Edited by: ASaltedFish
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Aster and Ellery prepared a large amount of stabilizers all week because they didn't know when they would be back, but it should be enough to stock the online shop for six months.
If they needed to make more, they could use the spiritual plants they had stored on the First Fleet or buy ones on the market and ship them off themselves.
Finally, it was the day of the graduation.
The graduation was an all-day event, so there was a food catering company that had ready-to-eat meals in a buffet style at any given time. All the graduates wore blue gowns over formal clothing. Every year, the school's graduation gowns were a different color, so students didn't feel it was redundant to see the same colors.
The graduation took place in the large auditorium, and seats were limited, so each student was allowed to bring four people. Other people who wanted to watch the graduation could watch it on the live stream that the Imperial Academy had on their front page.
If someone had extra tickets, they could sell them to graduates who wanted more seats for their loved ones.
Ellery only gave his tickets to Darya, Edros, and Akimitsu. He would have given the last ticket to his brother, but Orin was currently waiting to be picked up.
Since Darya, Edros, and Akimitsu stayed at his house for the time being, they followed Ellery to the graduation venue. Edros and Akimitsu wore their military uniforms, while Darya wore a long-sleeved lavender dress that sat just above her knees.
As for Ellery, he wore a white dress shirt, navy blue tie, black slacks, and black dress shoes with his graduation gown on top.
Since the Imperial Military Academy had numerous departments, each department had its top student come to the stage to give a speech. Their rankings were not mixed, so there was no overall top student.
Since Ellery was the top student in the Guide Department, his speech came first. He had already written and memorized it, so he got on stage confidently. As for Aster, he hid in their consciousness, trying not to feel all the stares on their body.
"Greetings, graduates of Class 4532, esteemed instructors, honored guests, beloved family, and friends. I am sure many of you know me; however, I am Ellery Aster, of the guide department, and am honored to stand before you today, congratulating my fellow classmates."
After greeting everyone, Ellery talked about the significance of graduating and celebrating everyone's achievements. He then talked about his academic experiences and the important life lessons he had come to learn during his time at the academy, imparting them to the new graduates and wishing them successful careers before concluding his speech by thanking the instructors and advisors.
It was a long speech, but everyone was watching him, taking in every word that he had said. Even the viewers on the life broadcast kept their attention on him, feeling that he was a powerful young man with a limitless future ahead of him.
When Ellery finished his speech, the students, instructors, and other guests clapped for him. He bowed and waved at the crowd, happy to finally get off the stage.
One by one, the other top graduates came to the stage and gave their speeches, which lasted for two hours, but it was just the beginning of the ceremony…
When the graduation ceremony was finally over, Ellery, Aster, Darya, Edros, and Akimitsu headed back to Ellery and Aster's home to rest.
*****
The next day, everyone woke up just before noon, so they ate a late breakfast and headed off to the First Fleet's spacecraft to go to planet MPE02, where Orin was currently staying.
Ellery and Aster made sure everything for his online store was in order before leaving. Since they were not going to be at home, most of the vegetables would be sold; however, a portion would be left for his staff members so they could have nutritious meals.
With everything in order, Ellery and Aster left with the First Fleet and Darya.
It would take a month to get to MPE02, with multiple stops along the way.
The First Fleet's main spacecraft was the largest one in the empire. They had many spacecraft, but only the main spacecraft would be taking them on this mission.
Since Edros had to go to the command center of the spacecraft, Akimitsu showed Ellery and Aster to their rooms.
The spacecraft had five zones: Zone A, B, C, D, and E. Zone A was where Edros and Akimitsu lived with their closest companions. It also had a direct path to the command center.
"Your room is across from mine and Edros' room," Akimitsu said while standing in front of their room. "When the two of you get your separated bodies, we will make another room next door."
Considering it wasn't certain that they would be able to separate Aster's soul from Ellery's body, it was still considerate of Akimitsu to suggest keeping the room next to Ellery's empty for Aster.
"Thank you, Akimitsu." Ellery said, happy to have his room close to them.
As for Darya, her room was also in the same area but a couple of doors down. It had a bed large enough to accommodate both Darya and Orin inside.
Once Akimitsu showed them to their rooms, he had things to do, so he made sure they had everything they needed before going to the command center where Edros was.
Since the trip to MPE02 was long, Ellery and Darya needed to unpack their belongings. They went to their separate rooms to explore their new living space for the duration of their stay.
[I've never been traveling through space like this… How does the technology work?] Aster couldn't help asking because he was curious.
'I don't know, I am just a guide.'
Aster thought that was a fair answer.
[I heard we have to stop by a few planets; did Akimitsu tell you what planets they were and how long we would be staying there?]
'Yes, we will be stopping by four planets. The first planet, called Hezyria, is where Akimitsu's family is from. He has an older brother who has taken over the role of the planet's governor. The First Fleet will be staying there for two days to refuel and stock up on supplies. As for what we will be doing while we wait, I've decided to meet Akimitsu's family."
Almost all of Akimitsu's immediate family and relatives lived on Hezyria. Since Akimitsu was the second son and his family was close with the Imperial family, he went to the Imperial Star to train as Edros' adjutant.
Since none of Akimitsu's family lived on the Imperial Star, he lived with Edros.
[I understand. I will make sure not to switch places with you while you meet them…] Since Ellery was meeting Akimitsu's family, that meant Ellery wanted to one day marry Akimitsu. Aster supported him because he thought that Akimitsu was a good man and sentinel.
'Sometimes, I feel you are a little too understanding, but thank you for understanding what I mean. I really like Akimitsu, so this visit is important!'
[That makes sense… How about the two other planets?]
'Oh yeah, the second planet is smaller than Hezyria, but it has an abundance of resources. We will only be staying there for a day. After that, we will stop by one of Edros' mining planets. The last planet before MPE02 is a planet covered mostly in water, but it's another resource-rich planet.
'Each planet we stop on will be for supplies and fuel for the spacecraft, so we will only be staying for a couple of days on each planet, so it's not a lot of time to explore.'
While Ellery was explaining all of this information to Aster, he had unpacked and sat down on the bed.
[I wonder if I will be able to get some Sylv crystals.]
Sylvturines, more commonly called Sylv, were rare crystals that had some sort of energy within them, but no one in the Zephyrus galaxy knew how to extract it. They only knew about it because a neighboring galaxy uses it as their main source of energy.
'I'm sure you will be able to get some. If you asked, Edros would probably give you the whole planet if you wanted it…'
Aster did not want the whole planet! He just wanted a couple of the Sylv crystals because he heard they were beautiful but rare.
After Ellery had enough of teasing Aster, he decided to order some food while he waited for Akimitsu or Edros to finish their work.