Chapter 18 - He with an irrational world

Slowly, but surely the murmurs of the prideful crowd in the assembly hall came to a silence. Interim Captain Solyon Garde was not an unknown name by any means despite his original rank of first lieutenant. Just like the infamous Cestela Vielle, he captivated the attention of the faceless general during his time at the academy with his mana capability. And a knight! He had stayed the course and actually commissioned as a knight – unlike a certain, notorious dropout who fled to the medical department.

And it didn’t stop there. The 75th deployment of the Horizon Seekers were comprised of many volunteers spurred on by Solyon’s speeches. He fervently spoke of Dernier’s strength! Or so they believed. And here he was, again, to speak on behalf of the success of Dernier! Oh, what joy to have a proper Rising Star of Dernier!

Click.

Solyon started the projector and on screen, in front of the many proud men and women with self-proclaimed patriotism, was a top-down view of Dernier. They smiled amongst themselves. If there were wine served, Cestela was sure they would clink their glasses about.

Click.

Without a single word, the interim captain was already moving on to the next projection. The image continued being a top-down map but Dernier dwarfed. So small it was hard to tell the details of the various districts save the Core. Accompanying the city of metallurgy, were incredibly rough depiction of the world beyond the iron walls. Snowy mountains in the North. Rocky wastelands to the West. Dry valleys to the East. And an endless forest to the South. The map was unusable for navigation as it lacked any refine, measured details. But simple enough to be used for the lessons used at the academy. The image was known by everyone in attendance.

Click.

Arrows. Arrows were drawn on the map in different colors stemming from Dernier to the outer edges of the world map. A world map. In a sense, that is what it was. Everyone knew the expanses of the world reached out farther than one projection screen, but if no one could see it, document it, and… have everyone accept it, does it even matter?

To most people in the assembly hall, they haven’t seen the world past the iron walls in years. What was their world?

Click.

Another arrow. This arrow shot past the northern mountains and went further beyond. And finally, Solyon spoke.

“The 75th Horizon Seekers accepted the most ambitious expedition in history.”

“Damn right!” The meager front row attendees shouted with pride. Those behind them smiled smugly as if they contributed to the efforts.

Solyon smiled as his compatriots and continued, “Just short of ninety days total. We marched across the northern mountains to see what was behind the natural wall. We had to return before the peaks were dusted with snow as we would suffer from more than just the Stele if we didn’t.” Solyon scanned the crowd. The generals and other senior officers were smiling in suspense. But one person hiding in the shadows of the back corner didn’t. Solyon nodded at her.

“What we found past the frontier… was nothing.”

Click.

An artist’s drawing. A high vantage point. A steep way down. Green grass expanding from those mountainous stairs to the faraway horizon.

“No cities. Not a person to be seen. Just a blank slate.”

Quiet conversations and murmurs filled the silence Solyon offered. Some expressed dissatisfaction. Some claimed to have always known. And some went as far as stand on indifference on the whole thing.

Click.

The project lamp died, plunging the stage into a sudden, dimmer shadow. The illusory green fields vanished from the screen, and with them, the pleasant smiles of the Central elites. A sharp, irritated waves of whispering washed over them.

-‘Was that all?’ ‘What a waste of our time.’ ‘What a terrible presentation.’

Cestela was annoyed. But not at the interim captain. In classic fashion, Cestela had no hopes in the Horizon Seekers. The world she accepted no longer existed. As such, trying to find another world in the expanse of the unknown has always been, to her, a waste of time.

But.

She couldn’t explain it. She had the same conclusion as those haughty men and women sitting in front of her. But for some reason, they pissed her off. She locked eyes with Solyon and he smiled. It wasn’t a happy smile even that much Cestela could tell. In fact, it was one that Cestela knew quite well. It was a smile of reluctant acceptance.

The stage lights still gleamed on the golden hair of Captain Garde. His presentation was not over.

“Captain Derrick Moreau. Knight.”

The front row immediately snapped to attention silencing those behind them.

“First Lieutenant Sarah Thomas. Medic.”

The list continued. No one stopped him. No one could stop him. He listed names that held heavy value to him and those standing at attention. But only the Rising Star of Dernier was known to the rest in attendance. As such, the list of names were just that – a list of names. So they sat, listened, and waited. With their eyes forced forward, no one could see that one more person was standing at attention in the back corner of the assembly hall.

“Finally. Second Lieutenant Nicholas Blackwell. Knight.”

“…” Those standing took their seats again some with tears blinding them with the exception of Cestela who sat down with a heavy heart despite not having any faces to correlate with the names.

“We did not find another bastion of civilization, no ancient civilization of lost knowledge on the Stéle, nor any gods or divine power to defeat them.”

The generals shifted uneasily in their chairs especially at the heretical idea of searching for gods outside the one God the church preached.

“But we mapped out nearly sixty kilometers of that green horizon. I will admit it. There were Stéle amongst that horizon. But in the end, it was an expansive sixty kilometers that our children could one day run around without fear. We found nothing, yes. But if you choose to sit in your cushioned chairs and call that a failure, you dishonor every drop of blood that brought me and the rest of the 75th Horizon Seekers back home. We have a future, because we will build one out there.”

For a moment, just a measly moment, Cestela wondered to herself, ‘What was his world?’

With a stern expression, Solyon concluded, “To the day Dernier is free.”