[784] Alpha Fish (2)
Amy arrived at the parade ground from which the dormitory for female applicants could be seen.
Across the bars, the male applicants swarmed, but they were too far away to make out clearly.
'Do they train separately too? If so, I'm a little disappointed in the Valkyries.'
"Attention! The commander is entering!"
A hulking man whose face was marked with dozens of scarred lines like medals strode in, flanked by an instructor.
"Salute the commander!"
As the various national salutations rang out, a few applicants did not move.
Either way was fine.
Still, the commander of the Valkyrie recruit intake unit, Gomes, growled like a tiger.
"What a ragtag lot! Huh? A ragtag lot!"
Among the nearly one hundred women standing in rows, none showed obvious displeasure.
"From now on you will experience harsh gender discrimination! Because I'm a seriously awful sexist! There's only one reason: I'm a man!"
Gomes shoved his face up to the first applicant.
"Does that bother you? Huh? Answer me!"
"No!"
A clear, ringing voice answered.
"That's an automatic rejection! No pride at all, huh? What kind of war do you expect to fight, crawling in here like that?"
Before the first applicant could retort, Gomes moved on and forced the next woman into the spotlight.
"How about you? Does it bother you?"
"Yes! It bothers me!"
"Shut up! What are you going to do about it? I'm the commander, and you're a recruit! If you don't like it, you be the commander! Then you can discriminate against men to your heart's content! Got it!"
"Yes, sir!"
Gomes turned to the instructor.
"As you all know, this place is hell! And it'll be even worse for women! I'm a nasty male supremacist with severe anger management issues!"
He opened a box of recommendation letters, pulled out a stack of papers, and shook them at the applicants.
"You know what these are? Recommendation letters stamped with the king's seal. Of course I didn't read them! Is this a kindergarten? You hand me one of these and expect me to do what, huh?"
He ripped the papers apart above his head.
"Paper scraps are worthless! Do you know what demons are? People like me! When we see soft little things like you, we go crazy wanting to torment you! So either tear the demons to pieces or—!"
In the middle of his tirade, Gomes stopped and stared at someone with a baffled look.
"Hey, you."
At first no one reacted.
"You! Red hair!"
Amy turned her head and stepped forward when she realized he was pointing at her.
"Inductee Karmis Amy!"
After a long pause, Gomes asked, "…Who are you wearing makeup for?"
Amy was briefly taken aback, then straightened her chin.
"I'm not wearing makeup!"
"Oh? Really?"
Gomes came closer to inspect.
"Not wearing makeup, huh? That's incredible! The demons will go mad! Why did you come here—trying to seduce me with that face?"
"No!"
Fury flared in Gomes's eyes and he swung his fist, striking Amy across the face.
Amy fell to the ground and tried to make sense of what had happened, but her body moved before her mind did.
"I ask again! Are you trying to seduce me?"
Amy had come to become a general.
"No!"
Gomes's face twisted as he hit her harder than before.
"Get up!"
Amy sprang up like a roly‑poly toy.
"One last time! If you don't want to be the first eliminated, you'd better answer properly! Are you trying to seduce me?"
His shout teetered on the edge of madness.
"No!"
Gritting his teeth and squinting one eye, Gomes strode back to his place and barked,
"Listen well from now on! I demand only one thing of you: die! That's our job!"
Everyone tensed.
"Who in the world wants to die? That's precisely why we're needed! Soldiers get paid to die in place of others! Do your duty! Death is the most exalted thing!"
The hundred women had fought through brutal selection to reach this point; even their gazes were different from when they first arrived.
"That's it! Go to the dorms and pick up your supplies! After lunch, the induction ceremony will begin!"
Gomes gave his orders and headed toward the area where the male cadets were; an instructor followed and said,
"What do you think? I worried about applicants from other countries, but after reading the recommendations, we've got far better people than I expected."
"Don't make me laugh. War is the enemy. Those fresh-faced kids must've come here desperate to die."
At home Gomes was a doting husband and the father of two daughters.
"These are the future core resources of the Valkyries. Fighting demons is nothing like fighting humans. Train them mercilessly until they're crying blood. If you don't—"
A murderous glint flashed in Gomes's eyes.
"They'll be crying blood on the battlefield."
After the instructors left, the women finally relaxed and sighed.
"I thought maybe world armies would be different, but it's nothing special."
"Drill only gets you so far. The training they receive matters more."
Amy rubbed her stinging, swollen cheek and listened to the other applicants.
"I saw the Valkyrie recruitment notice. They were recruiting NCOs, officers, even generals. It's a great chance to learn under capable people."
There are no weaklings here, she thought, hardening her resolve. Someone touched her shoulder.
"Uh…!"
An unexpected face made Amy's eyes widen.
"Tess! You applied too?"
Tess of the Elajin family.
A friend of Rian's and, back home, one of the trio with Amy and Arin, she smiled brightly.
"Wow, Amy. You were really the center of attention on day one, huh?"
Amy forced a bitter smile.
"Yeah. Seems like I'm marked."
"That bastard's definitely a pervert. If he'd hit you one more time, I would've stepped in and smashed him."
That was exactly the kind of person Tess was.
It's okay. At least it was a punch. If it had been a slap, I would've smashed him too…
I'll get stronger.
If I rise high enough and become a general, I'll be able to meet Shirone without shame.
Tess felt Amy's calm determination and returned a warm smile.
"Right. Let's both pass and show them."
Realization struck Amy and she asked, "What about the swordsmanship academy? Why did you suddenly apply to the Valkyries?"
Tess's face darkened.
"My father died. He was defending the colony when the altar opened and seems to have been overwhelmed by a demon army."
Amy's world went dark.
"Oh…"
"It's okay. I'm not sad. Father only fulfilled his duty as an occupied territory commander. But demons are unforgivable. That's why I saw the notice and applied to be an NCO."
"NCO? Not an officer?"
With Tess's sword skill, she could've been an officer in the Valkyrie army.
'She wants to fight,' Amy thought. To avenge her father.
"Amy, are you applying for officer?"
"Yes. The Valkyrie magic corps doesn't recruit NCOs. Even as an officer the frontline assignments end up the same."
Magic specialties belong to special units, so they're smaller than the infantry. Promotion moves quickly, but even majors frequently get thrown into close combat.
"But…," Tess hesitated, "have you heard anything about Rian?"
"No. No contact at all. Even the Ozent family doesn't know. Has he contacted you?"
Tess answered with silence.
"How heartless. He could at least send a message."
The only person who might fill the gap left by her father was Rian, which made Tess's silence hurt even more.
"It's okay. He's that kind of guy. He's gotten stronger — wherever he is he's eating well and fighting fine."
Amy knew what it was like to have a boyfriend who couldn't read a woman's feelings.
"Hah! We don't need some stupid guy. You've got me now. If nights are lonely, just date me."
Tess hooked her arm around Amy and pressed close, making Amy go pale.
"Wait, what did you just say…?"
"Oh, don't be so shy. This is the military. We'll have to be self‑sufficient."
As Tess led her along, Amy asked nervously, "Tess, you're joking, right? Huh? This is a joke, right…?"
"Hohoho! I don't know! I don't know what I'll become!"
Among the still‑reserved applicants, Tess's laugh rang across the parade ground.
"Who's laughing so happily?"
A window in the command-and-control room opened and a general who had come in person for the induction ceremony looked down.
"Who are those girls?"
Ruda Garcia, the world's strongest fire mage.
She had stepped down as chairman of South Aymond's Magic Association and now served as commander of the 2nd Army of the Valkyrie Magic Corps.
"Who are they? Why are they so relaxed?"
"Major."
The duty officer hurried over, trying not to laugh as he flipped through his files after spotting the two women.
"Karmis Amy and Tess of the Elajin family. Their homeland is Tormia; they've known each other a long time. Also…"
The officer wiped his lip with his tongue.
"Intelligence says their lovers are Shirone Arian of the Ivory Tower's Five Great Stars and Rian, Knight of Maha."
Garcia's eyes went slightly unfocused.
"Knight of Maha? The one sweeping demons southward through the northwestern Kashan region?"
Rian's location was top‑secret.
"Yes. Valkyries offered him a general's post, but I understand he declined."
"Which of the two is the Five Great Star's lover?"
She owed Shirone a favor.
"The red‑haired one."
Garcia took Amy's face in her gaze.
"Compile everything on their training records, performance, and specialties and send it to me."
The duty officer snapped to attention and replied, "Yes, ma'am!"
* * *
What the Kotria Republic gained in exchange for handing over Exmachina was the full backing of the Church.
The Church struck the west of the Gustaf Empire with thirty percent of the Valkyrie forces fighting demons.
Faced with those numbers, the Balkan military's swagger faltered for a moment, and the Kotria Republic finally had room to breathe.
"It won't last long."
Minerva flew in a jet beside Shirone as they headed for Aganos.
"Even with the Eastern Jincheon Empire in the east, the Church in the west, and the Kotria Republic in the south all hitting at once, they only managed to stop expansion. The Balkan military does have some remarkable qualities."
"They were the ones who started a war against the world. Ultimately, removing Havitz is the quickest solution."
And now Shirone and Minerva had been told the first button had been pressed.
"…What sort of person would it be?"
Exmachina's team had found Alpha Fish.
"Whoever it is, they won't be sane."
Havitz loved atrocity, chaos, ignorance — every vile concept collected together. Anyone who truly loved him would be monstrous.
'Is it possible?'
Even Gustaf's Fourth had been drawn by the scent of their own kind, not by love.
"You came quickly. How's the altar?"
They reached the imperial castle by free pass over the walls, and Iruki was waiting at the gate.
"They were sealing it when we arrived. They said it was urgent. Has Alpha Fish arrived?"
"Yes. They're waiting inside a room."
"What kind of person is it?"
"That—"
Iruki's lips twitched, but he gave up explaining and turned into the castle.
"Let's go. See for yourself and judge."