----Kouki Arakawa's Viewpoint --- 18 hours ago

　I couldn't hear the sounds around me at the same time as the impact, but it seems I was able to jump into the river from the 82nd floor safely. Even a non-Noah suit seems to be able to absorb the impact of a non-operational suit, even if it's a military model. The question is what to do now........do I put the gun you gave me in my belt?　
　If you go out there with your suit purged as it is, I think a Russian-made pistol can be shot with a lightly drained handgun. If you can't shoot, you're in trouble. After that, I remembered what Macho taught me about how to run away in the city and did it.

As I recall, you don't draw your gun in a place where there are a lot of civilians. If you do, the civilians will be surprised and make a scene, and if you do, you will be discovered by your pursuers. After that, we should try not to act as if we're in the wrong place... right?　The pursuer will look out for anyone who is moving suspiciously.

　Don't worry, we'll find a way out of this. If we don't get to a safe place and call for a rescue team, we're going to die, me and Mr. Anton. Okay, let's go!　I scold myself and then activate my suit's emergency purge device, and the hatch pops outward with such force that water comes pouring in!　
　The water is cold, even in August. Holding my breath, I wait for the water to stop flowing in and step out of my suit. Looking up, I could see the light of the city of Moscow shining dimly on the water.
　As I recall, the lieutenant colonel said the water was 15 meters deep, so I think I'll be able to get to the surface while I'm still breathing. I swam desperately to the surface of the water, flapping my legs, but my clothes were heavy with water, and I finally came to the surface and lightly drowned, swimming to the channel leading to the river and grabbing the ladder to land.

'Ha, ha, I thought I was going to die. I don't want to do this again.

　As I climbed up the ladder to the sidewalk, holding my sore nose from the water, I noticed a woman in her fifties looking at me suspiciously. I immediately laughed and tried to explain myself in Russian to avoid my accent.

I got drunk and fell into the river. It's cold at night, isn't it?

　When the old lady heard my words, she spoke to me with a suspicious look on her face and a puzzled look on her face.

I heard a loud sound of something falling into the river, so I came to see how you are doing, but you will die if you enter the river while you are drunk.　And you're not a kid yet, you should go home and go to bed.

　I apologized to the old lady who spoke to me in a somewhat motherly tone, then waved goodbye and looked around the city at midnight. The last time I checked the time was a little after 1 a.m., so it's about 2 a.m. now?　
　Moscow seems to be a good place to escape in the night when there is not many people around. I went to the address on the note Anton had given me, got some money and new clothes, and then got a taxi to a crowded place. Then I'll head to the train station and buy a ticket with cash, and while I'm waiting for the traffic light to turn green in front of the crosswalk, a man who walked next to me while operating a personal terminal lined up next to me.
　When the light turned green and I was crossing the street, the man opened his mouth as if he were talking to himself while operating his terminal.

Don't look at me. Turn left at the end of the crossing, then turn right and walk straight ahead for 20 meters, then take the third alley on the right.

　With that much said, the man hurriedly crossed the road and turned right away from me. Is the man on my side now?　If you were from the New World, you'd have me right here and now. I can't decide if I'm a former colleague of Mr. Anton's, but I think there's a saying in the macho mindset that says to take the side of the locals.
　I have little choice right now........so let's take a gamble here. I turned left as instructed and walked 20 meters before turning right, but it was a corner that had a pretty bad, if not slum-like, atmosphere.

''I guess this was a bad idea...''

　I stepped straight into the third alleyway as instructed, looking like I had plenty of time to hide my inner anxiety, and when I entered the third alleyway as instructed, there were a few women standing there dressed in an awkward manner. The woman who was smoking a cigarette leaning against the door in the middle of the alleyway sees me and opens the door she was leaning against with her back and indicates with her chin to go in. The woman with a cigarette in her mouth walks in with me as I silently enter the building, as if the gesture had been followed by a woman with a cigarette in her mouth.

The boss is waiting for you in the last room. What have you done?　They're going to kill me.

You've just antagonized the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world.

Huh, what are you wearing?　It's ridiculous.

　We walked down the hallway with a woman sarcastically rubbing her cigarette, which she had smoked to the root, against the wall and putting it out. When we came to the farthest room, the door opened as if in response to our conversation, and a skinhead like Anton came out from inside, pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket and handed it to the woman.

'Svetlana, thank you for your service. You can go up now for the day and forget about this. It's better for you.

　Then the skinhead who chased Svetlana away looked at me and smiled and spoke to me.

You look quite wet," he said, "I'll get you some new clothes right away. I'm sure you'll be able to find some new clothes immediately, and then you'll be able to meet with the boss.... I'll come here first.

　It seems to be completely on our side, but because of his extremely polite way of speaking and his awkward smile, which he would normally never give, I decided to follow his instructions while holding back the laughter that was oddly bubbling up, thanking him with a smile.




----Yuliya Point of View


Captain, Arakawa has arrived. He's in a separate room now to change.

　There you are. Twenty-six minutes since we escaped the hotel, which is a good amount of time. I look at my subordinate, who reports back to me, and ask him about his condition.

'What's his status?　Are you wounded or extremely agitated?

No, not at all. 'No, not at all. It seems perfectly normal. In fact, he laughed at me, so he probably has some idea of what we who helped him are like.

　It's as they say. It's only 15 ... or is it 16 because I had a birthday?　I don't know how a child of that caliber can regain a normal mental state less than 30 minutes after being the target of a terrorist attack and narrowly escaping. It's true that he's a monster, but I don't blame him. So all that's left to do now is to get him out of here and get asylum in Japan. I'm sure Miki, who has a lot of power in the Japanese government, won't be able to complain if she's traded for Arakawa.

Are the escape planes ready?

They're already at a top-secret airfield outside the city limits, ready to take off as soon as we arrive. They're ready for takeoff as soon as we arrive, and once we're in Japanese airspace, the planes will be there to protect us... but...

What?

'Are you sure you want to blow up the Moscow District radar base on the way out?　The people at the base are our allies. I'm still...

"It was the Fatherland that betrayed us in the first place. They conspired to kill us with impunity!　Then the Fatherland must pay the price.

　I understand that I would have to kill my allies, too. But it's the only way to get out of here without being distracted by the New World side that is supposed to have infiltrated the upper echelons of government. And despite our failure, it is true that the homeland tried to kill us in order to survive.
　In that case, we won't complain if they sacrifice our country to survive this time. As I was thinking to myself as I chewed on the cigar in my mouth, I heard a knock on the door and Arakawa came into the room.

'Excuse me,'

　Arakawa, dressed in a hastily procured black suit, is wearing a leather holster on his hip, probably given to him by my men. Looking at the gun handle, it looks like the small pistol we use for infiltration, but had another squad already made contact with it?

Welcome. Do you know who we are?

Mr. Anton's former colleague you are Chernobog. And you're Captain Yuliya, aren't you?

　This guy.... This guy..... did he see me like this and think it was a woman?　It's true that I've grown my hair out, but I'm not surprised to see a body that can hardly be called 'human'. I participated as a specimen in the Enhanced Soldier Project, and due to the side effects of the side effects, my flesh and blood is only 18 percent of my body combined. The rest is a machine made of iron and lubricant........

"You.........aren't afraid of me?

No, no, no, I stand corrected. I'm not scared, but I'm a little surprised.

Okay, well, that's fine. I'll tell you what we're going to do, you'll be picked up in fifteen minutes, and you'll take a ride to the airfield outside the city and board a transport plane. We'll fly to Hockadoo and then make a hard landing at Wakkanai Airport. We can assume that the Japanese self-defense forces will probably be dispatched to the city in an emergency, but we will only hand you over to them when our asylum is accepted. Well, to put it bluntly, you're a hostage, but don't feel bad about it.

How many asylum seekers?

Fourteen.

　Arakawa tilts his head curiously at my words. I don't know what the hell he's thinking, but it's almost time to get picked up. I'm about to order that I'm not going to ask any questions or allow any changes to be made in this matter when he opens his mouth.

'It's funny. The numbers don't add up, do they?　I was told by the officer in the hotel, dressed as a hotel boy, that 18 of your men would like to defect. But the captain said there were fourteen, but were there any casualties?

　It seems that another group has been in contact with him at the hotel as well. It seems they were the ones who handed him the gun, but unfortunately, we're divided and can't communicate with each other. There is an option of going to the designated assembly point to collect the remaining subordinates, but if we move around too aggressively, we might get caught again, which is currently safe.
　I'm sorry to say it, but we'll have to apply this rule to those who are left behind. I'll come back for you if we can get out of here.

That's for another team. "That's a separate team. I'm sorry, but we don't have time to pick up any of my men who are hiding in the city.

'I'm in trouble. I've been asked by Mr. Anton to help everyone as best I can, including the Captain, and I personally find it hard to escape without leaving Mr. Anton in the hotel.

I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I have an important mission to get the people I can help now to Japan safely. If you want to help Anton and his men, call Noah's Quick Reaction Force when you get back.

'I see. By the way, looking at the Captain's body, I think he's more of a combatant than an agent...

Yes, we have a top-secret, but we have a combat unit called 'Swierp'. In fact, it's mainly a combat unit, and the fact that it's an operative unit is just a front. Are we done?　I won't take any more questions, and if you resist, you'll be forcibly restrained and dragged away. Shut up and follow me.

　Slightly irritated, he approached to grab Arakawa's arm, and he pulled out a pistol from the holster on his waist surprisingly quickly and loaded the first round and put his finger on the trigger. The Japanese shouldn't have the opportunity to touch a gun, except for a few special professions, but did you receive self-defense training in Noah?　But I don't think an amateur firing a small infiltration gun would hit him, and at this distance you can step into his pocket before he even gets his gun up....
　The deaf child needs to be punished. As I was working on the timing, Arakawa twitched!　With that, he stepped out on his right foot, but stopped shoving it into his pocket in a hurry and yelled out unintentionally.

''You idiot!　If our people gave it to you, it's got real bullets in it!

After all, you can't move like this, can you? It's a good thing I'm not the only one who can't move, because if I try to hold it down, my head will be blown off.

　What did you think, Arakawa is laughing and talking as he presses the gun to his own head. Has he lost his mind?　No, her eyes are calmly looking at me. d*mn, it's hard to move in this situation...

'Captain, please listen to me for ten minutes. If you are not happy with what I have to say then give up and get on the transport with me.

All right, but first, you need to put your gun down. Now you could blow your own head off at the sound of a sudden noise.

All right. But you can't hit me at the same time you put me down, can you?　I'm poorer than the Captain thinks I am, and if he hits me with that body, I'll be like tomato ketchup in an instant. My mother would never accept asylum if that happened.

　This guy took advantage of the fact that we needed this guy himself the most in exchange. I checked the clock while suppressing my inner anger and it read exactly 2:40am. If you're willing to go that far, I'll listen to you for 10 minutes, and if we get out of here before 3:00 a.m., we'll be fine.

"You have 10 minutes. Talk.

'Yes, sir. As a prerequisite, I will tell my mother that if I die and the captains survive, I will tell her that if I die and the captains survive, I will defect to Japan or, at worst, I will accept them in Noah. By the way, I will make her keep this promise. Secondly, I will never betray the captain and his men, I will never lie to them, and I will stay with them until the end of my days, no matter what. With that in mind, please listen to the rest of the story.

　Hmm, that's how they all betrayed us. Our comrades in arms, our country, even the people we are supposed to protect....

"I will use me as bait to lure the new world to Moscow, where we will destroy it. But to do this, I need the full cooperation of the captains.

　Using yourself as bait?　What the hell is he talking about and what's in his eyes?　Pure eyes, like they're being sucked in. I've never seen a person with such eyes before....




　On this day, two people who should never have met had an encounter. One was a boy who was called a genius and walked proudly in the surface world. The other is a woman who leads a unit that works behind the scenes in the underworld. Their exploits were indeed a mystery to history for more than 200 years until the Dauntless sisters left their memoirs in the archives of Noah, which were later discovered.
　In this book, I would like to introduce a passage from their memoirs. 'There is only one thing we can know. Although Gongju rarely talked about Yuliya and his men, there was an absolute trust between them. They're neither friends nor lovers. If I had to describe it, I'd say they're comrades in arms.

　What is Noah?" by Krijus Saito and Merkava Some excerpts from