Black Bullet - Volume 3 - Chapter 1.9

9

The sun went down, and their surroundings were enveloped in darkness. In front of the frontline HQ was a simple tiered platform, torches on each corner driving back the black.

Listening to the sound of branches popping, Rentaro turned to gaze at his colleagues, who were bustling silently. Rentaro wondered how many of those gathering here were civil officers. It looked like there were around five hundred pairs, but he wasn’t sure if a thousand officers was a reasonable number to go up against two thousand Gastrea.

After a time, a pair appeared onstage and the crowd made an uproar.

“IP Rank 275, Nagamasa Gado, huh…?” Rentaro had seen him on TV many times before, so he knew there was no mistake.

He was bald with a goatee, a Promoter with a soldier’s disposition. It was true that he was old for a Promoter, since they were usually between their twenties, thirties, or forties, but no one seeing his discerning eyes, his aura overflowing with confidence, and his straight back could call him a worn-out old geezer. No, people called him the Couragous Wizened Hero.

Next to him was his Initiator, who accompanied him like a shadow. If Rentaro remembered correctly, her name was Asaka Mibu. She had straight black hair like Kisara, but her presence was faint, and she seemed to be a quiet girl. For some reason, her eyes were always shut tight. It did not seem appropriate to call a ten-year-old girl this, but she seemed like Gado’s wife. What drew Rentaro’s gaze above all was the equipment they had.

“An armor-type exoskeleton, huh…,” sighed Tina, who was on one side of him.

It was no wonder: Along with combat armor glowing red, Asaka had a light blue cape, and Gado had a cape with the corps’ flag on it. Of course, it was not simply armor that was grossly out of date.

“Rentaro, what is an ‘ek-so-skeleton’?” Enju asked.

Rentaro thought about how to answer Enju’s question in a way that would be easiest to understand. “Enju, have you heard of powered suits? They’re suits that increase the wearer’s physical strength and defense when worn. Twenty years ago—around the early 2010s, in order for exoskeletons to protect against rifle bullets, the armor was so thick it was hard to move in them, which meant the battery didn’t last long, and they couldn’t be mass produced. There was nothing good about them. But thanks to high-tech materials like Varanium alloy and carbon nanotubes, they were able to be implemented like hers. What Gado and Asaka have on is the latest model from Shiba Heavy Industries. It raises all the basic specs, from physical strength to armor.”

“I wish to have armor as well!”

Troubled, Rentaro frowned. He tried imagining Enju wearing an armor-type exoskeleton, but rather than her wearing the armor, the image of the armor wearing her was stronger. Though, imagining Enju drowning in the armor was cute at least.

But that wasn’t the point. “Impossible. It’s way too expensive.”

Enju became crestfallen, pigtails and all. “Too expensive, is it…?”

“Yeah, to put it bluntly, we couldn’t buy it even if we saved up both our salaries for ten years.”

“Then! I will inquire about getting it from Miori for free!”

Hey, come on… She seemed to give it up half as a joke, but Enju’s eyes looked pretty serious, and Rentaro’s face stiffened. During the Seitenshi assassination attempt, Rentaro didn’t know what Sumire had said to Enju, but ever since, she started mumbling “Zone” more often, and she seemed a little strange. He was sure that her complete loss against Tina, whom she was supposed to have the advantage over, also had an effect.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand her impatience, but for her to disregard her own physical and mental strength and be attracted to the easy answer of an exoskeleton was not something he welcomed as her guardian. I need to find time to talk to Enju about this…

“Thank you for gathering, brave ladies and gentlemen!”

Lifting his head in surprise at the sudden shout that reached his ears, Rentaro saw Gado raise his fist on the stage.

“I am your troop commander, Nagamasa Gado. You are the chosen ones who will save Tokyo Area. I am proud to fight alongside you all.” Gado took a breath and slowly surveyed the gathered troops.

Not even the rowdy Promoters jeered or snorted with one look from Gado. If Rentaro had been standing up onstage, it would have been vastly different.

“I’m sure you know that Gastrea are an enemy that increase exponentially via a virus, but as long as you know how to deal with them, there is nothing to be afraid of. You all also know that Tokyo Area is facing an unprecedented crisis. And there is no one who can reverse that situation but us. Kill them! The abominable Gastrea killed your fathers, mothers, friends, families, and lovers! It is your duty as civil officers to kill as many of them as you can. The defeated can be forgotten. The present history is made by winners. No one pities the losers.”

Gado tightened his fist and hit the stage as hard as he could. “We will win! We will win and make history! And our names will be written in the history books. We will overcome the Gastrea and fight without drawing back. Make your nation, your descendants, the spirits of those who died defending the country proud! Let’s kill them!”

A cheer rose loud enough to make the ground shake. Renataro was dumbfounded at the speech, buried as he was by the cheers around him. The content was extreme, but Gado probably took into consideration the bloodlust of the Promoters and thought something simple like this would be easier to understand.

Rentaro rarely respected his superiors, but he had no choice but to recognize that Gado was shrewd and able. So long as this man stood at the head of the civil officer corps, there was no need to worry that they would be steered wrong.

Next, Gado moved on to explain the specifics of the plan they would carry out with the self-defense force for the Third Kanto Battle. However, unlike the general policy part of Gado’s speech, the more Rentaro listened to the explanation, the more puzzled he got.

Currently, their battle formation had Monolith 32 between the Gastrea corps and the combined self-defense and civil officer forces, with the two sides glaring at each other. The start of the battle was predicted to be the same time as when the Monolith collapsed. It was fine up to that point. However, the problem was how Gado was saying the civil officers would be used.

Rentaro had heard before this started that the civils would be under the command of the self-defense force, but he thought they would follow behind as the decisive rear guard and trample the Gastrea.

Rentaro glanced behind him and spotted the camp lights of the self-defense force near Monolith 32 deep into the darkness. They were too far away; if the civil officer troops were really expected to be used as a decisive force, then they should have been deployed closer to the self-defense force. It was as if they were trying to keep bad blood at a distance, deploying the self-defense force and civil officer troops separately. But having the two forces a kilometer or two apart would be ineffective.

At this rate, even if the self-defense force wanted the support of the civil officer troops, in the time between the request for help and when the civil officers rushed to the scene, the battle would already be decided.

This was like the self-defense force was keeping the civil officer squads at a distance on purpose. Rentaro thought as much and then shook his head softly. They really were trying to keep them apart.

Across the country, civil officers were hated for the most part. From the police organizations’ perspective, civil officers were thorns in their sides, territory thieves who overstepped their jurisdictions and intruded on the scene. From the SDF’s perspective, civil officers ended up interfering with the duty of defending the country, which the SDF had taken on. It wasn’t surprising that they wouldn’t like civil officers in the slightest. In this scenario, COs were probably called the decisive backup in name only, but were really meant to do nothing. The SDF was most likely going to attempt a settlement without them.

It looked like Rentaro was not the only one to realize this. There were a considerable number of Promoters who looked disappointed after hearing Gado’s explanation. Gado himself realized as well, of course, and tried to pass on the information as calmly as possible, but he could not completely conceal his disappointment and resentment in the space between breaths.

After finishing a cursory explanation, Gado said with a glare, “Does anyone have any questions?”

Rentaro looked around him, but no one seemed to have any questions, so he raised his own hand.

Next to him, Kisara said, “Hey, Satomi!” and poked him with an elbow. Apparently, she was afraid that he would pick a fight.

“You over there,” said Gado. “You’re young, aren’t you? Who are you?”

“IP Rank 300, Rentaro Satomi,” said Rentaro.

There was a small stir from those around him.

“Oh, you’re the one…,” said Gado with realization. “I welcome you. I will take anyone who can lend their strength right now.”

“Hey, what did your explanation just now mean?” Rentaro asked.

Gado looked embarrassed at the directness of the question. “We have been ordered to prepare ourselves and stand by in the rear until we receive other orders from the self-defense force. That’s all.”

“Then, why don’t we just withdraw the troops to the Flame of Return ten kilometers away? If we’re there, we can use the natural fortress of the dilapidated buildings with a lot of places to hide, which would give us an advantage in guerilla warfare. Over here, it’s all open fields with too good a view. You know that we civil officers aren’t good at fighting on fields, right? Then—”

Gado cut him off. “I know what you want to say. However, if we fall back that far, we will not be able to respond to the self-defense force’s support request promptly.”

“Do you really believe something like that will come?”

Gado did not say anything, but his eyes flashed, and Rentaro and Gado glared at each other wordlessly. The commotion around them had gotten so rowdy that it was out of control. Suddenly, Gado seemed to remember something and started to speak, but he ignored Rentaro’s question and instead gave a quick rundown of the next day’s schedule, and then hurriedly left with his Initiator in tow.

After everyone returned in groups to their squad tents, Kisara put both hands on her hips as if to slow herself down, and when it apparently wasn’t enough, she opened her mouth angrily. “Jeez! You scared me. You did snap at him after all! Can you be in the presence of someone important without flaring up at them?”

Rentaro scratched his head hard. “It’s not like I snapped at him. I was just trying to resolve the doubt in my mind.”

Help came from an unexpected source. “I agree with Satomi,” said Shoma. “Something was off about Commander Gado. If Satomi hadn’t asked, I would have.”

“Wait, Shoma. Satomi is my employee. Will you please not spoil him?”

“But if I think about the self-defense force taking them all down, it seems kind of anticlimactic,” said Tamaki.

“It’s fine, isn’t it, Tamaki?” said Yuzuki. “It’d be fine if we got through this without anything happening. Because then everyone can go home safely.”

Listening to the Katagiri siblings talk, Rentaro mumbled, “I hope that’s the case…”

“What is it, boyo? There something you wanna say?” interjected Tamaki.

Rentaro shook his head hurriedly. “There wasn’t any deep meaning behind it or anything…”

Sensing that the air was growing dark between them, Kisara tried to smooth things over. “I know! Since we were actually able to form an adjuvant, wanna do something for good luck?”

The other seven looked at each other. No one had any objections.

Rentaro and the others went outside and took some branches from their allotment of firewood, making a pile and lighting the portable fuel. In no time, red flames stretched up and heat warmed their skin. They gazed at the tongues of fire for a while in silence, stealing fleeting glances at each other. The faces of those around the bonfire glowed red in the darkness, and from the treetops came the sound of late-summer insects. It was a strange and wondrous atmosphere.

What would happen to them from now on? Would they really be able to fight to the end without losing anyone?

Rentaro pulled his XD gun from his hip and raised it over his head, holding it aloft over the flames, and looked around him. “Everyone, thanks for being willing to help out someone like me. In the three days between the collapse of the Monolith and the arrival of the replacement Monolith, let’s fight through together with all our strength.”

“Jeez, you’re overreacting.” Smiling to hide her embarrassment, Kisara drew the Yukikage from her hip and crossed it above Rentaro’s XD.

“My life is yours, Big Brother. For your sake, I will do anything.” Tina lifted her sniper rifle and crossed it over Rentaro’s and Kisara’s.

“Jeez, Tina, you’re too serious. Just what’s so great about this perv?” Yuzuki grumbled, stretching her arm to cross the others.

“Hey, hey, hey, Rentaro Satomi. Be grateful for this strength I’m lending ya!” Tamaki added his Mateba.

“It’s a great responsibility, huh, Satomi?” Suppressing a chuckle, Shoma raised his Sig gun.

“I-I think Leader Satomi is a good leader!” Midori released her nails and lifted them up.

“Everyone…” Rentaro was at a loss for words for a moment.

Then, suddenly he felt something heavy on both shoulders and stumbled forward. Enju had jumped on Rentaro’s shoulders and sat so she was riding them. “We have gathered all these strong people. We will definitely win!” Enju lifted her small and graceful hand, and from eight directions, eight hearts crossed.

Enju smiled as she led the others in a cheer. “All right, everyone, let’s work hard together! Hey, hey—”

Enju’s voice seemed far from his ears as Rentaro thought. In the end, Rentaro was unable to get their last pair.

He was most worried that the Gastrea Aldebaran had appeared near the Monolith, which normal Gastrea would not go near; and that it had accomplished the feat of invading and withdrawing as it pleased.

There was also the problem of the corpses that had been cut down on the main street. It wasn’t Kisara. She hadn’t arrived yet at the time, and she had no reason to do something like that in the first place.

He had a mountain of vague worries. He also had a mountain of specific mysteries to concern himself with. However, he had to move forward. The huddle the eight of them were in dipped inwardly, and the next instant, it bounced up toward the sky.

“—Ho!!!” They chorused together.

The shouts of eight voices echoed through the night sky, and the smoke beacon celebrating the formation of their adjuvant rose high.