Orion felt that this red-haired guy was different from the others. He didn't look like the man and woman he had seen earlier—Jamie and Claire; instead, he appeared rather chill.
And seeing that he was so cooperative, Orion wanted to know about what's going on in Aethelgard City. He heard the old man talk about extracting the power inside the core of planet Sadola for their own uses. He also said that this planet was alive, which Orion didn't understand.
Therefore, he wanted to confirm these things with the red-haired guy, and to do that, he would have to be honest with him.
So, he decided to explain some things from his end.
"It's like this—" But he was interrupted by a loud shout as soon as he started.
"There you are!"
Orion and the red-haired guy turned to see a man and woman come running towards them. They were Jamie and Claire.
After not finding the girl in the mask, they were disappointed and were coming back to report to their father. But on their way, they were surprised when they saw a figure they didn't recognize standing in front of them.
Thinking of the figure as the same individual who invaded their castle, Claire shouted at him. She hadn't thought that the enemy they had been searching for all this time would be standing in plain sight.
"Young Master, thanks for catching this guy," she said, her head bowing. "He is an intruder who was eavesdropping on our conversation just now."
Orion frowned, looking at them. But he also felt that this was the right opportunity to see if the red-haired guy was really a good guy or if he had been pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger.
The red-haired guy calmly shook his head.
"It isn't what it seems like," he said, looking at both Claire and Jamie. "He is one of my friends whom I have invited from Aurora Haven. He got lost here from the moment he arrived and happened to go into one of your meeting rooms. Everything was just a misunderstanding. Forget it."
Claire and Jamie felt suspicious about what the red-haired guy said, but since he was their young master, they couldn't refute him. They could only nod their heads and report back to their father.
"I see." Claire nodded at him. "I will not disturb Young Master anymore."
"Do you know what an alive planet is?" Kyle didn't answer, but instead something from him and the masked girl.
Orion shook his head at him, whereas the masked girl nodded.
"Oh, you know about it?" Kyle appeared surprised that a Zenithan knew something so secretive about it.
"It's said that an alive planet is the most coveted planet in all three domains," she said. "I don't know the specifics, but I heard that an alive planet is the best for ranking up as it has many monsters living inside. And since Sadola is only a 1-star planet, it has the potential to grow to a 3-star planet because it's alive.
If it were a dead planet, there would hardly be any monsters roaming around it, and it would forever remain a 1-star planet since one couldn't rank up if there were no monsters to take their cores from."
"You are absolutely correct," Kyle said, looking at her. "An alive planet is a very precious thing. That's why the three domains took control of many planets because they were alive. However, this time our task is not to take control of the planet but to extract all the energy from the core of the planet Sadola."
"What will happen if you do that?" Orion asked. For some reason, he had a feeling it wouldn't be anything good.
"If we were to successfully extract all the energy from the core of planet Sadola, then all life would cease to exist on this planet," Kyle said solemnly.
"What?" Orion exclaimed. "You mean all of us will die if that were to happen? Why?"
"It's because a planet without a core is like a human without a heart," Kyle said. "It will slowly crumble to dust, and at that time all life forms on this planet will either die with the planet or will get lost in the empty starry abyss."
Orion slumped back in the chair as he heard Kyle. He couldn't believe they would all die. If he remembered correctly, he heard the armored girl say that it would take a week before the extraction of the core would be completed. That meant they only had seven days.
As he thought of this, a very curious question came through his mind.
"What would happen to you guys?" He asked, looking at Kyle. "Wouldn't all of you die with us if the planet were to die since you guys are also on the same planet as us?"
"We won't die," Kyle said, shaking his head. "The whole castle we are in has been restricted by the Space Tear. It works as a strong protective shield that won't be destroyed by anything or anyone."
Orion nodded, thinking they were well prepared for the task. But that would also mean he and the rest of the people on this planet would be doomed.