To Make a Killing

A platinum — no, silver-haired girl stood on the roof of department store, staring down the glass roof below. Behind her was a squad of men and women, each clad in tactical armour with a rifle in their hands. The silver-haired girl, too, was in a suit of grey tactical armour, holding a peculiar, obviously non-standard, rifle, with a long bayonet fixed to the muzzle of the gun. For the girl, whose physique obviously paled compared to the men and women behind her, the rifle’s length was way out of proportion; that she could even wield it was a miracle in itself.

But what happened next was beyond common sense.

An explosion shattered the glass roof, then she jumped in without a second thought. Landing on the third floor, the girl immediately shot the two enemies in front of her, then stabbed the third’s heart with her bayonet. When other enemies realised and returned fire, she quickly took cover before what appeared to be smoke bombs exploded, but not before shooting, stabbing, and slashing some more enemies along the way.

What happened next wasn’t clear, but her comrades likely followed her either through the roof or through more conventional entrances. When the smoke cleared up, only the girl was left in front of the camera, her gorgeous silver hair now dyed crimson by others’ blood.

“People over there, are you still alive? …Looks like you are fine! Please stay still! Don’t worry, my teammates will rescue you soon! Ah, I need to go now, stay safe!”

The silver-haired girl shouted at the camera, a bright, innocent smile on her face. As if she was simply a student, saying good bye to her friends on a shopping trip.

She then leaped to the sixth floor, where a flood of screams was heard soon after.

———————-

“Uwah… is she even human?” Looking at a certain clip on MyTube, I blurted.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but she is. In fact, she is right here drinking her Venti Aurum Iced Latte with Double Caramel Syrup nonchalantly.” Lilia replied.

“Hmmm… who might she be…?” I take a sip of my Venti Aurum Iced Latte with Double Caramel Syrup.

As promised, Ms. Kobayashi and Mr. Zhao brought us to a coffee shop after the lectures. I believe the name was “Stellarquid” and it was apparently a pretty popular chain. Then as we started sipping our coffees, I decided brought up the topic about my past, and before I knew, I was watching a clip of myself (???) killing terrorists.

“The Blood-stained Silver-haired Angel compilation” was the name of the clip, apparently.

“So you really don’t remember! What a shame. I was looking forward to your next exploits.” Hana — Ms. Kobayashi blurted out something incredibly insensitive again. “That delicate, yet dignified figure! The angelic face and equally celestial platinum hair, like a princess from another world! Who would have thought she would stand between terrorists and tear through through dozens of criminal scum like a berserker of the legends! You were just way too cute and I instantly became a fan when I saw it on TV!”

“Ladislaus, is Kobayashi-san always like this…?” I asked.

“I am really sorry. She goes on and on in Japanese when she gets excited, not to mention how insensitive and tasteless she tends to be. But she is a very kind person at heart.” Ladislaus Zhao apologised on his friend’s behalf.

“I don’t know what Hana is saying, but I figured she’s admiring your actions in the clip. Her tastes are certainly weird…” Lilia quipped. It seemed that she could not understand Japanese and felt left out.

“It is better that you don’t understand her…” I said. Otherwise my dignity is going to scatter, I thought.

“Then I looked her up and… ah, sorry, I was speaking in Japanese.” Hana finally realised her mistake, and switched back to English. “But anyways, I really do admire your heroic act against those extreme Americanists. No matter how much magic power or combat training I have, I wouldn’t be able to do the same.”

…I knew magic, too, exists in Elysium, but apparently Yuri Yuzuki was a powerful magic user. A battle mage, maybe? I did not see any notable magic on the clip, aside from perhaps body strengthening — which I also did as Celestia. That aside, I heard a noun I didn’t know.

“I am sorry, Hana, but my memories are still hazy because of my injuries. What are Americanists?”

“They are people advocating for the ‘Thirteen American Provinces’ to secede from the United Commonwealth. Most express their opinion via peaceful protests these days, but some of them are criminals who would not hesitate to commit terrorism, like the department store hostage incident you were involved in.” Lilia replied on Hana’s behalf. “Those nutjobs were called ‘Sons of the Founding Fathers’, I believe.”

————————

…The Thirteen American Provinces. If I recalled correctly, they are officially called the Commonwealth of North America, and together with Canada and and the Commonwealth of Great Britain and Ireland, one of the three constituent nations of the United Commonwealth. The Thirteen Provinces specifically refer to the fact that they rebelled against the Parliament repeatedly: they rebelled in the Great American Rebellion in 1776, then again in 1860, then again, albeit at a much smaller scale, in 1905.

Since then, the more populous northern half of the Commonwealth had became economically and politically integrated with both the British Isles and Canada, and the rebellions fizzled out. Now, the position of secession itself is a radical one; most American politicians simply argued for more power within the United Commonwealth, for example by creating a second capital in one of the American provinces. I remember their plan was to drain the swamp between the Provinces of Maryland and Virginia and build a new city there…

—————————-

“Ah, I remember that now.” I couldn’t immerse myself in thought anymore. “But why was I there?”

“…I don’t know.” Lilia said.

“Then, why was I holding a gun and killing people?” Sensing Lilia’s hesitation, I decided to press her for more information.

“From what I heard from the news, you just happened to be shopping nearby. When you realised what was happening, you reported to the local Army unit and joined the assault. Due to your experience in the Army, you were the one leading the charge.” Ladislaus said. “Purportedly as a distraction, so the main force can go in.” He added.

“I (Yuri) was in the Army??”

“Well… you chose to enrol in the U.C. Army for two years before university to obtain citizenship here. ‘Service guarantees citizenship’ or something… It must be my father who put that in your head — he is a military man — after all...” Lilia shivered a bit as she answered. I realised I scared her, and quickly apologised.

…But being in a foreign country’s army. Being barely 20 at the time of the incident. Yet having enough combat experience to lead the charge. On top of that, annihilating enemies with those precise gun shots and savage stabbing. If it was back in the Kingdom, one would be called a great warrior regardless of gender or age. I had so many questions, but I felt I should not ask back then.

“That aside.” Hana let out a sigh, her excitement seemingly drained. “I understand why you’d want to hide your appearance after that, but… I’d hoped to see your beautiful silver hair and those clear, blue eyes again…” She whispered as she blushed. I almost wanted to remind her I am not an otome game character.

“I don’t know what happened, but my hair is natural. The doctor said something along the lines of ‘your albinism was cured because of the shock’ or something.” I replied out of courtesy.

“Is that even possible?” Ladislaus seemed unconvinced.

“I dunno.” I don’t even know if Yuri really had albinism to begin with. “In any case, I guess my hair and my memories were the price for my action. Jumping into a battlefield would give me bullet holes after all.” I said, sarcastically.

“But you weren’t injured, though?” Hana pointed at the screen. “Look, this is you and your squad after the rescue. This is you shaking hands with the Lord Protector. And this is you surrounded by the media in front of the university. You were completely unharmed in the incident.”

“Then why I almost died?” Or, in reality, actually died.

“Onee-sama got run over by a truck.” Lilia said.

“…Seriously?”