon as I sense Margrada moving, I'll signal you through telepathy and tell you her location and you rush in. If she doesn't move, we wait until Sylvain gets the Aetherkrone and then we will corner her at the top floor."
Master Riser looked conflicted but eventually nodded in agreement. Astro did not care about him and looked at the last two.
"Sylvain, Lisa — you two go in from the back entrance at south once I give you the signal. You might face some guards, but we will draw all the wizards to us."
Sylvain accepted the order without complaint; as for him, it was a simple and direct plan.
"Just remember," but he added again, "many of the wizards in the castle are loyal to the kingdom. Most of them aren't bad people. Avoid killing them if possible."
Astro nodded. The group moved quickly toward the castle, shadows gliding under the pale moonlight. After crossing the outer wall, Astro suddenly lifted a hand.
"Wait," he said sharply. "Hibiki — cut our telepathic link for a moment."
Everyone turned to him in surprise, but Hibiki, although equally surprised, quick on the uptake, obeyed immediately. The others wouldn't even notice the connection drop if it was only for a few minutes unless they start speaking on the link in their mind..
Astro extended both hands toward his teammates. A faint purple glow spread across their bodies for an instant, then vanished. Before anyone could ask what he was doing, Astro spoke.
"That old man — Master Riser or whatever — poisoned the drinks back at the cave. It's not lethal, but it would've made us feel weak and exhausted faster during the fight as we use more magic."
"What?!" Several voices rang out in disbelief.
Totomaru was the first to speak. "But why would he poison us? What could he gain from that?"
Astro shrugged calmly. "Beats me. But I am sure he is not at our side, or at Sylvain's side to be exact. In the best-case scenario, he's got his own agenda but still plans to fight Margrada — maybe both of them weaken each other enough so we can sweep in. Worst-case scenario…"
"He's working with Margrada," Ichiya finished grimly.
Silence fell over the group. The air grew heavy, morale dipping for the first time since they left the cave.
Astro's voice cut through it, steady and composed. "Don't worry about it. Whether Riser's working with her or against her, there are only two things he could be after — the Aetherkrone, or the throne itself. Or it could be both at the same time."
Cana's eyes lit up with understanding. "So either way, he's forced to act. If he's not with Margrada, he'll have to fight her — and he'll end up weakened afterward. If he is with her, we can still make them fight each other before Sylvain gets the staff. He won't try to cheat beause now he knows Astro can sense him."
Astro nodded, impressed a bit. "Exactly. We stick to the plan, and we must make sure Margrada and Riser clash before Sylvain gets the Aetherkrone."
"So, in other words, the royal castle of Joya still needs a great performance from the Trimens, and we will deliver it perfectly. Menn," Ichiya said, brandishing two thin perfume bottles and holding them under his nose as if testing a fine wine.
"Well, looks like we're in for a lot of fun then, Miss Cana. Stay close to me, alright?" Hibiki added with a charming smile.
"It's not for you guys, but I'll try my best," Ren said in a stiff, tsundere voice as he fixed his jacket.
"I wonder if there will be any pretty big sisters among the wizards we are going to face." Eve mumbled dreamily, resting his hands under his cheeks.
"Well, I finally get some action. If those minion wizards aren't any fun… how about you give me a round with Margrada herself, Astro-nii?" Shawn asked, orange eyes blazing with excitement.
Gray, who was buttoning his shirt back after picking it up from the ground and exhaling a cold breath, looked steady and determined. "They dared play a dangerous game with us and treated us as pawns. I don't care what any of their goals are — from now on, their only thoughts for the rest of their life will be regrets."
Cana stomped her foot and pouted angrily. "Of course — how dare that old man poison our drink? Didn't he know how rare it was, right, Tomatomaru?"
"You're doing this on purpose, you drunkard," Totomaru hissed. "I'll burn you to a crisp too after I'm done with those scheming people."
Astro watched them, smiling as everyone buzzed with renewed motivation.
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's start the show that The Kingdom of Joya will never be able to forget" Astro grinned, his eyes glowing faintly purple.
He'd been reckless to agree to this mission, and even more reckless to not call it off sooner. But as he readied themselves against two unmoveable huge mountains like Riser and Margrada, he felt no fear or hesitation or even regret in his mind. There was only one word needed to explain it. Excitement.