Chapter 240. The Immortal (8)
It was already past noon by the time Lily — taking a short break after tending to the wounded — joined them at the hotel, and all the squad members except Alicia were gathered again.
Apparently, the Outsourcing District's power facility, which the magical beasts had destroyed, still hadn't been repaired.
The hotel where Enoch's squad was staying was barely managing electricity and water through an emergency generator, but it seemed that most of the city still had no electricity.
At least it was midday, which was a relief.
Enoch rested his upper body against the hotel balcony railing and quietly watched the cityscape in the full daylight.
He saw groups of freelancer Interim passing by on the main street of the Outsourcing District in twos and threes. Like Enoch's squad, they seemed to have returned for resupply.
But even from afar, their expressions were unmistakably steeped in a thick sense of defeat and anger.
Just looking at them reminded him of the current situation.
Freelancers could in no way be compared to the Elsyde family's enlisted personnel when it came to strength, but at the very least they were people well-seasoned in battle. For even these veterans to have the air of half-dead fighters.
"Ah, looks like other freelancers came back too."
April, who was seated at a table just beside him adjusting her rifle scope, glanced out the window and lightly pressed her finger to her lips.
"Hmm~. First, we have to resupply, so everyone comes in and out of the Outsourcing District's wall for now, but — as we heard, the defensive line itself has no problems, right?"
"Yeah. The magical beasts' movements themselves are being precisely monitored by scouting drones and detection magic."
"Hmm, well. The defensive line's been pushed all the way back to in front of the Outsourcing District's steel wall anyway, so the distance to the battlefront is super short. Maybe it's fine?"
"Right. We can set up defensive posture faster than the magical beasts can reach here. No problem."
Literally, if the enemies moved, they'd know, and they could reach the defensive line much sooner than the enemies coming from the distant forest — so there was no issue.
April too quietly looked at the city's enormous steel wall outside the window, then lowered her gaze and checked her own nails, bending them slightly.
"Hmm, it's a good thing, then. People had to come back briefly to resupply or rest anyway. Though it isn't going to be easy anymore."
"Not easy?"
At that, April, instead of answering, glanced out the window at a particular spot.
Following her line of sight, he saw, at a downtown crossroads fairly close to the hotel, an antique-style weapons shop with a large sign prominently displayed.
And in front of it, a freelancer girl about Enoch's age stood alone.
With a bandage over one eye and holding a long assault rifle mounted with optics, the girl spotted them from afar, then coldly turned her face and silently walked off.
The reason was easy to understand.
On the shop's glass window behind her, a sign that read [Ammunition and Artifact Stock Unavailable] caught the eye.
Beside him, April lowered her shoulders and sighed.
"Phew. I'm running out of ammo too, you know? When this many freelancers gather to fight, artifact shops are obviously going to be completely sold out. This city's an absolute mess just for resupply."
"Come to think of it, there wasn't really anywhere to resupply separately?"
Enoch stroked his chin with his hand in agreement with April.
As the battle dragged on, obviously not only the ammunition consumed by firearm-type magic gear users but also the various tactical consumables freelancers used would be running dry almost completely.
The street stalls that had thrived at the freelancers' temporary base before and the shops settled within the 19th Outsourcing District — once their stock was depleted, that was it.
Bringing goods in from outside was difficult.
Given the situation, it was only natural that resupply was becoming progressively harder for the freelancers to obtain.
Enoch stepped back from the balcony, turned, and walked away.
He already knew the situation was bad, but he couldn't afford to sit on his hands. Before the final decisive battle began, he had to at least grasp what was insufficient or problematic.
***
"So where are we headed now?"
After leaving the hotel, while walking through the complex streets checking his terminal's GPS display, Enoch raised his head and looked at Lily walking right beside him.
"I didn't tell you. I'm going to see an informant."
"An informant?"
"Yes, to gather information. Before the final decisive battle, I want to know as much as I can, even a little, about what's happening inside the Outsourcing District."
"That's good, but condition management matters too."
Lily looked up at him with a mixture of worry and sulking.
"Speaking of which, did you really rest? My opinion hasn't changed since before!"
Come to think of it, he'd lifted her aside earlier when she blocked his path telling him to rest, and Enoch was momentarily at a loss for words.
Lily seemed to be thinking the same thing. She ran her fingers through the hair spilling onto the bodice of her habit and averted her eyes.
"A, anyway! I understand about gathering information, but setting aside Miss Freelancer, why me?"
April, walking beside him, yawned lightly, and hearing herself called, grinned and formed a finger-V aimed this way.
Of course, April had come along to help gauge the atmosphere of the nearby freelancers, but Lily was tilting her head puzzled as to why she herself had been brought along.
In truth, the reason for bringing Lily along was simple.
It was to make sure that, as before, Lily wouldn't get tossed around at someone else's whim, or eyed by freelancers with ulterior motives — by naturally planting the fact that she was a member of this strong squad.
But if he said that outright, Lily's reaction would get strange again, so Enoch calmly deflected,
"Ah. Just thought I'd show you around this area for a bit, Sister Lily, while we're here."
But despite his evasion, Lily gave a small gasp, looked at him, and blushed on the cheeks.
"W, wait. Da, date?!" she stammered, stealing glances at him with flushed heat — that, he ignored.
At the edge of the bronze fountain in front of the Victorian-style station, many people sat resting. A tree above cast its shade, its dense, glossy leaves covering the area.
Lily, clutching her long medical staff with both arms, practically bouncing with excitement, passed by a department store's display windows.
For some reason, she stretched out her neck like someone seeing a downtown district for the first time, walking with a look hardly befitting a nun. When Enoch let out a faint laugh at that, Lily pouted and grumbled.
At her expression, Enoch smiled faintly.
But even though it looked peaceful at the moment, there was something off about the city's atmosphere. Having already noticed it earlier, Enoch scanned the surroundings with cool eyes.
"……"
Though they had warded off two enemy invasions, taking the entire campaign into account, defeat was drawing close to the freelancers. Yet inside the Outsourcing District there was an air of having caught a breath.
If one climbed a high hill or tall building inside this Outsourcing District city, anyone could view the fortifications built just before the pushed-back wall for the defensive line.
On top of that, even inside the city resupply of goods and proper medical support would be a stretch.
Walking along, Enoch thought about it, but he couldn't guess what was going on. He thought it would be good to check on it along the way.
Just as he passed through the park grounds, cloth bag slung, an angry cry rose up, and he raised his head.
Focusing his gaze, he saw a crowd of Outsourcing District citizens clustered far off around something.
A loud shout came from the middle of the main street — seemingly something was happening. Among them, he could also see familiar freelancers he had seen on the battlefield.
And at the center of the commotion stood a small girl in a tattered robe, barely more than a rag.
She had glossy long hair and tidy features, but with her diminutive frame and threadbare clothing, and pressed in by people, she carried a shabby impression.
Certain this was a child he remembered, Enoch exchanged a look with April and walked straight to her.
Drawing closer, he saw a few freelancers — gripping long, mechanical-looking staffs — pressing her down at close range.
"Hah, look here! Cut out your preparations for whatever etching festival or whatever in front of us!"
"Or what — are you bragging that even as non-mages, you still don't have any supplies for us while you prep for a festival?!"
"Th, that's not what I meant."
Clutching a bundle of lantern-making materials, the girl, looking cowed, bowed her head.
Seizing the momentum, one thuggish-looking freelancer drew a pistol from his hip and brought its muzzle up to her chest, shouting,
"We're the ones losing our comrades to protect useless people like you with no talent for magic, and you shamelessly prep a festival that doesn't help the battle at all in the rear? Aren't you ashamed?"
The freelancer glared briefly at the girl, then, at a pat on his shoulder from behind, turned to look at the approaching group.
"Tch. The Direct Lineage squad, of all times……"
The freelancer man lowered the pistol, spat on the ground, and stood up.
"Haah. Really! I can't do this anymore!!"
By the time Enoch pushed through the crowd and stepped up in front of the girl, the freelancers were already vanishing into the distance.
The small girl who remained, perhaps used to this, only kept her shoulders trembling slightly with her head bowed. She neither cried nor anything — just stood there in place.
Reaching her at last, April stretched out her hand slightly toward her.
"Hey, you……"
When Enoch approached beside her with April, the girl turned her face toward them and gave a gentle smile.
"Ah! Big brother, big sister, hello. You helped me this time too."
As they drew closer and Enoch looked at her properly, he recognized her. It was the child whose life April had saved before, and who had later helped Enoch find Alicia.
Wearing an ill-fitting robe too big for her, the hem sliding down her sleeves to hide her wrists — her appearance hadn't changed a bit from back then.
April stepped up in front of her, bending to meet her eye level, and asked with concern,
"What about your other friends? Are you alright? Those people didn't do anything worse to you, did they?"
"Ye, yes. I'm okay for now. But lately, freelancers have been getting angry whenever they see us, and it's been a little hard. What happened?"
Enoch and April exchanged glances, shoulders dropping. And then April, saying "Well…" softly, told her about the difficulty of the war situation.
"Ah, so that's it. I see……"
The girl nodded meekly.
April crouched before her to meet her eyes, held up a finger, and impressed upon her,
"So, until the commotion dies down, don't openly prepare for the Lantern Festival! Everyone's got their guns drawn. Hanging around a place like this is dangerous, okay?"
"Yes, big sister."
"Mm, good. You're a good kid~!"
April stroked the girl's head and beamed.
"You really are pretty and genuinely cute! By the way, where's your guardian~?"
Just then, a long shadow fell over April, engrossed in fussing over the child, and a solid baritone rang out.
"I'm the guardian."
"Gyah, yeek! T-that startled me! I, I thought my heart would stop…!"
April let out a small shriek as she jumped back a step in shock.
Enoch glanced at her briefly and turned his attention forward again.
A man in a modern green poncho, with its hood pulled low, a crudely made bow of scrap metal slung across his back.
Pressing a hand to her chest, April, having calmed down, suddenly pointed at him.
"Hah! U, Underground Guard Captain! Right?"
"That's right."
He answered tersely. Enoch, ignoring Lily — who had at some point hidden behind him and was peeking out — looked at him.
Looking at him now, he was a rather interesting man.
A non-mage with no powers who nevertheless shot a bow in resistance, and in that green poncho with its hood drawn up, he looked exactly like the modern-day version of the famous Western bow-wielding outlaw of legend.
"Captain! That big brother saved us again!"
"Did he? Did you thank him?"
Watching the Underground Guard Captain confirming with the child as she came running to him, Enoch stepped forward and said,
"Good timing. I was actually on my way to find you, to ask about something."
"I'm not scholarly enough to be worth a Direct Lineage seeking out, but that's quite an honor."
At his calm reply, Enoch gave a wry smile. Unexpectedly, the man might have a sense of humor.
One of the leaders of the Underground — the group of non-mages living in the Outsourcing District of Victoria. He, of all people, would surely have information about what had been happening lately.
He glanced at the crowd around them and said,
"Let's speak while we move. You probably have a lot you want to know about the current situation."
With that, the Guard Captain turned without looking back and walked off.
Enoch exchanged glances once with Lily and April behind him, then slowly stepped forward to follow.
Following him, they entered a stretch of Victorian-style Gothic buildings lined up in a row.
After a long while, they wound deep into the spaces between the tall buildings. When a dim back alley, deserted to the point of no human presence, opened up before them, Lily, trembling slightly, tightly gripped Enoch's sleeve.
"It'll be alright."
Quietly whispering to soothe Lily, Enoch then noticed that the paving stones, struck by his shoes, were starting to look older and worse-maintained with each step.
And just then, the alley ended and a vast empty lot surrounded by buildings came into view.
"A, an underpass?"
At Lily's soft whisper beside him, Enoch quietly nodded.
In the center of the empty lot was an abandoned underpass.
Along the deep staircase leading to what appeared to be old subway tracks, gray iron plates were haphazardly braced in place as reinforcement.
Just as he realized this had to be one of the many hidden passages leading to the Underground's main base, the Guard Captain walking ahead of him quite naturally opened his mouth.
"The Outsourcing District's information is being controlled, Direct Lineage."