We passed through two terminals along the way. The medical officer disembarked at the mining terminal with a polite salute. Right up until he left, he kept asking whether anyone was hurt, looking almost disappointed that he had never had a chance to show off his skills.

Someone had gotten off, but no one else boarded. As we talked, we gradually grew closer.

Both physically and emotionally.

Humans form societies. Other humans tend to have the greatest supply of what a human needs, and sharing those resources makes them more efficient.

Light, warmth, knowledge, fences, stories.

The more people gathered to share such things, the greater the share each received. That was why humans had lived in communities for so long.

... Of course, some valued personal gain over efficiency and preferred killing and stealing to living together, but anyway.

We had gathered our lamps together to talk, and now we were listening to the old combat engineer.

"... My older brother died building this meta-conveyor belt. A terrible accident. The ground hadn't fully solidified, but he got confused and stepped onto it. It ground his body to pieces. The sight of him disappearing into that torrent of earth... Heh, heh. I hope you never imagine it. I couldn't put it into words even if I tried."

Whether he intended it or not, trailing off only gave everyone's imagination more room to work.

Images of a man being crushed by flowing earth flashed through their minds. Blood spread through the moving ground, red as lava...

Recalling the past, the old engineer gazed at the meta-conveyor belt with moist eyes.

"My brother was a fine carpenter, but he wasn't much of a mason. He didn't really understand what flowing earth was... I expect he knows now. He's closer to Mother Earth than anyone. In a way, I'm riding on my brother's corpse."

"Oh, dear..."

"After he died, I couldn't focus on my work at all. Nearly died myself, working in a daze. Back then, my brother and I were the only carpenters in the unit, so whenever a wall needed building, we were always the first ones called. Once he died, I was the only one left to do it. One man doing two men's work... No wonder the stockade collapsed..."

After the coup, those who had grown fat under the kingdom were taken prisoner and sentenced to forced labor. But no amount of whipping could give them skills they had never possessed.

The Military State gathered skilled workers from across the country, bestowed posts upon them, and gave them authority over the convict laborers.

The most prominent of them was the Earth Sage.

"The Earth Sage happened to save me then. But ungrateful as I was, all I could think was: Why had she only come now? If she'd come just one week sooner, couldn't my brother have lived? Heh, heh. I'm a selfish bastard, aren't I?"

As the engineer spoke with bitter self-mockery, I offered my heartfelt sympathy.

"Don't blame yourself. If you were truly selfish, you wouldn't even remember that she saved you."

"Heh, heh, heh. I can only talk so calmly now because so much time has passed. Back then, I was full of resentment. For months after construction ended, all I did was drink... blaming the Military State and the Earth Sage. Still, if I could just see her one more time, I'd like to get down on my knees and apologize. That's my one wish."

"Don't worry about it. She's saved far more than a handful of people. She probably doesn't even remember you. She'd be more confused than anything if someone suddenly apologized out of nowhere."

"... Now that you mention it, I suppose she would. Unlike me, the Earth Sage was a truly selfless person..."

Was she, though? Not necessarily.

Ignorance is bliss. I offered the old engineer a little reassurance to put his mind at ease. Better that than have him go looking for the Earth Sage and get a shock when he saw her missing right arm.

Once the bitter tale was over, we took down the cans we had set over the lamps. The general, being a general and all, poured water into a slightly fancier can of meat. But when he caught the scent coming from mine, he kept glancing over.

"What's that?"

"I put something I'd already cooked into an empty can and sealed it up again."

"Fully cooked food in a can? Isn't that something they do at canning factories? Quite the talent you've got. Here, let me have a taste."

The general made his demand as though it were only natural. I quickly weighed my options.

Honestly, sharing a little canned food was no problem.

But I was supposed to have no idea who he was.

I was being polite, and I had a sense that he was someone important, but I wouldn't readily agree to something that cost me. Warm toward family, but not quite so generous with strangers. Yes, that was the character I should play.

The general would prefer that, too.

I drew in a little and let my smile fade. Casting needless glances at the others, I edged closer to the captain.

"... I'm not as good at compressing things as a canning factory, so I can only fit two servings in one can."

"Huh?"

When I went beyond refusing and actually showed wariness, the general acted as though I had wounded his pride.

"Hey, little brother! You think I'd ask for it for nothing? I'm saying we should share our cans! This is meat!"

"Meat can't replace the care I put into it. I'm sorry, but this is for Bee and me."

Apparently unable to snatch it by force without losing face, the general scowled and thrust out every can he had.

"Ah, to hell with it! I'll give you five!"

"... Really?"

"I'm a man of my word! And I wouldn't dream of getting a meal you made for your little sister on the cheap! Take them all!"

Well, that changes things... That was how I ought to act.

I had more than enough food anyway, but I'd used Immortal rice and spices lavishly in all of it. Bringing it out now might invite questions.

As I brightened and prepared the food, Colonel Gand quietly pointed something out.

"Master. Five cans are all we have."

"Oh, really? Little brother, sorry to take back my offer, but make that four!"

"I tell you five is all we have, and you only take one off? What are we supposed to eat the day after tomorrow?"

Being scolded by Colonel Gand, his disciple and subordinate, made the general abruptly lose his temper.

"You little punk. If we're out of cans, you should be thinking about getting more! Getting soft, are you?"

"How am I supposed to get canned food on the belt? Are you telling me to rob someone?"

"Rob someone? Is that what I taught you?"

"Then what do you want me to do?!"

In any event, thanks to the generous general's lavish contribution, dinner that evening was more sumptuous than ever.

Even the flowing earth could not keep up with the sun setting in the west. As smoke drifted away behind us, daylight faded. Everyone yawned widely, found a spot out of the wind, and settled down to sleep.

"What? You lost your lamp? Well, nothing for it. Hey, Gand! Give them yours!"

The general pointed at the mother and son sitting huddled together and shouted. Once again on the receiving end of his master's demands, Colonel Gand pressed hard between his brows and bit his lip.

"Then what am I supposed to keep warm with while I sleep?"

"How should I know?"

"... I don't see why I should care, either. Give them yours, Master."

"You brat, trying to fleece your revered master. Then shall we share a lamp, you and me? Huh? Spend the night gazing at each other?"

"My apologies. I'll just sleep alone. Give them my lamp."

With that, everyone found a spot they liked and lay down. Naturally, since the captain and I were playing brother and sister, we ended up in the same area.

The captain removed her uniform packet, leaving her in her shirt, and put on her sleeping-bag packet. Compressed alchemical wool billowed outward, enveloping her body. She looked as though she were wrapping herself in a cloud, or turning into a golden sheep whose wool was growing at tremendous speed.

Buried in her warm, fluffy sleeping-bag packet, the captain let out a heavy sigh utterly at odds with her appearance.

"... Eventful. It has been a complicated day."

"What's complicated about it? We met some nice people and we're having a nice evening."

My nonchalant reply inwardly rankled her, and she said,

"You could not possibly know the predicament I found myself in today."

"There you go again. After all that fuss earlier about calling me big brother. If our brother heard you, you'd be in for it."

Those two had reached such heights in Heaven energy arts that even the fierce wind was under their control. They probably weren't petty enough to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, but they might hear us without meaning to.

'... Ugh. Affirmative. General Patraxion has surpassed the limits of human strength. Even what I am saying now might reach his ears. It would be dangerous for him to see through the act we have already put on.'

Which, in other words, meant...

The captain still had to treat me as her big brother.

"... Watch what you say, ugh, big brother."

"I'm always careful, aren't I?"

'I cannot tell, because I have no idea whether you are teasing me or acting!'

Both. It was both.

Light and heat become more useful when shared. The captain and I placed our two lamps between us and lay down facing one another.

I struggled to get into my ordinary, non-packet sleeping bag. Meanwhile, nestled in comfort, the captain stared at me, lost in thought.

'I am a communications officer. My identity must not be exposed. No matter what happens.'

The emotions I sensed were duty.

And melancholy.

'If someone discovers my identity... If they see my face, learn my position, and realize the connection between the two, I must take my own life.'

It was a conviction without a shred of doubt.

Shortly after advancing from elementary civic school to secondary military school, she sits in class one day, full of dreams.

Without warning, someone from the Military State suddenly arrives and tells her:

["Congratulations. We have discovered an aptitude in you. A very precious aptitude that will allow you to become a communications officer."]

An aptitude for becoming a communications officer. The girl's heart swells at those words. A place where simply gaining admission puts you straight on the path to becoming an officer. The easiest stairway in the world. That is its reputation.

Saying goodbye to the friends she has already made, the girl follows the instructor who has come from a very special school.

And she Synchronizes.

Girls utterly unsuited to the Military State, more sensitive and empathetic than anyone. They endure the grueling training by making one another their pillars of support.

Alone, they could never withstand it, but their abilities are empathy and Synchronization. The constant pressure molds them into neatly interlocking puzzle pieces. They neither clash with nor hurt one another. Friction is a luxury possible only when there is room to spare.

Divided into cohorts, they emerge into the world commissioned as captains from the outset. They will work alone, but they are not lonely.

Magic that is unique, yet not unique.

For they possess Unique magic that lets them reach one another.

'However, if the need for me to take my own life ceases to exist, then I do not have to do so.'

It sounded obvious, but it was not. The captain looked at me with eyes that were trying to be cold.

'At present, you have not divulged any information about me to anyone. Therefore, if you die, I will no longer need to die.'

Because killing oneself is easier than killing someone else, communications officers were forced to commit suicide. But if, as now, we were traveling together in this strange fashion with our guards down...

After all, the difficult part was not killing a person itself, but overcoming the resistance of someone who wanted to live.

'General Patraxion is one of the Six Generals. The Six Generals are Level 5, and no restrictions apply to them. If I reveal the truth and request it, even now, he will execute you. In other words, I hold your life in my hands. If I so choose, I can have you killed and preserve my own life whenever I wish.'

"Phew. Finally. This thing doesn't fit very well. Ugh. If only I could wear a clothing packet properly, too."

After struggling to cram myself into the sleeping bag, I rolled over like a caterpillar. When our eyes met, a frightened look came over the captain's face.

'... Therefore, I do not have to take my own life.'

But a communications officer's greatest enemy was that very capacity for empathy. The ability to identify with others undermined the Military State's creation known as the communications officer.

Perhaps the Windowless Room was a facility meant not only to protect the information within them, but also to keep the components known as communications officers intact.

Well, it was none of my business.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to sleep?"

"... I am. There are no alarms on the meta-conveyor belt, so please wake up on time."

"If there's no alarm, couldn't I just not wake up?"

"What a ridiculous... thing to say... Wake-up times... must be strictly..."

As her breathing grew softer, the captain gradually drifted off. I lay there waiting for her to fall asleep, then raised my upper body once she had completely lost consciousness.

... Asleep? You're asleep, right?

Ah, my back was cold with it facing the edge.

I picked up my lamp and placed it behind my back. With lamps warming me from front and back, I felt much more comfortable.

If my sleeping bag was lousy, at least my surroundings should be pleasant. Bathed in lamplight on both sides, I nodded off in the warmth.

From a distance, I heard the general's thoughts.

'... She said he was a hopeless big brother, and she was right. Hogging lamps on both sides just because he's cold.'

So the general wasn't asleep yet.

Exploiting your little sister is a big brother's right. I'd appreciate it if he stayed out of it.