How to Survive on the Armored Front

Chapter 37

"To think we have to chase out the guest- what kind of nonsense is that!?"

"That's absurd!"

"An outsider barges in and starts throwing this kind of tantrum- what is this!?"

A commotion not of its time erupted in the great village.

The pilgrim who had arrived in the village this time claimed to have suddenly received the Creator's oracle and summoned the village elves to the ruin.

Four hours were spent coaxing the indignant villagers after that preposterous proclamation.

Amid the back-and-forth arguments, darkness had already settled thickly over the village.

"...For the reasons stated above, the guest outside the village right now is an impostor."

"Don't make me laugh!"

"Your logic sounds plausible, but proof! Where's the proof!?"

The claim that the guest they had trusted and followed was fake enraged thousands of residents.

Yet Yaan too, not to be outdone, shouted right back at the elves.

"Here is the proof. Take a look at this."

With those words he flung into the middle of the gathered crowd a machine engraved with the Belkuth family seal.

The machine shattered with a crash, yet blood spilled out of it and made the other elves recoil in horror.

"W-What is this!?"

"That's blood, isn't it!?"

The residents stepped back like that.

Soon afterward, the blood-soaked ruin responded to the test subject's blood.

[Test Subject Serial Number: %#$^%... Recognized. Gate opening.]

Grrrrrrr...!

With an eerie sound, the ruin's gate slowly opened. Every elf who saw it muttered in shock:

"What... what is this?"

"The ruin opened because of blood from a machine...?"

Seeing the unrest spreading among the elves, Yaan raised his voice toward them.

"The elf you revere, Rael, murdered a shaman named Rana living in the next village and drew her blood to inject it into himself. To reduce the rejection reaction, he gathered shamans from everywhere."

"D-Don't be ridiculous!"

"Did you think we'd fall for such a lie!?"

Yaan sighed at those screaming at him.

As expected- unless they saw something truly shocking, they would not easily abandon their faith in Rael.

"Then let me show you the evidence."

At those words, Ren- who had received the signal- manipulated the console inside the ruin.

And in that instant-

Grrrrrrr...

A heavy sound echoed as the wall that had hidden the interior of the ruin opened, and something began to pour out.

"Th-This is...!"

"Corpses! The corpses of the shamans!"

"No, what is this! Why are these children here...!?"

"No! My daughter! Noooo!"

Hundreds of corpses appeared before their eyes.

All were children not yet fifteen. Pale-faced elves watched the tragedy unfold, unrest sprouting among them.

"Y-You... these kids...!"

"Don't be absurd. I arrived in this village today for the first time. If I had been killing children for all that time, why do none of you remember ever seeing me?"

Overwhelmed by Yaan's decisive rebuttal, the elves could say nothing.

"And what I brought wasn't only corpses."

After saying that, Yaan gestured; Ren appeared from inside the ruin, accompanied by countless children.

"These children will testify."

The moment those words were spoken, the shamans ran toward the residents.

"Kyahhh!"

"Mommy, Mommmy!"

"What that brother said is true! The guest took us to the basement and stuck us with this!"

What the children pulled out was a giant syringe.

Etched on it was again the Belkuth family emblem.

"No way... something like this..."

"Dear Creator..."

The residents sank to the ground in despair.

On the thin arms of the children reflected in their eyes were horrific needle marks scattered everywhere.

"What have we done to the kids...!"

"He... wasn't the guest!"

"All that talk of building a new world- it was all a lie!"

"Kill him! Capture Rael right now!"

It took more than half a day to reveal the truth, but the shift from worship to rage took no time at all.

"Spread the word to the other villages! Rael is not the guest you believe him to be!"

As Yaan shouted that, the elves screamed. They scattered to nearby villages, each clutching a weapon.

Before long, only the children and the elders who cared for them remained in the emptied village.

"With this, Rael is finished."

"No, not yet."

Yaan and Ren dashed along the road toward the ruin.

Yaan tore away the disguise makeup and elf ears- his cold original face had returned.

"When his dirty secret is exposed he'll have prepared some countermeasure. He must have taken out some kind of insurance."

"Then what do we do?"

Yaan glanced at Ren as he spoke, and reached a hand toward the sky.

In his hand was a flare launcher loaded with a signal round.

"I wonder if our company made it in time."

With those words, Yaan pulled the trigger.

Firing a signal to summon allies from the middle of enemy territory was as good as declaring victory.

Rael must understand that as well.

"Now let's see what choice the rat caught in the trap will make."

***

"G-Guest! What is that!?"

"Isn't that a human signal flare!?"

"It's from the village! Don't tell me they've already broken through...!"

The flare fired from the great village was perfect for misleading soldiers far away.

Rael, too, was flustered by the sudden situation- eyes wide as he stared at the flare rising from the great village.

"Operation success... commence assault...!"

Reading the meaning from the flare's shifting colors, Rael clenched his teeth and muttered.

"Yan Verkut... you to the very end...!"

He had certainly driven them in.

To keep the humans who had secured the reconstruction facility's entrance focused only on that spot, he'd sent tens of thousands of goblins charging at them- ensuring they could do nothing while he found another entrance.

Yet to be struck from behind like this-!

"Guest, what do we do now...!?"

As the elf soldier spoke and turned toward Rael, his eyes widened- for a pistol was pointed at his own face.

Bang-!

The moment the gunshot rang out, the soldiers looked at Rael.

Yet his figure was already gone- only one soldier collapsed bleeding to the floor.

"Wh-What is this...!?"

While the others stood stunned, Rael appeared behind that soldier- seized his neck and twisted.

Crack!

As bones snapped and the soldier turned into a lonely spirit, the remaining four finally grasped the situation and leveled their guns at Rael.

"What do you think you're doing!"

"P-Please stay still! If you don't...!"

But the other party was the intelligence unit that had carried out countless operations between Alfraia and the Empire. With an expressionless face the pistol in his hand fired three times in succession, killing three more soldiers.

"Wh-What is this...!?"

"Thanks to Yan Verkut the plan has completely fallen apart. You bastard."

As he drove the dagger he carried into the last soldier's forehead Rael muttered that.

The signal device on his wrist was flashing red as if in alarm.

"No way-- I never thought I'd be found out like this...!"

It had been a perfect disguise.

He had eliminated everyone who knew of the basement's existence and sanctified his own dwelling so no one could even approach.

Unless someone was absolutely certain from the start that he was fake, it was a setup that could never be exposed!

"You were wrong. They're already scattering toward other villages."

Rael's gaze, who had murmured that, turned toward the road leading out of the large village. The procession of residents carrying torches was spreading like a wave toward other villages.

"The experiment isn't over yet, but with this...!"

Saying that Rael took a syringe from his pocket. It was a syringe containing the Creator's blood, the mixture completed in the first stage.

Pshh--

Feeling the blood spreading through his body in an instant Rael placed his hand on the door of the ruin.

Even without shedding blood the ruin responded to Rael's hand.

Soon a cold voice spoke to him.

[Genetic information confirmed. Citizen registration number: &&^*@#. Awaiting instructions.]

Hearing that a smile spread across Rael's lips.

"Ha, haha! Hahahaha!"

Success.

Finally this ruin had spoken directly to him!

It had accepted Rael as one of the Creator!

"Good. Now I just need to enter the ruin and activate Tauros...!"

Bang! Taang--

Rael who was moving his steps into the ruin came to a stop.

"Uh, uh...?"

Rael feeling his body as if he couldn't understand.

Bright red blood was pouring from a hole pierced in the center of his chest.

"That's as far as you go Rael."

Rael's laughter stopped at the voice coming from behind him. As he slowly turned around he saw Yaan's face looking at him.

"So you really... chased me all the way here."

"...."

"Is this revenge?"

Rael staggering and leaning against the entrance of the ruin.

The blood pouring from his body was soaking the floor of the ruin.

"Was it Rana you called her? Pity for that death-sentenced shaman...."

"Cut the crap."

Cutting off Rael's words Yaan opened his mouth.

"Rana was just a means to find my Frame's weapon. And you're just the traitor uncovered in the process."

"For just that you seemed quite angry."

"I was angry. Because I let you escape."

Yaan's expression as he said that was calm.

"I'll ask you one question."

"What is it?"

At Yaan's call Rael raised his head and looked at him.

"Those machines in your lab. They had the Belkuth family seal stamped on them. What was that?"

"Ah, that?"

Hearing that Rael twisted his lips and slowly opened his mouth.

"Let me tell you my story."

"I'm not interested."

"The answer to your question is in this story."

Saying that Rael coughed and opened his mouth.

"I too dreamed of an ordinary life Lieutenant Yaan. I also lived in hell."

An elf who inherited human blood.

Rael's life born to a mother who had been captured as a prisoner of war and later rescued was hell itself.

'Get lost you said! Giving birth to a filthy human's child!'

When he came of age those words from his mother's mouth completely shattered his young heart.

What followed was merciless abuse from the villagers.

Since he couldn't even be used as hunting prey he was worked like a slave doing all the dirty jobs, and whenever he couldn't do it he was beaten until his veins burst.

"At least my appearance was somewhat decent so I grew up a bit more comfortably when I came of age. Humans were better than elves right?"

Those retreating from the front lines and some Vailsar Empire officers. Rael sold his body to them and with that money moved to a neighboring city to survive.

"When I was twelve I met the intelligence director. Thanks to that I received a mission and could return to my hometown. As a soldier that is."

"...."

"As I brokered all sorts of dirty deals between the Empire and Alfraia... this is how I ended up.

Rael's voice as he sneered was filled with deep disgust for the world.

"This war doesn't continue because it can't be ended. There are those who profit from this war. I... to stop them...!"

"Hey."

Yaan's face twisted as if he didn't want to hear more as he cut off Rael's words.

"Didn't I tell you? Stop making excuses."

Having shot him twice and seeing Rael who wouldn't die easily Yaan spoke in an irritated voice.

"My great cause...."

"A great cause while sucking the blood of gathered children? If you build a country with that bullshit do you think that country will function properly?"

Saying that Yaan aimed his pistol at Rael.

But Rael smiled faintly and opened his mouth toward him.

"It seems we cannot communicate."

"I feel the same."

"But tell me. Do you know the name of the person who approached me through that Alfraian intelligence director?"

"What was it."

Was there any point in listening to that long story.

With that expression mixed with laughter his mouth opened and spoke someone's name.

"Hiram Belkuth. He's the head of the Count of Belkuth family."

Hearing that Yaan twisted his lips.

Belkuth.

He had been disappointed that nothing had changed, but this was beyond that.

"And that machine was a defective unit discarded by the Count of Belkuth."

A machine that reproduced the Creator's blood was a failed product.

Clenching his fist Yaan held a bitter sneer.

"So Belkuth is colluding with Alfraia. Why?"

"I don't know that far. I just in exchange for receiving this machine... gave him elves...."

Rael continued speaking but that was his limit.

Rael who lost strength and collapsed.

As Yaan looked at that with a sigh the facility that detected his death turned red in an instant.

[Detected cardiac arrest of citizen. Declaring emergency alert status.]

[Confirmed abandonment of corpse. Under This AI's judgment the corpse will be recovered and forcibly connected to a Frame.]

"What?"

At the sudden situation Yaan raised his pistol.

If they shred the body beyond recovery resurrection would be impossible!

[Threat detected. Eliminating threat.]

And with those words, bullets rained toward Yaan.

"Damn it!"

Two unmanned drones appeared, firing machine guns.

Yaan returned fire with his pistol, but stopping the ancestor's machine with a pistol was impossible.

Whoooom-!

Soon the drone rushed at Yaan.

While he was frantically dodging the machine-gun fire, he saw the drone right in front of him level its muzzle at him.

At that moment-

Boom-!

As the metallic shriek echoed, Yaan looked up and saw the drone hurled far away, slammed into a huge tree.

"Sudden situation. Priority is evasion."

It was Ren who sent the drone in front of him flying with a kick.

"Before that, we have to shred that corpse, even a little...!"

"The AI has already lost its mind. In that state it'll run the system on just a scrap of brain."

A machine-gun barrage from the drone swept toward Ren, her white hair streaming in the moonlight.

Yet the ancestor's biological terminal in front of her paid no heed to such things.

Ting! Tting!

Seeing Ren block bullets with a raised hand, Yaan wore a dumbfounded expression.

She crumpled the drone's armor with a kick and stopped bullets with her bare body.

'I'm a biological terminal. Sparks or high heat won't damage me.'

Recalling what she had once said, Yaan rose to his feet.

Meanwhile, the drones that had already collected Rael's corpse carried his body deep into the facility.

Boom-!

A metallic roar came from far below ground.

Realizing what that meant, Yaan's face twisted.

"Shit, this is insane."