Глава 12

You could have—

—become a hero?

At what cost?

What if the price... is not one that I can afford?

When you walked into the room, did you see the eyes of the guard standing by the door?

The officers under me, my comrades, and those bewildered young men... Till has five children, Sasan's mother has been paralyzed for three years, and Totten's brother has Oripathy.

The vampires will suck their blood dry.

Bowing down will not prevent anything.

At the very least... Nothing has happened yet, as of today.

Golding, it's my hope that you survive this as well, speaking personally.

Fundamentally, you and I might just be of a kind. It's only that I have chosen to give up, while you are still standing firm.

You and I are nothing alike.

You asked me where I obtained the information on the Londinium Self-Salvation Corps.

Very well, I shall answer you. From a cowardly teacher.

What are you saying...?

Look at yourself, Golding. Your blunders and the tracks you left behind are owed to your cowardice and fear.

Sentimental kinds have never been a good fit for intelligence work. You've known that from the start.

No, it can't be!

There's been a lot of chatter on my communications here.

The Sarkaz ambushed... the Camden Borough safe house... We.... Their forces...

Alert... The safe house at Auchterigg...

Hello? Can anyone hear me? This is the Magna Borough safe house. We're under...

No...!

Golding, they are dying because of you.

You pushed them into the fire.

This is what your 'fight' brings.

And for that, I can only mourn.

There's too many men. They're well-equipped, and they're working far too well with each other.

Mercenaries aren't capable of this. These are military elites.

Each and every one of them is a bloodthirsty machine who dug his way out of a thousand battles.

Out of the way, the lot of ya!

Indra, watch your back!

This isn't going to work. We are on the back foot right now.

I will locate the position of their commander. Amiya, maintain formation. Don't stop.

I-I got it!

Damn, there's more of them down this alley!

Stay close, Doctor. We will cut our way through!

'Go forward three hundred meters and take the first left.'

Who's that?!

'Hurry up. There are more ambushers on the roof.'

Doctor, did you hear that? That voice...

Watch out for their Arts! Cut through this danger zone!

Hold on tight, Doctor.

'Left.'

Let's listen to that voice.;We have to give it a shot.

I hate being ordered around! Tsk, fine!

'Fifty meters, and to your right.'

Bloody... That's a wall there!

No...

Some kind of illusion, perhaps? Charge through it!

*pant*...*pant*....

There's no one I hate more than a sneaky bastard like you! Show yourself!

'That assassin of yours has already taken down the commander of your pursuers. You are safe for the time being.'

I said, show yourself!

'Her name is Ascalon, is it? Impressive.'

Doctor, behind me.

Who are you?

'Please, there is no need to fret, dear Rhodes Islanders. A few of my colleagues just touched base with Alexandrina not too long ago. Alas, it did not go too well.'

You are... the man behind Allerdale.

Show yourself.

I won't say it again.

Please lower your hammer, Your Highness. You are merely wasting your strength.

As heir to the throne—from a certain viewpoint, at least—you should have a bit more patience.

You said so yourself not too long ago. That we should have... a 'conversation.'

You had the Self-Salvation Corps tapped.

Their evacuation plan will be successful. Do note that this is a promise, not sarcasm.

My sincerest pleasure to meet all of you, ladies and gentlemen. I hope there yet remains room for our objectives to coexist.

An ashen trilby...?

Very perceptive, Lady Isabelle Montague. I should have expected no less from a scion of the Count of Manchester. Indeed, we are often referred to as the 'Trilby Ashers.'

Should you have the chance, please send your mother my regards.

You—

Please, there is no need for alarm, Lady Montague. I harbor no ill will against you and your friends, at the moment.

Is the Arts gimmick you have over there a gesture of your goodwill, too?

I'm not fond of having conversations next to a pile of explosives.

This is merely a precaution.

Well then, here's a precaution, too.

Lower your weapon, Miss Ascalon. This is not worth it.

Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals, made a series of passage and call permit requests for so-called 'industrial waste recycling and processing' purposes, currently hiding within the territory of the Duke of Gododdin.

Currently six hundred and thirty-one kilometers away from Londinium.

And what if we are?

Miss Amiya, I surmise your recycling work is proceeding apace?

You know Rhodes Island well.;......;Looks like the Victorian bigwigs aren't completely oblivious to us.

We do merely what must be done.

You have been very careful. You charted your course and built a well-hidden supply network around your ship. You wish to avoid Victoria's attention.

And you almost fooled us.

Regardless of whether your intentions are good or otherwise, wouldn't you agree that discretion is the worst quality there is to a ruler?

Who do you serve, Mr. 'Trilby Asher?'

If at all possible, I would say that I serve Victoria.

Alas, the reality is that I serve only a small part of Victoria. This small part is more than enough to keep me well occupied, however.

Which means you work for one of the dukes.

If the Duke of Wellington saw us as a threat—

Rhodes Island would already have been attacked.

The Duke of Windermere's control has yet to reach Duke Gododdin's territory. Not by a long shot.

From what I know, the Duke of Normandy is more interested in business.

Most other dukes are fence sitters.

You work for Caster.

'Doctor,' the commander of Rhodes Island... There exists very little information on you. We were under the impression that this was due to a lack of importance.

We will reevaluate our internal appraisal.

What is Rhodes Island worth to that 'part of Victoria' you speak of?

We actually do not have much of an interest in a so-called pharmaceutical company that deals in waste recycling.