Reckless people, proud of their recklessness, might be considered outstanding but never heroic. A hero is someone familiar with fear. It’s someone who knows fear but presses on anyway. In that way, they win people’s hearts.
“I sort of understand how you feel.” For the first time, Sven felt a strange sympathy for Blitzdonner. “Because I’m scared, too.”
Sven had never told Lud what she was. Was that because she didn’t want to confuse him? Or was it because she didn’t want to involve him in any trouble stemming from her escape as a top military secret?
There were many reasons. And none of them were false. But there was another reason for her fear. What if Lud rejected her when he found out what she was?
“So you haven’t told Langart yet?”
“No.”
From her slight movement, Blitzdonner understood how she felt. She didn’t know if he understood because he was a skilled pilot like Lud or because he was a deft womanizer.
“I envy you and your family.”
“Huh?”
“The same blood runs through your veins.”
Shylock, Blitzdonner and Jacob... They were fathers and sons. They misunderstood each other, but that was because they cared about each other.
“I don’t even have blood. Every part of me is artificial. It’s all fake.”
This time, it was Sven who smiled self-deprecatingly. No, it was a sad smile. She believed her love for Lud was real. But she couldn’t dispel her doubts. Her arms, legs, bones, muscles, organs and every single hair on her head were all artificial. Could her feelings of love actually be real?
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
Blitzdonner’s voice held annoyance as Sven’s head sagged in sadness.
“Why are you saying such dumb things?”
“Because they’re true.” Sven looked in Blitzdonner’s face as she spoke. His expression didn’t suggest he was trying to cheer her up. The face and voice of the man in red expressed something closer to anger.
“Do you mean to say that everything man-made is fake?”
“But...” Sven was throwing up an emotional wall as if to say, “You’re human, so you wouldn’t understand!” But...
“Look.”
Sven stopped talking when Blitzdonner removed the gloves he always wore.
“That’s...”
“And it’s not just my hands. Both my arms are like this.”
He showed her his mechanical arms. They weren’t like artificial limbs. They were more than replacement body parts. They were made with the same technology used for the arms and legs of Sven and the other humanoid Hunter Units.
“Half of my body... 54 percent, to be precise... is mechanical.”
There were mechanical soldiers. Sven had fought against some from the Greyten Empire. Blitzdonner’s body was like a more precise and sophisticated mechanical soldier that Wiltia made using technology from the development of the humanoid Hunter Units.
“What happened to you?”
Officially, all nations—including Wiltia—were forbidden from using mechanical soldiers in the military. That was a matter of course. It would be crazy to use a human being as a weapon. But there was another reason.
Mechanical limbs made with Hunter Unit technology offered hope to people who had lost body parts to accidents, sickness or congenital problems. However, if such technology were openly used in weaponry, it would become the target of regulations. For that reason, mechanical soldiers were a transparent secret in the military.
“I guess I’ve been through a lot.” Blitzdonner’s reply was vague.
Since it was an open secret, the government could disguise it if—in the worst case—something happened to the mechanical soldiers. In fact, the Greytenite government insisted to this day it had no involvement in the Defairedead airship incident, in which mechanical soldiers were deployed. Greyten acted as if the special ops mechanical soldiers who swore loyalty to the nation had never existed.
“So... does this body mean my feelings toward Jacob are half fake?”
“No, not at all!”
“Why not? According to your reasoning, the feelings of an artificial object are fake, and half my body is artificial.”
“But you’re...”
“What’s the difference, huh?”
Sven took a step back from Blitzdonner’s ferocity, which allowed no argument. Was that because he was the Crimson Hawk, the top ace pilot in the Principality of Wiltia? No. It was because he was a father who cared about his son.
“Because only my arms, legs and organs are mechanical? Because I have my own brain? Because I was born human? Rubbish! There’s no difference between us at all.” Blitzdonner stood up and stepped closer to Sven, who had just taken a step back.
“There are people we care about, and our heads are filled with those people. Their laughter makes us happy and their tears make us sad, and we would do anything to stop their suffering. When you have such feelings, fake and real don’t apply!”
Blitzdonner took another step closer. “Tell me, Miss Intelligent Pilot Assistive A.I. What clear standard separates fake from real when it comes to love?”
Sven couldn’t step back any farther. The intense will of the man in front of her washed over her and stopped her from moving.
“It’s...” Sven tried hard to find an answer. But she couldn’t come up with anything. It was impossible to draw such a distinction.
“Do you get it now, Svelgen Avei? Fake and real have nothing to do with love.” Blitzdonner’s face had worn a severe expression, but now it loosened. “All you can do is believe. In yourself and in the person you care about the most. That’s what changes rock into diamond.” After these words, Blitzdonner tapped Sven over her sternum.
“Didn’t a great man long ago say you have to believe or you won’t be saved?” Blitzdonner broke into a carefree smile.
Oh...
Seeing him smile, Sven noticed it again. Blitzdonner’s smile resembled Jacob’s. And it wasn’t because their features were alike. They resembled each other in the way they both communicated a mysterious friendliness when they smiled.
I’m so jealous...
For some reason, Sven envied that smile.
“Um, wasn’t it something like, if you ask, it shall be given to you?”
“Aw, don’t fret over details. It doesn’t really matter, so take your pick.” Blitzdonner laughed away Sven’s question.
I see. So this is...
Sven had developed a heart after meeting her master Lud. At the same time, Blitzdonner’s Hunter Unit had also gained a heart through encountering him. Blitzdonner’s personality was rough and unrestrained, while Lud was reticent and sensitive. They were hardly alike at all. But they were similar in some way.
“Anyway...” Sven suddenly spoke again. “If you’ve got such a bold philosophy, why are you so clumsy in dealing with Jacob, Major?”
“Remember this, mechanical doll... Humans are blind to their own shortcomings, so they talk big.” His former solemnity had disappeared. The man in red covered his head and crouched down right there.
Then...
Tockerbrot was half-demolished, with collapsed walls, so voices inside were clearly audible outside the shop. Jacob, who had snuck in through the back door, heard the whole conversation between Sven and Blitzdonner.
“........................” The boy pressed against the wall in silence. “Why...?” Jacob didn’t know who he was mumbling to.
Jacob didn’t feel hate or anger toward Blitzdonner. He was angry about Blitzdonner leaving him and his mother alone. But there was another reason behind his rejection of his father, who had suddenly appeared.
Yes, he did feel those feelings of anger. But he had another feeling in equal measure. Fear. He was indescribably afraid of getting closer to his father. He was afraid of what would happen if his father rejected and denied him. And he would never have experienced those feelings if he had believed from the start that he had no father.
✦ ✦ ✦
