Who, Who Are You? (2)
Maria's nerves were set on edge by that subtle, unidentifiable atmosphere. After disembarking from the transport ship and entering the ship, she immediately submitted her transfer documents to the duty officer through the counter.
“Official documents confirmed, Captain Maria. Your affiliation is… the Aegis Inspection Department?”
The general crew member who had been scanning the documents she handed over widened his eyes upon seeing her white uniform and passed the papers to another officer who seemed to be the duty officer.
“What? What's the purpose of the visit?”
“It's recorded as inquiring into the usage circumstances of the Nautilus Cannon.”
An unexpected inspection by the Aegis Inspection Department.
It was an incident that could set off an emergency throughout the ship.
“The duty officer is Lieutenant Kay. Please take care.”
“Captain Maria from the Aegis Inspection Department. Likewise, please take care.”
But it was strange. The 'Lieutenant Kay' who came out of the duty room showed no sign of concern about the Aegis Inspection. Rather, he looked somewhat pleased and even extended his hand for a handshake. A feeling of unease slowly rose. Maria put on a mask of a more intensified smile and accepted the handshake.
“Is this your first time on the Obelisk?”
“Yes, it's my first time.”
“Hmm, then shall we take a leisurely tour?”
The documents she had just submitted clearly recorded the purpose and reason: 'Inquiring into the usage circumstances of the Nautilus Cannon.' Unauthorized use of a strategic weapon. It was something that could result in a death sentence at a military court. In a situation where one should be frantically contacting the captain, executive officer, or commanding officers, suggesting a leisurely 'tour'?
“This is the main deck of the Obelisk. Here, approximately 200 crew members can use-”
Maria paid no attention to the chatter of the person in front of her. She was only trying to play along a bit more to discern the intentions hidden behind the woman. She pretended to listen to Lieutenant Kay's words and listened to the words of other crew members who were chatting.
“...Hey, look at that. Isn't that the Inspection Department's uniform?”
“Are they finally arresting someone? Deputy Captain Laura...”
“What did the captain do this time? Last time too...”
“...It's obvious. I hope they just get out of here.”
The words that sounded not very good were floating around, and a fine crack appeared in her smile that no one could notice. Arrest? Arrest whom? What had Elia done? And get out? While maintaining her composure, she tried to organize her thoughts carefully, but because it was her precious little sister, it was hard to find her coolness.
“-And, this is the officers' quarters-”
“Lieutenant, sorry. While a tour is nice, we don't have time.”
Maria cut off Kay's words.
The more time passed, the more Elia worried.
She had to see Elia right now.
“Ah! Yes. I was holding up a busy person. My apologies.”
“First, please guide me to the executive officer according to procedure.”
But—
“Ah, that's right! She's not here!”
The lieutenant responded as if he had been waiting for this question.
“The captain caused an accident!”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The executive officer has been called to the super-heavy cruiser Valkyrie!”
“...Was there an incident?”
This was it. The true nature of this strange atmosphere. Seeing the lieutenant explaining excitedly, dark clouds gathered around Maria. A horrific emotion that started deep in her chest became a storm that swallowed everything, beginning to play the prelude to destruction. At the same time, a crack slowly formed in her thick smile mask.
“Talk about it. Captain, you probably already know, but the captain is one who entered by parachute, right? Probably because that became a rumor, due to inferiority complex, they always grab officers for no reason and always insult them, in training they vent their anger by beating the crew, ugh, besides this, enough to make one want to stick out their tongue with the verbal and physical abuse-”
Each word from this newly met junior officer stabbed like a knife into Maria's heart. The intense sadness she had never felt before made her frown. The endless war that broke Elia's personality. Because her little sister spent most of her living time on the battlefield, she was terribly distorted. But even so, at the center of what composed her was always self-sacrifice, altruism, and an unknown sublime promise with her precious one.
“Elia, you don't have to push yourself. If necessary, you can recuperate at Edelvine's villa-”
“-I still haven't kept my promise. So, I have to go. No matter what happens.”
“Why do you obsess so much over the battlefield. I think Elia could be a bit more selfish-”
“What keeps me alive. Because that promise is on the battlefield. So, please. Persuade Father.”
She had expected a slightly more positive change in Elia. But the precious little sister she hadn't seen face-to-face for two months was still floundering in the swamp of despair. She knew this wasn't right, but she felt a small resentment towards her father, Ruden, who had assigned her to be the captain of this damned ship.
“-So, in the world! And then no one can enter the captain's quarters, what on earth are they doing there! There are rumors that they're bleeding! Recently, an officer secretly entered and came back in the morning completely exhausted and was carried to the infirmary. How could they have survived like that-”
Elia's life. Maria certainly didn't know her little sister's past stained with blood. But she had realized from the first time they met that she was living a life where she had to constantly sew up torn organs, administer medicine, and blow air into her to barely hold on to this side of life. At the same time, the wounds and scars of the past were like a shame that Elia should not be touched. Maria had wanted to warmly embrace the wounds of the new family member, the child, but when it came to this, she feared that too much interest would harm, so she kept a reasonable distance. So, she tried to approach Elia calmly with patience. As carefully as possible, and kindly.
“Recently, she rejected the call command from the division commander and was subjected to military suppression, I heard. Six special forces members stuck to her and barely subdued her, apparently it's said to be serious injury, but... this is wrong for the one who resisted. So, eventually the captain is holed up in the captain's quarters under the excuse of recovery, and the executive officer, Laura, is attending to the accident cleanup on the super-heavy cruiser Valkyrie-”
A junior officer in the ship who should have loyalty to the captain soaring to the heavens was in this state, so could she find Elia's allies here? Was Elia, who was in recovery, okay? How long had she been ignored since coming here? Every time she blinked, the image of the day she first met Elia flashed by. That kind of child. Even if in pain, sad, or despairing, she just said 'I'm fine' without thinking of extending a hand.
Maria gritted her teeth.
When had this started?
Thinking was painful, and it burned.
“Is my guess correct?”
“...Yes?”
This woman.
Should she cut out her tongue?
No, she should pull out all her teeth.
Or...
“-So, you came here for discipline this time?”
With an extremely self-confident smile, Lieutenant Kay spoke to her. A general who was searching for vulgar gossip. People living in the light could never understand those living in the dark. Her serious intention to cut her tongue seemed incredibly naive and innocent with that smile. Maria, who had been staring blankly for a moment, suddenly started chuckling. Kay didn't know how to react to this laughter.
“-Eh, what?”
Maria, laughing for a long time, started rubbing her eyes with her hand, perhaps because she was crying.
“W-why are you laughing-”
“Ah, sorry. Lieutenant Kay, was it?”
“Eh? Ah, yes. That's ri-”
The barrel of the revolver quickly aimed at Kay's forehead.
“-Shut your mouth. Before I make a hole in that white head.”
A voice laden with anger.
Eyes cold as ice.
Kay, startled by the suddenly changed atmosphere, swallowed.
“Can I ask for one command?”
Lieutenant Kay nodded his head desperately with all his strength.
“You’ve talked enough. So from now on...”
She didn't finish the sentence, but she understood the meaning of the words and nodded her head desperately again. The person in front of her was a monster. That monster had its jaws wide open as if it would swallow her soon.
“So, please guide me to where the captain who is in recovery is.”
Maria tapped Kay's forehead with the revolver once and smiled kindly as never before. Kindness stained with the anger of hellfire. In the head of the terrified Kay, only one sentence from the report received a while ago was repeating infinitely.
“Captain is in recovery in the captain's quarters”
“Captain is in recovery in the captain's quarters”
“Captain is in recovery in the captain's quarters”
Kay's uniform, walking one step at a time with courage, was soaked with sweat. There were unusually few people in the officers' quarters today. She desperately hoped that someone would find her, who was being threatened with murder. Even though she was walking the familiar corridor busily, it felt far away as if she would die. The distance from the corridor to the elevator, which was only a few steps, felt like the distance between heaven and earth.
“It's okay, if I just get to the captain's quarters...”
The two got on the elevator. Even in the enclosed elevator, the tension was suffocating. The fingers pressing the button for the captain's quarters were damp with sweat, and thinking about the gaze watching from behind and the revolver pointing at her made a chill run down her spine. The time until arrival, which didn't take even a few seconds, felt like infinite waiting. At that moment, with a small bell sound, the door opened, and Lieutenant Kay felt mad joy. A sense of liberation, relief that she had survived. Suddenly, a power she didn't know the source of appeared in her legs that had been wobbling just before, and she rushed to the captain's quarters.
“Here, here!”
Now I'm free,
Now I can escape-
“Eh, what...?”
The door to the captain's room was wide open.
The captain's room was quiet as if all mice had died.
As if to indicate the captain's absence, all the lights were out.
“This, this can't be, it was clearly-”
There was no one in the captain's room.
Silence hung over everything.
It was so clean that it seemed recently tidied.
Not even an ant could be seen.
“According to the report, th-that-!”
The sound of the revolver's cylinder turning with a click.
Kay's heart dropped.
“Hey.”
A rough, deep verdict of destruction was recited from the mouth of the monster who had lost reason.
“Summon all commanding officers without exception in front of me. Time limit is 3 minutes.”
ⴕ
Night.
Londinium Sector 09, occupied territory of the anti-regime forces.
'Elia Lieutenant' was sprinting towards the cover in the front line where bullets were flying. At that moment, the spot where she was about to step, accompanied by a blinding flash in front, exploded. Elia, or rather 'I', flew into the air and fell to the ground.
“Ria, are you okay?”
“Ku-eut, you maggot. Call me 'Lieutenant'.”
“...If you don't like it?”
Yan Sergeant.
This sly man, ignoring was the easiest.
“What, Ria. Ignoring?”
I spat out the blood in my mouth and stood up.
At that moment, the reflection of a scope from the opposite side.
“-Ugh?!”
A gunshot from a distance, and something hit Yan's body. At the same time, warm blood from his arm spurted onto my face. But there was no more panic or agitation. If I die, I die, if I live, I live. The battlefield is like that.
“Penetration in the arm, treatable. Carry by supporting.”
“Ku, ku-euk! Damn it! It hurts, Ria! It hurts!”
“Don’t be so dramatic. Wrap your left arm around my neck.”
“Ha, this squad leader is, ugh, insanely tough. With such a pretty face like a noble.”
I, supporting Yan, responded in the direction the bullets were coming from and retreated. AP bullets created a heavy sonic boom as if a dinosaur stepping on the ground.
“Ria. If I get a fatal injury-”
“Leave it. And shut up. It's noisy.”
“Ugh, hey. That was a bit of a wound?”
Ignoring, I thought.
“About 2KM to the escape point, Blastrot. Remaining: AP 84, anti-personnel 10.”
Facing the anti-regime squad, I shot them without hesitation. The anti-regime soldiers fell with their heads pierced by accurate shots.
I continued walking.
I continued killing.
I continued counting.
“-Ria Lieut-enant.”
How many had I killed?
Today... today, 12 people.
Then how many in total?
Exactly 671 people killed.
When will I die?
“-Ria Lieutenant?”
How many had I killed?
201 9 people.
202 12 people.
203 11 people.
204 10 people.
205...
Wait, all the dead ones.
Don't worry about the already dead.
As long as Eve is alive, it's fine.
The rest will die anyway.
So, when will I die?
“Elia Lieutenant!”
“……”
Suddenly near the escape point.
The squad members had joined and were waiting.
“Are you okay? Your complexion...”
“I'm fine. Sergeant Treval, report.”
The unit insignia near the shoulder.
“Praying Skeleton Nun.”
Training squad of Londinium Special Operations.
Elia's second squad.
“-Reporting, total 12, dead 1, current 11.”
“Who died?”
“Rupas Private.”
“I see.”
Our mission.
The front line of the 'anti-regime' forces' sphere of influence.
Carrying out attrition guerrilla warfare.
And today, another one died.
“Check your equipment. We depart soon.”
Someone's death.
Now it was familiar.
“Wait, you.”
“Th-this, Irien?!”
At that time, someone called out to me.
A woman with a clear tear stain on her eyes.
“Calling me now, Sergeant Irien?”
“She died. Rupas died. That's it?”
“What do you mean? You want me to save you?”
“That guy said he wanted to live crying. I don't want to die-”
“Ask again. What do you mean?”
Up to now I-
How many coffins had I moved?
How many tombstones had I erected?
How many deaths had I seen?
How many funerals had I held?
“You don't like that attitude!”
“So, do you want me to beg?”
I smiled and turned my back and added.
“I've seen such stupid kid's play enough.”
“Ku-eut-! You're really!”
“Irien, calm down!”
“Stop, Violet! That guy, I'll kill him!”
I took my eyes off the woman who was ranting in anger and looked at the training squad members lined up in front of me and commanded.
“Those who don't want to be with Rupas, hurry to check your equipment. I'll give you 5 minutes.”
Except for Irien, the squad members hurried to check their equipment according to my words. The squad that finished equipment check in exactly 2 minutes and formed a nighttime tactical retreat formation began to slowly advance to the retreat point. Despite having a safe detour, our group chose frontal breakthrough, and a field of corpses lay in front of us. While passing through that hell, I installed explosives on the anti-regime's supply materials and field communication beacons, and retrieved the dog tags of the dead comrades.
“Hey... Elia?”
“Listening, tell me.”
When I installed explosives on the last supply materials of the anti-regime on the retreat route, Eve approached me hesitantly.
“That was a bit intense-”
“Eve, we're departing soon. Hurry up with preparation.”