Senia, and ■■■ (2)
I have to go.
How many had managed to survive? Even if she could not know the exact number, this transmission had undoubtedly come from the Sirens. No matter what it took, she had to reach them.
"...Ah."
The Scheat Great Subjugation Campaign had ended in a catastrophic defeat for humanity. At the same time, it had served as the moment all word of the Sirens was severed completely.
"...nia."
The kindly aunt who had looked after her like her own daughter. The uncle-like man who, whenever her spirits sank, would playfully tell her to call him an older brother to make her smile. And Nella, who had clung to her side, calling her sister as if they shared the same blood.
Every name that followed on that endless mental roll call belonged to someone no longer of this world.
She had to save whoever was left. If she didn't, then everything she had done up until now would...
"Senia!"
"Ah... Did you call me?"
"I called your name five times. What on earth are you spacing out on in the middle of a strategy briefing?"
"...Sorry. I must be exhausted."
Too much time had slipped by while she was lost in thoughts of the Sirens. Because of her lapse, Senia had to ask for the plan once more to hammer it into her memory.
"Hah, fine. I'll continue. We won't be fighting in Revrant any longer. The plan is to abandon it entirely and relocate."
"...Then does that mean a reclamation offensive? Are we heading for Mirpark?"
"No. We're moving the current capital from Revrant to Alpheratz. To make that happen, we'll first establish a new encampment in the Loss Region."
At those words, Aris shoved her chair back and sprang to her feet.
"Stop talking nonsense! What could possibly be left in Sirach? Revrant still has the Academy's facilities!"
Immediately after, Erika voiced her fierce disapproval of relocating the capital as well.
"I agree with Aris. There's not a single merit to Sirach. If we were preparing to reclaim Mirpark, we could at least target its harbor, but this is just a meaningless shift of the capital."
"Everyone... Just listen to what Junon has to say..."
"Michel. Cool your head for a second. Do you honestly think a commander like him—a commander who abandoned his comrades and fled—is capable of making sound decisions?"
"Who knows? Maybe he scouted out a cozy hideout in Sirach so he can tuck his tail between his legs and survive on his own."
"Erika, that's crossing the line! This was an assignment Goden entrusted to him, and the professors put their faith in Junon too. If we, his own comrades, can't even trust him, what are we supposed to do?!"
The conference room devolved into a turbulent squabble of conflicting opinions. Though Michel tried to mediate, Charlotte was resting and absent from the table, while Cain was so crippled by the grief of losing Lumia that rational thought was beyond him. Aris and Erika—that was precisely why the two of them were doing everything in their power to shoot down Junon's proposal.
Yet through it all, Senia kept her gaze fixed squarely on the operational map.
"Why? It sounds fine to me."
"Senia..."
"You can't be serious...!"
"Ha, honestly... Why are you taking his side too?"
To Senia, this decision offered the ideal conditions for fulfilling her own objective.
Though two had objected, three votes had fallen in favor once Charlotte's proxy was factored in. Having secured a majority, the relocation of the forward base was officially ratified.
"What about the chain of command?!"
"Still no word, sir..."
"Dammit, does he expect us to just hold the Hasirt 3 Formation forever?! How much longer are we supposed to trust the orders of some wet-behind-the-ears brat!"
On the day the evacuation route was finalized, the survivors of the Principality banded together to escort the noncombatants out first, gradually pulling back the front lines. The anxiety mounted because a single crucial combatant had yet to arrive.
"What about Lady Senia?! When on earth is she getting here?!"
"Well... We haven't heard from her side either..."
"I'm losing my mind. Does he expect us to die in her place?"
"We aren't the crazy ones; our commander has lost his mind. Honestly, isn't that the truth?"
"...You might be right. Forcing through an absurd operation like this makes no sense."
A veteran who had survived countless battlefields grumbled under his breath, but Senia remained hidden away in the shadows, uttering not a word. She had no room to breathe. Her eyes darted restlessly as she focused entirely on carving out an opportunity to slip away.
Holding a high-profile role in Team Tembris, where every eye was glued to her, made it impossible to slip out quietly. She could not afford to remain tethered here simply because she was considered a core asset and key vanguard.
Found it.
After sweeping the terrain repeatedly with her Mana Eye, she finally located the keystone that would allow her to break free from this battlefield.
"Goddammit... Of all things, why is that thing heading our way...?!"
If an entity wielding exceptional strength among the common Normal ranks was designated an Elite, an aberrant creature that unleashed entirely anomalous powers compared to its peers was classified as an Un-normal. Such anomalous forces always injected chaos into battle lines that relied on consistent pressure, throwing the entire front into disarray. For human soldiers, who tailored their tactics around predictable monster patterns, the arrival of such an unpredictable variable was an unmitigated disaster.
"C-Crazy bastard! It usually just breathes fire, so why is it acting like it's about to blow itself up...?!"
Senia had spotted the Un-normal approaching from far away, but she had deliberately kept silent. Rather than spewing fire, the beast charged forward with flames wrapping its entire frame, tearing through their defensive ranks. In the middle of that turmoil, Senia drew her sword and lunged into the fray alone.
"Th-That's Lady Senia! Isn't it?!"
"Lady Senia! What are you doing?!"
"Fall back! Don't push yourself!"
"..."
The shouts of her allies no longer reached her ears. Both her Mana Eye and her instincts had already calculated the imminent shockwave. Even so, she refused to pull back. Baiting this exact moment had been her scheme from the very beginning.
The thunderous pounding of paws shook the earth as Werewolves swarmed in behind it. Anxious glares drilled into the back of Senia's head, but unfazed, she uttered a single cold order as if she had been waiting for this precise cue.
"All of you, fall back."
"What? Fall back? But Lady Senia, now that you're here—"
"You can't handle all of them, so fall back and link up with Aris's unit. This line ends with me."
"What in the world... Lady Senia!!"
The moment she struck the burning core of the Flame Harp she was dueling, a tremendous explosion ripped through the air, instantly blanketing the surrounding area in thick smoke.
"Cough, cough! What just happened...?!"
A violent blast of ash and dust kicked up as a wave of fire washed over the Flame Harp and the surrounding Werewolves. When the smoke cleared, all that remained in her place was Senia's smoldering cloak. To any onlooker, the scene could only be interpreted as Senia sacrificing herself to buy time against the beasts.
"Lady Senia..."
The soldiers' morale shattered. The fact that a core member of Team Tembris—the woman renowned across the front as the Sword Princess—had vanished was enough to drain the fighting spirit right out of their bodies. Even if she had bought them a fleeting respite, leaving behind nothing but a burned cloak struck a devastating blow.
And then, another man hurled himself forward into the breach.
"Pull yourselves together! Didn't I order you to maintain the Hasirt 3 Formation?!"
"You...!"
"It is not 'you.' I am the supreme commander of this army, officially appointed by Professor Muniher."
The man who was scorned for having lost his strength, reviled for executing an absurd military operation—it was Junon.
"Their numbers are vast. I will hold the vanguard with my shield, so do not break ranks. Carry out the orders exactly as previously issued."
"...Understood."
"Squad leader!"
"Do as he says. It's an order from the Supreme Commander."
The squad leader wanted to scream at him for his cold detachment, demanding to know what he thought of his own comrade when he didn't utter a single word about Senia's disappearance. But he couldn't. Rather than losing the rest of his squad, cooperating with a man who threw himself into the line of fire with nothing more than a shield—despite having lost his magic—took precedence.
"..."
And Senia witnessed the entire scene with her own eyes. Though her own goal took priority, the lingering worry that the people who followed her might come to harm had stayed her feet for a heartbeat.
In that fleeting instant, as she hesitated out of concern for the retreating soldiers, her eyes locked onto Junon, who was peering straight through the dense forest, pinpointing her exact hiding spot.
Her heart leaped into her throat, and instinct screamed at her to run, but there was no need.
Co... me... back... sa... fe... ly...?
In that brief sliver of time, he had silently mouthed those words to her. No pursuit. No interrogation. No reprimand. None of that. He turned a blind eye to her deception and desertion, granting his silent blessing to an errand she had never even voiced.
"...I'm sorry."
A bitter ache tore through her chest. Unlike Junon, who understood everything without a word, she had never explained a single thing to him. And now, Junon would have to shoulder all the blame and condemnation for her disappearance all over again.
"What on earth is this...?"
Before her stood a horse. It was utterly unnatural, given that a life-and-death battle against demonic beasts was raging barely ten seconds' sprint behind her. This unnatural sight bore the unmistakable fingerprints of human intervention; no sane person would abandon such a precious animal in a war zone.
"Could it be...?"
Yet if she entertained a single hypothesis, the picture shifted entirely. What if this horse waiting before her had been prepared by someone who anticipated her every move? It seemed too absurd to believe, yet incontrovertible proof lay right before her eyes. A folded note and a scroll slipped into the horse's saddle caught her eye immediately.
If you enter Sirach directly, you'll stand out too much. I don't know where you're heading, but if you cut through Revrant's Mizar Hall, the beasts won't spot you easily, so take that route.
"Hyah!"
Clutching the note and the map tucked alongside it, Senia made a silent vow. This time, without fail, she would return in one piece and lift the heavy burden from Junon's shoulders.