"Back then, all sectors were expanding rapidly. No ruler would record their own failures—revealing the truth could cost them control of more territories, especially newly claimed ones. It's standard political maneuvering. What other reason would they have to hide the truth?"
"That makes sense. Your Reno Sector rose to power right after that, didn't it?" Arthur pressed. "But—what shame could a single war bring?"
"It's not as simple as you think." Ralph said. "The 'hero' of the incident is even more of a joke. In reality, he was a loser in this war too. This is a reality made up by a group of losers—and he was eager to cash in on that false fame. The people who fought hard against the massive Mynos coalition during the war? They've been hidden beneath the truth this whole time..."
"It sounds like you're talking about Archibald of Basuhata."
Ralph gave him a look. "I didn't say that—but he was definitely the biggest beneficiary of the incident. In fact, Blair was the commander on Aesit back then."
"Blair? He was involved too? Why isn't he mentioned in any reports?"
"The story's too long to tell now, but the Aesit Incident wasn't just about fighting over a strategic location. I don't think what happened there was a coincidence."
"Why didn't Blair come forward to set the record straight?" Arthur asked.
"The incident hit him hard. And given his position back then, his voice would've been drowned out by others anyway." Ralph shook his head. "What we saw was too shocking. We would've done anything to forget it. In the end, Basuhata made up the whole story, and the other sectors went along with it. Do you think Blair and I could've changed that by arguing?"
"What happened on the battlefield?"
"Arthur, the details are deeply tied to Blair. I'll tell you when I get the chance. The key point is: when we finally moved to ground combat, those shadowy figures you mentioned appeared in the Mynos army. It was the first time we'd ever seen such strange... creatures. No one won this war. Just when we were about to be overwhelmed by the Mynos coalition, we were saved by the Aura—the 'gods' as we called them."
"The forces we faced on Aesit weren't just a regular fleet. If we melted down all their warships into scrap metal, we could've forged a planet's core. Try to imagine: the entire vast plain covered in those shadows. It was terrifying beyond words. You had to be there to feel that helpless fear..."
Ralph's laced fingers trembled. He stared blankly, as if trapped in that memory.
"The Aura?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah—'Aura' is what we named them. But they might as well be 'gods'—their technology was light-years ahead of ours. Can you wrap your head around a starship hundreds of kilometers long? Even their smallest vessels were bigger than our largest Tiberon battleships today." Ralph turned to him. "That was also the first time we learned such a species existed. And they didn't look that different from us. To this day, there's no official record of them in any interstellar sector... Do you remember Blair mentioning the 'archaeology' on the Marsal colony? It's not just them—many other species have similar legends. All evidence points to the Aura, who saved us, being their 'gods'."
"Starships hundreds of kilometers long? How big even is that?"
"I'm not joking, Arthur! If you'd been there, you'd understand the shock..." Ralph looked up at Arthur, his eyes filled with fear. "Thinking back now, I can't imagine what would've happened if they'd targeted us instead of Mynos. They could've crushed us in minutes. And of course, the Mynos coalition that was crushing us? They stood no chance against the Aura either..."
"Good grief—all of this was covered up?"
"Absolutely." Ralph said. "Back then, the support forces from all sectors were no match for the Mynos warships. The irony? That so-called 'hero' showed up hoping to claim victory, but he just handed Mynos a gift. But the powerful Aura crushed Mynos just as easily as Mynos had crushed us."
"That strong?" Arthur asked.
Ralph shrugged. "They wore strange armor that could deflect our attacks. And they used very unusual... weapons."
"Like swords?"
"How did you know that?" Ralph asked in surprise.
"Finish your story first."
"Right. The end of this battle gave us nothing to celebrate. Instead, we made decisions we've regretted to this day..." Ralph covered his mouth and nose, taking a deep breath. He kept his elbows on his knees, staring straight ahead.
"So this is all connected to the item you're looking for?"
Ralph nodded distractedly.
"They came to Aesit for a purpose. Saving us was probably just a side effect. Of course, one of the conditions was that we had to accept the Aura's agreement—to find something we'd lost. To help us find it, they gave us this..." Ralph pulled an ordinary-looking necklace from his pocket and handed it to Arthur.
"This?"
Arthur picked up the necklace. It was nothing special—he could've bought one for next to nothing at the market. But what caught his eye was the stone in the center, surrounded by a hollow golden metal ring. Arthur twisted open the spherical metal casing, and the stone fell into his palm.
It was about a centimeter in diameter—plain-looking, but with an indescribable luster, not quite as translucent as jade.
"This stone?" Arthur held it up to examine it.
Ralph shrugged.
"Don't underestimate it. Their technology is beyond our understanding. The Aura said this is a 'guide stone'—it resonates and glows when near the item we're looking for. We tested it on Telos, and it worked."
"This thing actually... glows?"
"Yes! It glowed in the Marsal ruins, and again on Telos..." Ralph suddenly grabbed Arthur's hand, almost making the stone fall.
His eyes were pleading. "Remember—this conversation stays between us. Don't mention the Aesit Incident to anyone. I'm begging you, Arthur—stop asking. If Blair is willing to tell you more, that's a different story."
"That's it? You're going to all this trouble for something you don't even know the use of?"
"All I can say is... human greed is to blame." Ralph hesitated. "If this belongs to the Aura, it shouldn't end up in any of our hands. That's all I can tell you for now. Now you tell me—how did you get off that lab ship?"
"I think I met the Aura you were talking about." Arthur said.
"Strange, glowing armor?"
"Yeah, exactly!" Arthur nodded. "He broke into the lab where I was being held. I'm sure it was on a spaceship. But he called my name before I could say anything. Maybe they really are gods?"
Arthur pulled the ornament from his pocket—the one the man who called himself Sasaki had given him—and showed it to Ralph.
"What's... this?" Ralph frowned tightly.
Arthur glanced at Ralph skeptically. "After giving me this weird thing, he 'pushed' me back using some method I can't understand."
"Pushed?"
Arthur nodded, shrugging. "I thought it was a bad joke at first. But then a bottomless hole opened up behind me. When I woke up, I was back where you'd dropped me off before the mission."
"Right—they use strange techniques, like magic." Ralph said, examining the ornament. "The craftsmanship is exactly like what I saw back then. But—how do you use this thing? Did he explain it?"
Ralph held the object—it was slightly larger than a coin, a circular ring made of connected triangles. Its black-silver body was inlaid with shiny golden metal. Aside from its unique design, it seemed useless.
"When would I have had time? Everything happened in a few cosmic seconds."
Arthur handed the stone back to Ralph, stood up to pick up his shopping bags, and sat down again. He took the circular object back, spinning it skillfully in one hand.
"All he said was, 'We'll meet again if we get the chance.' That's it."
"So many mysteries." Ralph said.
Arthur looked at him, shrugging. "What I'm curious about is—what kind of ability lets someone conjure fire with their bare hands..." He trailed off, his gaze drifting to the handrails hanging above. Their swaying seemed to confirm his dizziness. He quickly asked Ralph, who was also looking up. "Hey, Ralph—do you see that? It's... swaying nonstop."
"So you noticed too—I thought I was just seeing things."
After a few more slight sways, Arthur realized it might be related to the object in his hand. Its vibration matched the timing of his spins exactly. But how? He'd played with it several times that week, and nothing like this had happened.
"If you're seeing it too," Arthur said, "it can't be my imagination."
"It definitely isn't! Good grief—how could there be an earthquake here?"
"I... I think it's this thing in my hand."