228

I gathered the documents scattered across the floor.

They were in good condition, but they were still two hundred years old.

I did not know what might damage them, so I picked them up carefully and cautiously.

There were still some I had not read, so I kept reading while clinging to the hope that there might be some kind of clue among them.

If a monster with that level of strength rampaged indiscriminately… when I thought about that, I could only imagine a future of destruction.

Naturally, the Council-State would be included in that, and even if not, once the major showed himself, the one likely to be dragged out to deal with him would be Rachel, who at least had a track record.

Even if he chose to live in this era as a soldier of the Council-State, as long as there was a high possibility that she would be the first victim when he lost his reason, I could not simply do nothing.

(Should I just tell him everything and hope for the major’s conscience…)

For an instant, a plan far too convenient for me crossed my mind.

I would survive, but I would tell the major, “You’re dangerous, so please die.” As if I could say something like that.

Even if I explained the Nemesis Code and had him let me eat a part of him, what awaited me would be a future where I fought the ultimate lifeform after he became a monster.

Either way, unless I eliminated the major, my future would not change.

Just as I gnashed my teeth at the conclusion that would not budge, I found a passage that caught my attention among the documents I turned over.

“Is this… the major’s career history?”

The first thing I thought when I began reading was, “What is this elite?”

Looking at his military academy results, he had never lost a mock battle.

In classroom studies, he was third from the top.

Though he was not the top graduate, there was no room to doubt his ability. He was exactly the picture of an excellent soldier.

On top of that, the remarks column clearly stated, “An excellent talent with patriotism,” and I even learned that the higher-ups had argued over what position to place him in later.

Because he was such an outstanding person, every department seemed to have wanted him, but… for some reason, the major had gone to the front lines.

Apparently, this had been his own wish, and looking at his war record, he had never lost in the fighting against Canaan that had begun with skirmishes.

Well, considering the difference in military power between the Empire and the Kingdom at the time, that result was natural, but the “no casualties” part written here gave a glimpse of his serious personality.

Thinking back to that time, there were many battlefields where equipment performance alone could settle everything, and against the background that many people treated those from other nations as uncivilized, it apparently was not rare for casualties to occur because of commanders who cut corners.

This was before things developed into a great war involving the surrounding nations, but I remembered hearing on the news that the long continuation of skirmishes had made the response sloppy.

The one who rose up to do something about that situation was Major Estorque… or rather, he had apparently been a lieutenant at the time.

Then, when the situation developed into war, he was the first to detect the Kingdom of Canaan army’s initial movement, and the plan to strike at a moment when vigilance had weakened due to nothing but skirmishes failed because of the lieutenant’s actions.

For this achievement, he became a captain, and after some time, when the battlefield shifted west, he moved to the front against the Republic.

There, he clashed with the spirit sword—the old Sword Saint in his prime—and his unit was annihilated.

He gathered other units that had likewise been destroyed, and while withdrawing, he was injured while taking on the pursuit by the Republic army.

That was the major’s broad military history.

After that, learning that returning to the front was hopeless, he found genetic modification technology on his own and chose the path of becoming a test subject himself.

While hoping for the technology’s development, it was written that he had apparently gotten into some kind of conflict with the higher-ups while gathering test subjects… though the details were not written, I could only interpret it as a falling-out between the major, who valued the field, and headquarters.

In other words, perhaps the major, an excellent field-oriented elite, had spoken his mind too much to the higher-ups, and as a result, they abandoned him and let him become a test subject for the Ultimate Lifeform Project while keeping the Nemesis Code inside him.

“What am I supposed to do…?”

If it had been something like, “He was an excellent soldier, but he was actually doing terrible things behind the scenes,” then I probably would not have needed to agonize over it.

But in reality, despite having a secure position promised to him, he had gone to the front without hesitation in order to save even a few more soldiers’ lives, and as a result, he had been wounded and sent to the rear.

Furthermore, he had refused to accept that and had reached for the uncertain technology of genetic modification in order to return to the front. He was an officer candidate like that.

“He really is the very picture of an Imperial soldier.”

Because he was excellent, they could not treat him carelessly, but the higher-ups probably had their own reasons for being unable to keep accepting his opinions. Even so, this was too unrewarded.

(Don’t dump something like this on an ordinary person with nothing but this unreliable head!)

I knew it was my fault for reading it.

I now remembered being told, “Even if you learn the details, it will only slow the finger that pulls the trigger.”

The correctness of the words I had heard during my trainee days now sank deeply into me.

From the way he had treated me, I also knew he was the kind of superior officer who would not treat even a common soldier carelessly, which made my head hurt even more.

Even though I could not even think of a countermeasure, all I kept receiving was information that seemed likely to dull my resolve.

“And the cause of his injury was protecting his subordinates and all… Why is it all information like this?”

I continued reading the documents while making strange cries over something I could do nothing about, but no information came out that would help counter that combat ability I was searching for.

I finished reading the rest in a cursory manner, decided that the documents on hand did not contain the information I wanted, and began rummaging through the document room again.

However, although the materials I pulled out contained information on the Ultimate Lifeform Project, nowhere were any weaknesses or defects recorded, and several binders and bundles of paper piled up beside me.

How much time had passed?

A massive amount of material lay scattered about, as if I had dragged everything in the room outside.

I felt like I had spent an entire day just reading through all of them.

“There isn’t enough time. If only I had more people…”

I closed another binder and muttered that.

At that moment, I repeated my own words in my head.

(There’s no time. If I had people…)

People—yes, perhaps this had never been a problem I could solve by myself in the first place.

If so, who should I ask for cooperation?

(Who? That’s obvious.)

If they were only half-strong, increasing their numbers would be meaningless.

Even I had been no match for him.

They would be meaningless unless they were elites among elites.

But I did have an idea.

“If I remember correctly… of the three spirit weapons, the sword and bow have wielders.”

And I knew the location of another sword.

Me and three spirit-weapon holders.

If that was the case, might there be a chance of victory?

I would not consider the possibility of surviving as a result.

What they would do to me after I devoured the major would be up to them, but I had already resolved myself to die from the beginning.

There was a possibility that the end I had once decided on could be overturned.

“That’s enough. But for that…”

I might need to tell them everything.

The problem was how much of it they would believe.

And even if they believed me, there was also the possibility that I would be killed on the spot.

I knew that the hatred between the Empire and the Republic still continued.

The elves were the ones still alive who knew that time, and those like me, who had crossed the era while still asleep, also knew that war well.

Even I, who had never gone into actual combat, could feel how great its impact had been.

How much would someone who had witnessed a comrade who should have been right beside them fall to Imperial bullets trust my words?

I thought in silence for a while.

How could I persuade the elves?

Who would believe me if I preached that this was “a crisis for the world”?

(If I abandon the possibility of my own survival, then I should reveal that the Forest’s Nightmare was a test subject from the Chimera Project and emphasize the threat.)

Naturally, if I did that, there was no way they would not eliminate me, the developed version of that. At best, it would end with mutual destruction against the major.

To begin with, they had already seen the major, who looked identical to me apart from color and size.

Even if I claimed we were unrelated, there was no way that would pass, and depending on what the major said, even hiding the fact that I was an Imperial citizen would carry risks.

(Do I really have no choice but to tell them everything?)

It was fair to say my policy had been decided for the time being, but the means to carry it out lacked a decisive factor.

I even began to feel that using the spirit sword as a bargaining chip to get them to cooperate in subjugating the major might have a better chance.

But there was no doubt they would suspect the relationship between the major and me, so I could not do that either.

“No, seriously, what am I supposed to do?”

To persuade them with logic, I was lacking in various things, including trust, because of my actions up to this point.

Appealing to emotion would be unreasonable because of my origins.

Therefore, I felt I had no choice but to present benefits, but in that case, the elves’ benefit would be “the simultaneous elimination of me and the major, both of whom are threats.”

Do not hand a matter that might decide the fate of the world to an ordinary person like me, damn it—so thought the lizard-like creature, writhing around while making strange cries even in this emergency.

(…This is bad. My thoughts are leaning too far negative.)

I repeated deep breaths in order to reset myself once.

If that were enough to calm me down, I would not be struggling.

In the end, perhaps because my writhing had paid off, the emotion suppression function did its job.

Now that my head had cooled, what I needed to do was clear.

I once again forced my body into the document room.

Without information, I could do nothing.

Then all I could do was search every possible place exhaustively.

I would gather as much information as possible and secure even the slightest advantage from it.

That was the only thing I could do while waiting to heal completely.

“No, there’s one more thing.”

The area around the Imperial Capital had now turned into a desert.

I should think of an excuse for sending the major out without telling him that.