[Cursed Energy: 1512 → 1714]
Looking at the notice in front of him, Aleph sighed.
'It's not as good as last time. The extra one hundred… Was it from the Herrscher Core?'
After lamenting his luck, he stretched his entire body. Cracking sounds were heard throughout the hangar.
"Ugh… Is my back pain as bad as before..?"
*****
The descent of the fourth Herrscher halted the ordinary operations of the MOTH. Due to the unexpected diversion created by the Herrscher, thousands of Fire MOTH soldiers were redirected to two places: the tornado and the farm where the Herrscher went.
The former was successfully dealt with after an extremely risky operation by a MOTH soldier. He was able to detonate a handheld bomb made to destabilize the strong tornado. Once it was thrown at its center, it died down.
As for the latter…
"It was clearly an outsider. All the records indicate that we do not have the technology to create such an exoskeleton suit. We are still using electricity for god's sake!"
"What about honkai energy reactors? Aren't they enough?"
"It's not enough to fly at that speed."
"What about the research institutes? The second and third institutes, everybody?!"
"We all have a clear report of their progress. It's impossible to jump from one thing to another."
Another round of spectacle occurred in the deliberation room. The death of the fourth Herrscher under the hands of a 'third-party' startled most of the Councilors to the extreme. Distrust among them began to quickly grow. All of them had some people in mind.
"Ahem. The Herrscher Core was obtained at the site. It is now stored at the First Institute. I believe this is a point worth discussing."
The commander-in-chief tapped at the table top periodically. A report was sent to the councilors' side.
"At the very least, they do not have the intention to keep the core to themselves. Of course, it remains questionable what their intentions are."
His calm voice brought a moment of silence within the room. The commander-in-chief who officially controlled Fire MOTH's military forces was no ordinary man. His charisma was enough to steer the discussions within this room.
A while later, the silence was broken by a question.
"What was Miss Elysia's status at that time? Right, Doctor Aleph too."
"Miss Elysia is on vacation in Shenzhou. Our men were the ones who told her about the fourth Herrscher." The commander-in-chief replied. "As for Doctor Aleph, he was resting at that time."
Once again, he brought up evidence to their side. It killed most of the suspicions of the two being that outsider. Strangely enough, several people vocally supported this claim.
'The investment's worth it. I won't have to waste time looking at the third institute…'
'That Aleph didn't leave his room. Heh, let's see how others make trouble.'
'If it wasn't him… could it be…'
All sorts of intrigues happened as their discussion went by. It has to be pointed out that the outsider became a 'more important' matter than settling the fourth major eruption's aftermath.
'Things need to change…'
*****
Fire MOTHs has a Tradition Night every year. It is held during the day of commendation to those who made significant contributions to MOTH. It was always held on the last day of September, making it just right for the soldiers to take a day off.
Due to the fourth major eruption, it was held in advance. Fifteen hours had passed after the entire incident. Although not all soldiers attended, there were still many of them. The rest were watching through the live broadcast.
'The feeling's completely different here.'
Kevin had a blank thought as he remained standing straight on the stage. As the person who destroyed the threatening tornado, he was awarded a medal as well as a rank promotion. It was a brief ceremony, which is part of MOTH's culture.
'This girl's few years younger than me… Well, the world couldn't be judged by normal standards anymore.'
His sight moved towards the gray-haired girl who was awarded alongside him. Among the group of awardees, she was the youngest one. It made him realize how screwed the world was, requiring a girl of her age to head straight to the battlefield.
The awarding ceremony was finished soon. The attendees were soon dispersed from the event venue. They were granted a day off to rest in the Mu Continent.
Just as Kevin and the others behind him were about to head out, a familiar figure appeared. His hands covered his huge yawn. It was evident in his eyes that he didn't get enough sleep. The canned coffee in his hands was drunk in one fell swoop.
"Oh? The ceremony is already over? I hope you won't blame me for being late, Kevin."
"This is new. You are not the type to arrive late."
A smile was drawn on Aleph's face.
"You've changed. Who would've guessed you would care about punctuality now?"
"..."
Kevin's mouth twitched. He knew Aleph joked about his former 'delinquent' lifestyle.
"Military discipline is really effective. Anyways, let's go grab some lunch. I rushed over as soon as I heard they're doing this ceremony now."
Just as Aleph was about to say more things, someone interrupted him.
"Sir Aleph..?"
Aleph's eyes widened as he saw the gray-haired girl behind Kevin. Her voice trembled as she called his name—a sign of her nervousness.
'...That was why…'
He sighed silently as he reorganized his thoughts.
"Long time no see, Miss Hua."
*****
"So that's it."
Kevin nodded as he finished listening to the story between Aleph and Hua. Though he knew about Aleph's escapades in the Sapphire City, he didn't know it was Hua whom Aleph saved.
"Major Himeko… She's famous on the Far East branch." Kevin stated. "She's been in the frontlines for nearly ten years. She was one of the veterans within MOTH."
"She is the type to take honkai seriously."
Hearing Aleph's implications, Kevin fell silent. He then thought for a while before he asked:
"Are you talking about the mismanagement of the higher-ups?"
"You saw it for yourself. They are insisting on information control even now. It's stupid, I know." Aleph replied. "Anyways, let's not talk about those things for now. I've heard you recruited someone from the battlefield?"
"You heard about it already… Yes, I did. He is brave enough to attempt bombing the tornado by himself."
At that time, there was a civilian who somehow managed to get his hands on the bombs held by the special team. It was designed to "kill" the tornado. Kevin was the one who threw it in the end.
"He's a civilian, right? How did he get his hands on it?"
The two talked to each other for the time being. Hua chose to continue eating silently while listening to the two of them.
It didn't take long before her turn came. Aleph asked her some relatively basic questions such as her friend's condition as well as what she'd seen over the past eight months.
"So, what do you plan to do now?"
A familiar question was brought up.