3. ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO The incessant downpour grew stronger. The silver girl had fled long and desperately, but she’d eventually been captured when her stamina expired. I curse you all! She thrashed and struggled, but the cold barrel of a gun poked against her back. I curse you all! May you all rot and fester— Her heart had been consumed by grudges and malice. That black, despicable, all-too-stagnant emotion was… “No— Wait, stop, noooooo!” She screamed. But unfortunately, the executioner showed no mercy. He pulled the trigger and pierced her heart, splashing fresh blood across the virgin snow. The time was 2:36 PM. The battle over the East’s Ental Mountain Range had ended earlier in a resounding victory for the defending side. The enemy had announced they were forfeiting at 2:00 AM and bitterly handed over control of the entire region. The casualties came out to five Exelias for the East and thirty from the West, so it wasn’t at all surprising that the West had retreated. Losing an entire company’s worth of units was a massive blow. And additionally, one of the West’s officers had been captured. Hmm, who was that again? Oh, right. Commodore Wood. High-ranking officers didn’t often take direct command of the battlefield, but Commodore Wood was known as a strict, seasoned veteran who’d never lost a battle. In fact, he’d caused so much trouble for the East over the years that he’d earned the moniker “Speedy Devil.” But that venerated soldier had been reduced to the state of a common criminal, chained hand and foot. Someone had likely already punched him, as his face was red and swollen. From an outsider’s perspective, he was just a powerless old man. Even an experienced man of valor could be reduced to this. “Man, even the Speedy Devil looks like any old fart without his fancy getup.” “Show him a little respect,” Rain said as he cast a sidelong glance at Orca. “Commodore Wood’s a well-known soldier, even if he is our enemy. We shouldn’t make light of him.” “I know, but…” The East’s cadets had returned to base unharmed. And Orca, who seemed to be in perfect shape, seemed particularly lax. “I hear you, but you’ve gotta admit that he made a pretty big mistake today.” “A mistake, huh?” “I mean, look at how bad we crushed them. How else would you describe it?” “Yeah, good point…” “Well, thanks to that, we got away with basically zero losses, so I ain’t complaining! Ha-ha-ha!” The cadets had been dispatched in five units, made up of ten members in total. None of them were exhausted, though, because their victory had been overwhelming. The battle had ended in an exceedingly favorable position for the East… An almost too favorable position, in fact. “…Sorry, Orca, I’m going to step outside.” “Something wrong? We’re gonna celebrate while we wait for further orders. Don’t ditch us already.” “I wouldn’t celebrate now if I were you.” “Still, you sure you’re fine? You said you were feeling kinda sick the other day, too.” “…I’m fine. Just need a little rest,” Rain said as he left his classmates behind, heading for the tent in the rear of the base. It was a designated sleeping area, so there was no one around. It’s done… I got away with it again. Rain lowered his beloved TK rifle, which wasn’t formally used by the military. Then he lifted the slide, and the firing chamber opened with a loud click. A puff of gunpowder hissed into the air as ten or so shells rolled out of the rifle… “……” And each one had the name of a human being etched onto it. He’d gunned down ten people, using a silver bullet on each. “I see you’re making good use of it.” A mysterious voice suddenly praised him, and Rain wheeled around with a start. He’d made sure he was alone, but… “You…” “Been a while, hasn’t it?” The silver girl had appeared out of thin air. “I see you’ve been working hard.” “…I wouldn’t exactly say that.” “Oh, come now. It’s important to at least maintain the facade with pleasantries.” Air approached him, mouthing a Now then before Rain could even react. And as soon as she got within arm’s reach of him, she snatched the pouch dangling from his belt. “Wait, give it back!” “No.” Rain reached out to grab it, but he wasn’t fast enough. “I gave you a trial period, so it’s only fair I grade you now, right?” Air poured the contents of the pouch onto the ground. She knew there were a lot in there based on its weight, but when she saw the sheer number of objects spilling out… “Ha…ha-ha-ha!” There were well over two hundred shells…and they were all silver. “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” There was only one type of ammo that used those specific silver casings: the Devil’s Bullet. Scattered over the floor were the remains of those bullets, which served as the only tangible proof of the hundreds of human beings who’d been wiped from existence. “I must say, I’m impressed. I didn’t think you’d have a field day with them! Ha-ha-ha-ha! I’ve never met such a trigger-happy fool before!” Air laughed loudly upon catching sight of Rain’s possessions. Hundreds of shells were spread out on the ground. “Let’s count, then… Oh, two hundred four. Well, aren’t you an eager beaver? It’s only been ten days, yet you’ve accomplished so much.” Air smirked at him. Rain hated her flippancy about this, but he could not deny them. “Could you stop laughing already?” “I suppose I should. I’ve laughed enough for all the people you’ve killed already.” Ten days. That was how long it’d been since he’d found those first five bullets. And as long as he had those shells in hand, he could freely produce more. “Why did you come now?” “Oh, there’s no deep reason behind it. I decided it was best to gather more information about this world, so I buckled down to work in the grand library. And then I saw this article in the newspaper this morning.” Air tossed a newspaper at Rain. It had the following headline: The eastern nation, O’ltmenia, is taking charge. Four eastern territories reclaimed. “This is the first time I’ve seen one fool change the country so much…change the very course of history.” “You don’t have to call me a fool.” “Oh, but you certainly are one. Don’t you think you went too far?” Only the two of them knew what had happened, but things had definitely changed. In just ten days, every aspect of the conflict between the East and the West had shifted. Ever since the war began four years ago, the East had been on the back foot. But starting ten days ago, it had experienced a sudden change of fortune. “I knew you were doing quite a bit, but still.” The East’s position continued to improve. It had won local battles in quick succession, reclaimed four territories, and repeatedly broken through the West’s once unbreakable defensive line, wiping away the cloud of defeat. How could the situation have changed so drastically when no new technology or strategies had been introduced? Many scholars and generals sought the answer to that question, but they were left with only theories. None of them knew the truth. None of them even had a chance of discovering the truth. No one would’ve guessed that a single boy, with bullets laced with mysterious magic, was responsible. “You erased fifty people over the past three days, right?” Air asked as she arranged the silver shells of the Devil’s Bullets in a meaningless formation. “You really let loose. More than I thought you would, to be honest. It breaks most people—either that or they go mad from the power and start abusing it, only to die.” Air cast her gaze at Rain, a boy who looked no different from any other cadet. A boy whose only real talent was his ability to make use of ricocheting bullets. “…What?” “I was just thinking how interesting your eyes have become.” Rain Lantz’s gaze was now akin to that of a ferocious beast—but he’d likely always been like that at heart. Those weren’t the eyes of a man drunk on power, but the calm, collected eyes of one who’d mulled over things rationally and chosen to erase the lives of hundreds of officers to seize control of the battlefield. And in so doing, he’d permanently altered the world in a way that was extremely hard to detect. No one noticed the truth. No one noticed the Reprogramming. Anyone shot by the Devil’s Bullet had every trace of their existence removed from the annals of history. The moment they died, the world shifted to one where they’d never even existed. And so no one could judge him for it.
Chapter 5
8 min read