Apocalyptic Christmas (2) 外
The snow fell in relentless sheets, bitterly cold.
“Damn it, you filthy unregistered scum!”
“Sorry, sorry!”
The man holding a tree ornament in his hand recalled his past self begging on this very street.
“Um… is there any leftover food today…?”
“You trash bastard, get lost! It’s because of you that our sales have been dropping lately! Are you going to get beaten again like last time?”
The elves loomed over him with terrifying eyes.
In the end, he could not even scavenge food scraps—
today he walked barefoot, searching for leftovers.
“Dad, buy me that too.”
“Today, our princess must have everything she wants!”
Far away, children played in the street with their parents, hands full of gift boxes.
The boy looked at the wealthy girl and thought, 'The shoes on her feet look warm.'
The street was more colorful than usual.
The bakery clerk called out cheerfully.
“Happy Erinius Day! How about some special cake?!”
Ah, so today was the eve of Erinius’s birthday. But in the boy’s daily life, that divine benevolence of the kind god did not even reach the dirt on his toes. For him, scraps were far more precious than divine benevolence, to survive tomorrow.
The scene shifted.
“Here it is! It’s an unregistered person!”
“Drag him away!”
Without understanding what was happening, he was conscripted,
and rolled through the battlefield where blood and flesh flew.
The man gradually lost his words.
“Hey, you die in my place. Huh?!”
“You bastard, say something, speak! Fuck!”
“Deaf, charge and die. Go and buy time.”
When he came to his senses,
none of the people he knew were there.
The ones who had forced death upon him
all of them had died before him.
The man’s heart had stopped beating from that moment.
“And listen.”
And he met her.
The rumor “witch.”
“I will not remember your faces. You must do the same.”
She looked around at all of them and added one more line.
“But, if you must remember, remember this. My face is the face of a comrade who died with you. End.”
Witch? Is that really the word “witch”?
A body that would collapse under the weight of a gun.
Noble bearing.
“Sergeant First Class Treval. What I ask of you is one thing.”
Her eyes were emerald green, looking at him.
“There is no one here as reliable as you.”
After that, several battles.
When the injured man was supported by the witch, she said this.
“Sorry, it was my mistake.”
“Live. You must survive to the end.”
“…I will remember.”
When everyone was telling him to die while looking at him,
she told him to live while looking at him.
That word, which was just a courtesy,
reawakened the man’s frozen heart.
His salvation.
His hope.
His sun.
“Sergeant First Class Treval. I will not allow such reckless tactics.”
“I will charge first. Follow me.”
“You idiot! You want to die first for me?!”
A small girl who didn’t even reach his waist
threw herself into the barrage of bullets first.
She stepped forward to save his life.
“Even if it means killing me, you must live.”
His heart began to beat strongly.
Every moment with her,
he felt truly alive.
“What do you think?”
“I will only follow.”
“…I am asking for your opinion.”
“Your opinion is my opinion.”
“Useless. But I like it.”
The man swore to protect the witch.
The more he protected her,
the stronger his will to live became.
“Witch, you survived again?”
More, the things that were eating her came into view.
The maggots that suck blood from the wounds of others.
“How many of those around her died?”
“I can’t even count. Well, if I do, they’ll die anyway.”
But she didn’t react to those rumors.
When he returned to the squad quarters, he asked her.
“Captain Elia.”
“Speak, Sergeant Treval.”
“Why… are you staying still.”
“…You are quite good at asking innocent questions.”
The corners of her eyes curved like a crescent moon about to tear.
A broken smile on her lips.
“Because it’s not wrong, Sergeant Treval.”
“No, no! You are that kind of person-!”
“-Do you want to know the number of comrades I buried with my own hands?”
Her empty eyes.
They were those maggots,
sucking her life force.
“Or the number of comrades who died with you?”
“I don’t want to know that. I am-!”
“-Or, the number of people I executed on the battlefield?”
“No. You are not that kind of person.
Even today, you saved hundreds.
Even those who poured rumors on you,
could live because of the strategy you set.
“You are worthy of respect-”
“-Sergeant Treval, do not break our trust with such trivial wordplay.”
A clear dismissal.
He could only answer weakly.
“…Sorry. I apologize.”
ⴕ
And the next day, in the mess hall of the unit.
“Hey, the witch, shall I tell you a good joke?”
“Haha, how about trying it?”
“Her face is half and half? Surprisingly, she might be coquettish in bed.”
The usual obscene talk of the officers.
But today, he couldn’t stand it.
“These bastards are starting again.”
“Ugh, idiots… If they don’t die of heart attack while sleeping together, it’s lucky-”
“-Hey, Treval? Where are you-”
Treval approached the officers who were talking obscenely.
His overwhelming height cast a shadow over them.
“What, what? Do you want to join? Well, the witch looks tasty-”
The thread of reason snapped.
The officer couldn’t finish his sentence.
A huge fist struck his jaw,
and red blood splattered everywhere.
“Tr, Treval?! Ian, go and stop him!”
“Ouch! Too big, damn it!”
Their lives.
Their rest.
Their peace.
All existed because she protected them.
All existed because she sacrificed.
All existed because she devoted herself.
All because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she, all because she!
“Please, stop! Treval, you’ll die!”
Irien’s cry tore through the air, stopping his fist. At the end of the commotion, only two officers with broken teeth and Sergeant Treval remained. His heart, being dragged away by the MPs, had stopped again.
“Did I misjudge you, Sergeant Treval.”
“…Sorry.”
“I highly valued your restrained reason.”
“…I have nothing to say, sorry.”
She was disappointed in him.
He had sworn to protect her.
She had been staring at him for a long time,
lowered her eyes, sighed, and said this.
“…Listen well. The world doesn’t change easily.”
Is that why you gave up.
Is that your conclusion.
Is that what made you like this.
“Then what should I do? What should I do? How can you be so calm? I can’t stand it. For those kinds of people, you have to sacrifice-”
“-What to do? Don’t misunderstand, Sergeant Treval. What you can do is ‘nothing.’ This world is not a fairy tale where everyone gets a happy ending. What you can do is one thing: accept all the injustices and surrender to the flow.”
On that day, Treval made a decision. Then I’ll change it. The rotten river flows straight. Wrong. There is no need for such a river. Fill it thoroughly so that no one even knows there was a river there.
ⴕ
At that moment, footsteps were heard.
“Are you ready? The promised access card?”
Treval was waiting for someone.
The back alley of the shop selling tree ornaments.
Mysterious figures in masks approached.
“Here it is.”
Treval handed over the pre-prepared access card from Endel Research Institute to the disguised “rebels.”
“Destination?”
“Secret area of Endel Research Institute, Sector 13. According to the operation, blow it up at midnight.”
Although we can’t reverse the flow of the river,
we can create ripples on the surface.
We’ll break the peace of those you protected.
Then, you will feel a little of the value of the peace she gave you.
“The bomb is ready on our side. The vehicle?”
“A chemical transport armored vehicle disguised as belonging to the research institute is prepared. Follow me.”
“Hoo? A reliable guy.”
Maggots.
The maggots that cling to others’ wounds and suck blood have no value.
“By the way, is that uniform regular army?”
“If so?”
“What’s the reason to help us?”
Regular army.
Those who no longer need to be connected with them after successfully completing the mission to exterminate the rebels.
To that question, the man answered.
“I just didn’t want to see maggots.”
If you are not maggots, prove it.
Can you protect that rotten peace without her.
“There’s quite a strange guy. I’ll treat you well. No plans to become a mid-level executive on our side-”
“-No need. I will only help with this matter.”
The sound of stepping on toes gradually faded.
The star-shaped tree ornament requested by Irien,
was buried in the snow, rolling on the floor.