Chapter 5: Resolved to Risk Another Person’s Life

Reports and communications came into the Schutzstaffel command post in the Wiltian royal palace, but what Genitz most wanted had yet to arrive.

“What is going on, Delz?”

“M... My apologies, Sir!”

Lieutenant Delz was standing in front of him and shaking, his face pale.

“I remember you saying that I could count on you.”

“I’m sorry, Sir!”

Genitz was waiting for a report of the monarch’s capture. The Schutzstaffel had taken occupation of the royal palace three days ago, but it had yet to find the king. This was because Lud’s group had already secured the king.

“Is the monarch really that important?” asked Sven at Genitz’s side.

“Surely one or even two incompetent kings can’t threaten your advantage.”

The monarch didn’t have much authority. According to Wiltia’s political system, the king was the supreme authority, above the administration, parliament, judiciary, military and various ministries and agencies. However, he was little more than a rubber stamp.

The monarch himself could not give orders. Thirteen years ago, parliament, the other branches of government and the military had agreed to limit the monarch’s power to avoid the political confusion caused by Wilhelm the Second. The only people the monarch could control were his servants and the Schutzstaffel. But now that the Schutzstaffel had crossed him, he was completely powerless.

“That’s not true. The monarch is incompetent and has no authority, but he does have influence.”

Even if he were just an empty ornament... In fact, precisely because he was, his influence could exert power.

“If the king were to appear, take shelter with the regular military, and declare the Schutzstaffel to be rebels, our advantage would evaporate.”

Currently, the Council of Nobles was backing the Schutzstaffel’s actions and authority, but it couldn’t trump the monarch. More accurately, they would not be able to defeat a counteraction by the regular military that had the monarch’s authorization.

“It would have been faster and more efficient to just kill him outright!”

To smoothly assume control over the nobles, Genitz had planned to force the king to abdicate, but that had backfired.

“Well, I have taken action.”

“What do you mean?”

“The monarch can’t pass through the cordon separating the royal capital and the rest of the country by himself. I have restricted waterways, land routes, air routes and even the sewers. Unless he magically transforms into a rat, it’s impossible for him to get away.”

The encircling net was completed three days ago. In the royal capital, there was no combat force that could break through, other than the Schutzstaffel.

“Furthermore, I took control of the royal capital’s radio stations, newspaper publishers and other means of communication. Even if the monarch wants to declare to the public that we’re rebels, he has no way of making himself heard.”

Someone once said...

“The one with the loudest voice moves the world.”

Anyone who could communicate his will to an overwhelming majority would drown out other opinions and direct the course of world events. Genitz had acted quickly to occupy all facilities capable of disseminating information and restricted the movements of the media. A private radio might be capable of escaping Genitz’s watchdogs, but the signal would be weak. Since he had control of the broadcast facilities in the royal capital, the monarch had no way to deliver a message outside the city. Regardless of how powerful the king’s influence was, Genitz still had the advantage. At least, that was how it seemed, but...

“... zzt...”

The command post’s speakers emitted a crackle.

“Hmm?”

Genitz’s eyes narrowed.

“What is that sound?”

The speakers were set to pick up radio signals in the royal capital. But there shouldn’t be any broadcasts right now.

“...zzt... zzt... Attention, my dearest citizens...”

It wasn’t a mistake or some kind of accident. Clearly, someone was broadcasting over the radio.

“What’s going on?!”

For the first time in a few days, Genitz raised his voice.

“Determine the source of that transmission... No, the whole radio band! Which channel is it using?!”

Channels were designated to both public and private entities.

“It isn’t coming from a radio station, newspaper publisher or military facility!”

The command post’s traffic controller reported with a look of confusion.

Ridiculous! Are there unused channels?!

But it was unthinkable that an individual would own equipment capable of transmitting such strong waves. Communication was a kind of weapon. Without official permission, no one could install such equipment, and if someone did, it would attract immediate notice.

“Impossible! Is it television?!”

Genitz shouted with rage.

“Television?” Sven asked with a blank look.

“It’s a means of broadcasting images as well as sound.”

Current means of communication included radio, newspaper and telegraph. Video recording by cinematograph did exist, but it was limited to newsreels. A system for widespread transmission of simultaneous images and sound through waves rather than cable were not yet available for commercial use.

“A private business is developing it now for relaying an international sports event to be held in Berun, to all of Europea in four years.”

A new channel had been assigned for test use. And someone was now transmitting across that channel. Genitz knew about television broadcasting, but he hadn’t thought of it because it was still in the test phase.

“Change the channel! Switch it to television—to video!”

The traffic controller switched the channel according to Genitz’s order. The face of the monarch appeared on multiple monitors around the command post.

“I am Balzar Wilhelm Nightlia von Wiltia, king of Wiltia.”

This was fatal. Television broadcasting had yet to be developed for practical use.

“The Schutzstaffel has rebelled and is currently occupying the royal capital. However, the principality’s trusted regular forces and I will relentlessly drive out these lawless renegades!”

“It appears the source of the transmission is somewhere in the urban district but is being relayed for broadcast.”

“Broadcast? To where?”

Delz shouted this question while Genitz was lost in thought.

“To the whole of Wiltia.”

“What?!”

That answer was unbelievable. Someone had secured the monarch and was using an as-yet non-public channel for a message that should never be broadcast. What’s worse, the king himself had declared the Schutzstaffel to be rebels.

“We have located the source. It’s from Twelve Comm in the royal capital’s urban district.”

Twelve Comm was a private company engaged in research and development of communication devices.

“That’s a branch of Billions Trading... Ahaaa... I see!”

Genitz now understood. Disguised as the Corporal, he learned of the events surrounding Shylock and Jacob in Organbaelz. And he knew that Lud had escaped the dungeon beneath the royal palace last night.

“Langart... Is this your work? Well, now you’ve done it!”

Without realizing it, Genitz ground his back teeth. He wasn’t angry because his opponent’s unexpected move placed him in trouble. Lud had launched a counterattack, but Genitz still had many defense strategies. This wasn’t what irritated him.

“You... I had no idea you would do such a thing...”

Genitz thought he knew everything about Lud. He had recognized Lud’s potential and honed it, so he was confident that he was the only one who could wield the former soldier. But he never would have guessed that Lud would do this.

“Is this your fault?”

Genitz glanced at Sven, who was standing beside him.

“M-Master...?”

Sven considered Genitz to be her beloved master whom she would serve all her life. Nonetheless, she sensed fear creeping over Genitz as he glared at her.

“Heh heh... Oh well...”

Genitz’s eyes returned to normal, and he took a breath as if to collect himself. Then he turned to Delz.

“Why are you waiting, Delz?! Go to the source and capture the monarch and his cohorts! On the double!”

“Y-Yes, Sir!”

Delz saluted and hurried to leave. Genitz barked at his back as if remembering something.

“Hold on a second! Why wasn’t Twelve Comm under our control?”

Twelve Comm was merely a company that developed products for business. It wasn’t as well-known an industry as print or radio, but it developed communication devices, so it was natural to assume it owned transmission equipment. This was the mistake of the person in charge, who had focused only on the superficial and obvious rather than digging deeper.

“Major Torben is in charge of suppressing such targets.”

“I see. Then the major must take responsibility by dying. Shoot him dead as soon as you find him. The next-in-command of his unit will take his place.”

“What...?”

Delz and everyone at the command post froze when Genitz ordered the execution of his subordinate so casually.

“Mr. Delz, I believe there are incompetent people, but there are no useless people.”

He could find a way to use anyone.

“Everything in this world has value. But there are people who cannot see the value in others.” He had always believed that.

“However, if there are too many incompetent men, I must use them to set an example. Do you understand?”

The great thing about incompetent men was that sacrificing them was no great loss. He could use them in thankless roles or blame them for his own mistakes. And if too many such men existed, he could kill them as a warning to others.

“I will permit you to use the Werewolves. Quickly now.”

“Y-Yes, Sir!”

This late in the game, Genitz hadn’t forgotten his belief. He had succeeded in stirring many incompetent men by killing just one such man. Delz scampered away like a scared rat, but Genitz didn’t even glance his way.

“Well, Sven... we should get going. We need to change our base of operations.”

“As y-you wish.”

Genitz stood up and strode out of the command post. Sven followed.

“Ugh...”

Static cut through her brain.

What... is that?!

She hesitated. Her master had casually ordered a man’s death. Had it been like this before? Had her master been so quick to waste life? Wouldn’t he have worried about others instead, even at the risk of his own life?

“Ungh...”

She remembered a man’s face. A hard face with a scar on the left cheek.

Who is he? Who is that man?!

He reached out, and she experienced a faint desire. She was about to take his hand.

“What’s wrong, Sven?”

Genitz’s voice drowned out that desire. Something too big to refuse was telling her that her master was the owner of that voice. And that bound her in layers of chains.

“Oh... nothing.”

Her head was silent again, and she responded without hesitation.

At Twelve Comm in a corner of the royal capital’s urban district...

“Hear me, citizens of Wiltia in the royal capital and soldiers of the regular military outside the royal capital... The Schutzstaffel... No, this rebel force disturbs the peace and threatens my reign!!”

Inside a room for product development, King Wilhelm the Third was in front of a microphone, delivering his address.

“What a kingly aura!”

Hilde gasped with admiration as she watched.

“Indeed. I thought the king was incompetent.”

“Well, I didn’t!!”

Hilde hurriedly corrected Rebecca’s nasty comment.

Lud and the others had succeeded in gaining the king’s cooperation, but a problem remained: How would they broadcast the monarch’s denunciation of rebellion by the Schutzstaffel?

“My company is developing something interesting.”

They were at a loss when Shylock told them about Twelve Comm.

“Um, I have a question.”

Hilde was curious about something.

“I understand we’re broadcasting the king’s speech from this building, but won’t the waves be too weak to transmit outside the royal capital?”

“Yes. This will only reach the center of the urban district. The test broadcasting device’s output is limited. And it is not high enough.”

Rebecca was the one who replied to Hilde’s question.

To transmit a great distance, waves need height as well as power. Twelve Comm had a power pylon on its roof to serve as an antenna. However, it wasn’t strong enough since it was only for testing.

“They’re planning to build a huge tower to broadcast an international sport competition to be held in four years. They have already bought the land for it.”

A nearly 400-meter-tall power pylon would be erected near the center of Berun. However, that pylon wasn’t complete. The groundsill hadn’t yet been laid.

“We need a way to amplify the short waves here to transmit them everywhere. Where is the relay station?”

It was an unthinkable maneuver that even Genitz wouldn’t guess.

“That old man never told me!”

Hilde was miffed. Shylock hadn’t told her about the relay station. He had obfuscated, calling it a “company secret.”

“I guess he doesn’t trust me.”

Hilde’s spirits sagged at this thought.

“He would, of course, hesitate to trust someone who kidnapped him for ransom, assaulted him, and tried to murder him.”

“Ugh...”

Rebecca’s merciless comments grated on Hilde’s nerves.

“I was teasing. He did not tell former lieutenant Langart or me either.”

“I... hate you,” Hilde said.

Rebecca’s cold teasing brought tears to Hilde’s eyes.

“Well, I guess he has lots of hidden cards. I know he would never make Jacob sad. So if he tells me not to ask, I won’t. I trust him. But more importantly...”

Other than technicians for operating the equipment, the only people at Twelve Comm were Hilde, Rebecca and the monarch, who was still speaking. Milly and Jacob had stayed at Billions Trading, since this was a dangerous mission. Lud wasn’t there either.

“Langart is in the royal palace.”

“Yes. He went to retrieve Svelgen... I mean Sven.”

Just as Hanussen had told Lud, the Schutzstaffel’s attention would be focused on the monarch’s speech. This made it possible for Lud to outsmart Genitz once again and sneak back into the royal palace.

“The two of us have to protect this place. Langart sure did stick us with a difficult job!”

Since the broadcast had begun, it was only a matter of time until the Schutzstaffel charged in. Considering that, Hilde’s resentment was understandable.

How can she say that?

But Rebecca was amazed at Hilde’s words. It was Lud who had left to undertake the hardest task. He had rejected Rebecca’s company and asked her to defend the monarch and the broadcasting equipment. If a humanoid Hunter Unit like Rebecca used all her strength, ten or twenty soldiers wouldn’t even count, unless they had a Hunter Unit of their own. In contrast, Lud was heading alone into enemy headquarters.

“You should stay here and polish that popgun you’re so proud of.”

It was tiring to explain, so Rebecca ended the conversation with a sarcastic jab.

“What?! I don’t have my Walther on me.”

“What?!”

Rebecca raised her voice in surprise. Hilde was barely capable of protecting herself in any case, but she had abandoned one of her few weapons. Rebecca wasn’t just surprised—she was astounded.

“Where did you put it?”

“Um...”

“Shh!”

Just when Hilde was about to answer the question, Rebecca cut off the conversation.

“They’re here.”

It wasn’t audible to human ears, but her sensors had reacted. From the sound of the wheels, she estimated there were five armored military vehicles. Which meant just over thirty soldiers.

“You handle this. After I leave, throw up barricades or something to buy time,” Rebecca said.

Then she intercepted... No, she launched a sure-footed sortie.

Meanwhile, a woman was held captive in a corner of the Wiltian royal palace.

“What the heck is going on...?”

She was in a guest bedroom on the tenth floor of the royal palace. The gorgeous room had a private bathroom, and she could order and have delivered almost anything she wanted. She suffered no inconvenience, but she was prevented from leaving and the windows were locked.

“Genitz...!”

The woman muttering in frustration was Sophia von Rundstadt. She was a major in the principality of Wiltia’s regular military, and she had once been captain of the security guard at the Royal Weapons Development Bureau. But that night she had lost the bureau and the subordinates she was supposed to protect during the Schutzstaffel attack, led by Genitz. Instead, she had survived through the sacrifice of a man she had always treated badly.

“Daian...”

The man with the fake smile had been shot and then collapsed, motionless. That was the last she had seen before fainting. When she woke up, she was lying in this room. She could guess the reason they kept her alive. Her significance wasn’t as a hostage from the regular military. She was a daughter of Wiltia’s prestigious Rundstadt family. As long as she lived, they could use her as leverage in negotiation.

“Argh!”

Shamefully, she had survived alone, so there was no way she could face her dead subordinates.

The next thing she knew, she had tears in her eyes. She was frustrated, but above all, she was sad. Perhaps that’s why Sophia the woman, rather than Sophia the soldier, couldn’t help saying...

“Lud... help me...”

It was a wish she could never make known to him. Lud lived in Organbaelz, which was located in a rural area of Pelfe. And she was in Berun, the royal capital. So Lud couldn’t come.

“Huh...?”

Or so she thought. The ceiling was creaking.

Wham... clunk... creeek... She heard something large moving overhead.

“What the...?”

She watched for a while, and then part of the ceiling fell, immediately followed by a body.

“Ow!”

The man was covered in dust and cobwebs, and he was the person Sophia had just called to for help.

“Lud? But how?!”

Stunned, Sophia stared at him. Lud, who had appeared out of the blue, turned around.

“Huh? Captain?”

Lud was stupefied as they stared at each other.

“... sob...”

As she looked at Lud’s face, the feelings that Sophia had been holding back suddenly overflowed.

“Lud!”

She ran to him and pulled him close.

“D-Did you come to rescue me?! You... I can’t believe you came! I’m so glad!”

She held Lud tightly, her eyes full of joyful tears.

It was understandable. Sophia had a secret crush on the young man who had once been her subordinate and had been like a little brother to her in their childhood. Her feelings stretched back over 15 years. She had once been his senior officer and her pride as an older-sister figure kept her from revealing her feelings. But now, because he appeared so unexpectedly, just when she was scared and vulnerable, she became bold.

“Huh? What are you doing here, Captain?”

“What?”

Lud’s attitude soured her elation.

“You’re here inside the royal capital, so... Do you live in the castle now, Cap?”

“Huh?!”

Sophia had been in maiden-in-distress mode, but now she realized the situation was extremely odd. Apparently, Lud hadn’t come to rescue her. Instead, he had literally dropped in by chance.

“Lieutenant Langart...”

“Yes?”

“Take that!”

“Oof?!”

Sophia punched him in embarrassment and irritation.

“W-What was that for?!”

“Shut up, you dummy! Urgh! I’ll never forgive myself for letting my heart take over for even one second!”

Sophia was red to her ears because she had gleefully embraced Lud and even cried as she clung to him.

“Lieutenant... erase from your memory everything that just happened!”

“Don’t be ridiculous!!”

“Then I’ll beat the memory out of you!”

“Understood. It’s already forgotten!”

Sophia was trembling, with tears in her eyes, but her fist was tight and she was ready to fight. And she was too threatening for him to disobey.

“Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“Same to you! What’s going on?”

Just then the door of the room flew open.

“Major Rundstadt, what is going on here?!”

“Who is that man?!”

It was the Schutzstaffel soldiers who had been stationed as guards outside her door. She and Lud had raised quite a racket, so it wasn’t surprising that the guards were alarmed.

“—!!”

“—!!”

The soldiers rushed in but braced themselves after seeing Lud, who was an intruder and looked suspicious. Lud and Sophia were even faster at springing into action.

Both soldiers were holding machine guns, but Lud closed in on one, forced down his gun, and delivered an open-handed blow to the soldier’s chin with his other hand. Sophia acted similarly. She instantly closed the distance between herself and the other soldier, lowered her body as if sinking, and swept the soldier’s legs out from under him. When he lost balance, she punched him in the face. In the span of a blink, the two soldiers were unconscious without so much as crying out.

“Oh dear... I think it’s time to blow this joint,” Sophia said.

She had stolen anything that could serve as a weapon from the unconscious soldiers. But she couldn’t escape, even if she wanted to, because she didn’t know the situation outside.

“Lieutenant Langart, I doubt you’ve come here on an errand as a baker.”

Something unusual was afoot here after Genitz had taken control. So Sophia guessed that the time had come for her to make a move.

“No. To tell the truth...”

Lud began to explain the situation, but Sophia raised a hand to stop him.

“Tell me while we walk. Other soldiers will be here any minute, so let’s move.”

Sophia made a quick decision. As she left the room, her eyes held no sign of a girl in love. Her face had assumed the look of a soldier—the one known as the Devil’s Black Spear.

Meanwhile, at the front gate of the royal palace...

“Oh my... I can’t believe they used television broadcasting! There’s no way that the man Sven loves came up with that! Heh heh heh...”

The man stepped lightly like a sorcerer. Or, that’s what he thought, but actually, he moved sluggishly as if injured.

“What are you doing?” asked the woman walking beside him.

“If we don’t hurry, we won’t make it to the festivities.”

“Oh... excuse me, Suzuka.”

Suzuka was a tall woman with black hair and dark eyes. She wasn’t Wiltian. She had a bright appearance, but it wasn’t like any race on the continent of Europea.

“There! Who are you?!”

Soldiers guarding the front gate noticed them and issued a warning.

“This looks dangerous. I’ve never been any place like this.”

Suzuka sighed as if bored. When the soldiers with guns approached, she wasn’t the least perturbed.

“Suzuka, get to work or Yamamoto will lose face, won’t he?”

“Yes. It’s a troublesome part of my job...”

Since this man so like a sorcerer had asked, Suzuka removed something like a small book from her breast pocket and showed it to the soldiers.

“My name is Suzuka Amaki, military attaché at the embassy of Yamato.”

She was brandishing a diplomatic ID for embassy personnel. It was forbidden to arrest and imprison ID holders from nations with diplomatic relations, even if they had committed a crime. To use the common phrase, she had “diplomatic privilege.”

“W-What kind of business does someone from Yamato have here?”

All embassy personnel in Berun had received instructions to refrain from leaving their office complexes. It wasn’t mandatory. It was just a request. Disobeying it, however, would risk instigating an international incident. Nonetheless, it was just a request. The diplomats were sent to Berun by their own nations, so the Wiltian government had no right to restrict their movements.

“I’ve come to see Genitz. Take me to him.”

Back inside the royal capital, Lud and Sophia were running through the long and intricate hallways.

“Oh... So the development bureau was attacked first, huh?”

“Yeah. That rotten lieutenant general! I’ll never forgive him!”

They exchanged information.

“And that girl... What was her name? Sven? She got kidnapped?”

“Yeah. I don’t know exactly how, but it was some kind of mind control.”

In the subterranean jail, Hanussen had told him about the emergency control code.

“That infuriates me,” Sophia muttered.

Her voice held anger, but there was more. Her words also expressed intense hatred for the person who had trampled where no one should ever set foot.

“Agh!”

A few soldiers appeared ahead. Reports of Sophia’s escape and Lud’s intrusion had already spread around the palace. Soldiers had been dispatched with orders to shoot and kill on sight.

“Fire!”

The soldiers prepared to shoot, but Sophia immediately fired the machine gun she had seized earlier, accurately taking out a few of the soldiers. Then, instead of slowing down, she ran faster and vaulted inside the group of remaining soldiers and, within seconds, incapacitated them with blows from her fists, gunstock and knee.

She hasn’t changed! She’s indomitable!

Like Lud, Sophia was an expert in military martial arts, and she had learned the eastern martial art bujutsu. Few men, even armed with guns, could stand against her in a hallway where movement is limited, much less in an open area.

“Lieutenant Langart, why did you hold your fire?”

Sophia questioned him while knocking out a still-conscious enemy soldier with a kick.

“Well...”

Lud had a machine gun he had seized from an enemy soldier. It was loaded and he knew how to use it. Nonetheless, he had hesitated to shoot. Or rather, he hadn’t even tried to shoot.

“So you still can’t do it, huh?”

People who suffered traumatic experiences in war often became incapable of violent action. Sophia had seen many such former soldiers. However, Lud was different. He wouldn’t let himself kill as a matter of self-discipline.

“I saw what was on your mind during the Defairedead incident. I’m not blaming you for that. But can you hold to that and still save Sven?”

Sophia had met Sven during the Defairedead affair, and they had only spoken a few words. Nonetheless, it was enough to see Sven’s strong feelings for Lud.

“I’m someone who cherishes my beloved master, to whom I’ve offered both my heart and my body.”

That was how Sven had described her feelings.

“She admires you with her whole being. Can you save such an earnest heart without risking your life and fighting?”

“I—”

“Not just your own life, but the lives of others, too.”

Before Lud could reply, Sophia continued.

“You know very well what kind of man Genitz is. He controls desperate women and uses them.”

Sophia loved Lud. And because they loved the same man, Sophia could understand how Sven felt. She didn’t know much about Sven, but she knew Sven truly loved Lud. And she knew how Genitz’s hopelessly degenerate actions ran roughshod over Sven’s feelings.

“I’m telling you. This isn’t a situation that you can handle with a lot of high-minded talk.”

Genitz would kill Lud unless Lud faced him with the readiness to die. And Sven feared Lud’s death more than her own.

“I...”

Lud made a pained sound.

“............”

Sophia had been hurling words at him, but now she too made a pained face. She didn’t want to tell him. She didn’t want to, but she had no choice. As his former superior officer, as his older sister, and as a woman.

“The Royal Weapons Development Bureau,” Sophia said. “Go there. That’s probably where Genitz will take her.”

“What?”

Sophia was captain of the development bureau guard, and she had been Bureau Director Daian’s supervisor. She didn’t know everything, but she did know some of the organization’s secrets.

“There’s a Door beneath the development bureau. And it’s Genitz’s last resort.”

Genitz had used force to occupy the development bureau and had taken the risk of establishing martial law in the royal capital because there was something he wanted there that he believed would compensate for the dangerous risks. Lud had guessed that much before, but not that it was a Door under the development bureau.

“There’s a Door in the royal capital?” Lud asked in surprise.

During a previous incident, Lud had seen a Door in Organbaelz. It had been the relic of an ancient civilization, and even a blast from a tank wasn’t able to destroy it.

Sven can open the Door!

At last, Lud understood Genitz’s true purpose. The relic of an ancient empire would demonstrate a strength that exceeded human knowledge. Behind the Door on Organbaelz, there had been an ancient food production facility. What’s more, that facility had caused a miracle, returning a dead person to life.

“What’s beyond the Door?”

“I don’t know. But I heard the director of the development bureau once say that the bigger the Door, the greater its importance. And the Door under Berun is the biggest of all the Doors whose existence has been confirmed.”

By now, the regular military would have moved to recapture the royal capital after the monarch’s denunciation of the rebels. The regular military and the Schutzstaffel would be staring each other down somewhere near the royal capital, but it would be some time before they drew near the royal palace. Meanwhile, Sven would open the Door with her power. If the thing inside could reverse the war’s balance of power...

“That’s definitely where Genitz is headed.”

“Sven will be there, too.”

To get Sven back, it was necessary to prevent Genitz’s ambitions. Lud hadn’t known what Genitz’s final aim was. But it all made sense now.

“Perhaps Genitz will abandon the royal palace and... No, he must already be on his way there. Either way, you can seize the initiative if you leave now.”

“Captain...”

“Tch!”

Sophia clucked her tongue after these revelations.

“But remember! This is top secret!”

Lud was a former soldier, but he had retired, so now he was just a regular citizen. Either way, this information must never be leaked.

“Do you know why I told you this?” Sophia asked with a glare.

“Because I want you to come back alive. You want that girl back, right? If that information helps, then there’s no choice! So hurry and go!”

“But what about you?”

Even without Genitz, the royal palace was currently the Schutzstaffel’s base.

Lud couldn’t bear to leave her alone in such a place, but Sophia returned a wry smile.

“It seems I have to deal with her.”

A girl was standing at the end of the hallway.

“Enemy... eliminate... eliminate...”

The girl looked about 14 or 15 years old. She looked scarcely older than Hilde and Milly. And she had red eyes like Sven and Rebecca.

“Can you feel it, Lieutenant? She looks like her,” Sophia said in a cold sweat.

It was the strong sense that something was wrong when Sven and Rebecca exercised physical abilities unimaginable given their dainty figures. The girl in front of them had that—but it was ten times more intense. The phrase to describe it was “uncanny valley.”

The more that the appearance and behavior of artificial things resemble those of human beings, the more people are attracted to them. However, at a certain point, the resemblance becomes so close that the parts that don’t appear human stand out, causing discomfort. This girl was a perfect example.

“Eliminate... Annihilate...”

Lud and Sophia didn’t know what Rebecca knew, but if she had been here, she would have cried out in surprise. This girl was the “third body”—the third humanoid Hunter Unit. She was the machine that had attacked Rebecca on the night the Schutzstaffel took over the development bureau.

“Hurry, Langart! Without a gun, you’ll just be in the way!”

Sophia picked up another machine gun from the floor, pointed her two weapons, and shot at the girl. She didn’t try to hit a particular spot so much as a whole area, unleashing a swathe of fire in hopes that at least one bullet would hit. However, the girl was faster than the bullets, and kicking off the walls and ceiling in geometric patterns, she evaded them all.

“You monster!”

Sophia spat the words with hate and laid down more fire to stop the girl.

“Captain...”

Lud was at a loss. The girl was strong. Certainly as strong as Sven and Rebecca—maybe stronger. She had the strength to overwhelm even an armed human. Even if both Lud and Sophia took her on, their chances of winning were slim. Even if they did win, the fight would eat up too much time. And that would ruin their chances of getting the drop on Genitz.

Sophia had considered all that before telling him to go. She had said that he must be willing to risk not only his own life, but someone else’s as well. That was exactly what she was ordering him to do now. By leaving her.

“I’m sorry, my sister Sophia!”

With these words, Lud turned his back and ran.

“That’s better, Lud.”

Sophia heard Lud’s words and smiled. After inhaling as much air as she could, Sophia issued an audacious challenge: “C’mon, monster! Big Sis is strong!”