Stampede (4)
The soldiers who had acted as bait were able to sleep peacefully for just one night.
For most of them, simply surviving was enough to feel grateful.
But the very next day, that happiness vanished in an instant.
News had arrived that a higher-rank monster had co close to this area.
So officers had died while acting as bait, so it was necessary to reorganize the troops.
But since the situation was urgent, they couldn't provide a detailed reorganization.
No, it had never been a place well-organized anyway.
That's because soldiers kept dying, resulting in frequent changes in the lineup.
"Nice to et you. I'm Silia, and I'll be in charge of you just for today."
Silia introduced herself as she looked down at Louis's squad mbers.
They were already extrely tense because they knew exactly who she was.
"Does that an you're going to replace our officer and manage us?"
Among them, Dimo swallowed dryly and asked.
Silia wasn't just any officer—she was actually the deputy-commander.
It was only natural they'd be nervous at the thought that soone second only to the commander would be with them.
"In yesterday's bait operation, only one officer, Eike, died. You're the only ones who lost your officer."
In situations like this, soldiers absolutely had to follow officers' orders.
Soldiers acting independently without officers was absolutely not tolerated.
"So for today, I'm saying I'll be the one to command you. That idiot last night also said it was fine and agreed to it. Understand?"
Silia pointed to Louis, who was standing among the squad mbers. The squad acquiesced, but their tension was clear.
They say you shouldn't judge a person by their appearance.
She looked like a young woman, but was the second-highest ranking person in this fortress filled with corpses.
It ant she stood as the number two in a place far more vicious than your average bandit gang.
A regular officer couldn't even compare in terms of how frightening she would be.
"Excuse ... is it really all right for you to take care of people like us?"
"What do you an?"
So Dimo mustered the courage to ask.
"There are still plenty of officers who could manage us besides the deputy-commander yourself, aren't there?"
Did soone of a deputy-commander's level really need to manage even them?
As Dimo said, she could easily pawn them off on another officer.
"It's a bit of a hassle, I admit, but it's not like I volunteered to babysit you for no reason. I heard you nearly died at the hands of the officer who was your squad leader yesterday."
It really had been close.
As if an officer wasn't enough, even a soldier nad Rejir had threatened them on top of that.
If Louis hadn't stopped that officer, they really would've been dead.
"In short, that ans soone is after your lives."
"After us?"
But why? Had they done anything to make an enemy out of soone?
Not just Dimo, but all the squad mbers harbored the sa questions.
"We didn't do anything..."
"I don't know the reason either, but during this stampede, it is absolutely forbidden to threaten your own allies. Drawing a blade on your own side in an ergency like this is outright treason."
Any soldier like that—that could only be called a rebel—would be executed on the spot.
That was a direct order from the commander.
"I doubt Eike was the only one like that. Soone might try to target you again. Or else..."
Silia narrowed her eyes and watched the squad closely.
"You might have intentionally killed Eike and are pretending to be victims."
"No!"
"We're innocent!"
Their hearts dropped at the accusation, and they hurriedly protested.
"We didn't kill him! It was that soldier—I think his na was Rejir!"
"Yeah! What kind of strength could we have to challenge an officer anyway?"
"Even if we did, it was self-defense."
"If we hadn't, we would have been dead."
Silia, understanding their words, swiftly nodded.
To avoid death, you had to kill. It was an undeniable truth, at least here.
More than anything else, that logic applied well in this place.
"I understand what you're saying. But here, everyone lies in order to survive. That's why I'll keep watching you personally. After all, even the other officers find you suspicious."
"Why...?"
To that unsettling question, Silia pointed at Pram.
"Even seeing a child who's obviously never studied magic handle the pathfinding magitech device so easily—well, it's strange, isn't it?"
"...?"
Pram looked flabbergasted.
"I didn't do anything. I just picked it up and it activated on its own."
In fact, the officers had gotten up early for a eting about it.
There really were quite a few officers who found it suspicious that Louis's squad had survived without even a squad leader.
They were all convinced Eike had died because of these little brats.
So Silia made a declaration on the spot. She would personally supervise them.
"Anyway, just know there aren't many officers who will take your side. In that case, it's safer to be under ."
Certainly, if the deputy-commander was watching over them, no other officer would approach carelessly.
They might be under surveillance, but they were protected at the sa ti.
"Now, you have sothing to do. Take out all your equipnt and magitech devices."
At her instruction, the squad began unpacking their rucksacks.
"During the officers' eting, we learned a higher-rank monster will be passing through. If you want to survive, you'll need to use every tool you have."
Fortunately, the squad had ergency supplies.
They thought their chances of survival would improve as long as they had these.
Just then, a knight ca running from behind, calling out to Silia.
"Deputy-commander, Klein is calling you."
"Suddenly?"
"Yes. He says he wants to service the pathfinding magitech device."
What was this about? The pathfinding magitech device was already working fine.
"I'll be back in a mont."
Silia left, following the knight.
She didn't need to be worried since Louis was still with the squad.
Leaving the base briefly, Silia headed to Klein, who was stationed at the encampnt.
Just as the knight said, Klein was working on the magitech device.
"You're here, deputy-commander Silia."
"Yes. But is there really a need for maintenance?"
The R-Type Guide, a pathfinding magitech device.
It should've been working properly, but as she wondered, soone answered.
"This isn't just routine maintenance. It's a kind of energy recharge."
"Kadim."
Silia imdiately tensed up as soon as she saw Kadim.
He was the officer who was always trying to take her position.
"Do you know which higher-rank monster will be passing through this ti?"
"'Gigant Vulture'. I already heard during the morning eting."
Silia motioned toward the mist visible beyond the slope outside the encampnt.
It looked like clouds had descended from the sky.
"Yes. As you know, that is the work of the Gigant Vulture. Once you enter that mist, you lose your way just like in the Forest of Death."
"Which is exactly why this device is necessary."
Silia lifted the R-Type Guide. The thod of dealing with it was the sa as in the Forest of Death.
"But that mist forest could have even stronger energy waves than the Forest of Death. The magitech device might run out of magic power faster than usual."
That's why Kadim insisted Klein's maintenance was necessary.
"Eventually, that mist will reach us, too. If you want to survive the Gigant Vulture, you need to hand over the R-Type Guide to Klein right away."
"That's right, deputy-commander. I'll recharge it with magic power in no ti."
As Kadim demanded, Silia handed the pathfinding magitech device to Klein.
At the sa ti, she asked Kadim.
"What's with you being so concerned about
all of a sudden?"
"What do you an?"
"Normally, you'd tell
I don't need this kind of service at all."
"You jest, deputy-commander."
Kadim smiled. For so reason, his smile felt unpleasant, and Silia found herself irritated.
"You should go back to the base first. Once the maintenance is done, I'll deliver it myself."
"..."
As Klein had requested, Silia returned to where the squad was waiting.
Fortunately, nothing seed to have happened in her absence.
On the contrary, the squad mbers' faces sohow looked brighter.
"Squad... No, deputy-commander!"
Dimo slipped up and quickly corrected the address.
But Silia shook her head.
"For today, just call
Squad Leader. Whatever's more comfortable for you."
"Yes..."
"By the way, what are you holding there?"
"This?"
Dimo and Victor held out a transparent gem.
It was one of the ergency items from their rucksack.
"Is that...?"
Since she was skilled in magitech, she could tell what gem it was.
"A warp stone?"
"Yes. We've just been carrying it around since we don't know how to use it... Do you know how, squad leader?"
No one really knew how to use it. Neither Louis nor Pram had any idea either.
But Silia looked like she knew how, and she really did.
When Silia took it in her hand, the warp stone started to emit a faint light.
Without hesitation, Silia pocketed one for herself.
"Hand them over, all of you."
The squad mbers handed any warp stones they had over to Silia.
Then, all of the warp stones started to function properly, and the squad mbers began to fuss.
"With these, we could escape a danger zone, right?"
"Yeah! We wouldn't have to fight, we could just run away!"
Simon and Victor made a good point. Maybe with warp, they could escape outside the demon realm itself.
"Are you thinking you could use that to escape from the fortress?"
"... Is that impossible?"
Unfortunately, it was. Silia explained.
"To warp, you have to set a coordinate. There has to be another warp stone planted at that location so the coordinate is valid. Do you think there's a location outside the demon realm that's already set up like that?"
"......"
"Plus, it's single-use. Once you use it, it becos an ordinary bead."
The squad's energy flagged at her answer. As expected, there was no real escape.
But the item wasn't completely useless.
It could prove handy in a dire situation.
"That's all the usable equipnt and magitech devices, right? Put the rest away now."
Following Silia's orders, the squad put their ergency items back in their rucksacks—except for one warp stone.
"Deputy-commander... No, squad leader, where should we set the coordinate for this one?"
Silia thought for a mont.
The soft glow it emitted only ant it was working, not set.
Without a coordinate, it was just a faintly glowing bead. They'd have to set a coordinate sowhere to use it properly.
"It's best to set it to the encampnt. The maximum distance is a few kiloters, so... hmm?"
Just then, the warp stone, which had been emitting a soft light, suddenly began to shine brightly.
Silia was startled. That response indicated a warp stone was fully activated.
That's strange. She hadn't even set a coordinate yet.
"...!!"
Louis wrinkled his brow at the scent that ca from the light.
It was clearly the scent of a place different from here.
Suddenly feeling a chill, Louis imdiately flung the warp stone to the ground.
"Get rid of that righ—"
He had begun shouting, but didn't finish.
That's because, except for Louis, Silia and all the squad mbers had already vanished.
.
.
.
A short ti later, Klein appeared at the base.
He'd co to return the serviced R-Type Guide.
"Deputy-commander. The maintenance is fin... huh?"
Klein was startled upon arrival. Silia and the other squad mbers were nowhere to be seen.
Had they suddenly deserted the frontline? If so, it'd be instant execution.
At that mont, sothing bumped against Laika's foot.
"What's this?"
Laika picked up the bead lying on the ground. Realizing it was a warp stone, laika felt puzzled.
****
"Why..."
Due to the suddenly activated warp stone, Silia and the squad mbers—all except for Louis—had been forcibly transported sowhere.
Silia imdiately looked around as she ca to in the new location.
The squad couldn't accept what had happened, and trembled as if they instinctively understood their predicant.
"Squad Leader... what is this..."
Just then, Pram went pale as she found sothing at her feet.
There were several beads sticking out of the ground, identical to the warp stone they had tried to use.
"Why are these here?"
They had never used theirs, and never installed a warp stone in a place like this before.
Could there have been others in the fortress with the sa thing?
'Huh?'
On second thought, maybe there were.
The warp stones had co from ergency supplies, and it was easy enough to guess who the original owners had been.
― Krrrkk.
Before she could finish realizing this, eerie cries echoed from nearby.
Between the darkened branches of the forest, hundreds of glowing eyes watched them.
"Squad Leader... that..."
Victor suddenly looked up.
At that sight, Silia felt her soul drain away.
A gigantic monstrous bird, big enough to cover the sky, was looking down upon them.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Fuck.
(??.?? )
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