“Far away...”
Bill grumbled as he stared at the endless stretch of land that his eyes couldn’t take in all at once.
It had already been two hours since they left the elevator.
In the bag slung behind him as he walked after Rapi, empty plastic bags and several PET bottles were already rolling around inside.
And the chocolate bars and drinks steadily disappearing from his hands.
The weather wasn’t hot.
By temperature alone, it was in the high teens Celsius—cool enough, and with the sky hidden behind clouds, it was hardly a condition anyone could complain about on a long-distance mission.
Maybe because they’d had that kind of weather at their backs, they’d barely spent any time resting, and the area they were walking through now was farther than Shifty had expected.
So they might arrive a little earlier than planned, but that alone wasn’t enough to calm his complaints.
He’d just been told a moment ago that the original ten-hour estimate had been calculated without rest breaks.
If there was any consolation, it was that nothing else had come up to slow their advance.
Three Rapture encounters, each with a one-hundred-percent encounter rate per hour.
They appeared as naturally as Pokémon popping out while walking through tall grass.
Bill kept moving at a moderate pace without stopping, and Shifty, watching through the screen, asked him, “Commander, are you sure you don’t need to rest?”
“Huh?”
Bill turned toward her, startled by the sudden question.
Shifty’s face, as he looked at it, was unexpectedly serious.
Apparently she hadn’t meant it as a joke.
“I mean, how should I put it... I noticed it from the first time I saw you. Commander, you seem strong, like a person who’s just... sturdy? That kind of feeling.”
“I think I get what you mean... but why?”
“That’s why I’m asking. I wanted to know if you’re really okay without resting.”
From the commanders Shifty had seen so far, most soldiers had very good stamina—well, they were soldiers, after all.
Even if there were extreme cases, most had balanced builds and didn’t tire easily in ways that matched their physiques.
It wasn’t quite beyond human limits, but they could walk over dirt and grass roads without much trouble, even when they weren’t paved.
But that was only when walking on flat ground.
No matter who they were, when it came to climbing hills—especially mountains that felt like tsunamis—many of them would be exhausted and collapse.
People might be animals built for long battles, but the area Counters was heading toward now had already gone beyond such mountains.
Not a low hill like the little mountain behind a neighborhood, but something much bigger.
They were crossing a mountain range that could surround an ordinary city head-on, and still keeping pace with the Nikkes.
That was why she wondered about Bill’s limits.
No matter how good his stamina was, could a human really do that?
Especially since the Commander in their last mission had been gasping for breath even after climbing a hill.
The way he’d been sweating and gulping water had made it obvious how hard he’d been pushing himself.
But now she hadn’t seen the Commander panting even once.
No sweat, no sign that his strength was running out.
Just a simple question: what was the reason?
—Ah... so that’s what this is.
Bill understood what Shifty was really asking.
He didn’t know how deep her thoughts went, but at the very least, she probably just thought he had excellent stamina.
The reason was in her eyes.
They weren’t the eyes of someone looking at something suspicious, but of someone intrigued by something beyond her common sense.
So, within her frame of reference...
He felt a little guilty about deceiving an innocent girl, but he came up with a compromise of an answer.
“Maybe I do five hundred push-ups, five hundred sit-ups, and a fifteen-kilometer run every day.”
“Huh? Th-that’s way too much, isn’t it?”
“Normal commanders don’t work out like that. That’s why I’m different.”
“Ah, I guess that could... be true?”
Just as Bill expected, Shifty looked doubtful, but eventually nodded in acceptance.
The reason was undoubtedly her personality.
Repeating one movement hundreds of times.
Even if it was something as easy as jumping in place, repetitive actions inevitably wore down a person’s concentration.
One or two jumps wouldn’t be any different from normal.
But once it reached ten, twenty, and then over a hundred, willpower had to come along for the ride.
Calves aching with every jump.
Breath growing short.
The brain pushing itself, asking how long it had to keep doing this.
All kinds of obstacles would torment you.
And then, breaking through those obstacles to reach the goal.
Didn’t they say effort brought results?
Shifty believed that.
After all, she herself had worked countless times to earn her current operator position, and she’d gotten the result she wanted.
When it came to that kind of story, it was easy to trust.
“It’s hard... I can barely do ten push-ups before my arms start shaking.”
Of course, that was a different matter from her own limits when it came to exercise.
Bill chuckled and comforted her.
“Well... if you keep increasing it little by little, you’ll be fine.”
Shifty said she had nothing more to add and returned to her original duty of keeping watch.
Of course, her mouth had gone quiet, but her eyes and hands kept moving busily, searching for any Rapture movement around them.
And then—
“By the way, you said we were resting. Any Rapture signals?”
“No. I can’t see any Rapture activity. And after comparing the routes of the three groups we encountered earlier, it seems the overall encounter rate for the next thirty minutes will be under ten percent.”
“So that means...”
“Considering we just fought Raptures a moment ago, you should be able to rest for at least thirty minutes. On the map, there’s supposed to be an empty building a little farther ahead... can you see it?”
“Hmm... ah, there it is.”
In Bill’s view stood a shabby gray building that looked to be at most ten stories tall.
When they approached and checked it, there were hardly any broken windows, and no cracks in the outer walls.
It didn’t look like it would collapse while they were resting.
Bill decided that this was definitely enough for a short break and stepped inside the building.
“Whoa, damn... this is something else.”
An incomprehensible, damp stench greeted them.
A midsummer day.
And because it had rained, the humidity was high, bringing with it a foul smell that tickled the nose.
Stunned by the powerful odor hammering his brain, Bill pinched his nose shut at once to stop smelling it.
“I-is it that bad?”
Seeing Bill’s expression, which was completely out of place, Shifty trembled as if she’d done something wrong.
And the Nikkes who came into the building after Bill were hit by the same overwhelming stench.
“Wow... what is that smell? I should just turn off my olfactory sensor.”
Normally, Nikkes don’t disable the senses or functions they need to remain aware they’re human.
They don’t get hungry even if they don’t eat, and waste doesn’t build up even if they don’t bathe, but that was to prevent the side effect of a shift in thinking.
But this time it must have been especially bad, because Anis immediately shut off her sensor, and Bill, envious of her, spoke to her while holding his nose.
“I wish someone would turn mine off too... anyone know how to do that?”
“Wouldn’t you have to break your nose to turn it off?”
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would smell that bad...”
Stabbed all over by the joke Anis and Bill were trading, Shifty bowed her head so low that the top of it was visible through the screen and apologized.
Of course, the four of them soothed her, and since there wasn’t any suitable place nearby, it was decided they would temporarily hold position in the smelly building.
Three of them turned off their olfactory sensors, while the other wore a gas mask from who-knows-where.
“Whatever... I’ll rest by the broken window. This should be fine if I just keep this on...”
“Yes. But please don’t make too much noise. It might carry outside.”
“Got it.”
After Shifty’s warning ended, Bill turned around.
Anis, half-seated in her spot, noticed him looking at them and asked with a question mark on her face, “Commander, why are you staring like that?”
“Why else? You expect your ancestors to stand guard for you?”
“Ah.”
Since Shifty had said they were safe for thirty minutes, they could afford to rest lazily here.
But this was still enemy territory, and there was that vicious thing called variables.
On the surface, whether they stood still or moved quickly, encountering Raptures within an hour was practically a daily occurrence.
There was no harm in being careful over and over again.
“I’ll take the first watch. It’d probably be better for the two of you if I do.”
That was exactly the kind of answer Rapi would give.
Since she was the one whose stamina hadn’t been drained by things like time, it made sense for her to take watch from the perspective of conserving energy.
Anis also chimed in at Rapi’s words, but—
“Commander should take the first watch. How about it? We can just lie back and rest comfortably.”
—Huh??
Apparently without realizing it, Anis made a statement that could easily trigger a red alert.
“Anis.”
Rapi cut her off quickly, as if nothing had happened.
Anis pouted in protest at being interrupted, but then realized what she’d just said.
And she fell silent.
Her face stiffened, and she covered her mouth with her hand.
Her eyes were wider than usual too.
But that kind of behavior only invited suspicion.
At the very least, it suggested there was something wrong with her last remark, so she needed to control herself and not overdo it—but she failed.
What would Shifty think? And Neon?
Anis hurriedly looked at Neon, but—
“Anis, that joke went too far. How can you tell the Commander to stand watch? If you’re a Nikke, you’re supposed to protect people, so isn’t something wrong here? And the Commander is clearly tired, right?”
“Huh? Uh... y-yeah. Right.”
“See? I told you he was tired.”
Seeing Neon grin brightly at him, Bill could only go along with it.
“That’s right. I know Anis is close with the Commander, but you still can’t play around with someone’s life.”
And when Shifty added her own words, refusing to lose, Neon kept nodding repeatedly.
Even if their perceptions were different, Anis had tossed out one joke and ended up getting ganged up on by the two of them, so she was the one who felt wronged.
“Then I’ll go first while I’m at it. Next time, Rapi or Anis can take watch.”
Neon said that and quickly headed up the stairs.
“Then I’ll keep watch with Neon on the rooftop, so if I contact you, make sure you answer quickly.”
“Got it.”
Once Shifty’s screen disappeared—
Right after that, a sigh that seemed to sink the floor itself echoed through the room.
“Wow... I just blurted that out without thinking... Rapi, thanks.”
“No need to thank me. It’s only natural.”
“But Neon just now... she was covering for me, right?”
“I... think so... but I don’t know why.”
Rapi found Neon suspicious.
When she’d spoken to her briefly in front of the elevator, Neon had clearly seemed not to know him.
And yet, as if she’d known them for a long time, as if they’d been together for ages, she’d redirected Shifty’s attention at the perfect moment they wanted and then slipped away.
There was no way she wasn’t grateful, but the more she thought about it, the more curious she became about Neon’s identity.
“Rapi.”
“Yes, Commander.”
Just as Rapi’s thoughts were deepening, Bill, who had been lying down at some point, quietly called to her.
His eyes were closed, and he didn’t say anything else right away.
But she could guess what he was going to say.
“It’s fine.”
The expected answer came out.
What he meant was that Neon’s identity was, at the very least, trustworthy.
Who was she?
She still hadn’t said, and the Commander, who was defending her, hadn’t told them either.
So Rapi had tried to draw a conclusion from the fragments she had, but—
“Wait until she tells us.”
He must have meant to trust their companion.
Rapi judged it that way and quietly set her suspicion of Neon aside in a corner of her mind. She couldn’t erase it completely, but if he said so, then it should be fine.
“Understood.”
Bill still had his eyes closed.
Anis stared blankly out the window.
Rapi glanced sideways at someone, careful not to be noticed.
It was quiet.
Just like the night before.
Only someone’s breathing could be heard.
This calm felt like it would never break.
But then—
“Commander!!”
Shifty’s urgent voice shattered the silence and jolted Bill’s mind just as he was about to drift off to sleep.
“What is it!?”
Before she could answer—
Neon hit the floor with a heavy thud and shouted, “Raptures are coming!!!!”
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