Volume 1 Chapter 2 (1/2)
Chapter 2 – Im Westen nichts Neues
”129 days till Run Out Date!! fucking Glory to Spearhead Squadron!!”
On an inner wall of a black garage that had already faded in color due to weather, there was an old blackboard picked up by soe words in colored chalk stated the countdown
shi+nn lifted his eyes from his clipboard, and spotted this one optimistic line on the board In fact, they should have a hundred and nineteen days When Kujo was assigned to this squadron, he would update that number every day
Ten days ago, he died
shi+nn had stopped to look at the countdown, and lowered his head back to the ernaut” rear He went towards his personal unit
The bright red eyes of a Pyrope, and the short hair of the Onyx He had inherited the noble bloodlines of both the Pyropes and the Onyx, and of who they called the Eighty Sixers, he had thecharacteristics of the Colorata
His handso of his age, somewhat aloof, and his slender body and white skin reflected his old identity as a member of the Empire’s nobility The landscape of the Eastern frontier was rasslands, and wetlands, yet he was dressed in desert caed from the corpses in the deadstock of the Republic The collar was messy, but he did not have to tidy himself, for no superior was there to supervise The blue scarf rapped around his neck
The sound of ar, asat each other At the courtyard before the hangar, there were a bunch of people playing souitar riff ca played Kino was lazing in his cockpit with its transparent hatch, reading a porno, and waved at shi+nn once he spotted the latter approach
It may have been the frontlines, but the members of this base had it free and easy on days without battle
According to the report sent to the Handler, it should be the time for patrol in the Contest Area This should have been a daily routine, but the squadron had deemed it to be pointless, and did not do so Of those anted to go out and about, they went to the nearby towns to scavenge, while the others went down to work on the chores they were assigned (cooking, washi+ng clothes, cleaning, planting vegetables, feeding the hens, and so on), or just killed time
Thethat was a bellow louder than a tank's, one that echoed through the hangar
”shi+nn! shi+nei Nouzen! You ain, you bastard!”
Like a cockroach, Kino scampered from the cockpit to the shadohile shi+nn merely stared at the shouter with a blank face
”What?”
”What, you say, Undertaker!? You bastard—!”
Quickly store face of a watchdog, donning sunglasses plus a few strands of white hair arey, aoil-stained clothes
The maintenance chief of Spearhead Squadron, Lev Audreht The sixteen-year-old shi+nn was considered a senior ast the Processors, but Audreht was a survivor of the first batch of recruits nine years ago, an elder ast the seniors
”Why do you have to wreck the machine so much every tiain Its wheels aren’t that stable, howreckless!?”
”I’m sorry”
”You think a siise, I’ht here One of these days, you’re going to die in so out of spare parts, and until the next resupply, repairs are unlikely!”
”What about the second unit?”
”Yeaaahhh we have the second unit all thanks to that certain leader wrecking the units until we had only two spare units left! Maintaining your personal unit alone takes triple the amount of time it does for the other Processors Who do you think you are, a Prince!?”
”The feudal systeo”
”You sure are a shi+tty brat… given how you’re wearing theh until the next resupply and sortie dates, you hear me!? What do you want me to do, pray for you not to wreck it? What next, hope the scrapyou over the next hundred years or so, huh!?”
”Fido probably had Kujo’s unit scavenged”
shi+nn said these words with his usual monotonous tone, and Audreht was momentarily silent
”Yeah, we can get some spare parts from that Kujo’s unit… but I don’t want to do it Seriously, don’t you think so on the unit of the dead onto your own?”
shi+nn turned his head around slightly, and pointed at the arernaut,” the ”Undertaker” There was a spray painted skeleton wielding a shovel beneath the canopy, one without a head
Audreht could only grimace
”No point nitpicking the details now… this is what you mean huh, Undertaker?”
The elderly ar shutters, at the endless plains of Spring
The sky, so tall, so distant, was blue and cloudless,beneath it Under it, the lapis-colored Cornflower and the elittered, the scenery depicted endless as it becahty-Sixers scattered all over the battlefield
The Eighty-Sixers had no graves They did not exist, and naturally, had no graves; even reclai their corpses was forbidden
The pigs with the appearance of huht to rest, and no freedom to be mourned over by their friends That was the state of the world created by their own country nine years ago, and still maintained up to this point
”That Kujo was blown to smithereens, wasn’t he?”
”Yeah”
Automated mines, faceless anti-personnel weapons with four limbs, their bodies filled with explosives; they were hideous, so rese humans to an extent such that when viewed from a distance, they could be mistaken for casualties Kujo went to assist another squadron in a night skirmish, and picked one up
”Now that’s just great He’s there now, right?”
”Probably”
Personally, shi+nn did not believe in the existence of Heaven or hell, but he illing to believe Kujo’s soul had left this place, and found its solace
Audreht gave an intriguing look
”That Kujo’s lucky to be in the sauys too”
The ball entered the hoop, and the tattered net swayed as the court erupted in cheers The aniether with the rando reverberated across the farms within the camp
Audreht knew very well that the scenery before them was never to be seen in any of the other squadrons
Continuous battles Daily patrols against the ‘s raids Extreme tension and fear would drain a person’s psyche, and across battles, friends would be lost As every day was critically arduous for them, they had no possible times for any daily human life, let alone relaxation or entertainment
Yet this squadron could relax, and not worry about any ene unable to avoid any raids
”…These guys here are able to live peacefully because of you, shi+nn”
”The one with three tiht?”
Audreht was left speechless shi+nn could only shrug upon facing the displeased look beneath the sunglasses
”Brat… just a little joke, and you took it for real”
”I do feel bothered by this Though I haven’t expressed this through actions”
”Fool Us mechanic’s job is to make sure you brats couys coh it is”
He rattled off this spiel of words, and turned aside bashfully
”…Anyway, our Handler has changed again What kind of person is it this time?”
Silence
”…Yeah”
”Yeah… say so…”
”That seems to be the case”
Due to the frequent changes, shi+nn had long forgotten their names In fact, the Processors would never care about the existence of the Handlers
For the Handlers had long abandoned their duties Once there were one too es, the radar would be unable to transmit the data, and the HQ in the mainland far aould be able to command effectively Thus, the Processors would never care about the Handlers, for their existences did not matter
Thus, the duty of the Handler wasthe Processor, and that was the job's scope The mission the Handler was left with, was to suppress the rebellious spirit of the Eighty-Sixers, using the Para-RAID that allowed thehly dominate them
shi+nn recalled the infrequent conversations over the past week, and said,
”Gotwork Looks like I have to write a new patrol report every week”
”…They haven’t been reading the the sao is you”
To wit, he did not change the dates and location, and ever since then, they had never went on patrol, so everything included in the patrol was a sham shi+nn was dumbfounded that such reports remained undetected
”Did you send a past document here on accident?” He recalled the calhed ”Never thought you would have a careless hter filled with pure kindness and sincerity
”On the day she was appointed, we synchronized as she wanted to greet us, and she said we are to keep in contact in the future, so there’ll be contact at least once a day I guess it’s a rare type a the Republic’s army”
”Sounds like a kind one… well, she’s going to suffer now Poor one”
shi+nn had the saht, and did not answer
In this world, justice or ideals were both powerless and pointless—
”…Yes”
And for some reason, shi+nn turned towards the endless plains of Springs, as though someone had beckoned for him
”Ba du outside the Grand Mur!'”
”Very funny, Haruto”
At the cookhouse of the army, Seo, who bravely volunteered to control the fire of thethe berry jam, bluntly retorted at the tomfoolery of the boy in his squadron He was a Jade, with blond hair and green eyes, sixteen years old, a little short and scrawny
The Rubies boy Haruto hanging the massive wild boar at the entrance of the courtyard opened his arht, and scratched his head
He did not have any duties for the day, and went boar hunting in the nearby forest
”Hht?”
”If I have to say, it’s a cold joke… but well”
Seo dropped the sketch book he had in hand, and sized up the hunt before his eyes It was probably dragged over by a ”Juggernaut,” but it ht have been difficult for one to hunt it, for it was a e boar
”This is a”
”Isn’t it!? We’re having a barbeque tonight! Where’s Raiden? And Angel? I want to switch dinner duty with them”
”Well, shi+nn’s the one in charge today Raiden went to 'town' to search for stuff, while Angel and the other girls are in charge of washi+ng clothes today”
Haruto stared at Seo
”When was that decided?”
”Probably… after breakfast”
”It’s almost noon”
”Yep”
””…””
Even though they had to do the laundry for the entire ca, it would be impossible for them to not be done
The washi+ng point was by the riverside, and it’s a bright sunny Spring day
Haruto broke into a leer
”…So now they’re bathing The river’s Heaven now, right!?”
”Before you go to Heaven for real, they do all have guns with them”
Haruto froze up ihed hard, took up the wooden scoop, and stirred the pot Once he saw that that the berry jauished the fire
He was about to close the lid when his Para-RAID activated
When he was commissioned, Seo had a RAID device implanted into the back of his neck, and there was also an earring data tag for registration synchronization The RAID device and the earring activated at the sa a hallucinatory heat He tapped at his earring with his fingertip, and switched to communication mode
”Activate…”
Once the Para-RAID was synchronized, Seo’s green eyes became icy cold Not far aas Haruto, the latter’s hand cupping his ear as the sed looks with
”shi+nn… what now?”
The washi+ng point was at the riverside The river ide, and lots of water body could be seen, the six feht amidst the river flow
”What are you doing, Kaie Hurry over”
Krena stopped in her tracks once she spotted her fidgeting squadate brown hair and the golden topaz eyes of a cat
She had taken off her combat uniform and tied the sleeves on her waist, the olive drab tank top showing the curves of her body in the middle of the day, but none of her friends were bashful despite being dressed as such
”No, well, thinking about it, it’s a little e…”
Kaie was a black haired girl with black eyes and white silky skin of ivory Though her tone was sihtly red, probablyto the body The ponytail as long as a knight’s hel off an alluring vibe
”And is it really okay for us to be having a water fight… warrgh!!”
Angel, with her blueish-silver hair scattered on the back, scooped water with her hands and splashed it at Kaie The former did not remove her uniform, but she had her zipper pulled to her belly, and for this posh lady, it was a daring getup for her The silver hair proved her identity as an Adularia, but as she had inherited the light blue eyes of her great grandhty Six by the radicalized Republic, and banished to the borders
”You’re being so serious, Kaie It’s fine, our clothes are washed anyway”
The other girls started to chime in,
”And shi+nn will understand”
”Ah yes He also said it’s hot today Showed a rare smile even”
”Well that’s kind of understandable, even from that stone-faced leader”
Saying that, they suddenly smiled at Krena
”Th-That’s not it! That’s not what I meant!”
”What’s so good about that guy who always see on his mind?”
”I said it’s not!”
”Anyway, your thoughts, Kaie?”
”shi+nn? Hmm, I personally don’t think he’s bad Not much of a talker, stoic, but he’s fine”
”Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Wait a sec, Akie!?”
Krena suddenly panicked, and Kaie stifled her laugh Krena really was easy to read
”I see, I see But since nobody's got hiht raid’ tonight, as quickly as possible…”
”K-Kaie!? E-Erhts about shi+nn, but, I don’t think that’s good! You sh-should be ”
Krena reacted flusteredly, and the girls smirked in unison
”””You’re so cute, Krena”””
A moment later, and Krena realized she was had
”Hey!”
”Yo, found you”
The forest rustled, and their squadht blond hair and e a Sapphire
Just to note, he was a boy
”””KYYAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”””
”WAHHH!!!!”
Daiya was assaulted by the supersonic weapons from all the women, ere probably equipped with such weapons since birth, along with all kinds of throwable items, and he hastily retreated behind the shrubs
”Hey! Who threw a pistol!? It’s dangerous if it’s loaded!”
”””KYYAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”””
”WAHHH!!!!”
Daiya, struck directly during this second assault, finally went silent
The girls hastily put on their clothes, and Angel approached
”So, Daiya, what is it?”
”It’d be great if you could ask el”
”Well are you fine Daiya?”
”Ah, my bad, please don’t say that with a blank face or I’ll cry…”
Kaie latched the velcro of her combat uniform, saw that the others had dressed up, and said,
“Yep, Daiya, you can come out nohat is it?”
”Ah yes Actually, I have a part-tier for today”
It seee Krena used her arms to futilely cover her voluptuous body that could not be ca unhappily
”You could have contacted us through the Para-RAID Why come here?”
Daiya scratched his head
”Well, won’t it be aard to co around, and that I’ll accidentally eavesdrop on your love stories? Most likely it’s about ‘Krena really likes shi+nn~’ or so like that”
”Wha…!”
Krena’s face went beetroot upon hearing him speak with a cutesy tone she would never use, and the fe away
”Hht one”
”We personally don’t mind, but Krena definitely can’t take it”
”And ere talking about this just now”
”Oh yeah, if shi+nn’s synchronized with us next time, have her say it out loud Let’s see his reaction then”
”Krena just said that shi+nn was horrible, always the stone-faced death God, never changing his expressions, not cute at all”
”I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I didn’t say that! Stop it already!!”
”””You’re so cute, Krena”””
”WAHHHH!! You idiots!!!”
Krena, as teased by everyone present (including Daiya), cupped her head as she screamed
Kaie was huffing her shoulders as she laughed, and asked,
”So, what is it about? Whatever you’re supposed to say”
Upon hearing that, Daiya immediately erased all expression from his face
”Ahh… it’s from that shi+nn”
And upon those words, the girls’ faces tensed up immediately
Man does not live on bread alone
Thousands of years ago, an ethereal savior once said so, and to this day it ree In a person’s life, there is always a need for additional things to enrich the ames, and such The white swines of the Republic who du other than the bare minimum, for they probably assumed there was no need to
On the other hand, if Man wanted to live on, the primary issue would be to first fill the stomach
”Alright Fido, we've got a problem here”
It was a town reduced to rubble, and from time to time, they would search this town for sorowing in the gardens of so from captivity in the chaos of war, and abandoned entertainment
They were at a plaza buried under the rubble The Vice-Commander Raiden put down the synthesized food and the compressed bread, produced in the base’s factory and obtained froency storeroo his massive, tall body He was a pure-blood Eisen, his darka robotic body
The ”Scavenger” was a drone that would tail the ”Juggernaut” and resupply the latter with as, unappealing in appearance At this point, one such ”Scavenger” opposite hih the lens-shaped optical sensor
”Which one is the trash?”
”Pi”
Fido immediately reached out its mechanical arm and tossed the synthesized food aside
Raiden watched the white object roll afar, and picked up the bread left behind, chewing on it Even a drone kneas trash The tongues of those white swines iven how they had just flatly deemed it as food
All Concentration Camps and bases had production plants and automated factories for the necessities required for battle
The power source and production control inputs ca from the other side of the Wall, and this was the automated food resupply syste this systes, and the produce were of the barecalled food that was synthesized out of it looking like plastic boht become dumber
Thus, one would have to search through the duo if real food was to be found Luckily, this squadron had no need for patrol, and lots of tiy packs could be conserved for the squadernaut”
”So Fido, we’re looking for stuff other than that trash today Get asother kinds of food”
”Pi”
Raiden, seated on the ground like a delinquent, stood up, and Fido followed hiers” was to fill their cockpits with anything fros Raiden’s instructions however were a little weird
To wit, the terer” was just a moniker If the supplies on hand were insufficient in battle, they would pick up usable iteers” Out of battle, they would wander the battlefield, and pick up items that could be used Thus, the Processors siers” They were reliable squad the worries about insufficient areedily searched their dead
Fido was a ”Scavenger” who followed by shi+nn’s side for five years
It was said that it was picked up by shi+nn after the latter’s squad encountered an enemy assault, and he ended up as the lone survivor, not completely destroyed, but its mobility lost
It had the barecapability, but a mere broken robot that was picked up would not have the intelligence for gratitude Ever since then, Fido would always prioritize shi+nn as the one to resupply, would follow hined to, and be by his side iers” ould not bother about feelings, it did showcase soan service in the beginning of the war, and as it had been in service for long, it probably learned s
And to this drone that obediently followed its master, shi+nnLike Pochi or shi+ro… as expected, there was so with that lad’s head
”Pi”
”Hm?”
Fido suddenly stopped behind Raiden, and the latter turned around
He looked over at where the optical sensors were ai faded in color, huddled up at the botto in the shadows of the rubble
”…Ahh”
So that hat he was being called for Raiden approached the corpse The unifor the assault rifle until the very end His neck had an identification tag latched to a chain, and he did not seehty-Sixer Probably, he was one of the Republic’s Orthodox aro, until the very end
A tad later, Pi, Fido let out another electronic sound, asking if it could drag so up leftovers from the dead, probably a habit it had picked up from shi+nn It would never touch corpses, however, for the white swines had forbidden the corpses
After a pause, Raiden shook his head
”No need… just leave him here”
He recognized this tree before hiinated fro with flohen Spring started This year, during the blooestion, everytree to ht as the fullit beautiful
The soldier re up at the radiant flowers; there was no reason to bury hiht of day
This may have been one of the Albas, but he did experience battle, and was a warrior who gave his body for his country; he should not be deemed a white swine
After a short moment of silence, he looked up, and felt a hallucinatory heat from his ear
”—To all forces on a stroll Do you hear me?”
”Seo? What is it?”
The clear voice could be heard within striking distance As representative of all synchronized members in the dumps, Raiden responded
”A sudden change in the weather report A stor”
Raiden narrowed his eyes To the East, in the skies above the areas controlled by , so, the color so faint that he, who had exceptional vision, had to squint his eyes to pick out
The Eintagsfliege of the <legion? were=”” the=”” size=”” of=”” a=”” butterfly,=”” able=”” to=”” absorb=”” and=”” refract=”” visible=”” light=”” and=”” electronals=”” across=”” a=”” battlefield=”” these=”” drones=”” would=”” lead=”” the=”” way=”” whenever=”” a=”” raid=”” began,=”” nullifying=”” the=”” ene=”” their=”” allies=”” they=”” were=”” the=”” crux=”” for=”” whenever=”” the=”” launched=”” their=””></legion?>< p=””>
”When?”
”I’ in about two hours It looks like other forces will beup behind the ones closest to us Resupply, more or less”
The closest forces were so far that eyes could not make them out, and the radar was already disabled However, Seo… no, the one saying that could deterh it was in the palm of his hands
”Understood Returning immediately — Chise, Clotho Meet at the entrance of Route 12”
”Understood”
”Looks like there’s no 'Shepherd' this ties in the enemy’s routes, but we’ll set up an ambush near Point 304 and clean them up in one fell swoop”
Raiden gave commands to his scout team and returned to his personal unit not too far away; Seo’s voice was filled with an urge to se smirk on his face
”Just 'Sheep' huh? Good time to hunt”
While the actual situation was more dire than they described, the tactics of the ”Sheep” were si thee of the eneth beforehand, they would feel more relieved than ever
Goodness sake, this great ol’ death God Raiden thought, and frowned
What was the for?
That red-eyed death God roa lost heads
Raiden and the others returned to base, and saw eighteen other units on standby, ready to sortie Seo’s unit was the one closest to the entrance, and he smiled like a mischievous cat
”You’re slow, Raiden Thought you stepped on a landmine”
”Cah with the landmine jokes”
”Ah Sorry”
Kujo was blown apart by an automated landmine In the two months since this squadron was formed, he was the third KIA
The thinning rate of the processors was extreh Every year, hundreds of thousands were conscripted, and a year later, less than a thousand rereat improvement as compared to their forefathers, who could only tussle up close Back then, the only way to fight was to charge into the camp with rockets or bombs in hands, such that the casualty rate each day would be at least fifty percent
In contrast, while the KIA rate of this squad was strangely low, the fact remained that this was the frontline
There was no battlefield without losses incurred
The arrival of Death would always be sudden, and fair
”Everyone here? Listen up”
Everyone straightened up once they heard the quiet voice that traveled far
The map of the First Battle Zone was clouded with a transparent cover containing the necessary information for the operation shi+nn was already before theht shone down upon him
His white face was accoe unifor his identity as leader; the blue scarf continued to flutter around his neck, and that was one of the sources of his ominous nickname
The head of this death God was long gone, but re like that