041
Kiiing, kiiing.
I felt a vibration running up my spine. My pupils and lips trembled involuntarily.
The android was removing the external spine embedded in my back. Blood flowed down my spine as the screws embedded on the left and right sides of my spine came out.
-You will feel a foreign body sensation and pain for a while.
The android said, placing the blood-stained screws one by one into the tray.
My medical chart appeared on the wall display. I had suffered a fatal injury, a broken neck. It was not something I could overcome with willpower or grit, so I did not get discharged early this time.
Ugh.
I moved my head, rubbing the back of my neck. The muscles surrounding my barely attached cervical vertebrae were stiff.
‘I almost ended up living with an external spine.’
If you have a cybernetic artificial spine, whether external or internal, the rehabilitation period will be long. It will take a long time to recover to the original skill level with an artificial spine. In the whole body prosthesis procedure, the spine, where the nervous system is densely located, is the most difficult and demanding procedure.
I closed my eyes and felt the change in my body. The nervous system signals that had been bypassed through the artificial spinal cord began to pass through the normal central nervous system.
Since I had become accustomed to the external spine, at first it felt like it wasn’t my body. My brain and body felt more connected. In fact, my reactions were so fast that I even grabbed a glass of water and dropped it.
For a guard cadet, this kind of foreign feeling is a problem that can be solved in a day or two. My brain will quickly figure out the errors and gaps and correct them.
‘Because our brains have been modified to be suited for combat with cybernetic bodies.’
I stood up, put on my cadet coat, and stood in front of Felix’s hospital bed for the last time.
“It was fun, Felix.”
“Lu, Ka. Are you going?”
Felix was still lying there with his neck brace on. He had moved several times in the meantime and had aggravated the injury. His intelligence had deteriorated to that of a toddler.
“… … I have to go.”
I don’t have to worry about Felix’s future. He is a member of a prestigious family that runs a business. They won’t let him starve to death because he’s no longer useful. In fact, nobles who seem to have high status have come to visit him in the hospital.
“Luca.”
Before I left, Felix dragged out his words with all his might. When I looked back, I saw that he was struggling to speak clearly.
“I hope you have good luck in your future.”
I just nodded.
I’m moving forward. Felix is here. That’s it.
But I will remember Felix. Even those who are dead now.
* * *
The fact that I have been incorporated into the Custoria family has not yet spread. According to the captain of the guard, it will take quite some time for the paperwork to be officially processed.
‘There are some picky elders in the family. Well, don’t worry about it. This arrangement will pass.’
The words of the captain of the guard came to mind. The Custoria family’s leader had been active in the front lines of the family for forty or fifty years before stepping down as an elder. The Custoria family, for example, had adopted a system of elders, and the generational change was flexible and active.
There were many noble families that did not have a generational change until the predecessor died. The imperial nobles lived for over two hundred years. It seemed like a long time to me, who had not even lived a century.
I walked down the hallway of the main building of the Royal Guard Training Center, lost in thought.
‘Barbara the Witch.’
I checked the list of wanted criminals in the Empire. I sorted them by most recent, and there was Barbara.
Barbara’s bizarre behavior, escapades, and a series of events called a curse.
If the Empire had intervened, the android rampage incident known as Barbara’s Curse could have been understood.
However, it was ambiguous to what extent it was the Empire’s work and what was Barbara’s deviation. Because of this ambiguous area, Nemesis took the bait. They judged Barbara to be a genius hacker who could even make fun of the Kratzia Academy and recruited her.
But Barbara was a figure on the Empire’s side. A spy prepared to approach the heart of the terrorist group Nemesis.
‘Over the years… … no, maybe over a dozen years.’
I still don’t know what Barbara is. She’s not just some low-class Irregular. She might have been designed for this operation from the genetic level.
The bizarre behavior I saw from Barbara was not just an act. It was a clear fact that she was a twisted human being.
‘… … Anyway, nothing is a coincidence.’
At the Academy, I simply followed the plan laid out by my superiors, deluding myself that it was my choice and will.
The more I learned, the more I could not fathom the depth of the empire.
‘It must have been my superiors’ plan for me to meet Kinuan and learn the fighting techniques of Akies.’
Now I am convinced. As Kinuan said, this was not my free will. It was my superiors who naturally led me to contact Kinuan.
Suspicion was building. Everything felt strange.
I went from a two-digit orphanage to an irregular. Maybe I wasn’t originally an irregular. Maybe I had the leeway to go to a one-digit orphanage.
I was always weird. When I was in the orphanage, I felt like I was the only weird one. I couldn’t interact with them, like I was a different species. It wasn’t until I came to the guard training center that I felt a sense of kinship with my peers.
‘Then it’s not that I overcame my poor environment and genes through hard work… … .’
From the beginning, I was destined to be an elite soldier, and the plan may have surrounded me.
I thought of Ilay’s words. He said that people need irregulars like me to believe in the possibility of class mobility and accept the current system and structure.
‘Stop it, Luca.’
I closed my eyes. My thoughts were tangled. I shouldn’t think the same as a subversive element.
… … Everything is my delusion and conjecture.
The captain of the guards may have taught me the inside story of this incident as a test. Whether my loyalty to the empire and my determination as a soldier will not waver.
‘The opportunity to change my life has come.’
Luca Custoria.
It is a position that I have seized with my own hands. It is too early to feel relieved. If my grip loosens even a little, it will disappear like smoke. I must not let it go.
I walked with my eyes closed and stood upright. When I opened my eyes, I saw Kinuan’s office.
Profit.
The door opened. A familiar sight appeared. Kinuan was sitting, a teacup and a book, and incense was rising from the shelf by the window.
“Oh, Luca. Did you enjoy your youth at the Academy?”
He keeps saying things like that even though he knows it’s not true. I’m used to his way of speaking now.
“It was so fun that I almost never returned to the training camp.”
“It’s a shame what happened to Felix. He was an excellent student.”
I wonder if he really feels sorry. The words came out of my throat.
——————
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“I saved my life thanks to the instructor’s teachings. First of all, I am grateful.”
“I remember you getting angry and saying that even though you worked hard to learn the Archetype combat techniques, it was useless when you wore the Legion.”
“Well, my thoughts aren’t much different now.”
I said as I sat down. Kinuan poured me some tea and handed it to me.
Well, it still tastes bitter and sour. I still can’t believe that this stuff costs more than my daily wage.
I lifted my mouth from my teacup and stared at Kinuan. I thought of terrorist Rick Silva Nunez, damn it, let’s just think of him as Rick Kaiser. That’s easier. Anyway, I thought of the damn terrorist who broke my neck.
“Rick asked me to say hello to the instructor. He said he was doing well.”
“Oh, Rick Silva Nunez? Yeah, I’m glad you’re doing well.”
Kinuan answered calmly. Not even an eyebrow moved.
“Rick is a top-tier fugitive, a terrorist. He’s the one who broke my neck.”
“You were unlucky. No, I should say you were lucky. You survived the encounter with that guy. Well, Rick’s personality has been mellow since before. I guess he’s still the same.”
I frowned. I was calling the terrorists intimate.
“Are we close friends?”
“I know, we were in the Royal Guard together. We called him Rick Lapidus. Lapidus means fast. As the nickname suggests, his reflexes were exceptionally fast. If the body could support his abilities, he could even catch a flying bullet with his fingers. Nowadays, thanks to technological advancements, there are quite a few people who can do that, but back then, he was unrivaled.”
The world is a big place, Kinuan said, as if there were many warriors like Rick.
“So you’re saying that you’re still not in contact?”
“You misunderstand something. I may be a retired soldier, but I’m still on the Imperial payroll. I’m not in a position to communicate with terrorists. I see you haven’t told the Captain of the Guard about Rick’s well-being.”
I paused for a moment and then answered.
“… … Because it’s something that could result in the instructor being summarily executed. At the very least, I wanted to confirm it with my own eyes and ears before reporting it.”
It was half sincere and half intended to buy favor.
“You don’t need to be so considerate of me. If I was going to be punished for something like this, I would have been punished long ago. Just accept your feelings.”
“And if you were to be punished, Instructor, I would like to know more about the Archie’s combat techniques before that. I have heard about them in various ways.”
“Haha, I believe that more than saying you were considerate of me.”
I sorted out in my head what had happened.
‘Users of Archie’s Victory are so watchful that they even have a separate list.’
That was what investigator Gillian Campbell said.
‘I won’t kill you since you seem to have mastered Archie’s Victory.’
That’s also why terrorist Rick Kaiser didn’t just smash my head in. He broke my neck, leaving room for me to recover.
Here, we must clearly understand what Archie’s Victory is. It was more than just combat skills.
“… … So what is the Archies combat technique?”
I didn’t beat around the bush. I just relayed to Kinuan exactly what Jillian Campbell and Rick Kaiser had said.
Kinuan took a sip of his cooling tea while looking out the window. Then he smiled as if he had been waiting for my question.
“You got here faster than I thought, Luca Custoria.”
“Have you heard already?”
At my words, Kinuan maintained an iron-clad smile. His information network seemed to extend to the higher-ups. He was truly an unknowable person.
“Well, that’s right. Now you’re close to the center. You know a lot for someone so low down. Do you know what this means?”
“I know very well.”
If secrets and secrets leak out of my mouth, I am dead. And if my superiors want to bury certain incidents and secrets regardless of my words and actions… …then I will also be in danger. The name Custoria will protect me at least. That is why the captain of the guards hastily incorporated me into the family.
“The history of Archaes Victima is much deeper than you think. It goes back to the time before the Empire settled on the planet Novas. And its founders… … .”
Kinuan smiled. He continued speaking with a blank expression.
“… … In 3518, Noel Mulizcane led the first rebel uprising in the history of the Empire. He was the leader of the rebels, and the one who created the Archies Victima and presented the theory of meta-warfare.”
Akies Victima was a troublesome fighter from birth.
