“Haha! I really like people these days. That old combat engineer, and you two as well. Hey, little sister! You were about to step in before the engineer did, weren't you?”

Now that he had revealed his identity, the captain hastily saluted when he singled her out. The general nodded in satisfaction.

“A captain ought to have some fighting ability, but you still need to be careful when you're surrounded by gun barrels! It's dangerous if your energy arts aren't fully developed yet!”

“... I'm honored.”

From reading her thoughts, I knew she hadn't exactly stepped forward to fight, but the captain nodded anyway. After regarding her fondly, the general rubbed his chin and turned to me.

“And you, little brother! It takes courage to stop someone, just as it does to step forward! Well done! Man, if you were just ten years younger, I'd take you as my disciple!”

He seemed to think rather highly of me.

Good. Time to lay on more flattery. Praise from someone you approve of hits much harder than praise from a complete stranger.

“If I could go back ten years, I'd find my way to you somehow and ask you to teach me, General.”

“Wow. You know how to make a man feel good, little brother! Hahaha!”

The general grinned boyishly and thumped my shoulder hard several times. Then he turned to the old combat engineer.

“You've still got plenty of fire in you! Those so-called knights don't have half your spirit. A real shame!”

“Ah. It's an honor, General. Such a tremendous honor to meet you...”

The old engineer looked as though he might drop dead of heart failure at any moment. So overwhelmed that he could barely breathe, he praised the general in a halting voice.

“I can only apologize for having nothing to offer the man who brought the kingdom to justice...”

“What? None of that!”

The general waved his hands, looking uncomfortable.

“Justice? I didn't have any grand cause. It's just, you know? I couldn't stand those supposedly strong bastards going around picking on the weak. Thought I'd give them a taste of a real duel... Honestly, I meant to charge in and fucking die. But a coup happened right then, and before I knew it, I was a general.”

He hadn't conspired with the Military State.

The Military State had merely ridden the coattails of his duels.

In fact, that was precisely why the kingdom had fallen before it could resist: the coup had erupted as abruptly as one man's whim.

Of course, the greatest contribution had been Patraxion's single-handedly fighting the urban battles that put ordinary soldiers at a disadvantage.

“But that doesn't diminish your duels, General. It's an undeniable fact that you fought a hundred duels while marching alone from the outskirts to the inner citadel.”

“Good grief, all this fuss makes being a general unbearable. Anyone listening would think I brought down the kingdom by myself. Well, anyway! Now that you know who I am!”

With that, the general leaped up. Colonel Gand shook off his spear and followed in step.

“Well! It's been a pleasant trip, but it's about time we parted ways. I've got work to do.”

“Oh, you said you were on leave, right?”

“Leave in name only. It's really volunteer work. Something I threw out carelessly has come back rather bigger than expected. A man ought to clean up his own trash, wouldn't you say?”

The general clicked his tongue and muttered,

“Tsk. I thought the talent was there, and the attitude was right, too. You really never know how people will turn out.”

Reading General Patraxion's memories told me that the people he was going to stop were dangerous criminals with asymmetrical combat capabilities.

One man, one woman, and two beastkin: fighters so far beyond the norm that even the army couldn't stop them. Apparently, these monsters were roaming the Military State, and the cost of fighting them was so high that orders had been issued to ‘actively avoid engagement’—effectively, to flee.

As anyone could probably guess by now, they were definitely the people I knew.

But why were they here?

“Anyway, I should get off around here. From here... Hey, Gand. Which way do we go?”

Colonel Gand, who had just unfolded a map, answered.

“Let's visit the garrison near Palkaris, gather intelligence, and collect our equipment.”

“Good. Anyway, it's somewhere around here. Time for us to say goodbye.”

Before we could even bid him farewell, the general jumped off without a backward glance. Colonel Gand followed.

The meta-conveyor belt was moving quite fast, yet when he landed on the ground, all that speed seemed to vanish. There was no undignified tumbling or staggering. The general and his adjutant walked away as casually as though they had hopped down from a small hill.

“Ah... General.”

The old engineer gazed endlessly after him.

The distance between us grew in moments, until they were nearly out of sight. I spoke to the captain.

“Whew. Never thought I'd live to meet General Patraxion. He's a nicer fellow than I expected.”

The captain answered slowly.

“... Affirmative. However, I am concerned about his minor violation of regulations. He used his leave at his own discretion.”

“Well, what can anyone do? This is a man who overthrew a country because it rubbed him the wrong way. Maybe this is him keeping his temper in check.”

“Affirmative.”

It had been an encounter as fleeting as the wind. He was a decent man, and thanks to him, things had gone smoothly. I'd even heard news of my old friends.

Still, was the Regressor planning to destroy the Military State this run? Why was she wandering around the country advertising her every move?

Well, if she had any sense, she wouldn't brazenly walk right into the capital. We wouldn't run into each other.

Another half day would bring us to Amitengrad. Once there, I'd probably hear more news about where they'd gone.

Now I was curious. What were they up to?

* * *

The people of the hub city of Palkaris discovered that fear and curiosity could coexist.

Several hours earlier, an alarm had sounded. A flat voice announced the horrifying news that dangerous criminals who had crawled out of Tantalus were moving straight toward Amitengrad—and Palkaris lay in their path.

Some quick-thinking residents fled immediately. Those who couldn't afford to flee hunkered down in their rooms.

They prayed the criminals weren't thrill killers.

They weren't, at least.

“Give me your biggest room. We're resting here.”

“I-I'll give it to you!”

“How much?”

“Pardon? For travelers other than soldiers on official duty, a large room costs fifteen hundred alke per night...”

“Here.”

The supply officer, who had held his post prepared to die, received an alchemical gold coin worth ten thousand alke. While he stood there dazed, not even thinking to give change, Shei held out her hand.

“It's an advance. Use it to cover anything that gets broken.”

Like it or not, the supply officer fulfilled his duty. The key to the large room dropped into Shei's palm.

As Shei unpacked in the room, Nabi pestered her for tribute.

“Meeow. Today's tribute! Give me today's tribute, meow!”

“...”

Without a word, Shei took out today's ration of mana herbs and placed it between Nabi's lips. Tyrkanzyaka watched closely before speaking.

“You are putting less care into tending to the King of Cats. Is it becoming a bother?”

“... N-no, it's still fine. It's just...”

“Just?”

Watching Nabi take a deep drag of the mana herbs and purr contentedly, Shei muttered,

“I can't look after Nabi forever. Someday, we'll have to part ways. I was wondering what would happen then.”

“What a pointless worry.”

Tyrkanzyaka clicked her tongue, straightened up, and offered Shei some heartfelt advice.

“What can you truly take responsibility for? Any creature with feet of its own walks its own path. Whatever road it takes after leaving is not your responsibility. You must learn to let things go...”

The advice certainly carried the weight of her years, but halfway through, Tyrkanzyaka remembered someone and lowered her head dejectedly. She herself was chasing after someone who had gone his own way.

This time, Shei offered her sincere consolation.

“It's fine. They say it's hard to see your own flaws.”

“... How very kind of you! So, how long do you intend to remain in a room full of women? If you have finished your business, leave!”

Tyrkanzyaka snapped at her. Shei groaned quietly and looked around at the room's occupants.

In truth, Shei had no particular reason to stay. No one here was an easy opponent; anyone below the level of the Military State's Six Generals wouldn't even be able to scratch them.

And with a reliable force like Tyrkanzyaka present, she didn't need to worry about them running off somewhere.

But constantly being treated as a man was becoming tiresome. Shei wondered whether it was time to reveal her sex. It was a little extreme, but showing herself undressed would clear up the misunderstanding.

The problem was finding a natural way to show her bare skin...

Tyrkanzyaka was so conservative that opportunities were hard to come by. Shei was wondering whether she ought to visit a hot spring sometime when it happened.

Sensing an unfamiliar presence, Tyrkanzyaka turned her head.

“A guest has arrived, Shei... Hmm? They came as far as the door, only to turn back.”

“Oh. I think I know who it is.”

When Shei opened the door, only a neatly placed letter awaited her instead of a visitor. She snorted and picked it up.

“Those Resistance bastards.”

“By Resistance, do you mean something like a restoration army?”

“Exactly. Looks like they heard about us and decided to make contact.”

“Heard about us? Did we not just leave the bottomless pit?”

“We subdued five companies and smashed two Lords of Creation bases on the way. Word must have spread.”

Rash the undying one and former Lieutenant Colonel Callis had decided to take a route that gave the Military State a wide berth. As he left, Rash had asked them to give his regards to the teacher.

Finding Hughes was their primary objective, but quite apart from that, Shei valued efficiency. Whenever she spotted a Lords of Creation base along the way, she would stop by, smash it to pieces, and continue on her journey.

“News travels remarkably fast. We hardly delayed at all on our way here.”

“The Military State has communications officers and communications devices, and the others have come up with their own methods.”

Shei gave a small laugh and tore up the letter. Her resolute lack of hesitation puzzled Tyrkanzyaka.

“How strange. I thought you deeply hated this country, the Military State.”

“I do. I hate the Military State.”

Shei snapped her fingers. Flames rose to envelop the letter.

Watching it burn away without leaving even ash behind, she muttered,

“What I hate most of all is that there's no alternative.”

Shei had once tried to bring down the Military State. That damned country was always the first enemy she faced, and she had felt that she could only move forward once she got past it.

And she had succeeded.

After thorough preparations and several runs' worth of effort, Shei had destroyed the Military State once. Like Patraxion the Peerless Spear, she had become a hero of the newly founded Free Republic.

Then she had left the country with a bitter taste in her mouth.

After that, she had never set foot in the Free Republic again.

Not in any run.

“Hopeless romantics, relics of a bygone age, and people who simply hate the Military State. The Resistance is a collection of those three groups. People with different origins and different dreams come together, and the country they envision is... a world where everyone is equal and happy.”

The moment she heard Shei's explanation, Tyrkanzyaka understood their nature and nodded.

Humanity's assortment of characters never changed, even after centuries.

“Useless idealism.”

“Right. They all have goals, but none of them have laid out a path. People like that can't even maintain the status quo...”

More precisely, she had seen it firsthand.

They had freed the overworked convict laborers and decided to employ paid workers instead.

Above all, they had to keep the meta-conveyor belt running. At the very least, that core facility of the Military State had to remain as it was. It was the bare minimum needed to run the country.

Yet it had taken less than a month for the belt to stop.

The meta-conveyor belt was convenient, useful, and indispensable, but it had one flaw: fail to unload cargo at a terminal, and it would go missing for over a week. The slightest mistake placed a corresponding burden on the country.

A week missing. Delayed schedules. Mounting costs and plummeting trust.

Once the workers realized how important their jobs were, they held the belt hostage to demand better treatment. It was hard to blame them. Whatever the pay, the work truly was backbreaking enough to kill.

The kindly nation born of rejecting the Military State was dragged along at their mercy.

Fat clogged its veins. The entire country began to creak.

A year later, Shei looked upon the changed country she had ultimately ruined. Deeply disheartened, she left.

“... Rather than leave it to those bastards, I can just pick off the Lords of Creation and leave the rest alone. Besides, once you understand how the Military State operates, it isn't much of a nuisance.”

“Are you saying you understand their operating principles, Shei?”

“Of course. Look. We're openly heading for the capital, but the country isn't throwing everything it has at us.”

“Now that you mention it, that is unusual. If someone marches toward the royal castle, one ought to concentrate every available force to stop them.”

The reason was absurdly simple, and all the more deflating for it. How hollow Shei had felt upon learning the truth in her last run.

And how much more she had come to hate the Military State.

“We smashed five companies, but we didn't kill a single person. So the Military State reached a conclusion. We're too strong to subdue, but the four of us are too insignificant to concentrate its forces on. The numbers don't add up, so it's deliberately leaving us alone.”

Actively avoid engagement. Fighting wouldn't pay, so don't fight at all.

It was exactly the sort of decision one would expect from a country obsessed with efficiency.

“If they really wanted a fight to the death, they'd bring at least three of the Six Generals. Committing an inadequate force and suffering casualties would be a national loss. But they can't just pull fighters of that caliber away from their posts, so none of the Six Generals will come unless they've got fuck all else to do...”

Just as Shei muttered that, Azi's ears pricked up. Nabi scowled, her fur standing on end.

Like the beasts, Shei and Tyrkanzyaka sensed the brazen presence and rose to their feet.

With the look of someone facing the inevitable, Shei muttered,

“There he is. One of the Six Generals with fuck all else to do.”