Liberi Reader

We're under the Second District. I remember the pillars marked with different colors in this passage. The exit is just ahead.

Are we just going to leave like this? What about your comrades who're staying behind?

If the Teacher and Pavel wanted us to leave, there must be a reason for it. Maybe they'll join us after fighting off the soldiers.

Shh—hide, someone's coming!

I saw someone. They must have went this way.

Don't get distracted. The other Infected don't matter, but the Generalik wants that Cautus found at any cost!

They're looking for... me?

Put down your weapons and you'll be spared!

Put down your weapons—

Turn that thing off.

Y-Yes, sir!

Turn off the speakers!

There's fewer of them than I thought. Report.

Yes, sir.

At around 0300 hours, patrols found a group near the entrance to the Third District underground, apparently attempting to gain access to the residential district through the underground layer.

We were outnumbered and the Marshal gave express orders not to harm Infected resources, causing us to lose track of some of them during the chase—

...Someone who can talk better.

......

S-Sir!

There were more of them, but the patrol was short-handed, which allowed some of them to escape to the underground layer before we could confirm their identity.

The complexity of the underground layer makes tracking difficult. However, such a mistake should not have happened to begin with! It was our error!

You talk well and you know how to reflect. But that can't wipe clean the mistake, can it?

I-I—

I will accept any punishment! / Perhaps I should explain.

......

You—what?

Perhaps I should explain. I was directly involved, after all.

A volunteering hero. What do you say to the charges of illegal gathering and resisting arrest that you and your friends are facing?

Uchitel—

(Shakes head)

We did not resist arrest, because we were not gathering illegally. We have stayed to await justice.

Disappointing. I thought you'd have something new to say...

You bore me.

The Infected here refused to cooperate with you, didn't they?

That's resisting arrest.

Sir!

So it looks like you have no idea what to do if there are more than a couple of people resisting arrest.

Foolish and inflexible.

I accept any punishment—

But I am magnanimous, and therefore I will show you what to do in these circumstances.

Argh—

—Pavel!

You make an example, like this. If killing one isn't enough, kill another, until they cooperate.

Mother's orders are important, of course, but under extraordinary circumstances such as these... does it matter whether the Infected is alive or dead?

I have made this decision. I, Anatoliy Svetlanov Buterin, take full responsibility for everything that happens here.

Now, before I cut off another head, who's going to tell me where your unruly friends have gone?

You're mad! We won't—

Why the anger? You failed. That's the truth that no amount of killing will change.

You claim you have the power to do anything, but you clearly can't get your way. You can't pry open our mouths with your sword, nor will you learn what you want to know.

We have bought precious time for our comrades, while you thrash about, locked in the cage of your own anger.

How dare you—

...Enough.

I've seen too many hackneyed tropes tonight.

Kill them all and clean up the mess. Then find—

Stop!

—!

Hierda?

Hierda!

I'm sorry, Anatoliy, I heard you were here—

You came back! You didn't flee!

But why did you leave on your own?

You should be by my side always. This was your promise. Don't you know what a promise is?

I... I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.

But... what's happening here?

...Anatoliy.

You promised not to kill more innocent people.

Yes, I promised.

Anatoliy...

But you didn't keep your end of the bargain. You left me.

I was only doing what I could while you slept. I said this to you, and you agreed.

If I agreed to anything, it was only under the condition that you stayed with me.

...I don't know how we can carry on, if you keep changing the conditions—

'Don't know how we can carry on'?

You don't know how you can continue to stay by my side?

No, listen to me—

Who planted such terrible thoughts in your mind? Who instilled such ideas in you—

You never questioned me before!

Oh—

I see you've suffered a malign influence. Tell me, what should I do? How can I change your mind?

Only I can realize your vision and bring glory to your great blessing—as long as you don't leave my side again.

I forgive you! I forgive all your mistakes, for leaving without a word.

But please, don't leave me again... never again say these terrible words.

...I promise.

As long as you promise never to kill another innocent...

Promise not to harm these Infected anymore... not to take any innocent lives.

And I will promise in turn.

I'll stay by your side, and never leave again.

......

Lieutenant.

...Yes, Generalik?

Herd these scum back to the residential district and put them in an empty apartment.

Station an artillery regiment to keep a close eye on them.

Anatoliy?

Enough. Waste no more time on these dregs.

Let us go.

......

'Convince them that this is a matter of life and death'...

How should I tell them...?

Zelgrad is not home...

Are you alright, Tonya?

Doctor Nadezhda Pavlovna...

Sorry to keep you waiting. I've been getting a lot of emergency patients lately.

You don't look well. Do you want something to calm your nerves?

No, I'm fine. I appreciate everything you've done for me and my sister.

Her condition—

Slow down, Tonya. You only brought her yesterday. I need to keep her condition under control first, and I still have questions for you.

First, have similar symptoms appeared on other members of your family?

No, not yet.

Just to be safe, I've entrusted my other siblings in the care of my neighbors, and checked for the source of infection according to your instructions.

Did you find it?

There's only one possibility... my work jacket.

It was issued to us at work, very thick and warm, so I put it around Nina those few days when the power went out... I shouldn't have done it!

She's at home all day. The only thing from the outside she could have come into contact with was that jacket.

And I found a strange... powder on it when I checked it.

Powder?

Yes... I've never seen anything like it. It clung to the surface of the jacket like some kind of dust. Probably got on it while I was washing the clothes.

Whose clothes?

The First Army... or rather, the First Army's researchers.

You mean this has something to do with them?

...We can't be sure yet.

I know what you're thinking, Tonya, but right now there's no way to prove that the powder caused the illness.

We'll have to get past that wall to find out.

...What will happen to my sister? What will the illness do to her?

I'm sorry, Tonya, but I haven't found anything similar to this in the books.

I don't even know if it's just a singular incident or not, until more patients present themselves.

I need more information about this strange new illness.

*sigh*...

Not a good feeling, is it, to be the only one awake?

Yes... I don't how I can make the others believe me.

Do not blame your friends.

Perhaps the land has never promised a future for them, not since the day they were born. They lost the courage to face the truth when happiness is dangled before them.

They will not thank the one who wakes them; they will blame you for ruining their dream.

When the future is full of despair, short-sightedness becomes a survival mechanism.

I won't blame anyone... I know it doesn't seem like an immediate danger to them.

Wait, who are you?

I entered the city with the workers.

It wasn't my intention to disrupt your lives. I only came to see... an old friend.

Will she be here? I don't know... but she is rarely absent from spectacular occasions.

I don't understand what you're saying. If there's nothing else—

How unfortunate. I do understand what you're saying... and what you're looking for.

I help the sleeping wake up, and make the weak strong.

Perhaps we can help each other... if you're willing.

?!

Ah, I see I forgot to introduce myself—

Nice to meet you, Tonya. I'm a teacher. You may call me... Koshelna.

......

(I think I lost them for real this time...)

(They were strictly aiming for my legs. Were they trying to immobilize me? Why didn't they shoot to kill?)

This is strange...

...*Huff*...

...Ugh—

You're bleeding. The smell will draw pursuers.

Who—

Let's keep it brief.

I know what you did, and I took care of some of your pursuers. At the current rate, your blood loss will send you into shock in three minutes.

I'll staunch your bleeding, then take you to a place that's... relatively safe.

Who are you?

That's not important, and it's not like you have any other choice. Maybe you could try to stab me with your final breath... but would that be worth it?

......

Yes, that's more like it.

Keep quiet and conserve your energy.

I went and got a look, Red. Guess what?

The people that we ran into during the day and the folks that came in with them are all gone. Third floor through fifth floor are empty, and we hardly heard any footsteps.

I pried open a few locks just to make sure—

Next time don't pry the locks, just knock.

If they're anything like us, they wouldn't have been sleeping well the first night here.

Do you think they were taken away quietly like the previous group, or did they leave on their own?

They're all miners. I gather they came from the north based on their outfits, but it's not clear whether they're from the Far North.

Let's find that industrial district mentioned in the intel.

I've never had the chance to ask, but do you really trust her that much? Maybe she wasn't really looking for the people who were taken away, and the intel's no good—

She had many chances to get us killed and run away in the last two years. Why hasn't she done so?

How am I supposed to know what she's thinking?

Then shut your crap and don't let me hear that again, or you can go back to Nine and get your brain straightened out before coming out again.

...I'm just being vigilant!

You can, but only if you keep it to yourself at this stage.

We're a very, very long way from having the luxury to settle old scores.

There's no one here...

Doesn't look like anyone's been working here for a while, either. It's been abandoned for a long time.

There are holes in the roof, and no equipment in sight. Looks like it's all been moved.

......

Industrial transfer.

What?

When we first came, the soldier who acted as our guide told us that the previous tenants in our apartment were 'coincidentally' moved to other districts because of industrial transfer.

No matter how 'coincidental', however, industrial transfer rarely takes place between different districts of a nomadic city.

It's only megacities like Londinium and Grypherburg that have the demand and the capacity.

And the corporations that performed industrial transfer in Londinium ultimately ended up moving their factories to smaller nomadic cities nearby, rather than other plates within the city.

How do you know this stuff?

I read.

Fine...

But Zelgrad is just a medium-sized nomadic city... built upon a small-sized nomadic city, even, with unmapped expansion plates all over the place.

There are a lot of questions, but we'll have to take them one at a time. There's no one here, nor in the dorms either. For now we can eliminate—

Wait.

What?

There's something up ahead—

Hey!

No.

What?

You were right, next time, we should ask her what she's doing.

She left someone here for us.

It's typical Arts overload symptoms alright, with concurrent acute neurasthenia that makes single emergency medication less effective.

There isn't much I can do other than prescribe sedatives and rest. She should refrain from using Arts until neurasthenia symptoms disappear.

(Mutters) Thank goodness it wasn't that...

What do you mean?

It's nothing... say, your description of the symptoms was quite accurate, and you performed appropriate early treatment. I take it you have a bit of medical knowledge?

'Have a bit of medical knowledge'? I'm—

I see... interesting, isn't it, to have so many 'doctors' arrive in Zelgrad lately.

Well, I guess I'm done here. I'll go back now—

One moment, doctor!

Do you know anything else about the patient that I brought to your clinic?

Just another poor soul too far gone to be helped... what else are you expecting me to tell you?

You were not surprised to see his symptoms.

You have seen others like him before, haven't you? How many other people have gotten the same illness here?

Oripathy isn't the only thing that kills people in this land.

Besides, if something is being deliberately suppressed in Zelgrad, there's a reason for it, and I'm not going to look for trouble.

I don't care what kind of doctor you are and why you came to Zelgrad. All I can tell you is that you shouldn't get involved in this stuff, and get out as soon as possible.

But you haven't left.

You haven't given up on helping the people here. Don't we share the same goal?

Don't flatter me. I'm just scraping a living by doing what I know how to do.

Hah... listening to that stuff is what cost me my license. Talk is cheap.

But fine... I still don't recommend that you get involved, but if you insist on investigating...

One of the workers told me she took a piece of contaminated clothing from behind that wall...

Doctor, I'm worried about what Amiya and that doctor described...

Kal'tsit should have sealed the Sarcophagus five years ago.

But Ursus is evidently hacking into the Sarcophagus very aggressively. I can't tell how far their research has progressed until I see the Sarcophagus myself.

We can't afford to wait!

I agree...

Raidian! The doctor said you have to rest!

Maybe I'm not the one who should talk, but shouldn't an elite operator exercise better judgment? Stay in bed.

I encountered powerful countermeasures while trying to probe what's happening inside the wall... it's well-defended...

Besides the army's electromagnetic jamming... the whole city's magnetic field feels strange...

I'm sorry, Doctor... I can't help for now...

See? Listen to the Doctor, won't you? At least keep the blanket around you if you want to sit up. You were shivering just now.

Based on what I saw, there are more strange things going on in Zelgrad than we thought.

That gravely ill patient, the strange creature... the First Army must be hiding something terrible.

The First Army seems to be uncooperative towards the State Council. It's unlikely that they'll help us.

We have plenty of experience with situations like this! Leave the fighting to me!

There's no such thing as an impregnable wall. Even the Armies of Ursus make mistakes.

If you ever need someone to hack through a firewall, I'm right here!

Stop walking around like that, mudak! You're making my eyes hurt.

It's been two days since they took the boss. When are you gonna go and get him out?

We have contingencies for situations like this. If he isn't back after one week, and there's no movement outside, Oleg will take over and we'll get ready to scram...

Are you out of your mind, svolotsch? Boss was telling us to be flexible, not run away at the slightest sign of trouble!

There isn't much difference.

Of course there is. Don't you remember what we sing when we drink? 'Volniki have two paths to freedom, one they carve out with their swords, the other when they bleed and fall'—

We haven't done anything except bite like an obedient tuskbeast ever since we came here!

Kuznetsov's people are everywhere. We'll be detected immediately if we leave the base during the ceasefire. Right now, we need to keep the ship safe, and say nothing if anyone asks.

Oleg is already planning the retreat.

At least we need to make those mudak pay the price for looking down on us.

Is that more important than your life?

But we're not that lunatic Kuznetsov's pet tuskbeasts!

Even a tuskbeast will bite through its fence if cornered. Sirka would agree with me, if she was here.

But she's not.

......

You're right, though. We would be making a night visit to the flagship right now if Sirka was here.

I'm starting to miss her. Should've learned those tricks of hers. Damn it all...

Enough slacking! Scioppa's back, and in one piece!

You have three minutes to hide your liquor and smokes and illegal Arts units—

We weren't drinking!

Or smoking. And we already hid our Arts units in case Kuznetsov sends another inspector. They took a bunch with them the last time, even ones that were still being repaired.

Where's the boss, Oleg?

On deck! No one knows when he came back. He was standing there when I saw him.

He just smiled when I asked, saying that everything's good. You know how people have been on edge since that incident in December.

What's our next step? Are we still leaving?

The alarm's cancelled for now. Go back to your posts. I'll make another round; I'll let you know if anything happens—

There you are, Oleg.

Boss!

I want everyone who's awake out on deck.

I have a important announcement to make.

Is everyone here?

Everyone on the night shift.

Inform the others after the shift change.

What's going on? The last time you called all hands was...

......

Remember the bomb that went off in Central recently?

Who could forget? We could feel it all the way here. They say it left nothing except some strange-colored dust. The sight of the Viy eating someone could hardly be more terrible.

Hah, the Viy eating someone... you're right.

That's the First Army's new weapon, which the people above really want to get their hands on. That's when the Special Tactics Formation comes in handy.

In other words, we just got a big job.

What do you mean?

?!

Are you saying—

Yes, we're going to steal the First Army's new weapon.

Wait a second. Going to the First Army's position means passing through the front lines, right? Which means we'll have to deal with the Second Army. Is that even possible?

Or are we going to go around—

Or is it just a part of some kind of operation?

Maybe we just need to carry out our orders, like when we put down that mutiny.

......

You're right. His High Excellency Marshal Evgeny Andrianov Kuznetsov has made arrangements for us to pass the Second Army's lines safely.

All we need to do is...

Advance.