Having caught a transport flight from the nearest base to the sanatorium, Lena stopped at the capital for a connecting flight back to Rüstkammer. Upon arriving there, she was met with an unexpected reception.
“Er…?”
“Colonel Vladilena Milizé, I’ve been expecting you.”
He was roughly her age, meaning he was a special officer. A black-haired, black-eyed Onyx boy with a gaze that was both frank and somehow didn’t allow for anyone to read his intentions. He had a second lieutenant rank insignia, and despite him waiting for her, she didn’t recall ever meeting him… Actually, no.
She suddenly recognized him. It was the adjutant of Commodore Willem Ehrenfried, the western front’s chief of staff; he was always standing behind the commodore like a shadow.
“I ask that you follow me and don’t resist.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Dustin got to his feet in shock. The news was playing on a large TV screen in the Rüstkammer base’s first dining hall. Three of the terrorist bombers were identified: Hina Shinaga, Saya Hiyo, and Yukiri Hakuro. All three were Eighty-Six who’d disappeared from their homes, and the police were searching for their peers who’d gone missing at the same time as key suspects. If any of them were spotted, they were not to be approached but immediately reported to the authorities.
The mug shots of several girls were shown, and one of them—a girl with flaxen hair and bright violet eyes. Fair, ephemeral, with kind facial features.
He could never forget her. Even a decade later and with her having aged, Dustin wouldn’t mistake her for anyone else. She was his classmate…his childhood friend. A girl he assumed died after she was rounded up and taken to the Eighty-Sixth Sector along with most of his town in the space of one night.
“…Citri…?”
The newscaster expressionlessly read out her name. Citri Oki.
✦ ✦ ✦
Lena did not make it back on the day she was supposed to return—instead, notice of her arrest came in. The message itself didn’t mention an arrest, but she was taken into custody against her will and locked up, making it essentially an arrest. This was obviously inappropriate treatment, given that she didn’t know anything.
“…What is this? Why do this?”
As Shin drew on her in outrage, Grethe, who sat across the table from him, didn’t fault him for his demeanor.
“A security issue came up. That said, Colonel Milizé isn’t responsible for any of it… Captain, have you seen the news about the serial-bombing attacks?”
Shin knit his brow dubiously. Checking the news during breakfast was part of his daily routine, so he was broadly aware of it… In fact, on the way here, he’d heard the news reported on the suspects when he passed by the lounge.
He didn’t realize, however, that Grethe avoided calling them terrorist attacks, though.
“Do you know why they’re doing it?”
“Not why, but how… You can ask her for the details and talk to me later.”
Grethe gestured with her eyes at someone he hadn’t noticed sitting in the lounge suite. Amari. She got to her feet nervously. She’d been injured since the Mirage Spire operation and sent to recuperate in the capital. Come to think of it, she was set to return to base soon, but he hadn’t gotten word about her being discharged yet.
Her usual stern expression looked unusually flustered and weak this time, though.
“I’m sorry, Captain. I was going to report it; I didn’t think it would turn out like this…”
“Amari, that’s fine. Explain what happened. And…”
Someone else was set to come back from the capital at the same time as her, so if she’d returned, he should have returned before she did.
“…where’s Yuuto?”
✦ ✦ ✦
As she entered a room in the military HQ, Annette, who’d been sitting anxiously on the edge of a sofa, got to her feet.
“Lena!”
“Annette. You too…?!”
Lena caught her in a hug as she hurried over, and the two of them clung together for a moment. Seeing her friend’s argent eyes soften slightly with relief allowed Lena to meet her with a reassuring smile, but then she turned around to the other person who walked into the room. Her attitude instantly went from relieved to authoritative.
“I demand an explanation, Second Lieutenant. What is the meaning of this?”
“It’s a security measure,” replied the young officer in a calm voice, despite having basically arrested Lena and taken her to this small annexed building in the military headquarters in Sankt Jeder.
He placed her trunk and TP’s carrier, which he’d taken out of her hands, next to the sofas and then continued. This was a lodging facility for high-ranking officials, with an attached suite bearing appropriately fancy furnishings.
“I believe this is my first time meeting you, Major Penrose. Allow me to introduce myself. Second Lieutenant Jonas Degen, affiliated with the western front’s general staff headquarters. I serve as aide-de-camp to the chief of staff, Commodore Willem Ehrenfried.”
He repeated the full name and affiliation he’d told Lena. But now, faced with two sets of silver eyes on him, he looked back at them and gave her his actual position, which he hadn’t disclosed to Lena earlier.
“But at present, I operate as the Degen family’s sole child, who works under the family led by Marquis Ehrenfried. In other words, my master, Willem Ehrenfried, is taking you into custody for your protection, and I am here to keep appearances in the eyes of the rest of the army.”
Lena frowned. That certainly wasn’t the right way of wording it.
“…Under his protection?”
“Yes. Protection.” Jonas unapologetically nodded.
His features were sincere and youthful to the point of making him appear nearly baby-faced, but his cold expression masked his thoughts and emotions.
“I apologize this had to happen so suddenly. However, this is all quite related to the two of you. The one who got the report neglected to tell their superior officer, and so we’ve fallen very much behind…”
“These aren’t terrorist attacks. But it might be some kind of new self-propelled mine.”
The commentator in the government-sponsored broadcast wore a severe expression, standing for how dangerous the situation had become. And what he said was equally severe.
“All the missing Eighty-Six were parts of the ten thousand Eighty-Six child soldiers we rescued a year ago. It’s not unthinkable that a new type of self-propelled mine, one that’s indistinguishable from a human, may have been among those ten thousand.”