Flin Airport, capital of the Kakin Empire.
An ordinary airship slowly descended.
Several uniformed soldiers who looked well trained immediately gathered around, watching the opening hatch with meticulous attention and inspecting everyone stepping off the airship.
Just then, a tall man caught their attention.
He was walking out of the hatch while chatting with a balding, middle-aged man with a beer belly beside him.
"-You still have to work hard, young man. My daughter's already a private first class in the empire's army at her age. I had to spend ages clearing my schedule just to find time to visit her-"
Pride filled the beer-bellied man's face as he praised his daughter nonstop, saying she had been exceptionally bright since childhood, stayed calm in a crisis, and had the makings of a leader.
Not only had she gotten into the Advanced Military Officer School, which only the wealthy and well-connected could enter in Kakin, but she had also become a private first class a few months ago.
Dio nodded repeatedly beside him, looking thoroughly impressed and occasionally making admiring noises.
He had met this talkative man aboard the airship. At noon that day, Dio had emptied the airship's cafeteria of food as usual. Astonished by the sight, the man had struck up a conversation with him.
According to him, people with hearty appetites were blessed. Of everyone he had ever met, only his wife during her pregnancy could rival Dio's appetite, so he deduced that Dio must be someone extraordinary.
Simple, blunt logic.
Dio had nothing else to do anyway, so he chatted with the talkative man all the way until the airship landed.
By now, the man probably saw him as a medical graduate student from the Minbo Republic, slaving away under an extremely fierce supervisor for the sake