Some time had passed since Professor Schmidt left Tio in our care for the day. I don't blame her. I bet she'd rather want to hang out with us knowing that she knows Ennea and I. But at the same time, she's committed to her work as a genius student for the Epstein Foundation. Tio's already working on the Orbal Network Project, so I could see this happening either way. Seeing Tio wanting to hang out with us instead of working for the Professor, I see that as an absolute win. Since Professor Schmidt no longer had any business within the castle itself apart from picking up Tio later, he wandered into Grancel City, likely to seek Professor Russell out so they could work on putting the finishing touches of the Enigma II.
As for us, we finished our midday meal. Grandmother excused herself, and was guided out by Hilda. She was currently interested with Jayna, so the two wandered off to where she was currently being trained. I'll leave it to them. It probably won't be a while until Jayna knows how her day-to-day works here in the castle. Until then, I won't interrupt them. She has a lot to learn.
Thankfully there's a big Orbal Workshop situated within Grancel City. I know Renne brought Tita and Erika out to have some fun within the capital itself, but in due time, they will all wander to that place. It's equipped with everything they need to get the job done. Because of that, we had no more business here.
We had a little reunion to do~
The only problem was Angelica. After introducing herself to Tio for the first time, in person at least, she decided it would be awkward for her to stay around while this happened. So instead, Angelica bid farewell for the time being, and exited Grancel Castle. She wandered into the city to have some fun herself, and perhaps fight some monsters to brush up her Taito skills. Now, it was just Ennea, Tio, Kloe and I. Since we nad no further business here, we decided to mingle back into our private quarters. It truly has been a while since Tio had last seen Ennea. Back then, Ennea was small and petite, much like how Tio was back then.
But now?
Tio couldn't even believe how much Ennea has changed during these couple of years. Like seriously. Ennea changed so much. She was now that busty older sister type of person. The one who would often dote on their younger sister, and Tio fit that role perfectly. Tio's expectations for the future grew with each passing moment while she became reacquainted with her friends. I was happy to see Tio getting along so well. This time, there was Kloe. Tio was surprised at first interacting with royalty, but Kloe is just like any other girl, regardless of her status. Unlike her normal demeanor where she remained mostly deadpan, Tio chatted up a storm with Ennea and Kloe, which caused the rest of the afternoon to pass by in a blink of an eye.
While we hung out inside Grancel Castle for the day, a different scene could now be taking place within Grancel City's South Block. Professor Schmidt didn't take long to find out where the trio went. After spending some time in the capital, Professor Russell requested to use one of the private rooms within the Orbal Workshop, to which its shopkeeper quickly agreed to. It was a shock to see someone of Erika' stature dropping in unannounced like that, and was even more of a shock once the shopkeeper saw Professor Schmidt arrive not too long after. With that passage of time, the four could now be seen in a room, tinkering away at the Enigma II.
Feeling satisfied with how it turned out, the four then wandered back to Grancel Castle to do some final tuning to it. We did have some spare rooms. Plenty to house several guests at once. Sadly, Professor Russell had to bid the group farewell, as they had a flight to catch. They were only here in Grancel Castle for a single day. Tita was dejected knowing she had to leave so she couldn't see what would happen after, but Renne promised they would stay in touch.
Now that the evening was approaching, Professor Schmidt and Renne headed inside Grancel castle to use one of the vacant rooms. He wanted to make sure that the device was built right from the bottom up.
"Hmm, at least from first glance, that Russell was able to follow the blueprints just fine.", Professor Schmidt uttered, while Renne kept a fair distance away and continued to observe. It wasn't every day one could observe one of the three famous disciples working.
"Did you find anything amiss, Professor?"
"Hmm...", Professor Schmidt uttered, not answering Renne right away. "If you are anything my disciple candidate says you are, Renne, was it? Then perhaps you ought to have a look. Here."
To Renne's surprise, after Professor Schmidt observed the Enigma II, he sent it to her across the table. She had a look, and it was very similar to a flip phone now. It would flip vertically open after pressing the activation button on it, allowing one to see its intricate design of a more advanced Combat Orbment from within. Instead of seeing the logo that one would see when the SSS uses it, Professor Russell etched in the White Falcon on its center, which signaled that it belonged to Liberl's royalty.
"This is quite different from what I'm used to seeing that's available on the market. The middle part is where that supposed Master Quartz is supposed to go?", Renne asked, musing at the design.
"Indeed. All Lines stretch outward from the center, which allows for even more diverse Arts to be cast. But therein lies the problem. It's occupied. That Russell told me she passed the Master Quartz back to His Royal Highness before she had to depart from the city. Something about wanting to do the last piece of the puzzle himself. I understand that part, but why is something in its place?", Professor Schmidt asked, looking at Renne. It didn't take long for her to come to a conclusion.
"You're saying it's been tampered with.", Renne suggested, wondering how that was even possible. She recalled a faint image of a green-haired boy with a marking on his cheek out of the corner of her eye during their time spent in Grancel City, but there's no way he could have possibly done something to the Enigma II. Could he?
It would seem what would have been an empty slot to put in a Master Quartz, has been filled in by what appeared to be a sphere of sorts. One that Professor Schmidt could do.
"Why don't you try opening it?", Professor Schmidt asked. Renne nodded, and tried to find the activation switch on the Enigma II.
To Renne's surprise yet again, the device couldn't open.
"Interesting. So it won't even open. Perhaps that damned Russell added a security feature back at the workshop?", Professor Schmidt asked.
However, the two couldn't even react before they heard a mechanical voice speak out to the two. A flash of light emanated from the sphere toward the bottom of the device the moment Renne tried to open it up.
"Initiating retina scan...", The voice said.
"Did you do something to this, Professor?", Renne asked, obviously interested at what was being played out before her.
"I did not.", Professor Schmidt replied. He clearly didn't remember drafting any designs from the blueprint he received that included a feature like this. As much as he wanted to put blame on Professor Russell for attempting this, he knew that she didn't tamper with it either. The question remained, who did it then?
As the two saw this play out, they heard the voice speak again.
"Iris recognition scan complete. Iris signature not found. Access denied.", The voice said, causing the two to just look at the Enigma II before them with amused looks. It denied the two access to even open it!
"An advanced facial recognition program...Even I doubt those Russells can produce such a thing, considering it's not widely used in the Foundation either...", Professor Schmidt uttered. Hearing that, Renne giggled.
"Hehe, is it alright for you to tell me that, Professor? I haven't affiliated myself with any organization yet. You sound like I'm already looking to join.", Renne said with a grin.
"Well, obviously the choice is yours to make. The Foundation is open to all geniuses alike. You will fit in quite well there.", Professor Schmidt said, offering a rare praise.
'If only you knew the full scope...', Renne thought to herself, and inwardly sighed. There's no way she could tell him she's already with Ouroboros. "Either way, regardless of this weird feature, it matches the model you proposed. I could attempt to tear it apart, but that would only cause further delay and I don't think we should keep Naoto waiting for long. It can't register my face, and it most likely can't register yours. So why don't we do the next best thing?", Renne suddenly asked.
"You want to take the device to the Crown Prince. That option isn't off the table. If it already has its facial structure bound, then the only one who can open this device will be him.", Professor Schmidt said, reaching the same conclusion.
While they could deconstruct the entire thing, that would cause more effort to rebuild it again, and above all, that required time. Doing that would require another day or two now that Professor Russell was gone. He also had a flight later this evening to catch and bring Tio back to Leman State, which is where the Epstein Foundation headquarters were based out of. Sadly, much like Erika and Tita, Tio was only here in Grancel City for a day.
It was as Renne suggested. It was best to bring the Enigma II to Naoto to see if they can open it. To Professor Schmidt, it had been designed like this with a purpose in mind. That alone interested him to let things go this route. He wanted to find out what rested inside, since the Enigma II was likely tampered with. He didn't care who did it.
Perhaps that was a blessing in disguise. Renne could only guess that Ouroboros had some play in this. She also wanted to find out why they messed with the Enigma II, if it really was them.
For the time being, Renne and Professor Schmidt concluded their business in one of the vacant rooms within Grancel Castle. Professor Schmidt took a moment to approach one of the posted guards on the first floor, which startled them a bit. Thankfully he was quick and direct. After explaining the new developments, the guard quickly departed the first floor, making his way back to the open terrace. These guards moved rather frequently throughout the day, especially considering today housed quite a few important guests. He couldn't provide any delays, so the guard didn't mingle around.
The guard soon found himself in front of the private quarters where Naoto, Kloe, Ennea and Tio were. With the passage of time, the four could now be seen seated at a table further away into the room, happily drinking some tea and chatting away.
I saw this guard approach our room, who seemed to be in quite the hurry. We were all drawn toward him. I could see a serious look in his eyes, but that didn't stop him from saluting.
"Your Royal Highness, the Chief is expecting you. It seems some new developments have taken place.", The guard saluted Kloe and I. Just that alone drew our interest.
"I see. Professor Schmidt wouldn't call us for no reason.", I responded with a nod. I then looked at the girls. "It's possible he figured something out."
"Do you think something went wrong with finishing the model?", Tio asked with a hint of worry in her eyes.
"That, I do not know. Professor Schmidt probably found something. Enough to warrant our attention. I'll head down, any of you want to come with?", I asked.
"I'll go.", Tio said, immediately standing up from her seat. This earned a chuckle from us.
"This matter pertains to you, Naoto. I'll continue chatting with Ennea here.", Kloe said, smiling as she enjoyed another sip of her tea.
"Likewise. It was a blast catching up with you, Tio. I'll continue having a chat with Lady Klaudia. We'll hear about it later.", Ennea said with a polite nod. Seeing the two wanting to stay here, Tio and I made our way to the guard. I looked at Tio.
"It looks like it will just be the two of us, Tio.", I said.
"Mmm.", Tio happily responded.
"Very well.", The guard replied, keeping his tone polite. At least those who worked here knew how to behave. "Please follow me, Your Royal Highness."
Even though we knew the way, this was how things worked here. I have gotten used to being guided by other people in Grancel Castle. Being guided out of our private quarters, we bid Kloe and Ennea farewell for now, and we made our way back to the open terrace. It was summertime. Despite the sun having set, the warm air still hung. As we wandered to the other end, I could see anticipation grow within Tio's eyes. Considering this is a new generation of a Combat Orbment, and the fact that Professor Schmidt is personally requesting us to check up on something he has discovered, that doesn't happen every day.
Thankfully, the walk didn't take long. We arrived in the room where Professor Schmidt was temporarily using. To our surprise, he wasn't alone. I saw a familiar face with him.
"I didn't think you'd be here, Renne. I heard that Professor Russell and Tita had to catch a flight back to Zeiss before passing the Master Quartz back to me. Is the final step ready?", I asked, gaining interest now that Renne is here.
"Not exactly.", Renne replied, shrugging her shoulders. "We found something, and the Professor and I made a decision that it would be best to tell you directly."
"It is as my disciple candidate says. To put it bluntly, from last night to now, someone tampered with the Enigma II. ", Professor Schmidt said, explaining the situation for us. But just saying that alone caused us to pause. Even Renne raised her eyebrows. Perhaps it was Tio who was most surprised by this.
"You're calling Renne a disciple candidate now?", I mused.
"It is up to me to determine whether or not an individual is fit to inherit my work. It matters not if they are affiliated with the Foundation.", Professor Schmidt simply said. Hearing that, I laughed.
"Haha.", I laughed, and looked at Tio. "It looks like you have some competition now, Tio. ", I said. Tio just looked at Renne.
"I could hardly care more about this.", Renne said, and shrugged her shoulders.
This never happened in the games, so we'll see if this develops into some form of friendly rivalry between Tio and Renne. I'm quite interested in this new development. Sadly, that isn't why we came here, so I looked back at Professor Schmidt. "Regardless, what exactly happened? Did someone really mess with it?"
"Indeed. I could only think of one bastard crazy enough to do this if it weren't the Russells...", Professor Schmidt uttered. "The device has changed enough to where it now includes an advanced facial recognition program. It recognized neither me nor my disciple candidate. Unless equipped with the most state of the art equipment back at the Foundation, no one could install such a feature in this short amount of time. Unless it were him..."
"Is that right?", I uttered, going into my own thoughts. I could faintly imagine who it is exactly Professor Schmidt is referring to here. This is going in an interesting direction, isn't it? "Still, I can see why you called us down here."
"Exactly. And well, we can't exactly open it right now. There's only one thing to do, Big Brother.", Renne said. As she said that, she drew her eyes to the Enigma II, which caused us to look at it. I could understand the intent she was giving me.
"I guess it's time to open it. If you two can't, then I think that only leaves one person.", I said with an amused look. I reached for it, and placed it into my hand. I attempted to open the Enigma II. I gave the blueprints to Professor Schmidt and Professor Russell to begin with, so I knew how it worked.
Sure enough, the same voice that spoke out to Renne and Professor Schmidt spoke once again. It caused me to stare at the Enigma II.
"Initiating retina scan...", The voice spoke. As it spoke, I saw a holographic-like light suddenly shine up to down against my head. It rested on my eyes. After it finished scanning, we heard it continue to speak.
"Iris scan complete. Bio-signature match has been found. Access granted.", The voice continued. The three of us then heard a click of the Enigma II. It slowly began to open.
"It really did open because of Naoto...", Tio uttered. Her eyes remained on the Enigma II.
"It looks like that was the case after all.", Professor Schmidt said with a nod. "This device should now be fully bound to you, Your Royal Highness. No one else will be able to open it, even with force. I do not know how it was installed."
"That does seem to be the case.", I said, agreeing with Professor Schmidt. A device that only belongs to me? I like it, whoever it was who did this.
I didn't stop there, and allowed the Enigma II to finish opening on its own. We could see the Master Quartz slot was occupied with a sphere of sorts.
But our eyes didn't rest on that.
We saw something...resting on it?
"Mmm...", A small voice spoke out to us, which caused a wave of shock to spread around the room. "Is naptime over already?"
"You've got to be kidding me...", I uttered, not expecting to see something actually resting atop whatever the sphere was. It seemed to be a Master Quartz, but it looked quite different. We all saw a small figure, who didn't seem bigger than five or six inches big, phase in and out of existence, appearing equivalent to that of a holographic image. They were in a resting position until this figure spoke.
After the figure said that, I saw them stretch their tiny arms, only to sit upright. She had the spitting image of someone I knew well, even though this shouldn't be theoretically possible. It was as if I was looking at a miniature KeA, but with wings. She had the same green hair too. It flew gently against the air flowing through the room. She even had long, pointy ears, just like what an elf would have. Ignoring the ears, the wings, and the fact that she was blinking in and out of existence, she appeared just like a human.
The tiny figure's eyes just rested on us for a good moment, before speaking again. Eyes full of surprise, and shock.
"Who are...you guys?"
VOL 5 FIN
*
Author's Note:
Surprise!
I bet you didn't expect me to end Vol 5 right here, huh?
I've been thinking about it. I did not cut off Vol 5 in my story before the rewrite began, and because I didn't, it began to stretch up to 250+ Chapters, and honestly I think that is too much. My original intent was for it to cover all of Trails in the Sky.
But here's the thing, apart from the very beginning of FC, most of FC and SC will take place in the coming 2-3 years on the timeline. During that, Naoto's focus will shift to the Vermillion Trials while Estelle and Joshua deal with the Orbal Shutdown Phenomenon. Two major events will essentially happen concurrently. That, and the Infernal Castle.
With the reveal of the AI Holo built into the Enigma II, I feel that is a good cut off for Vol 5. From here, Naoto will focus on training.
Because of that, I have made this decision.
Now for the good news, I have decided on the name for Vol 6!
Vol 6: Resound, Resound, O' Voice Everlasting!
Happy Trails and Happy Reading!