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It was fortunate that we managed to find one.

The problem was that the town ruins we found had almost completely lost their original form.

“With things looking like this, I don’t think we can expect much.”

Boobs Lady grumbled, and Tiny Chest Girl agreed with her.

Our current location was the ruins of a city positioned on the outer edge of the Imperial Capital’s crater, the blast center.

It had not turned into desert, but anywhere within range of the aftershock seemed to be in a hopeless state.

I had visited once to confirm it, so this possibility had been entirely conceivable, but with this, we had now looked around all the major cities we could stop by along the way.

We had also managed to find the town to the east.

However, its condition was far too terrible, and it had already been thoroughly looted, so we gave up exploring it early.

I stood on two legs, widened my field of vision, and looked into the distance once, but the two riding on my shoulders also shook their heads.

I spread out the map, confirmed our current position, and searched for the location of the market.

“…The central district. Hopeless, then.”

If the outer district was in this state, the center would be even worse.

The two bent forward as if folding their bodies to peer at the map.

Their clothes were already in awful condition, and the scenery visible from the corner of my eye was wonderful—not that. The problem was that being unable to replenish their clothing would interfere with countermeasures against the cold.

As far as I remembered, there were no large towns south of here.

That was because, thanks to the utter trash nation that violated the ceasefire treaty and carried out thorough destruction and looting, the eastern side of the Imperial Capital’s southern region had been completely converted into military facilities and related equipment.

Just remembering it made me angry, but my emotion-suppression function restrained it.

As always, it was a hard worker.

“There are no towns south of here. There should be farming villages, but it would be fair to say that securing supplies in good condition is hopeless.”

I turned the map page and traced my finger around the relevant area, prompting the two on my shoulders to start discussing.

Then they pointed at a mark on the map and asked what it was.

“That is a military-related facility. The Old Empire moved south and secured territory. Naturally, if it was a military facility along that route, there is no way supplies would remain.”

“Which means all we can do is pray these clothes last until Furon, huh.”

Boobs Lady said that and lightly pulled at her collar.

Since we were almost at our destination, I would soon have to say farewell to those breasts as well.

As if committing them to memory, I gazed at them from the corner of my eye while searching for a road or railway continuing south.

Running along a paved trace would let me move faster than cutting straight through the forest.

Using the map as a guide, I found a large road heading south and was running along it when I passed a private car and slammed on the brakes.

The two instinctively grabbed my head and avoided being thrown off, but I accepted their complaints without protest.

While I was at it, I also welcomed Boobs Lady’s breasts, which had popped out and pressed against me.

While being slapped from both sides, I broke the car door and pulled out one box.

“What’s that?”

The two voices overlapped, probably saying something like that.

When I opened it, the contents were exactly what I had expected.

“Tools.”

Yes. I had stopped because this toolbox had entered my sight.

I had remembered wanting one for some reason during my student days, and I had instinctively picked it up.

If my memory was correct, this should have been a fairly expensive tool set, so the quality should be high.

For the time being, when I explained, “They are Old Imperial tools, so they have value,” the two forgave me for the sudden braking with, “In that case, fine.”

Rena closed the box, quickly stored it in the bag for sellable goods, and shouldered it again.

We had planned to recover anything that seemed valuable as we went, so I had no complaint.

I began running again along the road ruins overtaken by greenery.

In the end, I could not bring myself to say that I had suddenly stopped because I personally wanted it.

Dawn broke.

As expected, we had ended up sleeping outdoors, but even if that continued, active hunters would not find it painful. When they woke up, I handed them a wet towel.

While watching the two take it and wipe their faces in turn, I dealt with the extinguished campfire.

I poured drinking water into a cup and checked how much remained.

Even if we conserved it, lasting another two days would be the best we could expect.

There was enough for today’s use, so it could be said that we had made it in time.

Yesterday, I had run faster than usual and continued until late at night.

Therefore, I expected that we could cross the border of the Furon Council-State today.

When I told them that, they both gave the same impression, saying, “As expected, having nothing but meat like this has been rough.”

I also sometimes wanted to eat something different, so I understood that feeling well.

We finished the breakfast meat, cleaned up, and ran again today.

Other than the event where Boobs Lady’s clothes lost even more buttons as they shook on my shoulder, forcing her to use a towel tied below her chest as a substitute belt to hide her chest, nothing in particular happened as we proceeded south while leaning slightly west.

The road ruins conveniently matched our direction of travel, and we were able to leave the forest before sunset.

The two on my shoulders looked out over the plains dyed red by the evening sun and let out relieved breaths.

“――”

The same words Diera said were then repeated from Rena’s mouth.

They were probably saying something like, “We finally arrived.”

If I had been alone, it would have been a distance I could travel in one or two days, but perhaps because we had taken a detour to search the eastern town ruins, it had taken six days.

All that remained was to find a town, but from here on, we were completely groping in the dark.

I put the now-useless map into my backpack, stood up, and had the two look around.

However, they found nothing, so I said, “In that case,” lowered Rena from my shoulder, placed Boobs Lady on my hand, and lifted her up.

“Can you see anything?”

Even when I looked up and asked that, her answer was “Nothing,” so I tried standing on tiptoe, but the result did not change.

It was pathetic that I had no result even though I could clearly see up her skirt.

Having no choice, I lowered Boobs Lady too, moved some distance away from the two, and jumped vertically.

I landed with a thud and pointed west-southwest.

“Do that from the start.”

Boobs Lady’s voice was a little cold, but perhaps she was bad with heights?

And so, I put the two on my shoulders and began running again.

Considering the time and distance, dinner could wait until we reached the town.

As I ran while keeping safe driving in mind so that no accident would happen at the very end, the surroundings began to grow dark.

We had gotten close enough that the town looked small, but once the sun set, the gate should close.

So I proposed sending the two there and parting ways.

“No. From Furon’s perspective, we’re suspicious people who came from the northern forest. Depending on the quality of their soldiers, there’s a risk they’ll make us disappear as if nothing happened. Just once is fine, so I want you to show yourself at the negotiation.”

As a former Imperial soldier, I wanted to say that such a worry was unnecessary, but the country’s name itself had changed over two hundred years, so I could not guarantee it.

I could also understand this concern, so I accepted Boobs Lady’s request.

The two had come this far in the form of asylum seekers from Seizeria, so if they used a method like slipping in from another direction, it might invite unnecessary suspicion.

I was also taking into account, just in case, the possibility that if information about me flowed to the upper ranks of the Council-State, someone who knew about the Genetically Enhanced Soldier Project might notice me. I wanted to show that I was in a state where I could respond rationally.

That part was almost entirely a “just in case.”

If it went well, I could simply think of myself as lucky.

And so, we were running straight toward the town, but… since it had gotten quite dark, I asked my passengers for light.

If they announced our approach from a certain distance, it should make us seem less hostile.

As we approached the town, I could see that things had become somewhat busy atop the defensive wall.

Specifically, lights were flickering frequently, and I could see soldiers hurrying about restlessly.

This was because I could see in the darkness and was using telescopic vision; to the two on my shoulders, it probably only looked like they were exchanging something using light.

In addition, my ears had faintly confirmed that someone was raising a loud voice.

I was confident that I could make it out if we got a little closer, but at present I could only tell that someone was shouting something.

“It really is reassuring to hear my native language,” I thought, running leisurely while watching the commotion atop the defensive wall.

“I’m telling you, it’s an unidentified monster! And two humans! Both women. Yes, women! They’re riding the monster!”

I had finally made out what they were saying, but apparently I was being treated as an unidentified monster.

“Has information not been shared?” I worried, but thinking about it, my existence had a bit too much impact to be known all the way down to the lowest ranks.

I gave up on that, deciding it could not be helped, and once we had gotten somewhat closer, I slowed down and walked slowly.

When we reached a point just outside of gun range, I stopped.

I could see the soldiers on the defensive wall lined up in shooting stances, and if I used the Type Thirty-Six Rifle as a reference, this area was probably the limit.

I stopped and switched to bipedal walking mode, then lowered the two from my shoulders.

I met eyes with Boobs Lady, who could speak a little Furon language, and nodded. Judging that this was the scene where she should explain our objective, Boobs Lady opened her mouth.

“We wish to enter your country!”

She spoke loudly in the Furon language, but it was a bit stiff.

As expected, it seemed to be a language she was unused to, and I felt her speech was halting.

Seeing the soldiers on the defensive wall stir noisily, I decided it was the native speaker’s turn and allowed myself to step forward.

“I am a new species of monster called Argos. By request, I am assisting the asylum of a mage from Seizeria. In regard to this matter, we request either a meeting with a responsible person who has discretion over it or appropriate measures.”

Immediately after I said that, the top of the defensive wall fell into a state of panic.

What is going on? I wondered, tilting my head, only for Boobs Lady to strike my head with a crisp smack.

“Of course they’d be shocked if a monster suddenly spoke that fluently!”

It was unexpected that the situation would head in a bad direction.

I wanted to complain that the commander should get their act together, but it seemed that no such person was visible on top of the defensive wall.

Were they not being too careless because they thought enemies would not come?

At this rate, even if I called out to the soldiers on the defensive wall from here, the confusion would not settle.

Then what should I do? I thought, and first judged that we needed to make them regain their calm.

However, if speaking would have the opposite effect… what I needed was an impact strong enough to overturn the fact that I had spoken.

As the proverb said, “Seeing is believing,” I decided to have them look rather than rely on words.

I slowly placed Boobs Lady on my palm and held her up high so the soldiers could see her.

Understanding my intent from that movement, Boobs Lady used additional light magic, making herself easier for the soldiers on the defensive wall to see.

At the moment when Boobs Lady’s voice, calling out while waving both hands, gathered the gazes of the soldiers on the defensive wall—just as she opened her mouth to convey our objective once more, my other hand forcefully pulled on her clothes.

The clothes tore, and her breasts sprang out.

The commotion stopped instantly, as if time had frozen, and a voiceless sound came from atop my hand.

With this, the situation had been reset.

The soldiers should be smiling at this solution too.

They would surely be happy to prepare themselves to listen.

It was truly a perfect move—right after I praised myself like that, the toe of her pump stabbed into my face.