Rune Troopers

Chapter 4.4

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Chapter 4.4

“O-i, Second Lieutenant Kuze, we have contact from the fleet. When the courtyard is safely secured, the helicopter corps will come this way there.”

“Roger.”

Katou delivered the report from behind the unit, and Kuze breathed a sigh of relief. The construction of the barricade as complete; it didn’t’ look attractive, but the improvised interception was complete. After that, what’s left is whether or not that bunch is going to come here or not. Kuze gave a signal to his subordinates.

“Leading Private Ueno, leading Private Yamakawa, control the machine gun operation. Sergeant Kotegawa and Sergeant Sasajima, attach the alignment device for rifle bullets. We can’t use rifle bullets at a short distance. Once they attack, go at full power until exhaustion. Everyone, get to a place where it is easy to throw hand grenades. Take note of the safety pin placement.”

And, he watched the empire force across the courtyard, using binoculars. Probably, the current stalemate wouldn’t last much longer. If you’ll notice, a tall woman—Karuda—was next to Kuze, standing. As she was hiding in the barricade, she was looking up.

The barricade was something made to protect the body from high-angled arrows. To effectively hide the body, someone tall needed to do a half crouch. Clinging to the ground was the defensive measure of the modern era foot soldier, and next to that was the n.o.ble, standing female knight.

“Unit Leader Karuda? What is it?”

Karuda pointed her eyes showing her so-cold-you-can’t-guess emotions to Kuze. There wasn’t hostility in it, but there wasn’t favor in it either.

“Why go so far?”

She asked standing alone.

“Is it a reason to save people’s lives?”

“Ah, so it is. Especially as soldiers as well, it’s fine.”

Next to Kuze, she sat down. Now was a good time, as they were alone together as the others were preparing and setting up formation around the ammunition. Her long, green hair blew in the ocean haze. A sweet smell was about. Kuze, without thinking, stared at her profile. Without the intense situation and that dark as a mourning dress black overcoat, she’d probably be very beautiful.

“So we’ll hold off the empire’s forces here?”

“That’s the plan. To save the refugees, that’s our only option.”

“…Justice?”

“Eh?”

“Chivalry, or rather, the way of the G.o.ds, is that sort of justice why you’re fighting?”

“I don’t understand such a troublesome thing, but…we are the SDF. We only allow fighting to protect. So, I don’t know.”

“To protect…the civilians, including me?”

“Ultimately, yes.”

He managed to skirt around a dangerous question. But, such a meaningful question was unable to be answered by him anyhow. Karuda looked Kuze in the eyes.

“Thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank us, and we’re fighting to aid the Mariisua military, which wasn’t enough against the threat.”

“No, this is a grat.i.tude from me, personally.”

Kuze was in amazement at the unexpected words.

“If this is not the way of the knights from a parallel world, and you can’t accept it from the nation, I am giving you my personal applause.”

“These are unmerited words, Unit Leader Karuda.”

“Just Karuda is fine, Kuze-dono.”

She changed her expression just a tad. And, changing her tone to just a little bit of a teasing one, said.

“Kuze-dono, this is your first time seeing

a real war, huh?”

“…You understand that?”

“Yeah.”

And, Karuda took her lance in her hand and abruptly looked up at the sky. While looking at the azure sky, she quietly continued the conversation.

“My fiance was like you. He was a man whose only redeeming quality was his gentleness.”

“Your husband?”

Karuda made a suddenly sad face.

“No, he’s not my husband.”

She looked down, and at that moment something somewhere was sad in recollection as she whispered.

“Before he would become my husband, he died a n.o.ble death in battle…we were both 17 at the time.”

Kuze was at a loss for words. Perhaps seeing through his perplexed state, she said lightly.

“The reason I wear this military wear like mourning clothes is for that reason.”

And, suddenly, she made a serious face.

“So, we will not die. The honor of a knight is important, but also for your lover or wife, you must cling to life.”

Hearing this, Kuze made, without thinking, a bitter smile.

“What? Is there something odd?”

“Lovers, eh? Before going out to the sea, I got dumped. Said she didn’t want me to go, that if I’d go we’d be separated.”

An old wound…without meaning to, got dug into again. Karuda was taken aback.

“…That woman threw you away for going to war?”

“Rather than war, we’re peacekeeping forces. I don’t think she took it seriously.”

“Still, she didn’t think that you were going to support your nation?”

“Who knows? She wanted to stop me, even by force, perhaps. But, truly, I don’t know where her heart was at.”

Hearing his answer, she was at a loss for words. There was something that she thought.

“…Oh yeah, I wonder what that was about.”

She made a face as though she regretted becoming serious.

“My fiance was like that too…”

She said this, and Kuze’s subordinates arrived. Upon seeing them, Karuda got up. And, as she left, she whispered in a small voice.

“If you live and make it back , with just that I will be glad…”

The painful whisper seemed to be sucked up by the wind. Kuze looked for an instant at her profile, and he could see the young girl in her. The thought of her at 17 years old suddenly popped into his mind. Her waiting near the window of a mansion, waiting for her fiance to return home, as a clean and pure lady. But, her fiance’s return never came.

Since then, it is like she wears mourning clothes. Among the n.o.bles who wear much extra and gaunty decoration, she wears only black. And, to erase the pain of the war which stole her husband, she also chose to stand on the battlefield. It’s as if that woman who doesn’t show her emotions came to him to talk about them. Was it not to see the layers of similarity between her now dead fiance and his face? While Kuze was sending her small, thin back off, he thought all of this.

“A man whose only redeeming quality was his gentleness.”

When she said this, she was happy somewhere in her being. She probably loved her fiance. I’ve…never lost someone I love. That may be a very good thing. (Counting getting dumped would be bad…yup.).

——And, it was that time.

“What? The sound of some sort of whistle?”

From the empire’s side, a heavy noise that reverberated even into the inside of one’s being came.; Bewildered, Kuze brought his face out of the barricade with his binoculars to see what was happening. In the middle of the enemy forces, the movement began. The decisive battle drew closer.

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