Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume11 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 9===

“The discord between the Winchell family and the Vanderbilt family is concentrated inside this bottle,” said Azureyfear Winchell inside the borrowed aircraft carrier’s command room.

Frolaytia mentally held her head as she sat in front of a laptop at a work desk. She was trying to directly command the Object that was currently in battle, but modern warfare’s advanced digitization allowed her to do so almost anywhere as long as she had communications equipment. But unforeseen trouble was always a possibility, so she did not want to receive a message like, “The LTE antenna just died and there’s nothing we can do. Tehepero.” The entire battalion could be wiped out like an online game character after the player’s signal cut out.

That was when the noble girl started speaking.

The girl’s bewitching body looked a little pale and she held a small bottle of blood-red wine.

“Young lady.”

“I’m not going to drink any. I only spray some on my clothes and hair like perfume.”

She giggled and then her voice dropped in tone.

“That way I will never forget the centuries of hatred contained in this bottle. That is the Winchell family way.”

“I see. Well, Blazer Bouquet is a very…unique brand that people often claim tastes like drinking perfume.”

“My, my. So you enjoy it too, major?”

Frolaytia was always smoking her long, narrow kiseru, but for some reason, she coughed now. She may have been reminded of her safe country maids and tutors.

“Blazer Bouquet is made by mixing together several rose petals and allowing them to ferment and brew within quite a lot of flower nectar. As you mentioned, major, wheat or grapes are much better if flavor is what you seek, but a powerful impression is needed for a drink served at a celebration.”

Azureyfear held the perfume-like bottle’s lid between her fingertips and swished the contents around.

“It all began several centuries ago. It was far before even the fall of the UN that is seen as the turning point between eras. This is a fairy tale about a princess who was pursued by an entire nation. Our Winchell family remained loyal and hid the princess even if it meant breaking the law, while the Vanderbilt family upheld the law and pursued the princess even if it meant betraying their loyalty. The princess tried to cast aside her name and position to live happily among the commoners, but they would not allow it. On the day of a secretly-held wedding, it was a bottle of this rose wine turned into a Molotov cocktail that broke through the chapel’s stained glass window.”

Frolaytia narrowed her eyes a little.

This was a delicate historical issue directly linked to ideology. If she said the wrong thing she would trigger the kind of harsh response that was willing to continue hunting someone down for one hundred years. She chose her words carefully as she responded.

“I had heard that story is merely a highly plausible theory, just like the big bang theory.”

“Yes. When the rise of Objects brought the demise of the nuclear age, all sorts of storage media were turned to ash. There’s no telling just what people threw into that figurative conflagration if they had any inconvenient truths they wished to rid themselves of. It must have looked like the most effective shredder imaginable. For one thing, no one even knows if the fall of the UN really was what created the Objects. Similarly, no one knows the truth of our two families after crossing that turning point.”

The Blue Rose continued after kissing the small blood-red bottle.

“But if facts were intentionally erased, there was a reason for them to be erased. Even if the story contained within the Blazer Bouquet is false, something even more repulsive lurks even deeper within. Could you feed your baby some baby food that listed its ingredients simply as ‘unknown’? Can you really rest easy just because you don’t know? Really??”

“…”

“The very fact that it is listed as ‘unknown’ is suspicious. Thus there is no real reason to search any further. Even if the maker sent out a correction, you would never believe it. You would throw out all of the baby food and rely on a different maker, wouldn’t you?”

She was already set in her ways on this.

It was not just the lack of a stairway to compromise. She had prepared arguments to justify not seeking compromise.

That was Frolaytia’s honest opinion, but she of course did not speak that aloud.

Then an electronic tone sounded.

Her laptop was lending a helping hand at the best possible time.

“Major Capistrano, this is not quite an emergency, but the large-scale water vapor explosions among the icebergs have altered the weather over a wide area.”

“Excuse me, young lady. …Is a tornado or downburst forming?”

“Nothing yet, but our Doppler radar is showing a definite supercell. Noise from the gathering storm clouds and surges of lightning might interfere with our transmissions. In order to stay informed of the changing environment, I would recommend coming down to the battle command station if possible.”

She did everything she could to keep it from showing on her face, but Frolaytia was relieved and concluded she was blessed with some excellent subordinates. She had no problem with historical romance, but that changed when it had brought about hatred that still continued to this very day.

She folded up her laptop and stood from the large chair at the work desk.

“Allow me to see you to your room.”

“No need. I would collapse from heat stroke in there. Might I stay here?”

That would normally not be allowed, but they were essentially “renting out” the entire small aircraft carrier. The command room had nearly been turned into a hotel room, so it only contained a change of clothes and the laptop Frolaytia held under her arm. There were no documents or equipment with classified information and the drawers were all empty.

So she could easily answer.

“Yes, that’s fine. I will be posting a guard in front of the door, though.”

“Please do.”

After their formal exchange, only Azureyfear remained in the room.

She removed the small bottle’s lid, attached a spray cap, and lightly sprayed some on the thick blood vessels on her wrists and neck.

She calmed herself as she enjoyed the rosy smell and then reached for the chest of her blue dress. She pulled out a small handheld device she had not informed the battalion she had.

She used a communications method based on a special detour to contact a certain someone.

“How do you do, White Lily of Vanderbilt? You seem to be investigating us, but did your lovely rat-like efforts turn anything up?”

“I can’t believe you… This isn’t passing through the military server. What kind of dirty magic trick is this?”

“Secrets are the ultimate luxury only afforded to the privileged. The common folk put all their effort into experiencing cheap imitations, but those of us at the top are of course laughing at their wasted efforts.”

“And?”

“Just talking to myself, White Lily. I care not what the Whore of Vanderbilt does in her spare time. I will praise you for shaking that vulgar ass of yours to steal away a portion of our Winchell family as part of your plan, though”

The Blue Rose placed the word “but” on her tongue.

With one hand holding the handheld device, she used the other to spin around the perfume bottle of hateful wine.

“If you drag my brother into that pathetic hobby you call ‘pacifism’, you will wish I had only burned your face off with a Molotov cocktail, Bitch of Vanderbilt. I will turn every last hair on your head into dust.”

She did not speak particularly strongly, but a strange pressure was hidden within her tone.

A commoner with no history behind their name may have fainted when that pressure struck them head-on.

But the girl she was speaking to was different.

The Legitimacy Kingdom’s Vanderbilt family had been around for at least several centuries, just like the Winchell family.

The young lady of that family laughed as she replied.

“Oh, dear. …Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Don’t tell me you think I forced Master Heivia to join me in all this.”

“…”

“If so, I’m sorry to say I was only doing what he asked me to. I will, however, admit I had some spare time on my hands and continued my investigation after interpreting his request more broadly than he probably intended.”

“You whore.”

“Blue Rose. It isn’t right to blame your brother’s lover just because he isn’t giving you any attention. …What are you doing? The Vanderbilt family has a countermeasure office dedicated to the Winchell family and you are hiding something that not even their network could detect.”

“You will know soon enough.”

Water splattered against the window

Dark clouds had rapidly filled the sky and rain was pouring down.

“Or should I say, it is already too late.”