The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

REAS stared angrily at the two people standing in front of him.  He touched the small barrier surrounding him and it instantly repelled him.  His expression became even more stormy.

Earlier, when Astrid went inside the bathroom, he suddenly received a call from the reception saying that the director was asking Astrid if he could go back to the beach.  He was a bit confused why the director suddenly wanted to meet his brother when they already bid farewell and the other also didn’t stopped them.  Did she forget to tell Astrid something important?

He was thinking if he should tell that to Astrid or just go there by himself when he heard the running water from the bathroom.  At the end, he just decided to meet the director himself.  If he told his brother about it, the other would surely stop taking a bath just so he could quickly meet the director.

How could Reas let that happen?  Astrid had been subjected to the cold sea breeze the whole afternoon.  Half of that time, his feet were submerged in the sea water.  All the while wearing thin clothes that could barely protect him.  His brother needed this warm bath.

So, he left the room and the seaside cabin.  Who would have thought that just as he was walking towards the direction of the beach where the crew filmed the music video, someone would suddenly grab him and drag him towards the forest?  Everything happened so fast.  Before he could fight back, he was already inside a barrier.

It was obvious that the person who grabbed him had higher skill level than him.  Someone who had more combat experience.  The first one who entered his mind who fit that description was the prince.  Considering that they met the other this morning, that guess wasn’t really that far-off.

Thinking that that bastard was probably took him away so he could kidnap his brother and have his way with him, he couldn’t help but seethe with anger.  But when he raised his head to carefully looked at his assailant, he was surprised to see that there were two people standing in front of him.  And they were both familiar people.

One had an almost bald head.  Almost because the hair on it was already growing.  His chocolate brown eyes were looking at him guiltily.  The remaining one was a head shorter than the other.  He had a childish face with flaxen blond hair.  His amber eyes were smiling at him.

These two were definitely the soldiers under that prince.  If Reas remembered correctly, the baldy was called Edmund and the babyface was called Hildred.  Both of them had the rank of captain.

Even though it was not the prince himself who put him in this barrier, it was still done by his men.  So, what’s the difference?  These two were definitely acting on that bastard’s orders.  Even that supposed call from the director was probably just a ploy to get him out of the room. 

Maybe they planned to get Astrid alone and then that prince would corner him in the room.  Who knows what kind of atrocity that bastard would do to his brother? 

Just thinking of that made his expression even uglier.  “What is that prince going to do to my brother?” 

Hildred found the question a bit funny.  He looked at the teenager in amusement.  “Kid, you make it sound like our general is planning to something abominable to your brother.”

“Isn’t he?  Isn’t that the reason why you’re keeping me here?  So, I wouldn’t hinder your master’s good deeds?  Hah!”  Reas snorted.  “What good soldiers you two are.  You won’t even hesitate to do criminal acts for your superior.  Really, what wonderful soldiers,” he added full of sarcasm.

Now, he started to wonder if his decision to join the military was actually correct.  Because of this incident, he actually became quite disillusioned.  Were all military personnel like this?  Arbitrarily following their superior’s orders no matter how wrong it was?  He couldn’t agree to such things.  Especially if it involved innocent civilians.   

“Ahm, General isn’t really planning to do anything bad to your brother,” Edmund said, trying to reason with the teenager.  “He- he just wanted to talk to him.”

Reas narrowed his eyes at the two, obviously not believing what they said.  He wanted to turn on his Terminal to send a message to his brother but it seemed that this barrier around him had some kind of signal interference technology.  That’s why his Terminal wasn’t working properly.  He couldn’t help but curse.  Then he raised his head and glared viciously at the two.

Hildred didn’t avoid his gaze and just raised one of his brows.  This kid looked like he wanted to tear their limbs and feed it to some crazy animal.  “I know your impression of Wulf is not good.  But believe us, he’s the last person who would want your brother hurt.”   

Considering the effect Astrid had on Wulf, he probably wouldn’t even let a strand of his hair be hurt.  He wondered if Wulf was successful in apologizing.  Although it was something really simple, but for someone like Wulf, it’s probably harder than killing space pirates. 

He just hoped that his stubborn temper wouldn’t get in the way.  Because if it did, then he would probably just say the opposite of what he truly wanted to say.  Then things would definitely not go well.  Instead of reconciling, Astrid might start to truly hate Wulf.

Reas scoffed, clearly not believing what the other said.  He no longer looked at the two and instead searched for the source of this barrier.  Soon, he found two small spheres floating on each of his sides.  The light of the barrier was coming from the two spheres. 

He stared at one of the spheres.  If he could just destroy at least one, then he could get out of here.  He clenched his fists and determination filled his eyes.  He took a deep breath and with an incredible force, he stretched out his hand. 

The barrier, of course, repelled him.  He could feel the bones in his hand slowly being crushed, but he didn’t care.  He just wanted to get out of here and go to his brother’s aid.

Seeing this scene, both Hildred and Edmund were shocked.   

“Hil, I-I’m going to turn off the barrier!” Edmund said, panicking. 

They only put this teenager here so he wouldn’t interfere with their general.  They didn’t plan for him to get hurt.  He didn’t wait for Hildred’s answer and just turn off the barrier.

The moment he did, a strong gust of wind passed by him.  It took a second before he realized that that gust of wind was actually Reas running at full speed.

Hildred almost laughed seeing this.  What a tenacious kid.  If he was a military student, Hildred would probably want to recruit him to their Fenris Squad.  That kind of attitude definitely fit their army.

“S-should we follow him?” Edmund asked in a worried tone.

“Nah.  Just let him be.  He’d probably fight us tooth and nails if we even try to stop him,” Hildred said, shrugging.  He just hoped that Wulf was already done with his good deed.

Reas was running as if his life depended on it.  He probably hadn’t run this fast in his entire life.  In just a matter of seconds, he finally reached the seaside cabin.  He ran inside and didn’t look at anyone.  He continued to run but then stopped when he was near the room where his brother was.

Because he just heard Astrid’s melodious laugh.