Rescue Fantasy (36)
"What happened? What went on?"
As soon as I boarded the shuttle, I asked for an update on the situation. Truthfully, now that I had joined back up, all I wanted to do was get some real sleep, but I held myself back. Even if I was going to sleep later, I needed at least a basic grasp of the situation.
At my question, Nadia looked at Roxy, who just shrugged his shoulders.
"We'll be there soon, but... should we take a little detour?"
"Just until you finish the story."
"Sure. It's not a long story anyway. If you know it now, you'll get less pestered by the others later. I have some stuff I should say in advance too."
Roxy gently turned the steering controls. The shuttle, veering away from its original course, was now describing a gentle arc rather than a straight line.
Roxy fiddled with the communicator as if contacting the camp. Since he'd switched to a private line, I couldn't hear what he was saying.
Nadia began recalling what happened, for both my and Celestia's benefit.
"As you might've guessed, the pureblood supremacists attacked. Fully armed, like they brought military gear from a base."
The pureblood supremacists attacked the town the day after Carry brought back the biocells with strangers.
Carry had brought news that Celestia and I had fallen into the underground sector due to Lobelia's schemes, and the town, already thrown into confusion by the survivors from Military Base Keter, was in chaos.
Though everyone was surprised by the attack, preparations meant the response wasn't delayed. The town immediately activated the shield to maximum and started supplying power to the laser cannons.
At first, they managed to hold out. Even when the laser batteries began to melt down and shut down one by one, the number of pureblood supremacist attackers didn't drop significantly.
Seeing this, they realized there was no point in holding out any longer and decided to retreat. It was best to pull out while the defensive systems still functioned to some degree, minimizing losses.
Then they figured out that the supremacists' target wasn't the survivors—it was the mine. Licorice had intercepted a communication among them, and the keywords 'mine' and 'tunnel' kept coming up.
Licorice couldn't tell exactly what they were after, only that there was nothing she could do even if she went there herself, which frustrated her a great deal. So she made the call.
Nadia, gesturing as she spoke, lowered her voice at this point, as if she were about to describe something terrifying.
"She said, 'If we can't have it, no one can,' and blew it up."
"Blew up what?"
"The canister of toxic gas Kanna brought."
Nadia explained that while Kanna's team set off smoke bombs non-stop to create an escape window, Licorice rigged gas traps at key points throughout the mine and inside the town itself.
Once the teams on the split shuttles had created enough distance, and the pureblood supremacists had forced their way past the remaining defenses and fully entered the town, Licorice set them off with a bang.
An attack paid for with the loss of a precious stronghold—and it was extremely effective.
"I watched from afar and saw the supremacists just keeling over."
Still, Nadia saw some keep coming, their bodies pushing past the filters of their respirators. It made her realize just how frightening their obsession was, thinking, 'That's real military hardware.' With a sigh, she placed her tail in my hand.
I absentmindedly fiddled with the tip of her tail as I mulled things over.
Carry hadn't returned alone, but with Kanna. The mine was also the place Licorice had said gave her a bad feeling.
If that's where the supremacists' objective lay, it meant the town was always destined to be attacked.
If we didn't dig it up first and use it as leverage, the pureblood supremacists would launch an assault to claim it. Which was exactly what had happened.
"It's less toxic now, but even when the gas was at its most potent, they didn't care—they kept pushing in. It must be something huge. I wanted to find out what they were after, but we had to flee and never saw what they took."
"I see... It's good you didn't overextend. It was taken from us, but each of us is too important to risk. How much did we lose on our side?"
It seemed like the worst of the crisis was over, and Nadia was speaking calmly, but things must have been dire at the time.
"... There's no way there were no losses. The decision was made to abandon the town. Even though the toxin's not a big deal anymore, there's no guarantee we'd be able to repel another breach."
The town, hidden in the ice mountains, was attacked and overrun by pureblood supremacists. And all in a single day.
"Hyun-woo might offer another opinion, but for now, that's how it stands. Also, some people..."
Nadia's face grew sad, her words trailing off. Even if she didn't say it, we knew what she meant. There had been losses, unavoidably.
Celestia nodded, showing she understood the situation.
"Thank you for waiting for us."
"It was the least we could do. We believed you'd come back, Hyun-woo, and you went to that dangerous place for me. Really, I'm the grateful one—thank you for bringing him back."
Nadia held my hand and beamed. Roxy teased her, asking if she was finally going to smile now. Apparently, when it seemed Carry had returned alone, Nadia had looked like the sky was collapsing.
Nadia only flushed, not bothering to deny it. Now that we were back, the mood wasn't so dire, but it must have been the worst back then.
Celestia smiled faintly but soon tilted her head.
"By the way, who is Licorice?"
"Oh."
Nadia stiffened. Come to think of it, she'd never told Celestia the broker's real name. Since Licorice had never volunteered it either, they'd always just used the codename 'Red.' Nadia had slipped up.
Trying to cover her nerves, Nadia awkwardly glanced at me; Celestia narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
Nadia and I looked away. Roxy giggled.
「( ˙ε . )」
Carry, too, pretended to look elsewhere. Celestia, seeing everyone's reaction, realized she was the only one here who didn't know.
A touch of hurt flickered in her blue eyes, but Celestia only gave a soft sigh.
"Well, it's okay. I figured she was using an alias anyway. So Red was just the codename, and Licorice is her real name, right?"
"..."
"Well, since it's out now, you might as well just tell me."
"..."
"You guys, really..."
Leaving Celestia shaking her head in disbelief, I was about to ask how things had gone with Kanna.
But as I opened my mouth, Roxy snapped his fingers to get our attention. We must have arrived.
"Okay, time to get ready to disembark."
"Already?"
"It's not really 'already'. I took this detour to give you time to catch up. Otherwise, we would've arrived a while ago."
Roxy clicked his tongue, saying he hadn't gone any farther out of his way than he had to. Out the window, I could see a temporary stronghold.
I picked up on the subtext in Roxy's words. He'd mentioned pursuit before, so there must have been fierce fighting even after they escaped from the town.
Arranged around a shuttle larger than standard but smaller than a capital ship were several tents, and the military shuttle looked like it had barely crash-landed.
As Roxy's shuttle drew closer, familiar faces appeared inside the tents. Everyone looked exhausted but not at death's door. The basics seemed handled.
"Boss is going to be happy. He's been waiting for you."
"Really?"
"Yeah. He was ready to fight to the last for you, so you get the idea. I never even knew the boss could make faces like that."
"I'd like to see that."
At my words, Roxy burst out laughing.
"Better keep that to yourself, friend. Even mentioning it is like setting off a volcano. Literally."
"I'd like to see that, too."
"You've been warned, friend."
"If I get punched, I'll complain you should have warned me harder."
Thud. A heavy jolt shook the floor—touchdown. The hatch mechanism kicked in, air hissing as the door slid open.
Licorice, Carrot, and Eric stood at the entrance. Eric, now recovered from his injuries thanks to the biocells, looked better.
Kyle and the others poured out, but stayed back, apparently to give us space.
Seeing everyone gathered like this was an unexpected comfort. It would have been nice to see them again in town, but the pureblood supremacists had made that impossible.
Roxy gave Licorice, front and center, a thumbs up.
"Boss, how's my surprise? I told you this time you'd like it, didn't I?"
Was that what he'd said on the private channel earlier?
Scratching my head, I felt awkward. Just moments before, I'd been in a joking mood, but facing her directly, that vanished. Say the wrong thing and I might get hit by one of the Alphas waiting behind her.
'That, and...'
Lobelia's disguise, as Licorice, had looked exactly like the woman now before me. This was obviously the real one, but after getting tricked so badly, my guard was up.
It felt like Blackout could appear behind Licorice at any moment. Celestia, judging by her face, seemed to be thinking much the same.
I hadn't realized just one incident would leave me this on edge. Still, it was at least a relief that I could smell her usual scent, not the smell of ash.
Licorice, perhaps sensing the odd air between Celestia and me, gave a little 'hmph' and folded her arms. If I did nothing, this could drag on forever, so I forced myself to speak as naturally as possible.
"I heard what happened on the shuttle. So, in the end, the pureblood supremacists did attack."
"... That's right. That's why we're in this state now."
"I have a lot to tell you. We learned a lot underground."
"..."
Licorice's eyes grew sharper and scarier. I hid behind Nadia. Nadia tried as hard as she could to puff up her tail and shield me, but she was much too small to obscure me from view.
Seeing the ridiculous spectacle, Licorice let out a heavy sigh. Striding over, she grabbed my face, turning it from side to side.
Every time she spotted a scratch, I could hear her grind her teeth. She muttered things about those damned supremacists and wishing she'd set off more gas canisters—it was terrifying. All I could do was tremble.
"At least you seem to have taken your medicine. After worrying us all, your condition's not the worst."
"You know I'm tough, physically, at least."
"Haaa, fine. You said you had a lot to tell me. If it's not urgent, you can rest and talk later—we'll be here for a while, anyway."
I hesitated at her consideration. Should I rest first or talk now? It probably wouldn't change her reaction much either way...
'I'll just say it now.'
I was going to, anyway. Besides, I wanted to learn more about myself—and for that, I'd need everyone's help. On my own, I'd never find any answers.
It was my body, but all I really knew was that I was strong and sturdy. If I kept hiding it, I was just stuck in place. I needed to know myself better.
"They say I'm an experiment."
The moment I tossed out those words, everyone froze. At first, they doubted their ears. Then, the horror set in. Carrot let out a low groan. As someone who had once suspected this, his shock was milder than the others'.
Licorice stammered out her response.
"... What? What did you just say...?"
"I said I was an experiment. I got confirmation in the underground lab. There was a personnel database there—when I searched my name—"
"Hold it. You, come with me."
Glaring at me like she couldn't believe how nonchalantly I was saying this, Licorice grabbed my hand and pulled me into an empty military tent.
The others crowded in after hearing my words. I fished out the sample containment containers, setting them on the table.
"These are what I collected from the underground lab and the sewer. This is a data chip extracted from the lab. It's locked down, but we have to crack it. There's probably important information on it."
"Not that! Talk about what you just said! Experiment? You, Lee Hyun-woo?"
"That's what I'm saying. Celestia, could you explain? If we both talk at once, it'll just get confusing."
"Alright, leave it to me."
Celestia began to explain, organizing the events people would naturally be curious about. Everyone knew what had happened up until we fell into the underground sector, thanks to Carry sharing what it'd seen.
So Celestia just needed to cover what happened afterward.
Starting with our first encounter with Lobelia pretending to be Licorice, and then that there were supposedly nonexistent Level 6 and 7 sectors.
That all the pureblood supremacists in the lab had been left dead; the link between SSTC and the supremacists.
Then the hidden truth about the Blue Crystal, and the supremacists' ultimate goal: manifestation of miracles.
With every short episode Celestia recounted, people's expressions grew darker. When it came to the biggest bombshell, the part about me being an experiment, Nadia hugged me, on the verge of tears.
There was really only a single line in the records to suggest it, nothing concrete about exactly what had happened to me. I didn't see why it hit everyone so hard, but I just let it happen—her fluffy body was comforting to hold.
Celestia didn't mention her brother. It seemed she wasn't ready; it wasn't necessary since my story covered everything anyway.
No one could hide their shock at first. But as I spoke calmly, everyone made peace with it in their own way.
If I'd really been a test subject, how did I wake up behind the residential area three years ago? Why hadn't they disposed of me, but let me go free? Those questions remained unanswered.
At least we knew it was connected to Lobelia. If I saw her again, maybe I could figure out more.
We especially warned everyone about the dangers posed by Whiteout and Blackout. They were special mutants capable of mind control, and we had no clear way to resist them yet.
Once the recap was finished, the atmosphere was heavy, everyone deep in thought. Licorice tapped the table with her finger.
"Twin mutants and a gate made of bio-tissue... The first is another special mutant, but the second—doesn't that sound like a warp gate?"
"But there was no warp reaction."
Warp always produced a shockwave on activation—you had to clear the surrounding area before using it.
The longer the warp distance, the greater the shockwave, so it wasn't recommended to use inside planetary orbit. That's why, even though we had warp tech, people still used the orbital elevator or rockets to reach space.
"Space jumping with no side effects... That's dangerous,"
Licorice said, and no one disagreed.
"We should always keep the possibility of a surprise attack in mind. In a situation like this, if we're hit, we'll be wiped out instantly,"
Eric said, tapping the map.
The current temporary base was about 80km from the town.
Surrounding it was a terrain of reverse icicles—unlike the ice mountains that had hidden the town, this place offered little cover.
"We didn't bring enough supplies when we rushed out."
"We weren't planning to stay long anyway. We'll still need both of your opinions, but leaving is pretty much decided,"
Licorice said, motioning at Celestia and me. Eric paused, then called over to Kyle, barely staying awake in the corner.
"Kyle. Get ready."
"... Huh? Ready for what?"
"Kanna's team radioed in that they were on their way back from scavenging the crashed supremacist shuttles nearby. She probably brought stuff that'll help repair ours, so it's time to work again."
Apparently, Kanna and her team had gone to retrieve parts from a downed supremacist shuttle nearby.
Logically, you'd want Kyle and the other engineers to go along for efficiency, but the harsh reality was that efficiency doesn't matter if the engineers die.
They were already exhausted. Sending more soldiers was wiser, even if that wasn't as effective overall.
"Oh, boy..."
Kyle looked worse than when I'd last seen him, and I worried he really might die of overwork. Still, he had no choice but to keep working if he wanted to survive.
Eric asked me to look after Celestia, and left. Zombie-like, Kyle staggered after him.
Nadia hovered nearby, then leaned in and whispered to me.
"Hyun-woo, can you stay on your own? I'm going to help Kyle."
Nadia volunteering first—she never used to do that unless she had no choice. Something had changed in her. Her actions were more proactive.
I felt oddly sad, but I couldn't deny it was for the best.
"Yeah, don't worry. Besides, I'm not really alone."
"That's true. See you later, Hyun-woo."
Rubbing her face against my shoulder, then standing, Nadia said she had something important to tell me after I'd had a good rest, and asked me to set aside some time later. Then she went after Kyle. Her fluffy tail swayed out of sight.
「(b˙◁˙ )b」
Carry, thoroughly loved, also followed. Watching her, so full of energy, I couldn't help but smile.
I turned over Nadia's parting words in my mind. Something important to say. Maybe it was about her change of heart. Maybe something about her past.
After Eric, Kyle, Nadia, and Carry had gone, Carrot also left, saying he would check the samples. Before leaving, he grasped my hand, told me I'd been through a lot, and that I should rest—he and the others would handle things.
His eyes showed sympathy—a fellow victim of the Immortality Experiment. It was a bit much to bear.
'Everyone keeps telling me to rest.'
Was I really looking that bad? I touched my face and realized they were right; I did look rough. Even the best medicine hadn't touched the deep fatigue that clung to me like a stain.
'This is that.'
That state where you're so tired, your body doesn't even know how to rest anymore. I'd ended up like this a few times when I first started working as a miner, before I got the hang of things.
Celestia had dozed off against the wall at some point. In the way she slumped, she looked like she'd slide to the ground and roll across the floor if left alone.
Licorice used an Alpha to gently lay her down properly.
"Looks like everyone's gone. Except one grasshopper."
"Grasshopper? I'm working hard, how am I a grasshopper?"
Roxy protested, but Licorice ignored him.
"You should get some sleep too. You've done what you needed to."
"I'm not sleepy."
"You don't look it—you look ready to pass out at a touch."
Licorice snorted. I closed my eyes at her instruction, but I couldn't fall asleep.
I only now realized my body was still tense from all the crises. If we were back in the town, I might have relaxed quickly, but here? No. It would take time.
So, laying on a cot, I stared up, wide awake. After all that time on hard floors, it felt weird—even a little softness was making my muscles loosen a little.
We'd wiped down a bit on the shuttle, but the sticky feeling lingered. Should I wash up? There was a makeshift shower, but... eh. I was stiff, too tired to move. I felt like I might die. Such were the thoughts running through my head when—
With everyone else outside, Licorice kept sneaking glances at me and finally spoke up.
"By the way."
"Yes?"
"When you met Lobelia—how did you know she was fake? Don't say 'because she's a supremacist'—I'm just curious."
Her tone was light, but her eyes shimmered with anticipation, her fingers nervously fidgeting in a way that wasn't like her. She obviously wanted a particular answer.
'It's because she was really not you...'
But I couldn't just say that. If I told her the 'discrimination' joke, she'd just take offense and let it stew.
Awkward, I settled on my second thought.
"It was the smell..."
"... Smell?"
"Yes. The smell was different. You smell kind of like flowers. But that woman's scent was all ash—like everything had burned away."
I struggled up and leaned toward Licorice, sniffing the air near her. Once she realized what I meant, Licorice flushed bright red and shrank back.
It really was different. She didn't smell of ash.
"See? The difference in scent—"
"You crazy bastard...!"
I tried to explain further, but in the next instant, she let out a furious yell, her face crimson with embarrassment, and punched me. Square in the jaw. My head swam—I couldn't believe how hard she hit.
"Pffft! You figured it out by smell? What are you, a beastman—augh! The boss killed our friend! She really killed him—mmph! Nngh...!"
Roxy, cracking up, started hollering when I teetered sideways, but one of the Alphas immediately silenced him.
No one came despite the noise.
'I didn't mean to pass out like this...'
Just as I let go, my consciousness slipped away. My body surrendered to sleep, my sight faded to black, and I felt like I was floating.
***
Time passed. The last of the starlight faded; only the planet Saturn was visible in the pitch-black night.
Celestia, eyes trembling, gazed down at the sleeping Lee Hyun-woo. She remembered the time she'd been trapped in a dream.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【「(°ヘ°)?】