Knight and shining armor

"It's… Here…. It's actually… Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! The flying city is actually here!"

Noah muttered, his eyes still lift up gazing at the massive chunk of earth floating above him.

"Hang on, weren't you brimming with confidence about its existence a while ago?"

"Well, true, but… I'm shocked 'cause it's actually in front of me now."

"The flying kingdom of Elysium. An independent nation with an absolute monarchy, but it's relatively small compared to the other flying kingdoms."

Lumine said.

"It's so big, but it's small compared to other kingdoms? What? There are other flying kingdoms?"

"There are seven them in the world."

"S-Seven!?"

"Shit, you brat…What the heck are you?… !!"

"Whoah!

One of the Meckknights said. Is currently standing up to fight back against Noah. Then he realizes that's going to be impossible. Before, the Mecknknights were able to stand up on their knees. Their bodies flew up in the sky, similar to the angel sickness Lumine mentioned earlier.

They all floated up as if they were pulled by a magnet.

"Lots of old men are flying into the sky… Is that angel sickness?"

Noah shot back at Lumine.

"Old man angel sickness… It's a serious illness that only affects old men."

"What's the difference from regular angel sickness?"

" Middle-aged wrinkly old men and super cute girls. They are fundamentally different."

Lumine lay straight into Noah's eyes. Of course, Noah had no idea and continued to believe her words. But it's stopped when Noah's grandfather cuts into their conversation.

"The residents of the flying cities are attracted to the city's gravitational pull. It was written in a book I read about ten years ago."

"!" 2x

Noah became a little suspicious of Lumine and gave her a stare, but Lumine didn't admit anything and averted her glance away.

Grandfather continues…

"Moreover, it's only limited to organic matter. In an organic matter like iron, machines can stay on land that's written too."

"You're quite knowledgeable about the flying kingdoms."

"It's not like I'm the only one who knows about it. There were a lot of books on the topic long ago, and they are quite popular. Now that I think about it, there are many sightings of flying kingdoms back then in every region too. But before long, the sightseeing goes less and less… Then, at some point, people lose interest. So now we only see them in kid's story books."

"That means, angel sickness is not real at all."

Noah said.

"That's right, angel sickness isn't real."

Lumine said to Noah as calmly as she could. Not a hint of guilt was seen on her face.

Noah looks back to the flying city and notices that the flying city has grown transparent.

"What's happening? The kingdom is fading out."

"They're done taking the troops into custody, so it's hiding again… Anyways, what is Noah anyways? What was it about those gloves and gravity powers he had?"

"That moron, Noah, is one of the human weapons created in the previous cosmic war. In the beginning, they were developed only for protecting a guard, but when people found out that they could also be used as weapons, they immediately went in that direction. But as you can see, their powers are very strong. Very few countries used them as weapons, and it became a problem. So, when the war ended, everyone decided to scrap them all at once."

"Search?"

"Noah and his friends got disposed of… No exceptions were made to whether they were experienced warriors or kids who just had their bodies created… Noah barely managed to escape… Then, I found him bawling his eyes out right after he escaped. After that, we end up living together."

"..."

Lumine turned her glance back to Noah and shed tears. She goes to pat Noah's head.

"You sure had it hard Noah…Come over here, I'll treat you like a good boy. I don't mind you being a bit more moronic. Live a healthy life."

"Wh-What the?" Noah brushed Lumine away and saw that the kingdom was all vanished. "It's completely gone… I still know where to go there."

"I already told you… The flying kingdoms are boring places filled with nothing but buildings. No mountains or oceans at all."

"But I'm still interested in setting foot in places I've never been before."

"Hey, Noah, what do you want to do now? You helped that girl. I'm asking you how you will take responsibility."

"Helped her? Responsibility? I don't understand."

"To be accurate… You're responsible for helping her escape. It's not like those soldiers were gonna eat the girl after taking her. They just came here to chase after the princess who, for her own reason, escaped from her own nation so they could take her back. Looking at it rationally. It's actually the logical thing to do. And you got in the way. You're just helping a single girl fulfill her whims."

"But Lumine was gonna get married forcibly to a guy she never saw before. That's just sad."

"But you have nothing to do with that at all… Miss, are you really against the marriage?"

"No… I don't really hate the idea of marriage."

"Eh?"

Are my efforts considered trash?

"See? Political marriages aren't a special occasion for royalty… I'll ask one more time. Noah, what do you want to do?"

Noah was put into silence.

Before his ability to give his answer to his grandfather. Another bunch of robots came falling from the sky. One fell down directly above Noah, immediately pinning him down.

Robots resembling spiders immediately encircled the princess.

"Machine troops."

The spiders immediately took the princess's hands and took her off to the flying kingdom.

"Lumine!!"

Noah shouted.

"If your actually planning to save her on a whim right now, she had better head back to her kingdom. Those guys have logic we'll never understand. And besides, even if you saved her now, they'll catch her before long. And it was dangerous for a single girl to be traveling alone."

"But I… I just want to let Lumine do what she wanted even for a short time… That's why…"

"Nope, that's not the real reason you're doing this."

"!!"

His grandfather, who knows him better than anyone, hits the spot.

"She has not been taken back to the flying kingdom. If you want to say something you should make it quick."

Noah clenched his fist and replied back loudly.

"I wanna see them too!! The huge mountains and vast ocean… Then, I made a bunch of friends. I just wanted to see all the things I never got to see up to now!"

"You finally said it… You're so annoying… Now, go. You can still reach her. Get the princess and take good care of her in the vast extraordinary world around you."

"You sure."

"People have their own perspectives. You could constantly stay secluded in this land. Away from people's eyes and spend your days in peace and safety. But then it was no different from being imprisoned. To be honest, you kept looking at the sky. So I realize that you were thinking about the outside world long ago… But be prepared. You and the princess could change the future in a big way."

"I understand."

Noah replied.

He enhanced his strength using gravitational force released by his hand and gave the spider robot a powerful punch. "Dang!!" Echoes as his fist broke the spider robot.

Next, Noah made himself fly by controlling the gravity force of his body.

"You didn't hesitate, huh?"

His grandfather smiles, looks at him and departs.

Lumine had already accepted that she wouldn't be able to travel around the world anymore. As they ascended above the clouds, she closed her eyes.

"Goodbye, my dream."

"Lumine!!"

Noah called her, his body dashing at high speed toward her. Noah gives the robot a jet-like fist and grabs Lumine's hand before she falls.

"Let's go, Lumine! Let's go see the mountains, oceans, the vast fields! Let's see what the world has in store together!!"

Noah said, making a beaming smile.

"You just make no sense."

Lumine pulled Noah toward her and gave him a kiss on his cheek. Afterward, she placed a badge on his collar. A badge that looks like a wing and a star.

"From now on… You'll become my knight. The knight that will protect me forever."

Lumine made a big smile and hugged Noah again.

"Yeah, I'll protect you on our never-ending journey together…"

Thus, the never-ending journey of the runaway princess and knight has begun.