Глава 16

<p=1>Central Far North Mining District, Ursus</>

We're very close to the institute.

But it's been so quiet the entire way... Do people really live here?

Three days ago, the Grand Duchess made a sudden decree that all residents living within thirty klicks of the Central Mining District had twenty-four hours to evacuate the area.

Though the Far North is sparsely populated, evacuating such a large area in such a short time was no easy task.

Not to mention ensuring they all maintain secrecy the entire time...

There <i>are</i> rumors that the Grand Duchess has always maintained absolute control over all affairs in this region of Ursus. Some even say she is revered even more than...

<i>Gosudar-batyushka</i>, I should not be running my mouth like this.

She eventually allowed us in...;Which means she is not worried about our investigation.

That is not necessarily the case.

She can hardly show resistance to a Grypherburger Imperial Guardswoman's face, can she?

Objectively speaking, the Grand Duchess has been acting as lubricant between the Armies and the State Council, making sure the bitterness between the two sides does not devolve into outright conflict.

I must admit, this requires considerable skill.

She gets the favor of both sides, but this also means she must maintain absolute impartiality.

You don't seem averse to discussing this.;I thought you couldn't speak lightly on this topic in Ursus.

Haha... Surprised? You seem to have some misunderstandings about Ursus, Dr. {@nickname}.

I am simply repeating the sort of gossip you might hear at any Grypherburg banquet.

If you do not know these rumors inside and out, how would you manage to join these dinnertime discussions?

Naturally, idle chatter is one thing, actually trying to leverage this chatter for some upward mobility and putting it into action is another thing altogether.

A rather interesting point of view.

On the other hand, regardless of whether the Grand Duchess is hiding anything, or if she believes everything hidden well enough...

We will certainly find something in the research institute looking into the abnormal Infected.

Do you hear... the sound of fighting up ahead?

Are those... miners fighting with a Patrol Unit?

We can't just sit by and watch.;All hands, prepare a rescue operation.

W-Wait a sec!

I've got sharper eyes, a clearer view!

The ones getting beaten down... are the Patrol Unit?

...What?

Off in the distance where Elysium is pointing, you see two groups of people fighting in a melee, a melee with a few surprising aspects to it.

A Patrol Unit is being routed by a group of Infected miners who outnumber them several times over.

The lackluster equipment in the Patrol Unit's hands is of no use, as the miners' wood-hafted pickaxes strike their bodies over and over.

Umm...

Doctor, are we... still going to mount a rescue here?

We need to stop things from escalating.;We need to learn more about what's going on.

Enough! Stop! Stop it!

What d'you think you're trying to do?! Kill us?! <i>Blyat</i>, Ursus will never let you get away with it!

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

So what... So what? Since when have we ever been treated as human beings? We're people too, aren't we...?

We were never going to make it far anyway... might as well take you with us...

Just die already!

My hand—

Wh-Where did you come from?! You monster!

Monster? That's my name, don't wear it out.

Sorry, mister, but could you slow down a bit? We have some questions we need to ask you.

Why? You want to protect these Patrol Unit bastards? You're here to take us in too?

Never, <i>mudak!</i> We're not going to follow you back all nice and quiet!

The angry miner gets even more agitated, lifting the pickaxe in his hands up high.

'Stop.'

A voice out of nowhere floods into his brain, making the weapon in his hands feel extraordinarily heavy, and his legs feel full of lead. Try as he might, he cannot move.

What the—<i>Chyort poberi!</i> What kind of Arts is this?

Sir... Could you allow us the chance to talk things through?

Amiya steps forward, stretching her right arm out towards the miners, exposing the Originium crystals on her wrist that were hidden under her sleeve.

As you can see, I am Infected. Most of my team are too.

We mean you no harm. Please believe me.

Infected... You're Infected like us.

And with some amazing Arts, too...

You... You must be those 'Reunion' guys!

Whuh?

No. We are not Reunion.

We are from Rhodes Island, a pharmaceutical company.

Oh... My mistake. I thought you were the legendary Reunion Movement.

I knew it... A bunch of Infected coming together to form an organization? It's a fantasy, no matter how you look at it.

May I ask...?

Where did you hear the name Reunion?;What have you heard about this Reunion?

Rankin. It was Rankin who told us about it.

To the south, real close to the border with Kazimierz, there's a group of Infected who founded a place of their own, who take in all Infected who ask for help, and drive out anyone who wants to do harm to the Infected too.

Rankin would never lie to anyone, and I really hope it's true, too! But... Kazimierz is so far away. How are we supposed to get there?

This Rankin, is he a member of Reunion?

Maybe? I'm not too sure, to be honest.

But he's our hero. When he's around, the Patrol Units won't dare mess with us. I heard he rescued those guys who got dragged into the research institute—

Hey, blabbermouth! We still don't know what these people want!

Oh... Right.

So, why're you here?

We lost contact with our friends in the area.

Have you seen a mobile medical team? There are nine of them, wearing clothes with the same logo as ours, and they would have been handing out medicine here.

Handing out medicine... What, like Santa Claus in the fairy tales?

The miners look at each other, as if they have just heard the worst joke on Terra.

So, what was going on here earlier?;(Point at the cowering Patrol Unit)

<i>Poshel nahuy!</i> They are murderers who wanted to kill us! They locked us up and gave us no food, trying to starve us to death!

It must have been because we couldn't dig up anything, so they didn't give us a single bite to eat, right? Stupid bastards! Who the hell even knows what happened to the vein, the Originium just disappeared all of a sudden!

We couldn't take it anymore! We had to run, or we would all die!

Is this true?

Wh-Why are you looking at me like that? What're you going to do to me?

The mining district has had a supply shortage for a while now, more than just a couple of days! We got given about, what, a few loaves of bread this month? We want to know what's going on too!

Don't believe me? <i>Gosudar-batyushka</i>, who even has the time to bother with this rabble? If we killed them, then what, are we supposed to go into the mines ourselves to dig?

Eek—! What are you doing?! Okay, I'll shut up, I'll shut up now!

This isn't just happening in one or two mines... All the Far North, the entire mining district, all of us in it... We've been abandoned.

We heard Rankin was the first one to step up. He got rid of all the soldiers, and led several hundred people on an escape.

And now we've escaped too. We wanted to find his group and leave with them, but they're far away by now.

Okay, we've told you enough. Since you're Infected too, you should get out of the way and let us kill these bastards!

Sorry, but if I may be brutally blunt for a moment.

I can overlook the reasoning of why you have left your mine, and treat you as asylum-seekers for the time being.

But if you actually do kill these unfortunate souls, then things will <i>not</i> go well for you.

(Eloysius! You can't speak to them like that!)

What's with the officer in the pretty clothes? <i>Blyat!</i> I never should have trusted you people!

The appearance of an Imperial Guardswoman relights the flames of the miners' ire. They lift up their weapons once more to fence you in, but in fear of your Originium Arts, they dare not act rashly.

As for the routed Patrol Unit, the moment they see Eloysius, it is as if they have met their savior. They huddle behind her, cowering.

It is altogether a rather awkward, irreconcilable scene.

It looks like if we don't resolve this situation, we cannot continue onwards, can we?