Betraying the Traitor

Mudor Canyon was an ownerless land in the middle of the continent, neither affiliated

with the Nebulis Sovereignty domains clustered in the north nor Imperial territories

to the south. This deep valley had formed out of a vast plateau, eroded down by a river.

It was an unexplored region even in the current age.

"No volcanic activity in the surrounding mountains. If hot fluid has been detected

under the surface of the valley, it must be something other than magma… Huh." Iska

read the intelligence report aloud before turning to look out the car window.

Driving up the high altitude, he was starting to feel that the air had slightly less

pressure and oxygen. The grass and trees grew sporadically. The ground was a shade

of crimson, like red bricks. And with Nene behind the wheel, the car climbed up the

steep mountain road at a terrifying speed.

"…It'd be better if it was underground gas or a hot spring."

The vortex. A fountain of astral power.

It was a torrent of energy born from the planet's core, worming its way past the mantle

under the crust of the planet and erupting to the surface. It was a mystical spot of

power that Iska and the others would protect with their lives.

"Captain Mismis," he addressed to the front of him in the passenger seat. "About Risya's

recording from earlier. Could you play it again? I want to listen to it before we get to

the camp."

"Sure. I wanted to listen to it again, too." Captain Mismis nodded, flipping the switch

on the recorder gripped in both her hands.

A familiar voice started to play. "—So long story short: I want you to protect it with your

lives."

It was the message from the Saint Disciple of the fifth seat—Risya.

The recorder in Mismis's hands, along with the intelligence report between Iska's

fingers, had been prepared in advance and left on seats of the armored vehicle.

"I think the Nebulis Sovereignty will come full throttle. I've had a Saint Disciple head over

to counterbalance them. Mismis, you work under his command. You can ask the other

captains who are already at the camp for detailed information."

"All I'm saying is"—Captain Mismis childishly puffed up her cheeks as she listened to

the voice—"if she was going to record herself, she could have just called me while

we're in the car."

"But Risya said she was busy. You have to dedicate time to hop on a call." Nene turned

to Captain Mismis from the driver's seat. "And you can listen to a recording as many

times as you need. If she called, you wouldn't have remembered anything, Captain."

"Hey! So now you're giving me a hard time, too, Nene?! I think I have a good memory!"

"Really?"

"I swear… But enough about me—keep your eyes on the road!"

A gigantic boulder bigger than the car was in front of them.

"It's fiiine. See, if I turn right at the rock— Oops."

"That way's a cliff!"

Upon giving the handle a sharp turn, Nene suddenly stomped on the brakes.

It was the cliff of the canyon. If they'd gone one more yard forward, they would have

been on the verge of free-falling down. The vehicle raised a cloud of dust as it screeched

to a stop.

"Wowza, Captain! Look! There's a river flowing superfast down there!"

"Yeah! The river we were about to dive into!"

"We're fine. We had a two-foot margin. I wonder if I could have held off on slamming

the brakes for a little longer."

"Please! Drive saaaaafely!"

"Um, by the way, Captain…" Iska tried soothing the captain, who sounded as though

she was about to cry, and pointed at the device in her hands. "The recorder stopped

playing."

"Huh? That's weird. I must have turned it off at some point."

Jhin sighed grandly at her from the back seat, but it seemed the person in question

hadn't noticed.

"Secure or destroy." The Saint Disciple's voice was reproduced by the recorder once

again. "As you know, the astral energy from the vortex is strong. Even regular witches

and sorcerers could obtain power to rival a purebred, for example. But there's a limit to

the energy—they can only use it as a resource in that location."

A vortex was a "single-use" resource.

Once it was stolen, there was no option to take it back—because even if they did, the

energy would already have been consumed and dried up.

"Which means this battle is about making the moves first. Well, I think Mismis learned

this stuff at officer cadet school, but I bet she's forgotten. Jhin-Jhin, help her when it comes

to this, please."

"Never doubt a Saint Disciple. She hasn't missed a single detail."

"Jhin? What are you admiring her for? I remembered everything, too, you know." The

officer glared at her subordinate from the corner of her eye. "This battle is all about

who gets there first! Our top priority is to secure it before the Nebulis Sovereignty. If

that falls through, our next option is to stamp down the vortex. We'll need to unleash

our firepower to annihilate it before they have a chance to get stronger!… Did I get it?"

Secure or destroy: Those were the two options. If they couldn't protect the vortex and

it got into the hands of the enemy, they would need to blow it to smithereens so the

enemy couldn't make use of it.

…This method is on-brand for the Empire… but I have to admit, we don't have other

options when it comes to the vortex.

For that purpose, they'd come to the location carrying self-propelled rocket guns and

plans to build short-distance missiles. And they had to prepare for combat with the

astral corps, where Iska's gang would join as the support unit.

"—Oh yeah. Also. This hasn't been confirmed, but…"

"Huh?" Mismis yelped when Risya continued to talk. "There's more? Did I stop it

midway through the first time?"

"…Guess we did the right thing by listening to it twice." The sniper chuckled wryly,

flashing a glance at the machine with a flickering light. "I wonder how it goes."

"About the purebred. I'll tell you what I know. A witch is coming. And the Ice Calamity

Witch who you fought in the past—"

Alice?! Iska almost shouted out loud, but he stopped himself at the sound of Risya's

voice.

"—is unlikely to be our visitor."

Captain Mismis rubbed her chest in relief.

After all, the Ice Calamity Witch Alice was the strongest class of witch in the Empire.

Mismis had been set free from the prospect of fighting this witch twice in a row at the

very least.

On the other hand, Iska hadn't even realized that he'd held his breath and his tongue.

…Not Alice, huh…? And I didn't run into her when I was at the city of pleasure before this,

too…

They'd bumped into each other a few times in the neutral city of Ain since their battle

in the Nelka forest.

The series of coincidences was stopping here.

She was an enemy. He knew that.

Then, why did he feel lonely to know there would be no more chance meetings?

"Also, the witch isn't cataloged in any Imperial records. She's an unknown purebred. You

may be relieved that it isn't the Ice Calamity Witch, but she might be just as strong."

"Hey! Risya!" Captain Mismis yelled, clutching the recorder so tightly that it started to

crack under pressure. "You never told us that. An unknown witch?! B-b-b-but the

probability of one stronger than the Ice Calamity Witch—"

"I can't say it's zero."

"Not fair! Risya! You should have told me when you found out!"

"Well. I thought you would've been petrified. I just couldn't stand seeing my precious

friend in fear… Oh, and reminder that this conversation is a recording. I can't address

any questions or complaints."

"I hate yooooooooooou!"

"Hey, Captain?" Nene grabbed a handful of blue hair on her raving captain and yanked

hard, as though pulling the reins of a horse. If anyone had to guess, she was probably

trying to tell the captain to behave. "I noticed this earlier. But that recorder…"

"Yeah?"

"It's not set to Play but to Call. See? The light isn't red but green."

"…Oh. So that means…"

At some point, they had connected to a line.

Which meant they had been talking to Risya instead of her recording?

"Oh-ho. I see, Risya. So that's why the timing of your responses was perfect."

"Guh?! Shoot! You figured it out?"

"Riiiisya, I have something to ask you about. Do you have time?" Captain Mismis had a

dangerous smile on her charming face. "You might be the commanding officer, but not

informing your subordinates of necessary information goes against regulations. About

that—"

"..." Click. They heard the line cut off.

"She hung up on us!"

Risya had likely made her prompt escape when she sensed impending danger—and

they were never to get ahold of her again during their time working on their military

operation.

"…Nene, you heard that, right? Drive safe. We have no idea when the astral corps might

appear, and there could be a strong purebred lurking around."

"All riiight."

The armored vehicle accelerated. Iska looked up at the slope of the mountain, which

was getting gradually foggy, and gripped his hand into a fist.

Mudor Canyon in the southwest. The first temporary base.

Iska's group had arrived at the camp, where several dozen military tents were lined

up in rows. They'd been set up by the first group who had arrived several days before

them.

"One squadron. Thirty-two units. One hundred and sixty people," Jhin reported back

to Captain Mismis, upon completing a circuit around the base. "Half are from the Third

Division. The others are from the Fourth. There are infantry, artillery, medical, and

communication units. They picked out veterans with enough experience to fit this

situation. I recognized some of the captains over there."

"Reeeeporting back! I went and greeted them, too!" Nene came toward them from the

opposite direction. "I got them to connect a telecommunication circuit with the comms

department. We should be getting the information from the base coming to us now,

too. I'll hold on to the device for the circuit for the unit, and as for the captain's one,

well…"

"…Um, look, I'm bad with technology, so…," Mismis said.

"Want me to hold on to it?"

"Love you, Nene!" She squeezed her subordinate, but with Nene being the taller one

of the two, it was hard to tell who the real captain was. "I went around the base with

Iska. It's a full squadron. They've said that the one in the second temporary camp is

backup. And also—"

"They're already planning on dispatching another one," Iska finished, informing Jhin

and Nene.

Three squadrons. That was nearly a whole battalion. Plus, the Saint Disciple of the

eighth seat had been sent out.

"I'm impressed they'd manage in this remote canyon."

Jhin pulled out his sniper gun from its metal case. "You can practically see they're

taking any measure to get their hands on that vortex."

"Right. There are a ton of people from the Third Division here. I know some of the

captains. We just talked about seeing one another in a bit." Captain Mismis glanced

around, waving her hand vigorously back and forth upon catching sight of a captain

coming out of a military tent.

"Noro! Over here! Over here!"

"Oh, Mismis. So that's where you were," chirped the other captain with a gentle

expression.

She had slightly permed golden hair and eyes that made her look pleasant. She didn't

appear like she should have had any relation to the conflict at all, lacking the qualities

of an Imperial captain in a different way from Mismis's childish figure.

"Long time no see. You surprised me. Mismis, when did you get back to the Third

Division? I thought you were with the Second at the Imperial capital all of last year."

"Hee-hee, it happened recently."

The captain called Noro pulled her into a hug.

They were both the same rank and in their mid-twenties, but based on height alone,

they looked like a pair of sisters with a big age gap.

"Oh, Noro. Let me introduce you. These are my lovely subordinates. From the right,

that's Nene and Iska. The two of them are amazing and so kind. This one is Jhin. He

looks charming and he's smart, but he's got a sharp tongue."

"…Hey."

"Oh my. I'm Shanorotte Gregory. Nice to meet you, Nene and Iska. And who can forget

the sharp-tongued Jhin?" She giggled. "I graduated with Mismis from captain cadet

school. And we were junior soldiers together. It's been so long. When we got our

salaries, we would go to barbecue a lot together—though it doesn't seem like you've

gotten any taller, Mismis."

"I—I grew! Like about three-quarters of an inch!"

"Really? I'm happy we've been reunited but sorry for the circumstance. I was just

talking to another captain about how we've been thrown into this helpless situation."

The blond captain crossed her arms with a troubled expression.

But she immediately did away with that weak attitude and snapped into better posture

with a speed that seemed out of place with her easygoing tone.

"Look, Mismis, they're coming."

"Huh? What? Who's coming…?"

"Everyone! Salute!" boomed a voice, echoing throughout the entire base.

Those unit members working around the tents immediately stopped what they were

doing and went into attention.

"Uh… huh? Ummm?"

"Captain, you have to salute—salute. If you don't, you'll get in trouble," Iska whispered

to Mismis as he copied the other unit members, placing his raised right hand perfectly

against his head.

They heard the low rumbles of footsteps, and three people decorated as supervising

captains crossed over to headquarters—plus another man who followed behind the trio.

Captain Shanorotte continued to hold her salute as she whispered to Mismis next to

her. "Look, Mismis. They're coming. It's the Saint Disciple."

"…Whoa. He's got an air about him. But I'm honestly a bit petrified."

Among all those in Imperial battle uniforms, he was in an odd outfit, wrapped in a

dark-gray long coat from head to toe. He approached Iska's crew, undaunted.

He was the Saint Disciple of the eighth seat—Nameless.

The suit was made from adaptive camouflage, created by the Department of Suppression

Weapons Development at the Imperial capital.

…I think I might have met him a year ago when I was a Saint Disciple, too… But we didn't

really talk much or anything.

Nameless was with the Sixth Division. He'd been promoted from the Imperial

assassins' unit.

"Eight new units have been added to our base today," reported a voice, which almost

sounded robotic with electronic static.

It was rumored that under that photochemical suit, he wasn't actually human but an

autonomous machine of a soldier.

"Nameless" stuck with him, even after being promoted to the Lord's guard. This

assassin would be in command of the base.

"Let me start off by saying: I don't plan on giving this base a single concrete order." The

electronic voice projected itself through the quiet base. "With that in mind, I will tell

you two goals for your mission—"

"One. Secure the vortex before the Sovereignty.

"Two. If that fails, destroy the vortex before it can be used."

"And the last one—don't get in the way of my goal."

You got that?

Pausing as though to ask them that, the assassin who had risen to Saint Disciple

continued. "My aim is to squash the astral corps who come seeking the vortex. Don't

get in my way. Commit that to memory. That's all."

"—Dismissed!" shouted the young captain accompanying the Saint Disciple, who'd

turned on his heel. "Get to work. Chop-chop. We request that all captains whose units

have joined us today immediately report to the headquarters tent for strategy."

"…Huh? That means me. Well, see ya later!" Mismis scampered off.

The base burst with movement, abruptly starting to come alive again: There were

people popping in and out of tents to deliver materials, captains giving quick

encouragements to their subordinates, and subordinates dashing to the armored cars.

…This isn't a rare sight at a temporary base… but I dunno why the nervous energy feels…

different.

"One of my friends in the communications unit told me that she felt suffocated here. I

can see what she meant," Nene observed as she hooked the key to the military vehicle

on her finger. "If Nebulis gets the vortex, that'd mean the Empire would be in danger.

If witches and sorcerers become even stronger, they say the war might even rage all

the way in the city…"

"A standoff means we're in a stalemate, after all. But this one is going to be a struggle.

It's a completely different story. Nene, get the engine warmed up. Once the captain

comes back, we're heading out right away." The one to reply in a calm tone was the

silver-haired sniper.

He was looking at the strategy tent far behind them, sweeping his gaze up as though

staring at one of the reddish summits.

"The border to Nebulis is over there. The astral corps have probably already gathered."

He let a sigh escape as though he was cursing at them.

The southwest area of Mudor Canyon.

It was one of the unexplored regions, over one hundred and eighty miles long with a

cliff over a mile deep. Some researchers insisted there would be at least several

hundred new species for humanity to find at the bottom of the canyon… that was the

extent of its vastness.

There were large predators living at the very bottom. From time to time, there were

people who found tracks of ground dragons crawling along the surface.

"—W-we're gonna fall! We're gonna fall, Nene!"

The military convertible was skirting the edge of that exact cliff, kicking up clouds of

dust as it zoomed forward.

"Get away from the cliff! It's so dangerous!"

"It's fine! Don't worry. Look, I'm making sure to keep an eye below the cliff. You check

everything else, Captain." Nene had hurled her entire body out of the driver's seat,

standing in a position that could instantly cause the car to pitch over the edge if she

lost her balance.

"Nene!! Ack?!"

"…Wait, Captain?! Don't pull on me. That's way more dangerous!"

The two girls started to raise a ruckus in the front seats.

In contrast, the two sitting in the back were silently continuing to observe the redhued horizon. Iska had the measurement device. Jhin had his sniper rifle in his hand.

"Jhin, how do things look on your end?"

"I got nothing. I think the ground is cracked all over the place because it's so arid here,

but I don't see any trace light that might be coming from astral energy. What about you?"

"Slight reaction."

The measurement device in Iska's hand would sense only the light given off by astral

energy. The needle wouldn't react to the light of the sun. It was weakly quivering to

the right and left.

"It's definitely here, but the signal is weak."

The only way to find the vortex was basically to search every suspicious location

exhaustively. They had to either measure the light emitted from the energy, like Iska,

or look for places where the energy was flooding out of cracks in the ground, like Jhin.

"This is gonna be a pain," muttered Jhin, gripping his rifle. "If the vortex is nearby, its

light should be overflowing out of it. Meaning your measurement device should be

going haywire, but since it's only getting a slight reading…"

"I think its light is weak."

There were two reasons why that might be the case that he could guess.

One: The vortex hadn't formed yet, which meant astral energy was below the surface.

Two: The vortex had already formed, but they were far from it with their measurement

equipment.

"Anyway, we've got to use a human wave attack to look for it, I think. Nene, how about

you?"

"Hmm." The ponytailed girl continued to look at the bottom of the canyon.

Nene wasn't just horsing around as she dangerously peeked into the valley.

The vortex might have formed at the very bottom—where the sunlight couldn't reach

it and strange predators roamed free. But it still needed to be searched.

"Nothing, as far as I can tell. I see stuff scattered around. Looks like animal bones."

Nene craned her neck out. "Hmm… But the sunlight doesn't really reach this valley.

Too deep. Jhin, you've got a grenade launcher in your luggage, right? And a flare?"

"Where do you want it to go?"

"Where I'm pointing. Yup, yup. Around that shadow."

There was a flash of light.

The flare pelted out from Jhin's grenade launcher seemed to be sucked below the cliff

in the direction of her extended finger. It made a dry sound as it scattered like a

firework. The dark valley glittered and lit up as if a new world for a few seconds.

"How was that?"

"…Okay, next, that cliff, where that big rock is casting a shadow."

He launched another one, then a third, illuminating her specified points one after

another. Next to her, Captain Mismis seemed to admire him as she watched over them.

"Whoa… That's amazing, Jhin."

"What is?"

"The trajectory of the flares is different compared to the bullets from a sniper rifle,

right? Um… because of their air resistance, and they drop faster than normal bullets."

"We just wanted to light things up. It's not like I'm trying to be exact," Jhin said, but it

required so much skill to point the muzzle down, aim at the bottom of a windy canyon,

and hit his mark.

Mismis knew what that took, which was why she'd made her remark.

"Jhin, that was fantastic. I knew you were a capable sniper, but I didn't think you'd

know how to use a grenade launcher. Did he study under the person you call your

master?"

"Yes, of course." Iska gave a slight nod in response when Mismis's gaze settled on him.

They were talking about the Empire's strongest soldier, Crossweil Nes Lebeaxgate—

also known as the Black Steel Gladiator.

When he had been guarding the Imperial capital as the head Saint Disciple, he had

scouted boys and girls from all over the Empire to train as his successor.

…That said… By the time they brought me to my master, Jhin was the only one left.

It was Jhin and Iska.

Just the two of them had gotten through his selection process—or, more accurately,

only the two of them had been able to withstand the grueling procedure.

"But Master Cross said he wasn't that great with guns. He could use them, but he

mostly relied on his swords."

Which meant the sniper Jhin had relied only on learning the theory from Crossweil,

developing his skills with his own hard work.

It went without saying that if Iska was asked to name the man he trusted the most, he

wouldn't hesitate to say Jhin.

"I ran out of flares." Jhin acted as though he hadn't heard the conversation between

Mismis and Iska, lowering the grenade launcher from his shoulder. "Want me to

reload?"

"Hmm… I think that might be enough. Thanks, Jhin!" Nene shook her head, throwing

her binoculars into the luggage rack in the back.

"There wasn't anything within range I could see, at least. Hey, Captain, how about we

go there next? I think we could get a good view from that hill."

"Yeah, then, let's do—"

Just as Captain Mismis nodded… the communications device on her lap started

flashing on and off. It hadn't made a peep until that point.

"Is it coming from headquarters? Nene, keep driving. I'll answer it."

The captain picked up the communications device. "Y-yes! This is Unit 907, Third

Division. Mm-hmm, uh-huh… yes. We're on our mission to look for the vortex, but we

haven't found any leads and no sightings of the Nebulis corps, either— Wait, what?"

yelped the captain. "Nene. Stop the car."

The armored vehicle screeched to a halt. While the sound of the engine putted out,

only Captain Mismis's replies echoed as she cradled the communications device to her

ear.

"…Looks like something's up," Iska muttered from the back seat, noting her face.

Captain Mismis's smile was gone.

He'd seen her smile freeze in place when she was nervous during a mission, but he

hadn't seen it slip off her face entirely.

"If it's bad news, the astral corps might have attacked. Or, worst case, they've already

seized the vortex."

"Hmm… But…" Nene pulled out another device—not for captains but for Imperial

soldiers.

"If it's that important, they wouldn't take their time communicating it one by one to

the captains. I think they'd contact all of us at once."

"Huh. You're right."

Nene was intimately familiar with the workings of the communications unit. If she was

saying this, she had to be right.

In that case, what was the report on?

"—Y-yes. Understood. We'll head back to the base right away!" Captain Mismis nodded

vigorously before slowly hanging up the call with both hands. "Uuugh." She breathed

out a labored sigh as she slumped back into her seat. "There's a problem. A unit

stopped responding while they were searching for the vortex."

"…But, Captain, that's not that unusual," Iska commented as he exchanged a look with

Nene.

The communication lines could be congested. Or the unit might have their hands full,

unable to report back temporarily. Or something else. This wasn't standard by any

means, but the odds of it being an emergency were low.

"About that…" Captain Mismis was still gripping the device tightly. "Apparently, two

units dispatched as the search party also stopped responding…"

"The hunter becomes the hunted, huh? Three units in total." Jhin leaned forward from

the back seat. "If it was just one unit, it would have been totally possible that they fell

down the canyon, but it's hard to believe that would have happened to three units.

Maybe they got attacked by a giant wandering beast in the canyon or…"

"The astral corps—?" asked Nene.

"…That's what I thought, too." Captain Mismis interrupted the conversation between

Jhin and Nene. "But then, there should be traces of a skirmish. They said they didn't

find anything in the area where they were last seen."

There were no animal tracks, no signs of the mages pelting them with astral attacks.

And yet, three trained Imperial units had disappeared without a trace.

…That's strange. What could have happened to the three units for them to get cut off

from communication channels or to not put up any resistance? Iska couldn't think of

anything immediately.

"They're in the process of putting together search parties at headquarters for strategy.

Which is why they want us to head back to the base, too."

"All righty. I'll take us there at full speed!"

The engine of their armored vehicle groaned once more, revving up as it turned

sharply, hurtling toward the base.

"How creepy—for a unit to disappear without any resistance." Jhin cradled the sniper

rifle in his hands next to Iska. "There's definitely something weird going on. What do

you think headquarters will do, Iska?"

"Put together a search party of units surveying the vortex. Cease all independent

action from tomorrow onward. Investigate the area in clusters of two or three units."

"Seems reasonable. They've got to play it safe. This situation is restricting available

strategies." Jhin turned off the safety on his sniper rifle, standing in the back of the car

and fixing his gaze somewhere in the distance. "…For now, we see whether that allimportant Saint Disciple makes his move."

"This is unnecessary."

At the headquarters of the unit surveying the vortex.

They were in the center of the base, where several dozen military tents stood in rows.

Someone was standing at the entrance of a conspicuously large tent.

"We've only lost three of our thirty-two units? Trivial! That doesn't warrant a search

party. Continue the search for the vortex."

That was all the Saint Disciple Nameless had to say.

He turned his back on nearly two hundred subordinates standing at attention,

leisurely disappearing into the tent and leaving a dumbfounded supervising captain

in his wake.

"…Y-you heard him!" the captain barked with a stunned expression that screamed he

was the one in most disbelief. He couldn't think of anything else to say. He squeezed

his hand into a ball, wringing out a "dismissed" in the loudest voice he could muster.

The stomping of combat boots echoed as the units scurried back to the armored

vehicles, fully intending on carrying out orders to search the canyon.

"…This explanation is way below the bare minimum," he said, the first to be openly

derisive. "Three trained Imperial units. Thirteen people in total are MIA. We aren't

fooling around. To not be able to contact the units? This is obviously an extreme

situation. How could that Mr. Saint Disciple think it's 'trivial'?"

"I agree. There's something weird going on. Right, Captain?"

"Ye… yeah. This doesn't really settle right with me, either. It's almost as though they're

letting the three missing units die," the captain of Unit 907 asserted, quietly but clearly,

even though she knew others of her rank were judging her. "Of course, I'm not saying

a rescue mission doesn't come with its own risks. But we also don't have anything to

suggest this one might not be dangerous. And if we don't know why they went missing,

we might end up with more victims. We got a handle on why they disappeared… Well,

that's my opinion…"

"I completely agree." Iska nodded, backing up the captain who seemed increasingly

flustered. "And there's a bigger issue at hand—beyond determining if this series of

actions is the right judgment call. There's obviously something off about Nameless's

command. As his subordinates, we're supposed to obey without question, but he

should really explain his decision in this case."

"B-but… Nameless is already back in the tent…"

"I'll go."

"What?"

"Don't worry. I think he'll remember the face of his former colleague at the very least."

Iska made a quick beeline to the headquarters in front of him.

"What?! Wait, Iska, you couldn't possibly—"

He pushed aside both the closed curtain doors, marching inside the tent and projecting

his voice.

"Nameless!" Iska shouted.

Inside, the headquarters was scattered with desks and chairs for meetings. There

were whiteboards set up at the very back, where a man was wordlessly enshrined in

the darkness as though trying to become one with it.

"Wh-what do you think you're doing?!"

"I have something to say. To that commanding officer in the back."

The officers in the tent leaped to their feet at once—including supervising captains who

ran the headquarters for strategy, those advising those leaders, and communications

units.

Iska continued to saunter forward, ignoring that they'd all stood up.

"Who are you?"

"Hey, if you've got an urgent message, pass it through your captain—"

"…We've got a strange one here."

Headquarters went silent. The soldiers who had come to stop Iska froze and then

turned to the back in one almost choreographed movement.

"I forgot your name, but I remember your face."

The Saint Disciple did not sit on a chair but a case of ammo.

From head to toe, he was covered in adaptive camouflage, scrutinizing Iska's face and

speaking in an incredibly bored tone.

It was unbelievable.

Everyone in headquarters stood stock-still in fear. For the last few days, they hadn't

heard the Saint Disciple speak to anyone of his own accord—until now.

"…Hey."

"It's difficult to comprehend the whims of the Eight Great Apostles," the Saint Disciple

muttered as though spitting it out. "The traitor of the Empire dares to show his face

after the incident of assisting in a witch's prison break?"

"There's something I want to ask—as a subordinate assigned to this base. I've come

ready to bow my head and even beg on the ground for it."

"You think I'd speak to the likes of you?"

"We came at the request of Saint Disciple Risya. If you won't talk to me, then I'll go

through her."

"..." The Saint Disciple of the eighth seat went silent.

Iska's remark was a bluff for the most part.

They hadn't come at her request—but her command. And there was no way Iska had

the power to ask Risya to get an explanation from Nameless.

…If he asks her, he'll find out immediately that this is all a lie… but I know he won't,

because all the Saint Disciples are on bad terms with one another.

Because they were all struggling against one another, trying to pull one over the other

to raise up in rank. With them conniving to slit one another's throats in their sleep,

any offhand remark could result in someone snagging their rank. There was no way

this man didn't know that.

"You brat. You think you can negotiate with that?"

"I'm not going to ask you for the impossible. You're a commanding officer, and I'm a

subordinate. I'm not trying to overstep my bounds."

"Overstep your bounds? Then, you should keep silent, junior," he spat coldly. "This tent is

reserved for high-ranking officers. Which means, anything shared here is only for the

ears of those people alone. This is not a place a traitor may enter at a moment's notice."

"..."

"No value to getting advice from a lesser soldier. You want your voice heard? Then, rise

up in rank. If you get it, disappear from my sight."

"Uh, um… about that!"

The curtains to the tent flung open, revealing a captain who looked tense, nervous,

and as young as a little girl.

"Excuse me. I will speak in place of my subordinate as his captain. You're fine with

that, right…?!" The captain puffed up her chest as though to assert the decorations on

her uniform of captain rank. Her voice was strained. "Apologies if my subordinate was

rude. There's something I would like to tell you."

"…Captain Mismis?!"

"Sorry for making you wait, Iska. I'll take it from here."

"Your legs are shaking."

"It… it's from excitement!" Her smile twitched up wryly as her small hand gripped into

a hard fist, trying to get her nerves under control.

When Iska, her subordinate, saw that, she seemed incredibly delicate and vulnerable.

"This is my role. Let me show off a little for once."

"..."

"I'm no good on the battlefield, but I can fight for you within the scope of Imperial

regulations." With that, the captain pressed forward.

"…I-I'm Captain Mismis from Unit 907 of the Third Division!"

"How disappointing," Nameless hacked out. "First, the traitor. And now, two bratty

children. Since when has the Empire become a playground?"

"H-hey! I'm twenty-two! I may look this way, but I was in the same class as Risya! I'm

about the same age as a Saint Disciple!"

"Risya?"

"Uh…" Mismis clammed up, realized that she'd reflexively revealed that name.

But that seemed to work as an advantage in the end.

"Risya? That woman. I can't believe she calculated things to this extent." The Saint

Disciple of the eighth seat clucked his tongue. "..."

"Though this may be forward, I have to tell you this!" With the silent officer before her,

Mismis pointed to the whiteboard where the names of those in the three missing units

had been scribbled.

"As a captain on this mission, I need to ask why you aren't searching for the

compromised units. B-because if you don't find them and figure out how to stop it

from happening again, what's to prevent us from repeating this?!"

Gulp. Everyone in the room swallowed their breaths.

Mismis had posed the question that all had been thinking—and that all had lacked the

courage to express out loud.

"There is no need to search for them." Nameless slowly opened his mouth. "I've had a

lead on their disappearance from the start. I know the reason behind it, and I concluded

it was meaningless to look for them."

"Huh?"

"…What did you say?" Iska doubted his ears as Mismis went bug-eyed next to him.

"Um… are you suggesting that you're not looking for the distressed units because you

think they're dead…?!"

"Who knows. And if this is my speculation, it's more than enough," he asserted, aiming

his sarcasm at the soldiers surrounding him—not at Iska.

"Actually, it's comical that none of you has realized it. If you understand the state of

affairs in this canyon, it's easy enough to infer what's happening."

To infer. In other words, he didn't have a special source for information, and yet, this

man seemed confident in his own intuition.

"Could it involve a purebred from Nebulis?" Mismis asked.

Bingo. Iska had been thinking the same thing.

If there was anything that could overpower three Imperial units without resistance

and without being a ferocious predator, it had to be a purebred from the Nebulis

bloodline.

…We knew an unknown one would be coming to the canyon… It wouldn't be impossible

for her to have enough power to do something to the units without leaving any evidence

behind.

Plus, what else would Nameless be referring to—if not the purebred? The Saint

Disciple claimed he had guessed the reason. What had led him to solve the mystery

that had befallen the missing units?

"How disappointing," he replied with a faint and long sigh, gazing down on them in

scorn. Nameless shook his head. "I finally understand why Risya dispatched me. You all

have the minds of amateurs. You can't see past their tricks."

"…Wh-what does that mean?!"

"Trying to explain it to you would be a waste of time," he asserted, leaving no room for

argument.

Then the assassin-turned-Saint-Disciple addressed everyone in the room. "Devote

yourselves to the vortex. Don't trouble your minds with anything else."

The canyon was getting washed over with crimson as the rocky wastelands were

coated in darkness by the curtain of night.

"Lights!" roared the supervising captain, and nightlights throughout the base were

illuminated.

It was modest in number to prevent the Nebulis encampment from spotting them at

night. The group was next to the tents in the base.

"He said to focus on just finding the vortex. How mean. Even after Iska went through

all that." Captain Mismis let her shoulders droop as she perched on a chair. "I'm sorry

I couldn't help… I tried to be brave…"

"No need to apologize. You did all you could, Captain." Opening the bag of rations, Iska

shook his head. "I have newfound respect for you. You're the only one who said what

no one else could."

It was way different from a captain making remarks to a supervising captain.

This was a Saint Disciple for crying out loud. They were under direct command of the

Lord with the most rights in the Empire. They were allowed to execute people under

their own discretion. That was why the supervising captains at headquarters held

their tongues.

…Well, that was why I tried to go alone.

Nameless had come from the assassin's unit. No one knew what would bring his wrath

down upon them. Iska hadn't thought the Saint Disciple would go as far as summarily

executing him with a gun, but he had been prepared to receive a brutal beating.

"Nene and I tried to stop her. She didn't listen, though." Jhin lit the gas burner.

"Regardless of the end result, you were brave out there… Though we were on standby

wondering when you would be carried out of the tent."

"…Hee-hee-hee. Did I really do well?" She scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

"Yeah. You're usually a flustered twenty-two-year-old on the battlefield. In three years,

you'll round up to thirty. For a captain nearing her thirties, you did great."

"You aren't praising me!"

"I am. I mean, Iska and I are on dinner duty to celebrate your efforts."

Whenever they were on a mission, they made dinner in shifts. Captain Mismis was up

for duty, but as Jhin said, this was a special day. On top of that…

"Nene, how's the temperature?"

"Yup. It's perfect!"

They could hear shower water splashing. Nene was putting up the temporary one next

to their tents.

"You get in first because you worked so hard, Captain. Go ahead!"

"I was waiting for this!" The captain leaped up from her chair.

Bathing was a necessary part of maintaining one's mental and physical stability.

When in an emergency, they could use only alcohol wipes to clean themselves. But

whenever possible, the soldiers took a shower once every two days at the very least.

"A shower! A shower!" Mismis sprinted toward the temporary room, which was built

for the use of one person at a time. It was a box made from plastic walls, and the front

had a curtain with a zipper.

"…Boys, don't peek, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Stop blabbering, and just get in and get out."

Captain Mismis entered the shower room. And soon enough, they could hear the spray

of water hitting the ground from the thin curtain.

"Her showers are long. Let's start eating dinner. Hey, Nene, what do you want?"

"I'll have tomato risotto! What about you, Iska?"

"Then, I'll have mushroom soup with pasta."

They picked their favorites from the set of dinner rations.

They would boil water with the gas burner, pour the rations into a ready-made pouch,

and bon appe tit. They weren't as good as anything from a restaurant, but Iska thought

they were much better than trying to cook from scratch—which he wasn't used to

doing.

"How about you, Jhin?"

"I'll have soybean and potato stew. It's new from the Department of Innovations…

Anyway, it's gotten dark." Jhin paused as he held his spoon in his hand.

The sky above their heads had started to get coated in an inky black. A moment ago, it

had been burning crimson, but now they were under the black heavens, lit by the

starlight. Because of the night-lights, they could barely manage to make out the tents.

The outskirts of the base were practically in pitch-black shadow.

"Hey, Iska? We're going to be looking for the vortex tomorrow in a different location,

right?"

"Yeah, I think the headquarters for strategy are deciding the next place right now.

There's a base here and in another location, which means we're probably coordinating

with them."

The captains in the headquarters were most certainly going to pull an all-nighter.

They would gather all the results from the search and report them to headquarters in

the city to select new survey routes until sunrise.

"I wonder where we'll be surveying?"

"It might be out in the boonies," Jhin commented as he ate his rations. "Because to

everyone else, it would seem our boss tried picking a fight with the Saint Disciple. I

wouldn't put it past him to have us poking around the back alley to nowhere, just to

get on our nerves. Well, I wouldn't mind."

"…Yeah. We did get to see the captain be super cool, after all." Even Iska hadn't thought

the captain would have jumped head-first into the situation, instead of scolding him

for recklessly acting on his own. She had stood in the line of fire for him. "I knew she

cared about us, but that made me really happy."

"Don't tell her. If she starts making mistakes because she's on cloud nine, we'll be in

trouble."

"I'm sure she wouldn't do that." He smiled wryly at Jhin.

It was true that hearing such praise might've made her giddy, but she wouldn't let it

go to her head or let herself get carried away. It was Captain Mismis they were talking

about, after all.

"Didn't her dad retire as a low-ranking soldier?"

"He got injured in a battle with the astral corps, which was why he had to retire."

Her father had regretted that he hadn't been able to advance to captain. And Mismis

had enlisted in her father's place, vowing to become one, after spending her entire

childhood watching her father grow forlorn. Compared to all the brawny men, she was

a tiny captain with an overwhelming handicap when it came to her physical strength.

But she managed to endure her inferiority complex, even with Risya next to her, and

passed the captain's exam.

"The captain had a harder time than most, so I always thought we'd be the ones

supporting her, but…"

It seemed there hadn't been a need for that.

She had protected Iska against a Saint Disciple and had her say while facing the firing

line. Their captain had done something that all the other captains in that base had

feared.

"The captain is… small and cute, and I end up treating her like we're the same age, but

she's really mature. We can count on her; She's a renable woman."

"Hmph."

"Huh?"

"Iska… I get it now."

They turned around. Nene held the rations in her hand, looking at him with upturned

eyes and a big pout.

"Wh-what's with you, Nene?"

"Fine. Captain Mismis is an adult… She's shorter than I am, but she's fully developed

in all the right places. She's got a big chest, too… Iska, that's what you're talking about,

right?!"

"W-wait a sec, Nene!"

"So you're telling me you like mature women, Iska…"

"I think you're getting it all twisted!"

He'd just been talking about Captain Mismis's mental maturity—not physical

development. Right as he was about to explain himself, the temporary shower curtain

suddenly slid open behind him.

"Whew. What a great shower!" Captain Mismis's skin was slightly red, and she seemed

content. She had just wrapped a small towel around her head.

With nothing but white steam curling her body, the captain's alluring figure was bare

to the world.

…Uh… Uh, um. What's going on?

Beyond the faint steam, they could see her chest was as ripe as fruit, almost out of

place on her childish figure. In contrast to her taut abdomen, the full curve of her hips

displayed to them that Mismis wasn't a girl but a woman.

"Right, it's time for some TV!… And cold juice… Oh. Huh?"

Her eyes flung wide open. Fluttering her eyelids in surprise was the adult woman in

question, who wasn't even wearing underwear.

"…Hey."

"…Um."

"…Wow, Captain, I knew your boobs were big."

Iska, Jhin, and Nene were right in front of her eyes. When the captain saw her three

subordinates, each one of them wide-eyed, she finally realized something was amiss.

She wasn't in her own room in the barracks but at the battlefront.

"A-a-aaaaaaaaaaaaaack?!" she shrieked pitifully, her scream echoing through the night

and base. "Ah… ah, ahhhh...?! N-no… I… Um, it was so nice being in the shower that I

felt like I was back at home…"

"Calm down! Please calm down, Captain!"

"You're both perverts, Jhin and Iska!" she yelped, using both hands to cover her

cleavage, which could not conceivably be hidden under her two palms. The buck naked

captain leaped back into the shower room.

Or so they thought. She peeked her bright-red face from the gap in the curtain.

"Ugh… Now I'll never be able to get married. I'll hold you accountable for seeing me

naked, Iska and Jhin! Make up for it for the rest of your lives!"

"How're we supposed to do that?!"

"Don't worry. We could barely make out anything, thanks to the steam. You were saved

by a super-small margin."

Fortunately, her subordinates were the only ones who had seen Mismis in this state.

The other units were still eating or had headed back to their tents for the night. As Jhin

said, the chances were low that word about this would spread among the Imperial army.

"…Ah. I worked so hard today… I guess I had my head in the clouds…"

"Which is why you felt so liberated?"

"…Yeah." Beyond the curtain, the captain sighed. "Iska, prep the barbecue meal in our

rations—three people's worth, please."

"Are you stress eating?"

"I need to eat up for tomorrow."

"…Got it. Captain, make sure you put on your clothes before you come out this time,"

he replied toward the shower room.

Iska set about preparing the captain's dinner.