Sada Hinomoto, an elderly yogurt peddler near the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force base, harbors a clandestine legacy as the last surviving D-Pilot from the Ritual conducted 74 years prior. Once operating under the callsign “Montparnasse,” she piloted the dragon Masotan until the sacrificial death of Yae—her childhood friend, romantic partner, and the Ritual’s leading miko—drove her into retirement. Yae’s life was offered to appease the colossal dragon Mitatsu-sama, a cornerstone of the Ritual’s traditional execution. Though distancing herself from the military, Sada informally mentors new D-Pilots, leveraging her unique grasp of the Ritual’s cyclical mechanics and concealed perils. She unveils its true objective: to guide Mitatsu-sama to a designated throne every 74 years, averting catastrophe. While tradition mandated a miko’s sacrifice for success, Sada challenges this dogma, asserting it was a precaution rather than a necessity. Her counsel exposes the dragons’ enigmatic nature and cautions against emotional bonds beyond those forged with their Organic Transformed Flyers—a rule Sada herself breached through her profound romance with Yae. This defiance inadvertently precipitated Yae’s sacrificial role, exemplifying the emotional hazards entwined with the D-Pilot’s duty to maintain singular devotion to their dragons. Sada’s history mirrors the Ritual’s unending cycle, juxtaposing ethical tensions between entrenched tradition and potential reform. Her narrative threads the past’s shadow into the present, contextualizing the trials faced by contemporary pilots while illuminating the enduring consequences of choices etched decades prior.