Even with her back turned to Rain, she kept her consciousness fixed on Air and only gained a few feet of distance. And that was all her Qualia needed to remain active. How…?! She’d moved through the small grotto faster than Air could draw a gun and pinned her down with a military saber. Its tip was sharp, so even the slightest movement meant Air’s death. “I’m sorry about this, Air.” Deadrim spoke coolly despite the tension. “But you understand, don’t you? We’re stranded in enemy territory with no hope for reinforcements, and we can’t even see where we’re going in this weather… We’re almost guaranteed to die here. You know what the most important thing to consider in this position is, don’t you?” “…Information.” “Yes. And that includes information on enemy movement. Answer that call. I’ll be listening in. Of course, if you expose that we’re here or say anything suspicious, I’ll do what I have to.” She pressed the blade harder against Air’s neck after she finished speaking. …… Air didn’t have a choice. “Kreis.” “That voice…” “Yeah, it’s me,” Air answered Kreis’s transmission, hiding the fact that she had a blade against her throat. “Air!” “Rain’s asleep, so I’m taking the call for him. What happened? Why are you contacting us personally?” “Can you afford to ask me ‘what happened’?!” Deadrim stood right next to her, but Air needed information all the same. “Well, I can tell you that with the exception of the one unit that fell down the cliff, we have all the other prototypes.” The information Kreis provided could dictate their future actions. All of the cargo had been delivered safely except for the Turret-Model Exelia they had with them, leaving that as the only unit they needed to recover. “There is one problem, though.” “…The weather, right?” “Yes. I’m sure you know how bad it is out there better than us.” “I sure do. Can’t see anything but white snow,” Air replied, the blade still fixed on her throat. And yet…her tone didn’t betray any tension or fear. “Still, we’re not too worried. We don’t expect anyone to come to our rescue, so we’ll try to escape on our own.” “All right. But…” Kreis trailed off, and a few moments of silence followed. “Air, I need to confirm a few things with you.” Confirm what, exactly? “What do you need to know?” “Did the enemy soldiers who attacked the train fall down the cliff with you?” Air looked up at Deadrim, who listened in from beside her. She shook her head, telling her how to answer. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen their bodies, at the very least.” “I see…” “Rain and I are on our own at this point.” “Are either of you hurt?” “…Rain’s injured. It’s a pretty deep wound, too. You should send medical equipment with the search party.” “I see. So Rain’s injured… All right. I’ll tell them to be prepared.” Kreis’s response seemed positive, but something felt off. “Listen, Air, I shouldn’t have to tell you what to do in case things go south. If you can’t escape the mountain and have to pick between your survival and Rain’s, I want you to kill him.” “Kh—” “I really do mean it as a last resort. Obviously, we want you both back alive. However, if that isn’t possible, I want you to survive at the very least. If you hesitate, you’ll end up making the wrong choice.” “You think I would make mistakes? That’s rather presump—” “Air.” Kreis cut her off. “Rain has a strong will. If his sacrifice would swing the war in our favor, he’d do it. Sometimes, the way to honor a person is to let their life be meaningful—even if that means taking it. You have to erase who you must, no matter who it is.” A single thought crossed Air’s mind at those words. I could erase…Rain? Air’s definition of erasing someone was more literal than most people’s. If I use the Devil’s Bullet… What would happen if she shot Rain with one? The logic behind it seemed simple enough. This entire situation likely wouldn’t have happened if not for Rain. Perhaps they would have defended the second-generation Exelias properly. Of course, Kreis didn’t know about the Devil’s Bullet, so she couldn’t have meant it that way. She wanted Air to kill Rain in the normal, ordinary sense. However, her words sounded different in Air’s ears. The act of erasing someone had a double meaning. Erasing their life…and their existence altogether. Doing that to Rain might have led to a better future. “Well, in the end, the choice of how to handle Rain falls to you… The only thing I can do is give you advice and try to guide you toward the best option. No matter what you decide, I’ll accept it.” The choice was Air’s to make. Would she let Rain live or prioritize the mission and erase him? Kreis had provided her opinion, but only Air had the right to decide. “That’s all the information I have for you right now. If anything new pops up, I’ll contact you again.” “……” “I’m counting on you, Air. No matter what you choose.” Kreis shut off the transmission at last, and silence settled over the grotto. The next moment, Deadrim nodded, and the tension drained from the air. “Ngh…” “This situation is bad for you, too, right?” Deadrim asked. Then she let out the breath she’d been holding and pulled the sword away from Air. Her deadly intensity abated, and she returned to her position and squatted down near Isuna. “You…” “Don’t look at me like that,” Deadrim said curtly. “You do understand why I don’t like you contacting your people in secret, right?” “Sure, but that doesn’t change the fact that you broke your promise to cooperate.” It was a problem of trust. True, they were from rival countries, and their cooperation was only temporary. They both knew they would eventually become enemies again. However, that didn’t mean one of them could break their promise so easily while they still traveled together. Deadrim had antagonized Air when they needed that bare minimum of trust to cooperate. Deadrim… She clearly understood what losing the other party’s trust in that situation meant. And yet, she’d prioritized getting more information out of Air. She knew how dangerous it was for only one side to receive information, so she’d immediately judged that breaking their trust was the lesser of two evils. She hadn’t made a reckless decision. Quite the contrary, in fact. She chose the perfect moment to discard trust in order to ensure her survival. Frankly, her depth of experience and resourcefulness didn’t fit a young recruit. …Just who is she? Deadrim’s behavior was honestly bizarre. As she considered the choices of the girl in black thus far, Air felt a shiver run down her spine. “Don’t worry,” Deadrim said, meeting Air’s suspicious gaze with cold eyes. “I won’t ask you to forgive me or act like that didn’t happen and expect you to treat me like before. I broke the rules, so I don’t deserve any forgiveness. In fact, I should be punished for what I did, so I’ll relinquish all our firearms to you.” Deadrim took off her pistol holster and tossed it over to Air. She then did the same with Isuna’s two rifles. The weapons rolled down the grotto’s floor. She had just handed over their weapons—possibly the worst thing she could have done in that situation. “We don’t carry any other guns. You can break them, throw them away, or use them yourself. They’re yours to do with as you please.” “……” “Let me say this, for what it’s worth. I’m sorry, Air. But we’re desperate.” Deadrim ended the conversation there, leaving everything else up to Air’s judgment. Under most circumstances, relinquishing all her firearms meant unconditional surrender. And for mages, who employed Bullet Magic as their primary weapon, losing their guns was equivalent to losing limbs. In any other situation, Air would have shot Deadrim and Isuna dead, but she hesitated. Taking a life was never justified, no matter what. War provided no exception to the rule; it was still an evil act. But when choosing to spare another’s life meant sacrificing your own, things changed. Air knew perfectly well that second thoughts would only result in her death. …… And yet, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t shoot them. Not out of sympathy but fear. Yes, the enemy had handed over their firearms, which gave Air the advantage in battle. But put another way… I can’t risk it…! …Deadrim had essentially said she didn’t mind losing her firearms. She has a way to fight without them… Deadrim had a rather simple personality. At first glance, everything she did seemed rash, but she always thought her actions through. Would someone truly rash have handed over her weapons? Would she have sincerely apologized for what she did? Anyone burdened by those emotions wouldn’t be on this battlefield. I see… It’s that saber of hers… She clearly had absolute, unflinching confidence in her blade. She knew it was more than enough to dispatch her enemies. “…I’ll let it go, just this once.” “Thank you.” “But I’m warning you, there won’t be a next time.” That brief exchange was all they said on the matter. A moment later, Air grabbed the firearms Deadrim had handed over and threw them out of the grotto. One hour later… The snow isn’t letting up. Air looked outside. The snowfall was still intense enough to white everything out, so the four of them stayed put. We’re not going to freeze, but this is still bad. Normally, they would have frozen at such cold temperatures, but the Exelia’s engine kept the small grotto warm. In fact, they even felt sweaty given how cramped it was. They had enough rations to keep themselves fed for five days, and being able to melt ice and snow meant they had no lack of clean water to drink, either. And so, only one thing truly concerned Air. “Rain.” “…Huh?” “I melted some snow. You thirsty?” “…A bit.” Air poured some water into her mess kit’s lid and handed it over to Rain, who rested on the grotto’s floor. After taking three sips, Rain returned the lid and slumped back down. Then he stiffened up and gasped heavily. Rain… His injury had visibly worsened compared to a few hours prior. He’d remained conscious, but his ability to move and act on his own had rapidly deteriorated. And the cause seemed rather obvious. Air had temporarily stopped the bleeding, but that wasn’t a real solution. Rain’s life dimmed with every passing moment. Thus, with that thought in mind, Air sneaked a glance at Rain’s face to check in on him. What do I do now…? Apparently, he’d fallen asleep. His forehead was dripping with sweat, probably due to the intense pain, and his breaths were ragged. …… Rain appeared unconscious and helpless, so shooting him would be child’s play. All she had to do was open her gun’s chamber, put in a bullet, aim at his head, and pull the trigger. That was all it would take. Air’s hand clasped her chest, where the transceiver and several silver bullets rested. If I just…use this… If she used the Devil’s Bullet on Rain, she would escape danger. Air gripped her devilish power, the silver bullet, over her clothes. But at that exact moment… “Yikes, that doesn’t look good.” “Ah…!” …Deadrim spoke, prompting Air to jolt up in surprise. “Oh, you saw it, too, Air?” “Wh-what, saw what?!” “…Why are you panicking?” Deadrim asked as Air acted more awkward than she’d anticipated. “I mean outside. There’s a light outside.” She pointed at the grotto’s entrance. Outside…? Air quickly realized what Deadrim meant once she calmed down. An Exelia blocked the grotto’s entrance, which prevented them from seeing what happened outside. However, there was a small gap that they could focus on. Initially, Air saw nothing but white, a field of endless snow. But after a few seconds of observation, she spotted something else. Lights flickered every now and then amid the blank snowscape from several hundred feet away. They couldn’t have come from a natural source, meaning they had to be man-made. Air swiftly counted them and realized there were roughly twenty. They weren’t heading toward the grotto, but considering the situation, only one thing made sense. “An army unit of some kind…,” Deadrim concluded. “What kind…? Who sent them?” Air asked. “There’s no way to know,” Deadrim replied. “Could be western forces looking for me or some of your people. But based on their numbers, they’re armed forces. A platoon.” That made sense. They were likely soldiers sent to find the second-generation Exelia. However, their sudden appearance troubled Air. They got here too fast… Soldiers from the East or the West couldn’t have reached them so quickly. Kreis had informed her that it would take the East over a day, which was why Air had decided to escape the mountain. And that applied to Deadrim, as well. “A pity, though,” Deadrim said. “The Harborant military couldn’t have made it here already.” “Yeah, you’re right.” “Any chance of it being reinforcements from your side?” “Doubt it,” Air answered honestly. Air’s intuition told her there was no point providing false information. Deadrim isn’t the real threat right now… “So it isn’t O’ltmenia, either.” In other words, they had no idea who sent this strike force. “Well, the only way to find out is to go and check for ourselves. They were probably sent to look for us, so there’s a good chance they’ll find this place if we don’t.” With that said, Deadrim rose to her feet and nudged her head in Air’s direction, urging her to join. The two would go out and check, knowing full well that if the force outside belonged to either of their allies, they would become enemies. Neither of them said it aloud, but their motivation was the same. If that time came, they needed to make sure no harm befell their wounded partners.
Chapter 26
12 min read