Chapter 18

10. WHO SHOT KIRLILITH? It had been three days since the battle at the Claw Mine. Orca had finally been discharged from the military hospital, but he heard a strange sound on his way out. “Aaaaaaaaah!” “What the hell?!” He jolted in shock. And upon fearfully peeking into the room the sound had come from, he saw someone being pinned down by the nurses. “St-stop! I-it hurts! I’m fine! I can change them on my own!” “Hush, you!” “Last time we let you handle it on your own, you forgot!” “No, like I keep telling you, I’m— Aaaaaah!” The cry had come from his classmate Rain, who was kicking and screaming as the staff tried to change his gauze and bandages. He seemed to be throwing a tantrum as two nurses held his legs down and forcibly removed his trousers to disinfect his wound. Man, he may be some big hotshot out on the battlefield, but this is pathetic… Orca was disappointed by his behavior. Rain may have moved like a demon during battle, but he was acting like any old bratty child at the moment. Once they’d finished changing Rain’s gauze, Orca entered the room and said, “The scariest part about burns is having the gauze changed, am I right?” “O-oh, Orca… Man, if you were watching, you could’ve stepped in and stopped them.” “Let the poor nurses treat you in peace, blockhead.” As he spoke, Orca gave Rain a once-over, and what he saw stunned him. The bases of Rain’s thighs were covered in burns, and since he’d only just had his gauze changed, his butt was half-exposed. He couldn’t rest on his back, so his only choice was to remain flat on his stomach, leaving his buttocks exposed to the cold air. It was quite a...silly sight, to be sure. “Well, if you’re not here to visit, then what are you here for?” “Oh, they’re discharging me, so I figured I’d come report my findings.” “Your findings…? Oh, right, the thing I asked you to look into.” “Yeah.” Orca paused for a moment there, and noting that Rain’s expression had changed a bit, he added, “I looked into it like you asked, but I couldn’t find anything on a person named Kirlilith.” They remained there in silence for a while after he said that. “Are you sure?” “Yeah, there were some field officers among the prisoners we rounded up, and none of them knew anyone who went by that name. I mentioned she’s a woman with almost unnaturally beautiful red hair, but none of them even knew any female officers, apparently.” “I see.” “Well, in a war as large as this one, ranks change often enough. So…” Orca paused before asking the question on his mind. “Who is this Kirlilith anyway?” “Just someone I met once. I thought I saw her the other day, so I got curious.” “Well, my investigation was pretty sloppy, so I’ll check again. It’s hard to find information about an enemy country’s troops.” With that, Orca left the room, trying not to look at the palm-sized burn Rain had suffered during the last battle. …So there’s nothing, huh? Rain looked at his own burned, exposed backside. Kirlilith… His wounds weren’t particularly severe, so he’d been shuffled off to a small hospital that had enough spare beds. Besides, he hadn’t exactly been injured in combat… “I can’t believe you sat on an Exelia’s engine and burned your butt!” “Zip it.” Rain snapped at a girl who was seated on the other side of the room. He stared at her intently as her distinct silver hair shifted around her shoulders. “But, uh, Air…this position’s kind of embarrassing. Could you look away for a bit?” “…Yes, I’ll admit I’m not too fond of staring at a person’s backside.” The girl looked away and held up her rifle. “…Just hurry up.” There was a small blush on her face. Apparently, she didn’t mind showing off her body, but seeing someone else’s was too much for her to handle. Three days had passed since the battle at the Claw Mine. The greatest mine explosion in recent memory had occurred back there, but that fact had been wiped out of the pages of history by the Reprogramming. “So the Devil’s Bullet was involved, then.” “Of course.” The military hospital covered a lot of territory so they could be used for practical training, which left ample space to walk around. And so the artificial mage Rain and the Ghost girl Air walked side by side. “Back then, I used the Devil’s Bullet on myself.” Air recalled that moment vividly. “I’m certain I did. But right before I got hit, someone else used the Devil’s Bullet to stop the battle at the Claw Mine from ever happening.” It had happened at almost exactly the same moment Air shot herself. The world had distorted and warped, and when Rain came to, he’d been back at Alestra Academy. At first, he’d thought that was a result of Air’s disappearance. Her actions had stirred up a complex storm of emotions within him, and he’d grieved for her. But that same day, Air had appeared out of nowhere with an apologetic expression on her face. “That was pretty damn awkward.” “Don’t mention that, I’m begging you.” Air hated talking about that memory, so Rain chose to move past it. After reuniting, the two of them had set out for maneuver training and found themselves in another battle, which had ended with just a few injured soldiers. Rain had burned his behind on an Exelia’s engine, but that was nothing compared to his injuries from the mine’s explosion. Whatever the case, a Reprogramming definitely had happened, but Air hadn’t died, and her existence hadn’t been erased. They’d pondered over how that was possible for quite a while, but only one conclusion came to mind. “Someone else used the Devil’s Bullet. That’s the only logical explanation.” “Is that even possible?” “Yes. After all, pretty much anyone can shoot the bullet as long as they have it. That’s how you used it the first time, remember?” “Yeah, now that you mention it.” “So the question is, who shot whom?” The girl who’d planned to die back at the mine had begun taking control of her own future a bit more. She’d always floated from one moment to the next, but she’d even been working diligently to figure out what had happened on that day. “I think we can safely assume Kirlilith got erased.” “Based on Orca’s findings, that sounds plausible, but…” There were no traces of Kirlilith’s existence, but Rain still didn’t like that hypothesis. After all, he’d seen Kirlilith disappear into the flames with his own two eyes. “Maybe she played dead?” “With those injuries?” “I wouldn’t put it past her. I know I’m not one to talk, but Ghosts are obsessed with staying alive. She probably just made a huge spectacle to hide her escape.” That idea was somewhat disappointing, since she’d gone out in a rather noble blaze of glory. “Whatever the case, we know Kirlilith survived the initial explosion. And even as the flames closed in on us, she was still alive until that very last moment.” “And then someone used the Devil’s Bullet to kill her?” Rain asked. “Right,” Air replied. “Think about it. The battle at the mine has been erased, which means the person who got shot was the mastermind behind the whole operation, right? And when we looked into her after the shift, we failed to find a shred of information on Kirlilith. It’s evident that she was erased back there.” But in that case, one question still remained unanswered. “So then who did it?” “No idea.” That was a complete mystery. “Someone other than us got their hands on the Devil’s Bullet and shot Kirlilith.” “You say that, but where’d they get it? Only you can make that bullet, and only I can create copies.” “Right, which leaves only one option.” In Air’s mind, it was obvious what had happened. “Someone must’ve swiped a bullet from you, Rain.” “…Whoa.” Seriously?! “Or maybe you dropped it somewhere. Either way, someone got the Devil’s Bullet off you. I swear, you need to keep an eye on your own belongings.” At her reprimand, Rain found himself at a loss for words and hung his head in disappointment. “Also, this battle confirmed it. Someone is intentionally having us Ghosts fight. In fact…perhaps they’ve staged this entire war between the East and the West.” That was an oddly ambiguous turn of phrase for Air. “At first, this whole war started as a battle over alloy. But the more intense the war became, the more alloy the countries ended up using. It’s all pointless. Everything mined goes into military production, so they’re essentially just fighting for the privilege of fighting more, and this cycle’s lasted over a hundred years. It makes no sense.” Meaning there was someone orchestrating events behind the scenes. And as long as that person remained in power, the war would never truly come to an end. ...... That person, whoever they may be, was their real target. And Rain shivered ever so slightly as he thought of them. “…But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Air said dismissively. “Listen to me, Rain…” The Ghost girl had recently tried to end her own life, but she’d survived by some twist of fate—her existence was an unstable one indeed. “The war between the East and the West isn’t even close to its end.” On her back, she carried two comically large rifles. No one would’ve ever believed that such a tiny girl had granted him the power to change the world. “Can you still fight?” Their gazes met. “We have many reasons for fighting, and there’s a lot that stands in our way, but when we overcome all those obstacles, our dreams will come true.” As Air spoke, she threw a lone silver bullet his way. It reflected myriad rays from the sun behind her, and yet, its silver gleam remained unblemished. “Of course. My feelings haven’t changed one bit since the moment I first took hold of your Devil’s Bullet.” “I see.” His answer had been firm and unyielding, which caught the girl off guard. I swear… He really is… She felt some bewilderment rise up within her as she thought of all he’d done for her. However, the conversation did not end there. “Listen, Air, if we’re gonna do this, I want you to promise me one thing.” “Oh?” “Never pull another one of those suicide stunts again.” “That’s…” “A gunner looks for much more than just mutual trust when choosing an Exelia partner. They have to have resilience. They have to avoid death and cling to life, even if it means getting on their hands and knees and eating mud and filth. Gunners put their lives in the hands of their manipulators because of that. And that means from now on, you can’t ever give up on life again.” That was Rain’s one and only request. “As long as you promise me that, I’ll even be your slave.” “…But a slave isn’t what I want.” Air cocked her head to one side. “A partner will do just fine, I suppose.” And then the Ghost Air looked his way and smiled. “Ah…” The expression on her face was something Rain had never seen before. It wasn’t a scoffing smirk or a wry smile. It was a pure, lovely…honestly adorable smile. He could tell she felt bashful…and just a bit happy.