Killing the Sprout (1)
In the safe house on the outskirts of the city, Werner Grime stared blankly out the window.
“Director… are you sure you don’t want to say hello?” Second Lieutenant Karin Maven asked cautiously. He simply nodded in reply.
“It wasn’t a particularly good relationship.”
His tone was casual, but Karin could faintly sense the true meaning hidden beneath it. Of course she knew. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to voice it. As she stood there biting her lip bitterly, Werner, still gazing out the window, spoke again.
“My head’s a bit of a mess, Karin.”
“Ah… we’re returning to Forbidden Lake tomorrow, so you should get some rest today. You spent the entire day in the hospital room yesterday, too.”
“That’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Instead, could you call the people upstairs for me?”
“Ah… yes, of course…! I’ll be right back.”
“Thank you, Karin. You’ve worked hard until now, so get some proper rest yourself.”
She saluted Werner and carefully left the room.
“….”
Leah Gilliard. Karin repeated the name in her mind. It was the very name he had desperately called out while suffering a seizure on the first day they arrived at the Eastern Army District’s Branberg. As someone who had stayed by his side all night, she knew this fact well. At first, she had wondered if Werner was simply longing for a dead lover or family member, but the woman was alive and well. She wasn’t even family. She had been a fellow soldier in the same unit.
After much deliberation, Karin arrived at a single conclusion.
‘She must have left Werner unilaterally.’
There was no other answer. Karin recalled the sight of Werner sprawled on the floor, reaching out toward her. It was a scene she could hardly imagine, and precisely because of that, it was all the more pitiful.
“….”
For some reason, Karin felt a sharp pang in her chest. The countless memories of being abandoned herself resurfaced, tormenting her. But she couldn’t show it. She couldn’t afford to become a burden here as well. Werner Grime was already struggling enough. As his adjutant, all she needed to do was faithfully carry out her duties. Karin clenched her fists, forced her heart to settle, and climbed the stairs. She headed toward the place where the collaborators Werner had personally summoned were staying.
===
Once Karin had left, Werner covered his face with both hands and let out a long sigh. It had been a mistake. If he had been more careful when identifying the personnel, if he hadn’t let his guard down relying solely on sight… Leah Gilliard wouldn’t have been gravely wounded. The regret he had tried so hard to ignore came flooding in like a tide. What if Leah had died here? Werner would have thrown himself out the window without hesitation. The choices he had made to protect her had once again driven her to the brink of death. He would have atoned through the pain that accompanied death, then begun the next cycle to repay that sin. Of course, thanks to bringing the nanite treatment, he had at least prevented the horrific outcome of her being killed. But failure was still failure. The fact that Leah had survived didn’t erase what had happened.
In the end, Werner had no choice but to make a decision. A peaceful life? Retiring from the military and living leisurely? He realized it was nothing more than nonsense that denied every life he had lived until now. Werner Grime—no, Lutus Edan, the former commander of Graveyard—still had a duty that had not been lifted. Light and shadow were inevitable. This was the cycle he had reached after twisting the outcomes where they were sacrificed and striving to make them happy. For them to remain forever in the light, he had to remain forever in the darkness. He could not allow any more blood or filth to stain their hands. Graveyard had been enough for that. It was a place like a hometown filled with memories, yet also a graveyard etched with everyone’s pain. That was why he had dismantled the fortress command. Just as only those who rose above the past could move forward, the people of Graveyard had to leave the graveyard behind and step into the bright world. So that even if they lived ordinary lives, they would not fall into despair. So that they could build families with others and laugh together with children who resembled them. But Werner could not do that. Regression. Having been born with this cursed ability, he could never escape the battlefield. As someone who constantly returned to the past to make choices he would not regret, he had to slaughter and eliminate anyone who tried to interfere with their happiness or disturb their peace.
“Now I finally understand how foolish I’ve been.”
Werner let out a hollow laugh. How stupid could he be? He had resolved not to regret, yet he had made another choice he would regret. They still needed him. Even after the Titans had disappeared, there were countless things threatening their happiness and safety. Werner’s eyes gleamed coldly. He had to finish carrying out all the final orders Lutus Edan had left behind across the countless cycles stored in Akasha. Even if the cup before him was poisoned, he would silently lift it to his lips. This time would be no different. Just as it had always been.
The moment Werner hardened his resolve, someone knocked on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
“May I come in, Brigadier General?”
When humanity achieved complete victory over the Titans, Brigadier General Lutus Edan had been a man who commanded both the light and the shadows. If the people of Graveyard were his comrades in the light, then naturally, he had comrades in the shadows as well.
“Come in.”
It was them.
===
It must have been around the fifth regression. Lutus Edan came to realize the inevitable limitations he possessed. Humanity was not only fighting the Titans. They were also fighting against humanity itself. The fear that the world might end tomorrow had engulfed the entire empire, turning it into a breeding ground for all kinds of crime. That was also why the Chancellor’s authority had grown even more solid. Though he lacked military insight, his political ability was exceptional, so he left the management of the front lines to Supreme Commander Arthur Philias and focused on stabilizing the domestic situation. He mercilessly crushed opposing factions and executed them all on charges of national treason. If lucky, a labor camp. Otherwise, execution. If truly unlucky, one’s entire family and relatives were wiped out. Naturally, the Chancellor did not always employ fair methods in the process. The members of the Nationalist faction, following the Revolutionary faction, had suffered enormous sacrifices at that time. For a moment, he was astonished by the Chancellor’s cruelty in fabricating charges against innocent people and executing them. But Lutus realized that this, too, could be a method. The visible front lines alone could not change the course of the war. To achieve complete victory, even the shadows operating beneath the surface had to be utilized. That was the truth he had realized in the fifth regression. Thus, the people he had connected with in the sixth regression became Lutus Edan’s faithful shadows through all forty regressions. They were known as the “Foundation Stones.”
At Werner’s words, five men and women poured into the room.
“When you said you were retiring, I thought our Brigadier General had finally lost his mind.”
A man with scars slashed across his face laughed cheerfully. It was Matheus, the “Godfather.” He had been the boss of a violent criminal organization that controlled the capital’s underworld and had been purged for defying the Chancellor’s orders during the suppression of the Nationalists. If Lutus hadn’t extended a helping hand at just the right moment, he would never have survived. Because of that, Matheus had later moved north to Graveyard and, together with his surviving subordinates, assisted Lutus with his covert operations. And it wasn’t just Matheus, the crime boss. There was Dorothy, the “Hetaira,” a drug dealer who manufactured powerful illegal substances. Regorodo, the “Murderous Ghost,” who had made contract killing his profession since childhood. And finally, Saloka, the “Centurion,” who primarily handled smuggling and information. They were all formidable figures in the underworld, yet at the same time, they were Lutus Edan’s loyal hands and feet. Their notoriety was widely known even among civilians, so Dien Schmidt, the Revolutionary Front member who had been dragged along with them, felt his mind going blank.
“It’s been a while.”
“Oh my, you’ve become incredibly handsome while we haven’t seen each other. Your original looks were already no joke, but this… this is quite tempting.”
Dorothy brought her finger to her lips and tried to seduce him. Of course, Werner didn’t even spare her a glance.
“…Still as cold as ever, I see.”
“I didn’t call you here for such trivial talk. You probably already know the gist from Saloka.”
Werner turned his head toward the man among the four who was dressed in the plainest clothes.
“Oh my, was I supposed to tell them? I thought everyone already knew~.”
Saloka, the Centurion. The reason he had earned the alias “Centurion” was simple. Information began with hiding one’s own identity. Saloka was also a master of voice mimicry and disguise, capable of producing a hundred different voices. He imitated Dorothy’s coquettish tone and burst into laughter.
“Hey, mimic. Didn’t I say I’d kill you if you copied me again?”
“You did say you’d kill me. But so what?”
This time, it was Matheus’s voice. But Matheus only burst into hearty laughter toward Saloka.
“Kahaha, damn, that’s actually hilarious. Yeah, this is it. Do you know how much I missed this bastard after not seeing him for six months?”
Meanwhile, Dorothy, the target of the teasing, was fuming, her face flushed red with anger.
“Enough with the jokes. So, what business did you call us for, Brigadier General?”
“There are quite a few targets, aren’t there? If you’re summoning us again after saying you were washing your hands of everything, it must be someone pretty big… So, the Chancellor? The Supreme Commander? Or maybe… Arhen Orca, who bit her master without fear?”
“Ah, right… I heard Arhen, that bitch, betrayed you. Every time I saw her, that condescending look in her eyes was so annoying. I’d love to dip her in high-concentration drugs just once.”
“…Don’t cross the line. Not before I kill you.”
However, the moment Arhen’s name was mentioned, Werner’s previously somewhat friendly voice turned icy. Dorothy swallowed dryly and had no choice but to step back.
“Ah, got it. Why are you getting so angry? I can’t even speak freely…”
“Arhen did nothing wrong. She simply acted as I intended.”
“Well, even someone as strong-willed as her wouldn’t have found it easy to openly antagonize you.”
“Let’s skip the small talk and get to the point.”
Werner looked at Dien Schmidt, who was trembling between the four Foundation Stones, and spoke.
“This time, the targets we need to dismantle aren’t just one or two people.”
“Then, the military itself?”
“No. The Revolutionary Front.”
Lutus Edan. The other identities he used were not limited to Werner Grime, the director of the Security Strategic Agency. As a giant of the empire’s underworld, he emphasized once more.
“The Revolutionary Front. We have to tear every last one of them apart and kill them.”