"I'll cut to the chase. I don't trust you in the slightest. You don't have to keep pretending like that, it's getting annoying. First of all, where's everyone? I mean, aside from you and the girl that brought us tea, I didn't see anyone else around."
"What kind of question is that?" Frederick scoffed. "They're out there, hunting Aberrations. Although I don't personally believe in curfews, most of them usually return by 8 p.m."
Karabell stared at the man in disbelief. His lips had curled up in a smile once again, as if he didn't have a care in the world. Which was probably true. He didn't look it, but the fact that he knew Shono meant that he was probably in his late twenties or early thirties. Karabell had gotten fairly good at reading people. But even so, he didn't have any idea what was going on inside Frederick's mind.
"All of them?" Alice instantly yelled, almost falling off of her chair.
"Oh, my. That startled me. Well, I think this would go faster if I just explained you how things work around these parts. After all, our warriors are a lot different than those in the Lower District." Frederick's eyes fixed on Karabell. "This is the the soldiers' headquarters. There are around two hundred people living here, including me. Every day, all but one or two persons leave this place to go hunting. The aim is to defeat as many Aberrations as they can, and return in the evening. Of course, some simply take a bunch of supplies with them and spend the night out in the city. I, for one, despise such careless actions. Every person currently living in this base is either a regular soldier or a captain. The teams usually consist of three to six fighters and one captain. I think you use a similar method. Naturally, the apprentices are trained in a separate locations. All in all, there are about seven bases here in the Upper District, including our farms. Two of them are mainly used by our scientists and engineers. Of course, those are also defended by our warriors, but this establishment here is the one primarily bringing the fight to the Aberrations. I'm sorry this turned into such a long lecture, but I figured we should at least be on the same wavelength before I asked you what exactly you had hoped to achieve by coming all the way here."
Een's eyes searched Frederick's face, but found no trace of sympathy. Being on the same wavelength? Right. That wasn't going to happen. That guy was the embodiment of condescension, looking down on them like that. It made Een want to punch him. But that was completely irrelevant. All things considered, they didn't have much of a choice. They needed his help. Luckily, Frederick seemed to have the tiniest bit of respect for Karabell, just enough to willingly listen to the Captain's demands.
"The AAD's headquarters in the Lower District was destroyed around a month ago by Superior Aberrations. To my knowledge, that was the sole base in that part of the city. We were out on a scouting mission when it all happened, so the creatures didn't kill us. Everyone else died," Karabell said, intentionally omitting to mention anything about Gun or the documents they'd found. If possible, he wanted to talk about those things with someone... trustworthy. "For a while, we lived in a small house nearby, but we eventually ran out of food. Seeking help from the Upper District's Agency was our only option. We found this poor girl sleeping in one of the abandoned houses."
"Well, that explains everything. Superior Aberrations, you say... Sometimes, I forget the people down there still use these kinds of words to describe the creatures. Don't get me wrong, I used to do that too. Normal Aberrations, Garglings, Superiors... But then we realized something. An Aberration is just an Aberration. Nothing more, nothing less. It doesn't matter if it's bigger or smarter, it's still an Aberration. And all Aberrations need to be eliminated."
"You say that, but I don't see you carrying a weapon around..." Een said, his irritation finding liberation in his words. Frederick didn't even glancein his direction. Instead, he gracefully reached for something deep inside one of his pockets. The soldier got out a pair of knuckledusters, seemingly constructed from the same flexible material. Their eyes remained glued to him as he put the weapons away just as calmly. Fighting Aberrations using knuckledusters... That guy was insane. Though Een could understand the reasoning behind that. Even if it involved getting extremely close to the creatures, those things could create huge gaps in their natural armor, much faster than other weapons.
"Don't worry. We have more than enough space, food and water. You can stay here as long as you like. Naturally, you won't be forced to go hunting like everyone else. Just a moment. I'll ask Lyra to show you to your rooms."
It didn't take long before the door swung open once again, revealing the same girl from earlier. At least they'd learnt her name. Frederick waved them goodbye, the same cocky grin pulling up the right side of his face. Karabell wondered just how annoying could that man get.
Their bedrooms were right next each to each other. One for the boys and one for the girls. Surprisingly, the rooms were fairly large. Well, they were larger than the ones they'd had back at the old shack, anyway. Four spotless beds awaited them in each chamber. And the mattresses seemed brand new. That was more than enough reason for both Alice and Een to never want to leave that place. Hastily making their beds, Lyra started humming to herself. Despite wearing a fighter's attire, she was beginning to look more and more like a maid.
"Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right..." she murmured, fluffing the pillows. Karabell's blood immediately ran cold. Was he hearing things? No, maybe he was reading too much into it... but then again, he didn't exactly have anything to lose.
"B, A... The Konami Code?" the Captain asked stiffly. It still amazed him how the only aspects he remembered so clearly from his old life were things like that. Lyra turned around, pale as a ghost. She met his gaze, and recognition dawned on her face. Once again, his hunch'd been right. For better or worse.