The afternoon sun in Orestes did not offer warmth; it was a pale, polished coin hanging in a sky choked with the grey-blue haze of a thousand refinery chimneys. After slipping past the secondary palace gates, Aster led the group to a jagged obsidian ridge that overlooked the "Lower Tier" of the city. Here, the wind was a living thing, howling through the rock formations like a choir of ghosts.
Aster stood at the very edge, his silver hair whipping violently around his face. He didn't look like a fifteen-year-old boy in that moment; he looked like a general surveying a battlefield. Behind him, Astra kept a protective hand on Elian's shoulder, while Princess Lumine paced restlessly, her rose-quartz eyes darting toward the distant, cloud-shrouded peak of the Sentry's Crown.
"The plan I outlined in the coffee shop was only the 'what'," Aster began, turning to face them. His voice was calm, cutting through the gale with unnerving clarity. "Now, I will explain the 'how'. And I need you to listen carefully, because what I am about to describe is a secret that could get us executed in three different kingdoms."
Lumine stopped pacing, her breath hitching. "Aster, you're scaring me. You talk about crimes and secrets like you're reading a grocery list."
"Knowledge is only a crime to those who fear how to use it," Aster replied coolly. He reached into his coat and pulled out a small, leather-bound notebook—the one where he translated his past-life engineering concepts into the magical language of this world.
### The Forbidden Theory
"In our country's Royal Library, tucked away in a section guarded by three levels of mana-seals, I found a series of ancient texts regarding Sensory-type aptitudes," Aster said. He looked directly at Lumine. "Most people believe a Sensor is simply a living radar—someone who feels wind, detects mana, or hears distant sounds. But that is the elementary level."
He knelt and traced a complex geometric circle in the dust.
"The texts describe an advanced state called Synaptic Synchronization. It is the ability of a superior mind to project its 'sensory ego' into another living vessel. If the mage's mental mana density is significantly higher than the target's, they don't just see what the target sees. They become the target."
Astra stepped forward, her brow furrowed. "Aster, wait. You're talking about mind control. That's... that's a terrible thing to do to someone . The Church of Resonance forbids the manipulation of a soul's will."
"It's not terrible if the target has no 'will' to speak of," Aster countered, his eyes flashing with academic intensity. "The intelligence of animals is instinctual, not cognitive. Their minds are like unwritten sheets of parchment. For a high-tier Sensor like Lumine, an animal's mind is a vacant room waiting for a tenant."
He looked at the theoritical proof he had derived in his notes, presenting it to Lumine.
"The synchronization ratio $S_r$ depends on the variance between your mental output and the target's cognitive resistance," Aster explained.
> "Because animals have a low resistance, you can effectively overwrite their brain functions without damaging their consciousness. Lumine, you are a royalty with talent. Your mental capacity is a mountain; a bird's is a pebble."
Lumine heard everything that aster said and, her heart hammering against her ribs. "You want me to... jump into a bird's senses? And fly it to the top of the hill?"
"Not just any bird," Aster said. "Your pet. Ralph, can you call him"
After that, Lumine whistled, a long, sharp note that carried on the wind. A few moments later, a shadow detached itself from the palace spires in the distance. It grew larger at an impossible speed until the air was filled with the sound of massive wings beating against the gale.
Ralph, a magnificent Alpha-species Mountain Eagle, landed on the ridge. His talons, long as daggers, gripped the obsidian rock, and his golden eyes surveyed the group with a fierce, predatory intelligence. He stood nearly four feet tall, a beast of pure muscle and feather.
"He's beautiful," Elian whispered, shielding his eyes from the dust kicked up by the bird's landing.
"He's an Alpha," Lumine said, her voice trembling slightly. "He can carry the Harmonic Resonance Device—it's only five kilograms. But Aster... I've never done this. If I fail, I might lose myself in him. I might forget how to be human."
"I won't let that happen," If you think that you couldn't manage anymore just tell me, and we will stop. But you are the only one with the sensory precision to guide him through the 'Ghost Winds' of the peak. If we use a Pegasus, the wards will see us. If we use Ralph, the wards will see a bird looking for its dinner."
The training began immediately. Lumine sat cross-legged on the cold ground, facing Ralph. The eagle stared back, his beak clicking in confusion.
"Close your eyes," Aster commanded. "Don't look at him with your sight. Look at him with your mana. Find the 'frequency' of his heartbeat and match your own to it."
Lumine obeyed. A faint, rose-colored light began to pulse around her temples.
"I... I can feel him," she whispered. "He's hungry. He's cold. He thinks the silver-haired boy smells like old paper."
Aster ignored the jab. "Now, push. Don't ask for permission. Enter the space."
Lumine winced, her face contorting in pain. Suddenly, she cried out and slumped forward. Ralph shrieked and flapped his wings violently, nearly knocking Elian off the ridge.
"Failure one," Aster noted, his voice flat. "Your intent was too soft. I think you tried to 'merge'.But You need to 'Control' show him your dominance."
The second attempt ended with Lumine vomiting. The sensory input of an eagle—the 360-degree vision and the overwhelming smell of the wind—was too much for her human brain to process.
The third and fourth attempts were even worse. Lumine's nose began to bleed, and her hands shook uncontrollably. "I can't... it's like trying to drink from a waterfall, Aster! There's too much information!"
"One more time," Aster said. His face was a mask of stone, but internally, a storm was brewing.
On the fifth attempt, Lumine managed to lift Ralph's right wing by sheer force of will, but the connection snapped a second later. She fell back, gasping for air, her eyes wide with terror.
Aster looked down at her. In the fading afternoon light, she looked so small—a princess who should have been drinking tea and complaining about embroidery, now bleeding and broken on a cold rock because of his ambition.
His face changed. The cold, calculating "Prince" vanished, replaced by a dark, grim expression of pure guilt. He looked at his own hands, then at his sister, who was watching him with tearful eyes.
"I am no better than the terrible people who use children as labour," Aster thought. "I am using a child to fullfill my ambition."
"We're stopping," Aster said, his voice cracking. He turned away. "The plan is cancelled. We'll find another way. Or we'll lose the wager. It doesn't matter."
Lumine looked up, her vision blurry. She saw the set of Aster's shoulders—the way he looked like he was carrying the weight of the entire world. She saw the "Wise Prince" finally showing a hint of the kindness underneath that mask.
"Aster... wait," she croaked.
She reached out, grabbing the hem of his coat. Aster stopped but didn't turn around.
"Please... don't make that face," Lumine said, her voice gaining a sudden, fierce clarity. "I can feel your mana, remember? I'm a Sensor. I can feel the guilt eating you alive."
Aster turned slowly. "Lumine, I've put a burden on you that you weren't meant to carry. This is my war, not yours."
"You're wrong," Lumine said. She stood up, wiping the blood from her nose with the back of her hand. She looked at Astra, then at Elian, then back at Aster. "It's our war now. I'm not doing this because you told me to. I'm doing this because I want to help you. I want to see that stage light up. I want to hear Elian sing. And I want to prove to my father that I'm more than just a 'pretty sensor' to be traded off to a Duke."
She stepped closer, her rose-quartz eyes burning with a light that rivaled the twins'.
"Don't think that you are pushing me, Aster. Remember... we are friends, right? And friends don't let each other walk into the fire alone."
Aster felt a lump in his throat he couldn't swallow. He looked at Astra, who gave him a small, encouraging nod. The "Snowflakes" weren't just two people anymore. They were a circle.
"Alright," Aster whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "Friends. One more time. But this time, don't try to overpower him. Just... trust him."
Lumine sat back down. She didn't close her eyes this time. She looked Ralph directly in his golden orbs.
"Ralph," she whispered. "Let's go for a flight."
She reached out with her mana, not as a spear, but as a bridge. Astra began to hum a low, resonant note—a stabilizing frequency that calmed the jagged edges of the wind.
Suddenly, the air on the ridge went perfectly still.
Lumine's body went limp. Her consciousness drifted out of her chest, crossing the short distance between girl and bird. In that instant, her physical body became a defenseless shell.
Before she could collapse onto the jagged rocks, Aster moved fast and , he caught her, pulling her into his arms. He held her delicately, her head resting against his shoulder, his coat wrapped around her to keep her warm.
High above, Ralph's head snapped up.
The eagle didn't shriek. He didn't flap his wings in panic. Instead, he let out a low, melodic trill that sounded eerily like a human laugh.
With a single, powerful thrust of his wings, the Alpha Eagle launched into the sky. But he didn't fly like a bird of prey. He banked with a precision that was purely human. To the absolute shock of Elian and Astra, the massive bird began to perform a series of joyful, impossible somersaults in the air. He looped, dived, and spun, showing off a level of aerial acrobatics that defied the laws of biology.
"She did it..." Elian breathed, his eyes wide. "She's really in there!"
High in the sky, the eagle looked down at the ridge. Through the connection, Lumine sent a mental signal—a burst of pure, rose-colored light that only the twins could perceive.
I'm ready, the signal said. Let me show you, How cool I can be.
Aster looked up at the bird, a rare, genuine smile breaking through his tired face. He tightened his grip on the sleeping girl in his arms, feeling the steady beat of her heart against his own.
"Nearly Forty hours to go," Aster said, his voice filled with a new kind of hope. "Let's go wake up a kingdom."
***
**Status of the Operation:**
Vessel: Alpha Eagle (Ralph).
Pilot: Lumine (Synchronization Level: 82%).
New Discovery: The "Snowflakes" have gained a third member (temporary).