The dance floor in the center of the student council hall was completely emptied, and the queen was sitting on a pile of decorative bits and pieces in the middle of the hall, knocking on Jiro's legs, supervising the work of the coolies around her. The unknown text jiàn, which was rolled into a paper tube, slapped on his hand like a leather whip, making an ominous light sound.

Whenever the smiling gaze swept over a lazy coolie, the other party jumped up as if he had been whipped, and with a smiling face like a servile, he sweated desperately.

In this group of people who signed the deed of sale, there were two figures who were out of place with everyone and worked hard.

With a spring-like smile on his face, Bai Mao hummed a certain children's piano intro while decorating the ballroom with amazing efficiency.

"Ah, Shuki-san, can you help me get that light bulb? Three hundred watts, the largest one. ”

As he spoke, he threw the blackened light bulb at his feet, and Suzaku, who was helping him with the ladder.

"Yes."

Suzaku threw the new bulb up, and the force was just right, and it flew to Yilan's hand with precision.

"Ah, it's really a pleasure to work with Shuki-san."

[Hey!··· A sucker! What are you doing! 】

There was the sound of something breaking behind him. Looking back, it was the carnal Xia Li who flew the plate to Lelouch who was setting the table on a whim, but there was a mistake in the cooperation, and Lelouch lived up to expectations and got out.

[Obviously Lulu didn't catch it! ] 】

[How can you catch it!] 】

[Ylang can! If you throw it in the opposite direction, he can catch it! Jumping up like this. 】

[Don't compare me to that guy!] No, what the hell are you guys playing? 】

[Obviously it's exactly the same... 】

[This kind of thing has nothing to do with the face! 】

"It's husband and wife talk again." Yilan explained to Suzaku, who didn't understand too much. "The others are okay, only Xia Lilu Luxiu has always had no way to take her."

"Is it······"

Suzaku had a look of wanting to say something.

"I'm talking about you." Ylan sighed. "It's always 'yes yes', so I can't get my words out."

"Uh..."

"Just ask any questions." Yilan said, seriously screwing the bulb on. "Isn't that why you chose to be with me?"

"Again, yesterday." Suzaku finally spoke.

"Hmm." Ylang encouraged him to continue.

"Why do you want to sue me for your identity?"

"Which identity?"

“··· ZERO。 ”

"If you want to cooperate, you have to show sincerity, don't you? You've already told me about your identity as a pilot pilot, so I'll naturally have to be courteous, right? ”

“······”

It sounds like a reason, but in fact, nothing is said, and the other party's answer is so natural that it is suspicious.

"Your question is actually 'prove to me that you're ZERO,' right?" Ylan saw through his thoughts.

"It should be, that person... He's not you. ”

This guy and that ZERO have appeared in front of him at the same time once, and the feeling between the two is so different from each other, it can't be the same person anyway.

Although Suzaku is upright, he is not stupid.

"Hmmm... Here's a question for you: What would you do if you were doing something that was going to lose your head, and you didn't want to be known for who you were, but your organizational skills were limited and you needed to do almost everything? ”

Being asked such a clueless question, Suzaku was stunned for a moment, and then thought about it.

“··· ZERO······ Just a stand-in? ”

Suzaku said hesitantly.

"Stand-ins, shields, shadow warriors, smoke bombs, whatever you want, who he is, how many there are, it doesn't matter at all. Anyone, as long as he puts on that mask and stands in front of the stage to recite the prepared script, anyone can be ZERO. His existence is just a symbol. ”

"Why should I ······ such an important thing"

"Shumu-kun, I've finally grown up."

Yilan jumped off the ladder, tried the light switch, and patted the dust on his hands with satisfaction after confirming that the light was on.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't just trust people anymore, you know that there is no trust in the world for no reason. It's sad to say that, but growth is inherently so. ”

"Please answer my question."

"I thought you understood. Aren't all the conditions already in front of you? The people you value most in this world, Lelouch, Nanali, Euphemia······"

Yilan walked in front of Suzaku and made a rare serious expression.

"If my identity is revealed, none of them will be able to escape."

Suzaku felt his heart being held by a cold hand.

"The news that Lelouch and Nanali are alive will reach their own country, and within a week they will be killed by assassination. Euphemia will be sent to the gallows on charges of aiding terrorism and treason. Not to mention the Ashford family who is protecting us, although it is not enough to be slaughtered all over the house, but there must be a hundred or so people who want to see Hades, president..."

Ylang nodded the queen behind him with a thumbs up.

“··· It is also one of them. ”

"How can you..."

"Take advantage of your siblings? I don't, they're just a condition for me to trust you, isn't the power of life and death in your hands? ”

“······”

Suzaku's fists clenched involuntarily.

"If you think I'm mean, just say it."

Ylan walked past him, tucking away the ladder and tucking it under his armpit.

"But ah, you should be understandable now, right? Nothing can be obtained without sacrifice. If the vast majority of the people of the world could be saved by my vile means... I'm going to do it one by one. Just like what was done when the princess was kidnapped. Or is it ... Are you still obsessed with the so-called 'right way'? ”

Elan didn't take a few steps before she stopped again as if she remembered something.

"By the way, forget jì to give you a breath, this ball is specially held for you, and it took a lot of effort for Lelouch to convince the president."

"Lelouch? For me? ”

Suzaku looked at Yilan's back in astonishment.

"Well, you don't need to hide from him too much. Brother Huang said, let you go and sit with him tonight, Nanali misses you very much. ”

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The ceiling was set, and Ylang put the ladder back into the dusty storage room.

I pressed the inside of my collar and put on the microphone after vibrating the communicator that had been vibrating for a while.

【Fan? 】

There was a loud sound of gunfire and steel colliding in the headphones, and the other side sounded as if it was on the battlefield.

[Deputy Commander!] Fan yelled at the headphones.

[What's wrong?] 】

[That's still not good, right?] 】

[What? 】

[Open-air combat training! 】

[No way, you can't let them practice knightMare in the tunnel, right?] The ruins of Saitama were the type of battlefield they would most often face in the future. Isn't it a waste not to use? 】

[But just now an army helicopter flew over!] 】

[Helicopter? Is it a reconnaissance aircraft? 】

[It should be! I'll just say that it's impossible to hide such a big movement from Britannia! 】

Have you finally found out?

The imperial sister is still too restrained.

Ylang smiled when he saw his prey take the bait.

There is no no-fly ban over the autonomous region, and theoretically the airspace still belongs to Britannia. Not to mention passenger planes, reconnaissance planes or anything, even bombers can fly them.

This was a loophole that Ylang deliberately left behind at the time.

Next, how will the royal sister react?

According to ZERO's requirements, every new member of the team is trained to drive knight Mare for at least 100 hours. After that, he will select a small number of talented drivers as regular selections according to everyone's performance in training, and further train them.

And this group of people will be trained by Yilan himself for more than 500 hours. The last remaining ones are eligible to go to war.

The deputy commander personally guided? Is that guy who grins all day good?

The unreasonable recruit asked, only to find that everyone else was looking at him with a neurotic eye.

Did I say something wrong?

You don't know anything at all, do you? The deputy commander is the driver of "that Glasgow", which is known as the nightmare of the Empire!

That Glasgow?

That Glasgow ?!!

The recruit felt an electric current crawl down his spine onto his back, and he couldn't help but shiver, and his hands trembled involuntarily, and his palms were sweaty.

That Glasgow, who rode against an army, single-handedly wiped out the Cornelia Guard, and even captured the Imperial Witch?!

Not really! Do you think that the deputy commander climbed to this position based on his appearance? Feed! Where are you going?

The recruits stopped rambling with them and ran to an empty knightmare simulator. "Wow" jumped into the posture cabin, determined to train himself until he fainted.

Are you kidding!

Just by relying on that broken copper and iron, he can create that kind of monster-like record······

If you can be guided by the deputy commander for 500 hours...

If I could be chosen...

[How are you practicing? Ylan asked.

[Uh··· Some of the newcomers are still relatively new, but all of them are working hard. 】

[Is there a particularly eye-catching guy?] 】

[Well, there are a few little ghosts who learn very quickly, and they look like a bright light. 】

[Okay, write down their names.] Also, tell everyone not to save any batteries and ammunition, don't be afraid of damaging the body, just don't need money. 】

【Okay··· No! That's not what I'm going to talk about now! The planes from Britania have spotted us! 】

Although the fan was invisible, Yilan still habitually waved his hand and made a gesture of "Anla, An, La".

[Conelia can let her see it if she wants to, she doesn't have the right to interfere with the autonomous region anyway, does she. 】

[That's what it says on paper!] But... 】

[If it's okay, I'll hang up first.] 】

Ignoring the deep worries of the elders of the court, Yilan hummed a minor tune and briskly cut off the communication.