Mission

"Unit 2 requested, get ready to leave! White silent monsters spotted on the north side of the hill!"

A large group of equipped soldiers immediately got out of the building and positioned themselves in rows in the backyard.

"What’s happening?" asked Olive, nervous.

Richard More reached the three guys who were looking out of the window.

"A wave of silent monsters is coming. Don’t worry, Miss, Blossomhyl is located on top of a hill, so we have an advantage: they won’t reach the city so easily" he said.

"Is it normal that they’re so close?" asked Olive.

Richard shook his head.

"Lately, the waves are getting stronger and harder to defeat. Silence expanded a lot in the last period, many lands nearby are affected. We’re in a critical situation." The man glanced at Natsuo. "So, I would like to ask you a favor."

"Let me guess: you want me to help you defeat this wave of monsters" said Natsuo.

Richard nodded. "Of course I’ll repay you duly."

Natsuo sniggered. "Deal."

A soldier escorted the three of them to the backyard, where the soldiers of Unit 2 were rushing toward a building that looked like a train station. The soldier with them talked with a girl, then left.

The girl turned to the three guests. She was tall like Olive, but her skin was slightly more tanned because of the hours of training under the sun. Her hair was very dark and styled in a bob, and her eyes blue like ice.

"Hello, I’m Alice. Captain More entrusted me with your care during this mission." She introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you, I’m Himura Natsuo. She’s Olive and he’s Gregory" Natsuo replied.

Alice scanned Gregory with suspicion, lingering on his tattoo, but didn’t say anything. Probably Natsuo was too special of a guest to cause controversy.

"I heard about you, Captain More warned us of your visit. We’re honoured to have you as a companion for this mission" Alice said, then glanced at the building that resembled a train station. "Now we’ll take a cart to reach the place of the battle, follow me. I’ll explain everything to you once we’re settled."

Natsuo, Gregory and Olive followed Alice toward the building. The structure was made of red bricks and opened in several arches. Inside, there was a hall with carts piled up on the sides and various caves that looked like the entrances of a mine. In front of every tunnel started a rail that continued inside.

Olive and Gregory observed the rails, baffled.

"What… What are those strips of wood and metal?" asked Olive.

"Rails" replied Natsuo.

Alice frowned. "How do you know? This technology is used only by the Unit."

Natsuo cleared his throat and acted as if he didn’t hear. He couldn’t tell her the truth for sure.

Alice waited a moment for his reply, but seeing that he wasn’t willing to speak, she went on.

"We use rails to move around Roselond more easily. Captain More invented this mechanism with the help of his system and created a network of underground rails that connects all of our bases."

"It’s incredible!" exclaimed Olive.

Alice nodded. "It’s all thanks to Captain More."

Gregory, Natsuo and Alice took a cart and placed it on the rails, as the other soldiers were doing. Following Alice's instructions, she, Natsuo and Olive got in the cart, while Gregory pushed it into the tunnel.

After a few steps inside the cave, the cart started moving on his own and Gregory climbed inside.

"Thanks to Captain More’s system, the carts move on their own inside the tunnels, so we don’t have to do anything" explained Alice.

"What will you do once he dies?" asked Natsuo.

Olive nudged him. "Don’t jinx it!"

"Ouch! Sorry, sorry…"

"His son was raised to develop the same system, so he will be the next one to take care of it" replied Alice. "Now let’s talk about the mission. A wave of white silent monsters is coming in the direction of the north side of the hill where Blossomhyl is located. Our mission is simple: we have to defeat them all. First we will use war machines that will get rid of the majority of them, only after we will kill those who remain hand to hand. Do you understand everything?"

The three nodded.

"Why do you call them “white” silent monsters? Does this mean that there are even other colours?" asked Natsuo.

"White it’s the type of silent monster. Other three types exist, but here are more frequent the white ones."

Natsuo nodded. Up to that point the cart had been going straight, but suddenly it leaned forward and a steep descent started.

Olive screamed, startled for the sudden change. Natsuo felt his soul leaving his body for the dizziness, while Gregory put his arms on his stomach, trying to hold back vomiting.

Alice, on the contrary, was quiet. She was used to it.

When the descent finally ended, Natsuo took a deep breath.

"You could have warned us" he said.

Alice shuddered. "I didn’t think it was a problem."

Natsuo sighed.

After some time, the cart reached the end of the tunnel and stopped moving. The four of them got out of it and put the cart in its place in the hall. The place was similar to the one where they left, with the only difference that this one didn’t overlook the yard.

The soldiers lined up to cross a narrow corridor that opened from the station. After a flight of stairs, they found themselves in a circular basement made of grey stone.

"Welcome to the North Castle" said Alice.

Through the slits, Natsuo observed the situation outside. On the horizon, a white wall seemed to be coming in their direction: it was the silent monsters’ wave.

There were so many that they seemed to be one, enormous body that devoured everything on its path. And they had to defeat them all… Natsuo shivered.