Chapter 199. Responsibility and Hope (4)

Under the pouring rain, people in modern-style tactical robes moved about busily.

The area was quite crowded with those slowly moving metal magic gear and supplies.

In front of the barracks where the meeting had ended.

Inside the ruined building of the temporary gathering place, which was as large as an auditorium or an indoor plaza.

It was bustling with freelancers who had gathered to avoid the pouring rain, and those who were having a light meal of combat rations and preserved food.

“Ah! This should be good for moving around outside!”

April, who was walking among them, pulled out a large vinyl umbrella from the supplies scattered around.

Reading the notice on the wall, it seemed that the support staff of the 19th outsourcing district had provided it for convenience to get around in the rain.

April turned around and shouted cheerfully.

“There’s only one. Let’s share this, Direct Lineage Member?”

The transparent umbrella, which opened with a pop, was a tight fit for two people.

“Uh, huh? Huh?”

But April, who had approached Enoch to share the umbrella, seemed slightly flustered for a moment.

It seemed she had realized that she had to raise her arm higher than she thought to share the umbrella.

In the end, Enoch, who couldn't stand to watch April struggling with her arm awkwardly raised, had no choice but to take the umbrella.

“I’ll hold it.”

“Th-thank you…. Ugh, this is so embarrassing, ughhh.”

Ignoring April, who was blushing for a strange reason, Enoch glanced to the side.

Various temporary facilities were set up here and there along the rainy path they were walking, and numerous people were moving about on them.

Suddenly, April pressed close to Enoch’s arm.

Feeling a soft touch on my forearm, I glanced down to see April's hand slightly resting on my arm.

Seeing that her attitude didn't seem intentional, perhaps April's sense of personal space was also quite broken.

Just then, April, who was holding my arm, lifted her head.

“Looking around, the atmosphere among the freelancers seems a bit unusual. There are reasons for that, too.”

“Reasons, you say. What exactly?”

“The freelancer corps, the damage is huge.”

April said, looking up at the sky for a moment.

“I heard that half of the formed interims are combat-incapable. And among the remaining interims, there are countless people who are injured or have lost their will to fight.”

“That certainly sounds serious.”

“Well, to be honest, it’s not a situation to be optimistic about.”

April once swiped her finger over the strap of the weapon case slung over her shoulder.

“I’m afraid that when the next magical beasts attack, sticking only to defense might cause problems.”

Instead of answering, Enoch nodded his head.

The biggest characteristic of the experimental magical beasts they were facing this time was that they ‘infected’ their opponents.

Therefore, the casualties were as good as reinforcements for the experimental horde.

“I’ve roughly calculated the number of casualties and the freelancers whose bodies couldn’t be recovered.”

“And the conclusion?”

As she walked, April took out her terminal and, tapping the display, said.

“Well, don’t expect anything great. We just found out that it’s a desperate situation for us, you know?”

“……I suppose.”

Indeed, the list of unrecovered bodies and freelancers who had gone missing during the battle.

Enoch had also paid attention to that information as it had appeared as one of the materials in the meeting earlier.

“Most of the freelancers for this request came from the 37th outsourcing district, so I guess there won’t be a shortage of work for a while after this is over.”

“That would be so. Since the number of freelancers taking jobs will have decreased.”

“Right. Haa, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing……”

Literally, as the number of suppliers decreased, it was only natural for the demand to be concentrated.

However, April, with a slightly complicated expression, was reaching out her hand to catch the falling raindrops.

Then, meeting Enoch’s gaze, she shook it off with a flick and sighed softly.

“Aah~, seriously. Wouldn’t it be great if the Saintess could just appear here with a pop!”

At the unexpected words, Enoch tilted his head.

“Saintess? Are you talking about Amelia?”

“Yes. Well, even though she's one of the twin saintesses of The Order, it’s also because Lady Amelia is Lord Enoch’s follower family, you know?”

April nodded her head lightly.

Then, turning to me, she narrowed her eyes slightly and smiled.

“At the very least, if the Saintess appeared in this gloomy atmosphere, she could be a beacon of hope!”

“I suppose that’s true.”

The sniper girl, who had said that and looked around once, stretched lazily.

“Ugh~. To be honest, I don't like it when it's too noisy, but I also don't like seeing everyone with long faces, you know~? It would be nice if everyone could smile together, wouldn't it?”

“There’s no use in blaming something you don't have.”

“Ah! Of course, I know that much.”

Beside her flowing pink hair, April winked one of her same-colored eyes.

“It's just, well, hope is a wishful thinking!”

“…Is that a pun?”

“Ahaha, how was it? Pretty good, right?”

After laughing lightly once while tucking her hair behind her ear, April turned her head and looked ahead.

“Ah, over there. They’re residents of the outsourcing district.”

At the sight of people coming and going next to the freelancer camps in the distance, Enoch stopped for a moment.

They were wearing modern-style robes or raincoats that were old and tattered here and there, and were busy organizing containers or carrying ammunition.

They were helping the freelancers with their supplies.

Enoch’s eyes narrowed for a moment when he saw the children from the Underground mixed in among them.

They all had eyes that were completely devoid of hope, but it seemed that despite that, they were all moving diligently in the rain to contribute to the war effort.

Enoch glanced at April beside him.

“Did you want to show me this by suggesting a walk?”

“Well. I was just trying to take a look around the freelancer camp. It wasn't my intention.”

The pink-haired girl, revealing her bare shoulders, shrugged her white shoulders over her off-the-shoulder jumper.

“Everyone’s working hard in the rain.”

“Everyone wants to live. It’s a little funny, isn’t it?”

April smiled slightly and looked up at Enoch.

“Funny? What is?”

“Lots of things. A big battle like this? So many people are dying in the outsourcing district. And in the Empire, even that notorious ‘press’ isn’t moving.”

Uncharacteristically, April added, looking ahead with a somewhat calm gaze.

“They’re not interested at all. In us.”

Enoch turned his head without a word.

Perhaps in my case, the Elsyde main house had taken security measures with the press and such for the convenience of the mission, but.

It was also true that despite such a large-scale battle where so many people were dying, there was no intervention or even interest from the outside.

Enoch looked around, holding the umbrella.

“The lack of interest from the outside is also a question for me. They said it was connected to some kind of rebellion, but there’s been no particular word.”

“Well, if it were something like that, the press would surely be interested, but I don’t know.”

April once poked her chin with her white, slender finger and opened her lips.

“Umm, actually, it would be a relief if they just didn't make a spectacle of it. Looking at it this way, getting attention isn’t always a good thing.”

“That’s a bland conclusion. What about the possibility that the Victoria domain itself is attempting to block information?”

“Ah~! My head hurts, so what does it matter?”

Suddenly, she, who was walking ahead, spun around once.

Her glossy pink hair swished and brushed past her cat-like eyes.

“We just have to fight back!”

April smiled faintly and said playfully.

“What, to a mere freelance sniper? Don’t expect a difficult analysis from me, okay? Ahaha~♪”

As if she didn’t like the gloomy atmosphere, April walked, humming a small tune like that.

Enoch, who had been watching her pink hair sway with her steps, turned his head.

“So, about that meeting before. What happened?”

Solo mission.

April was clearly referring to the fact that had been decided in the meeting. Enoch tilted his head.

“The meeting, you weren’t present, were you? Did you hear about it?”

“Well, actually, I just heard some rumors here and there. Nothing is for sure. I heard you were given a very dangerous mission.”

April leaned forward and, looking up at Enoch, narrowed her cat-like eyes.

“…….”

Enoch looked back at her.

Meeting her faintly shining pink eyes, Enoch was at a loss for words for a moment.

April, who had been looking at Enoch for a short while, parted her lips slightly and muttered.

“Let’s just, run away from here together~? Ahaha, just kidding.”

“Run away? To where?”

At Enoch’s words, April stopped talking.

“Running away is impossible anyway. The mission is a mission, but the railway to and from the outsourcing district has been cut off. And the fact that communication is cut off means we can't even hope for support from the outside.”

“Hmm~ Don’t you think it would be better than dying here? We might find a point where communication is possible while walking through the wasteland~?”

Enoch glanced at April, who was asking lightly with the ends of her words lilting.

“I wonder. Most of all, that suggestion doesn’t seem sincere.”

“Huh?”

Enoch quietly looked straight ahead and added.

“From what I’ve seen of you, I don’t think you’d say something like abandoning the outsourcing district and running away.”

“……!”

April’s eyes widened slightly and she looked at Enoch.

As if her playful lie had been seen through, a look of surprise was on her slightly flushed cheeks as she looked up.

“S-seen? But it hasn’t been long since we got to know each other, Direct Lineage Member? How could you know me……”

The moment the girl’s pink eyes visibly wavered and she was about to say something more to Enoch.

Enoch stopped in his tracks and opened his mouth in a low voice.

“Just a moment.”

“Huh?”

At those words, April looked around.

They had already walked to a place where there were few other people.

It was a place where rusty chain-link fences and brick walls had been erected, indicating that it was the outermost edge of the large temporary gathering place.

“Why, what is it?”

Enoch glanced at April, who had lifted her head in confusion, and grabbed her shoulder.

A sleeveless tank top. The girl’s bare skin, exposed because of the jumper she wore down to her elbows, filled Enoch’s hand softly.

Enoch held April’s shoulders and pushed her against the wall.

A beat later, the umbrella Enoch had dropped flew through the air and landed on the ground with a thud.

“Uh, haah……??”

Ignoring the flustered April, Enoch slammed one of his forearms against the wall next to her.

Then, he pushed his knee between her white, smooth thighs, pressing his body against hers and completely blocking her movement.

Suddenly feeling a seriously soft sensation, Enoch glanced down to see her firm breasts pressing against his body.

“Hya, hyaat? D-Direct Lineage Member?!”

April, startled, lifted her gaze and shouted with a flushed face.

But Enoch was already not looking at her.

After seeing Enoch glance to the side and make a gesture to be quiet, April, still flustered, hesitantly followed his gaze.

In the back alley behind the stone wall of a ruined building where it was raining.

There, two girls in the uniform of the Dragoon Corps stood in the rain, facing each other.

***

“There’s no support possible from the Dragoon Corps?!”

Beside a brick wall in the Victoria style, where people did not come and go.

There, Alicia’s voice rang out loudly.

The Dragoon girl’s clear blue eyes, staring at her friend and comrade, shone brightly under the lead-colored sky.

Her ash-brown hair was wet with rain, and hung over the Dragoon Corps uniform that clung to her body.

On the other hand.

Opposite her, Aslin stood in the differentiated uniform of the honor guard, which exposed some of her white skin.

Alicia urgently shouted at her, who was standing with her wet blonde hair plastered to her cheeks.

“A-Aslin! That’s not a good thing!”

“Alicia. First, calm down.”

“Of course, Aslin, I’m not saying your judgment and the entire Dragoon Corps’ judgment is wrong…. But still, to say something like that now is wrong!”

Placing a hand on her firm chest, Alicia shouted proudly.

“I stood at the forefront in this battle, directly under the command of the Elsyde Direct Lineage Member!”

“…….”

“I saw how many magical beasts are swarming here! This place needs the help of the Dragoon Corps! And you’re saying support is impossible?!”

Alicia threw out her other arm and argued.

“At this rate, all the people in this outsourcing district are going to die!”

But Aslin shook her head.

“I’ve heard the rumors about you too, Alicia. Not only did you get lost while scouting, but you were almost scammed by a con man in the outsourcing district.”

“Th-that has nothing to do with this!”

Alicia shouted, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment, but Aslin shook her head and added.

“No, it does. I don’t think all the people in the outsourcing district are bad, but there are also criminals and villains mixed in whom we have no obligation to protect.”

Aslin looked straight at her friend and comrade standing before her.

“In particular, there are also rumors of a rebellion in this incident. It’s only natural, when considered rationally, not to go out of our way to protect them.”

“Even if other innocent people are sacrificed!”

“Then Alicia, I want to ask you something too.”

Aslin slowly closed and opened her eyes.

“The justice you claim to have as a member of the Dragoon Corps, where does it come from?”

For a moment, Alicia’s body twitched.

“That’s…….”

“As you said, I’m not saying it’s okay for all the people in this outsourcing district to die. But, we are members of the Dragoon Corps.”

Aslin met Alicia’s gaze directly.

“Alicia. For you and me, orders are our mission. It is our duty to be loyal to the name of Victoria.”

“But……!”

“Listen carefully, Alicia.”

Alicia’s eyes shone calmly.

“Our commander, Colonel Shepherd, did not designate the citizens of the outsourcing district as people we should protect in this operation. To our commander, only the victory or defeat and the merits of this battle are important.”

“Ugh!”

Alicia’s eyes widened for a moment.

Then, glaring at Aslin, she strode up and grabbed her by the collar with both hands.

“So you’re saying the citizens of this outsourcing district aren't who we should protect? Why?! Aren't we all people of the Victoria domain!”

“……Alicia. You know too.”

Unlike Alicia’s somewhat passionate gaze, Aslin faced her calmly.

“People are not all treated equally from birth. Just accept reality.”

“……!”

For a moment, a silence fell between the two girls.

Alicia bit her lip hard, as if she had realized that stark fact within modern society, within the Empire.

The girl from the honor guard, whose collar was being held, lifted her head and said with a complicated expression.

“Alicia. You know too, right? That anywhere, only those with outstanding talent in magic are valued.”

“……At least!”

In response, Alicia lifted her head and, with her clear blue eyes shining, shouted with determination.

“I! I’ve never once thought that was right!”

“Don’t be stubborn, Alicia.”

Aslin tilted her head forward.

“Your actions like this could easily turn into insubordination. You could be referred to a Victoria military tribunal. Are you okay with that?”

Alicia bit her lip for a moment.

“That’s…….”

“You said that since you were young, you had a vague dream of becoming someone who saves people.”

Looking down at the crestfallen Alicia, Aslin said calmly.

“I don’t know if it was the right direction, but you’ve worked hard at the Royal Guard School for that goal until now. I know because I was beside you, Alicia.”

Aslin reached out her hand to the speechless Alicia, who had her fists slightly clenched.

“Return to the unit, Alicia.”

The tip of her white hand, with raindrops dripping from it, came closer to Alicia’s eyes.

To the slightly lifted head of Alicia, the color-bearer of the Dragoon Corps honor guard added calmly.

“I understand you want to protect this outsourcing district. But you have to remember the oath we took when we were commissioned into the Dragoon Corps.”

“The oath…….”

“We dragoons are strongest when we are together. The same goes for Nemesis, who are called the elites of Elsyde. But what can you do alone?”

Aslin added coldly.

“And the direct lineage of Elsyde whom you are temporarily following. For him too, your existence, with your ambiguous affiliation in this operation, would only be a nuisance.”

“A n-nuisance?! To the Direct Lineage Member?!”

“Of course. We’re not supposed to participate in this operation. If Colonel Shepherd has a whim, it will immediately turn into a diplomatic issue.”

Aslin said, looking down at Alicia.

“So, you’re not unaware of what your existence means to the Direct Lineage Member Enoch, who has to care about his reputation and the development of the mission, are you, Alicia?”

Alicia looked to the side for a moment.

It wasn't a wrong story.

With her wet hair plastered to her cheeks, Alicia lightly bit her red lips.

“Ugh…….”

Enoch was a direct lineage of Elsyde, but he was a boy of a similar age to herself or Aslin, who had graduated from the officer’s academy after skipping grades.

It was unreasonable to think that all his judgments were mature.

If so, then pushing her own stubbornness like this could surely be the wrong path for Enoch as well.

Aslin was pointing out that very fact.

“…….”

Alicia dropped her head.

Her ash-brown hair was soaking wet, and transparent raindrops dripped down from under her bangs.

She wanted to deny it.

This was wrong. To turn away from people who had no power, from a clear threat.

But, the fact that she couldn’t deny Aslin’s logic either made her clench her fists.

“You understand, right, Alicia? You’re simple, but you’re not stupid.”

Aslin sighed softly and said.

“Let’s go back. That’s a rationally good thing for both you and the Direct Lineage Member Enoch. I’ll prepare the documents for your return to the unit…”

But just then.

“It might be rational.”

At the familiar boy's voice coming from the side, Alicia’s clear blue eyes widened.

“To be honest, I'm not aware of acting so rationally in everything.”

“Ah, D-Direct Lineage Member!”

The gazes of the two girls turned to the side.

Beside the wall where they were.

There, Enoch, who had been listening to their conversation and had interrupted, was opening his mouth, his eyes shining calmly.

“I still haven't removed Alicia from this squad. The colonel is the same.”

Enoch added nonchalantly, staring at the girls from the Dragoon Corps before him with his deep blue eyes.

“It was short, but. Was that persuasive enough?”

But for some reason, the gazes of the two girls who were staring at Enoch blankly seemed a little awkward.

“U-um. I get that.”

Just as Enoch was feeling a little puzzled by that fact.

Aslin, with a small hand trembling, pointed her finger at Enoch.

“……You two. What, what are you doing?”

Only then did Enoch realize his posture and glanced down.

“Ugh…….”

After seeing April, who was sandwiched between the wall and himself, staring up at him with a blank expression,

Enoch met her gaze and said one more thing.

“Ah.”

Anyway, that's the logic.

It seemed it wasn't a very persuasive posture.