How frustrating, Tiat thought to herself. Every time, just as she"d begin to move on, memories of that day came flooding back to the surface.
That day, when she"d faced her battlefield, ready to accept her inevitable death. She"d gone without any intent of returning alive. No matter what laid ahead, she was prepared to fight as a fairy soldier until her last breath. By exchanging just one fairy"s life, the Winged Guard could collect data on the Croyance.
Although it was a member of the 17 Beasts, next to nothing was known of the looming spectre. In addition to sharing the other Beasts" immortality, it eroded and a.s.similated everything it touched, and if it was impacted the kinetic energy would be converted into the Beast"s own energy and hasten its a.s.similation - yet Tiat had meant to face it so that a way to fight even such an absurd foe might be found.
If she did, if her death held some meaning, then even though she couldn"t live the life she had wanted, perhaps her life would hold value after all. Thoughts of that nature had filled Tiat"s head as she went off to battle.
And yet, the conflict finished with Tiat standing, having been unable to die. Even after half a month had pa.s.sed, she continued to live on.
"I"ll make myself a problem for all of you!"
Now she trained diligently as a Winged Guard soldier in preparation for the military operations scheduled to begin in three months, somehow found ways to enjoy the cafeteria food despite the challenges it posed, and went shopping for sweets in town. Occasionally during her everyday routine, memories of that day - of him - surfaced.
He was clearly far weaker compared to the fairy soldiers. He knew that it had always been the Leprechauns" sacrifices that allowed everyone else to live on. Even so, he hadn"t let Tiat throw her life away. He"d worn a gallant smile on his face as he admonished her and stood in her way, and…
Right. She"d been neither convinced not satisfied, but regardless her chance to die pa.s.sed her before she realized it.
Fourth Officer Feodor Jessman.
A descendant of a dishonest race that always seemed to be deceiving others and running away from something. He had extensive knowledge of what foods were delicious, was skilled in combat if overall weak, and was polite to other people yet surprisingly blunt to Tiat alone. He might possibly be a nice person after all, but didn"t seem to care about other people"s feelings or resolution. He was kinda cool when he looked like he was trying his hardest - but whenever he tried his best, it was usually to inconvenience her in some way.
Thinking about Feodor made Tiat lose her composure as all sorts of complicated emotions began to jumble up inside her. She focused, and channeled everything she felt about him into four words:
Feodor is a sc.u.mbag.
That was why she, Tiat Shiba Ignareo, felt nothing but hate towards him.
"What"s up?"
The sound of a childish voice brought Tiat back to reality. She surveyed her surroundings - no, it was obvious where she was. Somehow, she"d ended up in the 5th Division"s command room. In front of her was a brown, scaly Beastman, a military uniform stretched across his short in stature but admirably wide form. He was the Armado serving as the division"s commander and First Officer, whose defining trait was the droopy eyes that made him appear half-asleep at all times.
"Oh, um… it"s nothing," Tiat said.
"…Are you not getting enough sleep?"
"That"s no good, Tiat!" Collon piped up, sticking out her chest proudly. "If you wanna be a good soldier you"ve gotta be in shape and pay attention to your work!"
She"s as upbeat as ever. To be that enthusiastic is kinda impressive.
Of course, appearing energetic and being energetic weren"t at all similar. A wide, deep chasm separated their natures.
"Well, it"s true that you can hardly find any work in this world without being fit." The First Officer started rattling on about an unrelated topic, then scratched the scales on his forehead and returned to the apparent subject at hand. "I"m sorry to call both of you in here two days in a row. I understand you"re busy with other matters, but it seems as if unique situations that can"t be entrusted to anyone else keep popping up regardless."
"No, it"s fine, but…"
"Can"t be entrusted to anyone else"? That worries me a bit.
"Anyway, I called the two of you here to a.s.sign you this task," the First Officer said. "I want you two to temporarily leave Fourth Officer Jessman"s command to partic.i.p.ate in a special team."
"Huh… ok, got it." Tiat nodded quickly.
“For the time being, you"re ordered to act only within that team. There will be considerable restrictions in communication with other squads."
"Wh"
"Quiet, Collon!" Tiat hissed. "…Sorry, First Officer."
Since only she and Collon had been called in, she had been expecting to hear something along those lines. As such, she wasn"t all that surprised.
I see. As I thought, I"ll be parting ways with that guy for a while.
She wasn"t going to say anything like "Oh, that"s too bad" or "Guess it"ll get lonely around here". Still, it felt like things around the division wouldn"t be as entertaining, or something like that. Even that slight admission infuriated her. "What a relief" or "Yeah, serves you right!" would be better options. Yeah, let"s go with that.
"But will we really be okay like this?" Tiat asked. "We"re markless, and fairy soldiers at that. That idio… Fourth Officer Feodor aside, I don"t know if we can function properly as soldiers under a different commanding officer. Honestly, I"m not confident that we"ll be able to."
Those who were markless tended to be detested by the general public, particularly the Beastmen. While generally accepted by the 5th Division - no doubt because it was full of social outcasts itself - the Leprechauns were still very much a source of tension.
On top of that, Leprechauns were a type of secret weapon. Information about them was generally kept secret, so few knew the truth: they were unstable lifeforms overflowing with the violent power of Venom and, upon meeting the needed conditions, could cause themselves to explode.
If anyone ever found out about them, they"d probably fear and loathe them. It only made sense. Who would ever want to work alongside a ticking time bomb?
Not to mention, they were also equivalent soldiers. Going through training was one thing, but earning camaraderie was another. We might limit others" performance just by being in the team - all sorts of troublesome thoughts came to mind.
"That"s no problem. The officer in charge of the mission requested you two specifically."
"Huh?" Tiat tilted her head.
"Oh?" For some reason, Collon"s eyes twinkled.
"The mission details are, ah…" the Armado cleared his throat. "It"s like this. Illegal weapons were brought into the city by suspicious individuals, so they need to be retrieved before they can be put to use. That"s about it."
"I see…" His explanation felt weak, so Tiat could only muster a half-hearted reply. It took a miniscule amount of thought to see something was wrong. "That"s the responsibility of the military police, not us, no?"
"Of course, the military police will take action," the First Officer said with a nod. "Based on other suspicions, they"ve already started going after the ones they think are behind the suspicious activity."
"Then… we aren"t going to sortie?"
"I apologize for being the bearer of bad news, but no. The police can"t be seen taking action against these illegal weapons."
"I"m not quite sure I follow…" Tiat scratched her head. If you"re smuggling illegal weapons, it"s obvious that"d be illegal. What"s wrong about police cracking down on criminal actions? Why do they need to be so roundabout and use "other suspicions" to dance around the pretext behind their operations?
Next to Tiat, still puzzling it out, Collon crossed her arms. "…Secret weapons?"
"Good guess." The First Officer nodded. "You hit the nail on the head."
Tiat looked between the two of them in consternation. "H-Hang on, did you figure something out from what he said?"
The other girl nodded, an oddly serious expression on her face. "Calling them illegal weapons might be kinda an understatement. Can we take them to be… different than the usual stuff that"s got bans on ownership and usage and all that?"
Tiat glanced at the First Officer"s face. An Armado"s scales made it hard to read their expressions, but judging by how he listened to Collon silently without interrupting her, what she"d said so far was probably correct.
"Alright…" Collon continued. "I"m thinking these things are super-dangerous, more than even the regular illegal weapons. So super-dangerous you can"t even say they exist. That"s why the cops can"t do a thing, and why you want to put us in, right?"
"Ah…" Tiat murmured with dawning comprehension. So that"s it…
Certainly, the military police was ill-suited for tracking down something that had to be kept secret. They stood out and were known for being by-the-book, but their efficiency was accompanied by an inflexibility that meant they couldn"t become involved in confidential operations. In such cases, rather than relying on the military police, the best option was to a.s.semble a small team of people capable of operating with flexibility and in emergency situations.
I see, I see. In other words, that"s where we come in.
Put that way, it made sense. If she had been by herself, she wouldn"t have understood.
I"ve never been able to read between the lines… Struggling to hold back the urge to sigh, Tiat just stood where she was. It"s always like this, even after all the stuff I"ve learned. I know how to apply logic, but I still can"t figure out the true meaning behind what other people say. I"m so lame…
She had continually struggled towards her goal of becoming a full-grown fairy soldier - a respectable adult - and yet, in the end this was as far as she"d been able to go. Kutori"s back, which she"d admired for so long, remained far out of reach. She doubted she"d ever be able to catch up.
And that wasn"t all. The younger girls - Panival, Lakish, Collon - had all reached Tiat"s level and then surpa.s.sed her, with the distance between them growing with every pa.s.sing day.
As she thought about it, Feodor"s arrogant smirk from half a month ago floated into her vision. She sniffed. Ahh, that"s enough! Thinking about him makes me sick!
An unusual clattering sound almost like spinning wheels came from the hallway, approaching closer until it stopped just before the door. A knock came, accompanied by an bored voice: "Brought the visitor."
Tiat thought she recognized him. His name was… Private Nax Selzel? He served - in a layabout fashion - as a member of the Falcon Defense Squad.
"Come in," the First Officer nodded. The clattering noise entered the room.
"Huh…?"
"Oho…?"
Tiat and Collon were both flabbergasted by what they saw. For his part, the First Officer placed his cigarette into an ashtray, then started speaking in an oddly casual tone. "Ah, it"s been a while. Sorry for calling you here. You must be exhausted after the long trip here."
The clattering sound had come from the wheelchair Nax was currently pushing. In it was the person the First Officer had spoken to: a girl who seemed about 20 years old. She had light golden hair, like gra.s.s faded by sunlight. Her eyes matched her pale blonde hair. She looked as if she would shatter if you touched her, and had an air like she might disappear at any second.
The girl raised one of her small hands, waved faintly, and said, "Hey, old man! Man, it"s been way too long since I saw you! Two years really flies right by! How"s it hanging?"
She had a broad grin on her face and her voice brimmed with energy.
"And you two too, Tiat, Collon! You"re both looking well as ever! Just the sight of your adorable little faces makes all the creaky, wobbly airships I had to take to get here totally worth it!"
"Ai…" Tiat struggled to understand what she was seeing. "Ai…"
The cheerful girl held a hand to her ear. "Ai…?"
"Ai…seia…?"
"Yup yup, you got it!" Aiseia chortled, seeming to delight in her own actions like a child would. "I"m everyone"s favorite, Aiseia Myse Valgalis!"
Aiseia Myse Valgalis. She was currently the oldest fairy soldier, senior to all. Having pushed her body to the brink of ruination through Venom overuse in the course of many battles, she was finally rendered unable to fight by the events of the Elpis Incident.
Aiseia was strangely knowledgeable about all kinds of things, had a mischievous nature and quick wit, and derived entirely too much amus.e.m.e.nt from pranking her juniors at the warehouse. In Tiat"s opinion, the older fairy was a quite troublesome figure. Since she was for all intents and purposes retired, she usually spent her time reading or taking care of the children - at least, that"s how it should have been.
"Um, First Officer, what exactly is going on?" Tiat asked in a small voice.
"I said it before, right? You two were requested by the officer commanding the mission. Here she is."
"Commanding?" She parroted back his words as a question.
"Commanding." He nodded deeply. "Well, anyway, it seems like I won"t need to bother with introductions. She"s been entrusted with full authority over this matter, and as a temporary measure, she"s also been granted equivalent authority to a Second Officer. You three are going to follow her orders from now on."
The question of who the third person was began to fire through Tiat"s synapses before Nax sighed. "I guess I"ll be here too, after all?"
"As it turns out, Nax Selzel, yes. For reasons that escape my comprehension, Aiseia requested you personally."
"Hmm…" The Falcon"s eyes fell on Aiseia. "Not only are you attractive, you"ve got a good eye to boot. I"m humbled you consider me equal to so many other great and skilled soldiers. But…"
His next question came without any hint of sincerity, accompanied by a smile so thin it might"ve been drawn on by a pencil. "If you"ll pardon me asking, what made you pick me?"
"Ah, that." Aiseia grinned. "Nyahaha… do you really want me to spill the beans here and now?"
"Do you need a more appropriate location to tell me?"
"Well, let"s see…" She hummed to herself, one finger on her chin. "What comes to mind if I mention the Bottomless Bucket of Orlandri?"
Nax"s superficial smile stiffened.
"Oh, oh, I know! What about the Prince of Tin Park"s Melancholy Gla.s.s Pane? You guys ever hear of that?"
"Aaack!" Nax"s smile disappeared instantly. "I getcha, "kay?! I getcha! I know why ya chose me, from the bottom o" my "eart! Please don"t go sayin" more, I"m beggin" ya!"
"No problem-o," Aiseia whistled and folded her arms behind her head, her sparkling eyes in hard contrast with Nax"s deathly pale expression. "Saves me the trouble of going on about all the rest."
"Mm…" The First Officer calmly gazed at Nax. "This bucket story seems rather interesting… mind sharing it with me?"
"Weeeell, you see, during the Orlandri Trading Company"s accounting period four years back, this guy-"
"ACK!" No longer composed, Nax clapped his hands over Aiseia"s mouth. "I-It"s nothin" much, really! Jus" a boring thing! First Officer, why don"t we pick up where we left off, hey? That thing about grabbin" a shinin" future all fulla hope wit" our hands?!"
"Mupletomesaoo…"
"Hmph. If you say so, I guess that"s that." The First Officer took out a cigarette, lit it, took a long draw, and exhaled a puff. "Do try to practice some restraint with these side jobs of yours. If you stick your neck out too much, I"ll be forced to lop it off."
"Don"t you think I already know that?!" Nax cried in a strangled voice, tears in his eyes as Aiseia giggled gleefully.
The Armado shook his head. "Good grief…"
Tiat, watching it all transpire, could only sigh. She didn"t entirely follow what was going on, but she did figure out that she, Collon, and Private Nax would be working under Aiseia to do… something.
She glanced at Collon to see her enjoying the situation unfolding in front of her. Collon was always a cheerful girl, but whether or not she knew what was happening was another story.
"Oh?" Aiseia turned to her, a grin still on her face. "Why the long face, Tiat?"
Tiat couldn"t tell whether the other girl"s ambiguous smile meant she knew what she was thinking or not. Though they both went about their day-to-day life with smiles, the intent behind Aiseia"s had always differed greatly from Collon"s. The older girl"s expression was a mask she wore to hide her true feelings.
She hasn"t changed.
Tiat felt nervous around Aiseia. She knew she wasn"t a bad person and that she was considerate of her juniors in her own way. Yet Tiat couldn"t truly open herself up to her - rather, it should be said that Aiseia herself gave off the impression of someone who closed herself off from others.
Nevertheless, that was just how she was.
"Alright, enough of that. Get over here, you two." Aiseia wagged her finger, beckoning Tiat and Collon towards her. Once they came closer she waved her hands for them to bend down, and then pulled both of them into a gentle hug.
"…Really, I wonder what I"m doing right now," she whispered, her voice shaking. "But still, seeing that you"re all safe… makes me so glad…"
"Yeah." Tiat and Collon caught each other"s eye, then each circled an arm around Aiseia to return her embrace. "We"re happy you"re as lively as ever."
She laughed softly. "Feels like that"s my only redeeming quality lately."
"It"s the most important thing."
"It is, huh? That"s right, I"m very fortunate!"
Tiat didn"t know who was hugging the hardest: Collon, Aiseia, or herself. I"ve never been good at dealing with her… Once again, Tiat was reminded of just how good Aiseia was at keeping her off balance. She"s so sneaky, always teasing others but never revealing anything. It"s only in times like this that she shows us how she really feels. To treasure us so much when we treasure her the same… it"s hard to keep acting tough… geez. If you spoil us like this… it"s like we"re kids again…
A sniffle escaped from Tiat. She held her breath, trying desperately to hold back her tears.
Having excused themselves from the command room, the group walked along the hallway - or rather, the two currently operational fairy soldiers did while Nax followed, pushing Aiseia"s wheelchair.
"Sorry "bout the rush, but we"ll need to get going right away," Aiseia said without preamble. "There"s no time to waste, plus the enemy could have eyes and ears anywhere."
Makes sense. Hearing Aiseia speak with so seriously tone made the scenario feel very plausible.
"Aww…" Collon groaned. "Can"t we say hi to Lakish and the others?"
"Nope, sorry."
"Hmph!" The pink-haired fairy crossed her arms petulantly, but didn"t make any more fuss. After all, Aiseia would be the first to admit she wanted to meet those two more than anyone else. When such orders came from her, it would be the height of unreasonableness for them to be disobeyed.
Nax raised his hand. "How about going back to our rooms to change?"
"Also overruled. Arrangements have been made for provisioned goods to be transported to where we"re headed, so you don"t need to worry."
"Well, if you say so…" The Falcon drooped his shoulders in disappointment.
According to what Aiseia had told them, they"d go straight to the Port District, and from there pretend to leave the 38th Island in order to cover up their actual objective: infiltrating Lyell. As a presence that shouldn"t be present in the city, their mission would proceed without raising the suspicions of the enemy organization… or so the idea went.
I see. That means we can"t afford to be careless.
That was all there was to it. There was no reason to refuse. Tiat couldn"t be as stubborn as them.
"Have you heard from the First Officer, Aiseia?" she asked. "About Apple and Marshmellow?"
"Ah…" Aiseia dipped her head, a somewhat lonely expression on her face. "The new rugrats, huh? Yeah, I heard. If we had time, I"d have liked to drop in on them, see their faces."
"They"re amazingly wild, impertinent children."
The loneliness remained even as she chuckled, a smile creeping onto her face. "I wonder why you"re always the one who brings up these things."
Ouch. It frustrated Tiat that she couldn"t really deny that.
"Tiat scolds them all the time!" Collon piped up. "That"s why they run away from her!"
"H-hey! Someone needs to tell them not to do things, or else they"ll never learn anything!" Tiat snapped. "Lakish"s too nice, Panival"s too busy teaching them weird things, and you just play around with them!"
"It"s the duty of kids to play, ain"t it?"
"Why are you so unhelpful?!" Tiat rounded on the older fairy as Collon burst into triumphant laughter. "You should be acting more serious!"
"Anyway, those names are ridiculous," Aiseia remarked as if she hadn"t said anything. "Who in the world thought them up?"
Tiat clammed up abruptly, not daring to answer. If she knew it was an unanimous decision - Feodor aside - she would definitely laugh and make fun of me.
"Oh, and on the subject of rugrats, Masha had the dream."
The awkward smile on Tiat"s face immediately froze.
Masha, the name of a young fairy in the warehouse. She was only 12 years old.
Of course, the dream Aiseia mentioned was no ordinary dream. It was a peculiar and unique dream, the true nature of which was instantly recognized by any who experienced it.
All Leprechauns are said to have come from deceased souls with lingering wills. The dream is proof that they have begun to awaken to long-forgotten past memories or thoughts. It represents the transition from child to adult, and the right to become a fairy soldier. Any fairy to have the dream was sent to a facility on the 11th Floating Island, where they underwent a process to mature as fairies.
"How"s Almita?" Tiat asked. She was another of Tiat"s juniors in the warehouse, from the same generation as Masha. She"d had her dream a year ago.
"As far as I know, she"s doing great. The medicine she"s taking is effective." Aiseia smiled weakly. "Still, it"s losing its strength over time, and now Masha needs to take it too. We"re fine for now, but our stockpile might start running out."
Tiat frowned. "As far as people we can depend on go… there"s the admiral, right? What"d he have to say?"
"Ah, well, it seems like the bigshots are still fighting each other every day," Aiseia grumbled. "If you think about it positively, we"re in the same position we"ve always been. From a more pessimistic angle, there"s been no progress at all. Geez, the Great Sage up and vanishing sure had an effect on everybody."
So it"s like that after all.
Tiat sighed silently. She knew it was a problem that time wouldn"t solve, and that just waiting around would only exacerbate the situation. She held no expectations, and so wasn"t disappointed. She felt no despair.
But she still felt restless. Time wouldn"t fix their situation. The only ones capable of remedying it was them themselves. If they could show the fairies still held value as weapons, then the children at the warehouse would be allowed to continue living. That"s why-
"Hey, Tiat."
Collon called out to her, her voice low and calm. "Don"t worry so much. The others aside, I still haven"t forgiven you for last month."
"Yeah, I know. I know that already."
Collon only ever spoke that way if she was serious. So, without turning to look back, Tiat started to give her response in a monotonous voice.
When the younger fairies had the dream, it meant they were approaching adulthood.
However, to be a fairy was to be a fundamentally unstable existence. Fairies were natural phenomena that, once born into the world, took the form of children – a result of their origin as the soul of a child who did not know they were dead (Incidentally, the reason only female fairies are born likely stems from this fact as well).
The anchoring root of their existence was their child-like body which could never develop into an adult"s. As such, from the moment they had the dream, they became a walking contradiction. The contradiction would eventually kill the fairy; if something that could only exist as a child was to cease being a child, then there"d be nothing left.
But there was a loophole. The so-called "adult fairy soldier" was one who had been modified to be used as a weapon. The most relevant details of the modification included suppressing the underlying Venom output to prevent accidental loss of control and conditioning the body to extend service life as much as possible.
And yet, the obvious truth remained. Without going through that process, the fairies would never survive into even their teenage years.
"The Winged Guard only sought out our seniors because they were needed to defeat the Teimerre, and we secured our own positions by defeating Wil-" Tiat took a breath, "…the First Beast. But now, neither the First nor the Sixth Beast will attack Regul Aire again. If Almita and the others at the warehouse are to keep living, they"ll need a new enemy and evidence that fairy soldiers can be effective in defeating that new enemy."
Tiat lowered her voice so Collon wouldn"t hear what she said next. "If Kutori was here… she"d find a way."
I wanted to be like her.
Strong, brave, dazzling. If Kutori was here, there"d never be a problem to solve in the first place. She would mow down anything that dared stand in the way of the fairy warehouse"s future.
But that wasn"t how things were right now.
Tiat Shiba Ignareo could not become Kutori Nota Seniolis. Chasing after that back had, ultimately, ended in failure.
"You"re just using the name of the older fairy you respect to stage your own dramatic suicide."
Someone once said those words to her.
I hate him.
He"s probably right. I"m copying what Kutori did. He just saw through my laziness.
Even though he doesn"t know anything, doesn"t understand anything, can"t do anything.
To be read so well by someone like that was frustratingly pathetic.
"I really do hate that guy," Tiat mumbled, as if trying to remind herself.