Dragging a long white lab coat, the coroner, Sumire Muroto, lifted her hand in casual greeting. “Yo,” she said. “I had some free time, so I left my basement room. The outside is nice sometimes, too.” Rentaro’s mouth gaped in amazement, and he was unable to respond for a while. “Doc… Why are you here?” “There was a request, so I came here today to supervise the doctors. Didn’t I tell you before? I’m a genius, so I have knowledge of everything. I’m just a coroner because it matches up with my hobby. In times of emergency like this, I get called in as a doctor, too.” “So even Dr. Death saves people’s lives once in a while?” “What, do you want to be euthanized, Rentaro?” “I-I was just kidding. Don’t get mad, Doc.” Just then, a question crossed his mind. “Doc, didn’t you win a lottery ticket for the shelter? Why are you here?” “I didn’t win it. I was given it. A government official came to my lab and said they couldn’t let Japan’s greatest mind die and gave me a ticket. I politely ripped it in half and threw it away then and there, though.” “Huh?” The corners of Sumire’s mouth lifted as she grinned. “What? Is that strange?” “No… But if you’re going to rip it in half, then at least give it to someone.” “Who would I give it to? Even if you had a single cup of water in the desert, it won’t do you much good, will it? At most, people will just start killing each other over the water. It’s more compassionate to resolutely throw the water onto the bare ground in this case.” Rentaro paused. “Then, what fundamental solution would you propose for the lack of water?” “Find a giant oasis that can quench everyone’s thirst, or get out of the desert. But looking at Tokyo Area’s current evacuation situation, I don’t see how we can find an oasis big enough to quench everyone’s thirst. I came here because I wanted to support the idiots who are carrying out the idiotic plan to get out of the desert.” “Just so you know, once the Gastrea rush into this place, you won’t be able to run away.” “I understand completely.” “Doc, I thought you were a more logical person.” Sumire grinned again. “Humans think about things logically and then move because of their emotions. I am the same. Keep moving, Rentaro. If you stop, death will catch up to you.” “You’re right… Thanks, Doc.” Rentaro suddenly remembered something and asked her about Enju behind him in a low voice. “Doc, did you hear about Enju?” Sumire’s eyes narrowed, and her expression grew stern for an instant. “Yeah, I did. Her classmates were killed because of all that uproar, right? It was very unfortunate.” “Doc, how does Enju look to your professional eyes?” “Don’t worry, she’s probably already fine.” “What?” Rentaro’s mouth dropped open, stunned speechless. “Enju has more mental strength than we think she has.” “R-really?” “You’re a really suspicious guy, aren’t you? Well, it might be that with the immediate danger of the Gastrea, she’s just not thinking about the bombing incident. Just in case, don’t say anything to her that might make her remember the incident.” His strength suddenly left him in relief. It was all just his needless worrying. At the same time, he became embarrassed by all the nervous actions he took around Enju. Sumire nodded in satisfaction and looked back at Enju and Kisara, clapping her hands. “Now, you two don’t need to help anymore, so go home and rest.” “What will you do, Dr. Sumire?” Kisara asked wonderingly. Sumire stuffed both hands into the pockets of her lab coat and smiled. “I will spend the night here. I’m going to do my own job. It’s better than you’d expect. It’s the perfect dimness with a nice atmosphere thanks to all the candles reminding us to slow down and reflect. On top of that, the groans of the patients around me make me feel like I’m in the middle of a zombie movie. Thanks to that, I feel like I’ll have some wonderful nightmares.” After waiting outside the gym for a while, Enju and Kisara came outside. Rentaro accompanied the girls, walking streets wet with rain. Following the shining GPS dot sent from Shoma’s cell phone, they headed toward the place supposedly secured for them to spend the night. When he finally raised his face, Rentaro found a ruin standing in the middle of a thick forest. It was called Century Heights Hotel. “Is this the place, Rentaro?” Enju asked him. “Yeah… At least, it’s supposed to be,” he replied. “I don’t like it. It’s kind of creepy,” said Kisara. Rentaro couldn’t help but agree with Kisara’s opinion. He lifted the flashlight and shined it on the unfinished woodwork of the building; the place looked like a haunted house. There was ivy growing over the edifices, and the place looked like it had sports facilities, including a pool and tennis court. It looked like it was trying to be an all-in-one leisure facility, but that resulted in an air that smacked of identity confusion. Picking up a pamphlet that had fallen on the ground, he was surprised to find that one could even hold weddings here, once upon a time. “This plateau breeze will make your life more sophisticated.” The aesthetic sense of that catchphrase seemed to go beyond a strained laugh and gave him the shivers instead. Rentaro and the others carefully picked their way through the entrance, where the ceiling had already collapsed. “Oh, Big Brother. Welcome.” Wearing an apron over her clothes, Tina had a candlestick in one hand and a feather duster in the other and was running toward him noisily. “I cleaned this hotel so that we can live in it.” Rentaro saw that the dust on the ground had been swept, and the broken glass in the windows had been removed, so it felt quite clean. “Well…even if you say we’re going to live in it, we’re just borrowing it for a few days.” “Even so, if we have to stay here anyway, doesn’t it make you happier if it’s clean?” Tina’s eyes were sparkling. She looked like a child who had made a secret hideout. When she led them to a Western-style dining room, they were met with an unexpected warmth. There was a long table with benches and a redbrick fireplace with brightly burning flames. Shoma, Midori, Tamaki, and Yuzuki had been preparing a meal and were just about to finish. There was a wood-chopping ax on the side, meaning someone had split apart the extra chairs and turned them into firewood. Thinking about it sensibly, it did not seem to make sense that they would need to use the fireplace in the middle of summer, but after the ashes from the Monolith covered the sky, the temperature dropped suddenly, and to Rentaro, the warmth from the fireplace felt just right. When preparations for the meal were completed, they didn’t need to be ordered to sit and eat. The stew piled on plates and bowls smelled sweet, and when Rentaro brought it to his mouth hesitantly, his eyes widened in surprise. “This is good…” It was a little salty, but they probably thought that on a battlefield, it was better to have strong-tasting foods. It was hard to believe that these were made from canned rations and ready-made food packages. “Hah, how about it? What do you think of me now?” It was Tamaki, who sounded proud as he rubbed his nose. “You made this?” Rentaro asked. Yuzuki answered, challenging but triumphant. “My big brother’s the chef at home. A perv like you couldn’t even come close to his skill.” Rentaro crossed his arms. This was exactly what was meant by “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” He felt the call of rivalry stir at the idea of another cook. Once the meal was devoured, they were filled with a languid satisfaction. It wasn’t that there was a lot of food. In fact, since their storehouse had burned down in yesterday’s fighting, the amount of food they’d been given wasn’t enough to match the needs of all the civil officers who were left. If operations in Tokyo Area hadn’t been frozen, they’d have promptly received relief supplies, but right now, those prospects were dim. Even so, the sense of relief they felt that all eight of them had survived the battlefield and were able to share another meal together overrode the physical shortage of food and gave them comfort. Midori and Tina brought coffee out unstably after the meal, and after that, they all chatted pleasantly. At first glance, it looked peaceful, but Rentaro noticed some awkwardness mixed into their conversation. If he had to say, it felt like they were choosing words in such a way that the critical points of their conversation were not meshing. But at that moment, Enju’s innocent voice interrupted without sensing the mood. “Rentaro, why did Aldebaran run away?” “There are rumors flying among the ranks of civil officers,” Rentaro started. “But no one knows the real reason why…” “Oh, is that so?” Enju made a serious face and crossed her arms. However, she seemed to think of a different question and murmured, “Will the Gastrea attack us again?” Everyone stopped suddenly and looked down. The light of the candles in the three-pronged brass candlestick flickered ominously. It was the question no one had dared to ask until now. Everyone had already lost too much. For Rentaro, he had studied how tragic war was time and time again in class. However, what he experienced after actually being thrown into the middle of a battlefield was a hell that destroyed the clichéd view of war he had a hundred times over. That battlefield, filled with screams that made his hair stand on end and dyed red with blood and guts, had opened up the lid to his sealed-off trauma and overlapped with images of the Gastrea War he had seen as a child. Honestly, Rentaro had avoided taking the initiative to start this conversation. However, if they continued to keep their mouths shut and avert their eyes from reality, it would result in a grave miscalculation of their chance at survival. When Rentaro looked up, he focused on Enju. “Well, we still have three days. I can’t really say anything for sure.” In the original scenario of the Monolith’s collapse, the Monolith was predicted to collapse seven days after Aldebaran injected it with Varanium corrosion fluid, and three days later, the replacement Monolith would be completed. However, because the Monolith had collapsed a day early, and they had already started fighting, even after a night had already passed they were still three days away from the arrival of the replacement Monolith. And it would be expecting too much to think that Aldebaran would not come back in the next three days. “Satomi, wait…” Kisara raised her hand timidly. “About the Spear of Light…” At those words, everyone’s faces clouded over with disgust. Everyone had had a hard time dealing with it on the battlefield. If Enju hadn’t saved Rentaro in the nick of time, he might not have been able to remain in this world. “What was that, anyway, Kisara? Was it some sort of laser weapon or something?” That was the conclusion Rentaro had reached after thinking about it for a night. It was the work of a moment, but the instant anything touched the silver thread that looked like a wire saw, every object in its path seemed to be chopped up in a second. Kinetic bombardment—if it was like a bullet, tank gun, or particle beam, then it seemed like it would cause even worse damage than just blow things away around it. In the first place, if there were Gastrea that could shoot lasers, they would be an unbelievable threat. However, Kisara shook her head quietly. “After spending the day helping the medical squad, I saw those who had their limbs cut off by the Spear of Light. All of them had various symptoms like deafness, loss of peripheral vision, and trembling.” Kisara stopped talking for a moment and stared at Rentaro. “Satomi, don’t you realize? These are all symptoms of a disease we learned about in Japanese history—Minamata disease.” Rentaro put his chin on his hand. If he remembered correctly, Minamata disease was a pollution-induced illness caused by the intake of methyl mercury concentrated in the bodies of seafood. Once he got that far, he stood from his chair without thinking. “Wait a minute, then Kisara, that means…” Kisara shifted in her chair and looked straight at Rentaro. “Dr. Sumire, who examined the corpses, said the Spear of Light that severed everything was probably compressed mercury.” “Mercury…” The other members of the adjuvant were also unsettled and couldn’t hide it, murmuring unanimously. Rentaro continued forward with his calm calculations. If that was the case, then somewhere, there was a Gastrea that could compress mercury inside its body and fire it. “Big Brother, there is something I would like to report regarding that,” said Tina. “Tina, don’t tell me you…” Tina nodded once and released a Bit from her sleeve into the air. It silently floated in the air and circled around their heads. “After we split up, I saw the Spear of Light as I fought. At the time, I immediately shot out Shenfield to capture the Gastrea that fired it, but unfortunately, it was five kilometers away and so my rifle couldn’t reach it.” “Five kilometers away?!” It fired at their camp from that far away? “What kind of Gastrea was it?” he asked, hoping against hope that she had seen. However, Tina shook her head hard. “I’m sorry, Big Brother. Because Shenfield puts a large strain on my brain, it doesn’t have the ability to send images. All I know are things like the distance, wind speed, and coordinates. However—” Tina beckoned the patrolling Shenfield to return and held it in both hands, staring hard at it. “It is quite large. It’s about ten meters high; its length and width is also about ten meters. It’s probably a Stage Four.” That was the thing that wreaked havoc on the civil officer base. They had no hope of winning unless they eliminated it. But how were they supposed to do that…? Just then, a loud voice called “Excuse me!” from outside the door. When Rentaro stood to look out the window, he saw a man he didn’t know standing outside. “Is there a Leader Satomi here? I have a summons from Commander Gado. Please report immediately to the temporary headquarters.” 4 Rentaro left the dilapidated hotel looking sidelong at Enju and the others, who were watching uneasily. He followed Gado’s messenger to the temporary headquarters; he had heard that it was in the main school building of a different junior high, and this was his first time visiting it. The campfires he saw from afar grew steadily bigger, and the half-dilapidated school appeared slowly out of the darkness. After a quick, silent bow to the two guards standing in front of the campfires there to burn away the summer insects, they entered the school building. From the direction the messenger was leading him, Rentaro surmised that Gado and the others were using the staff room as their temporary headquarters. From the light spilling out beyond the room, it looked as though they’d given top priority to acquiring electricity. Once Rentaro was delivered, Gado’s messenger bowed shortly and left. Rentaro knocked on the door and waited until he was given verbal permission to enter. At the voice, he slid open the door. Having grown used to the darkness, the brightness inside dazzled his eyes. The extra steel tables in the staff room were pushed to the corner, and Gado and the twelve or so members of his adjuvant sat around a U-shaped table. In the center was a single, high-backed chair. Everyone around the table was wearing exoskeletons that looked like traditional Japanese armor, and the heat they emitted made the room feel cramped. It was as if they were about to start an inquiry. Rentaro licked his upper lip and told himself to be careful. From the tense atmosphere and hostile gazes, Rentaro guessed that they weren’t about to talk about something fun. “Sit down,” urged the bald Gado, with his goatee and red armor, from the seat at the head of the table. Cautiously, Rentaro did as he was told. But Rentaro’s eyes widened the moment he faced front and focused on Gado. Trying desperately to stifle his uneasiness inside, Rentaro nervously raised his arm and pointed at Gado. “You’re…” “Yeah, it happened when I fought Him.” There was nothing below Gado’s left thigh. It looked like it had been cut off, stitched up, and covered with a bandage. The bandage was covered with a dark stain of blood. “By him, you mean…Aldebaran?” That instant, it was as if he had said an abominable name, and Gado’s team covered their faces in agitation. The rumor was true then, after all. In yesterday’s battle, there was a scream of agony that echoed right before the civil officers were completely wiped out, and then the Gastrea suddenly retreated. Rentaro and the other regulars hadn’t been told the details, but it was a badly kept secret that Gado and his partner had fought Aldebaran, and that their fight had ended in a draw. What was baffling about the situation was that Gado had gone into hiding with no explanation after that, but seeing the sorry state he was in now, Rentaro understood why. It was beyond the level of a badge of honor. If Gado showed himself to the civil officer troops the way he looked now, they couldn’t avoid a drop in morale. Gado seemed to notice Rentaro’s silence and showed his white teeth with a sinister challenge, slapping his left knee. “You know, this leg wasn’t stolen from me. I gave it to that damn Gastrea.” “Nagamasa, sir, please do not push yourself.” The quiet Initiator wearing a sky blue exoskeleton, Asaka Mibu, bravely waited upon him, trying to replace his leg. But Gado waved her away, annoyed, and looked at Rentaro. “What was Hidehiko like in the end?” “He fought gallantly, sir,” Rentaro answered. Gado sighed deeply. “I was the one who forced him to give up being an artist and become a civil officer… If I had known this would happen, I would have let him do as he liked.” Rentaro looked at the faces of everyone gathered there. “Did you fight against Aldebaran with everyone here?” “No, Asaka and I were the only ones who made it past the enemy’s close battle formation. The enemy did a good job leading us by the nose with its splendid movements. Ironically, even though we can understand words, the enemy was a much better commander.” “What if there was a rational explanation for why the enemy could command troops?” “What do you mean?” “Gado. Aldebaran’s base is probably a bee Gastrea.” This time, all of Gado’s adjuvant stirred with astonishment, and Gado looked dubious. “What are you talking about…?” “Gado, do you know why the self-defense force that had an easy victory during the Second Kanto Battle was beaten so quickly this time in the Third Kanto Battle? Also, when you wounded Aldebaran, the surrounding Gastrea immediately formed a wall around it to protect it and retreated. Isn’t that strange if you think about it?” Gado rubbed his bald head and tilted it. “Get to the point. Are you saying you found the answer?” “Pheromones.” “Pheromones…? Are you talking about those things that come out of your body to attract the opposite sex?” “Those are sex pheromones. What made them all gather immediately to protect Aldebaran were probably swarm pheromones. It is said that swarm pheromones are what command a school of fish in the water to make them seem like one giant fish. There are also alarm pheromones, pheromones to tell friend from foe, pheromones to change moods, trail pheromones, and other different kinds. Over one thousand, six hundred have been identified. “Aldebaran manipulated mole Gastrea to efficiently stop weapons like tanks and automatic cannons from underground, and had dragonfly Gastrea drop others for a surprise attack to break through the rear. From the timing to everything else, it’s too perfect. Aldebaran is probably able to use known and unknown pheromones to command the Gastrea. “Pheromones have no taste or smell, so normal humans definitely cannot sense them, and if Aldebaran can use pheromones so dexterously, then it has to be a bee or some other kind of similar Gastrea. Gado, you saw Aldebaran, right? Did you see degenerated wings or a stinger somewhere on its body?” Gado, lost in thought, didn’t answer as he put a hand on his chin. It looked like Rentaro had hit the nail on the head. “Do you understand what this means? It means if we take down the head, Aldebaran, the whole swarm will fall apart. Gastrea working alone won’t have a leader anymore and can be easily routed. If we continue to get rid of them, they will suffer an upset before long. There’s no need to chase after them. Eventually, the replacement Monolith will arrive. We’ll win.” However, even after listening to Rentaro’s plan for victory, Gado remained silent with his arms crossed. Eventually, he put his elbow on top of the desk and put his chin on his hand, looking at Rentaro listlessly. “Your opinion was very helpful. Then, I will share with you a piece of information that you don’t know. About none other than Aldebaran—” “Commander!” A member of the adjuvant stood up with a screech of his chair. It was a middle-aged man whose face looked oddly similar to Gado’s. He had been part of Gado’s son Hidehiko’s adjuvant. It was possible that all the members of Gado’s adjuvant were his own blood relatives. “I must oppose this! If that is leaked, there will be a fatal drop in morale. You have no obligation to tell a mere soldier!” Gado shook his head. “It’s not a problem. Leader Satomi’s IP rank is 300. He has the highest rank out of everyone in the troop besides me. He has the right to know. If there’s trouble from it, I will be held responsible.” Saying that, Gado looked back at Rentaro and said gravely, “Leader Satomi, Aldebaran is an immortal Gastrea. There’s no way to kill it.” “Huh?” Rentaro responded stupidly. He thought he must have heard wrong. However, that faint hope was crushed to smithereens the next moment. “I will say it again, Leader Satomi. Aldebaran is an immortal Gastrea. Last night, I got in close to him, ready to cross swords and cut off his head. With this,” Gado said as he had Asaka go get the weapon leaning against the wall. The weapon Asaka reverently brought back was a giant weapon about as big as she was. Two black blades came from the hilt. It was a special sword called a twin sword. “My sword split open the Gastrea’s head, no mistake, and pierced its chest with its next stroke. I definitely felt like I had done damage to its brain and heart, but that thing didn’t fall, and the next instant, its wounds started to heal, albeit slowly. I was extremely confused and left myself open. Thanks to that, my leg was eaten, and now look at me.” “No way. That’s impossible…,” Rentaro said. Gastrea only had two vital spots—the brain and the heart. These two areas were supposed to be virtually impossible to regenerate, and other than stabbing these areas and defeating them, using Varanium weapons that inhibit regeneration to inflict damage was the main tactic used when fighting against Gastrea. Gado’s sword, with its twin obsidian edges, was without a doubt made of Varanium. Damage to the brain and heart, plus the fact that these attacks were made by the regeneration-inhibiting Varanium, should have made triply sure to give Aldebaran a prompt death. To be able to heal wounds like that was extremely unusual. Gado shrugged his shoulders. “Gastrea cells repair and regenerate telomeres, so they never die of old age. In other words, rather than being immortal, it would be more accurate to say Aldebaran will not age or die.” Will not age or die… The back of Rentaro’s mind was numb, and he did not know what to say. The darkness of despair pushed in and enveloped Rentaro from all sides. He had thought that Aldebaran’s ability was just the Varanium corrosion liquid and using pheromones to completely control a troop of Gastrea, but he had been jumping to conclusions thinking he knew the truth behind the ghost. There had been one more ability. Something that was the capability of the Stage Five Taurus’s right hand, the Stage Four Gastrea Aldebaran. “Why—” Rentaro said, gasping. “Why, Gado? Aldebaran has been sighted numerous times in the past. Why hadn’t anyone realized that it had this ability until now?!” “I’m sure there are various reasons for it, but one is that we were probably all too caught up with how strong the Taurus troops were,” said Gado. “Until a year ago, when the girl of unknown citizenship and name called the world’s strongest Initiator came and unexpectedly killed Taurus, many cities were completely annihilated when trying to stop their advance. Most countries did not survive to bring home intel.” Gado took the teacup Asaka held out to him, gulped the contents in one go, and leaned forward with a rustle of his armor, looking at Rentaro with belligerent eyes. “Besides, this isn’t the only trump card the Aldebaran troops have. Leader Satomi, you’ve heard of the Spear of Light that many civil officers are talking about, haven’t you?” “That Gastrea that can shoot high-pressure mercury from five kilometers away?” Gado widened his eyes in surprise. “High-pressure mercury? It’s shooting mercury?” Rentaro nodded quietly. “I have a lot of excellent people in my adjuvant. It’s probably an archerfish Gastrea.” Normally, archerfish were tropical fish that used their pointy, funnel-shaped mouths to shoot compressed water and bring down insects near the surface of the water. They only measured about twenty centimeters or so in length, but they could shoot up to 1.5 meters. “According to one of our Initiators, the enemy is a giant Gastrea about ten meters across in all directions, so I can’t even begin to imagine how much pressure that compressed mercury is being shot out at.” “I see…,” said Gado. “Well, anyway, we were calling the Gastrea that appeared suddenly yesterday Gastrea X, but after consulting with the Japanese National Security Council this morning, it was acknowledged to be as much of a threat as Aldebaran and was given the code name Pleiades, after the group of stars in the middle of the Taurus constellation.” “Pleiades…” Gado fished around in his breast pocket and pulled out two objects engraved with intricate designs. Rentaro could tell immediately that they were chess pieces, a king and a queen. “It’s true that, like you said, if we defeat Aldebaran, we’ll probably win this game. However, even if we try to defeat the king, the queen will definitely stand in our way. So in this game, we must defeat the queen in order to be victorious.” In chess, everyone knew without saying that the king was the most important piece in predicting the outcome of a game. And that the queen, who could move in all directions and had an unlimited range, was the supreme ruler of the battlefield. It was a perfectly fitting phrase. “But this isn’t chess, it’s shogi, right?” “Hmm?” “The opponent’s camp can use all the pieces that were defeated by the Gastrea virus. We’re the ones that are being made to play by the rules of chess.” Gado seemed to be holding back laughter as he shrugged his shoulders queerly. “That might well be the case.” “How many people were killed?” “It would be impossible to explain that in one sentence.” Gado took a sip of tea from the cup Asaka proffered, crossed his arms, and looked down. “When the battle started, the enemy numbered about two thousand. However, the seven thousand decisive self-defense soldiers were defeated, and though the Gastrea forces lost five hundred, in exchange, it looks like two thousand of the defeated self-defense force troops were infected with the Gastrea virus and turned into Gastrea, adding to Aldebaran’s numbers. Then, the expanded Gastrea troop of three thousand five hundred bodies came up against our five hundred pairs of civil officers, or a thousand people. The enemy lost nine hundred, but half of our pairs were killed as well—and sadly, it looks like a hundred of them were added to the enemy’s numbers.” “In other words, the current match up of fighting bodies is…” “Two thousand seven hundred Gastrea to our five hundred.” Rentaro was sure that wasn’t all. They had suffered more serious damage than the numbers made it appear. There were, of course, the injured, but also those ten-year-old girls who were dispirited from the trauma of being suddenly thrown onto such a cruel battlefield. There were also many pairs whose combat power was less than half because one of the partners had been killed. Even if those who lost their partners formed impromptu unofficial pairs, they could not be expected to be in sync. It would be better to say that their actual numbers were about a third of what they had left, or a hundred and sixty-six people. “Those numbers are hopeless,” said Rentaro. “I have nothing to say in response to that…,” replied Gado. “On top of that, today we must give an even more painful ruling.” “What?” Slowly, the pressure from the gazes around Rentaro became even stronger, and he felt intense pressure from them. The corner of Gado’s eyes narrowed sharply. “Leader Satomi, do you know why you were called here today?” “What are you…talking about…?” “You were not called here today so we could ask you to analyze Aldebaran and Pleiades. The fact of the matter is, we want to ask you about the independent action your adjuvant took when you left Hidehiko’s formation during the operation.” When Rentaro understood what Gado was trying to say, he got chills down his spine. “Please, wait. We noticed the Gastrea that had gone to the back of the formation to prepare for a surprise attack and went to intercept them—” “We have confirmed the corpses of the Gastrea to the rear of the main battle formation. However, appearances are appearances, and disobeying orders is disobeying orders. We must think of these two as separate.” Unlike earlier, Gado’s voice now had coldness mixed into it. Rentaro realized that the winds were blowing in a strange direction and wiped the sweat on his palms hard on his pants. “In order to maintain appearances in the army, even if just one person from the civil officer troops disobeys orders, I’m sure you can imagine what would happen. From the perspective of the other civil officers who did not know the circumstances behind your actions, what you did looks like deserting under enemy fire. In addition, you and your Initiator are a high-ranking pair with an IP rank of 300. Your actions caused a fatal disturbance in the other civil officers who were desperately enduring their shaking knees to stand in line. I must have you pay for that.” “B-but—” Even as Rentaro tried to argue vehemently, Gado cut him off completely. “It was rash, Leader Satomi. I hereby disband your adjuvant and sentence you to capital punishment. I will not hear any excuses. You disobeyed the orders of your superior officer and deserted under enemy fire. Those are serious crimes even among serious crimes. If I do not punish you, it will set the bad precedent that even if one disobeys orders, they will not be punished. Military troops with warped rules can no longer be called military troops. They are just a disorderly crowd. Especially now that the mood of defeat has grown stronger, discipline must be tightened.” At Gado’s words, a heavy weight fell on Rentaro with a thud. Capital punishment. In other words, death. “S-stop messing around!” The instant Rentaro stood from his chair to try to get closer to Gado, a strong fist sank into his stomach, and he almost passed out from the blow. “Oof.” Rentaro couldn’t bear it, and his knees bent. As he gritted his teeth against the pain, he looked next to him and saw the Initiator, Asaka, looking down at him with a bored look on her face. The little—! “If you move, you will send your life flying,” she said. Rentaro was forced to his knees, and pressing into his throat was the cold blade of a Japanese sword. Behind his back, he could hear multiple guns cocking, and as he glared at Gado with his teeth gritted, he received a pitying look. “Leader Satomi,” Gado said, “I personally expected a lot out of you. It’s unfortunate.” Damn it. Rentaro cursed his own carelessness as his clenched fists shook above his knees. When he had been summoned by Gado, why had he not sensed any danger? If he had been able to predict that this would happen, he could have thought of a way to deal with it. Instead, he just nonchalantly… Rentaro lamented his own foolish actions and the fact that he could not find anything wrong with Gado’s logic. Gado’s reasons were completely valid. If the rules of the corps were to be the most important, then he had to punish whoever broke the rules, no matter who it was. If their positions were reversed, then Rentaro likely would have imposed the same grave punishment on Gado. Resignation slowly took its toll. Rentaro’s stomach felt as heavy as lead, and he started to feel dizzy. “My…” He saw Enju’s smile in his head. He felt stunned, and his vision grew dark as he sweat profusely. Then, finally, words of defeat passed Rentaro’s lips. “My adjuvant… Please do not punish them… They were just following my orders. Please.” Gado snorted. “To think that the hero who defeated the Zodiac Gastrea Scorpion and saved the country is now on death row. Fate is ironic to the bitter end, isn’t it?” “Commander. There is no need to have pity on him. Let us execute this man here and now!” demanded one of Gado’s subordinates. Gado rejected his subordinate’s suggestion with a wave of his hand and looked straight at Rentaro with a sigh. Then, he said, “Leader Satomi, are you ready to die once more?” “Huh?” said Rentaro, startled. “Commander!” said Gado’s subordinate. “Now, wait a minute,” said Gado. “Leader Satomi, as you know, the battle we are fighting right now is a defensive battle to hold out until the construction of the replacement Monolith. However, there are also people who think we should not just be defending. If we were able to eliminate the symbol of the civil officers’ current fears, the Gastrea Pleiades, then I believe we can find a way out of this blockade. However, we do not have enough troops that I can deploy elite troops to do the job.” Gado stopped talking for a moment and gave a bold smile. “So I have a request to ask of you.” Gado stood with one hand on his cane, schooled his gaze, and spoke from his belly. “What I ask is for you to infiltrate enemy territory by yourself and exterminate the unknown long-distance sniper Gastrea Pleiades.” Rentaro felt like he had been hit hard on the side of the head. He couldn’t react for a good while. “What I really want to say is to go and defeat Aldebaran, but it would be rash to go up against an immortal Gastrea without a plan. “Asaka.” Gado gave her an order, and she calmly operated the PDA device next to her. When she did, a giant 3-D image that seemed to bury the whole room appeared. In front of them spread the expanse of flat plains connected to the ruins that Rentaro and the others had requisitioned, and through the forest behind that was the memorial monument, the Flame of Return. It looked to be a scale model of District 40, where Rentaro and the others were. There was something similar in Miori Shiba’s student council room, but the accuracy and color of this was nowhere near as good as the one owned by the daughter of a multimillionaire. From where Rentaro was, he could see the small mountain of powder in the back that was what remained of the Monolith. “Currently, the civil officer and Gastrea troops are positioned equidistant from the Monolith with the Monolith between them,” said Gado. As if their hearts were beating as one, as Gado spoke, Asaka turned the model and drew a line. The line disappeared into an oval-shaped forest quite far away and outside the city wall. The forest was expansive, and there was a river that seemed to pierce its center. With a tree canopy that high, even a Stage Four Gastrea could hide in it. Gado continued. “Because of the Gastrea virus, this forest has seen abnormal growth and diverse ecosystems. Somewhere in this forest, the twenty-seven hundred-plus Gastrea we were discussing are resting.” “Do you know what part of the forest Aldebaran and Pleiades are in?” Rentaro hedged. “Unfortunately, no. Not even the highest resolution artificial satellite could tell us this. We do also have sixth-generation unmanned reconnaissance crafts, but the JNSC cabinet ministers are extremely unmotivated to send them.” “Pleiades, huh…?” “That’s right. A being that the JNSC higher-ups are afraid to shoot down even with cruise missiles and support fighter aircraft. They had guaranteed us mastery of the air, but they have not brought that promise to fruition yet. Thanks to that, the flying Gastrea dealt us a lot of damage, and it was all we could do to defend ourselves. They really gave us a beating.” The joke that even one powerful Gastrea could change the tide of a war was happening in real life. And the still unseen Pleiades that shot compressed mercury… According to Tina, it measured about ten meters on all sides. Since it was on land, its archerfish genes must have mixed with those of a land-dwelling animal, so Rentaro wondered what form it would take. “Leader Satomi… No, Former Leader. Destroy it. You have no right to refuse. You only have a small chance of succeeding, but since you were supposed to die anyway, it will be no great loss if you go. Dead heroes are very easy to use, after all.” Fury pierced Rentaro’s spinal cord, and he brushed off the men at his sides who were holding him down, pushed away the other subordinates trying to stop him, and pressed on determinedly toward Gado. Slamming the palms of his hands on Gado’s steel desk, Rentaro got so close to the man that he practically head-butted his nose. “You’ve finally shown your true nature, huh? You old weasel…!” Gado smiled without changing the cool expression on his face. “But Satomi, these are also my honest, true feelings. Among the civil officers, there are those who mistakenly believe that we don’t need to fight Aldebaran anymore and can sit pretty for another three days. Unfortunately, once Aldebaran completely heals the injury I gave it, it will definitely attack again. This is the only chance we have to attack. Satomi, if you accept this mission, I promise that I will not charge your adjuvant for this crime. But if you refuse, I will punish you all together. It looks like you have an Initiator who adores you as if you were her father and a lovely childhood friend in your adjuvant. I’m sure you could not bring yourself to let them undergo such severe punishment.” “Just try laying even a finger on Enju or Kisara… I’ll kill you!” “Then, it’s decided. We will prepare the equipment for you. Go say your good-byes to your friends today.” Rentaro closed his eyes and exhaled, then slowly opened them again. “There’s one last thing I want to ask. You all saw Aldebaran with your own eyes, right? What did it look like?” The moment he asked, a startled expression crossed over everyone in the room. Gado had a frighteningly stern expression on his face and looked like he was about to shoot fire from his angrily narrowed eyes. “Satomi, unfortunately, I cannot answer your question. No, I do not want to answer your question. Last night, because of our encounter with the repulsive monster, none of us slept one wink. We will probably not be able to sleep well tonight, either. Do your best. I pray from the bottom of my heart that you will be able to complete your mission without running into Aldebaran.” 5 “Oh, Rentaro!” Enju welcomed him back cheerfully as she bounced out of the abandoned hotel, her pigtails swinging. Enju’s voice started off a chorus of flurried others. “What, Satomi?” “He’s back?” —And other such calls. All of Rentaro’s friends gathered around the door, noisily welcoming him back. Thinking they were overreacting, he checked the clock and was a little surprised. Apparently, he had been talking with Gado and the others for over three hours. Kisara looked at him uneasily. “Did you get a talking-to for what we did yesterday after all?” Rentaro said, “Let’s talk inside,” and they returned to the dining room en masse. He waited until everyone had sat down and calmed; he didn’t know where to start, but thinking that everything was important, he falteringly gave a full account of what happened with Gado. It was a shock, as expected, and the part about Aldebaran’s immortality and its attack after it healed its wound resulted in an air of silent despair among his team. And then, Rentaro deliberately hid the fact that he had been ordered on a mission to subjugate Pleiades. “Sorry, everyone. It looks like our adjuvant will be disbanded after all. It doesn’t look like we can avoid it.” “N-no… Wait a minute!” It was Yuzuki. Her gaze wavered, and she was obviously shaken. “I was finally able to make friends with Tina and everyone… R-Rentaro Satomi! Do something about it!” “No, what bothers me is how light the punishment is.” It was Shoma, who had been silent until now, murmuring with a hand on his chin. “The commander said from the very beginning that disobeying orders would be punished severely. Don’t you think just getting our adjuvant disbanded is letting us off too easy, Satomi?” As expected of Shoma, Rentaro thought admiringly, without letting it show on his face. “Shoma, I’m sure that is because the commander also took into consideration the results of our battle and made the punishment lighter,” Midori interjected with a smile. Shoma did not look convinced but accepted her opinion. Midori’s kindhearted reasoning was completely off the mark, but Rentaro was at least grateful that it kept Shoma from asking him more questions. “Then, what’ll happen to us?” Tina asked, her face clouding over. Rentaro chose his words carefully to keep from upsetting her. “Maybe we’ll be sent to support those adjuvants that have lost members? I don’t really know, either.” “I-I see…,” said Tina. As if she had sensed the mood growing melancholy, Enju suddenly stuck her fist in the air above her head and snorted as she stood. “But even if we get separated, it’s not as if we’ll never meet again!” “That’s…true, too.” Kisara nodded a beat later. Beneath his sunglasses, Tamaki rubbed his eyes and sniffed. “It’s just as that bunny girl over there says. It’s a little sad to be sayin’ good-bye tonight, but that’s why I’ll turn this into a grand good-bye party!” Everyone else looked at each other, grinning. The time after that passed like a dream. They lavishly used up the rest of the food they had been rationed for the three days and recooked it desperately, filling their half-empty bellies to bursting. Inside the room, large candles burned brightly and turned everyone’s faces red. It put the room in a festive, birthday party-esque mood, and the dimly burning flames reflected in the eyes of Enju, Tina, and the other girls, shining lovely. Among them, the irises of Kisara’s slightly smaller, cat-shaped eyes took in the light and reflected it in a bewitchingly beautiful way. Before he knew it, Rentaro was driven by the impulse to stare at it, but he didn’t want to seem impolite, so he quickly turned his head to the side just when it seemed like their eyes were about to meet. Most of the time was taken by the girls complaining about wanting to take hot showers. On the other hand, the boys’ conversation was extremely pragmatic as they tried to calculate how much of the emergency stores were left after the fire at headquarters. Rentaro joked that at this rate, they would run out of provisions and have to hunt lizards and snails to eat, and Kisara, who had been raised a proper lady, said with her eyes half-closed, “You’re the worst.” Tamaki brought some wine stolen from the wine cellar in the basement, and he had a cup with Shoma, who was also old enough to drink. Rentaro didn’t think that the boisterous Tamaki and reticent Shoma would get along, but he seemed to be wrong. Shoma was nodding quietly as he listened to Tamaki’s nonstop talking. The gloomy, defeated mood had been blown away, and it made them forget for a while that they were in the middle of a war. Rentaro also started to feel better and had fun without worrying about the time. The party broke up in the wee hours of the night, and everyone went to their respective hotel rooms. The hotel was small, with just three floors, and the windows were mostly still intact. Rentaro even tried going onto the roof, but it was submerged, possibly from a clogged pipe. The third-floor room Rentaro and Enju were assigned had two beds with a side table sandwiched between them. Part of the ceiling was broken, and insulation material was sticking out. The floor was covered with a thick coating of dust, but Rentaro saw that the dust on the bed had been brushed off. Tina probably cleaned here, he thought. The smell of mold that had been the room’s inhabitant for the last ten years seemed to be a little like incense. Rentaro lay on the bed and talked with Enju until the lights went out. She went on about various topics unchecked, adding exaggerated gestures as she spoke, and Rentaro nodded in response. For some reason, Rentaro felt that he had to treasure this time. Finally, Enju got tired of talking and fell asleep, and the sound of her breath echoed into the darkness. Rentaro’s heart gradually grew colder. And so, Rentaro Satomi realized that the last hours he had spent with his friends signaled the end. Staring at the darkness in the ceiling, he waited a while longer, just in case, and then got up slowly. For some reason, the air that hit his body seemed much colder than earlier, but still he put on his shoes and his jacket. Just as he quietly walked to the door and put his hand on the doorknob, a voice called his name, and he startled. Looking back, he calmed his pounding heart. Enju seemed to be talking in her sleep. Rentaro didn’t know what kind of dream she was having, but there was a part of her voice that seemed sad. Enju’s expression was hidden by the covers, so he couldn’t see it. “Sorry, Enju.” Looking downcast as he said this, Rentaro left the room. He went down to the dining room without encountering anyone else, and there, Gado’s messenger was waiting by the fireplace. When Rentaro saw that the messenger had come into their temporary residence without taking off his shoes, he felt disgusted but was careful not to let it show on his face. The messenger casually threw Rentaro a backpack. Taking it silently, Rentaro upended it on the table, and the contents fell out. The first thing he saw was a heavy, rectangular mass. Feeling it over its wrapper, he saw that it was soft and pliable like clay. It was a C-4 plastic explosive. In a former age, when nitroglycerine was first discovered, scientists of the time were troubled by how even the slightest shock could make it explode, but current explosives were so stable that they would only burn down when thrown into a bonfire and did not explode accidentally. Instead, they were detonated through the fuse and combusted with a large blast. They combusted at over eight thousand meters per second and could cause an astounding number of casualties. This was probably custom-made to work against Gastrea, with powdered Varanium and the like mixed in. Besides that, there were portable rations, a canteen, a compass, a beta light, and various other survival goods. Rentaro took off his jacket and hung his pouch and back holster from his belt and made a small adjustment so he could attach the silencer onto the XD gun at his hip. After pulling back the slide so it could fire, he stored it in the carbon-fiber holster made by Blackhawk! He checked the fit of the holster by practicing a few quick draws. He also hung the combat knife from his belt with the scabbard still on, then refitted his jacket over it all and grabbed a strap of the backpack. Leaving behind Gado’s lackey’s indifferent look, Rentaro departed the hotel. He looked at the sky, pitch-black and starless, and heaved a sigh. The air outside had gotten even colder, too. In fact, it was cold enough that he would have believed it if someone had told him that it was late fall. He had not expected the Varanium ash to make the surface temperature of the earth lower this much. They were lucky, at least, that it was summer right now. Rentaro looked straight at the fallen Monolith and started quietly toward it. The regular crunching sound of his footsteps on the ground sent Rentaro into the depths of his thoughts. In the end, he’d left without finding the right time to tell Enju and the others what was going on. Of course, he had thought about the option of telling at least Enju the truth and having her go with him. But after thinking it over, Rentaro had decided that it was his responsibility alone to take care of this and had chosen to go alone. He had his reasons, of course— “Satomi…” Rentaro hid his backpack quickly and turned timidly toward the voice. He hadn’t been hearing things. Shoulders hunched, standing stock-still and crestfallen with a shocked look on her face, was Kisara Tendo. “Kisara, how…?” he asked. “When I woke up to use the bathroom, I caught a glimpse of you leaving your room, and when I followed you, I saw your exchange with the messenger, and…” Kisara lifted her face and continued. “Where are you going?” Rentaro quieted his heart and tried to put on an air of nonchalance. “I was going to the bathroom, too. What, Kisara, do you want to come with me?” “S-stupid! Of course not!” “Then don’t follow me. I’m just taking a walk after taking a leak.” “Toward the Monolith?” A freezing summer wind blew between Rentaro and Kisara. It sent Rentaro’s hair and Kisara’s skirt fluttering. Kisara shook her head hard. “I can’t believe you. Haven’t you noticed, Satomi? I’m sure you’ve been given a crazy mission, but going alone is like going to your death.” That was something he slowly understood after hearing the details of the mission. Ostensibly, this was a secret mission Gado entrusted to Rentaro, but in actuality, it was different. Rentaro’s name at least was known in the world as that of the hero who defeated the Zodiac Scorpion, so if Gado had punished Rentaro in any way, Gado probably would have faced internal criticism. For Gado, who wanted to unify the civil officers because they were at a disadvantage, that could possibly work against him. In other words, Gado was in the difficult position of losing unity whether or not he punished Rentaro. That was probably why Gado came up with the plan to give Rentaro amnesty in exchange for defeating Pleiades. Of course, it was a mission that he was unlikely to return alive from. Rentaro would be finished off by the Gastrea in the forest, so Gado wouldn’t have to dirty his own hands, and Gado would be able to keep up appearances in front of the other civil officers. In other words, Rentaro’s mission was none other than a prettily decorated trip to the gallows. That was also the reason why he had not brought Enju. There was no way he could bring Enju along on a journey that would lead to her death. “Why just you, Satomi? Don’t we all share the blame for following you?” said Kisara. It became hard for Rentaro to look at her face, so he turned his back to her. “Someone had to take responsibility. That’s why I’ll go.” “Let’s run away.” “Where?” He heard a sharp breath behind him as she faltered. “Well…” “There is nowhere left to run in Tokyo Area. If we don’t hold them back here, we’ll die no matter where we run. I must avoid that, at least. Thank you, Kisara. But I’m going to go.” Rentaro strode forward without looking back. “You really are stupid!” Her voice followed close behind him and seemed to pull at his hair. Desperately trying to control the feelings this stirred in him, he attempted to leave as quickly as possible. Because of the black rain that had been streaking down since the morning, his boots scraping along the undergrowth were soon soaked and felt uncomfortable. His nostrils were filled with the strong smell of earth after the rain. After walking a while, the fallen Monolith 32 grew large in his field of view. Its pieces had crumbled and formed a mountain of white debris, and only the pillarlike structures of the frame that had not been bleached remained standing in the mountain. The current spine-chilling remains seemed like some sort of grave marker.
Chapter 47
46 min read