Chapter 420
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 420
Chapter Title: Ah, So That's It.
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Ishim.
A small city with a population of less than 20,000, about 2,000 kilometers from Moscow.
Being so tiny, the city held no real significance for either the Russian army or the federal forces.
Ainsha had foreseen its inevitable capture, so she pulled out her troops and supplies from here as well. The federal army had simply included it in their path and taken it.
Afterward, they left behind only a minimal garrison and moved on.
Just like they had with the dozen-plus other cities they'd occupied so far.
A situation everyone had grown used to.
A place utterly devoid of anything special.
And so, in the early days of occupation, Ishim had been peaceful, and its citizens had welcomed the federal soldiers warmly.
But at this moment...
Ishim was plunged into chaos.
Tat-tat-tang!
"Come out, you counterrevolutionaries! Get out here now!"
The gunshot echoed through the air.
A faint shout came from beyond the steel door.
The citizens hiding in the public air-raid shelter trembled, praying desperately for this hellish night to end as soon as possible.
'Why is this happening...?'
The trouble had started over something trivial.
Administrative snarls in Moscow had cut off supplies to the unit stationed in Ishim.
Running short on even basic food, the company commander requested requisitions from Ishim's revolutionary leader.
But he was refused.
They cited real shortages from prior forced levies, compounded by resentment toward the federal army's heavy-handed ways.
The revolutionary leader insisted they pay if they needed supplies.
The company commander demanded devotion to the federation as fellow revolutionaries.
Their parallel arguments dragged on late into the night, shouts and curses escalating.
And then...
Bang! Tat-tat-tang!
With the gunfire...
The inevitable catastrophe arrived.
No one knew who drew first.
What was clear was that by the time people rushed over, both men were dead, clutching their guns.
What followed was pandemonium.
The revolutionaries, resentful of the arrogant federal troops.
The federal troops, frustrated with the uncooperative locals.
With their commander dead and control lost, mutual hostility exploded into collision.
The result: a crushing revolutionary defeat.
From military gear to numbers at the company level.
Superior in every way, the federal army massacred the revolutionaries in moments.
But the federal rampage didn't stop there.
Convinced the whole mess was a plot orchestrated by locals at the Russian army's behest, they swept through the city, looting.
The silver lining: surviving revolutionaries had triggered the evacuation alarm, sheltering most citizens in the air-raid bunkers.
The misfortune: countless others still huddled at home, trembling.
"Kyaa! P-please, spare me!"
"If you don't want to die, come out quietly, you counterrevolutionaries!"
Federal troops prowling for loot dragged found civilians to the square.
Hundreds already gathered.
Bloodied from the revolutionary clash, they faced federal gun barrels, trembling in terror.
But the troops trembled too.
Just riding the high of first kills and PTSD-fueled chaos, acting on impulse.
Was this really okay?
Would there be punishment?
Deep down, they were anxious.
Which was why they doubled down on rounding up civilians.
It was the only way to pin the blame on Ishim's people, to prove their own righteousness.
Even to convince themselves.
Just men in uniforms.
Civilians with guns, really—chaos from losing their commander.
"H-hey, you're a revolutionary, right? Try talking them down!"
"Our brothers are all dead because of those bastards—what's to talk?!"
"We can't just sit here!"
"Just wait! I radioed for help—someone'll come save us soon!"
Even those in the shelter grew frantic.
Would reinforcements arrive in time?
Or could they even trust the revolutionary government to send any?
Victims and perpetrators alike.
All of Ishim sank into anxiety.
—Save for one.
A white-haired man watching the city's turmoil with cold, sunken golden eyes.
"......"
Rimon watched.
The revolutionaries' discarded corpses.
The federal troops looting.
Families dragged to the square.
Citizens anxious in the shelter.
Hearing and sensing every commotion through a Sword Master's superhuman senses, he merely rested one hand on his waist sword.
Without taking a step.
From arriving via spatial jump after the rescue call, he'd watched silently just like that.
Until a light, cheerful voice rang out.
"Hm, quite the lively atmosphere."
Rimon didn't startle at the voice from his previously empty back.
He just asked lowly.
"What brings you here?"
"What else? As a party member who got the rescue request, I hurried here from Moscow."
She'd literally 'hurried' the 2,000 kilometers.
Sweat-matted white hair clinging to her pale nape.
Skin peeking through disheveled collar.
A white-haired girl drenched in sweat all over.
Ekaterina pocketed her hands.
Pulled out a small chocolate piece, popped it in, then tilted her head.
"Why're you just watching, big bro? You could've stopped it ages ago."
She peeked the other way briefly.
Then dropped her gaze.
To the sword at his waist.
Precisely, to Rimon's hand on the hilt.
She clapped.
"Aha, you're waiting for the crisis peak to swoop in dramatically and save the day."
"......"
"You're so dramatic, bro. Makes sense—heroes can't just pop up anytime; gotta build tension. Needs staging."
"Cut the nonsense."
"Ahaha, don't get mad over a joke. I know why you can't step in."
Ekaterina giggled at Rimon's icy words.
Then said meaningfully.
"In short, this is all within your bounds, right?"
"......"
"So cool. Watching people charge off a cliff just 'cause they haven't fallen yet."
"No guarantee it's a cliff at the end."
"Ah, true. They might sprout wings and fly. Or fall in water and turn into fish."
Like she'd heard a great joke.
She laughed merrily.
Then Ekaterina stepped lightly forward.
Leaned her faintly sweat-scented face close to Rimon, eyes crinkling.
"Hey, bro. You really believe they'll stop their rampage on their own, and the revolutionary government'll punish them properly?"
Rimon didn't answer.
Silent as stone.
Realizing something from that alone, Ekaterina nodded intrigued.
"Hm... ah, so that's it."
"......What is?"
"Must be tough for you."
Teasing?
Admiring?
Unclear, she poked and laughed brightly.
"Having power to topple a nation with one sword swing, so you can't draw it lightly? Kinda funny."
After crushing the Liberation Brigade.
Handing off their list instead of finishing them, just because the regime shielded them.
Watching without drawing against regulars too.
Ekaterina giggled a bit, then turned.
"Got it. You just watch, bro."
"......What do you plan?"
"What else."
Strolling casually toward the square mid-sentence.
She glanced back playfully.
"If it's trouble for you, big bro, helping out makes me a good little sis, right?"
"Everyone, halt."
"Who are you?!"
"Hi? I'm Elshar. From the party, as you can see."
"F-from the party?"
The federal soldiers panicked at the sudden appearance of Ekaterina.
Hard to believe this girl popping up alone in the dead of night was a party member.
But hard to dismiss as a lie.
Her uniform and insignia.
Party ID in her hand.
Above all, her calm demeanor in this brutal place.
Proved she wasn't just some rural village girl.
"What you're doing is a court-martial offense and war crime. So stop and surrender now."
"W-war crime?! We were just suppressing these counterrevolutionaries who murdered our commander and ate with the dictator!"
"Evidence?"
"What?"
"Got proof they're counterrevolutionaries?"
"We'll find it starting now...!"
"So, no evidence, just looting and threatening civilians?"
That's what makes it a violation.
The soldiers' faces hardened at Ekaterina's mischievous smile.
They vaguely knew the revolutionary government wouldn't tolerate this.
That's why they'd cut comms, scrambling for 'evidence' first.
But with a party rep here already, only two paths left.
Surrender for military trial...
"Can't surrender yet."
"Defying party orders?"
"Not defying. Just wait till we find proof on them."
"That's for investigators."
"Can't trust others. We'll prove our innocence ourselves!"
"Hm, really?"
Eyes burning with conviction of rightness.
Hiding sinister madness all the more.
Ekaterina tilted her head at the resolute shout.
"What if I don't allow it?"
Click.
"You will."
She smiled at guns trained on her.
As expected.
Even happier for it.
A smile beautiful as snow-capped peaks.
Sadistic as a rabbit spotting a fleeing tortoise.
"Good thing. I was worried, honestly."
"......!"
"—What if you surrendered nicely."
The soldiers' eyes bulged.
The moment she seemed to step forward.
The encircled girl was suddenly nose-to-nose with one soldier.
His reflexive trigger-pull in shock.
Bang! Tat-tat-tang!
"Gaaah!"
Screams rent the air.
The night sky stained red.
One girl danced through hailing bullets, slashing with her dagger.
Soldiers who'd terrorized the city with guns and violence now fled in terror and despair.
Trembling citizens cheered with hope and base vengeance.
The white-haired man watching silently raised his head.
Gazing at the quiet moon illuminating the blood-soaked city without interference.
He murmured lowly.
"It'll be a long night."