Chapter 96: Chapter 96

"Huh, when did you...?"

"Wasn't me-ask the guy next to me."

When the wide-eyed boy asked Yaan, Yaan shrugged and pointed to Marek beside him.

"If you're going to lift stuff, work on your poker face. I could see you from way over there."

The boy, spitting curses, kept darting his eyes as he gauged Yaan and Marek's reactions.

Watching him for a moment, Marek glanced at Yaan and asked casually.

"We can't waste any more time, so..."

As he spoke, Yaan opened the boy's wallet, then froze mid-motion.

The boy, unsettled when his own wallet was opened, asked again; Yaan, face blank, finally closed the wallet as if it were of no importance and tossed it back.

Catching the flying wallet, the boy hurriedly opened it to check the contents.

"We didn't take anything. It's not like we're short on cash."

"Hmph-how am I supposed to believe that?!"

Grumbling at Marek's retort, the boy inspected the wallet this way and that, then, relieved, let out a sigh and tucked it back into his pocket.

"Oh, one more thing."

The boy had answered Marek easily, yet he stammered under Yaan's question.

Something about the atmosphere made him uneasy-something words couldn't explain.

'Still talking down to me till the end.'

Not caring what the boy thought, Yaan asked his question.

"Name? What's the point of knowing that!"

At the blunt demand, the boy bristled; Yaan shrugged, and Marek stepped in.

"Just thought you might need a hand-looked like times are tough."

From his pocket Marek pulled out a silver coin.

Currency accepted in Rubra-Vailsar.

The boy's eyes went round at the sight.

After Yaan nodded, Marek flicked the coin and handed the silver to the boy.

"Y-you're really giving this to me?!"

"Beat it, before I change my mind."

Clutching the silver in both hands, the boy darted out of the alley at once.

Far faster than when he'd tried to run the first time.

"Ah, no-I'm just used to places ."

Echoing the words, Yaan studied Marek's face. The murderous aura he'd shown when they first met had vanished; now he blended perfectly into the unit as a rookie trooper.

Yet, as Yaan watched Marek, his own face was utterly hollow.

"Is something wrong?"

When Marek asked, Yaan gazed at him a moment longer, then shook his head.

"That kid just now-his surname's Cumin, right?"

"Yes, yes... But why did you need to know his name?"

One silver coin covers a day's living costs for a family of four.

Even in Rubra, where prices were low compared to the Empire, it was a large sum for a child, so Marek had to ask.

"There was a dog tag in the wallet-engraved with 'Burke Cumin.'"

"Family of the Liberation Army, brothers... at least a lead."

At Yaan's flat recital, Marek's eyes widened in surprise.

"Then we should-right now-!"

"No. If we tail him right away, we'll be spotted."

As he spoke, Yaan's left eye seemed to dart this way and that.

"I can locate him-keep your distance. Let's move."

After answering, Marek followed Yaan out of the alley.

Ren, waiting with Irene, greeted them.

"We got something. Where are the others?"

"They split up-said they'd find separate quarters..."

"Makes sense; they're all from the colonies. Better off than me."

Murmuring at Irene's reply, Yaan scanned the streets of Runes.

They stood in the market district in the city's north.

Crowded as a train station, the market was a riot of noise.

"You're Marek, right?"

"Born around here-do you know the layout?"

At Yaan's question, Marek shook his head.

"I'm colonial by blood, but raised in the Empire. I don't know this place well..."

Accepting that, Yaan turned away. No maps, and with this team contacting locals would be risky.

"We'll have to follow the kid we just met."

Decision made, Yaan led the group deeper into the market.

Beyond the bustling shop-lined streets lay a slum packed with beggars and drifters.

Not Imperial timber stacks but earthen walls and the stench that came with them.

Seeing the countless people camped in the road, Yaan frowned.

"This is worse than the Vailsar slums..."

"So much for the 'only independent economic zone'-this is the reality."

Runes-the one city colonists could live in without fear.

Yet Rubra's land was vast, and Runes far too small for the endless stream of colonists.

"Sir, please-just one coin-anything...!"

"Three days without food...!"

The swelling crowd spilled into the streets; the slum had long since turned to ghetto.

"And right in the middle, Imperial buildings stretch sky-high."

The Governor-General's Palace, standing at Runes' center.

A palace fit for Prince Veric, towering over the slum's landscape.

"They tell us not to resent the Empire-ridiculous."

No honeyed words could justify a gap -who could accept it?

Veric's talk of colonial exploitation, sounding like atonement-seen here it could only ring as hypocrisy.

"If colonists keep flooding into places , the other cities..."

"Needless to say. It'd be stranger if rebellion didn't break out."

At Irene's words, Yaan gave a cold laugh.

Even if every revolt were crushed, this was only a stop-gap.

"Hey, what's this-silver? Where'd you get this, huh?"

"Give it back~ give it back~ hahaha!"

That was when a voice rang out from a corner of the slums.

When Yaan, crouched low, looked over, three young men-surrounding Ben, whom they had just met-were cackling as they rummaged through the boy's wallet.

"What, you're still carrying these dog tags?"

"The Liberation Army's sunk to being thieves. What's so great about this junk?"

The youths circling the boy spat out taunts like that.

"From the start, all that 'Liberation War' talk just pissed off the Empire, and now we're stuck in this shithole life...!"

The young man's words cut off there.

Ben's thrown stone had struck him in the head.

"You crazy little shit, what do you think you're doing!"

The youths, jolted by the sudden reaction, yelled back, but an even louder voice echoed through the slums.

"Not thieves! Liberation Army! Don't bad-mouth my dad-!"

At the tear-choked shout, the youths flinched and stepped back, as if stunned by the boy's burst of defiance.

Yet that lasted only a moment.

"Think the war-loving brat deserves a break?!"

Unable to endure the brutal kick, Ben crumpled on the spot.

"Think we've got no fucking right to complain?! You Liberation Army bastards start your 'independence war' or whatever the hell and trash every village along the way!"

"Why do we have to rot in this cesspool instead of living in our perfectly fine hometowns?! My grandpa got shot by Imperial troops while hiding you Liberation Army scum! Got it?!"

The merciless beating of the fallen boy continued.

The roar of impact was loud enough to echo across the entire housing block.

Yet not a single resident came out to stop it.

Watching the scene, Yaan gave a bitter smile laced with a sigh.

"The Empire, the root cause of this poverty, is pushed to the rear while they tear each other apart."

"It's the Empire's strategy for colonial rule. If they're divided internally, the rebellion's strength only weakens."

While Yaan and Ren spoke, the beating showed no sign of stopping.

"At this rate he'll die! We have to stop them...!"

"Stop them? Why should we?"

Unable to watch any longer, Irene blurted that out, but Yaan's response was indifferent.

"If things keep going ..."

"Actually, if that kid Ben dies here, it could help us pinpoint the connection to the Liberation Army. If they respond to his death, we follow them; if not, we investigate elsewhere."

At Yaan's emotionless remark, Irene's face turned pale.

"B-but he's still just a child...! If we leave him...!"

"Why. After watching that scene, do you suddenly feel like a colonist yourself?"

Hearing those words, Irene gasped.

"I forget that sometimes too."

With that preface, Yaan spoke with eyes closed.

"Even if we're branded and used as tools, we're Imperial Army. That kid being persecuted is still our potential enemy."

I picked the vicious ones on purpose, expecting something .

Thinking that, Yaan sighed and signaled Ren with a gesture.

"We can still track their location, so withdraw for now."

At Yaan's words, Ren nodded and vanished from sight.

"C-Company Commander...!"

Once the withdrawal order had been given, it couldn't be ignored.

Irene followed Yaan out of the slums, but her expression was dark.

"You think I'm heartless?"

'Still better than Dandel-at least he answers when asked.'

Thinking that, Yaan clicked his tongue once and spoke again while looking at her.

"Then let me ask you. If you'd gone to stop them, what would you have said?"

At Yaan's question, Irene's mind went blank.

"The mysterious strangers who gave the silver coin appear just in time to save him? Like some cheap heroic tale-what would that kid think of us then?"

Hearing that, Irene clenched her teeth.

"And a colonist conflict mediated by Imperials like us? Could there be a greater humiliation for them?"

She had nothing left to say.

"We don't only risk our lives. Working in our company, you'll see plenty more ."

"So think carefully. We've got a spy right next to us. We can't show weakness."

For a moment, she nearly overlooked Yaan's last calm words.

Yet it seemed even that wouldn't go smoothly; hearing the final line, Marek's face went white.

"Company Commander? Wh-what do you mean..."

"You've been in regular contact with Belkuth. Did you think I didn't know?"

Yaan smiled-a fixed, factory-made smile.

To be continued in the