“Almost there?”
After finishing the materials in her hands, a bored Sienna had dozed off in her seat.
When she woke up again, she saw the snow-covered ground outside the plane’s window.
A few hours of flight had brought her from the warming shores of the Mediterranean back to the snow-blanketed regions of Siberia.
“According to the intel I gathered, this city’s Cocolia’s most likely location right now.”
She remembered in the manga that Cocolia’s convoy only made it out thanks to a Schicksal rescue team showing up halfway.
She had the woman’s phone number right now.
After getting off the plane, she’d head to the city near where the rescue team had brought her and start looking.
“Just to be safe, let’s call first.”
Wouldn’t want to arrive only to find she’d already left.
In this era before the internet was widespread, finding one person in a sea of humanity was no joke.
Compared to Sienna, sitting on Schicksal’s luxuriously appointed private jet with a clearer goal for the future.
Cocolia, who’d just narrowly escaped death a few days ago, was now mulling over her next move.
“This money won’t last long at all.”
Stepping out of the bank after withdrawing all her savings, Cocolia wondered how she’d get by in the days ahead.
She walked to a newspaper stand on the street, used some small change to buy today’s paper.
Glancing at the headline story about the sudden massive natural disaster in Siberia.
“Just as I thought, the higher-ups covered it up.”
After seeing those colossal creatures that couldn’t be natural, Cocolia felt her understanding of the world was still far too shallow.
Days ago, fleeing with the Colonel’s wife, she’d seen monsters bullets couldn’t penetrate and people who could easily kill them with lances—where did they all come from?
After they were rescued, barely a few minutes into the ride on the rescue vehicle, a massive explosion roared behind them.
With her years of military experience, she could tell the distant rumble was the kind from an overwhelmingly saturated strike.
“The orphanage is gone, can’t stay in the military either. What’s happening to this world?”
After being taken to a safe zone, she learned fewer than a hundred people were pulled from the entire area.
The orphanage she’d helped was caught in the blast zone too.
Even if the kids there were saved.
They’d just get sent off for adoption elsewhere.
Her past whistleblowing had made her enemies among the brass, so the military was out. New chapters come out on g.com first.
“Guess it’s peaceful now.”
Suddenly alone, Cocolia didn’t fret too much about her future.
She was still young, and the grit and cunning honed in the army would let her survive in this crumbling country.
“Wonder if she can make it in times like these.”
Thinking of Colonel Alexei’s wife, who’d parted ways right after reaching safety.
The look she gave Cocolia—she probably saw her as her husband’s killer.
Now pregnant with a daughter due in months, her situation had to be ten times worse than Cocolia’s.
Stuck in a tough spot, Cocolia decided after some thought to take another gamble.
Tucking the newspaper into her bag, Cocolia started heading toward places she’d heard of before to buy firearms and other precious metals that wouldn’t lose value fast.
Money fresh from the bank, in this era of constant price hikes.
Might be worth as much as a blank sheet of paper any day.
Better to swap it for things that could save your hide.
Nine years back, before this country fell apart.
Black markets hawking contraband had already cropped up in every city’s shadows.
After all these years, those spots had become places where, if you had cash, you could buy anything you wanted.
She’d never wanted to go near such places before, but stuck so long in that rotten military unit, she’d picked up how to find these black markets.
“Didn’t think I’d be walking your path so soon.”
Walking down the street, she recalled arguing with that major who’d stolen munitions.
For a big goal, you could toss your principles aside.
Out of the military, Cocolia didn’t want to just fade into being ordinary.
Deep down, she still dreamed of changing this society.
The hunger she’d known as a kid—she didn’t want today’s children to experience it.
Even without the army’s backing, she could build her own power.
With a strong government gone, this vast land had long been carved up by warlords big and small.
With her old dreams dead, this was the only road left.
“Huh?”
Not far down the street, her phone suddenly rang.
She pulled it out.
The number on the screen was one she’d never seen.
After ducking into a secluded alley, she hit the answer button.
“Hello, is this Miss Cocolia?”
A strange young woman’s voice asked her after connecting.
“Who are you?”
A stranger calling her at a time like this.
Probably someone who’d gotten her info and wanted to recruit her.
“I’m Sienna. I want to collaborate with you on a project.”
Just as she thought.
From the voice on the line, Cocolia guessed the caller wasn’t as old as her, but climbing the military ladder had taught her that age wasn’t always a measure of experience.
Maybe she was some high-roller or warlord’s brat, or just a messenger.
“What do you want from me?”
Since she knew about Cocolia, she’d hear her out first.
“Do you know about the Honkai?”
After that first meeting with Cecilia, where a few words had cut her deep.
Sienna had realized that, up against people with more life experience, her guileless self had no edge in conversation.
So before calling Cocolia, she decided to be direct.
“I don’t know what Honkai is, and I’m not interested.”
Actually, while being helped by those strangers back then, she’d overheard that word a few times.
Honkai—it had to be tied to those monsters.
She didn’t want anything to do with that now.
“Do you like kids, then?”
“What do you mean?”
Seeing she didn’t want to talk Honkai, Sienna switched to something she’d find more compelling.
Hmm, looks like it’s working.
–+–
T/N: Phrasing, lol.