King of the Dead City
"They're a minority group who were quartered in the Class 4 and 5 cabins. My guess is they're from a frontier planet called Yurdin."
"How can you be so sure?"
"To ordinary Imperial citizens, the Crown Guard aren't mere soldiers. In terms of how they're perceived, they're closer to knights."
The shield that protected the Empire. The absolute allies who safeguarded the Imperial family. They rarely had any contact with commoners — and more importantly, they had been wiped out on the bridge. Whatever friction had existed between the military and the Residence sector, it hadn't been the Crown Guard's doing.
"The fact that they still reacted with hostility even after hearing my affiliation means…"
"That they aren't favorably disposed toward the Empire itself."
"Yes. Though how people like that managed to survive without the military's help is still a mystery."
What we needed from them was information. How they had managed to stay alive this long. How many of them were still breathing. And what, exactly, was happening in the rear sections of the Hermes right now.
We needed a great deal. The cards in our hand were few.
Crushing them all with the powered suit was an option — but turning humans into enemies on top of the mutants would be the worst possible choice.
"In any case, leave the negotiations with them to me."
"Are you confident?"
Sera stepped forward with absolute self-assurance, volunteering to speak with the survivors' leader herself. She seemed to hold her own rhetorical skills in extremely high regard.
"There's nothing to worry about! I always scored in the top ranks on multicultural comprehension assessments!"
"As this is a situation equivalent to wartime, you are obligated as Imperial citizens to cooperate with me. Discard your weapons and surrender."
The instant Sera opened her mouth, I muted the microphone without a single second of hesitation. Then I revised my assessment of her communication skills as far downward as the scale would allow.
It was pure luck that I'd been inside the suit prepared for contingencies. Come to think of it, this young lady not only lacked any flexibility — she didn't even have friends.
"Looks like you're alone today. Where are your subordinates?"
Three days later, we stood facing off against the survivors who had appeared as promised. Getting here alone seemed to have cost them considerable stamina — they looked exhausted. Unlike our last encounter, which had been a sudden collision, I was casually perched on a crumpled car.
"…They're elsewhere. And you brought a whole bunch of subordinates this time."
"Oh my, it's the same number as last time. Can't Imperial soldiers even count?"
Ilena sneered from behind her welding mask. But the others standing behind her looked around at each other in surprise.
Thanks to the life-sign detector, I could already see exactly where the survivors were hidden throughout the street. Behind half-collapsed buildings and billboards, under bridge supports and down in the sewers — six people in total. Scattered like that, it'd be hard to protect them if a mutant showed up. I wished they'd stop. They didn't even have guns to begin with.
"Next time, you can come a little more relaxed. I have no intention of harming you."
"Hilarious. If you want to say that, why don't you get out of that suit first?"
"That would be difficult. I have my reasons."
Mainly because of Sera screaming Why won't you listen to me! from inside. She was good at combat, but useless in situations like this. Still — someone had to handle it.
"You look like even breathing is hard, so let's get to the point."
"Not at all. I'm fine."
Despite her words, her breathing was growing rougher by the second. I tossed one of the duffel bags from my shoulder forward. Inside were various daily necessities, including food — items you couldn't find around here, things scavenged from the shopping centers and broadcasting stations we'd passed through.
If they'd been capable of obtaining these supplies on their own, they never would have brought this many people to meet me. From the moment they showed up at the meeting place today, I was certain I could seize the initiative.
"Answer a few questions and it's yours."
"…Questions?"
"How did you survive?"
"Ah~ So it's 'all the Imperial citizens died, so why did only you guys make it out alive?'"
I'd meant it out of pure curiosity, but the response that came back was knowing — almost expected. Inside the suit, Sera, who had been fuming, suddenly flinched and trembled. With that single remark from Ilena, it was confirmed: there were barely any survivors left in the Residence sector.
"Did you know? Every Class 5 cabin on the ship is built underneath the water reservoirs."
"What do you mean?"
"The most effective material for blocking neutron radiation isn't lead or concrete — it's water."
So that was how they'd survived the stellar wind.
"The starboard side should have been fine, though."
"What era are you talking about? Are you on something?"
Apparently most people hadn't made it through the mutant attacks or the conflicts between survivors. Then again, starboard or not, the front of the ship was already completely devastated — it was a miracle anyone was alive at all.
"And you people are responsible for that too."
"Sorry, but I'm from a different unit. This has nothing to do with the Crown Guard."
"What a convenient excuse."
"How many of you are still alive?"
"Why, if our numbers are low, are you just going to crush us?"
Her voice was bright enough to conjure an image of a smiling face, but her word choices had been pretty vicious from the start. I wanted to see her face once — but given how wary she was of us, she wasn't likely to take off the mask.
"Take it."
Lingering in an open area was dangerous, so I decided to leave questions about the military for next time. The moment I finished speaking, the ones hiding nearby burst out.
I'd expected burly men. Instead, they were surprisingly smaller than Sera — kids.
"Whoa! Food!"
"Look at this — there's tableware too!"
"I-It's heavy…! Ilena, help!"
"Ugh, these idiots, seriously…!"
The bag was bigger than a person and heavy enough that they were struggling just to drag it. Left with no choice, I stood up to hand them the supplies myself.
"D-Don't come closer!"
"Eek!"
The suit was two heads taller than an adult man and radiated pure intimidation. When it moved, wary reactions came flooding back. But the stun batons they'd used against mutants didn't look like they'd work on me. The welding rod, too — would it even hurt if they scorched the display panel?
I casually ignored attacks that couldn't even reach me and walked up to Ilena, holding out the bag. Her reaction was different from the subordinates backing away in fear or the kids staring at me with open curiosity.
"You're going to lift that with one hand?"
"Ah…!"
Realizing her hand had reached out unconsciously and was about to touch my arm, she hastily pulled back. The expression visible through the glass of her mask was somehow dazed — different from before.
"Two days from now."
"Huh…?"
"You don't have to come. But I'll tell you this — the only survivors beyond this point are us."
She hadn't even asked my name. But in a situation like this, it was best to firmly establish just how far outside the norm I was.
"I'm making a special exception and handing this over for free this time. From next time on, if you want something, bring equivalent information — or something useful from your side."
The lightless streets I'd walked from the industrial plant to here. The far side of the vast commercial district that hadn't even been properly explored yet. Fourteen bridges that had come to a standstill. No — the entire Ebon Square sector, named after a once-revered member of the Imperial family.
The fact that I was the only one who could freely move through this dead city.
Once the steel suit vanished, leaving behind a single duffel bag, the surviving group sank to the ground one by one. The only ones still keeping their wits about them were the kids absorbed in the bag, and Gary.
"That was terrifying… I thought I was going to die."
"They've got our situation completely figured out. Ilena, you okay?"
In times like this, the leader's role as a focal point was crucial for avoiding mutant attacks — but she was the one most out of it. Gary approached Ilena and lightly tapped her shoulder.
"Ilena."
"Huh? What? Oh — they're gone?"
"Snap out of it. We need to leave right now too."
"Haa, I know. Hey, you lot! Because of you, we looked weak for no reason!!"
Was she embarrassed about standing in front of that massive powered suit and fidgeting like a girl her age without getting a single word out? Gary wanted to praise her for doing well enough as it was — but the anger she'd been taking out on the kids soon turned on him.
"That's why I said not to bring the kids. Couldn't you tell Rivan to pull more people from the men?"
"You know everyone except the cabin restoration team is out looking for food. And this was the safest option."
"If that lunatic had flipped out, everyone here could have died!"
"Yeah, and considering that possibility, this was still the safest place."
Suddenly, the corpse of the mutant they'd taken down three days ago came into view at the roadside. One side was scorched by fire and covered in countless wounds; the other had all its tentacles severed, with clean holes punched through the head and chest.
A brief silence fell between them, heavy with mixed feelings. Then Ilena's shoulders heaved, and a hazy mist of vapor fogged up her welding mask.
"Don't take it too hard. We still got a lot of supplies."
"The problem is what they'll demand next. What do we even have?"
"Well… information about the mercenaries, or the soldiers in the prison?"
"I don't think they'd care. And they said they're from a different unit than the soldiers. Probably useless."
"Or we have an excellent mechanic."
At that moment, her tilted head snapped back upright. When she tossed aside the brass-colored mask, a face was revealed that made it clear why their leader Rivan had deliberately excluded men from the team. It wasn't a lie that they were short on people — but he probably didn't want external accidents or troublesome situations arising.
Of course, Gary knew that Ilena had no interest in men — not even in that Crown Guard who'd so readily handed over supplies.
"That suit was pretty banged up all over. If they could fix it, wouldn't they have already?"
"So what… don't tell me you're volunteering?"
"If I go myself, I can also see what their situation is like."
Apparently the suit was more important to her than putting herself in danger.
"What do you think?"