On May 28, the diplomatic mission to visit the Four Principalities was officially set in motion, headed by Gajue Tsuga as chief envoy, with Manon and Fione Fias serving as deputy envoys.
"C-Can I really handle such a major responsibility...?" Fione Fias had fretted beforehand.
"You'll be fine," Illumina Ratkin had assured her, talking her into joining the crucial operation. "Even though we call it intelligence gathering, it's not like you're going on an undercover infiltration mission. It's enough just to get a clearer picture of what's currently happening across the Four Principalities."
"The magi-stones have already been sent to the garrison via the Warp Gate," Illumina said during their final check. "You've read through the operational plan, haven't you?"
"Y-Yes."
"It seems Gajue Tsuga has finished preparations on his end as well."
"Y-Yes."
"There's no need to be so nervous. Manon is going with you, after all."
"Y-Yes."
Illumina let out a gentle sigh. "Well, I suppose telling you to relax is easier said than done....I was a nervous wreck during my first operation too, to be honest."
"Huh? You were, Illumina-san?"
Fione looked surprised, prompting Illumina to give her an amused smile.
"Yes, of course. I had my days as a rookie too, you know," Illumina said, feigning a slight pout as she tapped Fione's forehead with a finger. "Do your best out there. Manon, I'm counting on you."
"Y-Yes!"
"Understood. Leave it to me."
With that, the two traveled through the Warp Gate, teleporting to Rekode, a town at the southern edge of the Mimaka Principality.
"Welcome, Fione Fias, Manon."
Waiting on the other side of the Warp Gate was Gajue Tsuga, the captain of the operation and their chief envoy.
Gajue was thirty-four years old. With dark brown hair and matching dark eyes, he stood 170 centimeters tall and weighed 60 kilograms—a fairly slight build for a military man.
"We look forward to working with you."
"I look forward to working with you as well."
Fione and Manon exchanged quick greetings.
"The magi-stones arrived yesterday," Gajue said. "It's quite an impressive amount."
Fione looked over to see four citran containers—each about the size of a ten-kilogram mandarin crate—packed to the brim with magi-stones.
"Given the weight, loading all of them at once will be tough," Gajue explained. "It'll probably be best to take one container per country, then return here to reload before heading to the next."
"In that case, visiting them in the order of the Mimaka Principality, the Darato Principality, the Norha Principality, and the Jagus Principality shouldn't pose any issues," Manon suggested.
"Right. Let's stay flexible and adapt as needed. Naturally, we'll keep Avalon updated."
The operation was already underway, and Gajue was the commander in the field. He had been granted full discretion to adjust details on-site as circumstances required.
"My Lord. The intelligence-gathering operation in the Four Principalities has finally commenced."
At that exact moment on Hourai Island, Laojun was delivering a report to Jin.
"Oh, it's finally starting? Manon asked me to sell her magi-stones at a discount yesterday, so I figured it would be soon."
Hourai Island and Rekode, the town at the southern border of the Mimaka Principality, were separated by roughly 170 degrees of longitude. In other words, there was nearly a half-day time difference between them.
Incidentally, the longitude difference between Rekode and Avalon was around 120 degrees—an eight-hour gap.
Local time in Rekode was currently 1:00 AM, the dead of night.
Consequently, the actual start of the mission was still a few hours away.
Gajue, Fione, and Manon spent their time holding a final strategy meeting until 5:00 AM local time. Afterward, they managed to catch a quick three-hour nap.
They woke at 8:00 AM and began preparing for departure.
"Just the one container....Still, it's pretty heavy."
"It weighs around forty kilograms."
The automata Manon lifted the crate with effortless ease, carrying it aboard the airship they would be using.
"Is this a new model?" Fione asked, craning her neck to look up at the vessel.
"Yes. It's the Year 3901 Model No. 1," Gajue replied. "Seventy meters in length, with a hull diameter of twenty meters. It has a maximum payload capacity of roughly five hundred kilograms."
In other words, it could carry about eight adult passengers.
"We also stripped out all the armaments except for two crossbow mounts. That should make it look appropriate for a peaceful diplomatic tour."
The airship was pristine, outfitted with only the bare minimum for defense. Painted across its dull silver gas bag was the silhouette of a hawk—the emblem of the World Security Guard.
"Quonale, the royal capital of the Mimaka Principality, is barely thirty kilometers away, so the flight will take less than an hour."
They had reportedly sent notice of their arrival in advance.
"Even if it's close, we can't afford to dawdle forever. All right, let's get moving."
Gajue, acting as both the public chief envoy and the commanding officer of the mission, gave the order.
"Understood."
Aside from Gajue, Fione, and Manon, the crew consisted of a pilot and a co-pilot—five people in total. Their cargo was the forty kilograms of gift magi-stones.
Because the airship relied purely on helium for buoyancy, it rose into the sky at a leisurely crawl compared to vessels like Jin's Hurricane or Maquina's Aristotle, which utilized barrier projectors and blow floaters in tandem.
(Even compared to our latest airships, Lord Maquina's vessel was ridiculously fast...) Fione thought to herself.
Cruising at an altitude of around two hundred meters, they reached Quonale in just under an hour.
"All right, we've arrived. Prepare to land," Gajue called out to the pilot.
Fione wondered why neither welcoming blow floaters nor hot-air balloons had risen to escort them despite this being an official state visit, but Gajue seemed to read her thoughts.
"Don't expect things to be like Avalon or the Conference Countries, Fione," he cautioned. "They suffer from chronic energy shortages. If there's no immediate threat, they avoid expending energy on their precious aerial assets."
"I see."
The airship soon touched down at an airfield situated on the outskirts of Quonale.
"Is this really an airfield?" Fione asked, dumbfounded.
To her eyes, it looked like nothing more than an overgrown patch of wasteland.
"Don't be too harsh," Gajue said. "The Mimaka Principality simply doesn't have the budget to maintain something like this. Or rather, it's not even a budget issue—there's just nobody around who actually uses an airfield."
Sure enough, no other aircraft were stationed anywhere in sight.
Before long, however, a single, antiquated golem carriage began bumping its way across the weed-choked field toward them.
"Looks like our reception has arrived," muttered Gajue, who had visited the country several times before.
At long last, the operation was underway.