Those Who Were Allowed To Die

Having eliminated the guards at the broken entrance, they expected the remaining enemies to be even fewer. The party moved straight inward, passed another stretch of corridor, and pressed deeper.

Hurrying along, they finally reached the end of the passage. The sight before them made them halt. It was a vast space. A stone bridge stretched out, and beneath it yawned a chasm.

Shaken back to alertness, they kept their rifles raised, scanning the area for any surviving foes. Just as they thought the enemy must be here—bang! A shot cracked out. One agent dropped with a stifled cry.

Everyone returned fire toward the source of the shot. After that, no more bullets came. The wounded agent had to be carried back toward the corridor they’d come from. Blood poured out—likely a mortal wound. Then a voice rang out.

“Who are you people?!”

It was the same voice demanding their identity. Looking toward the source, they saw someone briefly peek out from behind a pillar across the stone bridge—then duck back.

Was he alone? If so, the advantage was theirs. The ambush had caught them at first, but now, with multiple barrels trained on the pillar, he could not expose himself to shoot again.

In that tense standoff, the other side called out again.

“Let’s handle this the easy way!”

“You open fire and then ask for easy? Surrender quietly! We’ll guarantee your lives!”

“Heh, my life means nothing to me!”

“Then why talk at all?”

They were far enough apart that they had to shout. With a ringing voice came a bitter laugh from the other side.

“At this rate our mission will fail!”

“Because it’s the Emperor’s order, is that it?!”

“…How do you know that?! Who are you people, really?!”

“We can’t tell you!”

“So another faction found this place besides us—are you also from ‘there’?!”

“……”

“No answer? Then I’m right. Impressive. You found this place as we did. I don’t know your aim, but the Empire will hunt you down and won’t let this go!”

What was this “there”? Hanseuran, who had withheld answers on purpose, tried to draw out more information. It hinted that some force besides the Magnia Empire was also searching for such ruins.

‘I need more intel. What is that “place,” and why do they want ancient ruins?’

Multiple groups seemed to be seeking ruins like this. Whatever lay here was valuable enough to spark greed. That only strengthened his resolve that the Polia Kingdom must claim it.

‘We must bring the treasures to His Majesty.’

Deciding the final victor in this unintended race must be themselves, Hanseuran gathered his thoughts and spoke again.

“We don’t fear the Empire. If we did, we’d never have made it here. And if you’re desperate to secure the prize, that means your orders hinge on success. So—you must secure the treasure, right?”

“…What are you getting at?!”

“Let’s bargain. We can split the treasure, can’t we?”

“Split the treasure? Then who are you really? You’re not from that place! Damn it. Folks not from there found this site too? How far has our information leaked?!”

Hanseuran blinked at the unexpected outburst. Was suggesting a split the wrong move? He glanced at Princess Adrina; she shook her head, equally thrown by the man’s words.

‘So the “treasure” isn’t something you can divide? I handed him an opening.’

He’d spoken on the basis of Adrina’s assumptions, but apparently he’d buttoned the first wrong. Still, it changed little—the enemy was one, they were many.

As he exchanged hand signals with nearby agents, a harsh warning rang out, sensing the shift.

“Don’t you dare move!”

“That’s our line!”

“There’s only one bridge across. You’ll never get over here!”

“How long do you think you can hole up there? You look alone. Think you can hold out?”

“I’ll hold to the end!”

“To the end, huh? Sounds like you rigged explosives.”

“Damn! Quick on the uptake, aren’t you!”

So they still had charges—the same kind used to blast the entrance—and had planted them on the bridge. Good thing they hadn’t tried to cross first; they might have lost many men. Hanseuran also realized it would be harder to get across.

‘Should we snipe him? But from the way he acts, he won’t expose himself easily. I should’ve killed him the instant he peeked out.’

“Then I’ll take as many of you as I can with me!”

The raw edge in his voice said he was cornered. Perhaps even if he died, the explosives would still go off. They had to try something—if he’d never surrender, they had to force a crossing or kill him.

“Once more—I’m counting on you.”

He looked to the agent whose forearm still bore the bolt. Princess Adrina, alarmed—again?—tried to stop him.

“You’re sending him again? He’s already badly hurt!”

“That’s why I’m sending him.”

“He won’t survive this time!”

“Maybe not. But we must keep sending men. We need results—either cross that bridge or kill the man guarding it.”

They couldn’t sit and wait. To Adrina, it felt too cruel—like ordering a sacrifice.

“Why are you so ruthless?!”

“Because that’s what we are. We’re not people who can afford to have mercy.”

Hanseuran, a Mauter agent himself, was not entirely devoid of feeling, but he was a hardened man. Seeing this, Adrina again felt how little she had known of the world.

“But…”

“It’s fine. He won’t go alone.”

They would send two this time. Hanseuran nodded at another agent, who stepped forward. The “plan” was simple: run the bridge.

It was a death order, yet the two agents obeyed without a word and sprinted. The rest kept their sights glued to the pillar, ready to kill any glimpse of the enemy.

The two tore across the bridge at full tilt. The man behind the pillar tried to lean out, but bullets hammered the stone, pinning him in place.

“Madmen!”

He hadn’t imagined they would try that. He decided to blow the charges now. The setup would trigger on his death anyway, but he had also wired a manual switch. He snatched up a small wooden box at his feet.

A cord ran along the floor; pulling the lever would send an electrical signal and detonate. “For the Emperor,” he muttered, and jammed the lever down. A breath of silence—then KWA-BOOM.

The stone bridge was torn apart, collapsing in the blast. Watching it fall, the man felt a bitter pang. With the bridge gone, his way back was gone. Even if he held out, he would starve.

‘Even rationing jerky and water, I won’t last a week.’

He shook his head. The mission had failed. Given how crucial this site was, it was a grievous loss. Then—tap, tap.

‘Footsteps?’

He’d destroyed the bridge—how could there be footsteps? Instinctively he tightened his grip on his pistol and swung the muzzle. But from the side, with the soft rustle of motion, a hand clamped around his throat.

“Grk—?!”

He kicked hard, a blow that would drop any trained soldier with a scream. The other didn’t even flinch.

He snapped the pistol up and fired point-blank—bang, bang, bang! The man twisted his head and slipped the rounds. Shock flooded him. Dodging shots at that range? That was something only an Expert could do.

‘What are these people…?’

Before he could finish the thought, a second hand from behind seized his head. Crunch—bones shifted. His neck turned. In his inverted vision he saw a pair of emotionless eyes looking down. On the forearm—was that a fine handkerchief?

Thud.

He collapsed. The two agents had done it. Both had survived the blast, singed but mobile—an astonishing outcome.

“What are they really?”

Princess Adrina felt she kept asking that here. She had seen it: when the bridge blew and fell, the two had bounded across on the collapsing debris. Their movement was like those she had heard of.

“It’s classified.”

Even Hanseuran didn’t know the details. In any case, the enemy was down. The problem now was how to cross the gap. They would have to rig lines and find any possible way over.

Marin Archipelago, northwestern waters.

“Smells wonderful.”

Ian savored the coffee’s aroma as it rose into his nose. He sat at a table and chairs set out on the flight deck, taking a break.

The results of the maneuver drills were quite satisfying. One fighter had flipped on landing, but aside from that, everything had gone smoothly.

“Mardin—and Admiral Derian—have some coffee.”

He wasn’t alone. Admiral Derian of the 10th Fleet (Rabi-ro, rear admiral) was with him. Mardin still stood behind Ian in his role as aide, and Ian gestured for him to rest.

“Relax a little, will you?”

“I’m comfortable like this, Your Majesty.”

“Mardin will always be Mardin, haha.”

Admiral Derian raised his cup with a grin; Ian let it go and smiled.

“Sometimes it makes me feel guilty, the way he dotes on me.”

“He’s always been that way. Hard to change him now. But it’s reassuring, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is.”

At nearly two meters tall and always by his side, Mardin was a solid presence. His gentle-looking face was the only “flaw,” but no one dared gossip: as the king’s aide, he wielded considerable authority.

“I only hope they’re finding the place properly.”

“They’ll do fine. I assigned some of my own—risk should be low.”

“I caught a glimpse of some of them. The atmosphere around those men was no joke.”

Derian’s curiosity was piqued. Among those heading to the ancient site were strange figures, men his instincts marked as dangerous. He wondered how His Majesty had trained such people.

“Ah—those ones. They’re… a special project.”

In truth, they were beings he had cultivated by pouring all his power into them. Everything about them was experimental—even their minds. Their original status? Death-row inmates—men it was permissible to let die.

Rapists and murderers, arsonists, traffickers, drug dealers—hard-core criminals whose minds had been remade, torn apart and rebuilt into tools. In short, men who were allowed to die.

‘Even so, he would beat them for sure, wouldn’t he?’

He thought of Lacen, the man who had once guarded Emperor Jedic of the Magnia Empire—likely an Expert. Against him, these men would lose. After all, they were creations whose bodies had been forced to the limit by mental manipulation.

‘Still, being able to produce them in decent numbers is an advantage.’

Not in vast quantities, but enough to field a unit—highly useful tools. They would serve him, and the Polia Kingdom, until the moment they died.