It's just another ordinary day for the Ochres, and so is it for me. It's just another ordinary day that everyone I know and around me curses. I woke up and went to my roommate. Our house is a bit small, we have breakfast at a tiny table. I'm like the stepchild of this place. I've been living here for a long time. But I'm not from here.

"Aki, eat well. We have a busy day today. We heard that the Solaris will be inspecting here these days. There are still a lot of mines in the underground mines. We haven't even collected half of what was expected."

Mori was not a miner who entered caves like me. He mostly did construction work. We Ochres are in a position that can be called slaves of the Solaris at the top of the hierarchy. We do whatever they say. We dig mines, build them, do the heavy work. Generally, all our lineage has brown hair and eyes. They always ask me why my eyes and hair are red. I don't answer, I avoid it. I am a life form far above them.

"Yes, I'm aware of that. I will work hard today."

Mori's father, Christian, stared at me and I shuddered for a moment. Even though I'm the one who avoids work the least, I think he wants me to work harder, unlike his son. Of course I can't blame him for that. If he knew who I was, I wouldn't even have a chance to stay in this house.

"You'd better do that, Akihiro. You are the youngest of all the miners. The work you will do should be greater than the old men."

"Yes, you are right. I stated that it would be as you said."

It seemed to annoy him that I said this in a slightly opposing tone.

"Come on, let's eat your food without cooling it down. You can talk about work at work!"

Mori's mother, Jessica, harshly placed in front of us a soup made of Xryothin meat, most of which was water, which was a torture to eat. Xryothin is one of the creatures we encounter most in the cave, I can say it is an arthropod with more legs than I can count. If I were still in the sky... I would never see such things, let alone consume them as food.

After dinner, I set off directly and worked for hours, as usual. In Ochres, everyone generally knows each other. The people I work with are Mori's uncle, cousin, grandfather, uncle, and distant relatives. I'm usually away from them. Compared to them, I do not enter wars because of my body, which is structureless and lacks muscle, and even if I want to, they try to keep me away, I don't know whether they do this to protect me or to prevent Mori from getting upset.

"Hey, Aki! Get out of that hole quickly!"

"Why are you here? Didn't we have an inspection today and we had to work hard?"

I'm still trying to collect minerals in this huge pit, and Mori should stay away from me when it's hard to even breathe. It annoys me that he's so attached. He's someone who does nothing but provide my shelter. They've already started the inspection and apparently they're satisfied. How about having some fun?"

"Where the Solaris call a nightmare? This place is a dump. There's nothing to have fun with."

I said it knowing it would break him, I don't care. If we want to live, we have to work.

The Astral Hierarchy requires this.

Mori suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me up unexpectedly, he lost his balance and we rolled and drifted a little.

"I told you to come to me of your own free will!"

"Annoying kid."

"I'm trying to entertain you rather than annoy you! And a nightmare? Wasn't it you-"

"This is a nightmare for them, but a paradise for me."

Yes, I was the one who said that, and for Mori, this was a nightmare. He always told me this. When I claimed otherwise, they would be strangely and insulted by the family.

"Come with me."

I followed Mori, barely. After walking me for a while, he pointed with his finger. My eyes sparkled, maybe for the first time in a very long time... I couldn't find a word to describe it. I kept staring at a Mori's face and the thing in front of me.

"This is a garden normally used by the Prryhi for peace. However, there are no Prryhi here today because the Solaris are coming for inspection."

As soon as his sentence ended, he smiled and threw himself on the ground of flowers and bushes that looked like a paradise garden. I looked up at the sky, the rainbow above me looked at me. I almost forgot the last time I saw something like this. When I used to be in the sky city... Was I looking at this and smiling? No, I was in it.

"This is the sky people always praise."

Mori started laughing. He put his hands together, put them next to his head and made a sleeping sign, as if to tell me to lie down. I dropped myself to the ground in the same way as he left me. I didn't feel any pain, the bushes slowed my fall. I remember feeling this peace before. But it was a long time ago.

"I wish there were no Prryhis on earth, right? We would always come here. The Solaris only come for inspection once in a while. We would have had so much fun!"

After Mori said this to me, my heart was filled with peace. I was looking at the sky, not knowing what to say. It was very strange that there was such a place in these lands. Our living space, not far from here, was perhaps a nightmare, as they say... Who knows, the sky cities where the Solaris lived were places of oppression? Oh, who knows?

"They, They are Ochres! Zakuro, look at the Ochres in our garden!"

As soon as I heard this voice, I stood up and saw three Prryhi in front of me. Mori stood up behind me and we started to run away.

"Run, Aki! If they catch us..."

"Shut up! Because of you... We should never have come here!"

I was running with all my strength. Even though Mori seemed to have higher physical strength than me, I had a significant advantage over him. When I looked back, I couldn't even see him. While looking back, I unconsciously came to our own realm and hit a wall and stopped. Since I couldn't slow down, I hit the ground. I don't remember what happened next.

"Are you okay, Akihiro?"

This voice... I opened my eyes and Mori's uncle was standing in front of me.

"I'm fine, sir. Oh you... was it Kimura?"

"It's normal that you don't remember my name since we only met in caves. Now forget about it, Aki. Come with me."

I was a little surprised. I woke up at Mori's uncle's house and he took me straight out. Either we were going to work or he was going to drop me off at home. I asked but he didn't answer. Even though I was a little startled, I followed him. We had arrived at the center of the realm, there were thousands of people and they were all Ochrel. Kimura, Mori's uncle, was clearing the way as they passed through. Finally we came to the front and moved a little further forward. At first I couldn't see because of Uncle Kimura, and when I took a step to the right...

In front of me were a lot of soldiers from the Solaris family and one of the family leaders sitting on a Pegasus. He looked at me and gestured to the people next to him and said:

"You're the other kid who got into the Prryhi's garden, right?"

My heart started beating fast and I got locked up. I didn't know what to say. Even if I lied... It wouldn't have been useful since they already knew this. I couldn't even think of doing something as ridiculous as keeping my cool, sentences came out of my mouth loudly and I couldn't stop them.

"It wasn't me, it was Mori! He forced me to do this! I was working! I didn't want to come there! Believe me, please!"

The Solaris soldier coming towards me stepped aside, and the scene behind them was Mori sitting with his hands and feet tied, while another Solaris soldier was waiting in front of him with a sword in his hand.

"M-Mori...? Why are you there? Why is he there?"

"Your friend chose to give his life rather than have you both taken prisoner and tortured."

That's what the Solaris on Pegasus told me. My eyes widened, I tried to run forward, but the Solaris soldier who had just come at me grabbed me tightly. I couldn't move, I tried to scream, he covered my mouth. I couldn't get away from his grasp...

Mori turned towards me. I just blamed him, but he sacrificed himself for me. Why did he do this?! Did he really see me as a stepbrother like him? Was I really that to him?

He looked at me and smiled. A peaceful, calming smile. That smile was talking to me. It was like he said goodbye.

I could feel everyone behind me closing their eyes. There were crying sounds. I wasn't crying. Because I haven't cried for a very long time. I didn't seem to know what crying was anymore. It was painful to remember this again. I looked across. The Solaris soldier stepped towards him and raised his sword. He was waiting for orders to blow his brains out.

"Kill."

This is what the Solarian on Pegasus said.

"Ahhh!!"

Suddenly everyone's eyes opened. This voice came from the Solaris soldier holding me. I bit his finger with all my strength and tore his skin. It was probably an unexpected strength compared to a normal human. Then, before he caught me again, I squinted and said in a cold, emotionless voice.

"I command you to take me to heaven. I am one of the heirs of the Golden throne, who was left from the sky to the land, that is, to the earth, 5 years ago, and was expelled from heaven. "I am Akihiro Solaris, the middle son of Emperor Solrion."

A whole people, a tribe, the leaders of another tribe, and most importantly, my friend. Everyone was silent, all eyes were on me.