Morning washed over Langerstine in a soft gold glow.
After straightening his collar and brushing off a wrinkle that wasn't actually there, Knox stepped outside. The air was crisp, the streets already buzzing with first-years rushing toward Kizen. He waited—just a few minutes—hands in his pockets, pretending he wasn't low-key excited for today.
Then she appeared.
A girl with long black hair, brushing lightly against her shoulders as she walked up with quick steps.
"Sorry, did you wait too long?" Lorain asked, with a smile.
Knox glanced at her and—because all the romance novels, manga tropes, and anime he'd consumed finally demanded their moment—he delivered the line he'd been itching to use.
"Of course not," he said smoothly. "I just arrived as well."
For a split second, Lorain froze.
Because…This felt exactly like a scene she'd read in her countless romance books. Morning sunlight, the small smile, the vaguely dramatic line. Even though she and Knox had gone out together countless times before, somehow every moment still felt new. Different. Precious.
So she tucked that feeling right into her heart like saving a favorite page.
"Then let's go!" she said brightly, trying—and failing—not to grin too much as they started walking side by side toward Kizen's grand entrance.
As they got closer to the gathering point, the roadside grew crowded. Kids around Knox's age filled the street—each one with some quirky trait or standout feature. After watching them for a moment, Knox couldn't help thinking that he and Lorain were probably the most normal-looking ones here.
…Which turned out to be a terrible take.
The moment the two of them stepped into view, the murmurs started.
"Hey, look at those two! They both look amazing!"
"Whoa… the boy's really handsome, and the girl's super pretty. They look perfect together."
"That white-haired boy—he's sooo handsome. You think I have a chance?" one girl whispered.
Her friend let out a dramatic sigh. "Girl, get real. But don't worry, as your best friend, I'll go talk to him for you!"
Knox stayed calm. He was used to getting this kind of attention, so the comments barely made him blink.
Lorain, meanwhile, started out indifferent—almost annoyed, actually. But then she heard someone say she and Knox looked good together, and that tiny spark of irritation melted into a warm little flutter. Honestly, she wanted to hunt down whoever said it and shower them with compliments.
But before she could enjoy that sweet moment, another comment hit her ears—someone wanting to flirt with her precious childhood friend.
Her expression didn't change much, but inside? She was steaming. And the next second, she shot a sharp glare at those "flies"—or more specifically, the girls trying to get close to Knox.
The girls suddenly froze.
A cold shiver crawled up their spines—like something sharp and dangerous had just brushed the back of their necks.
They didn't know where it came from…but they felt it.
That glare.
Their faces paled at the same time.
"W-What was that…?"
"I—I don't know… but let's go. Now."
Without waiting for another word, the group of girls turned tail and bolted, practically tripping over themselves as they scurried away from Knox and Lorain like frightened rabbits.
Lorain just looked away, expression calm again, as if nothing had happened.
Knox, clueless as ever, simply tilted his head. "Hm? Did something happen?"
Then, someone in the crowd finally managed to put two and two together.
"Hey—wait! Isn't that Knox Aznable and Lorain Archbold?!"
"What?! What did you just say?! The White Devil and the Genius Writer are here?! Where—where?! Move, let me see!"
The moment those names were shouted, the already noisy crowd exploded into full chaos.
Kids craned their necks, people pushed forward, and a handful of students nearly tripped over their own feet trying to get a better look.
Thankfully, several Kizen staff members rushed in, clapping their hands and blocking the way to restore order.
Only after things calmed a bit were Knox and Lorain finally guided toward the gathering point.
A ship waited at the edge of the cliff-like terrain, its sleek hull gleaming under the morning light. It seemed that would be their ride straight into Kizen.
"Please proceed quickly. Boarding will begin shortly!"
When their turn came—
"Please present your admission letters."
Knox and Lorain handed over the neatly prepared envelopes.
The assistant scanned the names, then—just for a split second—her body went rigid. She caught herself immediately and returned to normal, but that moment didn't escape Lorain.
The assistant marked the list with her quill and handed their letters back.
"Knox Aznable. Lorain Archbold. Confirmed."
Her tone was polite—maybe too polite.
Knox answered with a warm, spring-like smile.
"Thank you."
The assistant froze. For her, time probably stopped for half a heartbeat. Then she hurriedly smiled back—trying to seem composed.
"You're welcome."
Lorain narrowed her eyes slightly.
…Suspicious.
For someone who'd just been hit by that smile, this assistant looked waaay too calm. Lorain herself still hadn't built resistance to it. Even after all these years, Knox's warm, gentle smile could still make her heart wobble like jelly.
So how could this random assistant stay perfectly composed?
To Lorain, the answer was obvious:
She's not normal.
Meanwhile, the assistant—on the outside looking professional—was internally screaming her lungs out like a dedicated fangirl.
Her composure? Pure willpower born from already recognizing Knox's face—she'd been a loyal fan of his novels for a long time, after all. But of course… that part would never be known. Just a passing detail.
After that, Knox and Lorain boarded the ship. They found two empty seats near the window and settled in. The noise outside gradually faded as more first-years filed in.
Then—soft footsteps echoed from the entrance of the deck.
Knox looked up.
A man walked down the aisle of the ship, adjusting the lapel of a surprisingly crisp black suit. His hair—usually a half-collapsed bird's nest in every illustration Knox remembered—had been forced into something almost tidy. Formal-mode Aaron, Knox thought. A rare species.
And there he was: Aaron Deia, Kizen's Summoning Professor. The same man whose face Knox knew a little too well from the novel. Normally, Aaron showed up with messy hair, shorts, and rolled-up sleeves—even while teaching. But when it came to official events, he was (reluctantly) dragged into looking presentable like this.
Messy or not, the guy was a pure summoning monster. A genius through and through. Don't judge a book by its cover fit him better than anyone Knox had ever seen.
Aaron stopped near their row and addressed the students in a lazy, half-asleep tone.
"Everyone, fasten your seatbelts."
Before anyone could even react, Aaron flicked his finger.
A massive barrier bloomed outward—transparent, shimmering—swallowing the entire ship in an instant.
Then, suddenly, a low, distant rumble rolled across the sky.
At first, everyone thought it was just thunder. But the sound kept getting louder—heavier—like the sky itself was grinding against something colossal.
Knox's brows twitched. Lorain stopped mid-conversation. And one by one, the students around them tilted their heads up.
Then someone whispered, "…What is… that?"
Far above the clouds, something massive cut through the blue—no, tore through it. A silhouette so overwhelmingly large that the sunlight dimmed around its frame. The surface was pitch-black and jagged, like metal fused with bone.
With every second, the thing grew closer, swallowing the sky. A giant, airborne fortress-beast. An undead warship.
Knox's eyes widened.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me… the Behemoth Battleship?"
Lorain's mouth hung open for a moment.
"…That's… definitely not a normal summoning creature…"
Screams, gasps, and frantic murmurs erupted from the students.
"W-what is that?!"
"Is that safe?! Is THAT supposed to be safe?!"
"It's heading this way—IT'S COMING STRAIGHT HERE!"
The Behemoth Battleship descended with a deafening roar, its shadow engulfing the entire ship they were sitting in. Black wings made of carved bone folded outward like cathedral doors. Dozens—no, hundreds—of Royal Guard Skull Wings swarmed beside it in formation, leaving ghostly trails in the air.
The entire ocean seemed to tremble beneath the pressure.
And yet—Aaron just scratched the back of his head and, with the flattest tone imaginable, said,
"Ah, right. That's our ride. Don't panic, it won't bite. Probably."
Then he snapped his fingers again.
A gravitational pulse burst downward from the Behemoth Battleship—silent but colossal. The entire ship carrying Knox and the others suddenly felt weightless, as if the sea had lost its grip on them.
Students screamed as the vessel rose, lifted gently yet impossibly by an unseen necromantic force.
Knox simply exhaled, half in awe, half in resignation.
"…Well. Kizen really knows how to make an entrance."
The ship kept rising—smoothly, impossibly—like invisible hands were lifting it from below. Sea spray drifted off the hull and fell back toward the ocean as the vessel ascended higher and higher toward the massive shadow looming above.
Students clung to their seats or the nearest railing.
"W-WE'RE FLYING?!"
"WHY ARE WE FLYING?!"
"AREN'T WE SUPPOSED TO SAIL?!"
The assistant instructors tried to calm them down, but even they were sneaking glances upward, faces pale.
Knox, meanwhile, casually watched the physics-defying phenomenon play out like he already knew the spoilers. Lorain held onto the seat, her expression flipping between awe and annoyance.
"…Couldn't they just… let us sail normally?" she muttered.
Knox shrugged. "Honestly? Knowing Kizen, this is 'normal.'"
Up above, the Behemoth Battleship's underside opened—massive armored plating unfolding like the maw of a mechanical giant. Inside, an eerie pale glow revealed a vast internal hangar, lined with skeletal structures that pulsed faintly with necromantic magic.
Like a titan opening its stomach to swallow them whole.
A cluster of Skull Wings swooped down, arranging themselves into a formation that resembled a welcoming squad. Their hollow eyes flickered with ghostly blue light as they circled the ascending ship with mechanical precision.
Then, with a loud THUNK, gravitational force adjusted—
—and the ship carrying Knox, Lorain, and the other new students slid perfectly into docking alignment.
The entire vessel drifted into the hangar as if carried on invisible rails.
Once fully inside, the armored maw slowly closed behind them, sealing out the sky in a single heavy breath. Witchlight lanterns along the walls flickered to life, casting the interior in cold green-blue hues.
Some students trembled. Some were speechless. One kid fainted right on the spot. And then—
Tap, tap, tap…
Footsteps echoed as Aaron Deia casually walked to the front of the ship.
His suit was still perfectly crisp. His expression was still perfectly uninterested.
"Welcome to the Behemoth Battleship," he said lazily. "Kizen's preferred method of student transport. Efficient, indestructible, and, uh… mostly safe."
Chaos erupted around him.
"MOSTLY?!"
"WHAT DOES MOSTLY MEAN?!"
"SIR, DO YOU EVEN KNOW?!"
Aaron blinked once, unimpressed.
"Relax. If something attacks us, this guy"—he jerked a thumb upward—"eats the attacker. So technically, you're all in the safest place in the sky."
Knox let out a tiny laugh.
Lorain looked like she wanted to agree but also wanted to file a complaint.
Then, the entire hangar began to hum—deep, powerful, like the heartbeat of a sleeping giant awakening.
The Behemoth Battleship was preparing to move.
Aaron clapped his hands once.
"Alright, kiddos. Buckle up. Next stop—Kizen Academy."
The giant undead warship lurched forward, gliding through the sky with titanic force.
And thus, the journey truly began.
Soon, even though not everyone had fully calmed down, the tense atmosphere gradually melted away. Conversations started bubbling up across the ship, excitement spreading like wildfire as the new students chattered about their soon-to-begin life at Kizen.
Knox and Lorain were no exception—they enjoyed the journey in their own quiet corner.
Knox, with that relaxed, scooped up a piece of seafood with his spoon and ate it with what could generously be described as an elegant manner. Elegant enough… if you ignored the three stacks of empty plates beside him.
Meanwhile, Lorain ate her dessert calmly, posture neat, expression serene. Together, the two of them looked like a polished noble pair enjoying a high-class cruise rather than a sky-bound necromantic fortress.
Their appearance, demeanor, and status were more than enough to keep the surrounding students at a distance. Especially the girls.
Once word spread that Knox Aznable and Lorain Archbold were sitting there—yes, that Knox and that Lorain—whispers spread like a wave, and suddenly everyone was watching them with a mix of awe, curiosity, admiration… and a healthy dose of jealousy.
Eventually, a few bold girls gathered the courage to walk over to Knox's side—
—only for Lorain to casually turn her head and glare.
A cold, silent, perfectly delivered death-stare.
The girls froze, stiffened like statues, and retreated so fast it looked like someone had hit rewind on their lives.
Knox didn't react. He just kept eating, looking perfectly unaware.
Lorain, on the other hand, continued savoring her dessert with the expression of a cat guarding its favorite sunlit spot.
Later, Aaron suddenly spoke up. "Everyone, return to your seats. We're arriving soon."
His voice rolled through the ship, and the students who had gathered to chat excitedly, quickly returned to their seats. It felt like the trip had only just begun, and yet they were already close to Kizen. A wave of tension rippled through the cabin.
"If you don't want to fall, hold on tight," Aaron added with a smile that absolutely did not belong on a teacher's face.
Knox's eyelid twitched.
He remembered this part from the novel—except that from Simon's POV, it was a giant whale that delivered the students to Kizen. The whale had literally launched the ship through the blowhole like a cannon, sending everyone flying into the air before plummeting down like skydivers who hadn't signed up for it.
This time, though, their "transport" was a Behemoth Battleship… which, judging by the faint hum in the air, had its own terrifying method.
Suddenly, the Behemoth's massive body lurched.
VROOOOM.
Its speed spiked in an instant, and the entire cabin trembled. Students screamed, grabbed their seats, and held on for dear life as the world blurred outside the reinforced windows.
Even Knox and Lorain—who had been calm through everything so far—were caught off guard. Knox's eyes widened slightly. Lorain subconsciously tightened her grip on the armrest.
A "unique" skydiving experience with a full-sized ship was… not what either of them were expecting today.
Soon, the violent acceleration eased. The Behemoth's rumbling quieted into a steady glide, and the pressure on their bodies faded. Knox exhaled slowly and turned toward the window.
Beyond the blue horizon, the sun had risen just enough to drench the world in soft orange. The light spilled across the sea and clouds, painting everything in warm, dreamlike colors. It was the kind of sunrise that made even Knox pause.
Below them stretched Rock Island, home of Kizen.
A place that shouldn't have been real—yet very much was.
Lush jungles bursting with green. Smooth, open plains bathed in early light. Waterfalls carrying streams of drifting autumn leaves. Snow-dusted mountains glimmering as if winter had just brushed past.
All four seasons existed in one vast landscape, coexisting like a miracle.
Then—
THUD.
The ship touched down.
A collective sigh of relief erupted through the cabin. Some students immediately bolted for the edge of the clearing, hands over their mouths, desperately holding back whatever was left of breakfast.
Knox could tell from the slight shift in gravity, the faint tremor in the ground—they'd arrived.
Kizen.
Finally.