"Suzaku-kun! Suzaku-kun! Do you hear me? ”

Lancelot's communication lights flickered on, but the brown-haired boy fell limply in the driver's seat, still not regaining consciousness.

His left arm was bent to the other side of his body at a strange angle, apparently fractured. The white uniform was covered with blood, if it was from a wound, but it was from his mouth and nose. Anyone who knows a little about medicine can immediately conclude that the boy has suffered extremely serious internal injuries, perhaps a broken rib into the lungs, or a ruptured diaphragm or spleen, in short, if he does not immediately give first aid, he will definitely not last an hour.

"Suzaku-kun! Suzaku of the Chestnut! If you can hear it, please answer immediately! The woman's voice became more urgent, and an explosion was faintly heard on the other end of the communication.

"Miss Cecil・・・・・・ ahem! ・・・”

Suzaku woke up in a daze.

"Thank goodness! Whatever your situation is right there, retreat now! It's not the headquarters, it's a retreat to the city! ”

"City... District? Ahem, ahem! Another mouthful of blood gushed out and spilled on his leg. "Fighting..."

"Eventually the line of defense has collapsed! Terrorists have surrounded the command of His Highness Cullovis! If it hadn't been for Mr. Lloyd's early retreat, we would have been surrounded! Suzaku-kun, anyway, let's withdraw to the city now, understand?! ”

Besieged? Why? Terrorists・・・・・・

The pain nerves finally began to work, and all parts of Suzaku's body were reporting danger signals to their owners.

I might be dying.

Suzaku tried to move his body and made this judgment.

A violent shock bounced him up from his seat and slammed it the monitor, and another sharp pain hit him, and Suzaku curled up in pain and pressed the hot blood back from his mouth.

What's going on?

With his right hand, he turned on the sub-monitor at the back of the air.

The red Glasgow was with one foot on Lancelot's fuselage, its muzzle pointed at the back of his cockpit, and the smoke from the muzzle of the gun showed the cause of the vibration.

It's Glasgow again! It's the muzzle of that black hole again!

Suzaku suddenly had a thrill and came to his senses completely.

No, the current self is by no means its opponent, and it must run away!

Thinking of this, he pulled up the joystick with severe pain.

――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

The cockpit of this machine is simply hard and frustrating!

Ilan glanced at the number of remnants, and there was a large zero egg in the lower right corner of the monitor.

Just now, he almost pressed the muzzle of the gun against the white cover, and used up the remaining twenty or so rounds, but the opponent's back cover was only slightly dented.

What now? Glasgow was running out of energy, and he wanted to drag the rookie's corpse out and drive the body away by himself, but now it seems... Wait a minute!

"Huh?"

Ilan's heart tightened, and he took two steps back from Glasgow.

The white mech shuddered and rose from the rubble, turning to face Glasgow.

Neither of them moved.

Ilan sighed, continued to point his rifle at the other party, which was already empty, and stepped back step by step.

The white body seemed to understand what he meant, and did not unfold its shield, but just stepped back step by step. It wasn't until it passed through a small alley sandwiched between two tall buildings that it swooped down and slid into it at full speed, disappearing out of Glasgow's radar range in an instant.

"It's really fast," Ilan couldn't help but admire.

That white body, whatever it wanted to do now, it was definitely too late. If it rushes to the base camp now, then it will be Curlovis who has been taken hostage. Judging by the direction of his retreat, it seems that he is also preparing to abandon the Governor.

Suzaku's body was on the verge of collapse, and Glasgow was not running out of oil. This one, even if it's a draw.

"F1, Q1, debriefing." Lelouch asked.

"The target has been forced back, and I don't think the other party will trouble you again. Q1 appeared to have fainted, but his life was not in danger. ”

Elan helped Karen to her feet and probed her snort.

Well, and gas.

Elan reached out and closed her eyes in satisfaction.

This time when he came to District 11, in addition to discovering that the royal brother was still there, this humanoid air fragrance that was simply tailored for his fragile respiratory system was the biggest gain of his trip, and if Karen died, he would definitely be sad for a long time.

"Good."

"How's it going at Command?"

"It's not very smooth."

"Huh?"

It's all up to this, don't tell me that Kulovis ran away.

"The set combat goal was achieved, although the other party was not captured alive, but the body of Kulovis was found in Gnacuri, and he should have committed suicide." There was helplessness in Lelouch's voice.

"If you can't capture ・・・・・・ alive, it's actually a good thing."

It is naturally good to have a living prince in his hand, but it also depends on who holds the chip.

Now they are too weak, and if they use this chip to negotiate terms with Britannia, it will be like a five-year-old child who hits shit luck and steals a gold brick from the gang, and then holds the gold brick to talk to the gang boss about business. Definitely killed by a single shot.

The current Britannia can only know that Kulovis was killed by a terrorist organization, and if he wants to avenge His Royal Highness the Third Prince in the 11th district, a land full of rebel groups, it is undoubtedly looking for a needle in a haystack, and there is no other way than a complete bloodbath11.

As long as these terrorists are a little smarter and don't spread the word about it, then the Empire will definitely keep a low profile about this humiliating matter.

That is, only the death of Kulovis can guarantee their survival.

"I know, I didn't intend to keep him alive, I just ・・・・・・ something I wanted to ask him." Lelouch sighed. "Leave that alone, I have to evacuate, and as for the terrorists, I'll let them disband themselves and contact them later. You know where to look for me. ”

"Hmm."

"Meet and talk." After Lelouch finished speaking, he cut off the communication.

It's almost time to withdraw yourself.

"Fan, I left Glasgow here, send someone to recycle it."

Ilan left this message and cut off the communication without waiting for an answer.

He helped Karen into the driver's seat, adjusted her position again, and jumped straight off.

It's late afternoon, and the smoke of gunpowder still wafts from Shinjuku after the war. Distant cries and sporadic gunfire made the land even more desolate.

"Ahh

Ilan rubbed her nose and began to regret a little why she didn't bring that scarf with her.

Anyway, let's find a place to treat the wound on the head, and if there is no underground clinic in the black market here, you can only buy some needlework and alcohol to deal with it. Wait a minute, you can't take a shower after the stitches, but how can you meet people if you don't take a shower now, so take a shower first and then stitch up? There is no problem with the water quality in the colony, but can the water source in the settlement be guaranteed to be sterile? How can I ・・・・・・ when I am like this?

The young man walked slowly in the direction of the city with his hands in his pockets, and once again fell into a faint sadness.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

"Brother has a strange smell on him today." Nanali said and wiped her mouth.

"Oh? I think it's the same as usual. ”

"Well, who is my brother going to set off fireworks with?"

"Hehehe, how is that possible. Probably the building that was demolished, the pre-colonial municipal building that was on the news, and I passed by Livar today. ”

Lelouch sat at the dining table, sipping the black tea after the meal, and answered his sister's questions with ease. With a gentle smile on his face—he knew Nanali couldn't see, but he did it anyway.

"Well~~~~~ seems to be in a particularly good mood today, what's going on?" Nanali's fingers brushed over the table and found her black teacup.

"You've found out."

Lelouch leaned forward and pushed the small basket of sugar cubes towards his sister, where she could touch it.

"How can I say it, I met someone I liked, and I sent away someone I hated."

"Huh? What happened? Talk about it, talk about it. Nanali rarely encountered anything that her brother would hang her appetite for, and whenever she heard her brother's tone of voice with a smile and a desire to say goodbye, it meant that he must have prepared a surprise for herself.

"You know that person, too, and I'll be here in a while."

"I know that too?"

"Guess for yourself." Lelouch didn't say much, but looked at Nanali with satisfaction, frowning and thinking.

Even an unknown friend can make this little girl excited like this, and there is so little she can give her.

Three polite and crisp knocks on the door, typical of the kid's style. The smile on Lelouch's face grew even stronger.

"Wait a minute."

The moment Lelouch opened the door, the two looked at each other, both stunned.

It had been seven years since they last saw each other, and they could only vaguely remember each other's appearances, and now suddenly they both had the feeling of looking in the mirror.

Except for the fact that the color of the hair is completely opposite, the two are exactly the same!

"Lulu..."

Before Ilan could open his mouth, Lelouch covered his mouth and made a silent gesture with his index finger in front of his lips.

Ilan glanced inside and nodded knowingly.

"Is the guest coming?" Seeing that no one was silent, Nanali asked.

Ilan walked up to her lightly, crouched down, and stretched out his hands・・・・・・

"Na~~Na~~Li~~" As he spoke, he suddenly grabbed her face and pulled it to both sides. The lovely cheeks suddenly turned oval.

"It hurts!" Nanali exclaimed.

"Guess~Guess~I~I~Who~" Yilan said word by word, his tone full of joy.

"Ahh Pain hurts ・・・・・・"

No one has ever treated her like this, from childhood to adulthood, even the closest people are just hugging and touching their heads, this kind of rough love is not ・・・・・・

Unless it's ・・・・・・

"I-・-Lan, brother?"

"That's not right! Guess again! Ilan said and tugged at her face again.

Nanali took the other's hands and groped for the knuckles on the backs of their hands.

That's right, it's these hands, slender and delicate, but the fingertips and the tiger's mouth are rough. His master always likes to blindfold himself from behind, and he never gets tired of playing the game of guessing who I am, and even if he does, he refuses to admit it. You must force yourself to let go only if you can't guess it.

"Brother Elan?"

"No, guess again." Ilan, who had finally finished venting, let go of her cheeks and took Nanali's hands.

"I can't ・・・・・・ guess..."

Nanali's shoulders trembled, as if she was afraid that the other party would disappear, and she grabbed the other person's hands tightly, and she didn't dare to wipe the tears from her eyes.

Ilan smiled contentedly and gently took the girl into his arms.

"That's right."