Chapter 53

“I will not serve two masters.” “Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not looking for a replacement for Midori, either. It’s just, rather than fighting alone, I think we could more efficiently fight Gastrea as even a temporary pair. That’s all I’m suggesting.” “You mean…a pair to last only until the end of the Aldebaran War?” Shoma nodded. “I mean, I’m sure you know yourself how far off the mark you are by blaming Satomi. Satomi isn’t the one who killed your Promoter. It was the Gastrea. Get rid of your grudge by fighting Aldebaran on the battlefield. Don’t be mistaken about where to point your hatred.” Asaka was silent for a while, thinking. However, she finally got on her knees and respectfully offered her sword to Shoma with both hands. For someone militaristic like Asaka, offering her sword meant she was offering her trust and allegiance. “I give you my sword for the time being. Use it as you will, Master.” She exchanged glances with Shoma and nodded. Asaka and Shoma seemed to have a lot in common. Neither was very approachable, and they both had reticent but sober and honest personalities. They were an impromptu pair, but they would likely work together well. Rentaro felt emotions flare up inside him like magma. He finally had all his cards together: The King—Rentaro Satomi and Enju Aihara. The Queen—Kisara Tendo and Tina Sprout. The Jack—Tamaki Katagiri and Yuzuki Katagiri. The Ace—Shoma Nagisawa and Asaka Mibu. And right now, Rentaro also had the strongest wild card in his hand: The Joker—Kagetane Hiruko and Kohina Hiruko. The plan he had from the start for a five-pair adjuvant had finally come together at the eleventh hour. It was the strongest party he could think of. Rentaro glared at his old enemy, Aldebaran, beyond the grave marker of the collapsed Monolith. This fight will not necessarily end in our loss. 5 Just then, Rentaro heard the sound of a large number of distant rotors in the air. Turning to spot them, he estimated that there were over twenty transport aircraft and helicopters flying in a formation toward them. When the transport craft swelled and passed over Rentaro’s head, he was sure he could see the Shiba Heavy Weapons emblem printed on its side. It looked like what he had ordered had arrived. As Rentaro pushed his way through the stunned civil officers, a rappelling extraction rope was lowered to the ground from one of the air units, and a girl wearing a kimono with long, fluttering sleeves gave a big wave as she blew a kiss toward Rentaro. “Satomi, dear! I’m on my way! Whoa!” Miori Shiba swung dangerously midair, and just as Rentaro expected, her sleeves got tangled with the rope in the air and she lost her balance. Rentaro didn’t wait, but pushed the crowd out of the way as he rushed over, sliding to catch the falling woman. As she hit, he felt the air being squeezed out of his lungs and almost lost consciousness as a thud vibrated all the way to his organs. When he looked again, he was on his back and Miori was sitting on him, flushed with embarrassment. “Owwww… It’s been a while, Satomi, dear. Oof. This is kind of a kinky position.” “Hey, idiot! Don’t climb down a rope ladder wearing a kimono and geta clogs!” Rentaro yelled. “But I wanted to see my dear Satomi as quickly as possible!” Flirtatiously, the daughter of the weapons conglomerate CEO put her arms around Rentaro’s neck and whispered in his ear. “I knew you’d save me, Satomi dearest. I think I might’ve sprained my ankle. I wish you’d carry me in your arms like a princess to a nearby tent. You can take care of me however you want, mon ami.” Her elegant kimono was made of dyed black cloth and embroidered embellishments. Her lustrous black hair was wavy, and her beautiful white face with its shapely nose was so close to Rentaro’s face his heart pounded. “H-hey, Miori…” Rentaro said. “Sa-to-mi, my dear… Tee-hee,” she said, articulating each syllable distinctly. Suddenly, Rentaro heard a sharp tongue click from behind him. “Too bad. It would have been nice if you’d fallen and broken your neck.” Jumping up with astonishment, he found that it was Kisara who had spoken, as he expected, and was standing in front of his chest with her arms crossed, her legs shifting with irritation. “What business do you have here? Hurry up and take care of it and leave.” “Oh my, it’s been a while, Kisara. Have your breasts distended since we last met?” “We just saw each other recently! There’s no way they’d get bigger so suddenly!” Miori took a fan out from her bosom and spread it, covering her mouth as she narrowed her eyes, laughing bewitchingly. “Unfortunately, I’m here today officially employed as a weapons advisor to dear Satomi. I don’t have to listen to you.” “What?” Kisara glared at Rentaro sharply. “Hey, Satomi! What’s the meaning of this?” Rentaro felt like he’d finally gotten permission to speak as he went to stand between them. “It’s true that I asked Miori to come. In order to defeat Aldebaran, we definitely need the cooperation of a weapons specialist.” In the staff tent Miori constructed was a crude desk, and the lightbulb that hung from the ceiling with a simple lampshade over it lit only the desk. But around that desk were the members of Rentaro’s adjuvant, plus Miori. Miori put her hands on the plain wood surface and looked around at everyone with an uncharacteristic scowl. “I’ve heard about Aldebaran from our dear Satomi. An immortal Gastrea is no joke. You’ve all done your best. Let us at Shiba Heavy Weapons back you civil officers up with everything we’ve got.” Rentaro nodded. “Thanks. That’s encouraging.” “Hey…Miori.” Kisara, who had her hands crossed in front of her chest, put a hand to her chin and looked uneasily at the woman. “It’s not that I have any complaints against you all, but don’t we have any extra backup other than Shiba?” Miori understood what Kisara was trying to say and nodded. “Kisara, you’ve been at the front lines this whole time, so you may not know much about the mood in Tokyo Area right now, but it’s terrible on the home front. In the first place, in order to prevent the attack of the Zodiac Scorpion that came out during the Kagetane Hiruko terrorist incident, Tokyo’s land, sea, and air self-defense forces were already nearly annihilated. Then, before the paint was even dry on that matter, Aldebaran came. The city’s defense systems are practically worthless now. “Even if it can miraculously defeat Aldebaran, it would take Tokyo Area years to recover to its national power to previous levels. I’m sure the Lady Seitenshi will have to deal with more national troubles than any Seitenshi we’ve had so far.” Gazes with deep-rooted criticism fell to the terrorist in the corner of the tent, but Kagetane just shrugged, showing no sign of remorse. Kisara continued. “What about support from outside the country, or other areas?” “That’s difficult, too. The other countries have their own speculations, but in the end, most think of it as someone else’s problem.” Miori pointed a finger at Rentaro. “I have one more piece of bad news. This is a report from Shiba Heavy Weapons’ man-made satellite. It looks like the Aldebaran troops have finally started moving.” The mood inside the tent stiffened noticeably. “When are they expected to arrive?” Rentaro asked. “At eleven p.m.” Rentaro hurriedly checked the time. They had a little over half a day left. Rentaro forced down the nervousness inside him and asked Miori as calmly as possible: “Well, Miori, is there a way to defeat Aldebaran?” Everyone’s eyes seemed to cling to her as Miori suppressed a smile and hid her mouth with her fan. “Who do you think I am? Of course I came with a plan.” Miori placed the small case at her feet on the table before opening it and pulling out a cylindrical object. The shiny black metal on its surface was probably Varanium; the red sensor inside that gave an impression of solidity, reflecting the light of the bulb above them. When Rentaro stroked the surface, it felt cool, and when he tried holding it, it was much heavier than he expected. It was just about as thick as a tea canister, but Rentaro could hold it with one hand with no problems. Since he had been preparing himself for what was about to come out, Rentaro was a little disappointed. And it looked like Rentaro was not the only one who felt that way. “Oh my, is Miss Miori going to make us some tea?” Miori did not respond to Kisara’s sarcasm, but looked at everyone with seriousness. “That is a special bomb developed by our research team. Its development code name was the ekpyrotic bomb, but everyone calls it the EP bomb because the name is too long. It can cause extreme explosive damage to a very small area, and it has twenty times the power of the five-hundred-pound bombs dropped on Aldebaran by the self-defense force, so be careful when you’re handling that.” Rentaro almost dropped it. Seeing that, Miori chuckled and took the can from Rentaro’s hand. “In other words, Miori, you’re saying—” Miori nodded. “Completely destroy Aldebaran so that not even a scrap of it is left. There is no other way for us to win.” Rentaro stared hard at the small cylindrical bomb. It didn’t look like there was a spare. The fate of Tokyo Area literally lay in this single small bomb. “But Satomi, dear, at this rate, just hitting Aldebaran with this will not kill it.” Rentaro tilted his head in question. “What do you mean?” Miori smiled bewitchingly and continued. “Exactly what I said. At this rate, I’m still worried that there is not enough firepower. That’s why, based on the results of analysis by our research team, making this explode inside Aldebaran’s body is the only chance we have to destroy it.” Kisara, Tina, and Shoma had looks of sudden realization on their faces, but Rentaro still didn’t understand. “Satomi, did you know that gunpowder is more powerful when you have it explode sealed up inside a hard container than when you just let it explode as is? It’s like when you let a firecracker explode on the palm of your hand, your hand will just get burned, but if you hold it tightly in your hand, your whole hand can be blown off. The EP bomb is an amazing bomb that explodes with a high-pressure implosion reaction, but that will not completely destroy Aldebaran. That’s why we would like to have it explode with another layer of complete airtightness around it.” After getting that explanation, Rentaro was finally also able to follow the conversation. “In other words, Miori, you’re saying we need to injure Aldebaran, toss the EP bomb in before it regenerates, wait until the wound fully heals, and then make the bomb explode?” All of the giant Gastrea had exoskeletons that were extremely hard so that they would not be crushed under the pressure of gravity. If they injured one, threw the bomb in, and then waited for it to heal, the bomb would be taken in by the Gastrea’s body, which should completely seal it off. If they activated a timed fuse in those conditions, it was possible to create a terrifying detonation. In other words, Miori was planning to use the Gastrea’s body as a vessel to increase the bomb’s explosive power. Miori pointed at a slit in the middle of the tea canister–shaped bomb. Upon closer inspection, Rentaro noticed that the slit part was notched with red gradations. “If you twist the EP bomb itself to this notch, it will explode three minutes later. It will be more sensitive at that point, so after you twist the can, make sure you do not let it undergo any strong shocks.” Rentaro was dumbfounded at the audacity of the plan. However, it was true that it might be possible to kill Aldebaran with this. But his doubts had not all been cleared up yet. “Miori, how do you plan on getting a wind hole into Aldebaran? We don’t have a weapon left that can do that.” The five-hundred-pound bomb dropped from the fighter aircraft could deliver a blow like a giant war hammer with the addition of gravitational acceleration, and the first blow to injure Aldebaran that Gado delivered was a satisfying one from the state-of-the-art powered-exoskeleton suit he wore. However, in order to throw the EP bomb deep into Aldebaran’s body, they would need a combination of ballistic and penetrating power greater than those. Rentaro explained without pausing that even a tank gun or bunker buster might not be strong enough. “We do have a weapon strong enough. Just one. Something with greater ballistic and penetrating power than a tank gun. One that, if it’s not damaged, is a weapon we can trust. Our greatest and last weapon.” “Where?” As he braced himself for the answer, he noticed that all the eyes in the tent were looking at him—or more precisely, at Rentaro’s arm and leg. Consecutive days of fighting had left the artificial skin peeling off, and he hadn’t had time to do repairs. His uniform was torn and frayed. The cloak was also a hand-me-down from Gado, so its hem was worn out, and it was tattered, but it made it look almost strangely vintage. And, in the past, the defense ministry had asked for each individual soldier’s equipment in the New Humanity Creation Plan to have enough power to defeat a Level Four Gastrea with certainty. Rentaro pointed at himself. “M-me?” Miori nodded with a grin. “That’s right. Our last weapon is none other than you, my dear Satomi.” Rentaro stared at his right arm. It was true that if they were to say who among them had attack power that could rip through Kagetane’s transcendent barrier, Imaginary Gimmick, it would no doubt be himself. However, even though Aldebaran was not a Stage Five, it was much bigger than other Stage Fours, and if they were to rank it, it would be somewhere between a Stage Four and Stage Five. Could he really annihilate it with his own power? Rentaro shook his head. He had to do it; there was no other way. “Okay. I’ll do it.” Miori put the palm of her hand next to his ear and patted him twice. “Okay, attention please. I want to confirm with everyone. Aldebaran is a practically immortal Gastrea, but it controls other Gastrea with its pheromones, so as long as we defeat it, we’ll win. “In order to win this battle, we have to fulfill the following conditions: One, find Aldebaran as quickly as possible from the midst of the enemy troops. I have a plan for this. Two, cut across the enemy camp with the rest of the adjuvant protecting Satomi, bringing him to Aldebaran. And three, to have dear Satomi fight Aldebaran and injure it, twist the detonation can of the EP bomb, throw it into Aldebaran, and escape. “If Aldebaran finds you, it’s game over. If dear Satomi is defeated, it’s game over. If the bomb Satomi throws in is not deep enough and does not completely destroy Aldebaran, it’s game over.” “That’s tough.” Rentaro let out his frank thoughts. “But there is no other way.” “What are our chances of success?” “God only knows.” “Isn’t that hopeless?” Miori grinned and slapped the table hard, looking around at everyone. “This plan will be called Rapier Thrust.” Rapier Thrust. Just like the name implied, it was a plan to rush through with a sudden attack that thrust at the enemy camp like a rapier, to cut up the enemy without thinking about defense. Miori grinned as she took a cell phone from her bosom and pushed the redial button. “There is one more lady who couldn’t come here but wanted to support you, Satomi, so I’ll introduce her now.” Catching the cell phone thrown at him, he put it to his ear. From the polite way Miori described her, Rentaro had some clue as to who the person on the other end could be. “Satomi, it’s me.” He heard a dignified voice that made him straighten up unconsciously. “I thought it’d be you, Lady Seitenshi.” “Yes, I also wanted to be there, but I want to continue the work of guiding the evacuees to the very end, so it was impossible for me to go. That’s why I thought I could at least send my voice, and called.” Rentaro was startled. “You aren’t in a shelter?” “I will only go into a shelter when I have confirmed the safety of the last of Tokyo Area’s citizens.” Rentaro was shocked. He could easily imagine the Seitenshi refusing the pleas of her aides and continuing to stay on the scene, and it brought to mind the troubles of her aides. “Commander Satomi, I will not say much, but good luck. I think it is fate that you became the commander of our forces.” She was exaggerating, but somehow, he did not feel like teasing her about it. “Yeah, okay. Thanks.” He hung up and threw the phone back, and Miori caught it. Then, she looked at everyone and continued. “Now, we will abandon this place and go farther back to ready our camp. There, we will ambush Aldebaran.” Kisara interrupted hurriedly. “Farther back than this? Is there a good place to set up camp back there…?” Rentaro and Miori looked at each other and nodded. Miori spread a map on the table and pointed to their current position, then brought her finger directly behind it. Kisara made a startled sound. Rentaro nodded slowly. “The location of the final battle will be the Flame of Return.” 6 “All right! All right!” Rentaro watched from a distance as Shiba Heavy Machinery workers gave directions with hand signals that carried over the sound and shock wave of the transport aircraft propellers. The searchlight that was fastened to the bottom of the current transport vehicle was slowly lowered to the ground; apparently waiting for it to land safely, four other workers immediately bolted down the four corners to fix it to the floor. Standing next to him, Miori was watching them work with delight as she fanned herself. A strong wind blew by, and Rentaro held down his hair to perceive the sight below him. He was on the roof of one of the seven intelligence buildings that surrounded the memorial monument, the Flame of Return, in Tokyo Area District 40. The last time he had come here, he remembered it being a scenic tourist spot, with bright sunlight filtering in through the trees even in the forest, and old ruined buildings that were nesting grounds for wild birds. Now, however, the weather was bad and there was no sight or sound of the birds. It was as if even they had abandoned Tokyo Area based on some wild instinct. Rentaro looked up at the sky. The clouds were an ominous lead color today, too, and they flowed by quickly. The thought that they were facing a time of great social upheaval floated through his head, and Rentaro hurriedly ejected the thought from his mind. “It looks like the work will be finished before the sun goes down. That’s good,” Miori said in a bright voice as they watched the work happening in front of them. Rentaro watched her for a while. “Sorry, Miori.” “Hmm?” Miori’s big eyes looked up at Rentaro. “You’ve offered us help with so much equipment. Even though I’m sure the self-defense force has taken a bunch of stuff because it’s a state of emergency.” “Oh my, Satomi dear, are you worried about me?” “It’s not that I’m worried…” Miori crossed her arms and stretched toward the sky. “Well, giving you so much equipment for free would be a big loss even for our company.” Rentaro looked apologetically at her and scratched the back of his head. “About how much does it all cost?” “Oh, it’s impossible for you. With your salary, you won’t be able to pay it back for the rest of your life,” said Miori, waving her hand in front of her face, putting her hand slowly on the searchlight. “But well, after this, we’re just waiting for the battery to arrive.” “Battery? There’s no battery in that searchlight?” “No, there is the danger of the battery corroding if it is transported by air, so it’s being brought by land right now. The self-defense force seemed to have some extra hands, so I had them do it.” “I see…” Rentaro was uneasy for some reason, but as he quickly returned to work giving orders, his doubts disappeared before he noticed. Rentaro gathered the remaining civil officers and explained the plan, then had them take position. Even if it was a monument remembering the result of the Second Kanto Battle, that didn’t mean that all the civil officers looked happy about it. They just had to force their way through with a brave face. Miori passed out small radios to everyone, and there was an equipment inspection. Rentaro got an extra magazine of bullets and a supply of special large-caliber ammunition cartridges for his artificial limbs. He also grabbed a number of other things that looked to be necessities this time around. It took until nightfall before the work to fortify the Flame of Return was completed. Rentaro took his cell phone out of his pocket and checked the time. They had less than three hours left. This would be the last battle, no matter what the result. That thought made his heart race whether he liked it or not. No matter how hard he tried to calm down, the wave of nervousness did not lessen, but in fact grew stronger. He lifted his face from his cell phone. A fire had been built in front of him, and the five pairs of people in Rentaro’s adjuvant plus Miori and Sumire gathered around, surrounding it. They were able to continue within the margin of error left by the loss of Midori. Around them stood the thick night. It was as if they were the only ones left in the world. “We have to get into position soon, but let’s defeat Aldebaran and survive to reunite. So, please get me to Aldebaran. In exchange, I will definitely be victorious.” Everyone gave a nod. As if repeating the performance from that day before they started fighting, he raised his right arm with his XD gun high above his head. The others raised a weapon or arm as well. Kagetane and Kohina even followed, grudgingly. But then, Rentaro noticed that there was one person who was still looking down. “What…what’s the matter, Enju?” Enju’s shoulders shook in surprise for a moment, and then she shrank even farther down. She didn’t speak. Unable to comprehend her feelings, Rentaro grew nervous watching her. “Enju?” She still didn’t reply. Suddenly, Enju seemed unable to bear something any longer and turned on her heel and ran away. For a moment, Rentaro was unsure. However, he realized that this was the sign of something unusual and pulled himself together. Rentaro shot a look at his companions and followed after Enju. The temperature today was again unbelievably cold, and there was white in his exhaled breaths. He failed to glimpse Enju’s back. Rentaro thought frantically. From her pained expression, he thought that perhaps the cause was this place. As a teacher, Rentaro had once brought the children from the Outer Districts to the Flame of Return on a field trip. It was a place filled with excessively happy memories. But those girls were no longer in the world. Since the girls had been killed by the angry populace, those happy memories were all flowing back to torture her with guilt. Sumire had already given her stamp of approval, saying Enju was fine, but Rentaro had continued to consider the possibility that this would happen. What if Sumire was wrong? What if, behind Enju’s smiling broadly to brighten Rentaro’s day, she was bearing a whirlpool of tears and screaming at the edge of despair? Without realizing it, Rentaro hastened his step. Before long, he found Enju; she was about fifty meters from the fire, hugging herself and shoulders shaking, her back to Rentaro. “Rentaro, what should I do? I don’t want to fight.” Her voice sounded weak, like she was at a loss. However, Rentaro had expected this, so he was able to keep from getting flustered. It was easy to tell that she had troubles jumbled up inside her just by those short sentences. If they saved Tokyo Area, they would save a lot of innocent citizens, but those persecuting Enju and the other Cursed Children and those who murdered Enju’s classmates would also benefit. A torrent of feelings wanting to carry out justice smashed into the smoldering feelings of hatred and resentment inside her, and she hardly knew what her own feelings were anymore. “I don’t know anymore. I don’t know, Rentaro. Why does the Stolen Generation do terrible things to us, the Cursed Children?” When she continued, she was almost screaming. “All we want is to have a place in the world!” Rentaro closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Be careful, he told himself. This was a situation that was no less critical than the Aldebaran War itself. “Enju, do you hate people?” She didn’t answer. “Do you detest the Stolen Generation?” Enju continued to look down resolutely. Rentaro tilted his head and looked up at the black sky for a while, then brought his gaze back to the girl. “Enju, I believe that being a civil security officer is the one job where you can die for the sake of another person’s ‘Thank you’ or ‘You saved me.’” Enju retorted, almost biting at him. “I heard what everyone was saying in town! I heard them saying that the civil officer system was just a good way of taking out the trash by having Gastrea and children with the virus kill each other!” Rentaro was shocked. Enju, you… “Have you always thought this way? Even when you ran around to defeat Gastrea with me? Have you always felt like you were being made to take out the trash?” Enju didn’t respond. “Who do you want to believe?” Enju lifted her head with a start and stared at Rentaro. “Enju, do you want to believe me, or the people who said it’s taking out the trash?” Enju looked like she was at a loss. Tears gathered at the edge of her eyes, and she wiped them with her sleeve. However, no matter how much she wiped, her eyes continued to overflow with tears. “Rentaro.” That was all she said. And then, words started gushing out like a dam had burst. “Rentaro…Rentaro. Rentaro. Rentaro Rentaro Rentaro Rentaro!” “Idiot.” He ran up to Enju, kneeled, and gave her a hug. He could hear her shaking and sobbing on his chest, and a wet stain spread on his uniform. The poor thing’s body was chilled to the bone. “Enju, if you believe in me, you know what you should do, right? If we don’t save Tokyo Area right now, you won’t have time to draw a conclusion before it’s the end for us all. There’s no need for you to draw a conclusion right now. But in order to give you enough time to come to the conclusion that this world is really worth saving, the world must continue on.” Enju nodded to herself in his chest, over and over. Rentaro could hear sniffles, and allowed her to cry as he rubbed her back. There were a ton of things he wanted to do, but the time for the start of their plan was drawing nearer and nearer, minute by minute. Finally, he sought a good time to ask her, “Do you think you can do it?” When he did, Enju made her eyes red like a rabbit’s, sniffed, and gave a big nod. “All right,” Rentaro said, and, putting his hand on Enju’s head, patted her and stood. “Now, shall we go back? I’m sure everyone’s worried.” Enju rubbed her eyes and forced herself to smile, then looked up at Rentaro while forcing down a sob. “R-Rentaro, you’re so mature.” “Huh?” “Even though you’re only six years older than me, y-you’re so mature.” Rentaro shook his head slowly. “It’s only because I want to be mature in front of you that I act that way. It’s not a matter of age. Do you know why I fight?” After thinking for a while, Enju shook her head. “The reason why I still want to live in this rotten world of ours is—It’s because you’re here, Enju.” “Oh, they’re back!” Kisara saw Rentaro and waved at him. Next to her, Tina couldn’t bear it any longer and ran out to him. But she stopped short. “Wh-what is this?” The “this” Tina pointed a finger at was a grinning Enju with her arms and legs wrapped around Rentaro’s side. Rentaro scratched his head hard. “I don’t know. I can’t get it off.” She was heavy and made it hard to walk to boot, so he wanted her to let go as soon as possible, but she wouldn’t listen to anything he said. When he returned to the bonfire with difficulty, Enju released him and landed with a thud, her face wreathed in smiles as she raised her hands in surrender. “I’m sorry I made you all worry. I am fine now.” “L…looks like it,” Tamaki said, clearly confused by Enju’s sudden change in attitude. As Rentaro watched, Enju grinned and beckoned him with a hand. In the Satomi household, this was a signal to bring your face closer because the beckoner had something to tell you. Wondering what it was, Rentaro bent his knees so his eyes were on the same level as hers. Suddenly, something soft was pushed against his lips, and Rentaro’s eyes opened wide. His vision was filled with the sight of Enju’s closed eyes. Her cheeks were flushed. Rentaro moved away from her in a hurry, and Enju opened her eyes shyly. Rentaro exclaimed, “Hey, idiot! What are you doing, all of a sudden?! In the first place, why do you always have to suddenly—” Enju looked triumphantly in Kisara’s direction and smiled. “Rentaro and I both love each other, like I thought. Rentaro said he wanted to continue living because of me. He said breast size didn’t matter!” “Wait a minute, Satomi!” Kisara shouted. “What are you doing? You moron! Pervert!” Enju, carried away, jeered at Kisara, who had jumped up suddenly. “Kisara’s vexed!” “I’m not vexed! Hmph!” Hmph? “Enju, you already have the advantage of living with him. You should be more discerning about your relationship with Big Brother!” Tina admonished. Enju just put her hands on her hips and retorted happily, “I don’t wanna be more discerning.” “Satomi, dear, let’s kiss-kiss, too.” Now even Miori was interfering, and the situation was getting out of control. Asaka looked at him with contempt in her eyes. “Having relations with four women at the same time…? What a brute.” He thought that things were getting too complicated, but he also noticed that the place had grown brighter with Enju returned to her normal self. Rentaro gazed up at the night sky behind him. With this, all of our preparations are ready, Aldebaran. All that was left was to wait for the searchlight batteries to arrive… 7 The vehicle shook as it popped up stones, and the objects in the luggage compartment covered with a waterproof sheet sounded like they were lolling about. “Damn it, why do we have to do something like this?” Staring at his partner cursing in the passenger seat with his legs stretched out in front of him, Daigo Jogasaki gripped the steering wheel hard. “Well? Daigo, why do we hafta do something like this? Huh?” Daigo thought his partner was pretty drunk. He’d been grumbling about the same thing over and over like this for a while now. Well, it was understandable. Daigo responded: “I don’t want to do it, either. I mean, transporting batteries is…” “Not that! What I’m trying to say is, why are we heading toward the civil officer troop that Rentaro Satomi of all people is leading?” Rentaro Satomi—when Daigo heard that name, his heart could not remain calm, either. “We’re elites! Respect us! Damn it!” Daigo’s partner, Tatsumi Ashina, held a cup of shochu in his hand as he yelled and kicked the dashboard with his feet. The latch broke and maps slid out of the opening and fell to their feet. “Damn it,” he swore again, moping. He ground his teeth in regret, and started to sob. The self-defense force camouflage uniform he wasn’t used to wearing did not suit him at all. Again, Daigo could not help but look back at his own decline. Just as Tatsumi had said, they had been elites. He had been incredulous when they received the invitation from the talented Takuto Yasuwaki, who was a year his senior at the National Defense Academy and had graduated at the top of his class. He and Tatsumi had talked it over for a whole day, a serious conversation about what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives. And in the end, it had been a great decision to follow him. Somehow, Yasuwaki was selected at a young age to become the commander of the Seitenshi’s personal guard, and thanks to his influence, Daigo and Tatsumi had been able to work at the palace as his subordinates. The guys at the Seitenshi’s palace were all terrible cowards who were easy to domineer over. Their duties were easy and their pay was good. When they had free time, they would change into plainclothes and go to the Outer Districts where they would shoot at Cursed Children. In order to keep them from running away, they restrained them with many layers of strong wire and then took turns picking them off from afar. It was really fun to shoot at a living doll that could scream, and it wasn’t like the girls paid taxes or were in the family registers; the men almost felt proud—like they were playing a role in beautifying the area. When he went shooting with Yasuwaki, the man had often talked about his dreams. The Seitenshi still did not have a successor, and her advisors had often told her that she should get married. Yasuwaki wanted to become the idealistic princesses’ knight in shining armor, receive a post in the national government, and pull the strings of Tokyo Area from behind the scenes. Yasuwaki had said, “Of course, I’ll also bring you guys with me.” Daigo had believed in him. He had believed in his own shining future and had not suspected anything. However, a trap had opened its jaws in an unexpected place. The Seitenshi Sniper Incident—apparently that was what the public called it. The skinny civil officer with the black uniform whom the Seitenshi had hired independently had changed everything. Daigo’s hands gripped the steering wheel, creaking in anger. “I wonder what Commander Yasuwaki is doing right now…” Tatsumi was brooding next to him, but even though he was drunk, his ears were sharp enough to catch Daigo’s words. “Don’t call that idiot Commander! Rumor has it that he’s in some mental hospital right now. He must’ve been real scared of that kid—I heard his hair turned all white.” “Get out of my sight, and never come near Tina again. If you refuse, I will shoot you to death here and now for refusing to obey orders from a superior officer.” Just remembering that voice sent chills down his spine. Of course, Yasuwaki’s subordinates, Daigo and Tatsumi, were with him at the site of his downfall, but they were so overawed that they couldn’t move a muscle. It wasn’t that Daigo didn’t sympathize with Yasuwaki, but because of what Yasuwaki had dragged them into, Daigo and Tatsumi also had to take some of the blame for the incident. The careers that they had built up turned into nothing, and they were made to join the boring transport squad. They would probably be doing this job for the rest of their lives. Forever, in this job with no opportunity for advancement. But right now, it seemed like it would be faster to be killed by Aldebaran. “Stop.” Daigo hit the brake reflexively and pitched forward. “Wh-what’s the matter?” Tatsumi ignored Daigo’s question and got out of the car. They had reached the bank of a small lake. Thinking something was suspicious, Daigo followed him and went around to the back of the transport vehicle. There, Tatsumi opened the door to the back without permission and took out a battery that filled his arms. “Hey, what are you doing—” said Daigo. “This is what I’m doing—!” So saying, Tatsumi threw the battery into the lake. It rolled down the slope slowly before it finally dropped under the water with a loud plop. Daigo almost screamed as he grabbed Tatsumi’s shoulder. “What are you doing, you idiot?! We’ll be severely reprimanded if anyone finds out.” Tatsumi’s bleary eyes reflected an intellectual light that did not seem dead drunk. “No one will find out, Daigo. Think about it carefully.” “What?” Tatsumi dug in his pocket and pulled out two plane tickets. “These are for the last flight to Osaka Area. They rose up to a ridiculous price, so I had to use your money, too, and now we’re penniless, but with this, we can survive. Where there’s life, there’s hope. Either way, this is the end for Tokyo Area.” Ignoring orders and deserting. It was true that they would be severely punished if they were caught—but of course, that was only if Tokyo Area continued to exist. Tatsumi’s hands grabbed Daigo’s shoulders tightly. His eyes shone, and his mouth was twisted into an evil smile. “Not only have we used up all our money, but we’re also clearly criminals. Now that we’ve done all this, it’s terribly unfortunate, but we’ll just have to have Tokyo Area fall, or we’ll be in trouble. Right?” We’ll just have to have Tokyo Area fall, or we’ll be in trouble… That was true. But even so, it pricked the small conscience that Daigo had left. Was there really a need to do all this? It was one thing to have nothing to do with the civil officer troop as they fought the Gastrea, but to purposefully do something that would be advantageous to the Gastrea… Just then, he noticed that Tatsumi’s two jet-black eyes were peering at him, and he got chills up his spine. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna let me do all this and then pretend that you’re a good boy by yourself when it’s over,” Tatsumi said. “O-of course not. That’s not funny. It’s not enough to kill Rentaro Satomi normally,” said Daigo. “Then, you know what you have to do, right? Those guys destroyed us. Now, it’s their turn to atone for their sins.” Daigo could not refuse. After that, they threw all the batteries into the lake, and Tatsumi upturned a can of gasoline that he “accidentally brought” and emptied it of its contents. When he threw in a lighter, tongues of flame reached out from the lake. Tatsumi started to dance with the flames and shout with joy. “Whoooooo! Take that! Now it’s over for them!” Watching his partner laughing maniacally out of the corner of his eye, Daigo wiped the sweat that had beaded on the palm of his hand on his pants. It was as if Tatsumi had been possessed by Commander Yasuwaki, but Daigo desperately forced himself to avoid speaking the thought aloud.