Shadow Slave

After leaving the hospital and sending his soldiers to the barracks, Sunny remained on the street,

watching the snow dance in the stark beams of electric light. He had to rest, too...

After a while, Sunny sighed awkwardly.

‘Right. I’m homeless now.’

He had been staying in the Rhino, but now, the APC was gone. That fact actually made Sunny feel very sad. The trusty vehicle had accompanied the Irregulars to the edge of the Antarctic Center and back. surviving countless battles. He had grown attached to it, so losing the vehicle was a bit of a blow.

It felt... like the end of something.

Shaking his head, Sunny started walking. lie could get himself a room in the barracks, of course the First Army had suffered severe losses, so there was plenty of space. But it was exactly for that reason that he didn’t want to. Being surrounded by bereaved soldiers would do his already foul mood no good.

‘I can’t stand the thought of having them look at me right now.’

Respect, admiration, hope... that was what he saw in the eyes of the soldiers when they looked at him. They all had an expectation of him, and canying those expectations was tiresome.

‘To hell with it...’

Sunny simply wandered aimlessly for a while, trying not to think about anything in particular. In the end, he found himself standing in front of a familiar dormitory tower. He hesitated for a bit, then entered and descended to one of the underground levels.

The dormitory seemed much emptier than before. There had been three families living in the same apartment as Professor Obel and Beth, but now, he could only sense two shadows inside. Sunny stared at the flimsy door for a few moments, then knocked on it.

A few seconds later, it opened, revealing Professor Obel. The old man looked like he always did, having not changed even a little.

Why would he? The previous day was a dreadfully eventful one for Sunny, but for the Professor, it was just like all the others.

man looked

Oh,

the black silk of the Graceless Dusk, he still looked rather rough. There were ugly bruises covering his

out

am fine. It

city itself, were now replaced by a giant crater. Even people

Professor Obel nodded.

heard all about it. Thank

a moment, then

you mentioned setting aside some food for me, the last time we met? To tell you the truth... I am kind of

The old man laughed.

Come in. Beth,

the rooms and looked at him with a hint of relief. She froze {31” a moment, then turned away

Good. I...

he would cook up a feast — the ingredients Beth had procured were indeed rare for

and chatted idly with the two of them. Ashe did, some of the tension pressing down on his heart

Professor

in the queue, finally. Both Beth

already received the tickets... I imagine you will

Sunny smiled as well.

‘Finally, some good news.’

a sip of fragrant

out, a couple of days after you. Three weeks are coming to an end, after all... even though there were some delays, the Army mostly managed to stick to the schedule. Somehow. So,

at Beth, hesitated for a moment,

AFC blew up, so... I kind of have