“Valerium, Kirden, Academy.” These three words kept repeating in Neale’s mind as he distantly followed those two soldiers from the city of Kirden through the alleys. They seemed to be walking distractedly through the streets, but there was something about those men’s posture that didn’t seem right. It was also no longer possible to hear their conversation very well, because if he got any closer, he might end up being noticed.
After spending some time following the two, Neale finally understood what he had found strange about their posture, and it happened at the moment when a piece of brick roof tile came loose from one of the low houses.
The two, who kept walking as if they weren’t paying attention to anything else, were passing underneath the roof of an old house when a large piece of tile broke loose and was about to fall on them. But they didn’t seem to have noticed it, and just before it hit them, Neale thought about shouting for them to move away from the house. When the words were about to leave his mouth, he clearly heard the sound of the helmeted soldier’s sword being placed back inside its sheath. And the second that old piece of tile split apart in midair, the blond soldier jumped over the other soldier’s head after crouching down and bending his legs, and as soon as he punched toward the side of the house, the two pieces of tile were left embedded in the wall. The two simply continued walking as if nothing had happened.
And then, just before hiding himself out of fear that he had been heard, he looked closely at the hands of the two soldiers, and that was when he realized that the two of them had never let go of their weapons. The helmeted soldier walked while firmly gripping the hilt of his sword, while the blond soldier walked with his fist tightly clenched.
Helmeted Soldier: I noticed the tile falling before you did. You’re getting old, my friend.
Blond Soldier: No need to stand there trying to fool yourself. I clearly let you attack first.
Helmeted Soldier: Yeah, right. You’re not fooling me.
The two continued walking while Neale remained standing there with his back pressed against the wall, afraid that his breathing had been heard. Before he could calm down, his heartbeat had threatened to spiral out of control. As the sound of their footsteps grew more distant, he gathered as much air as he could into his lungs and left his hiding place just in time to see the two soldiers enter a gap between two houses.
Moving toward the gap, he saw that there was a small space inside, almost like a little secret room, but out in the open. There, the two stood waiting for a few more minutes until three more people appeared from the other side of the gap, wearing the same armor as the other two. However, these had a few small details that made them different.
Following from left to right, the first was a young soldier who was perhaps four years older than Neale. On his right side, attached to his waist, there seemed to be a large quiver of arrows. His armor was still that dirty yellow color, but the black details stood out more. His mask covered everything from his nose downward, and his armor was also accompanied by a hood that almost covered his eyes.
The second man was larger and older. His sword was also larger than the helmeted soldier’s and was not in a sheath. The blade of his sword also seemed to have more details. His armor also appeared to carry a certain balance between the yellow color and its black details, and the helmet in his hand also seemed to cover his entire face except for his eyes.
The last was a woman with short, loose hair. She was taller than the young man, and her armor seemed to be almost entirely black, with yellow appearing to be the color used for its details. It also seemed to be even more flexible than the others. Her weapon was a double-bladed spear, and her mask appeared to cover much of her face, emphasizing her eyes.
The older man was the first to move, heading toward the blond soldier while extending his hand to greet him.
Older Man: How long has it been since I last saw you, my friend?
Blond Soldier: It really has been a while, Twenty-Three.
Lancer: Twenty-three? Excuse me for interrupting, sir, but what does that number mean?
Archer: If you don’t mind, I’d also like to know. Did we have some kind of code?
The two asked while carefully removing their masks, revealing their still-unscarred faces.
Twenty-Three: That? Well, it’s nothing special. It’s just that back in our time, the Order gave us random numbers during the student exam, and I ended up getting mine.
Archer: Then what would yours be, sir?
The Archer asked while looking directly at the blond-haired soldier in front of him.
The older man began laughing before he had even finished hearing the young Archer’s question.
Twenty-Three: His was pretty good. Back in our time, he got unlucky and ended up getting the number of a sex posi—
Blond Soldier: We don’t need to keep reminding ourselves that much about the past, do we? Let’s focus on the mission here.
Twenty-Three: Right, the mission. Let’s get started, then. How are things going on your side of the city?
Instantly, an air of seriousness began taking over the environment, along with the serious expressions on the faces of those four people.
Blond Soldier: Fine. On our side, things seem to be going without any problems, at least during the day. During the day, the city is easy to keep watch over, and not much seems to happen since most people are asleep.
Twenty-Three: I understand.
Blond Soldier: What really concerns me is what happens during the night. Our patrol area isn’t that large, but it’s very dark and there are many corners like this one that are difficult to keep watch over. I think that if something really is going to cause us trouble, it will be during those hours. I would recommend that we make an extra request for soldiers from Kirden, at least until the resupply.
Twenty-Three: Apparently, you and I reached the same conclusion, but unfortunately, that isn’t going to happen. The Order has already spent a lot of resources on the V-Zero. Five-B is still unreachable as well, among other things. The Order’s entire focus is divided at the moment, and this is all we have.
Blond Soldier: V-Zero? And what is that? We haven’t heard anything about it.
Twenty-Three: I see your superior didn’t tell you anything. Well, I suppose there wasn’t much to expect from a substitute anyway.
Twenty-Three: The Vehicle Zero is a means of transportation that brought together all the Houses of the Order just so it could be built. Reinforced metal plates with Justa Ira, tires made from the remains of beasts, technology from the times before the war, and the world’s first Justa Ira battery.
Blond Soldier: Technology from the times before the war? Is that really possible?
Twenty-Three: See for yourself. But, in short, the V-Zero is a monster. All of this was made just to bring the most important young people to Kirden.
Helmeted Soldier: So they don’t get too full of themselves? Like a bunch of spoiled brats. Why can’t they come on their own, exactly like they did in previous years?
Twenty-Three: Jarrick, is that you? Jarrick, take off your helmet before talking to me.
Jarrick obediently began removing the helmet that had previously covered his entire face, revealing himself to be a young adult close in age to the lancer. His hair was black, with one of his eyes being almost blue while the other was dark brown. His gaze emphasized the almost pale-white skin of his face.
Blond Soldier: You two know each other?
Jarrick: Yes. He’s the one who taught me how to use a sword.
Twenty-Three: Now, answering your question, Jarrick, in a very simple way, this current generation may be one of the most promising of the last five years, and the Order doesn’t want to risk losing students like it did before.
Blond Soldier: But even so, Twenty-Three, there’s something here that doesn’t add up. The Order has its own soldiers within its Houses. It still controls the city’s soldiers. How can all those resources be insufficient?
Twenty-Three: Like I said, there are other things happening besides what you know about, and they’re all happening at the same time.
After those last words, a brief silence lingered for a while.
Twenty-Three: So, as far as I’m concerned, that’s everything I had to say. Keep your eyes wide open over the next five or six days. The convoy may appear during that time. Now I’m going to meet with the other patrol teams in the city.
Blond Soldier: Understood.
When Neale noticed that their conversation had ended, he quickly withdrew from the area, almost stumbling as he did so. And just as the blond soldier and Jarrick were about to leave through the same gap between the two houses they had entered through, Soldier Twenty-Three stopped them.
Twenty-Three: I almost forgot. If, by any chance, you see any of the soldiers who went to Five-B, kill them, and kill them quickly without asking questions. They may be possessed.
Twenty-Three: That’s all.
After finally parting ways, the two soldiers returned to their patrol route on their side of the city of Valerium.
Blond Soldier: “What’s going on? It’s true that there have been many more earthquakes caused by the Points, but that shouldn’t be enough to leave the Order’s resources this low. Could it have something to do with that battery? Or is it really the Points opening up? Something doesn’t add up here.”
Jarrick: Hey, old man. Old man!?
Blond Soldier: What is it?
Jarrick: I should be the one asking that. I’ve been calling you for a while. Lost in thought?
Blond Soldier: Yeah. There’s a lot of stuff we don’t know going on. A lot of things…
Not far from there, in the opposite direction from the two soldiers, Neale was once again walking through the city streets, so deeply immersed in his own thoughts as he made his way back toward the building where he had spent the night that the voices of the few people around him had become little more than buzzing.
His mind shifted between so many thoughts: the death of his parents, the Order, the arrival of the convoy in a few days, and how he would manage to get food and water to survive until then. There were so many thoughts that his awareness of everything around him was almost completely lost.
Then, for one second, when even he thought he was distracted, his eyes turned toward a dark alley, as if they had been guided by a sixth sense. It was only for a second, but he swore he had looked directly into the eyes of someone wearing black armor and a black cloak before that person simply disappeared.
With fear running through his skin, Neale quickened his pace as he weaved through the small crowd of that city, trying to disappear from the sight of whoever it was he had noticed in the shadows.
6 days remain…