How to Survive on the Armored Front

Chapter 30

A frontline base in the rain.

Because the unit that had set out to explore the ruins returned with the elf tribesmen, soldiers in rain capes bustled back and forth even in the middle of the night.

"Clear the barracks from number three to twelve! Take the children in first!"

"Watch those kids like hawks! If anything happens, tell them they'll be summarily executed on the spot! By His Highness's special order!"

While the ordinary soldiers, dispatched ahead of the regular reinforcements, guided the elf residents who had fled the village to the temporary quarters, the Greyhounds were sitting around in their exclusive armory, stripping off their rain-soaked gear and clothes.

"Ugh~! If every mission is like this, my body won't last. Damn it!"

"Hey! Who was the guy who shot that elf knight earlier?! The deputy commander wants his name!"

"Me!"

"It was me!"

"I did it!"

"I should've kept my mouth shut-bunch of lunatics."

The soldiers were letting off steam in a cheerful mood, but the expression on Dandel's face as he watched them was far from pleasant.

"One casualty. Small loss for the enemy, but still..."

The fact that someone had died on their very first mission weighed heavily on his heart.

Yet, seeing his lively squadmates, Dandel composed himself and headed for Cain's office to report.

"The company commander's being carried in!"

"Make way, you bastards, make way!"

When the squad cleared a path, Yan appeared on the stretcher carried by the medics.

Either because of the sedative Ren had given him, Yan lay limp and lifeless-at a glance he could have been mistaken for a corpse.

"Sir, are you wounded? You're covered in blood."

"No. The maintenance squad leader said it isn't anything serious."

"Then that blood isn't his..."

"What the hell has our commander been doing...?"

Just when rumors that would further ruin Yan's already fearsome reputation began to spread, a girl in pure white approached Yan as the medics led him to his private room.

"The Key. What happened?"

"Dead."

"I see."

Nothing more was said.

No scolding, no words of comfort-just a brief acknowledgement.

Yet, for some reason, that single word felt like something stuck in Yan's chest finally settling back into place.

"Are there more Keys in other villages or ruins?"

"Yes. More than you think."

Following the lockdown procedure, the preservation facility that had sunk into the earth took Rana's corpse with it and became her tomb.

Without even wiping the blood of Rana that still clung to one cheek, Yan simply lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

"She coughed. Looked like she had some chronic illness."

"It's because of the mana she carried."

"Mana?"

When he asked, Ren's lips parted again.

"The nanomachines inherited by the test subject and the unique wavelength of her special mana repel each other, destroying the immune system."

"So her lifespan was short from the start?"

"The denser the mana, the shorter the life. Even more so for an elf's body."

Her life had already been half a death sentence.

Even trying to brush it aside didn't work; Yan raised one hand to cover his face.

"Do you regret it?"

"Regret what?"

"The facility. Going in and taking the weapon."

Yan glanced at Ren, then spoke.

"Without it we'd have been tormented by those bastards for another month. Turned out fine."

"If you think that way, throw away what's in your left hand."

With those words Ren stood up, turned, and left.

Yan pulled his left hand from under the blanket. In it was the scrap of cloth he had once given Rana.

"...Shit."

Muttering it like a curse under his breath, Yan lay back on the bed and forced himself to sleep.

***

"Should I be glad it was found early, or should I be mortified?"

Dawn came again to the frontier frontline base, as always.

Prince Klaus pressed his face into one hand as he took Yan's report, delivered just one day after their return.

"I approached him because he was the best mediator in the area, but to think he was a pawn of Alfraia. I thought the rumors that I'm an incompetent prince were just a mask... but now I can't even use that excuse."

"He'd been in hiding for decades. Anyone could have..."

"That's no excuse, Cain."

Klaus clenched his fist, blaming himself.

He had almost driven the entire newly formed company into a death trap.

With a heavy heart Klaus nodded, then addressed Yan, who stood motionless before him.

"Effective immediately, full operational command of the Greyhound Company is transferred to you, its commander. Never again will my people meddle in unit affairs."

"Your Highness, that's unnecessary."

"A soldier died because I recommended someone. If I do less than this, I fail my duty as royalty."

With those words, Klaus gave a bitter smile at Yan's expressionless face.

Soon, looking at the drawing and text on the last page of the report, Klaus turned to Cain.

"Still, these are astounding results. Alone against five colossi, you destroyed four and captured one."

"You're too kind, Your Highness."

"No, no need for modesty. Capturing a new model is beyond anything I imagined."

The Karyel Frame, sniped from outside, had been moved to the maintenance yard by the elf tribesmen who could handle mana.

The significance was that this time the captured Frame was not the old Unit Four but the new Unit Six Colossus.

"This Frame will be sent to my territory after field trials for reverse-engineering. Cain, for the tribesmen..."

"You want them compensated generously, I assume?"

"You know me too well."

Seeing the prince bare his white teeth in a grin, Cain could only give a wry smile.

"Any other points to report?"

"None, Your Highness. Nothing unusual."

"Good. Then we can focus on reinforcing the frontlines for now."

Three days had passed since Prince Klaus and his dig team arrived. While the Greyhounds carried out missions in the forest, the frontier had been turned into a fortress, unrecognizable from before.

"Now only one worry remains."

"Rael."

According to the report, Rael could activate the Ancient relic by some means.

If he ever laid hands on the relic inside the ruins, the battlefield-already chaotic-would face a new variable.

In the worst case, they might have to watch the birth of a new dynasty, just as he'd said.

"Very well. From this moment the Greyhound Company is to locate the half-elf Rael. Capture is preferred, but you may kill if necessary."

The moment the long-awaited order came, Yan snapped to attention.

"Lieutenant Yan Verkut, I accept Your Highness's command."

Yan stepped out of the prince's office.

Everywhere he looked, engineers hauled cement to build bunkers.

Sss-

Yan sat on a hill overlooking the construction at the frontlines.

Through the cigarette smoke, the once-fierce battlefield now looked as though it had never seen war; blades of green grass sprouted one by one.

"It's been nearly a month since the last battle on this front."

A voice from behind made him rise.

"Haha, didn't mean to disturb you."

It was Cain who had appeared behind him.

"Then, with your permission, I'll sit back down."

Saying that to his superior, Yan plopped back down shamelessly. Watching him, Cain chuckled and stood beside him, gazing out over the battlefield.

"The colossus you captured this time. It looks like I'll be the one using it, you see."

"Is that so."

It was a soulless answer, but Cain didn't mind and kept talking.

"Soon my comrades from the main house will arrive, so you can rest for a while. You've hardly had a break this past month, have you?"

"I managed well enough."

"Haha, I appreciate you saying that. So, about the tuning-"

"Shall we conduct a mock battle?"

While Yan and Cain were having this and that conversation, a hurried messenger's shout came from the office.

"Five allied colossi are heading to the frontline base! We've confirmed the Lorenz family seal!"

"Well, that's no gentleman."

As Cain spoke, the distinctive footsteps of the colossi began to be heard in the distance.

"...I suppose I'll have a little time for a smoke now."

Watching the battlefield grow sturdier day by day, Yan muttered that.

During the time Yan and his unit had bought, the frontier frontline base kept expanding.

***

A village in the Great Forest of Kerdan.

When the man clad in a brown hood appeared, the elves gathered one by one.

"Is it true? You say you can activate the Creator's relic?"

Smiling at those questions, he pushed back his hood.

Green hair glinting in the sunlight fluttered in the wind, exuding a mystical aura.

"Of course. Lead the way. I'll reclaim my property."

With that bold declaration, the village elves guided him to the ruins, their eyes full of doubt.

"Everyone, please wait a moment."

Saying so, he dismissed the elves and pulled a small knife from his pocket.

"Looking closely, isn't that a half-breed?"

"Shh. Be quiet! He could be the guest!"

"Still, even so..."

"Just let him not be the guest. I'll-"

Despite the glares of distrust pouring in from every corner, the green-haired half-elf kept smiling as he looked up at the sky.

Ssk!

After slicing his fingertip, he let a few drops of blood fall at the ruin entrance. The door, sealed for millennia, began to open with a metallic sound.

"Ooh!"

"It's opening! The ruins are opening!"

'Tsk. Not here either.'

Cheers burst out among the village elves.

"It's the guest! The guest has come to our village!"

"Today is a day of joy, so we must hold a feast. Never thought I'd live to see the guest!"

Sweeping his gaze over the celebrating elves, his smile deepened.

Success.

Now he would possess the noble blood of the Creator, not the detestable half-breed blood!

So thought the green-haired elf, Rael, sneering at the cheering village elves.

'Live like that forever. Worshipping a god you'll never reach, as the Creator's failed creation!'

"Everyone, would you lend me your ears a moment?"

With those words, Rael surveyed the elves.

The looks of trust and awe were unlike when he first arrived.

He forced down the nausea at their two-faced nature that flipped like the palm of a hand.

"I know how much you've suffered in the war between Alfraia and Vailsar."

Rael spoke with his back to the Creator's ruins.

With the ruins carried on his back-passed down for over a thousand years-his words now approached the Creator's divine voice.

"Follow me! I'll create a new world, one made just for you!"