Stars in the Night Sky

I used stylo to write “Dunkelfelger’s common room” as the destination of my letter, then folded the sheet into an airplane and threw it toward the Dunkelfelger Dormitory. Its ivory hue tore through the night sky like a shooting star.

Watching the paper airplane glide through the night sky, I was captivated by the brilliance of the stars. It felt like the first time I had truly appreciated their beautiful glow, considering my infrequent ventures outdoors during the night.

During my excursions to gather ingredients for my jureve, especially on the nights of Flutrane and Schutzaria, my focus had remained on the moon, causing me to overlook the stars. More precisely, the moon’s brightness and color on those nights overshadowed the prominence of the stars.

During our recent mission to rescue Ferdinand, we departed in the dead of night, yet my attention was solely devoted to reaching our destination. I certainly didn’t have the luxury to leisurely gaze at the stars during that time.

“What’s wrong?”

“Isn’t the night sky stunning? I can vividly recall only the dark expanse of the ocean that stretched out before us as we used the country gate to journey to Ahrensbach for your rescue. Despite heading into battle once more under the cover of night, I find myself with the urge to gaze at the night sky. I was just thinking, perhaps it’s because I have you by my side this time, Ferdinand.”

Feeling Ferdinand’s presence on my back, I breathed a sigh of relief. I never wanted to go through that ever again.

“Isn’t it just because your highbeast has a ceiling? That would surely block your view of the night sky.”

“Ah, that makes sense. There is certainly a significant difference in the field of view.”

Still, I couldn’t leisurely stare at the stars in the night sky back then. The sense of comfort I experienced now brought back memories of my time in the lower city, lying in bed with Tuuli. We could only see the ceiling above us and a slice of the night sky through our tiny window, but Tuuli always tried to catch a glimpse of the stars nonetheless.

“Did you know, Ferdinand? Meteors are star children that streak through the skies on their journey to the ground.”

“What are you going on about?”

Ferdinand looked at me with a dubious expression. ‘Star children’ was one of the stories I had heard from my mom back when I was Myne.

“The star children descend to the ground as meteors, observe the state of humanity, and supposedly relay their findings to the God of Darkness. It’s a moral tale cautioning children to behave, as any mischief they engage in will promptly be communicated to the gods.”

“That is certainly a departure from what is written in the scriptures.”

“Heehee. In the scriptures, the focus is more on how the God of Stars, Sterrat, grappled with managing the star children after the supreme gods left the matter entirely to him. Despite both narratives involving the star children, isn’t it amusing how the lower city story uses them as a parable?”

Ferdinand dismissed the tale with an uninterested scoff.

“Regardless, it doesn’t alter the fact that the star children are keeping a watchful eye on the events unfolding in this land. We might have already captured their attention. The stars tonight are exceptionally bright; perhaps the happenings of this evening will find their way to the gods’ ears as well.”

I offered a prayer to the stars in the night sky, hoping for a successful capture of Detlinde and Gervasio.