Jeannyaaaaa D:
Please continue supporting the continuation of this series /owo/
Athrun -> Aslan
Cid -> Sid
to match the (fanmade) translation of the manga version
*Terminologies at the bottom of the page
World 2
-1-
Well, here we are. This is our town, but I prefer to call it our own secret hideout."
Pa.s.sing through the abandoned view of the town, Aslan finally stopped the car after going through an unmanned road … It took around 30 minutes or so?
Based on the direction of the path from the 9th terminal, and this building, a ten floored twin tower. Though the gla.s.ses broke and the state it is currently in, but from the familiar shape of its building…
"The 10th Terminal"s building? Then this is, the 10th Terminal?"
The 10th Terminal Station of the Ulza Federation.
It was originally a beautiful place, filled with the greeneries of trees by the boardwalk. But to think that now, the building had turned into this state, with the surrounding buildings and the mountain of rubbles it had become, the road crumbled and cracks everywhere.
"Oh? You know something about this building?"
"You really are mysterious. Did you live nearby here?"
Aslan and Saki who came down from the car.
"…W-well."
Kai came from the outskirts of the 9th terminal, and the two know of this fact.
"In any case, try to calm down for now, since the demon just attacked just now. I expect you would be in a bit of confusion. For now, rest and calm yourself."
"Yep yep. And seems you know quite a bit about us. But that clothes and gun of yours… It"s quite uncommon here."
The two stare towards Kai"s clothes and gunsword.
Though it"s the general provision of the HPA, it is different from the clothes of Saki and Aslan.
…No, the base design looks quite similar?
…The details are the only difference. The crest on the left chest too looks different. The crest of the two is different on its own.
"Hm? "cause we are mercenaries of the Ulza Resist. But, to think you don"t even know this?"
"Resist?"
"Aah, this is not just confusion, but looks like there"s hints of temporary memory loss. It"s impossible to not know about the Resist."
Saki who was beside the loud Aslan shrugged her shoulders.
"In any case, let"s just enter first. We might get discovered by patrolling Demons if we keep staying here. We have something to do under here. In the underground of this building of course."
Aslan then guided the way while Kai walked beside Saki.
The building"s door looked like it was blasted off somewhere by some sort of impact, and so they pa.s.s under the crushed door and went down by stairs.
"The bas.e.m.e.nt elevator?"
"As you can see, yes. But you think there"s electricity running?"
Aslan then continued guiding the darkening path. Without light from the broken gla.s.ses, this place would have been pitch dark.
"Actually, I have a favor to ask…"
As he swallowed down his breath, Kai then faced towards the two and said.
"I don"t mind you thinking I"m amnesiac, but please tell me what happened to this world right now. Why is the city destroyed? And why are the Demons loitering around here?"
The Demon spoke.
"To give slaves their orders, the most effective way is to use the slave"s language."
But the situation here is clearly way different from the world that he remembered. And what he needed to do now is to clarify the current situation he is in.
"As you can see here"
As they continued walking through the dim, dark path towards down below.
Aslan then pointed towards the badly shaped wall with an expression of misery.
"This world is full of humanity"s enemies loitering around. There is mainly four that"s very bad. The Demons, Mythical Beasts, Foreign Deities and the Spirits. We lost the war against them, that was 30 years ago."
"….Humanity lost? That"s…"
In my memory, humanity won against them… Isn"t this the very opposite of that truth?
I really hope this is just a bad dream. What exactly happened after that phenomenon from when I was shopping with Jeanne?
"…Please, continue. Then, what happened to humanity? Are they okay?"
"Barely escaped and in hiding." The one who replied was Saki walking beside.
"The Four Races then ruled over the continents of the world, and are fighting for territories around the world. The Ulza Federation seized by the Demons, humans have no choice but to run away. Like the state we are in now"
At the end of the stairs, Saki pointed with her chin.
The B3F which turned silent, rays of light seep out which hit Kai"s eyelids.
"Bright-?"
The shining ray of light from the ceiling shone down the ground brightly.
…I see, if the Demons are ruling above the ground,
Then humans just need to run away to underground!
The humans used the big underground s.p.a.ce to build a town.
Shops, residentials, even hotels and restaurants! Children walking with their parents while holding hands in front of Kai"s eyes, and patrolling soldiers carrying guns with them.
Everything that filled the s.p.a.ce was harmonious together, this place is without a doubt a human city, even if its appearance changed.
"Welcome to the human city, Neo Vishall. This unused underground s.p.a.ce was wholly reconstructed into an underground city. Ain"t it a view?"
Vishall was originally the name of this area nearby the 10th terminal, with the surface being overtaken by Demons, the place was remade into a new Vishall. The naming as so seems quite fit.
"The Demons used the cities they overtaken from humans as their nests, then all we need to do is hide underground. How"s this?"
"…Unbelievable to think that this place developed this much"
They fled away from the Demons to survive in this place, Kai thought the place would have been in a more desperate state. But in contrary, this place where humans are living in is full of life and cheerful.
"How about provisions?"
"Of course locally agriculture. Leaving the trains" unused rails would just be a waste, so the wooden planks of the rails are instead removed and turned into splendid arable land. Incidentally, electricity is produced by solar energy."
"The Demons did not destroy the panels?"
"The Demons ain"t so free to specifically patrol the building roofs, even if they did, they have no idea what solar panels are for. Panels and rubbles look the same to them. So we used the panels to power the production plants to produce medicine and clothes and such."
Electricity is left intact, and food can be produced.
Even when The Four Races rule the world, humanity can survive as such.
"Does Saki and Aslan live here?"
"For already around a year or so. We are hired as mercenaries here to guard the Human City as a force to rebel against the Four Races, such is the Resist."
Saki laid her hand in her waist, touching against the automatic machine gun stored there. Normally, this heavyweight machine gun is not one a small sized girl like Saki would have handle.
"Our purpose as the Ulza Resist is to take back the area overtaken by the Demons. Of course there are other Resists all over the world, but we"re all in the same boat of a harsh fight."
"—Uhm…"
Resolved, Kai looked to the two. Humanity lost The Great War of the Five Races, a certain doubt have not been cleared.
"This question may look dumb to you two but, I"m asking because I really do not understand anything"
He then prompted the silent Saki and Aslan in the front, and asked the two.
"Why did, humanity lost in the Great War?"
"…Pardon?"
"…Why, you say.."
The two stiffened with a befuddled expression.
"Of course we can"t win", Saki explained.
"Knives and guns don"t work against the Mythical Beasts. Bullets pa.s.ses through the Spirits, a single shot of magic from the Demons would disintegrate buildings, and adding in the powerful Vessels of the Elves which overpower the human"s firepower… But the main reason would be the leader of the Four Races. They are in another chart themselves…"
"The Four Heroes? The Dark Empress Vanessa and the Fang King Rath=Ie and the rest?"
"What, even Kai knows about them"
After saying so, she stared towards Kai.
"After knowing all of this, how do you, Kai, expect us humans to win?"
"…Well, since I do not have any definite proofs. Just, I am in doubt of something."
Saki replied with a straight face.
"The Demons and the other three Races, didn"t Sid defeated them? And I believe he sealed them within the Graveyard to add."
"Sid?"
"Who is that?"
"… Hold on, you two. The Prophet Sid! Don"t tell you two don"t know him…"
He who is the Hero of Humanity who defeated the Four Races.
Just the other day as well, Kai talked about him with the two.
"If just the name Sid then there may be other possibilities, but… Aslan, you know anything?"
"Even if you say Prophet.. and he defeated Demons? If such a person exists then we wouldn"t need to be living underground sneakily like this.."
Saki and Aslan looked toward each other.
From the looks of it, the two of them has no recognition of his existence.
….Not that they do not acknowledge him, but rather…
….The Prophet did not exist to begin with!?
If so, then the dots would connect between the differences in Kai" memories and the being of this world.
"Based on my memories, humanity should have a hero who led us to victory in the Great War… but.."
If this is so,
What if the history was that Prophet Sid did not exist in this world?
Then there would be no one to stand against the Four Races, leading humanity to their defeat. Or so, that was the "scenario" which history followed through with?
…Then "that" which I saw was not a mistake.
… "That", during my shopping with Jeanne, during that phenomenon, something had deviated.
The black dot in the sky which swallowed everything in, the clouds, the ground, buildings, the people, even Jeanne herself. Leaving me all alone. And now that I have realized, that the history of the world itself have changed.
"Hm? Hey Hey Aslan"
"Oh, here comes the main squad. They"re here an hour earlier than planned."
From within Neo Vishall, cheers can be heard.
A crowd of people. The walking pedestrians stopped moving and headed towards them and gave cheers.
"Me and Saki here are stationed troops, while the ones there is the main squad of the Resist. Once a month, they will patrol around the Human City like so. Their mission to speak, would be "to plan how to take back the Ulza Federation back to the hands of humanity", and such."
The hope to take back the surface.
But it is absurd to think that the appearance of the main squad would bring about such cheers.
"They seem to be very popular?"
"Well, the commander of the Resist is in amongst them. To the people, he is the guardian who will bring salvation from the threats of the Demons. And such is the reason of the cheers."
The owner of these loud cheers would be from the females.
"The popularity is not the squad"s, but the commander"s. He"s our direct superior. Young and talented, and his looks are quite the something."
"The Luminescent Knight.", Saki blurted out.
"As the symbol of the hope of liberation from the rule of the Demons. Not only in this Resist, but it"s as so as well in other places."
The closer one gets to the crowd, the more you can see the number of mercenaries there is, wearing the same uniform with the Resist"s crest on their left chest.
"And where is that commander you spoke of?"
"See that guy then in center of the crowd? One of them is wearing a knight-like armor. Ah, see, he"s coming over."
Saki took a breath filled with admiration and continued where she left off.
"He really is so cool, Jeanne-sama that is. He"s prettier than the average girls, even though he"s a guy. Of course he"s so popular. The fact that his name is somewhat feminine is unexpectedly good too."
"….Saki, what did you?"
Did I hear wrongly? The name which this girl beside me just said…
"Jeanne-sama!"
"We have awaited your arrival. No irregularities in the main base. We shall continue on the security with all we"ve got!"
Saki and Aslan fixed their posture to one with respect towards the armored knight/commander who was surrounded by the people.
"I thank you for your efforts." The commander replied with a heartwarming smile.
The side view of the lad in armor was beautiful indeed. He who looks similar in age to Kai has a distinctively dignified facial features. The meekness he gives off outlines the gentleness one can feel from a female.
But to Kai, it would seem that he is trying to hide his true features and added make-up to look more boyish. And the armor he clad, isn"t it to hide the slenderness of his body?
His voice, which seems to be forced out from his throat and finally, the silver hair. His lengthy hair tied up behind to deceive, which was exactly the same way Jeanne tied up her hair during her childhood days in front of Kai. Her hair tied back, as it"s a bother, or so she says.
"Jeanne?"
"—"
The silver haired knight who looked back. The commander of the Ulza Federation tilted his head towards Kai who was in between Saki and Aslan.
"Oh? And this would be? An unfamiliar face."
"A civilian we safeguarded from the surface. His name is Kai, and does not seem to be registered in the resident roster here."
"He kind of hit his head and his memories" in a state of confusion. Please rest a.s.sured, Jeanne-sama, he"s not a bad person."
Saki and Aslan in a fast speech. Jeanne nodded in response to affirm what they just said.
"I see, then"
"Wait! Jeanne! It"s me!"
Pushed aback by the two in his left and right, Kai screamed towards his childhood friend.
Please let this be some kind of joke. Demons ruling over the world, humanity being stranded to live underground without a place to belong, and Saki and Aslan who doesn"t remember about me. She might be in collusion with the two for this.
"We both were just shopping together a while ago! Since you are going to depart for the capital, you decided to buy presents for Saki and Aslan, don"t you remember any of this?!"
The people in the crowd started to gather in curiosity, their stares not filled with sympathy, but rather in hostility towards the person speaking in a loud manner against the highly antic.i.p.ated knight of hope.
"Please excuse me but", the knight called Jeanne shakes his head from side to side, in a voice Kai hears in disbelief that he"s posing as a man.
"Have we met somewhere before? I believe you have the wrong person."
"…Do you really not remember anything?"
"Pardon but, me and my underlings have a scheduled meeting right after this. Saki, Aslan, please hear what he has to say in my stead."
Jeanne who is surrounded by his underlings then turned his back.
…For real?
…Even Jeanne doesn"t know who I am..?
Please let this be just a joke, we were just together a while ago..
"Jeanne!"
Kai gritted his teeth and kicked the ground, even while being pushed aback by the other underlings, he still tried to approach the knight who turned his back.
"You, showing off that commander"s face while posing like a man. Is that what your dream is about? That"s not right, right? Didn"t you say you wanted to surpa.s.s your father, as his daughter? Have you forgotten even about that?!", as Kai spoke in a voice just enough for Jeanne to hear
"–!"
The commander of the Resist then looked as if he somehow reacted, or so Kai sees it to be. But that too was just an instant.
"You?! What are you trying to do to Jeanne-sama!"
"Stay away! Jeanne-sama, are you alright!"
Kai, his shoulders grabbed and was forcefully pushed away from Jeanne by his underlings.
"W-wait, Kai!? What are you doing!"
"Why did you suddenly approach Jeanne-sama like that… Our apologies, Jeanne-sama! He really isn"t a bad person!"
Saki and Aslan added, while the dazed Kai could only see the commander of the Resist walk away.
__
Resist = Resistance. left it as it was as the furigana in the raw.
悪魔族 (ak.u.ma) : demons
精霊族 (seirei) : spirits
蛮神族 (banshin) : foreign deities
幻獣族 (genjuu) : mythical beasts
Vessel : tools to use magic arts
Jeanne just appeared and I already can’t wait for more Jeanne action =w=..
Regards,
shirori