CHAPTER 5
The Relationship Alice Knew Not Of
1
Inside the transport helicopter.
In the airlift heading to the capital, Risya signaled Unit 907 to come closer with her hand.
“Mismis, Isk, Jhin-Jhin, and Nene. I have something important to talk about, so come here for a sec.”
“Now, this doesn’t bode well.” Jhin was the first to stand up. “I’ve never heard you call anything important to talk about before. You were even blunt about how the Lord looks… So this has got to be something bad, hasn’t it?”
“That’s right. I’ll just preface it by saying it’s something very bad.” Risya shrugged. Even her usual carefree gesture seemed to have a bothered air around it. “Let me ask you this, Mismis: How bad do you think the damage Elletear dealt the Empire is?”
“What? Um…” Commander Mismis began to deliberate. “The Eight Great Apostles in charge of the Imperial assembly are gone…so the Empire’s upper management is in chaos, I guess?”
“Correct. You got one thing right.”
“And she took out the troops stationed at the eighth checkpoint, so that must have hurt the Imperial forces.”
“That’s half right.”
“……Huh?”
“It doesn’t just hurt—it’s a heavy loss. Calling it enormous wouldn’t even be an exaggeration. It was enough to make the Lord return to the capital immediately.”
From the helicopter window, Risya looked down at the Empire’s streets.
“Next I’ll ask you, Isk.”
“Ask me what?”
“Elletear fought with the Apostles in the Imperial assembly five thousand meters underground. You saw that using Princess Sisbell’s Illumination power, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Did nothing about that bother you? For example, Elletear went five thousand meters underground. It isn’t that odd that she got down there in itself since she isn’t human, but just how did she do it?”
“Uh, from the surfa—”
He paused. He hadn’t stopped intentionally. The moment he’d started to talk, a certain possibility had come to mind and made his throat tighten and his voice catch. In order to reach the Imperial assembly, she would have needed to go underground.
That was obvious.
……But think about it.
……What’s right above the Imperial assembly?
He didn’t even need to think any further. That was because whenever he was called by the Eight Great Apostles, he’d always gone to the Imperial forces’ base.
“The central base…”
“Yes. That’s where you all did your training and where the assemblies were held. Elletear penetrated through that point. Do you think someone who plans to destroy both the Empire and the Sovereignty would just pass on through without doing anything at all?”
“…”
He felt sweat roll down his cheek. The image of what had happened at the eighth checkpoint came to mind even when he didn’t want it to. To Elletear, the thousands of soldiers at the central base would have been nothing more than prey. If she came across them, she would have…
“Risya, you’re joking, right?” Commander Mismis asked, her lips trembling. “You don’t mean…even the central base’s people were…”
“Twenty percent of them.” Risya’s response was as direct as could be. “When Elletear entered the base, about sixty percent of the personnel were there. The rest were out on missions like we are or were on business trips. So…only a few dozen soldiers went to intercept her, but they weren’t the only ones caught up in the attack. We had collateral damage.”
Elletear had used her as-yet-unidentified power. It must have spread throughout the base like a shock wave, dragging others down with it.
“They have the same symptoms. They’re in a comatose state.”
“Twenty percent of them?” Jhin sat back down in his seat and sighed deeply. “The commonly accepted theory is that once an organization loses thirty percent of its staff, it will cease to function. On the battlefield, it’d mean being wiped out. What do you make of losing twenty percent of the personnel, Ms. Saint Disciple?”
“We’re right on the verge of mayhem and not being able to function.” Risya smiled wryly. There was an uncharacteristic impatience in her voice. “And of course, leaders and commanding officers were included in that twenty percent. The chain of command is nearly paralyzed. Well, what I’m really trying to say is don’t be shocked when you see the state of the base.”
And speak of the devil, as Risya looked down, the base came into view.
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