The night was thick and dark, the transport truck cruising steadily along the highway of Mount Efeng.
Tonight, visibility was poor, as a layer of thin mist drifted through the mountains, and the headlights could only illuminate the path for about ten meters ahead.
Watching the surroundings grow darker and the lights of civilization vanish behind the mountain peaks, the young boy in the back seat swallowed hard, his hands trembling slightly as he clutched his gun.
"Weren't you all acting so smug when we first set out?" Yin Yusheng remarked, glancing into the rearview mirror.
"I-I'm not scared! Don't go slandering people, Uncle Yin!" the boy immediately retorted.
"I remember the weak spots of those bugs better than anyone..."
"I never said you were scared," Yin Yusheng chuckled.
Laughter instantly filled the vehicle, with two girls looking over teasingly.
The boy's ears turned red as he silently tightened his grip on the gun in his arms, bowing his head and muttering, "You'll see soon enough."
The youth beside him grunted and slung an arm around the boy's shoulder with a grin.
"We're all men here, nothing to be embarrassed about. If you're scared, just say it. I'll watch your back. Do you know who the Red Apostle is?"
The boy's eyes lit up at the mention. "You're the Red Apostle? The one at the top of the virtual combat rankings, the one who hit a record of forty-two consecutive waves against the swarm?"
"Ah, no. I'm thirteenth place, North Sea's Most Devoted," the youth said sheepishly.
"Then why the hell are you even talking!"
The half-joking tone lightened the atmosphere in the truck considerably.
Yin Yusheng chuckled, turned on the sound system, and selected some rock music. Commands from headquarters and the sounds of other squads in combat crackled through the radio from time to time.
"If only that Red Apostle were in our squad, we wouldn't have to worry about the swarm at all," the youth said, leaning back with his hands behind his head.
Akabane Tsubaki looked over impassively.
If this had happened six months ago, she might have felt smug about this sort of 'playing the hidden expert' feeling. Now, she only felt regret.
She wished she had picked a name she could actually say out loud; now, people were constantly asking who the Red Apostle was, yet she didn't even have the courage to admit it.
With systematic physical training, her current endurance and neural reaction speed were much stronger than they were six months ago, allowing her to endure longer battles and stay more focused when entering a state of flow.
The only reason she had only hit forty-two waves was that she discovered no new types of monsters appeared after the fourteenth wave.
At first, she didn't believe it, but after cycling through twice, she confirmed it was true. She had been quite excited to see if higher-order bugs would appear, but getting doused with that cold water had killed her interest.
"By the way, you were thrown onto the battlefield at such a young age," Yin Yusheng said, taking a serious look at the embarrassed boy for the first time.
The boy scratched his head sheepishly. "My father left years ago. It's just my mother, my brother, and me. My brother's career is finally on a steady rise, but Mom's legs aren't good anymore and she needs someone to look after her."
"Left? To where?" Yin Yusheng asked.
"He died on the battlefield," the boy answered.
The atmosphere in the truck turned somber again.
"I'm sorry."
Yin Yusheng had seen much of this. After so many years, the people involved usually grew indifferent to it, only feeling a bit of bitterness and sorrow when they happened to remember.
"It's fine. I stopped dwelling on it long ago. Mom is in my brother's care, so I'm at peace."
"This damn world."
The vehicle continued forward steadily for another two kilometers, driving deeper into Mount Efeng.
There was still some distance to their mission area. Sensing the stiff atmosphere, Yin Yusheng looked at the red-haired girl through the rearview mirror.
Akabane Tsubaki, who was lost in thought, noticed the gaze and looked back, a bad premonition rising in her heart.
"Why does everyone call you Meijiu?" the man finally asked the question many were curious about.
Akabane Tsubaki's lip twitched.
She couldn't exactly say that it was a homophone for 'Kuri' from her alias Mori no Natsu Kuri when she was in school at Dragonfly Town, specifically within the context of the Kowloon tongue.
"Uncle Yin, do you know why the elderly in Seino City live so long?"
"Tell me."
"Because there's a legend there: those who can't keep their mouths shut will have their tongues pulled out and eaten by gossip-loving demons."
"So, they don't go around prying into other people's business, especially when it concerns the local underworld."
Yin Yusheng saw the girl's small fangs peek out as she spoke. He had a strange feeling that if he asked one more question, he would be assassinated by the mafia on a street corner the next day.
The man raised an eyebrow and wisely dropped the subject.
"What about her? I haven't seen her say a single word during training."
He nudged his chin toward the last girl sitting in the corner.
The girl sat beside Akabane Tsubaki, silently wiping the M180 heavy sniper rifle that was taller than she was.
As the captain, Akabane Tsubaki remembered the names of every squad member. This girl's name was Jiang Miao.
Her reason for joining the military was simple: she was originally a traditional playwright until one day, someone pointed a finger at her and angrily criticized her for glorifying war in her works.
Without a word of defense, she came here, having never understood the reality of it before.
Akabane Tsubaki hadn't spoken much with her. When asked about her future plans, the girl simply stated calmly that she hoped that when she began writing again, she would have an honorary medal to set into the back cover of her scripts.
"Meijiu, why did you come here?" Jiang Miao asked, turning her head.
"You could have lived a carefree life, sitting at a height most ordinary people can't even dream of looking up to. There are so many people who admire you."
"Even if the Main House required it, you didn't have to come here. You could have done what the children of other families do: go to a command academy, graduate, and sit behind the front lines with several commanders. You could get promoted just by participating in the command of a few major battles..."
"Hey, don't make it sound like it's that easy for me," Akabane Tsubaki grumbled. "Though you're not wrong."
She looked at the gun resting against her chest. The slender fingertips that once held a pen to write scripts were already covered in calluses.
"I just felt that doing it that way was too much of a joke."
"Getting promoted for no reason, when they clearly don't have the ability... Think about how many people would die in vain because of poor command."
"Is it not a joke now?" Jiang Miao countered. "Everyone here, from the soldiers to the officers, is watching you."
"Even if you're on the battlefield yourself, there are still so many people following you like bodyguards, terrified that something might actually happen to you. On your path to growth, they still have to pay the price for your selfishness."
"You should know that you are not like us."
Akabane Tsubaki stared blankly at Jiang Miao. The girl's serene, peaceful eyes reminded her of a familiar girl.
After her experiences, sharp words could no longer easily shake her will. Akabane Tsubaki thought for a moment and answered with a solemn expression.
"At least this kind of joke is slightly less of a joke than that kind, isn't it?"
"And in this kind of joke, I will grow up one step faster so that fewer people have to pay the price for my selfishness. That's enough for me."
Jiang Miao hadn't expected such an answer. Her calm eyes flickered slightly.
"You asked me why I came here, right?" Akabane Tsubaki smiled. "Because I want to bring more people home."
Rate on N.U.
