Chapter 5: Veterans Don't Die

When he was younger, Klute also had dreams.

Beautiful girlfriend, hot-blooded brother, thrilling adventure, sudden awakening ability.

Some have come true, some have not, some are just fantasy, and some are just passing by.

Regrets? Perhaps.

Do you regret it? Maybe there is.

Even now, halfway through the journey of life. Klute still fantasizes about what he would do if he had the chance to go back in time, just as he did when he was younger.

But that's just fantasy.

Life is short, and the morning is fleeting.

Impossible is impossible, and what can't be done is can't be done.

Whether it's fantasy or excuse, deception or narcotic, these things can be addictive, and the difference is nothing more than the strength of the toxicity.

It is as strong as a drug, which can destroy a person's body and mind. Weak as a fantasy, it just makes you gradually addicted.

Does Klut know any of this?

He undoubtedly knew.

But can you change it if you know it?

That's undoubtedly not possible.

“……”

Twist the burned cigarette into the ashtray and spit out the last puff of white mist.

Klute flipped through a photo album, his eyes a little out of focus due to half-heartedness.

At his age, he thinks differently than young people.

At the age of more than half a hundred, he rarely thinks about the future, and he cares more about 'what I have done' than 'what I am going to do'.

Although it sounds a little unambitious, although it is still decisive in action.

But Kluet is indeed old.

His Excellency said it well: the old soldier does not die, but gradually withers.

Yesterday, a conversation with Kruger woke him up – he was tired from the child's departure.

The young man died.

And the old man is still alive.

Nothing has changed, everything is the same as it used to be.

And most importantly.

He didn't want to change anymore.

The sudden realization of this made Kluite even more sad - unlike his previous claims, he really felt old this time. Before he could recover from this low emotion, he had already returned to the southeast base and flipped through the photo album of the past.

It was a memory of his youth.

The latest photos are also more than two decades old.

At that time, 'retro sports' were still in vogue.

Stamp collecting, photographs, five-inch floppy disks, and heavy and cumbersome mechanical calculators were spent on which the young Klute spent a lot.

Many of the people who appeared in this album are gone. And some are just maturing.

Like Baldridge, the venerable knight who died in Eichenwald. And like Reinhardt, this old guy who is older than himself now doesn't know where he is.

Twenty years ago, Minejima was still working with Okabe, who at the time was an academic liar. Twenty years later, both guys are missing. And all have a place in the academic world.

Klute flipped a page, his finger swiping over a photo.

Battlefields, hospitals, resort beaches, low-earth orbit.

These are testimonies of Kluet's past, and each one brings memories that will last a long time.

Klute suddenly wanted to find something out of it, and for a moment, he felt that there was a key hidden in the album.

So he flipped through the pages, looking at each photograph carefully.

Eventually, his gaze rested on a full-body photo.

It was a smiling girl.

Wearing a white dress, she smiled at the camera, and her right hand made a V-shape.

What's her name?

Ah, right.

Klute remembered.

She was Senioris, and twenty years ago, she died in the last battle before the rotation.

In order to aid a wounded man, she was exposed to the muzzle of an iron-blooded gun, and was shot through the center of her eyebrow by a 7.62 bullet.

“……”

Klut closed the album and closed his eyes.

He found the key.

It is not called hatred, but watch.

……

……

"Kruger. ”

"I'm here. ”

"What are you going to do with the kid's team?"

"The technical department has prepared the treatment procedure, what, do you have any new ideas?"

"Then leave it to me. ”

"Figured it out?"

"Don't talk nonsense. ”

……

……

Kluet made a mistake.

He has always regarded his own human form as a daughter, but he has also regarded other human forms as appendages to the commander.

Before, he and Kruger had been talking about the whereabouts of these girls, but they had never thought about whether these girls really needed to be 'commanded'.

Kruger's identity blinds him, and Kluet's rigidity makes him forget about it.

The human form is the power of the commander, but the human form is also an independent life.

Those girls were used to the days of being directed, to their identity. In Griffin, such humanoids abound.

While gaining respect and protection, they are accustomed to obedience.

But the human form is also a human being, and they are not appendages of the commander.

Even without human leadership, they are independent beings. Able to think for themselves, able to decide for themselves. It's not like they're the only way to find the commander, and it's not like there's no other way to get revenge.

To this day, Kluet still has a bad impression of those girls, and still does not intend to lead them to revenge. But the blue girl in that photo softened his heart a little.

Like those girls, he didn't have only one path to follow. If he wanted to help those girls, he had other options.

That's what he's just figured out.

What Kodoli passed on to him with her life.

It's exactly what he wants to pass on to the girls.

……

……

"Will you accept us?

In the afternoon of the same day, a total of twenty humanoid girls in five columns and four rows arrived at the southeast base of Griffin.

A brown-haired girl with a side ponytail and a humanoid named UMP45 stood in front of Krut with a gloomy face. Although she belongs to the same model as the captain of Team 404, there is only a heavy resentment wrapped around her.

Not only her, but also the humanoid girls behind her.

The girls of the spontaneous detachment were full of murderous intent, filling the air with a tense atmosphere.

The highest rank is seventy-five, and the lowest is no more than twenty, and these girls are all members of the commander's echelon. Not all of them would have come in handy, but they undoubtedly had the closest relationship with the commander.

What happens if I die?

Klute thought about it and thought that his own children would not be much better.

But this is not a reason to understand, because after all, he is just alone, or a mercenary who is not strange to die anywhere. If they want to avenge themselves, even at the cost of their own lives...... That Klut would be sad.

There is no difference between lives, but there is also no equality either.

If they see their lives as an appendage of Klut, they are undoubtedly murdering themselves.

Klute didn't want to see that future.

Sooner or later, he will die, and for these children, they still have a future.

"That's right. ”

"Great! Thank you so much for accepting! We're going to dedicate—"

"But you're too weak. ”

The girl's thank you was forcibly cut off by Kluet.

Looking at the stunned face, Krut raised the report in his hand.

"You-"

"You can't be of any use like this, let alone cannon fodder, you're a bunch of burdens. ”

“！！”

The girls' expressions were all distorted. Seeing this, 590 behind Klut frowned, ready to shoot.

The humanoids who had lost their commander were left with no public server, and they were arrayed here with neither weapons nor a way out.

As long as they dare to shoot at the commander, 590 has the confidence to blow their dog heads.

But the conflict did not take place.

Klute waved his right hand and slapped the humanoid girl who tried to grab her collar to the ground.

In a shocked gaze, the old man took the girl by the collar and dragged her to himself.

"Don't take yourself too seriously, what can a bunch of outlaws do? want me to take you to the Middle East? ”

“…… Yes, I see. ”

UMP45, who had also accepted the leadership of Klut before, and was also the echelon commander at that time, subconsciously chose to obey.

Like Kluet's worst fears.