Chapter 6: The Counterattack Begins

A giant slum had been constructed around Millennium, the imperial capital of Europea, as if clinging to the massive wall that separated the city from the outside world. The slum covered over ten times the area of the imperial capital. In fact, the imperial capital was the center of the slum. It was created by people called Shepherds.

“The residents of the imperial capital can leave, but people outside can’t go into the city.” As the girl spoke, she filled her mouth with fruit purchased at the stall. “The city is under strict population control.”

“Yes. The resident number is ten million, no more and no less.”

This was common knowledge among Shepherds like him.

“However, people don’t always live and die according to plan. Sometimes the population unexpectedly decreases. That’s when they bring in replacements from outside.”

“I know.”

That too was common knowledge.

The reception area was next to the entrance to the imperial capital, the main gate that never opened. If someone registered with reception and their name was chosen, when an opening arose they could join the residents of the imperial city. The fortunate person would enter a paradise free of suffering and distress. However, that rarely happened.

Scarcely one person was chosen every ten years. People relying on this slight hope came to live in front of the gate. This practice continued for over one hundred years, and eventually a slum grew, populated by those awaiting their turn.

“I heard a rumor that God is in the imperial capital. Is it true?” Someone who had left the imperial capital decades ago had made that claim.

“Oh... God?” Hearing his words, the girl spoke bitterly. “The people inside the imperial capital fear mistakes and seek only what is correct—ultimate correctness without error—but they don’t consider what is truly correct.” Again, she stared at the city walls with intense hatred. “For those people, worrying over their choices became the greatest suffering. So they created something perfect that never makes mistakes.”

They created something that would provide the right answers, a being they could believe was always correct, even if it wasn’t.

“The residents gave the True System the name God.” She spat the words as if she felt filthy even saying them.

“Do you hate God?”

“Yes, I do. Although hate may not be quite the right word.” The girl appeared unable to compose her features or her feelings. In addition to hatred and revulsion, she showed an uncontrollable indignation toward the injustice.

“I suppose he isn’t evil. But, I wonder why it has to be me.” As she spoke, she finished eating the fruit and threw the rind into a waste bin.

“Why do I have to become God’s wife? The Saint? Give me a break!”

“Glub-glub-glub...”

When Sven woke up, she was in the water.

“Glub-glurgle-glub?!”

She woke up under water!

It was sea water. Under the ocean, with poor visibility and no way to breathe, a human would drown in a panic and sink to the sea floor, but Sven didn’t need to breathe.

“Blosh-blubble-burble-spwosh?” What am I doing here?

Controlling herself, she tried to discover how she got here.

Did I lose consciousness and they threw me in? How dare they?!

Sven was furious that someone had treated her like an object—like trash—and committed illegal dumping on top of that!

Now what should I do?

There was little light because she was deep beneath the surface. She considered sinking further to the seafloor and walking until she reached land, but she didn’t know how far she was from the bottom. If she went too deep, she might become inoperable.

There’s no choice but to swim to the surface.

It was difficult to rise in the pitch-black sea, but no sooner had she decided to try, she saw light in the water.

“Glosh?”

She was underwater. The only living creature that would emit light down here would be an anglerfish. There were, however, other possibilities that were not alive.

No way...

Something more massive than a whale with lights for navigation appeared in front of Sven. It was a submarine.

A few minutes later, the submarine rescued Sven. Wiltia had an excellent navy. Its navy had submersible technology that in some ways surpassed Hunter Units. Sven had never seen a submarine with functions for performing work while navigating underwater, so she was surprised.

“What is this thing?”

The “belly” in the center of the aft section opened, bringing in Sven along with a large amount of seawater, and then closed.

It ejected the water and replaced it with air. No other nation possessed a submarine with this type of navigational ballast mechanism, which brought in seawater for weight. At least, not that Sven knew of.

Does this vessel belong to some other nation?

A navy submarine had scooped her up, but Sven was bewildered as to why. Then the lights in the room came on, a hatch opened, and someone appeared.

It was...

“Are you all right?”

“Major Rundstadt?!”

It was Sophia von Rundstadt.

“I’m glad you’re alive. I heard what happened. It’s the worst.”

“Wait. Major?! Why are you here?!”

Someone else appeared.

“Hello, Svelgen. I’m glad to see you.”

It was Blitzdonner, who she thought was back fighting the Security Department after telling Sven and Lud to find Meitzer at the test site.

“Major Blitzdonner too?!”

Sven was at a complete loss when yet another person—a woman—appeared.

“Oh my! Is this Little Lud’s special someone?”

The woman was not Wiltian. Actually, she wasn’t even from the continent of Europea. She was from an Aesian continent.

“You know Master? Who are you?”

“My name is Suzuka Amaki. I’m a military attaché from Yamato. We can talk more later. I can’t stand seeing you soaking wet, and there’s a change of clothes ready, so come with me.”

The woman named Suzuka narrowed her almond-shaped eyes as she spoke with a very cheerful voice.

Yamato was an island nation on the far eastern edge of the continent of Aesia. After many years of not involving itself in international affairs, fifty years ago Yamato started interacting with other nations. Wiltia had been its enemy early in the Great War, but they later became allies, and it now had an embassy in Berun. It was Sven’s first time meeting someone from Yamato.

“Sit down. Shall I have tea brought in?”

“Yes please.”

Submarines have limited space, with small rooms. This reception room was more cramped than the sales room at Tockerbrot. Nonetheless, it had a sofa and was decorated with fine furnishings.

“I can understand your confusion. The regular army knew about Toolman’s treachery and the existence of that woman from August.”

Sven changed into dry clothes and sipped tea as Sophia explained the situation. Elvin was the highest commanding officer in the regular army, and he had suspected that the mysterious woman called the Saint was involved in the matter. However, the full picture remained uncertain, so he devised a plan.

“Toolman excluded me from the special combat unit so it would consist of only himself and his men, so I was ordered to take a separate course of action.”

The Saint’s devotees had infiltrated many areas of Europea, in different countries and in multiple organizations. For that reason, Sophia had requested cooperation from Yamato, a country outside Europea.

“Wiltia provided this submarine to Yamato as part of technological exchange. We brought it here under the guise of a trial voyage with no official military records.”

That explained why Suzuka, Yamato’s military attaché, was on board. In fact, Sophia was accompanying Suzuka aboard Yamato’s submarine.

“Marshal Elvin devised a plot to encourage Toolman’s treachery so the army could capture all the Saint’s supporters at once while also cracking down on the Security Department.”

This was the true purpose of the rescue unit for Meitzer.

“Isn’t the marshal a bit too proficient in subterfuge?”

Sven had a mechanical brain, but even to her, this plot sounded excessive.

“I don’t think this has been going as planned so far either.”

Sophia, who had received the order, recognized that the operation was against regulations, no matter how you looked at it. The mission was to suppress traitors infiltrating the regular army, so it could not involve soldiers from that force. There was no one more trustworthy than Sophia. However, using a soldier from another country in a highly risky operation wasn’t something to be done lightly.

“Yamato is always looking for a way to put Wiltia in its debt. And Wiltia even gave us a souvenir.”

With the exchange of this submarine, she had received permission to deploy Suzuka.

“So little Lud has been taken by the enemy?”

Sven had brought Suzuka up to speed. However, she had not disclosed the fact that she was a humanoid Hunter Unit.

“Um, why have you been calling him Little Lud? Do you know my master?”

“Yes, of course. He was my student.”

“What?!”

Then Sven remembered. Lud had told her that a soldier from Yamato taught him martial arts as part of the military exchange between east and west. He told her this back when Sven was Avei.

“That takes me back. Little Lud was so cute. I wonder what he’s like now.”

“Um...”

If Sven remembered correctly, the last time Suzuka saw Lud was eight years ago. In her memory, Lud was the most adorable person in the word, but he was now a large, muscular man. According to usual standards, he wasn’t cute.

Master did say he entered a fierce growth spurt in his late teens...

Suzuka’s memory of Lud compared with the way he looked now were so different that it could be two different people.

“I’ll explain it to her.” Sophia spoke when she guessed what Sven was thinking. “In any case, the counterattack begins now. General Douglas holds the key to returning Lud to normal.”

“Yes...”

If what the being who called himself God told her was true, then Meitzer—who was still captive—held the key to everything.

“Rescue General Douglas, return Lud to normal, prevent the launch of Verne 1, and defeat Toolman’s unit...”

“When you put it like that, we face a lot of difficult tasks.”

“Yeah...”

Sophia and Sven sighed in unison. Doing even one of these would be a huge job, but there were four.

“We have to do it!”

“Uh-huh!”

They both knew that it was too late to pull back now.

“Before that, I would like you to return my clothes.”

“Aren’t they unwearable?” Suzuka sounded surprised at Sven’s request.

Sven’s waitress uniform had already been through a lot and the fight today had nearly destroyed it. But even without the tears, the frilly outfit was not an advantage in battle.

“I need it,” Sven insisted.

Her waitress uniform, which she had created to live her life at Lud Langart’s side, was much more than just an outfit. In line with his wishes, she would not turn this fight into a war. As a soldier and as a military weapon, she did not want to fight. She wanted to remain Tockerbrot’s popular waitress to the very end.

“All right. I’ll have it dried right away.”

As if she sensed Sven’s determination, Suzuka reassured her with a grin. Just then...

“But first, may I?” Blitzdonner had been listening in silence, but now he raised his hand to speak. “There’s something I want you to do to improve our chance of success, if only a little.”

Sven and her group set about launching their counterattack. However, they were few in number. They were only four: Sven, Blitzdonner, Sophia and Suzuka.

“Couldn’t you come up with a few more people?”

“This was the limit if we didn’t want them to notice us.”

There was no way they could reveal the soldiers from Yamato. They were only operating the submarine. Nonetheless, they were performing a crucial function in securing the escape route, so their involvement had to remain a secret.

“Well, there aren’t many of them either, so it’ll work out somehow.” Suzuka was laughing, which made Sven all the more uneasy.

If you didn’t include the technicians necessary for the launch of Verne 1, the number of Security Department soldiers in the test site was about fifty. The number of soldiers Toolman led to suppress them was a little over ten. He must have decided that number would be enough against the untrained Security Department soldiers.

“However, they’re all pretty tough.”

They were all followers of the Saint and would happily lose their lives for her. They were possibly even more dangerous than the special operations soldiers known as Werewolves who served with Lud under Genitz’s command.

“Now that I think about it, that man may have anticipated events and started putting together a unit sure to serve as his pawns.” Blitzdonner spoke quietly.

There was no way to know now.

“What I’m saying is...” Sven had come into direct conflict with them, so she was trying to convey the danger she suspected. She thought Suzuka’s easygoing manner communicated an unwariness because she didn’t understand.

“I said it’ll be all right, Missy. You guys should go on ahead.”

Suzuka was easygoing precisely because she understood. She frowned angrily as she told them to get going. They were dividing their already small numbers in two for this counterattack.

“Meet that old guy Meitzer quickly and help out Little Lud.” Cackling, Suzuka put on a show of what might be called innocence and left for the control room.

“Leave it to me. I’m not without a plan.” Sophia followed her.

“We have no choice but to trust her.” Despite her misgivings, Sven also left with Blitzdonner.

The Saint was on standby in an office inside the castle. The owner of the room was already dead. She was killing time until the launch preparations were complete.

“Saint...” Toolman appeared.

“Ah, you came sooner than I expected.”

The Saint understood before she heard what happened. She looked down on human beings but she did not take them lightly. Some insects are poisonous and some use mimicry. Therefore, she remained wary.

“Was it Elvin? He appears to be a superb commanding officer. As for you, Toolman, weren’t you paying attention?”

It was very rare to encounter someone capable of acting based on impossible odds, but such people did exist. One existed before. There was a man from the Greyten Empire so heroic that a statue of him was erected, and Elvin was perhaps like him.

“How many? There can’t be that many of them, are there?”

The number of soldiers they could mobilize behind her back couldn’t amount to much. Ten people? Twelve at most?

“There are two.”

“Hm?” When informed of the number, the Saint was surprised.

Inside the castle, Sophia and Suzuka were battling the special combat unit.

“Oh dear. Whatever is the matter?” In the center of a large hall, Suzuka stood grinning.

A few soldiers had already fallen around her with their limbs bent in impossible positions.

“Why you...!”

The hardened soldiers of the special combat unit were unable to take action. They weren’t only fighting Suzuka.

“Urgh!”

“Stop! Don’t shoot!”

A single soldier stepped from behind, raising a gun. A bullet faster than sound pierced his hand before he could pull the trigger.

“Don’t move! Stay back!”

Under orders from Toolman, the deputy captain ground his teeth in frustration.

Argh... We’re trapped!

The strategy that Suzuka and Sophia had adopted was uncomplicated. Suzuka would close in alone and unarmed. When the soldiers responded, Sophia would pick them off from her hiding place. It was uncomplicated—extremely simple, in fact. However, pulling this off would require a sniper with extraordinary skill.

This is the Black Spear? I had no idea she was this good!

Sophia was highly gifted as a commanding officer, and she was an expert in military martial arts. That wasn’t her true forte, however. Her skill in marksmanship was more remarkable.

“What’s wrong? You wanna play hide-and-seek?” Grinning, Suzuka taunted them. Her expression communicated absolute certainty that she would not be shot.

Sophia was also known as the Black Spear. She was given that nickname after her astounding results as the first Hunter Unit sniper in military history to use a super long-range cannon originally intended as an anti-aircraft gun.

In a Hunter Unit, that woman could go one hundred hits for one hundred shots. In the flesh, she actually might be able to shoot through the eye of a needle.

Observing her skill, the deputy captain broke out in a cold sweat. As a devotee of the Saint, he was a soldier who welcomed death at her command. But, an outstanding soldier himself, he hesitated when faced with being shot like a dog in a certain and pointless death.

In that case...

The deputy captain steeled his nerves, cast aside his rifle, and launched himself at Suzuka. If he tried to shoot, Sophia would certainly shoot him. His only choice was to suppress Suzuka before he was shot.

I just need to grab her! I’m definitely stronger!!

Suzuka appeared as fragile as a young noblewoman. A professional military man could surely immobilize her.

“That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it?” Suzuka’s eyes narrowed like one who had recognized her opponent’s intent and would trample it.

A moment later, the deputy captain could no longer obey the laws of gravity. His body was flying a shocking distance from the ground. Before he could ask why, the hands of an unseen force seized him and slammed him to the floor.

“This is called budo. My country developed it over one thousand years ago to extinguish that strength you’re so proud of!”

The principle was simple: return your opponent’s force and add your own. That was all. However, it required an intense process of trial and error, as well as study of the human body and the principles of dynamics, resulting in a godly art.

“Why you...” Unable to defend himself, he hit the ground with a barrage of blows to his body that prevented the deputy captain from getting up.

The special combat unit was completely trapped. If they didn’t get past Suzuka, they couldn’t defeat Sophia. If they tried to shoot Suzuka, Sophia would pick them off. If they tried to defeat Suzuka in hand-to-hand combat, she would take them out the moment they touched her.

“Our only option was to fire all at once with the expectation of getting shot, but we lost too many men at the start.”

Suzuka had already finished off half the soldiers in the special combat unit. Any further deaths would hinder any future plan.

“Yeah, so let me handle this!”

Another soldier joined them. The man was Toolman the Bulletproof Baron, the man leading the special combat unit.

“Oh my... How brave and manly of you!” Suzuka laughed—ha ha ha!—without tension, but her stance left no opening.

She was an expert practitioner of budo, so she could tell how skilled her opponent was from the way he moved.

Well, well... He’s quite a monster!

She determined immediately that she shouldn’t let down her guard against this opponent.

“I will not hold back.” Toolman smoothly drew the katana at his side.

“That weapon is from my country. It brings back memories of home.”

“Is that so? Then taste it to the fullest!”

The two appeared to be engaging in a lively conversation instead of entering into combat. However, the distance between them was narrowing.

All I can do is watch this...

Sophia was looking for a chance to shoot from her hiding place, but Toolman wasn’t giving her a shot. At this distance, she might hit Suzuka.

“Come on...”

Suzuka could instantly defeat anyone who touched her, and Toolman could lop off the arm of a humanoid Hunter Unit. They were closing in on each other.

“—!!”

Wordlessly, the two clashed.

Sven and Blitzdonner were headed underground toward Meitzer. They had lost Daian’s sketch of the facility, but they had been this way once before.

“Where’s that thing?” Sven asked as she ran.

“Well, it wasn’t in its original place. I suppose it has been stored away.”

“Or has it already been thrown away?”

“I’m not sure, but I think...”

Before they descended underground, the two were trying to complete another matter of business, but someone appeared in the hallway ahead.

“A special combat unit soldier?!” Blitzdonner stopped.

Sophia and Suzuka were drawing away most of the soldiers. There shouldn’t be any here. They expected any soldiers to be stationed at the cell, but...

“This is her tactic, huh?” Sven bit her lip in frustration. This must have been the Saint’s work. Nothing else made sense. Only this was capable of stopping her in her tracks.

“Go back. I don’t want to get rough.” Lud Langart blocked the way.

“Master!!”

There was no hesitation in his eyes. He was lucid. The Saint must have ordered him to prevent anyone from proceeding beyond this point. Yes, he was here because the woman he thought was Sven had asked him to be.

“Langart! What the heck?!” Blitzdonner raised his left arm, the one that still moved.

“Svelgen, you go ahead. I’ll handle this—”

Even though he wasn’t himself, fighting her beloved master was more painful to Sven than the torments of hell.

“Major Blitzdonner! Leave this to me!”

“What?!” Blitzdonner doubted his ears.

“Don’t be foolish! That’s Lud Langart!”

A few days ago, Sven had sworn her love for him.

“Yes, that’s right. He’s my beloved master! That’s why! I can’t let anyone else be the one to hurt him!”

“You...” Looking into Sven’s eyes, Blitzdonner understood the truth.

She intended to suppress Lud without harming him. No injuries, not even a scratch. No one else could hurt him, even a little.

“Understood.” Blitzdonner couldn’t argue.

Sven was completely determined.

“I’ll bring back General Douglas as quickly as I can. Hang in there until then!”

That was all he could do. Blitzdonner took off running. Lud moved to stop him.

“Not happening!” Sven tried to stop Lud.

Lud was human. As a humanoid Hunter Unit, Sven’s physical strength far surpassed his. However, she had to fight without hurting him. She had to control her punches carefully. Her advantage disappeared. The two grappled and glared at each other.

“Wait!”

Unable to watch Blitzdonner as he left, Sven concentrated every nerve on stopping but not harming Lud.

Meitzer heard footsteps approaching his underground cell.

Who is it this time?

Man, woman, elderly person, child... The footsteps didn’t quite sound like any of these. They didn’t sound like they came from a human being at all.

“Oh... it’s you?” Meitzer spoke bluntly, as if it finally made sense.

“General Douglas, I have come to rescue you. I’m—”

“You’re Major Blitzdonner from Apuvea, Wiltia’s intelligence agency. I’ve heard of you.”

“You know me?” Blitzdonner was surprised at Noa’s intelligence-gathering abilities that gave Meitzer so many details about him, such as whether he was alive or dead, or active in a ghost unit.

“Good. It’s faster this way. Come with me!”

“I would like to leave, but this cell is sturdy, and I’m bound.”

“Oh, right!!”

Blitzdonner made a fist with his left hand and punched the stone wall. He wasn’t lashing out in frustration. The wall was made of stone over one hundred years old. He needed to break through to rescue Meitzer.

“Don’t be reckless. Your fist isn’t made for this!”

“Never mind! There’s no time!”

Blitzdonner’s mechanical arm was made for combat, but not for demolition. He would damage the joints and actuators.

“Gruaaarrrgh!”

And his mechanical arm was connected to flesh-and-blood nerves. Any injury to the mechanism attached to his body would directly affect his nerves and cause intense pain. It was in fact unbearable pain that made even a grown man cry out.

“We need to get back fast! I don’t know what will become of them!”

Blitzdonner ignored the agony and finally broke through the wall, creating a space wide enough for Meitzer to pass through.

“Whoa...”

Meitzer looked truly impressed. He felt grateful toward this person who possessed strength surpassing what he could imagine.

“Well done! I suspected as much. You guys are very strong.”

“Whah?!”

Blitzdonner’s reply to Meitzer sounded rude but it was because of his pain and impatience.

“I’ll break your bonds. This may hurt a bit, but you’ll have to bear it.”

“I don’t mind. Bang away.”

Blitzdonner summoned his last strength and tore apart Meitzer’s bonds. His arm finally broke completely.

“Now I’m useless. I’m counting on you for the rest. Go help them. Langart and Sven.”

“What?”

Meitzer’s eyes opened wide with astonishment.

“Wait, Major Blitzdonner. Those two are here? Why?”

“You asked Sven if she wanted to be human, so she and Lud came to help you, but...” Blitzdonner briefly explained the situation to Meitzer, just covering the main points.

“She did what?! That was foolish!” Meitzer was genuinely shocked and saddened at the Saint’s cruelty.

“Right now, Svelgen is holding Lud back with all her strength. Hurry up and snap him out of it!”

“You think I have a way to return him to normal?”

Meitzer didn’t understand the meaning behind what God had told Sven.

“What? Are you saying you don’t?!”

“What is that person trying to do? Or to make me do? Surely not...”

Meitzer finally realized what those words might mean.

“This is utterly reckless! Does he want to remove the girl from this world?!”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s no time to explain. Anyway, let’s go to Sven and Langart!”

Meitzer began running without a moment to spare.

“Hey, w-wait! You’re fast!!”

Blitzdonner followed in the wake of the man whose legs were even more powerful than his own mechanical limbs.