Chapter 25
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 25
None of this should be happening. I knew that better than anyone.
That was exactly why I was angrier at myself than at anyone else. The contradiction felt like it was tearing me apart from the inside. I wished there could be two of me.
One who was a loyal soldier of the Empire, and one who wanted to help Ilay.
Both of those halves were fully, completely me. Yet they had come into conflict, and choosing one meant abandoning the other.
Clutching my throbbing head, I made my decision. No matter what, I had to go after Ilay. That was the conclusion I reached.
If I go, I can save Ilay without letting him become a traitor.
My plan was simple. The moment I laid eyes on Lillian Ramones, I would kill her. I didn't care if Ilay was watching.
Even if Ilay hates me for it, at least I'll have saved his life.
And once time passed and his emotions cooled, Ilay would understand. He wouldn't carry a lifelong grudge just because I killed Lillian. At least, that was what I chose to believe.
"...Kodrak, hold the prisoners here until the other platoons arrive. Once everyone's regrouped, the decisions after that are yours."
Kodrak nodded at my command, but he had a few words to add.
"You are an outstanding soldier, Platoon Leader. I'll never forget today's battle as long as I live. You accomplished extraordinary feats as though they were nothing. It went beyond admiration—I was utterly astounded."
I couldn't bring myself to smile. There was a thorn buried in that praise. And I thought I knew what it was.
"If you've got something to say, then say it."
"But as a commander, you are flawed."
I closed my eyes, then opened them halfway.
"If I weren't the platoon leader, the casualties would have been far higher. We've earned more than enough merit. So what, exactly, are you so dissatisfied with?"
Kodrak sighed.
"Because you have never once actually commanded us, Platoon Leader. You broke through everything on the strength of your own individual power alone. Someday—"
I rose to my feet, cutting Kodrak off with a chuckle.
"The reason I did things my own way is because the rest of you lacked the strength. None of you could keep up with me. You wouldn't understand my commands or my combat style, let alone follow them. If a wolf fights alongside newborn pups, how is that any different from fighting alone? To watch useless bastards whine about not being utilized... it's genuinely absurd."
Kodrak's pupils clouded over, slow and dark. The light in his eyes dimmed, stained with anger and humiliation.
"A day will come when even you, Platoon Leader, will need the help of those weaker than yourself. You cannot always be the strongest."
"Then come laugh in my face when that day arrives, Kodrak. Say it—'See? Wasn't I right?'"
"I will remember that, Platoon Leader Luka. Now, I'll go carry out your orders."
Kodrak turned to leave. I glanced in the direction Ilay had disappeared, then called out to stop him.
"Kodrak. Still—I'll keep my first deputy's advice in mind. If I ever come to believe my methods were wrong... I'll remember what you said today and try to think differently."
Kodrak flinched, his eyes going wide. One corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk.
"I've just realized, for the first time, that arrogance and flexibility can coexist. I wish you fortune in battle, then."
I gave a short nod and walked away.
* * *
I have to admit one thing.
It sounds cheesy, but Ilay is my friend. Our relationship is more than just being classmates. He's the first peer I've ever connected with, deeply, as an equal.
Ilay, you're throwing away the Empire's soldiers for your own selfish goals.
I followed Ilay's trail. At corner after corner, I found the bodies of his platoon members. Because he'd prioritized speed above all else, the casualties had been unavoidable.
These are men who wouldn't have had to die under normal circumstances.
No other platoon would have chased the rebels at the cost of such sacrifices.
The suppression forces had the entire fortress surrounded. Simply cornering the enemy would have been enough to fulfill our role.
Even if he somehow secures Lillian, how does he plan to get her out?
No matter how I turned it over in my head, there was no clean solution. In the end, Lillian had to die.
I get having lingering feelings for the girl you loved. But there's no reason to die alongside her.
To me, Ilay's actions were nothing short of suicide. He'd clearly gone off the rails.
"Not that I'm one to talk."
Abandoning my platoon to chase after Ilay wasn't exactly a wise decision either. Frowning, I pressed on.
There was another firefight here.
I stared at the scorched walls and the scattered shell casings. There were noble corpses too. It looked like they'd picked up unfamiliar guns just to buy themselves time.
Even nobles—men who aren't soldiers—are dying with weapons in their hands. That's how cornered the rebels are.
Similar scenes had to be playing out all across the fortress's underground, not just this corridor. A good portion of the suppression forces would be pushing into the residential quarters to wipe out the rebels.
Creak. Creak.
A faint noise reached my ears. I turned toward the source. A noble—now nothing but a severed head—was blinking up at me. He seemed to be rigged with some absurdly expensive life-support system.
"Cough, cough! I—I surrender. I am of the Ramones family..."
The noble forced the words out with great difficulty, barely clinging to consciousness.
"Do you know where Lillian Ramones went?"
I asked, lifting the head off the floor.
"Lillian? I-if you mean the direct line, I... I don't know where she went."
For a fraction of a second, his pupils flicked to the side. A telltale sign of lying.
Squish!
I jammed my fingers in and crushed the eyeball, gouging it out. The powder that spilled from the ruptured socket was made entirely of microscopic mechanical parts. A remarkably expensive cybernetic eye.
"W-what are you doing?! I said I surrender!"
But the scream I expected never came. Right—he must have shut off his pain receptors the moment his head was severed.
Physical torture meant little to a man with a full-body prosthetic. What mattered was the mind—the brain still sitting inside that head.
Whirr!
I drew my blade and cut a circle around his temples. His skull split open like a piece of fruit, and a pink gel resembling cerebrospinal fluid oozed out.
Squelch. Squelch.
I swept away the gel-like cushioning with my hand and gripped the container holding his brain. As I applied pressure, the locking mechanism groaned as if about to shatter.
Screeech!
A rather eerie sound. I liked it.
"S-stop! What are you doing?! Ah—ugh—aaaaah!"
A scream tore out of him, thick with terror. Smiling, I looked down at him.
"Last chance, Lord Noble. Where did Lillian Ramones go?"
I didn't have time. If he dragged out his answer, I fully intended to kill him and move on. The noble must have sensed that resolve.
"She went down! Downstairs! She must have gone down!"
"Down? Are you kidding me? To escape, they'd have to reach the surface eventually. There has to be another route leading up."
"I-I don't know the details! It's the truth! They don't tell the important things to collateral branch members!"
His mental state was in no shape to lie. It was safe to assume he was telling the truth.
"Did you see Ilay Kartika?"
I asked. The noble answered, what remained of his artificial fluids spilling out like tears and snot.
"I-I saw him. That bastard's insane! We're acquaintances—we told him we'd surrender, and he still—"
Sorry, but I've got no intention of listening to you either.
Crunch!
The metal container crumpled in my grip, and brain fluid squirted out. The mushy pink mass of tissue slumped and oozed downward.
He was slated for execution anyway. Even if the nobles surrendered, they'd only be tortured to death in the end. Killing him now might actually count as mercy.
I wiped my soiled hands on my pants. I didn't usually feel guilt over killing, but today I felt exceptionally numb. I supposed that was just what a battlefield did to a person.
I resumed tracking Ilay's platoon. Since I'd heard they were heading deeper down, there was no need to wander. Even at branching corridors, choosing the path was easy.
Before long, I heard gunshots and screams. The distance was close. Not far at all.
Yes—I'd finally caught up to Ilay.
* * *
Even during all the time I'd spent with Ilay, I'd always carried a single anxiety.
What do I do if Ilay rebels against the Empire?
His occasional minor deviations, I could overlook. But what if he committed an act that ran against the Empire's interests—something that could easily be branded as treason? What would I do then?
Now the time had come to give the answer I'd kept putting off.
Following the gunshots and the corpses, I stepped into a spacious banquet hall. The long dining table stretched far enough to seat dozens. But instead of a lavish feast, bodies were laid out across it.
At the center of that table stood Ilay, looking as though he were about to give a speech.
"Ilay!"
I shouted. In that exact instant, his finger twitched.
Bang!
Ilay shot his own deputy. With a hollow look in his eyes, the man toppled backward. A clean hole had been drilled through the center of his forehead—clear enough to see straight through to the other side.
"...I asked you so earnestly, and yet you followed me anyway, Luka."
Ilay's lips moved as he murmured my name. Around him lay the corpses of Imperial soldiers. Every one of them a member of his platoon.
You actually did it, Ilay.
At first I was so stunned that my emotions ran cold. But then a volcano of rage erupted from deep within my chest.
Ilay's platoon members had all been loyal soldiers. Men who had followed his unreasonable commands and leadership without a single word of complaint.
And yet he had killed those very subordinates with his own hands—all for the sake of one girl. Just for her.
Click.
My right cybernetic eye whirred, moving on its own. In one corner of the hall, I spotted the Ramones family. As soon as the analysis finished, their profiles flashed up across my retinal display.
The head of the Ramones family, and his direct descendants.
Five of them in total. The Family Head, Hugo Ramones, his wife, their two sons, and one daughter. The daughter's name was Lillian Ramones. She kept glancing back and forth between Ilay and me, her expression taut with dread.
The masterminds behind the rebellion were the Three Families. And one of their leaders stood right there before me.
Ilay let out a long sigh and stared at me. Through his blood-soaked hair, his eyes gleamed like shards of ice.
"Luka, Luka, Luka. I suppose even you won't let this slide this time."
He muttered the words, letting the pistol in his right hand drop to his side as he drew his blade with his left. The tip of his sword pointed straight at me.
I forced down the rage swelling inside me. He wasn't an opponent I could beat by fighting on emotion. The words that came out of my mouth were surprisingly dry and hollow.
"...On behalf of His Majesty the Emperor and the subjects of the Empire, I shall pass judgment upon you."
The emotion I'd buried was so cold it made my teeth ache.