Chapter 73

Author's Notes: Erynol-sama, and the general passersby, and everyone, thank you for pointing out the typos. Especially to the general passersby... I realized I made an incredible typo. I'll commit seppuku later to atone for it.

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After that incident, he wonder if they walked for about an hour.

While paying attention to the remaining battery power of the Metis squad, which was operating with electric assist, they managed to advance to the point where the crater, their destination, had formed, despite encountering two battles. 

At this rate, they should be able to join Neon, the Absolute squad, and Anis in about another hour.

They continued to advance in the wilderness, and a desolate-looking town appeared. It was just as they reached the city emitting remnants of human activity, consisting mostly of collapsed or partially destroyed buildings.

<──Um... everyone from the Metis squad... Ark──or more precisely, continuous communication is coming Elysion. Explain your intention behind disrupting operation.>

"Uh...?"

"...Shifty, did you report it?"

<Well, it's my duty to report the progress of operation...>

Moore thought that troubles on-site couldn't be avoided during operations, but if they reported that the bridge collapsed due to the attacks of another squad managed by a different company, the first suspicion would likely fall on them for obstructing the operation.

He had expected this, but protests came earlier than he thought. Maxwell sighed and looked at Laplace, the squad leader.

"Laplace, explain it to them."

"...It wasn't intentional, it was an accident! We've been saying that all along!"

<I've been saying that, but they still want an explanation...>

"...Then repeat the same explanation!"

<I'm an <strong>operator. I'm not a robot that repeats the same words!>

Shifty's reproachful voice echoed from the housing covering Moore's ears. Although he couldn't see her face, he could easily imagine the expression she wore.

Amidst Shifty's repeated complaints, Laplace, who likened repeating things to a form of training, Moore sighed and lit a cigarette he had taken out of his soft pack. Next to him, Rapi handed him a turbo lighter, and just as the flame was lit...

<─I apologize.>

"...Instructor?"

──A dignified female voice resonated from within the housing. Moore was sure he heard it.

With a suspicious expression, Moore furrowed his brows. Even though Rapi had just put away the turbo lighter in his pocket, he covered his ears with his fingertips.

"...Ugh... did she really go to the operator's room...? She seems really angry."

Maxwell stopped and the Metis squad's march halted as if they were being reeled in. Unconsciously, Moore and Rapi also stopped moving forward, getting drawn into the situation, which seemed more like a temporary halt for clarification.

<Explain yourself. Why did Metis interfere with Absolute's operation? Can we interpret your actions as having impure intentions? Are you trying to claim the Heretic's shard alone? Or do just want punish Absolute? perhaps, challenge our Elysion? could it be... <strong>destroy Elysion?>

"...This is bad. She's really angry..."

Certainly, Moore let out a sigh as he observed Maxwell, who had lowered her shoulders. He kept a watchful eye on his surroundings while exhaling purple smoke. He sent a hand signal to Rapi , indicating to maintain strict vigilance, and she nodded back, gripping her assault rifle tightly.

"What... are you scared now? Pathetic!"

"Then... why don't you persuade her?"

"...I can't deal with Ingrid."

"...Ugh... annoying. Just be quiet..."

Drake sneered, but Maxwell's stern tone silenced her immediately. There was clearly irritation in her voice. It was somewhat harsh.

<I will report this matter officially to the central government. This is something we cannot overlook.──>

<Enough, already...!>

Once again, the voice of another intruder echoed from the housing. Moore and Rapi , wearing sunglasses, exchanged glances, their eyes meeting.

It was undoubtedly Syuen, the CEO of Missilis.

<Oh, um... generally, the operator's room is meant to be used alone...>

<It's perfect timing. I was just questioning Metis about what they did.>

<You all don't need to explain anything. I'll handle it somehow.>

....he don't know the size of the operator room, but it's probably filled with various monitors and equipment. Is it possible that two more people are in that not-so-spacious room?

<You let them get away with disrupting the operation because you're so lenient.>

<So what? It's your product, Nikkes, that allowed for this oversight, isn't it? Hey, Metis?>

"...Um, I can't say we're completely blameless..."

<Be quiet. You don't need to apologize. Just continue.>

──My head is starting to ache.

Moore sighed mixed with frustration and exhaled purple smoke, absentmindedly pressing his forehead with his left hand.

This won't lead to a resolution. They could have settled explanations and apologies after the operation. Moore picked up the microphone near his mouth with his left hand.

"Excuse me. May I interject as the on-site commander?"

<Oh, Captain Moore. Please go ahead.>

<What, you're here too?>

Intervening might have brought trouble upon Moore, but as the commander responsible for the situation, he couldn't allow further delays.

"In this case, it was a trouble that occurred on-site, not an intentional disruption of the operation against Absolute and Counters. Shifty, please record this."

<Yes, sir, understood.>

<See, he's saying the same thing. <strong>OLD HAG.>

(Tl Notes: Now THAT's what you called picking a fight.)

"...Well, you're still quite young and beautiful..."

It was rather impolite to address her that way. Moore offered his compliment with nuance, and Syuen's irritated voice was heard from the depths of the housing.

<Huhhhhh? Young? Beautiful? Her, who's gaining more wrinkles by the day? Are you kidding?>

<You should brew Captain Moore's nail dirt and drink it. Seems like you don't understand the concept of manners. Really, how could someone her became a CEO...>

<Ugh~~Why are you so delighted? It's disgusting. Considering your age, shouldn't you? Let me tell you, he showed interest in my offer. Seems like he's not interested an <strong>OLDER WOMAN like you being the president, right?>

──Why is this happening? The situation suddenly turned ominous.

He wanted to cut off the communication immediately, but now that he had intervened, he couldn't do that anymore.

<──Hmph, what a childish provocation. Elysion provides Captain Moore's prosthetics and artificial eye. It's evidence that he's satisfied with their performance. Moreover, he proposed to become my private soldier during our discussion yesterday.>

<──Huh? What's that? Trying to assert dominance with something like that is pathetic. ──By the way, what do you mean by private soldier? You rejected my offer, didn't you? Oh, prefer older women? That's unexpected. Well then, how about reconsidering our previous conversation? I'll introduce women <em>who match your taste.>

<Captain Moore, I believe in your loyalty.>

<Ha? You're acting all high and mighty now? Your head seems to be full of flowersy...>

"──End the communication, Shifty."

<So Suffocating... Oh, yes. Understood.>

Sensing the atmosphere in the operator room about to escalate into another argument, Moore decided to cut the communication. While he felt sorry for Shifty, there was no more time to spare for such delays.

Upon her request, when she cut off the communication, the interior of the housing finally fell silent. Moore sighed with relief and tossed the nearly finished cigarette into a portable ashtray he had with him.

"Let's move forward."

"...Phew, thank goodness. Thank you, Captain."

"...I don't mind. We need to explain the situation, and Ingrid won't be satisfied otherwise. Most importantly, I don't want to waste more time on this nonsense."

He exhaled the remaining purple smoke from his lungs and took out a round gum package from his pocket. It was included with the combat rations he had for breakfast this morning but hadn't eaten.

He tore open the package, popped the gum into his mouth, and started chewing. A sharp stimulus hit his senses. The gum was filled with caffeine and stimulants.

"...She's quite fond of you all."

"Huh? Oh, you mean us?"

Shortly after they began moving forward, Rapi called out to Maxwell, who was walking a bit ahead.

"Yes... I've never seen Syuen treat Nikke like that before."

"Well, that's true. But I must say, we are exceptional, aren't we?"

Chewing gum, Moore kept his eyes on the surrounding streets, the empty buildings, and alternated his gaze between Rapi beside him and Maxwell ahead, maintaining constant vigilance.

"But the fundamental aspect hasn't changed, right?"

"...Fundamental aspect?"

"...That we are... tools, fundamentally speaking?"

When Moore interjected, Rapi's gaze beside him and Maxwell's glance over his shoulder both turned toward him.

"You have keen intuition. Yes, she's just treating Nikke with affection with specific angle. Can't you tell from the fact that she forced us to come up to the surface despite our batteries being on the brink?"

Rapi sighed softly next to him. When Moore glanced at her, he noticed she was averting her reddish eyes away from Maxwell.

"We are nothing more than toys to her, high-performance ones at that. Toys she can boast about, ones that maintain her reputation. Nothing more, nothing less. It has been that way for a long time... but..."

Suddenly, Maxwell fell into thought and then turned his shoulder back to Moore, narrowing his turquoise eyes as if he had found an "interesting toy."

"Recently, or perhaps from a few months ago, she stopped calling Nikke 'scrap metal.' Right around the time we went to the outpost."

"...Hmmm?"

Maxwell, who had been moving forward, turned his entire body and approached Moore. Looking up at him from below, she showed her fangs, directing her intrigued turquoise eyes at him.

"Do you know something? Like what might have changed Syuen a little? Perhaps a trigger?"

"Unfortunately, I have no idea."

"Hmm?"

In sync with the busy chewing of the gum, Maxwell's lips, slightly dry, produced words that made his mouth twitch.

"Let's stop talking about heavy topics! What we need is courage! Let's go! Search for Heretic fragments! Of course, we'll share the credit equally with Absolute! Exactly! Fifty-fifty! That's justice! Glorious justice!"

"...Is your leader always like that?"

"...It seems she doesn't care about us at all."

"I-I'm sorry? I didn't mean any harm... Okay?"

"...Well, it doesn't matter. As long as the objective is achieved, I don't mind about merits and such."

"I appreciate that..."

Suddenly, a determined declaration from Laplace filled the air. Moore shrugged his shoulders, and Rapi wore an indescribable expression, each reacting differently. Maxwell, who was about to apologize, was caught off guard by Moore's sharp perception. Behind her, among the debris of a collapsed building, a red monocular glowed. The moment Moore noticed it, he disengaged the safety on his assault rifle with his fingertip.

"Enemy ambush!"

Grabbing Maxwell's shoulder in front of him, he pushed her aside and aimed the rifle, pulling the trigger.

Gunshots echoed, and Raptures, hit by multiple rounds, burst into pieces.

"Commander! Raptures ahead!"

"They came out like ants!"

While Rapi issued a warning and readied her own assault rifle, the Metis squad members each grabbed their respective firearms and dashed out.

Moore likened the Raptures attacking them to ants, or perhaps bees might be more accurate.

Bees release pheromones to alert their comrades to impending danger. This pheromone signals enemy attacks to the hive members and attracts the aggressive behavior of many worker bees.

The Raptures' attacks seemed reminiscent of this behavior, but they might be a bit underpowered against Metis, the elite force of Misilis.

Rays from Laplace's launcher, cables connected to Maxwell's body, her homemade sniper rifle, and Drake's large shotgun all unleashed their firepower, mowing down Raptures one by one or collectively.

However—

"There are too many!"

"Yes! They're exceeding our expectations! The number of Raptures!!---"

With each one they defeated, it felt like the number of Raptures increased. Although they continued their assault, the enemy, aware of their numerical advantage, kept advancing, stepping over the defeated remains.

"I should've brought more ammo. Hah, regretting won't change anything though."

He moved inside the collapsed building along with his companions. Moore tried to reload his magazine, searching through his magazine pouch, but there was only one left. He laid the emptied dump pouch on the floor and gestured towards it with his shoulder strap still hanging.

From the backpack, he pulled out a thin synthetic resin box. Inside were assault rifle rounds neatly arranged in metal stripper clips. Attaching the accessories to the empty magazine, he inserted the stripper clip and pressed down with his fingers to swiftly load the ammunition.

He repeated this process several times, filling the empty magazine with ammunition and storing the loaded pouch.

"Shifty, compare the previous and current Rapture distribution maps!"

Rapi, who had just arrived at the entrance, peeked outside while holding her assault rifle and pulled the trigger. Meanwhile, she requested Shifty to compare the information. After a while, a noise echoed from the depths of the housing.

[Sorry for the wait! The Rapture count has increased by 312% compared to before!]

"Three hundred twelve percent!? I thought there were a lot, but isn't this too much!?"

"They must be after us too. For the Heretic fragments—!"

"Cover me. I need to reload the magazine."

Rapi's assault rifle signaled empty rounds. Moore noticed and ran over to her, patting her shoulder. He pointed at the bag left on the floor. Rapi nodded, swapping positions with him. She stuck her head out the entrance, aiming through the ACOG optic. As soon as she identified an approaching Rapture, she pulled the trigger, firing three shots in rapid succession, punching through the enemy's core.

"Commander, I need ammo!"

"Ah, take as much as you need!—I take it back! Leave some! We need to have some left!"

It seemed Rapi was low on ammunition as well. After inquiring with him, she rummaged through her backpack, taking out ammunition and quickly loading it into the empty magazine following the same procedure as Moore.

"Shifty! What's the situation around the destination?"

[Yes! The closer we get to the destination, the higher the Rapture density becomes! There's a high chance of chaotic combat!]

While reloading his magazine, Moore wrinkled his brow in response to the answer. Not the chaotic combat but the increasing density of Raptures seemed suspicious. But as he recalled what might be at the destination, he made sense of it and displayed a satisfied expression.

"Ah, the Raptures must be trying to recover the Heretic fragments too. ...I don't know if that's the only reason, though."

"There might be something else. Should I help?"

"You can't afford to run out of battery. I don't need assistance. Just conserve your energy."

"Got it. But a chaotic combat, huh... Hey, did you know?"

"...Know what?"

"Commanders have the highest mortality rates during chaotic combat."

Suddenly, Maxwell approached, and just as Moore thought she was getting closer, she leaned against the nearby wall, casting a meaningful smile at Moore with her turquoise eyes.

"Attacks from all directions, difficulty distinguishing between friend and foe, more incidents of friendly fire, and loss of control leading to chaos. Something like that?"

"Well, that's about right."

"Such situations are not limited to commanders. In ancient wars, like the Hundred Years' War between France and England or battles across various regions invaded by the Mongol army before that, chaotic combat where friend and foe were mixed together often resulted in high casualty rates for both sides. Right around this area. There were wars among humans hundreds of years ago."

"Oh, you're quite knowledgeable about history."

"I'm involved in wars too. How can I not know?"

Maxwell whistled lightly in admiration, but Moore responded with sarcasm and a casual remark. He fired his assault rifle again at the Raptures.

Close combat chaos resulting from melee battles—fights where friend and foe were mixed together easily led to confusion. Thus, the leadership and control of the person in command were crucial, but even in situations where composure was easily lost. The moment one's thoughts stopped, and instructions for the next action couldn't be given, that was the end.

Being literally overwhelmed by enemies taking advantage of numerical superiority was a scene that had been witnessed many times in past wars.

"Hmm? You seem calm despite knowing all that. Where does that confidence come from?"

"Do I seem calm? You should replace your eyeballs once we return to the Ark. I'm already on their last legs."

She asked with a bright voice, and Moore responded with a mix of irony and banter. When his assault rifle ran out of ammunition again, he withdrew indoors, removed the empty magazine, and replaced it with a new one. However, he couldn't muster enthusiasm with gum.

He took out a pack from his pocket, discarded the gum he had been chewing, put the pack back in his pocket, and pulled out a cigarette from a soft pack pouch.

"Well, I'm aware that I could die at any moment. When that time comes, I'll die. But until then, I plan to fight without giving up easily. It won't be easy for me to die. Besides, Rapi is here. Having her with us gives me great confidence."

"Yes. Whatever happens, I will protect the commander. Please."

"Thank you."

After Rapi finished reloading her magazine and approached Moore to switch places, he took out a turbo lighter from his pocket. As soon as he showed it to her, he brought the tip of the cigarette he had in his mouth closer. The button was pressed, and a blue flame sprang up.

The turbo lighter was offered naturally. Laplace, watching this, had a moment to glance at Moore, who continued shooting next to her. In a leisurely manner, Laplace initiated the conversation.

"Rapi, what kind of relationship do you have with the commander?"

As she was about to switch places with him for the next round of shooting, Rapi was taken aback by Laplace's question, not understanding the true meaning behind it.

"...The relationship between subordinate Nikke and superior officer Commander, you mean?"

"No, I'm not asking about that."

So, what did Laplace mean by asking this? While Rapi wore a puzzled expression, Laplace clarified her intentions.

"—I thought it might be impolite, but I investigated the details of your joint operations. As a result, it doesn't seem like a simple relationship between a commander and Nikke."

"...Eh? What do you mean? Don't tell me you two...?"

With great interest, Maxwell, her eyes sparkling, glanced back and forth between Moore, who continued shooting while exhaling purple smoke, and Rapi beside him. It was needless to say what kind of imagination was running wild in her mind.

"My impression is... it's more like comrades-in-arms. Captain. Is my impression wrong?"

"No, that impression fits the best."

"I see."

His headset was equipped with noise cancellation. It cancelled out gunshots and explosions, allowing conversations to be amplified. Laplace's words reached Moore's ears clearly, and he nodded in agreement.

"Comrades-in-arms between Nikke and humans, huh. If I told someone, they'd probably laugh."

"Hahaha!"

"Hey, Drake, cut it out! Can't you see he's glaring at you intensely!?"

"...Sorry."

To Drake's credit, she wasn't trying to deny his thoughts that he had confirmed. She just tried to lighten the heavy atmosphere with a smile.

However, regardless of time and circumstances, the narrowed, intense brown eyes behind the sunglasses seemed to be more than enough reason for the question being asked.

"Nikke and humans can't become comrades-in-arms. Nikke exists to protect humans. It's impossible for her to ask for help. But Counters, you've received help from the commander, that is, a human, several times. That won't do!! You can't ask for help, you can't be protected!! You're disqualified as heroes!!"

"...I have no intention of denying your faith, and I understand that it's the way it should be, but is it necessary to go that far?"

"...I'm sorry?"

Hero syndrome had surfaced—or rather, their leader was in that state all the time. Maxwell bowed her head slightly to Moore, as if to say, 'Sorry, She REALLY have an exceptionally strong sense of justice.'

"...I'm not a hero."

"No! All Nikkes should be heroes! That's how it should be! Otherwise, we can't reclaim the surface!!"

"...Laplace sometimes says strange things. Don't mind her."

"What's strange about it! As I've said repeatedly—"

"Laplace."

Before the situation could further escalate, Moore intervened—but at that moment, Moore called out Laplace's name.

He tapped Rapi on the shoulder, signaling her to take over, and she began firing in his place.

"What is it, Captain?"

"—Becoming a hero isn't something you can achieve just by wanting to be one. At least, that's what I think."

After checking the remaining rounds by removing the magazine, he slammed it back into the magazine well of his assault rifle. He looked down at Laplace, who was shorter than him, and calmly stated his opinion.

.

.

"A hero isn't someone who has become something significant. It's someone who, without realizing it, has been evaluated as such by the people around them. People who became heroes with the desire to become one... well, they might have existed in past history, but there were probably only few of them."

.

.

"What are you trying to say?"

Moore voiced his thoughts without beating around the bush—an "heroism theory," so to speak. Laplace asked him about its meaning, but Moore, with a cigarette between his teeth, inhaled the purple smoke and shrugged his shoulders.

"No, nothing... I'm not trying to deny your 'justice' or 'ideals.' I just wondered if the individuals who are often called heroes throughout history... were they such people because they wanted to become heroes in the first place."

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Author's Notes: Perhaps in this worldline, he is the man who is closest to the concept of a hero? 

Eventually, the battle for Captain Moore between Elysion and Mishilis might unfold... high possibility (with Tetra joining the fray there)!