Idlia was hardly the only starpilot to be shuffled around. There had been a mass shakeup in personnel. Even the Clerk had moved out. Today, a new ship commander and clerk would arrive.
They were gathered at the arrival deck for the gangway welcome. It was, of course, Ecryua’s job to gather everyone together. It was a strange feeling.
At last, a smallcraft came side by side with the ship. The Ship Commander and Clerk descended.
A whistle was blown, and the starpilots saluted in unison.
“I am the Ship Commander officially appointed to this ship, Vice Hecto-Commander Ablïarsec Néïc Dubreuscr Bœrh Parhynr Lamhirh. It’s a pleasure to be in your hands,” greeted the new captain.
“I am the officially appointed Clerk, Quartermaster Vanguard Starpilot Linn Ssynec Raucr Dreuc Haïder Ghintec.”
I’m going to be battling alongside them again, thought Ecryua. Am I happy about that?
Once the brief ceremony was over, Ecryua dismissed the crew, and then stared directly at Jint’s face.
“Uhh, what is it?” Confusion crept on Jint’s face.
“I told you we’d meet again. And soon.”
“Oh, yeah. You were totally right.”
“And the cat?”
“Sorry. I didn’t bring him with me. Thought it’d be kind of selfish to take him into war, you know?”
“Where’s Mechanics Starpilot Samson?”
“At my star fief. He’s got work there.”
“What about your work there?”
“I don’t have any work to do there anymore. My battle’s over. I plan to aid in the Empire’s battle now.”
“You were fighting?”
“I guess.”
“Did you win.”
“I don’t really know yet.”
“Bring the cat. You just need to return it before we set sail.”
“But I’m kind of busy...”
“I’m your superior now.”
“Aren’t you mixing up the official and the private?”
“So?”
“Okay, okay.” Jint gave in.
Epilogue
Even cats dreamt from time to time.
In his dream, Dyaho surveyed his new domain. However, he could only remain for a short while. Immediately after making a circuit patrolling, a familiar pair of hands came to scoop him up from his slumber. That act alone did not rankle him, but when he caught wind of the fact that the hands were attempting to stick him inside a cage, he wriggled and writhed.
It wasn’t that he disliked being in the cage. In fact, he could even be said to enjoy it. He simply wasn’t in the mood at times, and this was one of those times.
“Sorry, Dyaho, this’ll be goodbye for some time,” said the housemate. “I was planning to live together with you at the new manor, but that’s not in the cards anymore. You can rest easy, though. I won’t be taking you with me to every corner of the galaxy anymore.”
Now awake, Dyaho opened his eyes, stretched, and leapt off its fluffy cushion toward the hallway.
They were at the Cats’ Refectory in the Royal Palace of Clybh. Dyaho was sure what happened in his dream happened in reality, but a cat’s sense of time was not so solid, so it didn’t have a clear idea how much time had elapsed since then. It felt like the distant past. In reality, its domain hadn’t changed in many moons. It had come to regard this place as something of a safe haven.
Sercruca had once been nice around him, but she’d gradually turned aggressive once again. Dyaho was hard-pressed to care anymore, though. Cats were not monogamous, after all. Before now, he had no real choice in a mate. Now, he had his pick of the litter.
They were Dyaho’s true family. They could be annoying, but whenever Dyaho went to sleep, he was relieved to have them around. His friends were gathered at the drinking fountain. They weren’t doing anything in particular. They were just lying languorously down. Dyaho joined them. He sipped of the water, and laid himself down.
Such idle comforts. Such easy living.
He recalled his housemate, and hoped he, too, might roll in the lap of indolence.
Then Dyaho fell asleep again.
Afterword
What do I even say, I wonder? Sorry I kept you waiting. Here’s the book.
Time flies at a blistering clip, let me tell you. After the second book came out, I got hit by “CREST is getting an anime,” followed by “it’s getting a manga,” “it’s getting a game,” “it’s getting a Korean translation”... and now BANNER is getting an anime, too. I even hear news from across the Pacific about an English-language dub of CREST.
And what have I been doing during all this? All I did was write one longform novel and several shorts.
Don’t get me wrong — it’s not as though I began to dislike writing BANNER. But it is true that it prevented me from going back out into the world. While I chained myself to my desk, I realized I was turning over ideas that I wasn’t sure would lead anywhere.
To all of you who were looking forward to the book coming out, I truly apologize. And while I’m at it, I might as well apologize over something else: When I wrote in the afterword of the last book that this was the “Dyaho Trilogy,” many readers took that to mean that BANNER OF THE STARS would stop at three volumes. The idea of the “Dyaho Trilogy” isn’t meant to be taken one hundred percent seriously, but it’s technically accurate. BANNER isn’t just the story of Dyaho; the Dyaho Trilogy is just one of the segments of the larger saga.
There’s still more story to BANNER.
Throughout the rest of this afterword, I’ll be assuming readers have already read the rest of the book, so if you don’t want any story spoilers, then I ask you save the afterword for later.
My initial concept for the Dyaho Trilogy was to describe the events that coincided with the rare tiger-striped cat born in the Clybh Royal Palace getting dropped off at the Hyde Count’s Manor, which was where the trilogy was to end. Dyaho would obtain a family in the Hyde Countdom, and see out the rest of his days there. His owner, Jint, was also going to stay in his home system, while Lafier
