How to Survive on the Armored Front

Chapter 23

"It is an honor for our village that the guest has come in person."

As he spoke, the village head pressed his hand to his forehead the same way he had done before.

"I have come to find the entrance to the ruin."

Even though he had trudged through the rain for a long time, Yaan showed no sign of fatigue.

Unless one had mounted a colossus after receiving the procedure, physical exhaustion simply no longer happened.

"Our people have made a path; you can follow that."

"Thank you for your cooperation. Then I'll be on my way."

When Yaan left the spot, Ren followed behind him.

"Why did you come along?"

"Even if we reach the preservation facility, it won't open without the key."

"Then where is that key?"

"Somewhere near the ruin."

"Then we have to find it."

So saying, Yaan and Ren headed toward the ruin entrance.

Just in case, Yaan carried a rifle on his back and a pistol on his right hip.

"Hm? This direction-"

The path to the ruin was better maintained than expected. According to the village head, a yearly memorial rite was held, and this road was used for it.

Because the route had religious significance, every branch of the trees lining the path was tightly bound with multicolored cloth now drenched in the rain.

But what made Yaan stop was not the cloth-it was a small shrine in the middle of the road.

Unlike the stone buildings common in the Empire or Alfraia, this shrine, built of wood and tile, had a unique shape he had never seen before.

"Tissue reaction. Identified as pre-Collapse humanity."

"Ah, the one you mentioned-"

Realizing what was enshrined, Yaan spoke and walked toward the shrine. Rain poured outside, yet the interior was strangely dry.

Inside the wooden building were lamps lit by mana.

In their midst lay the mummified corpse of a human, placed with reverence.

"Tissue analysis. Beginning identity confirmation."

Ren placed her hand on the mummy. Soon she closed her eyes, then withdrew her hand from the corpse.

"Confirmation complete. Captain Edward Kang, 16th Armored Division, Human Federation. Status changed from MIA to KIA."

"Someone you knew?"

"No. He died before I was created. He fought in the Great War with that child."

He had ridden in that Frame; it made sense.

Thinking so, Yaan looked around the shrine.

The mummified corpse wore traditional elven tribal dress; the clothes he had originally worn were preserved and set in a corner.

"The uniform pattern is unusual."

"Federation Type-3 standard combat uniform. Digital camouflage pattern with limited optical-cloak integration."

"Explaining it won't help me understand."

He had entered the elven village several times, but they had never secured any of their artifacts-this was why.

They had hidden the artifacts far from the village itself.

"This is-"

While examining the belongings of Glaepnir's former pilot, Yaan noticed something.

A mechanical device made to insert a flower into the frontline.

It was the same thing embedded in his own nape.

"They extracted it from a corpse."

Seeing the dozens of needles and connectors at the end of the device, Yaan felt a dull ache in his nape.

This thing is inside my body.

"Who's there?"

"!?"

The moment the thought crossed his mind, a voice from behind made Yaan whip out his pistol and aim.

"Eek!?"

A short scream, and an elf tumbled onto the shrine floor.

A girl with reddish-brown hair.

'A civilian living nearby? Why come here in this weather?'

Still, Yaan kept his guard up.

The girl, clad in colorful elven garb, looked at Yaan's leveled gun with frightened eyes.

"E-ek! A human...!"

"Answer my questions. I don't intend to kill you outright, but if you resist-"

"Lower the gun, Yaan. She's the key."

At Ren's words, Yaan's expression shifted.

"What are you talking about?"

"Exactly what I said. She has the key to the preservation facility in this area."

Silently, Yaan lowered the pistol.

The girl stared at him for a moment, then stood on trembling legs.

"I-I'm running away now. If I run, will you shoot?"

"I won't shoot, but I'll probably come find you again."

It was Ren, not Yaan, who answered.

She judged that the person who had just aimed a gun would gain nothing by speaking first.

"What? Then there's no point in running."

The girl plopped back down in resignation. Unlike the village children he had seen before, her face was spotless and her clothes far more ornate.

She must be from a rather high-ranking family in the village.

Thinking so, Yaan bowed first.

"I meant no harm. Please accept my apology for the rudeness."

The elven village had only just begun to open dialogue; causing trouble would serve no purpose.

With Prince Klaus's order in mind, Yaan apologized for his mistake at once.

"Huh? That thing on your nape-"

Rather than the apology, the child focused on the device embedded in Yaan's nape.

It was identical to the device enshrined in the shrine.

Seeing it, the girl's wariness vanished in an instant.

"Guest! You're the guest my brother talked about!"

"Pardon?"

Shouting, the girl dashed over and flung herself at Yaan.

Normally he would have blocked her, but recalling the prince's order, Yaan simply stood still.

"It's really the guest! Waaah!"

The little elf clung to Yaan, bouncing up and down. Like everyone in the village, she pressed the hand gripping his sleeve to her forehead, beaming happily.

"...I've been wondering-what is that for?"

Deciding to start a conversation now that things had come this far, Yaan asked, and the excited elf child answered.

"When a guest comes, everyone does this! The Creator reached out and made humans and goblins and us, but didn't finish! So when the Creator comes back, he'll touch us like this and give us what we're missing!"

"Ah-"

Unexpected information.

Thanks to it, the little elf had completely let down her guard, to Yaan's relief.

"Guests are allowed inside the shrine! Sit down!"

"No, we're leaving soon-"

"Aaah, sit! Grandma said to treat guests well! Sit quickly!"

This isn't treatment, it's coercion.

Reasoning with a child was pointless, so he did as told.

"Hee-hee, this is my seat~"

Saying so, the little elf plopped onto Yaan's knee as if it were nothing.

Yaan had never spoken to a child like this, nor had one ever come so close. He could only let the little elf do as she pleased.

'Wiping out the whole village might be easier.'

Whether the Penal Corps Corporal in front of her knew what he was thinking, the giggling child swung her legs back and forth while using Yaan as a chair.

"So, what are you doing here?"

"Rana is the shaman of our village! So every day she has to come to the ruin and the shrine to greet the Creator!"

"Your grandmother?"

"Yeah! Grandma!"

While thinking it would be faster to meet that person called Grandma and talk to her, Yaan noticed someone poking his side.

"Why."

"The Key. That child has it."

Right.

Recalling that fact at Ren's words, Yaan asked the little elf using him as a chair, Rana.

"Can I also enter that ruin?"

"Yeah! You can!"

"Then I'll ask for your cooperation."

While saying so, Rana who had somehow gotten behind him was fiddling with the device on the back of Yaan's neck, fascinated.

"Okay! Rana will help!"

At least that bratty playtime had some reward.

Thinking so, Yaan let out a sigh and stood up.

"Let's depart right away. We don't have time."

"She's still hanging on you."

"Hee-hee-hee! Rana's clinging to the guest!"

Thanks to the little elf who wouldn't stop laughing at whatever was so funny, his head felt like it was spinning.

Soon Yaan, Ren, and Rana left the shrine.

A party composed of a human, something not human, and an elf began walking toward the Ancient ruin.

"Here it is!"

How much time had passed?

Along with Rana's voice as she arrived at the ruin after running up the steep slope as if it were a playground, Yaan looked up at the massive door before him.

"Since the Creators lived in a house like this, they must have been huge! Right?"

"Even if you ask me, I don't kno-"

"Riiight~?"

"Yes."

Don't get swayed. This isn't someone you can deal with using logic.

Thinking so, Yaan decided to just watch what Rana was doing.

Soon he saw Rana take something from her pocket and slowly walk toward the door. In one hand she held a sharp knife made of obsidian.

And then.

"Wait, what are you doing-?"

Shhk!

Extending her arm from her colorful, vibrant clothes, Rana immediately slashed her own arm with the knife.

Drop by drop, blood flowing from a wound the size of an index finger began to stain the ground in front of the ruin's door.

"That child's blood. That's the Key."

"The key to open the Creator's ruin is an elf's blood?"

"Not an elf's blood. That child's blood."

As she spoke, a deep voice came from the door that had absorbed Rana's blood.

[Genetic information recognized. Test subject number 40923. Facility gate opening.]

Rumble...

The massive door slowly opened.

With blood dripping from one arm, Rana was bouncing up and down as if something delighted her, calling out to Yaan.

"The door's open! Come in!"

Rana went in first.

Following the path she had taken, a red bloodstain traced a line like a thread.

It seemed this wasn't a one or two day affair; on the facility floor, countless branches of her dried black blood were connected.

"That voice just now said test subject...."

"Right. More precisely, an elf carrying the genetic information of a test subject."

While speaking, Yaan and Ren moved to the central area where Rana was waiting.

"Hee-hee! Rana came in first!"

"Before that, wait a moment."

Saying so, Yaan looked at Rana's arm that was bleeding.

Besides the wound that was bleeding now, her arm was already carved with thousands of scars like tree rings.

"Do you do this every day?"

"Yeah! Since the shaman doesn't farm or hunt, she has to shed blood like this! That's what Grandma said!"

"Is that so."

Elf customs. A primitive tribe-having one or two barbaric practices wasn't surprising.

If this is truly the key to open the ruin's door, it won't disappear.

Normally, Yaan would have said nothing here and set off to find Glaepnir's weapon.

But...

'Look at this, Yaan! Mom earned money again! Did I do well?'

A bright smiling face.

A money pouch held carefully in both hands.

And her arms full of knife cuts and needle marks...

"...Shit."

Muttering softly, Yaan grabbed Rana's hand.

"Huh? What are you doing, mister?"

"Stay still. It must hurt, doesn't it?"

"It hurt at first, but I'm used to it now! If I cut with this, it doesn't hurt!"

"What's so great about getting used to it!"

Yaan's sudden shout burst out.

Rana, lost for words for a moment, soon began to sniffle.

Yaan himself seemed surprised by his own voice, frozen for a moment before collecting himself and pulling Rana toward him.

"I'm sorry."

"D-Did mister get angry...?"

"...I'm not angry. Give me your arm."

Saying so, Yaan tore the inner lining from his uniform to make a bandage.

Perhaps startled by the sudden shout, Rana, now completely stiff, silently allowed Yaan to wrap her arm.

"It won't bleed anymore now."

Rana looked at the bandage wrapped around her arm for a while.

It seemed like it was the first time she had ever seen a bandage in her life.

"Facility scan complete. There's only one large-caliber rifle in the deep section. Even that only has two bullets."

"Still better than nothing."

After seating Rana-who kept staring at her arm-and giving her combat rations' candy and snacks to quiet her down, Yaan looked around the facility, but with no knowledge of Ancient facilities, everything looked the same.

Realizing that without Ren he wouldn't have been able to do anything, Yaan quietly cradled his head.

'No matter how short on time I was, I was too hasty.'

Thinking so, after receiving the weapon's location from Ren, Yaan sighed and returned to where Rana was waiting.

Rana, who had been waiting while nibbling on the cracker Yaan gave her, approached him hesitantly.

"Mister, did Rana do something wrong?"

"It's nothing like that."

Saying so, Yaan turned his body and began walking out of the ruin.

The atmosphere was quiet, a stark contrast to when they arrived.

Seeing Rana, completely downcast perhaps because of his earlier shout, Yaan sighed and spoke.

"I'm really not angry."

"But you shouted."

"...I was surprised."

Hearing that, perhaps some of her unease faded, Rana approached Yaan's side.

Noticing her approach, Ren quietly stepped aside.

"...Hand. May I hold it?"

"Do as you please."

Answering Rana's quiet question, Yaan. Slowly, Rana took Yaan's hand and began leading them toward the village.