Act 3 Enemy from the Past 1 ““The serial murderer was a Fafnir soldier?”” Yahiro and Akulina exclaimed in unison after hearing the news from Rosé, who had shown up suddenly at the meeting room in Fort Yokohama. “That’s Raimat International’s enhanced soldiers, right? The ones who boosted their strength and agility by taking a special drug.” Akulina looked entirely serious. Her left hand was still connected to Yahiro’s through the handcuffs. “I guess those guys could take on a dozen or two gunshots, but Raimat’s over, isn’t it? I heard the Moujuu wrecked their F-med lab, too.” “No, the F-med’s production method is out. It appears Ganzheit leaked it on purpose. Considering the adverse effects it has on its user, it simply isn’t realistic to adopt it for military use,” Rosé answered Yahiro’s question. The F-med turned people into lizardmen, made them more aggressive, and deprived them of composed thought, as well as put too big of a burden on their bodies. It shortened the soldiers’ life spans. “So they decided it’d be less dangerous to have it out in the open than try to hide it,” Akulina surmised, nodding in understanding. “Yes. However, this also means the F-med is the perfect item for organizations that do not care about treating their operators as disposable.” “And they used that dangerous drug to kill innocent people just to frame me?” The disgust in Yahiro’s voice was clear as day. Rosé exhaled expressionlessly. “Andrea Berith must be behind all this. His goal is to stall Iroha here. We can’t leave Yokohama so long as the Guild has you captured here.” “Andrea…Berith?” “Executive manager of the Oceania branch of Galerie Berith. Giuli’s and my older brother. Although we only share a shred of DNA.” Yahiro gasped in reaction to Rosé’s confession. “Why would someone from Galerie Berith want to sabotage you?” “Because we’re in the same company. House Berith only cares about results. So long as we achieve enough, even a couple of young girls like us can secure high positions…” “And without them, even those with seniority like him could get fired?” Yahiro finished. Rosé nodded. “Andrea came here in fear of such an outcome, trying to take the Japanese branch’s achievements and make them his own.” “How?” “It wouldn’t benefit him much to take our regular assets, but now, we have a dragon medium.” “He’s here for Iroha?” Yahiro grimaced. The dragon mediums’ usefulness was made public after the battle with Vanagloria. It made sense Andrea Berith would try to take one for himself to make up for his lack of results, even if it meant going up against another branch of his own organization. “You think the employer Yamadou was talking about is your brother?” “At the very least, there’s no doubt Andrea is receiving intel from Douji Yamase. And if the two of them are connected, then we know where he got the F-med from, too.” “Right… Maisaka, the woman who was with Yamadou, is also a dragon medium…” One needed dragon medium blood to make F-med. Raimat used Sui Narusawa’s, and Andrea Berith likely received Miyabi Maisaka’s. Either that, or they sold him the completed product. “That’s all for our statement. Could you grant Yahiro his freedom, Akulina Jarova? I’ve already spoken to Leskin.” Rosé turned to look at the woman after concluding the explanation. Yahiro was detained because the murderer was thought to be a Lazarus, and for no other reason. Now that Fafnir soldiers were also suspects, and they had the physical evidence of the F-med container, there was no grounds for Yahiro to stay at the Guild any longer. “R-right. I wouldn’t mind letting him go after hearing all that, but…” Akulina looked down at her left hand, then gazed into the void. “What’s the issue?” Rosé glared coldly at her. Her face asked why they were even sitting so close to each other to begin with. Akulina, overwhelmed by her glare, gave up and opened her mouth to confess to losing the keys, but before her voice could come out, they heard a hurried knock on the door. It opened right away. “Excuse me, Chief Jarova. I heard a Galerie Berith manager is visiting?” a uniformed Guild staff member asked with a bit of confusion. “Rosetta Berith is right here. Why?” Akulina asked back with an imposing tone, hiding her handcuffed hand. The staff member quickly saluted, then: “Come in,” he said to the other side of the door. “This man says he has an urgent report to ma—” “Wei?!” Yahiro shouted upon seeing the man enter the room while assisted by another member of the staff. Yang Wei, who was supposed to be back at the Galerie’s HQ, was covered in blood. “What happened to you?!” “Sorry, Yahiro. They took Ayaho,” he replied between sharp gasps, holding his ribs. “Ayaho…?” Yahiro parroted, stunned. He would expect Iroha to get kidnapped, but Ayaho wasn’t even an operator, let alone a dragon medium. What reason would they have to battle Wei in order to take her away? “A Fafnir soldier attacked you?” “…Yes, Rosé. It was a lizardman, same as RMS’s mercenaries.” Wei nodded before taking a sealed letter out from his breast pocket. A scroll, reminiscent of an old-fashioned challenge notice. “But then another group killed the Fafnir soldier and took Ayaho away. They left this behind while I was knocked out.” “A letter…? Is this Japanese?” Yahiro groaned upon receiving the letter. He never imagined the day he held something like this would come now that Japan had fallen. “From Zen Sagara, huh? Interesting.” Rosé slightly raised a brow as she saw the name at the end of the letter. “You know the name, Rosé? Who is it?” Yahiro asked. “The Lazarus blessed by Acedia’s medium, Sumika Kiyotaki.” “A Lazarus… Should’ve guessed…” Yahiro was as unsurprised as he was worried. A Japanese survivor capable of killing a Fafnir soldier. It would’ve been more surprising if it wasn’t a Lazarus. “What does the letter say?” Akulina asked, peeking at the scroll’s immaculate brush handwriting. “We’ve taken Ayaho with us, so if you want her back, come see us.” Yahiro summarized it plainly. There was no time limit. No warning for him to come alone. They were waiting at the track-and-field Mitsuzawa Stadium, located about two kilometers from Fort Yokohama. “They’re not asking for ransom? What do they want?” Akulina asked, confused. “It doesn’t say to come with a bag of money. They just want me to go. Maybe they got a grudge against me or something.” It was the first time Yahiro had heard of Zen Sagara. He had no way of knowing why the guy hated him, if that was the case. “Is Acedia’s medium also involved with Andrea?” Yahiro asked Rosé. Just as they had framed him for serial murder, perhaps this new couple wanted to stall him by kidnapping Ayaho. And yet, Rosé shook her head. “No. It’s the maritime corporation Noah Transtech behind Sumika Kiyotaki. They’re neutral; I don’t believe they would get involved in conflict among PMCs.” “So Sagara’s just doing this of his own accord? Why now, though?” “This might as well be the best time. Knowing Iroha is in Yokohama also means they know her contractor—you—is here as well.” “So they came here after watching Yamadou’s video?” Yahiro looked up at the ceiling in annoyance. Andrea Berith coming after the Galerie’s Japanese branch, Acedia’s medium and Lazarus kidnapping Ayaho: It was all thanks to Yamase’s video exposing Iroha. It was nasty, as though Yamase had plotted this whole thing. Whatever the reason, though, what mattered was the fact that Ayaho had been put in harm’s way. Yahiro could never choose to abandon her, no matter what Sagara and his medium had in mind. “Wei, would you mind lending me a knife?” Yahiro asked, serious. Wei nodded and handed him one. It was a black sheath knife, property of the Galerie. Yahiro unsheathed it right away and regulated his breathing in preparation for the pain to come. “What do you have in mind, Yahiro Narusawa?” Akulina scowled. Yahiro lifted his left hand and said, “Sorry, Akulina. Your clothes might get dirty.” “W-wait?!” Akulina’s eyes went wide as saucers when Yahiro brought the knife down on his own right wrist. He sliced through to the other end and freed his arm from the handcuffs. “Argh! Fuck, that hurts!” Yahiro ground his teeth to withstand the pain, then picked his bloody right hand up from the floor and pressed it against his wrist. The wound let off a misty, crimson steam as it healed, and within seconds, Yahiro’s hand was back in place. Akulina observed the whole thing with bated breath. “The Lazaruses…sure are something…” Akulina looked down at her own handcuffed left hand and sighed. Cutting off your own hand was no easy feat, even if you knew it could heal right away. Yet Yahiro hadn’t hesitated for even a second in order to go save Ayaho. Akulina instinctively understood he’d had to make similar choices many times in the past. In this demented world crawling with Moujuu, even the Lazarus had to make sacrifices in order to survive. “You’re going alone?” Rosé asked flatly. “Only I was called. I can’t bring Iroha into this.” Yahiro waved the letter in his hand. “I see no reason to throw yourself in danger just to save Ayaho Sashou.” “…Are you being serious right now, Rosé? Can you even picture how Iroha would react if she found out I didn’t try to save Ayaho?” Yahiro replied to Rosé’s cold question with a baffled expression. Naturally, Rosé wasn’t thinking about leaving Ayaho to her doom. And he realized this. “Isn’t that all the more reason to take Iroha with you?” Wei pointed out feebly while leaning against the wall. Rosé objected. “I’m afraid I can’t allow that.” “Figures. It’d be one thing to meet with Sagara only, but we’ve got Yamase and your brother going after her. They might be in cahoots with Sagara.” Yahiro agreed easily. First of all, there was no reason to believe they could easily defeat him even if they took Iroha, considering he was a Lazarus, too. Which is why Yahiro preferred going alone; at least that way, they could keep the losses to a minimum in the worst-case scenario. “Also, I’m not sure Sagara wants to fight me, just going off this letter. Maybe he just wants to be friends,” Yahiro said jokingly. He knew that couldn’t be the case. Zen couldn’t be friendly after kidnapping Ayaho. Most likely, blood would be spilled. “I understand. Then I shall go negotiate with you,” Akulina said gravely as she gripped the handcuff on her left wrist. Yahiro gave her a weird look. “You? Why?” “Maintaining public order in Yokohama is the Guild’s responsibility. We can’t let kidnappers go scot-free, even if they are Lazarus. I-it’s not due to any personal feelings, that’s for sure.” “I didn’t say anything…” Rosé glared coldly as Akulina made up excuses in a hurry. “What happened between you two, though, Akulina Jarova?” “I said no personal feelings are involved!” “If you say so… Very well, the Galerie will send backup, too. So long as we take back the hostage, we could flee if victory isn’t po—” Something vibrated in her chest, cutting her off. A call from encrypted comms. Rosé glanced at the screen of the smartphone-like device and her eyes rounded ever so slightly—the maximum expression of surprise she ever showed. “Rosé…?” Yahiro asked with worry. She shook her head with a shockingly angry look on her face. “It seems Andrea’s made his move to attack the Galerie’s Japanese branch.” ““He what?”” Yahiro and Akulina asked back in unison. Even if they were rivals, they were still the same company. Not to mention siblings. No one expected him to choose violence right beneath the Guild’s nose. “It seems he’s hired local PMCs and rallied troops. He has over a hundred armored vehicles, and at least a thousand operators. This is not just any attack… This is war.” Rosé spoke matter-of-factly. The device in her hand kept on vibrating as it announced the state of emergency. 2 “Do you drink coffee?” Sumika asked Ayaho in a leisurely tone, metal mug in hand. “Yes. Um, thank you.” “Don’t worry. Oh, and here’s some sugar and milk. Use as much as you like.” Sumika placed the mug down before Ayaho and grabbed the camping percolator to deftly pour coffee into it. The fragrance spread throughout the room. They were at the ruins of a big sports stadium, inside the rest area facing the running track. Yokohama was relatively safe under the Guild’s wing, but Moujuu were a common occurrence this far away from HQ. Even mercenaries rarely approached this area. Sumika and Zen were using the desolate ruins as their own hideout. “It’s great,” Ayaho whispered after having a piece of cake. It was pound cake like any other, but so soft and tender. Like nothing they’d made for themselves back in the 23 Wards. “I’m glad to hear that. Zen may not look like it, but he’s a really good cook.” Sumika’s face melted into a smile. “What’s my looks have to do with my cooking skills?” Zen glared at her while putting away the cooking utensils. He sounded grumpy, but not scary. Both of them were completely different from when they’d killed the Fafnir soldier, so warm and friendly now. “I’m sorry we scared you. We’ll send you back to…Galerie Berith, was it? Right after we’re done with what we came to do,” Sumika said after noticing Ayaho’s silence. Ayaho nodded quietly. Showing gratitude to her kidnappers would be weird, so instead, she asked: “U-um… Why do you want Yahiro to come see you?” She knew Zen had left a letter summoning Yahiro. She saw him write it. “What sort of person is Yahiro Narusawa, from your point of view?” Zen answered with another question, keeping away from her so as to not frighten her. “He’s kind. He’s given his all to help us so many times…” Ayaho was confused, but she responded, nonetheless. The idea of a Lazarus was terrifying, but in stark contrast to that, Yahiro was a very normal boy. He seemed to prefer not getting involved with other people, but in reality, he always went along with Iroha’s whims, and cared for her siblings. He was a good person. Anyone could tell after spending some time with him. However, the look on Zen’s face as he listened to her reply was far from warm. “Is that so. Weird.” “How is it weird?” “We can only think of him as some sort of demon.” “Demon?” Ayaho looked taken aback. The word was incompatible with her idea of Yahiro; she even thought Zen might’ve been joking. Zen, however, looked down at the ground and spoke with a voice trembling with anger: “Monster wouldn’t cut it. He can’t be allowed to exist in this world. And if he can’t die, then we should put him in ice and bury him forever. Imprison him like Lucifer in the Cocytus.” “But… Why…?” Ayaho asked back without thinking. She had no idea why he would hate Yahiro that much, but his hatred was too great, too raw to assume it was unfounded. He knew something. Some truth that Ayaho was unaware of. “You’re fourteen, right?” Sumika asked as cheerfully as she could in order to appease her confusion. “Which means you were ten when the J-nocide happened. And you’ve been with Iroha ever since?” “…Yes. I lived in the 23 Wards up until recently. I’ve been with my siblings ever since the adults all left us.” “The 23 Wards… The quarantine zone?” Zen’s eyes widened in surprise. What was once known as Tokyo had been deemed a danger zone due to the large amount of Moujuu emerging from the Ploutonion at the heart of the city. It was hard to believe the kids were living smack-dab in the middle of those ruins that had even been abandoned by the armies of the world. “Iroha and Nuemaru…the Moujuu, protected us the whole time.” “The Moujuu…protected you?” “Y-yes.” There was an ugly expression on Zen’s face as he exchanged glances with Sumika. Ayaho was a bit worried about their disturbed reactions. So even Sumika, another dragon medium, found Iroha’s ability to communicate with Moujuu strange? “Excuse me, how have you been getting by up to now?” Ayaho asked to change the subject. She felt she shouldn’t keep talking about Iroha. Thankfully, Sumika didn’t try to return to the previous topic; she answered her question right away. “It took some time for me to awaken as a dragon medium.” “Really?” “Yeah.” Sumika softly raised her hand before Ayaho. A white mist appeared on top of her palm, until shiny, translucent particles emerged. Big snowflakes in the shape of flowers. “I realized I had this power about two years after the J-nocide ended. It was also around then that I met Zen.” “You were all alone up to then?” “No, not at all. I was in the brothel.” “A…brothel…?” “Yeah. I used to work giving relief to the old guys tired from all the Moujuu hunting.” Sumika smiled mischievously. Ayaho stared at her, speechless. Sumika was eighteen. Which meant she was fourteen, just like Ayaho now, around the time of the J-nocide. The difference between them was that Sumika hadn’t had Iroha to protect her. She’d had to survive by selling her own body. Ayaho felt her blood curdling just imagining the fear and despair she must’ve experienced. “Oh, sorry. Don’t look like that. The owner who took me in was a nice person, and I didn’t go through anything truly horrifying. Unlike Zen over there.” “…Don’t bring that up, Sumika. She doesn’t need to know,” Zen responded with utmost calm, which in turn painted a bleak picture of the tragedy he’d experienced. “I’m sorry… I didn’t know…,” Ayaho said, her head hanging. She couldn’t stop the tears from flowing, even though she knew she had no right to cry. “You have nothing to apologize for,” Zen said and looked away. Sumika grinned at him. “…You both…hate Yahiro?” Ayaho asked between sobs. Zen softly shook his head. “I don’t hate him. I just cannot allow him to exist further, that’s all.” “Please, no. You’re wrong.” Ayaho wiped her tears away and shook her head hard. Zen shot her a suspicious glance. “Wrong about what?” “It was his sister who caused the J-nocide. Yahiro’s been looking for her this whole time to atone for his—” “Pfft.” Zen made an odd sound, interrupting Ayaho. He was looking down and his shoulders shook. The shaking soon spread throughout his whole body, and he laughed out loud. “Zen…?” “Bah-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You… Pfft… You really believe that, Yahiro Narusawa? You’re kidding me!” “What do you mean?” “Don’t mind me… Thank you, Ayaho Sashou.” Zen softly shook his head and tried to quell his laughter. Then his bloodlust took palpable form all around him as he calmly continued: “Thank you for the fun conversation. And if he’s truly caught in such a convenient dream, then I shall give him the gift of killing him in his sleep.” 3 Akulina drove the armored car into the stadium ruins right before sundown. The only passenger was Yahiro; Rosé and Wei had gone back to the Galerie HQ to prepare for Andrea Berith’s attack. It wasn’t hard to figure out where Zen Sagara was. There was only one building with lights on among the ruins. It was too obvious, but a trap was unlikely. The man they were up against was a Lazarus; surprise attacks and sniping were of no use—he had no need for high-alert security. The same went for Yahiro, however. The car stopped in front of the shed and Yahiro confidently showed himself. At the same time, three people emerged from the shed: a guy and a girl wearing high-school uniforms, and sailor-uniform-clad Ayaho. “Ayaho! Are you okay?!” Yahiro shouted, trying hard not to show desperation. Ayaho didn’t seem harmed from afar, and she wasn’t tied up, either. “Yahiro! You—!” Ayaho appeared worried and tried to tell him something, but the guy interrupted her: “So you’re Yahiro Narusawa?” “I did as you told me. I’m here. You sent the letter, right?” Yahiro asked as he held up the folded letter. The guy, Zen, nodded quietly. “I apologize for the kidnapping. Ayaho Sashou is free to go.” “Huh?” Yahiro was perplexed by the integrity shown. He had been ready to negotiate, but now all the pent-up indignation had nowhere to go. “She is? Seriously?” “That was the deal from the very beginning,” Zen replied. The girl behind him, Sumika Kiyotaki, backed up his claims by softly pushing Ayaho forward. “Bye-bye, Ayaho. Take care.” Sumika waved with a smile. Ayaho walked over to Yahiro’s side, looking back at Sumika many times on the way. The lack of fear in her face let Yahiro know they had treated her well. “Ms. Akulina. Please keep her safe.” Yahiro left Ayaho in the woman’s hands before turning back to Zen and Sumika. Even though the hostage was free now, they weren’t done with him. On the contrary, Yahiro took this as a declaration of war. Zen was implying that what was to come next wasn’t talking, but killing. “Wait, Yahiro. They’re not bad peop—” Ayaho tried to stop him as hostility took over his whole body, but then her footing turned to white ice. Zen pointed his Western sword at Ayaho, halting her in place. His ice Regalia was too powerful for mere intimidation—he was saying he’d show no mercy if she got in the way of his fight with Yahiro. “I’ll wait until you two get somewhere safe. Take her away already if you don’t want a stray blow to hit you,” Zen warned Akulina. “You’d make an enemy of the Guild, Lazarus?” Akulina replied firmly as she stared at the frozen ground. Zen laughed it off. “I don’t care about you lot. If you want to stay, then go ahead. I’m just saying I can’t guarantee your safety.” “Please go, Ms. Akulina,” Yahiro urged her. Akulina bit her lip, but soon nodded. She pushed Ayaho, who was displeased, into the car and they sped away. Once the armored vehicle was far away enough, Yahiro walked up to Zen. Close enough to talk without shouting—close enough for their blades to touch each other. “Thank you for letting Ayaho go, and for saving her from the Fafnir soldier.” “Don’t think I did it for you,” he answered coldly to Yahiro’s gratitude. Not a friendly guy, huh? Yahiro smiled wryly. Better this way if he wants to fight, I guess. “So, I gather you wanna kill me?” “How sharp, Yahiro Narusawa.” Zen showed a grim smile. “Mind telling me why?” Sumika Kiyotaki was also glaring coldly at him, despite how friendly she had been with Ayaho. Yahiro was frankly disconcerted by the intensity of the wrath and hatred. “I should be asking you that. You still can’t remember your sin?” “My…sin?” A crooked smile escaped him. There were too many of them to count. Stealing and flipping artwork and antiques. Killing Fafnir soldiers in the 23 Wards—perhaps done in self-defense, but they were too many to count on both hands. And he also drove Vanagloria’s medium, Chiruka Misaki, to death. He realized, though, they meant none of the above. “You really don’t remember what happened four years ago?” Sumika raised her voice, mistaking the meaning of his expression. “You mean when Sui summoned the dragon?” Yahiro asked calmly. “…When Sui Narusawa summoned the dragon? You make it sound like it had nothing to do with you.” Zen glared daggers at him. “It’s true I wasn’t able to stop her. I won’t make excuses for my part in what happened. Resent me if you want.” Yahiro shrugged with self-deprecation, then glared right back at Zen. “But I’m not letting you kill me. I have to stop Sui. She hates this world even now, and the same thing will happen again if I let her be.” “And despite knowing all this, you still made a contract with Iroha Mamana? You want the same thing to happen again?” Zen pressed on. The accusation confused Yahiro. “Iroha? What’s she have to do with this? She doesn’t want the world to end.” “I imagine. It’s you who wants to end it.” “What’re you talking about?” Yahiro asked back, baffled. Something was wrong. Zen’s accusations made no sense from Yahiro’s perspective. It was Sui who summoned the dragon and caused the J-nocide. There was no way Yahiro would get that wrong. He saw it happen with his own eyes. “That’s enough, Zen. He really doesn’t get it,” Sumika uttered with disgust. “Yeah. Let’s not waste any more time.” Zen held his sword in a praying posture. The blade frosted and ice crystals hovered around him. Yahiro unsheathed his knife. He didn’t have the Kuyou Masakane on hand after being held up at the Guild, but even if he did, it’d be a waste of the treasure without the Regalia. He wasn’t sure he could parry Zen’s attacks with the knife. But at least it was better than nothing. It should be enough to keep Zen on his toes, at the very least. The knife was more than enough to kill Sumika, after all. “You’re wrong about Sui Narusawa causing the J-nocide. The dragon from four years ago was none other than you, Yahiro Narusawa!” Zen pointed his sword forward. Yahiro was too far away for the small sword to reach him, but still he jumped back as chills ran down his spine. Then the place he had been standing on froze over. The humidity in the air crystalized, and sharp frozen pillars covered the ground. Yahiro would’ve been frozen had the attack landed. Still, he wasn’t disturbed by Zen’s power. What really shook him were the words he uttered just before his attack. “What in the…? What are you…talking about…?” Zen’s Regalia had a narrow area of effect. Only about six to seven meters in range. There was also a time lag before it had any effect, so dodging was relatively easy. And yet Yahiro moved slowly. Head-splitting pain assaulted him without pause. Flashes of the events four years ago came back to him from the pit of his lost memories. “Thank goodness… You’re alive, my dear brother.” The city in ruins. Blood-crimson rain. The white-haired girl among the toppled buildings. A joyful smile on her lips. Bliss on her face as she saw the world crumble. “Or was it that you just could not die?” A question for Yahiro. A dragon behind the girl he used to call his sister. The rainbow monster looking down at the ground as it swam among the sea of clouds. The dreadful, fantastical scene brought back to mind long-forgotten doubts. The white-haired girl was not the dragon. She merely summoned it. It wasn’t like when Vanagloria incarnated in Chiruka Misaki’s body. Sui did not lose her human form. She did not transform into a dragon. “A-aaahh…” Anguished sounds escaped Yahiro’s throat. The seal on his memories was coming undone. Memories of his sin, memories better off hidden. Sui Narusawa was not the dragon. So whose body did the summoned beast take over? The Lazarus: someone who obtained immortality by bathing in dragon blood. Why did the Lazarus use the same power as the dragon of the medium who blessed them? How could they regenerate even after losing their entire body? How was Yahiro able to produce the Goreclad? The armor of blood reminiscent of dragon scales? “Good-bye, Brother. I’m glad I met you…” Sui’s last words on that day rang in his ears. Where did the rainbow-colored dragon Sui summoned go? No, it never went away. It was inside him. It possessed him. “UWAAAAAAH!” Yahiro screamed and clutched his head. Uncontrollable dragon aura raged from every pore of his body. He remembered. That day, Sui turned Yahiro into a dragon. He had used the dragon’s powers as she’d wished.
Chapter 41
24 min read