He was right to assume the worst and start working early. Thanks to that, despite Citri and the other girls handling the hatchet and other such equipment awkwardly, they were able to set up shelter before sundown.
“Wow, it’s like a house…!”
“I can’t believe we made this from branches and trees.”
It was only good to stay under for one night, and with branches covered in leaves, it hardly made for a hut, but Kiki and Karine looked upon it with excited eyes.
Shiohi and Citri somehow managed to start a campfire and took out food cans, while Ashiha and Imeno went out to gather twigs but were clearly playing together. They tore off the bark from naked trees and squealed upon discovering the hibernating ladybugs underneath, and they jolted whenever a field mouse or something rustled in the underbrush.
“Hey, enough playing around. Dinner is ready.” Citri pouted at them.
It was only heated canned food and fried hard, heavy bread, but since she was able to keep the fire stoked all on her own, this counted as a perfectly valid “dinner” in her eyes.
The other four returned and sat around the campfire they’d dug into the ground. Karine volunteered to make them after-meal tea, brewing it from pine needles. Relaxing, Yuuto opened the map to confirm their course the following day.
“Right now, we’re in Vesa. To the northwest is the Runiva combat territory and the southwest borders with Niva Nova. Both have positions for the western front’s army set up there. Like I said at noon, Vesa is an area where the western front’s support units are deployed. There’s no civilians around anymore, but we’ll have to be wary of soldiers from here on out.”
They wouldn’t be killed if they were caught, but they would definitely be arrested and taken into custody. And since Yuuto was a deserter on the run, he would absolutely get into major trouble.
The girls huddled around the map, which had their planned route lined out with a colored marker.
“We can slip through the Federacy’s position and the Legion patrol line by heading into the virgin forest in the northern part of Niva Nova. This path is going to take us the most number of days to traverse. After that, we’ll go south through Legion territory into Noidafune, and then west to Niantemis.”
He based his assumption that their journey would require less caution once they crossed the Legion patrol line on the events of two years ago. Back then, when Shin and his group passed through the territories. That, and the Sirins’ multiple incursions into Legion territory also proved that small groups of human-size creatures were able to both infiltrate and operate behind Legion lines. With the Republic destroyed, the Legion had their forces focused on the western front and didn’t leave troops just loitering around in their territories.
In this vast wilderness that spanned four hundred kilometers from north to south, a small group of humans, with their low heat signatures and diminutive size, would be difficult to spot with so many sloping hills, nameless forests, and patches of tall grass to hide in.
“Is there anything we should watch out for, too?” Imeno asked, tilting her head.
“There’s a few things. Since we’re moving closer to the Federacy’s positions, you’ll have to stay quiet, especially during the night. That’s true in the Legion’s territories, too. Noise travels far, especially after dark. If you have to light a fire on your own, make sure you dig a hole like I just did and light the fire in there.”
This was something Yuuto and only a few Eighty-Six heard about, but there was an old Vargus anecdote about a night sentry who needlessly lit a cigarette, and its light resulted in him being sniped. Recalling this, Yuuto jokingly added, “So if you’re going to make a fuss looking around for bugs or small critters, you should get it out of your system while you still have a chance.”
Imeno and the others all responded with “yes.” Citri puffed out her cheeks grumpily and smacked him on the back, but the slap had all the strength of a tiny bird and failed to even jolt his shoulders.
✦ ✦ ✦
Having to make sure the two Republic officers were protected meant that Jonas was away from his master’s side, but he did keep in touch with him. He asked about the ongoing investigation into the Actaeon while wondering how much he should tell Lena and Annette. At the same time, he was worried about the slight tinge of exhaustion in Willem’s voice, which only he would pick up on, owing to his long service.
“—Also, we found the body of one of the fugitive girls. It was a suicide. While not as useful as a living specimen, her body was sent to the technical-research institute’s anti-biological weapon department to be dissected under the pretense of an autopsy. They’re working on it now.”
“…”
Jonas had to wonder if it really was suicide. Even if it was winter and the police and the forces garrisoned around the capital were actively searching for them, it was hard to believe that one would discover the corpse of someone suspected of committing suicide while it was fresh enough to be investigated.
Willem seemed to sense Jonas’s suspicion and laughed sardonically. He spoke in a rebuking manner, a tone Jonas had heard when he was still a child early in his service but had rarely heard in recent years.
“It’s suicide, Jonas. We’re not in a situation where we can have our troops cross that line…and it’s uncouth to doubt the courage and resolve of a girl who chose to willingly end her own life before she became a living bomb.”
Since the virus used cell activity to synthesize nitroglycerin, the nonfunctioning cells of a corpse were useless for that purpose. But even if she knew that, choosing death would still be a terrifying, difficult choice to make for a girl who wasn’t trained to be a soldier or to serve as a master’s shield.
Jonas closed his eyes in shame. Coolheadedness and cruelty were two different things, much like how carefully scrutinizing information was different from suspicion that interpreted everything in the worst possible way.
“My apologies… So we’ll be disclosing accurate information to the press sooner than expected?”
“Honestly, I’d prefer not to reveal this at all if possible, but sadly, we can’t do that.”
“Misinformation and irresponsible rumors only caused unease and panic, especially among the masses. This was all the truer now, with public unrest being high across all society due to the worsening state of the war. This meant that delivering accurate news was the best solution to avoid that, but…delivering the information was difficult to do. False information about new self-propelled mines or biological weapons was too eerily similar to the rumors. Perhaps we should have forbidden them from airing that program.”
“That much is inconsequential. Anyone could possibly come up with that. The real problem is that, of all things, the Republic is responsible for this.”
Jonas blinked at that surprising response. Unusually enough, his master let out a quiet but deep sigh on the other side of the Resonance.
“This would give the masses a clear evil to pin all the blame on…and in our current situation, that could lead to troublesome things.”