Code Name: Ryu

Grand Order

“So, where exactly are we going?”

After departing from the forest, we started walking on a road for the past few days, only resting during the night.

“Hmmm? What did you say, Darling?”

“Look here,” I say, glancing at Louisa, who is resting on my back, “I’m not a ride, especially not in my human form.” Without looking at him, I can feel the icy glare from Niklaus.

“But you are a ride though. You are a dragon.”

“Being a dragon doesn’t automatically make me a ride.”

“If you weren’t a ride, then why did you allow me to ride you?”

“I…”

I can’t say that I couldn’t fight back against it. She was so cute begging me to be her ride.

“I… didn’t want to…”

“What is it? You’re muttering to yourself.”

“I… It’s nothing.”

“Nothing, you say. Well, if you say so…” Her victory smile fails to hide its sadism. She knows exactly why I chose to give in to her demand. This girl is dangerous.

“So,” interrupts Niklaus, “this organisation you are a part of…”

“What of it?”

“You say you were on a mission, but just who puts a twelve-year-old on a dangerous mission like this?”

“You’re mistaken, Brother. I was placed on this mission for the last six years.”

“Six years!? Since when were you a member of this organisation?”

“I was scouted by the leader of our organisation when I was five years old. He saw my potential and offered me the chance to change this world.”

“Change the world?” I ask.

“There are many threats that exist in Leagard. And many that will appear shortly. To fight against these threats, our leader, Raizo, brought together the most powerful mages in this Kingdom – those of us with the potential for greatness. By ripping us from the stream of corruption that runs rampant in this Kingdom, he gave us a place to belong. One that we can call home.”

“This Raizo person sounds like a good guy.”

“Yes, he is.”

“And the place we’re going to is where this organisation is situated?”

“The city we are going to is called Mico, the City of Romance.”

“City of Romance? Why is it called that?”

“There are many superstitions surrounding the town and securing the futures of couples, but the main cause of this name is the festival held every year.”

“A festival?”

“It is called the Flower Festival. Mico is a city filled with beautiful flowers, ranging from exotic chrysanthemum blossoms to local roses and irises. The Flower Festival is when all these flowers are brought together in the central square – turning the bricked square into a garden of varying colours. Adding to this is the growth of the Spirit Tree – a tree, from Aerlogard, that appears in the city square. The sudden appearance of this tree caused panic in the past, but now it is a symbol of love and peace.”

“That tree…? Is it the Tree of Wisdom?”

“The Tree of Wisdom?” asks Niklaus.

“The Tree of Wisdom is the oldest in Aerlogard. Legend has it that the tree imparts wisdom to any who approaches it – whether it is about a succession of war, or about finding your loved one, this tree will answer all questions you ask.”

“That sounds amazing. But how does a tree answer your question? It’s not like the tree can speak, can it?”

“No,” giggles Louisa. “The tree does not speak. It imparts its wisdom through visions. After asking your question, you will see a vision showing you the answer.”

“I wonder if the tree will answer my questions?” I ask.

“Your questions? What is it that someone as powerful as you wish to know?”

There are quite a few things that I want to know, starting with Alvis Ragnarök. Why did he appear frightened when he read the details of my magic power? Him – the most powerful dragon in Ragnarök. Just what is it that he is hiding from me? Also, the identity of that masked magician—just who was it that was capable of sending Grandpa flying?

After a few more days of walking, we finally arrived at Mico. A line of humans stretches from the gate to a few kilometres outside the city’s premises.

“Why is the line of entry into this city so long?” I ask, surprised.

“It’s the festival. It’s happening tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Then are these tourists?”

“Yes, but we don’t need to wait in this long line. Just take us to the gate.”

“You mean we’re skipping the line?”

“Yes. Unless you plan on waiting for hours before reaching the entrance?”

“No… I will skip the line.”

Other than the glares and jeers, skipping the line was no issue. We managed to enter the city after Louisa showed the guard a medallion. The guard seemed on edge when Louisa showed the medallion. I wonder, does Louisa hold a high position in this organisation?

“M-My name is C-Cain!!” yells the guard. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Louisa!!”

“Lady Louisa?” I ask.

“I am a princess of this Kingdom. Is it so uncommon for someone to call me that?”

“I guess not.”

“But she’s not only a princess, she’s also one of the top… OUCH!!!” The guard agonises after Louisa kicks him in the leg.

She looks at me and says, “You will find out soon enough.”

With that said, the guard did not utter another word and led us to an antique store. “Heaven’s Antiques? Are you serious?”

“Our leader has a strange naming sense,” confesses Louisa.

“What did you say!!” yells someone. I look down the street and see a young, teenage boy, and an older boy arguing.

The smaller boy looks to the sky and says, “You have no class. Shouting like that in the middle of the street and disturbing its residents. Is that the behaviour a Cross should show?”

The nerves pulse in the older boy’s forehead. His face flares like the red in his flame-coloured hair. He grabs the sword on his waist and says, “Hey, Callisto, do you want to die today?”

Callisto does not flinch, instead, he retorts by saying, “As if that dull blade could even scratch me.”

“That’s it!!” The older boy unsheathes his sword, revealing a beautiful dragon pattern imprinted on the centre of the blade. “Let’s do this, Callisto!!”

Callisto ignores him and continues walking.

“Hey!! Callisto!! I said let’s do this!!”

“Are you an idiot?” he says, turning to face the older boy. “If we fought here, then every innocent person here will die. And if we do that, then Raizo will get pissed. Plus…” he says, turning back to face me. “It looks like we have an unknown guest.”

The older boy looks over to us. He smirks before disappearing and attempts to capture me, but I move before he can even slip in behind me. “You’re a fast one,” he says, smiling.

“Enough, Kai,” says Louisa. “He is my guest.”

Kai looks down at Louisa and they stare at each other for a while. He pats her on the head and says, “Fine.” She whacks his hand away and shifts towards me.

“I apologise for Kai’s behaviour,” says Callisto. “He only ever listens to Raizo and Louisa, so he’s hard to handle. I am Callisto… but, you probably already know that from all that ruckus.”

“I am Haruki.”

“It’s good to meet you, Haruki.” He walks to the door of the antique store, and asks, “Shall we go inside?”

We walk into the store. The workers glance at us and then proceed to continue with their work. One of the workers, a woman with the assistant manager tag comes to us, and says, “Welcome to Heaven’s Antiques. I believe you are here to meet Raizo.”

“Yes,” says Louisa.

“He is currently in a meeting with some important individuals and has asked me to…”

“I don’t care who he’s meeting with,” snaps Kai. “He called us here for a meeting and that’s what I’m here for.”

“Calm down, Kai,” says Louisa, sighing. “Tell Raizo that I have brought him the ‘item’.”

Item? What item?

The assistant manager smiles and says, “I see. I will inform him about this. But I do ask that you wait a while before speaking to him.”

“Fine,” she says. She then turns to me and asks, “You want to explore the headquarters?”

“I thought this was the headquarters.”

She giggles. “Of course, this is not the headquarters. Though, you could say that this is the entrance.”

“The entrance?”

“This way, Mr. Haruki,” says the assistant manager. She points to a back room and leads us into the room. After we all force ourselves into the tiny room, she clicks a button next to the door’s frame. The room shakes for a second. It feels like we’re moving, but we’re not—what’s going on?

“This is an elevator,” says Louisa.

“An elevator?”

“You don’t know what an elevator is?” asks Kai. “Exactly what rock were you living under for an elevator not to be known to you?”

“We don’t have ‘elevators’ in my realm.”

Everyone, aside from Louisa and Niklaus, stares at me with blank expressions.

“Haruki,”  interjects Callisto, “What did you just say?”

“We don’t have any ‘elevators’ in my realm,” I repeat slowly. “Did I say something wrong?”

He shakes his head, “No, but what do you mean, ‘your realm’?”

“Oh. I figured you knew already. I’m a dragon, from Ragnarök.”

Silence makes its way into the room. “A DRAGON!!” they yell in unison, breaking this silence.

“Louisa,” says the assistant manager, “is what this boy… or dragon… says true? Is he a dragon?” Louisa nods her head but keeps her glare from the woman’s eyes. “How did this happen?”

“I will brief you all on the details later.”

“Does it have anything to do with Trist’s…”

“We will discuss this when I meet with Raizo,” demands Louisa. Her gaze is now focused on the eyes of the assistant manager. The woman backs down and says nothing further.

The tension in the small room is at an all-time high. No one says anything after Louisa’s deadly glare. The room stops moving and a bell sounds. The doors open and we enter a large hall filled with people scurrying about. At the centre of the humongous hall is a transparent tube with a platform sending people up and down. Is that the elevator we just exited?

“What do you think?”

“It’s… packed.”

Louisa bursts into a fit of laughter. “Packed? That’s a first. Usually, when someone first arrives, they speak about the similarities the HQ has to the adventurers guild.”

“Well, I’ve never seen an adventurers guild before, so how would I know of the similarities? Anyway, what I meant was, I was not expecting there to be so many members.”

“Grand Order, the organisation I work for, is one of the largest organisations in Leagard. Though we don’t have as much as the Illuminati, we could still give that organisation a run for its money. Everyone here has an aspiration to protect Leagard, so that makes everyone present an important member of our family.”

“Family, you say.” I look around the hall. Everyone, despite their busyness, has a wonderful smile on their faces. “You have a wonderful family.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Hey, Haruki, Louisa, we’re going to the waiting room. If you don’t follow, then we’ll leave you behind.”

The waiting room, Kai explained, is a room just outside the room where Raizo has his meeting. If we wait there, we’ll meet with the leader of Grand Order just after his meeting. However, I would have loved to do some sightseeing.

After going up the elevator, we walk down a hall. Everything looks so futuristic. These white halls. The elevators. If every nation in Leagard has the same level of technology, then Ragnarök is behind in technological advancement.

“Wait here,” says the assistant manager. She leaves us in a room with couches, weird machines, and shelves.

“What is this?” I ask looking at the machine. Inside are canisters.

“That’s a vending machine. It stores refreshments until you place money in this slot.” Louisa places coins in the ‘vending machine’ and taps a button on the side. The machine makes a whirring sound and a canister in the top row falls. She places her hand in the open slot at the bottom of the machine and retrieves the canister. “Here. Have a taste.”

She pulls the pin on the top of the canister and hands it to me. I take a sip and a wonderful lemon flavour bursts in my mouth. “This is delicious!” I drink the rest of the yellow liquid in less than a second. When I finish, I turn the can upside down and nothing remains in the can. “Can I try?”

Louisa giggles. “Sure. But do you—”

“Louisa, Kai, Callisto, you’re all here.”

I spin around, noticing the dangerous presence that walked into the room. When I look at the man who towers above me, I can only think: This must be Raizo.

A middle-aged man with black hair and a purple streak running up through the right side of his hair. It looks like a bolt of thunder. He’s a bear of a man, wearing a suit that does not suit him at all.

“And some unexpected guests. Niklaus Borneheimer, correct?”

“Yes. How did you…?”

“I can see the resemblance to Louisa.” He looks over to me. “You; however, I do not know.”

“My name is Haruki Ryu. I was summoned to this realm by his father. And I want to return.”

“I see. However, I don’t think you’ll be granted that luxury.”

I don’t like where this is going. Since he showed himself, he has neither introduced himself nor has he shown any hospitality towards me. “And why is that?”

“The city you were summoned into—the capital city of the Borneheimer Kingdom, is no more.”

“No more?” asks Niklaus. “As in—”

“Wiped from this planet. From what I heard; the disappearance of Trist coincides with your summoning. I wanted to ascertain this from Louisa, but after hearing that you were a dragon, I could only assume you were the cause of this.”

“Well, your assumptions are wrong. Right, Louisa?”

Louisa remains silent.

“I’ll take that silence of yours as an indicator that I was correct. Now, what should we do with you?”

He glances over to Kai, who answers his gaze by appearing behind me faster than I can react. He grabs my hands and pushes me to the ground. “What are you doing? I didn’t do—”

“Enough, Haruki,” says Louisa. “It’s true. You… before Father attacked you and Niklaus, you transformed into something.”

Something? Come to think of it, I lost consciousness after I was summoned here. Don’t tell me it was then.

“It seems you’ve remembered something. But that does not change your current situation. Haruki Ryu, you are a threat to Leagard, and as protectors of this Kingdom, I sentence you to an execution.”

“E—Raizo! You can’t be serious! He—”

“Silence, Louisa. He, as I said, is a threat to this realm. I will not allow you, or anyone else,” he says looking over at Callisto, “to say otherwise. Do you understand?”

Callisto, who’d prepared himself to fight, rests his posture. Louisa, on the other hand, pushes Kai off me and helps me up. “I won’t follow that order, Raizo. He… Haruki is my responsibility. I won’t let you kill him like this.”

“Sigh, I didn’t want it to come to this, but you leave me no choice. Callisto, restrain Louisa. Kai, kill him.”

Louisa looks at Callisto, who hesitates to follow the command. She turns her attention to Kai and says, “It looks like Callisto won’t comply either. How about you, Kai? Spending the last few minutes with Haruki, do you think he’s capable of taking a life without reason?”

“I… don’t,” he says. “But,” he places his hand on the hilt of his sword, “you said it yourself. Haruki is responsible for Trist’s disappearance. A threat that great can only be a threat to our realm.”

“So, this is your answer, Kai? It’s a sad day today. To think friends… no, family will point their blades at each other’s necks. But you leave me no choice. Lend me your powers Aquos, King of the water spirits.” Water swirls in a vortex around Louisa and me. “I won’t let you touch Haruki.”

A bright flame surrounds Kai’s sword as he unsheathes it. “The last time we fought, you lost. Do you think this time will be any better?”

“That was years ago.”

They stare each other down, creating a tense atmosphere in the room. “Louisa,” says Niklaus, “please, listen. If it’s true that Haruki is the cause of Trist’s disappearance, then why would you protect a monster like him?”

“A… monster?” asks Louisa before she goes silent. “Brother, you are an abyssal idiot.”

“A—”

“You call him a monster, yet you are the one who summoned him. If you hadn’t followed Father’s absurd plans, then Trist would still be here. If anything, your weak self is the root cause of Trist’s disappearance.”

“My—”

“Louisa! Watch out!”

A cage of thunder surrounds us. Raizo blitzes like a bolt of thunder through the vortex and grabs Louisa. “That’s enough,” he says, holding her by the neck. “I won’t let you injure your reputation any further, Louisa. As for you,” he says, glaring at me, “I will take care of your execution personally.” He blitzes out of the vortex, tossing Louisa to the side, and wraps himself in a coat of electricity. “Though it’s regretful that we could not speak more, I cannot allow a threat like yourself to roam this world any longer.” He disappears and reappears before me. His fist inches closer to my face.

This is bad. I don’t have faith that my dragon skin will protect me if this punch connects. What can I do? How do I protect myself? No… it’s too late for that…

My mind blacks out before the punch connects. After what felt like a short nap, I woke up, hearing Louisa shout my name, “Haruki! Haruki, wake up!!” The blur after waking up slowly dissipates from my vision. Louisa looks at me teary-eyed.

What am I holding in my left hand, I think as I look at the bloodied body of a beaten Raizo. I look at my other hand, which is filled with blood. The scent of multiple people reeks on my bloodied right hand. I let go of Raizo and pick myself up. “W-What happened here?” I ask, surveying a hall that has lost all its former beauty. Bodies are spread everywhere. Niklaus, Callisto, Kai, and several agents, who I assume work for Grand Order, lie unconscious. “Louisa, what did I…?” Before I can ask her, memories resurface in my mind. Heavy memories. The scenes of me brutally beating down everyone who opposed me. I feel a sense of nausea rise from my stomach to my chest. It remains in my chest though, amplifying the heavy feeling chaining my heart down. “I… did this?” I ask, panting heavily.

“Haruki,” says Louisa, taking hold of my hand, “I’m sorry.” She places handcuffs around my wrists. They start glowing as they absorb my mana. “Haruki Ryu, you are under arrest. You are a danger to yourself and everyone around you. For that reason, you will be held in the deepest part of Grand Order’s underground prison.”

Prison? Well, looking at what I did, a prison is the best place to hold me. The destruction around me. The eyes filled with fear staring down at me. These I am all too familiar with. In Ragnarök, I had a nickname, other than ‘Genius’. It was, ‘Destroyer’ because whenever I blacked out, destruction would ensue. Though Grandfather told me they were just rumours, I can see now that he tried to protect me. Those rumours were true after all. I’m nothing but a monster who destroys everything in his wake.

“I’m sorry, Louisa.”

She, without saying a word, takes me down the elevator to the underground prison. The small structure hisses as we stand in silence until a ding signals its stop. We exit the elevator stepping into a room of white. “Open, cell 2509.” From within the white, an object floats down. Its doors spread open. Louisa tosses me inside and leaves, without saying her goodbyes. She didn’t even look me in the eyes as the cell doors closed and she entered the elevator.

Grand Order Underground Prison, Cell 2509, Ten Months Later

Ten months passed since the Berserker incident. In that time, I did not receive visits from anyone. I know nothing about my verdict, and can only assume I was found guilty. Whether I am up for an execution or not is something I will hopefully find out soon. As for what I spent the last ten months doing, well, my skill at healing any injury shows that the training I did in this cell paid off. For the first week, I reflected on my actions. But remaining remorseful would not solve anything, so I trained myself to make sure I could avoid going berserk again. Lucky for me, food appeared in my cell magically, which served as my nourishment for the last few months.

“Open, cell 2509!”

My cell moves after someone screams those words. The nerves tense in my body as the cell slowly moves outwards. The doors crack open and standing with an army of guards behind him is an elderly man—a butler.

“So, am I getting executed?”

He chuckles. “What an amusing boy you are. Also, a tad tardy. Wherever is your introduction, hm?”

“I never thought my executioner would want to know my name. But you’re right. I am Haruki Ryu, and I refuse to walk into an execution.”

“Is that so? What made you come to this conclusion?”

“Nothing important. Just some self-reflection I did in my first week here. So, what’s it going to be, Old man? Are you going to let me go peacefully, or do I have to send you to an early grave?”

“Hmm, while I would love to slap that cocky smirk plastered on your face off… I am not here to execute you. Rather, I came to recruit you.”

“Recruit… me? What are you getting at?”

“Simple. Raizo wants you to help Grand Order fight against threats to Leagard while you’re in this realm. In return, we will help send you back to your realm.”

“What’s with the sudden change? Ten months ago, I was on the receiving end of an execution order. Now you’re recruiting me. I don’t even need to use my sharp nose to smell that a plot is brewing, and I’m only an ingredient to be used.”

“More like a ladle,” he jokes. “You are not far off with your analogy; however, I would advise you to take this deal. Louisa fought tooth and nail to get you this opportunity. You wouldn’t waste a young maiden’s hard work because of pride, would you?”

Louisa? So, she still fought against Raizo… against her family to help me. That girl continues to surprise me even now.

“Sigh, Fine, I will take you up on this opportunity.”

“Good, then I want you to wear this,” he says, handing me a collar.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a dog collar.”

“A dog collar?”

“Yes, a dog collar. You will wear this everywhere you go.”

“Why?”

“So that we can monitor you. Safely, of course.”

“Monitor me?”

“We can’t be having you go berserk on us again. This collar will continually absorb your mana to power the explosive within.”

“Explosive?”

“Yes, explosive. You don’t have to concern yourself with it exploding. That is as long as you stay within a certain range of any of the Five Crosses.”

“What’s the Five Crosses?”

“They are the five most powerful members in Grand Order serving the leader, Raizo. Kai, Callisto, Ivy, Louisa, and I are the organisation’s Five Crosses. You will be partnered with the Spirit Cross, Louisa. That way you will be monitored, and we can have you help out in the organisation.”

“You heard the man!”

“This voice…”

The elevator dings and the doors open. “It’s good to see you again, Haruki.”