by SOW
“L-L-L-L-Let go of me, M-M-M-Master!”
Sven tried to resist Lud but even her fingers that clawed into Marlene’s shoulder lost their strength.
“I know. She doesn’t intend to fight any more, it’s all over.” Lud assured her.
“Bu-Bu-Bu-Bu-But!”
Gently, Lud tried to calm down the still-protesting Sven with his words.
“It’s okay, it’s all okay now.”
“I... I under... stand...” Sven’s voice was reluctant, as if she was being forced to drink something difficult to swallow.
“Phew...” Relieved, a sigh escaped from Lud’s chest and across Sven’s ear.
“Huah! U-Um... Uh, Master... I understand now, so... um, could you...”
“Oh, sorry...”
It looked as if Lud was gently embracing Sven from behind and whispering softly into her ear.
“I mean, if... if you insist, I wouldn’t particularly mind staying like this a little longer...”
“Sven?” Lud couldn’t hear what Sven was muttering to herself under her breath.
“But now isn’t the time for that, is it?!” Returning to her senses, Sven stood up and focused on the situation at hand.
“So anyway, I’ve informed the army of the situation. There is no reason for Master to get involved with this any further. Let’s quickly find somewhere safe.”
“No, I can’t do that.” Lud explained what he had learned, but Sven wasn’t persuaded.
“But this isn’t something that involves you. You’re no longer...”
Lud wasn’t a soldier, Sven’s expression said, and he was not obligated to fight this battle, and if anything, he was allowed to flee the scene like everyone else.
“They took Milly with them. Even if the military’s suppression unit eliminates the terrorists, the lives of any hostages are in danger.”
“But, still...” Sven gripped the edges of her waitress uniform and bowed her head. “If that is the case, please allow me to come with you!”
“Huh?! It will be dangerous, Sven.” Lud was now trying to protect her.
“I am the obedient and humble servant of Lud Langart, owner of Tockerbrot! It is my duty to accompany my master wherever he goes; be it the ends of the earth, the bottom of the ocean or even beyond the edge of the sky! If you still insist that I cannot accompany you, then...”
Her red eyes bored into Lud’s, as if she would make him take her with him by force. Lud remembered the incident at the mine. If she used all her strength, even Lud couldn’t hold out against her.
“A-Alright... I get it!” Lud had no choice but to agree.
The truck headed to the mine. They wouldn’t make it in time if they took the regular route to the mountain, so the battered truck sped down a bumpy dirt road, jolting up and down.
“Ah, ow, ugh, oof, urk! C-Could y-you slo-slow down a b-bit?!”
Sven was driving with Lud in the passenger seat next to her. Marlene had to ride in the truck bed and it was she who complained, raising her voice until she was nearly screaming.
“If my driving is not to your liking, please feel free to jump out at any time, terrorist!” Sven yelled back.
“Former! Former terrorist!” Marlene screamed even louder.
“It would have been better if you hadn’t come with us in the first place.”
Sven had been against bringing her along, but Marlene “wanted to witness for herself what she had tried to take part in,” and Lud let her join them.
All this man does is burden himself with more and more trouble, honestly!
“Master, I propose that we use this opportunity to leave the imposter-nun behind and continue on our way.”
“She said she wants to go, so she’s going. It’s okay, I’ll protect her.”
That’s the problem...
Sven’s top priority was to protect Lud and he made that very difficult. He couldn’t stop himself from jumping into dangerous situations. Even worse, Sven couldn’t accept that the reason for Lud’s recklessness was to protect another woman—
“I’m telling you, it’s not like that!” Sven blurted out.
“What?! Sven, what’s wrong?”
“N-Nothing... Never mind...”
She was bewildered that once again these insolent thoughts invaded her mind. Lud was a former Special Forces soldier, but Sven was overwhelmingly the stronger of the two. Nevertheless, she wanted Lud to protect her!
Seriously... What in the world am I thinking?
Sven couldn’t help sinking into self-loathing.
“Sven... Is it true? Have they really brought out a T-3 II?”
“There’s no mistaking it. I heard it directly from the person who performed the maintenance.”
The T-3 II that Jacob’s grandfather had been contracted to service was an all-purpose tank developed by the August Federation. There were only a few in existence, but they rivaled the Hunter Units.
But Sven had to say, it was an extremely unpleasant topic for the Hunter Unit pilots. To begin with, the T-3 II’s fire power corresponded to a whole company of infantrymen or three tanks worth of power, and since they matched the Hunter Units—whose power was equal to that of ten tanks—with these simplistic calculations, using three T-3 IIs at a time, they were equal. In actuality, the claim that they could rival the Hunter Units was stronger because they did better against them than any other weapon. Finally, even if they were crude compared to the Hunter Units, the T-3 IIs were still far too powerful for people on foot.
“Why do these guys have something like that...?”
Lud rubbed his chin in thought.
“If this was an amateur’s operation I could understand, but Dolchev... Is that something that a professional, dispatched from the north, would do? Could they have another objective beyond taking over the mine?”
“Thinking about their objectives won’t settle anything. We don’t have enough data. But we can be sure that we have to stop their plan.”
Gripping the steering wheel with one hand, Sven pointed to the handgun sitting on the seat. It was from one of the terrorists back at the church.
“It’s a primitive device, but please take it. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how to use it.”
According to what Marlene had told them, there were approximately ten foot soldiers headed to the mine, plus Dolchev and the T-3 II pilot. Lud couldn’t rely on the same attack he had used in the church. No matter how good he was, Lud could not take down an armed group of terrorists with his bare hands. But if he was armed like them, he had a fighting chance.
“Sven... Sorry, I don’t want to use this.”
“Master, you must be joking!” Sven shouted in disbelief.
“Are you concerned for their safety? Don’t you understand what they are trying to do? They nearly killed you...”
“Even still, I don’t want it...” Lud gazed at his hands as he spoke.
“Just now was the first time I shot a gun in two years. I didn’t kill him, all I did was disable him. But it sent a chill down my spine and left a smell on my hands that I don’t want...”
“The gunpowder smell? There’s no way that only one shot would leave a perceptible amount of gunpowder on your hand—”
Sven stopped. Lud’s expression was very serious.
“I’m a baker... My job is making food for people to eat. Eating is part of living. If I kill someone... I would lose my right to feed others.”
“Mas... ter...”
Sven wanted to ask, “What if you die?” But when she saw the despair on his face, she couldn’t argue.
“I understand... Sheesh! It is my duty to go along with even your recklessness! You wish to handle this peacefully, without killing anyone but without us dying either, right?” Having said such an absurd thing herself, Sven sighed in resignation.
“Sorry, Sven...”
“I’ve gotten used to your unreasonable requests.” Sven replied with a voice of exasperation.
“...............?!”
“W-What’s wrong, Master?”
“No, it’s just...”
Lud stared at Sven with a look of surprise. “My partner back in the military told me the same thing.”
“Partner...”
“Yeah, it saved my life countless times. It was there to support me. Now that I think about it, you two are pretty similar,” Lud told her. Lud spoke as if he was remembering something fondly when Sven asked him a question.
“What was it like? Your partner?”
“Huh? Well... actually, a girl like you wouldn’t be so flattered by the comparison. But even though I’m still not good at talking to people, I think I’ve become much more human, thanks to my old partner.”
Lud looked embarrassed.
“Could that... Perhaps be...” Sven’s voice trembled as she began to ask Lud a question, but just then, beneath the shadow of the mountain, the entrance to the mine came into view.
“Sven! Cut the lights!”
Lud picked up the handgun, took out the magazine and removed the bullets. The lights were turned off so the terrorists on lookout didn’t notice their approach. Lud removed the bullets from the handgun to use to knock out the sentries.
“I’m heading out...”
As the truck approached the mine area, Lud kicked open the door and jumped out. The terrorists were caught off guard by the sudden intruder and shot their guns toward the noise. But there was nothing for them to hit, and they gave away their position with their gunfire.
Lud didn’t let that go overlooked. He pelted them as hard as he could with the bullets in his hand. Being hit by a hand-thrown bullet wouldn’t kill, but it was painful.
“Gah?!”
“Augh!”
“Ack!!”
For each bullet, there was a cry in return. Lud had squarely hit three of the soldiers. At the most, a hit from the bullets would cause a bruise, but if he had hit a vital area, even a hand-thrown bullet could cause damage. If he had used a knife, depending on the location of the hit, it could prove fatal. Lud wanted to avoid that.
“What in the... Where... Where are you!!”
“Form up! Hurry!”
All of them except Dolchev seemed to be outside. This was convenient. If their skilled commanding officer was with them, even these amateur soldiers could put up a fight, but this disorganized group couldn’t fight back against a precise and silent attack in the darkness of night.
Lud kicked the ground. Half flying and half sliding, he ran through the confused soldiers and struck them in the stomachs with the flat of his hand. With his flattened hand inserted between their ribs, Lud dealt a heavy blow to their lungs, which disrupted their respiratory functions.
No matter how much you hone your body, you can’t strengthen your internal organs.
Before the unbearable pain could reach their brains, their nerves blocked it, causing the soldiers to foam at the mouth and collapse where they stood.
That’s five... According to my calculations, that should be half of them—
Suddenly the moon appeared from behind the clouds and Lud was exposed.
“There he is! He’s over there!”
Lud heard the startled voice of one of the soldiers. Three of the terrorists fired at him. As Lud jumped back from his position, he threw a bullet and knocked out one of the terrorists. The remaining two were too far away to apprehend.
Alright, now what...
When one man is launching a surprise attack, he has to disrupt the enemy any way he can, as ferociously as possible, and without stopping.
But Lud’s assault had easily been stopped, and had given the terrorists a reprieve to put together a counter attack. Lud fled and kept out of sight while he tried to figure out his next step.
I really have gotten rusty...
Lud was acutely aware of how much rustier the two years away from action had made him. Then he heard a loud revving sound and the truck came into view.
“Master!”
As Sven shouted, she drove the truck right toward the enemy, despite the fact that the windshield of the dilapidated truck was no more bullet resistant than a sheet of paper. The tires skidded as the truck turned but Sven mowed through the terrorist’s ranks. The soldiers scattered to escape the truck, but when they realized that Sven was unarmed, they began firing their handguns wildly. The tires ruptured, the windshield shattered, and the truck’s bed was torn apart.
“Hey assholes!” Shouting, Lud charged towards the terrorists.
While they had received some military training, the terrorists were still mostly civilians. Rather than remaining focused on the enemy in front of them, they were watching the truck that had suddenly appeared, and ignored Lud, who was charging towards them with a look of rage.
Lud drove his elbow into the chin of one, knocking him unconscious, and before the second could ready his gun, Lud forced the heel of his palm into the terrorist’s face and drove his head into the ground. When Lud turned towards the third man, he could not believe what he saw.
The terrorist had aimed an anti-tank rocket launcher directly at Lud—and fired. Leaping to the side, Lud was repelled by the blast. The rocket launcher hit the truck, which was immediately reduced to flaming scrap iron.
“Sven!”
One of the terrorists trained his gun at the screaming Lud.
“I’ve got you now, monster!” Before he could fire the shot, the soldier was struck down by a shadow that cut behind his back.
“Wha—?!”
The remaining terrorist with the rocket launcher, in a panic, dropped the weapon and reached for his pistol, but was stopped by the shadow’s elbow.
“Master... Are you okay?!”
The shadow was Sven.
“You made it out of the truck!” Lud cried out.
“Yes, I jumped right after I drove through. Without any weapons, there was nothing else I could do.”
Sven could have used a more efficient method to knock out the enemy if she chose to. However, in order to obey Lud’s orders to avoid as many casualties as possible, Sven intentionally acted dangerously.
“Sorry...” Realizing this, Lud looked regretful as he bowed his head. He wasn’t able to protect himself from harm, and he had forced Sven to do something dangerous.
“Please don’t worry about me, Master... This was the mission you gave me,” Sven smiled.
“Wait, what about Marlene? She wasn’t left in the truck, was she?” Lud asked in horror.
Flames still rose from the remains of the truck. If Marlene was still in the truck bed, whether she had been hit by a bullet, thrown from the truck by the rocket launcher blast, or burned alive in the flames, the chance of her survival was zero.
“Oh, she’s fine,” Sven assured him. “I threw her into the bushes over there.”
“Bleeeeeeeergh.”
Sven pointed behind them. Bracing her hand on the trunk of a tree, Lud could see Marlene vomiting.
“M-Marlene...”
“She seems to be car sick, so I think we have a good reason to ditch her for now,” Sven added.
Carsickness is a disorder of the autonomic nervous system that arises from a deviation in one’s sense of balance.
The rough ride in the bed of the truck, rattling back and forth and up and down, had shaken Marlene past her limits.
And quietly to herself, Sven whispered, “I would have already gotten rid of her!”
“Did you say something?”
“No, nothing.”
Marlene glared at Sven, who ignored her.
“It’s strange, isn’t it...” Lud was thinking about something else.
Even with such a loud battle going on, Dolchev hadn’t shown himself. He must have gone deeper into the mine.
While the main mine harvested iron ore, the Baelz Mine where Lud and the others went was the second mine, and was closer to a cave than an actual mine. The giant hole looked as if it had been propped open with a corkscrew extending deep underground. The elevator to transport the he
avy excavation equipment was currently stopped at the bottom. Dolchev’s group must have taken it down ahead of them.
“We can’t use the elevator... But if we take the stairs, we’ll be targeted before we can get near the bottom.”
The T-3 II was equipped with machine guns. If they used the spiraling staircase that snaked around the walls of the hole, they would most likely be riddled with bullets with nowhere to run.
“Oh... I just remembered something.”
Marlene cleaned the stomach acid from around her mouth with the sleeves of her habit. Her true character had been exposed and she no longer needed to keep up her nun act. She was completely lacking in modesty, but this wasn’t the time to point it out.
“Dolchev and his men prepared some kind of explosive. It’s called... Zeihom or something... I think they might have brought it with them...”
“What? Huh?!”
Both Sven and Lud were stunned.
“Exactly how much were they carrying?” Sven demanded.
“U-Um, I’m not sure... A lot...”
“‘A lot’ doesn’t tell us anything!” Sven grabbed Marlene by her collar and shook her.
“I only saw them from a distance! But, there was about one barrel of it... I think.”
“Sheesh!”
Zeihombomber was an explosive developed during the last war. It deliberately amplified the resonance of a certain mineral and created intense heat.
“The destructive power of the Zeihombomber depends on the amount of the combustible ore... If they have a barrel of it, they could blow up a whole town.”
“That can’t be... but from inside the mine...”
If it blew up in the middle of town, it would kill everyone, but inside the mine on the edge of town, the destruction would be much less. Or so Marlene was thinking.
“No, it’s even worse,” Lud explained to her. “The mineral it uses is Rezanite.”
“Huh?!”
Now Marlene understood the seriousness of the situation. The Zeihombomber was a residual product created during the development of the Rezanium reactor—the mechanism that used Rezanite as a propellant. The thermic reaction, originally used as a power source, was deliberately used as an explosive. Such an explosion inside the mine would generate a resonant vibration in the Rezanite throughout the mine and would cause a massive, tectonic disruption enveloping all of Organbaelz.
