What Did You Say? (4)
After Elia Lieutenant's trial.
At the Edelvine residence.
Luden's figure, pouring intense killing intent on someone. I never thought I'd see this side of him. He was a member of the Londinium Senate of Elders where all dirty intrigues were happening, and also the highest commander of Aegis. In other words, there weren't many things that could make him angry.
“...Lin Major. Sorry.”
“No, rather thank you.”
“Londinium's fate is over too.”
He read a document placed on his desk.
“It is unknown when it flowed into the 03 sector. Wandering the streets as a civilian orphan, met a foster mother and lived together for 3 years, but due to forced conscription of unregistered, separated from life. In the 09 sector Londinium Special Operations Unit, active as a guerrilla unit killing 'rebels'. After being appointed lieutenant, continued to hunt missions, becoming the only survivor of the biological disaster...”
Luden let out a long sigh.
“Her life was dirtied by the sins of this nation.”
Elia's life.
Lonely footsteps piercing deep into the soul.
“Where she belonged... 'Praying Skeleton Nuns.' Was that the squad you were managing?”
“...Yes.”
“I won't ask about how you came to know her as promised, or the circumstances of what you were doing. What's important now is that Elia Lieutenant is the hero who saved this planet from extinction, and nothing is more important than the fact that you told me that.”
After learning that Elia was alive, Lin sat in front of the Edelvine residence gate for a full 10 days, begging without eating or sleeping to save her. Luden, who was on a business trip to another sector, found her collapsed in front of the gate on his way back, and heard the story from the butler.
“...Elia Lieutenant is hiding something. Something desperately. And the elders are afraid of it.”
And he learned an unexpected huge fact. An urgent letter sent by a spy planted near the 3 elders. And the content written in it.
“XT class secret...”
XT class secret. The Londinium Senate seemed to have judged that she could easily end a planet. Even though it was simply received in writing, the weight of the word that couldn't be easily dismissed pressed on Luden's shoulders.
“From now on, after I meet Her Majesty Iris, I need to make an excuse to protect her under my name. So during that time, compile all the information from 09 sector you can give me and information about Elia Lieutenant.”
“I will devote my life to it.”
“And... here, the release order.”
A document in Lin's hand.
The tears that had been held back flowed down.
For this piece of paper,
How much mental suffering had I endured until now.
“Thank you, thank you...!”
She bowed her head many times to express gratitude.
“...Don't thank me. It's embarrassing that I can't keep up.”
Inside the Londinium military prison.
“Documents confirmed. Follow me.”
After passing the winter inspection post, Lin submitted Elia's release permit and was guided into the huge prison. As soon as entering, noisy sounds of guards beating prison bars with truncheons came from nearby.
“You trash bastards, come out!”
“Hurry up and come out?!”
“Aaah-!”
A guard with a scruffy beard lined up the prisoners and urged them. Those who were slow were mercilessly beaten with the guards' leather whips. Those hit by whips wiped the flowing blood with dirty prison uniforms without saying a single complaint.
“You bastards, don't line up?!”
“Line up! You bastards!”
Lin followed silently behind the guards, passing several iron gates. With the heavy iron door closing, the noise from before disappeared like a dead mouse. Then walked along the long corridor, passed through another iron gate, and entered deep into the prison. The guard walking in front said nothing.
After passing several more iron gates.
“When the time comes to die after living the life of a hermit-
My heart is filled with fear,
Asking for a new life for another life-”
At the end of the passage,
A singing voice came.
“I will not become a praying person.
Singing a funeral song for my comrade,
And meet death at the place where my comrade died.”
With a voice like walking on thin ice, Elia sang the song of the 'Praying Skeleton Nuns'. The song contained hundreds of emotions, but at the top of all those emotions was desperate sadness.
“Visitation time is exactly 20 minutes.”
With a clanking sound, the iron door opened,
And Lin entered inside.
“...Elia Lieutenant.”
“Who is it.”
Elia, with bandages wrapped around her eyes, turned her head towards the sound. But due to the tightly wrapped bandages, her head was strangely tilted from where Lin was standing. Elia, whose body was full of injuries, no healthy parts left. The vague image from far away during the trial and the close-up view were like heaven and earth apart.
“Do you... remember me?”
The red blood oozing from the bandages wrapped all over her body, swollen and torn face, many blue bruises hinting at what the figure under the prison uniform might look like. The despair like piercing the chest gripped her for a while. At the same time, uncontrollable anger towards Kirou, who tortured her day and night, boiled up.
“...This voice, Lin, is it Lieutenant Lin? You are the one who-”
Elia couldn't finish her sentence and coughed up black blood with a "walc" sound. When Lin tried to approach her in surprise, she raised her hand to stop him from coming closer and continued.
“Why did you come here.”
“Elia, let's go together.”
“...What?”
The deep despair emanating from her made Lin need to calm his heart. After taking a few deep breaths, she sat on a small wooden chair in the corner of the solitary cell. Maybe Elia had already given up on everything. Offering pointless persuasion in this situation wasn't a wise approach.
“What are you talking about.”
“I stopped your death sentence execution.”
Silence pressed heavily on the room, but she looked at Elia while waiting for an answer.
“You did a useless thing. Get out.”
“Elia, please think again...”
“What I want is only death.”
A voice came.
“Lieutenant Lin, please.”
“If I die, Elia will-”
“-to the priestesses of the fireflies...”
The last promise with Eve.
Must be kept.
This is the only atonement I can do,
“-If you take me with you, I promise revenge!”
Lin shouted like that.
At that time, she thought that.
Maybe she could be persuaded with this.
Even though she was angry herself,
Elia might not feel the same?
“...Revenge, revenge.”
Lin couldn't hide his uneasy feeling while listening to Elia's murmur. It felt creepy to use revenge as persuasion, but he didn't want to forcibly take out the one who hated persuasion.
“Yeah. From now on, I won't wait anymore.”
As she said this, Elia smiled, but somehow it felt empty. A smile like having infinite deep sadness and peace at the same time. Lin felt like he had seen this fragile smile somewhere.
“The release date is tomorrow, so I'll come again tomorrow. If there's anything urgently needed, please tell me. I'll bring it right away.”
“...Belt, belt is needed.”
Belt? Because the size of the prison uniform didn't fit, she stood up from her seat and pulled up her pants with one hand and answered. Lin took off the belt of the uniform he was wearing and handed it to her.
“I'll give you mine first.”
When he thought he had successfully persuaded, an indescribable relief pushed in. At the same time, the desire to take her out of this gloomy place right away became heavy.
“Is there anything else needed?”
“...This is enough.”
Lin reported to Luden about the short meeting with Elia when he returned from the prison.
“I see. But there is one thing you greatly miscalculated.”
“...Huh? What is that...”
“Revenge. What is revenge in her life. Think about it again.”
That night, after showering, she lay on the bed in a fluffy robe, but Luden's last words kept floating in her head and she couldn't sleep. She didn't know her eyelids would become heavy because she had to take her out of the prison tomorrow and handle various things. Was it because of the overwhelming despair that she made the mistake of encouraging ugly revenge again with the determination to persuade her? The more she tried to sleep, the more Elia's last appearance approached. Eventually, Lin got up from the bed and started wandering the room.
“I should apologize first when I meet her in the morning.”
She went out to Terra's for a change of mood and looked at the street view. Even though it was midnight, the streets were bright like daytime with colorful lights. As soon as she thought she should apologize, guilt slowly raised its head. In her mind, the previous conversation kept floating.
“Revenge, revenge....”
“Yeah. From now on, I won't wait anymore.”
Unnerved, Lin decided to take her out of the prison earlier than scheduled. Originally planned to get proper clothes first, but since her treatment was urgent, it seemed like a good plan. Moreover, he didn't know her exact size. Thinking he wanted to see her smile as soon as possible, Lin slowly fell into sleep.
Next day.
With the cruel cold, dawn came. The air near Londinium prison was thick with fog and gloomy. From the watchtower far away, two large searchlights crossed each other, illuminating every part of the prison. Since it was early morning, no voices of guards shouting could be heard, and no prisoners carrying backpacks on their backs were visible.
“Damn, you're early. Here, the key. Go in and take her out.”
A guard sitting gave her the key and waved his hand to go quickly. She passed through the same iron door and corridor as yesterday, but today's prison had an uneasy, anxious silence that made the nerves in her whole body stand on end somehow. She hurried her steps to the solitary cell where Elia was.
“Cold. Hurry up and wrap this first.”
The first warmth to give her: a scarf and gloves with warmth magic.
Lin smiled and opened the door of the solitary cell.
“Good morning! You woke up early?”
Before sunrise, in the dark solitary cell. Elia was tilting her head slightly as if thinking deeply, looking out the window. She took out the gloves and scarf from the bag she brought and continued.
“Elia, I made a mistake yesterday. That, I was too thoughtless-”
A strange sense of unease.
The hand taking out the scarf paused.
“-This word...?”
For a moment,
Was Elia's height this tall?
Lin looked up and changed his line of sight.
Something sparkling near the ceiling.
“My belt? Why is my belt there...?”
A black line connected to the ceiling pipe was visible. It was so taut that it felt like the line was exactly dividing the space in half.
“...Ah, aaah-!”
Elia's feet were standing straight like a ballerina, and she was about 80cm away from the ground. The weak "kuk kuk" sound coming from her mouth hit Lin with despair.
“-Aaah, no, please!”
The horrific nightmare unfolded in front of her eyes after she had completed the submission.
“Elia, Elia!”
She should have apologized earlier. Without hesitation, she should have applied for a meeting again that night and apologized. That realization tore her heart like a dull blade. The shadow of death lurking behind her pale face burst out because of the one word she said.
“-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Elia!"
The chair that could step on her feet was already smashed and rolling on the floor. Lin held her two legs up with all his strength and shouted.
“Please breathe! Please!”
And,
Elia survived.
Unfortunately, Elia herself didn't want to live.
It was just 'that'.
She just couldn't watch with her eyes open.
The being she had to kill dying by itself.