Di antara dua penajungan yang menyusuri jalur kereta api udara. Di tengah angkarnya, Osprey menghadapi seorang gadis.
"...Wow, kamu benar-benar mengapung. Pak."
Gadis itu berbicara dengan diawasi kekaguman, dan Osprey tersenyum dengan lembut.
"Kamu juga sama, ya?"
"...Aku sedikit berbeda."
Osprey menghecklap ke bawah kakinya. Sangat sulit dilihat dengan mata telanja, namun benang-tipis seperti benang di bawahnya yang mendukung gadis itu.
"Apa yang membuatmu di sini, miss?"
"Aku datang untuk meletupkan kereta itu."
"Ah, kereta, kamu bilang?"
"Banyak orang akan mati."
Gadis itu mengangguk. Matanya lemah.
"Murid-murid Constel itu terlalu kuat. Terutama yang baru masuk. Aku perlu menanganinya semuanya di sini."
"Kebanyakan orang itu berarti bagus, ya?"
"Iya. Kalau mereka berada di sisi kita. Tapi tidak."
Adegan itu sangat sederhana sekali.
Namun Osprey dengan anehnya mengerti dan setuju. Sepertinya semua kekuatan di dunia berlawan dengan diklasifikasikan begitu saja oleh gadis itu. Mereka hanya menambah beberapa pembenaran di atasnya.
Dan menurut dichotomi ini, Osprey pun memiliki alasan yang cukup untuk bersikap hostil terhadap gadis itu karena ia berada di dalam "mereka". Logikanya sangat menarik.
"Namun, meletupkan kereta itu tidak akan menjadi pilihan."
"Kita tetap akan melakukannya."
"Itu tidak mungkin. Revolusimu tidak mengenal 'moderasi'. Kalau kamu bertaruh 'terlalu tinggi', kamu akan kehilangan kaki. Apa kabar 'kondisi negara'?"
Osprey menekankan beberapa kata dengan sengaja. Ini adalah suatu petunjuk yang sangat bijak. Ia tidak menyebutkan apa yang dimaksud, namun cukup untuk menanamkan 'pikiran' di dalam kepala gadis itu.
Gadis itu tidak menunjukkan reaksi apa pun. Ia benar-benar mengabaikan kata-kata Osprey. Ini adalah sikap yang baik untuk seseorang yang masih muda.
"Jadi, apa yang kamu lakukan di sini, Pak?"
"Mencoba menangkap kauru."
Matanya Gadis itu memgelap. Niatbiusias sakit muncul, merata dari kepala sampai jari kaki.
"Ha-ha-ha. Mengapa terlalu serius, miss?"
Osprey menerima niatbiusias itu sambil tersenyum yang nyaman.
"Memang kau memanggil dirimu sendiri kauru, miss?"
"...Kita bukan kauru."
"Baik-baik. Setiap kata-katanya benar. Maaf. Saat kita tumbuh, kita mulai memikirkan implikasi dari bahasa yang sederhana. Boleh aku maafkanmu."
Osprey mengangkat satu tangan. Jari ibunya tangannya yang ditempakkan secara horizontal menyentuh dada. Mana berputar-putar dari titik kontak.
"Namun, gadis yang terampil. Ayo, kau perlu 'obatan'."
"Bukan kita yang harus diselamatkan, tapi mereka-!"
Gadis itu berhenti bicara. Bibirnya tidak bergerak karena sedang berpikir. Gadis itu menyentuh wajahnya. Tidak, ia tidak bisa menyentuhnya. Jemarinya menyentuh udara.
Setengah kepalanya terasing. Hanya begitu saja gadis itu menyadari bahwa setengah pandangannya telah hilang.
"Apa itu, magic? Apa yang terjadi? Aku tidak melihatnya."
Gadis itu jatuh. Ia hampir berhasil menggenggam benang yang sebelumnya sudah terpasang. Namun,
Kali ini, tangan yang ia pegang terasing. Tubuhnya bergoyang. Ia mengerti serangan akan datang, namun tidak bisa menghindari atau memblokirnya. Gadis itu memandang tangan yang terasingnya. Jelas benar efek maginya.
Rambutnya gemetar. Senang sekali, setiap rabun jumlah rambutnya membelah ribuan kali dan tersebar mengikuti benang. Semuanya juga adalah spider.
"Gadis yang terampil, aku harap kau akan datang sebagai 'badan utama' belakangan ini. Hanya begitu kau bisa berbicara dengan cara yang sebenar-benernya."
Gadis, membelah menjadi ribuan spider, memandang Osprey dengan mata terakhirnya yang tersisa.
Ia datang untuk melihat betapa kuat Osprey dan mengetahui sifat kekuatannya. Ia bisa hampir menangkapnya.
Mata terakhir yang tersisa itu juga sangat segera membelah, menjadi spider.
Dari jarak, Indus member Thompson mengamati adegan itu.
Ia memanipulasi komponen yang terpasang pada sendi prostetiknya, menarik silikon dengan jemarinya. Kemudian, dengan suara klik-klik, sebuah teleskop meledak di samping prostetiknya. Thompson membawa mata ke teleskopnya.
Anggota Indus yakin, melihat Osprey menunggu di jalur kereta api udara. Constel pasti sudah menduga bahwa Indus akan melakukan gerakan!
Untuk memahami kekuatan Osprey, anggota Cain mengirim darinya ke Osprey. Thompson ingin memeriksa cara Osprey bertarung.
"Kontol, aku tidak tahu?"
Bahkan dari jarak ini, tidak mungkin untuk melayang dengan cermat apa yang Osprey lakukan. Cain, yang mengalaminya secara langsung, tidak akan memahami sama sekali.
Kemudian ponselnya berbunyi. Thompson membawa ponsel ke telapaknya.
"Hei, tak bisa gerakkan jari kelingkah sebelum dibawa turun."
-Seh, apa identitaskannya? Uang laki laki itu.
Thompson berkata dengan licik.
-Pastya. Thompson tidak kompeten. Ini adalah kesalahan padaku dalam memilihnya.
"Anak ini tahu cara memecerkan, ya?"
-Lebih penting lagi, ada yang lain.
Ada yang lebih pentir dari sifat kekuatan Osprey?
Thompson menghela napas dengan kebingungan, lalu ekspresinya keras karena kata-kata berikutnya Cain.
-Osprey tahu tentang 'revolusi'.
Mulut Thompson menutup ketat. Sikap bersenang-senangnya hilang.
"Bukan malah kebetulan kata-kata tersebut muncul?"
-Tidak. Ia hanya tahu bahwa akan meletupkan kereta, namun juga untuk 'revolusi'. Ini bukan kebetulan.
Mata-mata Thompson makin dingin. Kemungkinan, mata Cain yang sedang di panggilan, juga seirama itu.
"...Maka, sungguh, apa yang kita canda terakhir kali,"
-Ku, seperti kutahu.
Kedua orang itu memiliki pikiran yang sama. Mengonfirmasi itu, Cain berkata.
"Ada yang trese di dalam Indus."
Between two cliffs through which the aerial railway passed.
Standing in mid-air, Osprey faced a girl.
"...Wow, you're really floating. Grandpa."
The girl spoke as if in awe, and Osprey smiled kindly.
"You're the same, aren't you?"
"...I'm a bit different."
Osprey glanced beneath the girl's feet. It was hard to see with the naked eye, but thin threads like filaments were supporting her.
"What brings you here, miss?"
"I came to blow up the train."
"Ah, the train, you say?"
"A lot of people will die."
The girl nodded. Her eyes were innocent.
"The students of Constel are too strong. Especially the first years. I need to take care of them all here."
"Being strong is a good thing, isn't it?"
"Right. If they were on our side. But they're not."
It was a remarkably simple dichotomy.
But Osprey strangely understood and agreed. It seemed that all the forces in the world were in conflict with such a simple dichotomy girl. They just added various justifications on top of it.
And according to this dichotomy, Osprey had enough reason to be hostile towards the girl because she belonged to "them". It was truly refreshing logic.
"However, blowing up the train wouldn't be an option."
"We'll do it anyway."
"It would ruin Indus's image. For a 'revolution,' you have to know when to hold back."
The girl's eyes twitched at Osprey's coaxing tone. It was brief, but Osprey didn't miss it.
Indeed. Indus hadn't yet considered that the word 'revolution' could get out.
Even Osprey himself hadn't thought of it in such precise terms until he heard it from Frondier.
Perhaps, this could be a way to plant doubt within Indus.
"It doesn't matter. We'll still do it."
"That's impossible. Your revolution doesn't know 'moderation.' If you aim 'too high,' you'll miss your footing. What then of the 'state of the nation'?"
Osprey emphasized certain words on purpose. It was a very cunning hint. He didn't specify what he was referring to, but it was enough to plant 'thoughts' in the girl's mind.
The girl didn't show any reaction. She completely ignored Osprey's words. It was a good stance for someone her age.
"So what are you doing here, grandfather?"
"Trying to catch a cockroach."
The girl's eyes darkened. A murderous intent emerged, evenly spread from her head to her toes.
"Ha-ha-ha. Why so serious, miss?"
Osprey received the girl's murderous intent while smiling comfortably.
"Are you calling yourself a cockroach, miss?"
"......We are not cockroaches."
"You've been saying 'we' all this while, but you're alone, aren't you?"
The moment Osprey said that, he felt a peculiar sensation.
At first, it was a tiny sense of awareness, barely noticeable, but soon it grew into an unmistakable feeling of something crawling up from under his feet.
Osprey briefly scanned the surroundings. Countless threads spread around the girl, and something was coming from beyond them.
Things were crawling on the thread from the edge of the cliff. They were spiders. The spiders were smaller than ordinary bugs, about as thin as the thread.
"We're not cockroaches."
"Well, well. Every word is true."
Osprey nodded as if convinced.
"You're 'us', but you're not a 'cockroach'. It is literally true. I apologize. When you get older, you tend to think about the implications of even simple words. Forgive me."
Osprey raised one hand. The thumb of his horizontally held hand touched his chest. Mana swirled from the point of contact.
"But, young lady. Either way, you need a remedy."
"It's not us who need to be saved, but you people-!"
The girl stopped talking. Her mouth didn't move as she thought. The girl touched her face. No, she couldn't touch it. Her fingers brushed through the air.
Half of her head was blown off. Only then did the girl realize that half of her vision was gone.
'What is it, magic? What happened? I didn't see it.'
The girl collapsed. She barely managed to grab onto the previously installed thread. However.
This time, the hand she was holding onto was blown away. Her body swayed. She knew an attack was coming, but she couldn't dodge or block it. The girl looked at her blown-off hand. It was clearly the effect of magic.
The girl's hair trembled. Soon, every single strand of her hair split countless times and scattered along the thread. All of them were also spiders.
"Young lady, I hope you'll come as your 'main body' next time. Only then can we have a genuine conversation."
The girl, splitting into countless spiders, looked at Osprey with her last remaining eye.
She had come to see how strong Osprey was and what the nature of his strength was. She could barely grasp it.
The last remaining eye also soon scattered, becoming a spider.
From a distance, Indus member Thompson observed the scene.
He manipulated the components installed in his prosthetic arm, pulling a ring with his fingers. Then, with a click-click sound, a telescope popped out beside the prosthetic. Thompson brought his eye to the telescope.
The Indus members were convinced, seeing Osprey waiting at the aerial railway. Constel must have noticed that our Indus was about to make a move!
To understand Osprey's power, member Cain sent his dummy to Osprey. Thompson wanted to check how Osprey would fight.
"Damn, I don't know?"
Even from this distance, it was impossible to discern what Osprey had done. Cain, who experienced it firsthand, wouldn't have understood at all.
Then his phone rang. Thompson brought the phone to his ear.
"Hey, couldn't even move a finger before being taken down."
-So, what's his identity? That old man.
Thompson said shamelessly. A brief silence came from the other end of the call.
-That's possible. Thompson is incompetent. It was my mistake in selecting him.
"This kid knows how to provoke, huh?"
-More importantly, there's something else.
There's something more important than the nature of Osprey's power?
Thompson frowned in confusion but then his expression hardened at Cain's next words.
-Osprey knows about the 'revolution'.
Thompson's mouth shut tightly. His playful demeanor vanished.
"It wasn't just a coincidence that such a word came up?"
-No. He knew not only about blowing up the train, but that it was for the 'revolution'. It's not a coincidence.
Thompson's eyes grew cold. Probably, the eyes of Cain, who was on the call, did the same.
"…Then, really, what we were joking about last time,"
-Yeah, seems like it.
Both had the same thought. Confirming this, Cain said.
"There's a traitor within Indus."
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