Глава 16

I hope we will still have the chance to chat after this.

Rankin wipes his dagger with some alcohol, pointing its blade at the scar on his leg before plunging it into his flesh.

Phew...

...It worked, right?

The youthful miner nearly leaps up, forgetting the cut on his leg oozing blood.

Calm down, your wound needs dressing.

Ah, of course. Thank you, Doctor. I owe you my life.

You are truly amazing. I have never seen a physician as skilled as you. You even remind me of an Ursine soldier.

What do you mean by that?

Sorry, please do not misunderstand me. This is the highest praise I can think of.

I mean true Ursine soldiers, not those Patrol Unit brutes. The ones who drove off the invading Nightzmora and freed us from the tyrannical Hippogryphs. They were true heroes.

Oh, yes, have you read Igor Velikiy's biography?

We should prepare for surgery on the others. How many will we need to operate on?

I'm afraid it's a number that will leave you and your colleagues running ragged.

My decoy electrical signal can cover the entirety of this area, and my colleagues can coordinate the surgeries. That being the case, I reckon we will need to stay here for some time.

Time is something we are short on.

Have the medical team prioritize the elderly and children, then teach the others to perform the surgery. Hand out some scalpels. My people are not squeamish.

I would appreciate it if you did not make medical decisions for me.

Ah, no, Doctor, I did not mean to order you around.

Since the duty of leading everyone out of this mining district is mine, I need to make decisions accordingly.

Patrol Units who can show up at any time, extreme weather, lack of supplies... All things that will prove fatal.

I hope we can reach an agreement on this.

No matter what happens, we need to be wary of infection. My team will oversee the sterilization procedures.

Then let's begin.

'Act first, then discuss the future.'

Blurghhh—!

*cough* *cough*! Blergh... *cough*!

Is this your limit?

When you were eating smoked sausages back in Grypherburg, did you never wonder how they were made? Never went to see the slaughterhouses in the satellite cities?

<i>Idi nahui!</i> Rot in hell, Rankin! <i>Suka blyat'!</i>

I swallowed a bunch of snow but I still can't get the smell of blood out of my nose. Next time I have the chance, I'm dumping fresh burdenbeast blood into your soup!

Fresh burdenbeast blood is expensive. A bucket can cost more than a hundred chervontsy, we can't afford that...

It was a metaphor, dammit... I didn't know you used to be a gourmet chef, Hawley.

My son transported that sort of thing when he was a truck driver. The Grypherburg nobles believed the blood of young burdenbeasts would make them beautiful.

He told me a lot of things about the city in his letters, but the last one I received was seven years ago. I hope he's still alright...

Then I'll have to ask you to make sure Nikto doesn't mess with my dinner.

I'll make sure. Nobody is messing with anyone's dinner.

I hope this won't end up being our last meal, or I'll be cursing you to the grave, Rankin.

Whatever you say. I'm in good spirits today.

It's been so long since I've felt this sort of freedom.

We have finally broken our shackles. We are free now. What we want to do, where we want to go, and how we want to live our lives, we can decide for ourselves now.

You should save the poetry recital for when we're actually safe...

So, what now?

The plan hasn't changed.

We head south to the border with Kazimierz, find the village founded by the Infected, the one that belongs only to the Infected. There will be space for all of us there.

You're just blindly believing in this 'Reunion' without even knowing if they're the real deal...

No, I have my reasons to believe.

A few years back when I was stationed at the border, I heard a lot about them, information I could trust.

They provide shelter for the Infected, give out medicine for free, and have fended off many Patrol Units who wanted to push around people like us. I believe we will find people who share our ideals there.

That just makes me think it's some Infected delusion, or the army spinning up an excuse for a bigger share of taxes.

It makes me wonder why it took until now for a banner like this to be flown.

If... <i>If</i> we find out they do not exist, then it should be us who raise the flag.

Hah... And here I thought your time on the border would have taught you better.

Just imagine for a moment, if you had saved that count back then instead of that Infected, you could be a lieutenant right now, maybe even a captain.

Patrol Units like the one we ran into today would be licking your boots with a wave of your finger.

Then I should be even more grateful for the choice I made that day. Otherwise, I would not have had the chance to see this nation's true face, or learn what my life's greatest calling is.

Our people have been duped and deceived for far too long! They believe their current lives are what they deserve, forgetting what they should really have!

This is not only a conflict between the Infected and ordinary folk. If one day, all the Infected in Ursus died, they would use some other standard to decide who to cast into the mines.

Why do some have everything handed to them, while others must struggle for survival? Who do the fruits of their bitter toil go to?

But who actually gets to say what people deserve?

Maybe the way this land is is the way things should be. Even if there were another Terra, even if civilization started over from scratch, things might not turn out any different from now.

No... I don't believe that.

When you opened your eyes and actually <i>looked</i> at everything around us, did you not feel anger? When we feel such an instinctual rage, that means everything is wrong!

You should know that, based on what you've been through, Nikto.

Don't bring up that crap, it's ancient history...

Fine... Even if it is as you say, how far are we from the border? What other things will we run into on the way there?

I have a plan. Why do you think I asked you to gather up those chips?

They didn't blow up when we took them out of us like other chips, which means they still work as positioning devices.

You...

These things have brought us so much suffering. Why not use them to our advantage against the Patrol Units?

That's not what we agreed on when we decided to escape!

You know our condition, Rankin. How many of us can even move right now? Maybe half?

We might be able to beat one or two Patrol Units, but we can't hold off all of Ursus! The only thing causing more bloodshed would do is to trap us here even further!

If we want to live, taking this step is only a matter of time.

Every Patrol Unit lackey we kill is another spare ventilator in our hands.

Any supplies we seize can be used to leave the icefields, and allow children like Vetochki to live to see another day.

Have you forgotten what gave us the opportunity to leave this place?

Even if that thing can't be called human, we were the ones who killed it.

I don't know what you're talking about.

You've become completely unreasonable, before we've even left the mining district!

I don't want to fight over this, Nikto—

<i>Uchitel?</i>

And... Nikto, you're... here too...

What is it?

N-Nothing. I just came to see if... you had eaten yet...

Oh, you don't need to ask this guy. His stomach's already full of his grand ideals.

Haha... You're not really wrong.

You should focus on our physician friends, it was they who did all the hard work today.

I just went to... see them. They're... about to... rest.

Good. You've worked hard too.

How's the wound, does it hurt?

I... I'm okay. Everyone's... okay.

Really now? Everyone's been very brave.

Go rest. Eat your fill, then sleep tight.

Eh... We... don't have much food... My portion's... not very big...

Take care of yourself... too... <i>Uchitel</i>...

Vetochki really trusts you, Rankin, always calling you '<i>Uchitel</i>', like you're her teacher.

Everyone trusts you. They're waiting for you to get them out of here.

I know, which is why every word I tell her is what I know to be true in my heart.

It is the same as when I lead everyone. I take the path I believe to be right.