Lucy
Lucy
A mansion owned by Count Kaledra's family.
A temporary operational command post.
"An urgent report has come in that the enemy has completely occupied City Hall Square! Our forces are continuing to retreat! We are in no position to hold out any longer!"
"You're telling me we're being pushed back that easily? I am asking whether we must be defeated by a single man named Daniel Steiner when we possess forces equivalent to a division!"
"Look at the reality! The enemy's encirclement has tightened even further! If the enemy keeps pressing in like this, the remaining troops in the city won't last much longer!"
The staff officers, seized by despair, argued vehemently, but Kaledra paid them little mind.
He merely stood by the window, looking down at the city where explosions and detonations ran rampant.
Then the chief of staff approached Kaledra.
The chief of staff, his arm wrapped in a plaster cast, bowed his head lightly toward Kaledra.
"Your Excellency the Count. The situation is dire. It would be right for you to flee before the enemy closes in this far. I have already ordered a vehicle to be prepared on a nearby side street, so you need not worry about being captured by Daniel Steiner."
Normally, Kaledra would have shot a sharp glare at the chief of staff for suggesting flight, but not now.
Because Kaledra was not so stubborn a man as to cling to a fight on a clearly disadvantageous battlefield.
The enemy bombardment was drawing closer.
Kaledra, steeped in silence, spoke without turning to face the chief of staff.
"What of the reinforcements?"
"Though it was reported that two battalions' worth of personnel were dispatched from Ravengrad, the situation is unfavorable. According to the report, the transport train was overturned after encountering enemy light armored units while moving troops. Furthermore, the railway network itself is damaged, and it is assessed that additional support will be difficult."
Kaledra bit his lip hard and closed his eyes.
He had anticipated that Daniel Steiner's deliberate concealment of units to the north would be connected to the railway network, but now that it had become reality, it weighed heavily on him.
No matter how many possibilities he considered, he could find absolutely no chance of victory on this battlefield.
Slowly opening his eyes, Kaledra spoke as if dumbfounded.
"What does the chief of staff think? Is Daniel Steiner truly a devil?"
The chief of staff, unaware of Kaledra's intentions, had no choice but to remain silent.
Only after several more artillery blasts sounded in the distance did Kaledra continue.
"The way I see it, he is human. For this blistering offensive can only be explained by the fury driving it."
He could see emotion in Daniel Steiner's operations.
It meant he was not the madman depicted in the circulating rumors, the one who took ecstasy in destroying the Allied forces.
"Even Daniel Steiner will die if shot and bleed if cut. It means that as long as he wears human flesh, he is never free from death."
Kaledra's grip on his cane tightened.
"But why...?"
From the sinking of the diplomatic vessel up to now, Daniel Steiner had escaped the 'deaths' Kaledra had arranged and launched counterattacks.
As if he were a devil returned from hell.
He had witnessed countless front-line commanders attacking the Allied Nations, but an entity as unpredictable as Daniel Steiner was a first for him.
In war, unpredictability was synonymous with fear.
Kaledra, who had been biting his lip, turned to look at the chief of staff standing beside him.
"...What of Lucy Emilia? She should have arrived at the mansion by now."
The chief of staff opened his mouth with difficulty, his expression making it clear he found the answer hard to give.
"It is said that a critical error occurred during the memory erasure process. According to the doctor, it is a phenomenon he has never seen before, so resolving the error will take considerable time."
That was tantamount to saying they could not take Lucy along.
Kaledra groaned under the mounting headache and muttered.
"Daniel Steiner. You bastard, you mean to shake the very foundation of the Allied Nations."
If Daniel Steiner, having secured Lucy Emilia, got his hands on Penbark, he could not gauge how far the repercussions would extend.
In his heart, he wanted to resist to the end and somehow bring down Daniel Steiner, but one could not make sound judgments when ruled by emotion.
Acknowledging defeat, Kaledra turned away, setting his sights on the future.
"Assemble a small force and issue the retreat order."
They were words he did not wish to utter, but now that he had hit a dead end, he had no other choice.
"From now on, we... ."
Kaledra, who had taken a step, continued after a brief silence.
"...are abandoning Penbark."
*
Meanwhile, at the research institute, the doctor and researchers were bustling about.
"Nervous system overreaction confirmed! The memories... the memories are being restored!"
"Sensory feedback circuit stabilized! Waveform aligned! Neural synchronization rate is also rising normally!"
"This is absurd! To think this is possible...!"
As the researchers raised their voices, the doctor adjusted his glasses and let out a hollow laugh.
'This truly is an absurd thing.'
According to the figures on the control panel, not only were Lucy Emilia's memories being restored, but her consciousness was rising to the surface.
Accessing the other party's consciousness and unlocking their memories was, in fact, a method that, while logically possible, had little chance of being realized.
For if one were to meet death within the other party's memories and become a kind of 'deletion process,' there was a possibility of falling straight into a coma.
That was why he had warned Daniel Steiner that it was a dangerous method.
But Daniel had rescued Lucy Emilia without any regard for his own life.
'Although Daniel Steiner may be a person of an enemy nation... .'
The heart willing to brave danger to save his adjutant was a noble one.
Allowing himself a brief moment of sentiment, the doctor manipulated the control panel and deactivated the consciousness-sharing state.
Afterwards, he stopped the operation of Daniel Steiner's Simple Chamber.
Since Lucy's memories and consciousness had returned, there was no longer any need to keep Daniel confined inside the chamber.
As he pressed the open button, the chamber door slowly opened and Daniel opened his eyes.
Daniel, blinking his graphite-black eyes a few times, walked out of the chamber.
Then the company commander approached Daniel.
"Brigade Commander! Are you feeling all right?"
There was no way he was all right.
Although only a few minutes had passed in reality, a long time would have passed in the world of consciousness.
He must have been dazed and barely able to walk, but Daniel did not show it.
"How much time has passed?"
At Daniel's tone, which was the same as usual, the company commander felt relieved and reported the time.
"Exactly 3 minutes and 30 seconds have passed since you entered the chamber."
"Is that so. It seems the doctor's words were not untrue."
The doctor, receiving Daniel's gaze, bowed his head deeply while feeling inwardly tense.
In the midst of that, footsteps were heard nearby.
"Congratulations on your safe return."
Turning his head, Daniel saw the soldier who had been holding his revolver and coat standing there.
After thanking him, Daniel took his coat and draped it over his shoulders, and the company commander spoke.
"Brigade Commander. May I ask what the next plan is now?"
"If we have occupied the city center, then we must advance to the enemy's temporary command post. But before that... ."
Daniel, who had holstered his revolver, turned to look back.
The company commander, following Daniel's gaze, could see Lucy Emilia confined in the central chamber.
Daniel, wearing a somewhat nostalgic smile, opened his mouth to speak.
"First, I should go greet our young lady."
Our young lady? The company commander felt slightly puzzled, but the doctor understood what that meant.
For Daniel would have lived a long time inside Lucy's consciousness.
He had undoubtedly experienced countless incidents and accidents within it.
"I will open the central chamber."
As the doctor said that and manipulated the buttons on the control panel, the entrance of the central chamber began to open.
While Daniel was adjusting his attire, the central chamber fully opened.
Lucy, who had set foot on the floor, slowly opened her eyes.
What Lucy saw first as she woke from a long sleep was Daniel Steiner.
Daniel let out a low laugh as he looked at Lucy, who was not yet fully aware of reality.
"Adjutant. What are you staring so blankly for? As if you're seeing your superior for the first time."
At the word 'adjutant,' tears involuntarily welled up in her eyes.
"Ah. Ah... ."
She wanted to answer, but her voice, parched and cracked, refused to come.
Their eyes met, and Lucy took one step forward.
Simultaneously, a wave of dizziness washed over her, but she endured it with great effort.
Her mind was filled entirely with the thought that she had to approach Daniel.
After two steps, then three, Lucy ultimately could not hold back and ran toward Daniel.
Daniel was briefly taken aback but soon opened his arms and embraced Lucy.
Their bodies pressed close together.
Lucy, embracing Daniel, sobbed like a spoiled child.
Having been on the verge of witnessing Daniel's death and miraculously returning to reality, it was a natural reaction if ever there was one.
Lucy had wanted to confirm it.
The fact that Daniel was alive and well.
'Lucy... .'
Daniel, who had been looking at Lucy with pity, quietly spoke.
"Let's go see the sea together someday. This time, without anyone's interference."
Lucy, barely holding back the tears that threatened to burst forth, nodded her head.
As she did so, she tightened her arms around Daniel a little more.
Lucy had hated humans.
For she had thought that humans were beings designed to inflict pain on others.
It was a set of values she had naturally developed because everyone in the mansion had blamed her and coldly shunned her.
However, because of a single man she met in the Empire, Lucy's thoughts had gradually changed.
She had come to think that humans might, perhaps, be beings who convey happiness to others.
That thought became certainty within her childhood memories.
For in the world of memories, Daniel had risked his life to protect her.
Lucy knew full well that he had tried to sacrifice himself without any compensation.
Thanks to that, Lucy could now come to like people.
She no longer had to regard life as a torment and act cynically.
For the person who had shown her that a world which had been colorless was in fact filled with color stood right before her eyes.
And so, Lucy swore she would no longer hide her feelings.
The emotions she had suppressed with effort because of the fact that she was an Allied Nations spy burst into bloom in an instant.
Only then could Lucy realize it.
'I... .'
That she was in love with Daniel Steiner, the one and only man in this world.