Chương 264: 52. High-Altitude March 1

Early the next morning, I arrived at the training grounds and nearly convinced myself I must have overslept — that I'd woken up straight into the middle of a scene titled Expeditionary Force: Fully Assembled. Because everyone was already in position. The Dragon Cavalry stood arrayed in rows, armor catching the morning light in a hard, cold sheen of iron-grey.

Behind them, the ground crew moved back and forth with saddles, ropes, and wooden crates, the sound of footsteps, dragon-breath, and clashing metal all folding together until the whole training ground felt like a cauldron just shy of boiling over. Lei Lian stood at the front of the formation, one hand on his hip, using the other to tear into a cavalryman whose stance had slipped out of regulation — effectively yelling the man back into human shape.

On Alvira's side, she'd already pulled a squad of archers into formation; even their warm-up drills carried the distinct aura of slack off, and I will nail you to the target post myself. And right at the center of an atmosphere that looked, from every angle, like the prelude to a very hard war — sat an absurdly enormous woven cage.

It looked like something a country household might use to store an entire winter's harvest of potatoes, except scaled up large enough to pack several living adults inside, along with whatever remained of their dignity. Beside it lay coils of rope thick as a wrist, each end lashed to the saddle rigging of two waiting dragons. The whole arrangement radiated something ominous, entirely unreasonable, and — unhelpfully — perfectly consistent with Ignicia's brand of practical aesthetics.

I stared at the cage for two full seconds and failed, completely, to convince myself it was a hallucination.

"... What is that for?" Ignicia, reviewing a map nearby, looked up at me with the exact expression of someone watching a man attempt to dig through a mountain with a soup spoon.

"Were you planning to ride a horse to Three Rivers Fortress?"

"Well, under normal circumstances—""Do you know it's roughly two thousand kilometers from Latapan to Three Rivers Fortress?" She said it while snapping the map open with a sharp thwap, her tone as calm as someone remarking that dinner could use a bit less salt — and the sentence alone was more than sufficient to flatten anyone still harboring romantic notions about this expedition. Two thousand kilometers.

Whatever lingering fragment remained in my head of perhaps, if we push hard enough, we could gallop heroically north was promptly kicked off a cliff and into the sea. Seeing me go quiet, Ignicia shifted her gaze to the massive cage, clearly already anticipating my next question.

"That cage is for Jessi and the others."

"... Understood." I nodded, honestly. Not performed understanding — genuine understanding. Put simply: I hadn't thought this through. I'd actually had one fleeting moment of wondering whether we could all just ride horses north together. Looking back, that idea belonged in the exact same intellectual bracket as why not block dragonfire with a wooden shield. Ignicia had no patience for my belated self-reflection. She raised a hand and tapped several points on the map.

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"We fly northeast for the first day, following the coast. The winds are stable there, visibility's good, and I've already sent people ahead to clear the supply points. We rest overnight partway, then keep flying the second day." Her finger traced the coastline upward and stopped on the mark for Three Rivers Fortress.

"If everything goes smoothly, we should arrive sometime after midday, the day after tomorrow." I studied the line, then looked sideways at the enormous cage, and felt something complicated settle in my chest. Not because the distance was too far. Because it was becoming very clear that, under this particular plan, certain people were about to be transported in a manner that left a great deal to be desired, dignity-wise. That was when Jessi arrived.

She'd walked in wearing her usual my mood is terrible today, approach at your own risk expression — right up until she spotted the cage, followed the ropes up to the two dragons already stationed and waiting, and her entire face simply seized up.

"... What is that?" Her voice came out half an octave higher than usual. I wanted to offer some comfort. Unfortunately, the one resource in genuinely abundant supply here was brutal honesty. Ignicia didn't even look up.

"Your seat." Jessi went quiet. Not ordinary quiet. The specific kind of quiet that settles over a person the instant they understand resistance is futile, and their soul briefly steps outside for some air.

"Can I refuse?" she asked.

"No."

"Can I choose to die on the road instead?"

"Also no."

"I'm suddenly starting to think riding two thousand kilometers on horseback actually sounds—""Shut up. Get in." Clean. Merciless. Thoroughly on-brand for Her Highness. Alvira walked over, glanced at the cage, and looked considerably calmer about the whole thing than Jessi. She didn't complain — just pressed a hand along the woven frame and checked the rigging, apparently confirming the thing wouldn't scatter its passengers across the ocean halfway through the flight.

"Structure's acceptable," she concluded.

"Your standard for 'acceptable' is remarkably low," I couldn't help pointing out.

"If it gets you there alive, that's enough."... Fair. Unfortunately. Yozora was the last to approach. She gave Ignicia a small, proper bow, then stood looking at the massive cage for a moment, wearing an expression that actually seemed thoughtful.

"From a spell-stability standpoint, this is actually the safer option," she said gently.

"If we run into turbulence en route, it'll be considerably easier for me to look after Miss Jessi and Lady Alvira at the same time."

"See?" Ignicia added, flat as a blade sliding between ribs.

"Even Yozora has more sense than you."

"This isn't sense, this is surrender!" Jessi's hair looked ready to stand on end.

"What kind of sensible person straps people into a cage and dangles them under dragons?! This is freight handling! Am I some kind of premium cabbage, fresh off the harvest?!" I looked at her. Then at the cage.... Honestly, if someone hung a sign on the side reading FRAGILE: DO NOT DROP, the picture would be complete. In the interest of surviving long enough to actually reach Three Rivers Fortress, I very wisely kept that observation to myself.

Finally, under the crushing weight of Ignicia's give me one more second and I will throw you in there myself stare, Jessi climbed into the woven cage first, wearing the expression of someone walking to their own execution. The moment her hands touched the frame, her whole body went rigid.

"Wait — wait, this is going to swing, right? This is definitely going to swing. There's no possible way this thing doesn't swing—" Her voice already had a tremor in it. Not the practiced, pitiful wobble she used when faking distress for effect. A real one. Alvira climbed in after her in one smooth motion, found a corner, planted her feet, and even left a bit of space for Yozora.

Yozora stepped in with her staff, movements as calm as someone boarding a carriage for a pleasant day trip — not about to be hoisted skyward, suspended between two dragons. The ground crew rechecked both thick ropes one more time, securing each end to the harness rings on the flanking dragons. The dragons let out low breaths, wings spreading slightly, kicking up a gust that smelled of grass and heat. The enormous cage swayed. Just once. Jessi looked like her entire soul had swung right along with it.

"No — no, I'm already terrified—" Her face had gone pale, both hands locked white-knuckled on the frame.

"Cedric, I am warning you. If this thing falls out of the sky, I'm coming back as a ghost and I'm finding you first."

"Why me?"

"Because you'd be the easiest one to find!"

"That is the single most arbitrary life sentence I have ever—" Before I could finish, Ignicia had already rolled up her map and, with impeccable timing, tossed out: "Relax. If you actually fall, I'll throw him down after you. That way you won't be bored on the way."

"That is not remotely comforting!"

"It wasn't meant to be." Wonderful. We hadn't even officially departed yet, and the unit's mood had already settled into a stable trajectory of loud, dangerous, and — somehow, inexplicably — exactly like a normal day for us.