Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume3 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 9===

Quenser and Charlotte also displayed puzzled expressions in the underground space.

Charlotte frowned at the LED lights illuminating the tunnel. She did not seem to like how her shadow stretched to the wall.

As they walked along the plastic-covered floor, Quenser asked, “We’ve gone down quite a ways, haven’t we?”

“We have likely descended over 200 meters.”

“Please stop that. Hearing the actual number again just makes me feel all the more exhausted.”

“I merely answered your question.” Charlotte’s expression hardly changed. “Most coal mines are a kilometer deep, but some go down as deep as 4 kilometers. This is still just the entrance, so-…”

She trailed off and suddenly froze in place.

Her assault rifle had been hanging from her shoulder on a strap, but she smoothly removed it as if it was part of a wire puzzle and pulled the cocking lever in the same motion. In no time at all, she held it at the ready in both hands.

Quenser heard a rustling noise at about the same time.

Quenser only had bombs, so he had no way of helping. He had no choice but to immediately press his back against the plastic-covered wall so as not to be hit by any rifle bullets.

Just as he did, someone poked their head around a corner of the tunnel.

It was a woman in her early twenties wearing a thick coat suitable for the freezing land.

She was most likely a worker in the coal mine.

There was fear in her expression, but she slowly approached them.

She held something in her hands, but it was not a gun.

(A first-aid kit…?)

Quenser looked confused, but then heard a small metallic noise.

It was the sound of the metal fasteners of the assault rifle’s shoulder strap clanking together as she altered her grip on the weapon.

The rifle’s barrel was accurately aimed at the center of the female worker’s body.

And Charlotte gave no warning.

Without hesitation, her trigger finger moved!!

“…!!”

An unpleasant trembling ran through Quenser’s fingertips.

Quenser followed that feeling and immediately jumped for Charlotte’s rifle.

“…!! Out of the way, you!!”

With that short command, Quenser’s vision spun. He had fallen prey to a form of close quarters combat meant for enemy soldiers trying to steal one’s weapon. Quenser did not realize this until his back had already struck the ground. The shock of the impact was enough to make him forget how to breathe.

“Gah…hah…!!”

As Quenser gasped on his back, he saw the female worker finally toss the first-aid kit aside and run away. However, Charlotte showed no mercy. She held her rifle up again before the worker could disappear around the corner.

“Don’t!!”

“Silence!!”

Quenser’s shout must have messed up her timing slightly because a 5.56mm rifle bullet did not strike the worker in the back.

The worker then managed to disappear around the corner.

Charlotte clicked her tongue and pressed her rifle barrel against the tip of Quenser’s nose, pushing him back to the ground just as he had tried to rise.

“Explain yourself.”

“…Cough…Th-this may be a military mine, but that worker’s clothes, equipment, and even the way she moved made it clear she was no soldier. She was probably brought in as a civilian laborer. If the mine has 2 or 3 shifts, those types of people would likely be the ones on duty at this time of the night. If she wasn’t a civilian, I don’t see why she would have nothing but a first-aid kit in this situation.”

“Your point? What proof did you have that there was not a gun inside that kit? And even if she is unarmed, she can still call plenty of other workers in if she reports this. Please do not give me some conceited line about not wanting to turn a weapon on a woman on the modern battlefield.”

“Making gunshots and a corpse in this situation will not help us. We would be surrounded in no time at all.”

“Hmph. So that’s your excuse.”

With a look of irritation, Charlotte turned the rifle barrel away from Quenser.

It seemed the fact that students and civilians were not targets of barrier duty had just barely managed to save Quenser’s life.

“But in that case, you should have safely neutralized the worker yourself. We are still left in a dangerous situation. The security for this military mine is primarily carried out by UAVs, but we have no proof that they have no soldiers at all. A few dozen or even hundreds of civilian workers gathered against us in these tunnels is enough of a threat. Our Legitimacy Kingdom uniforms will be enough for them to show no mercy. I do not believe we can make broad statements like that we overlook civilians.”

“…I understand. Sorry.”

“In that case, get up and be quick about it. We need to get far away from here as quickly as we can. These tunnels may extend for over 100 kilometers like an ant nest, but we are still in an enclosed area. It would be best to assume we have no way of winning if they know where we are.”

Quenser stood up while using a hand to steady himself against the plastic wall.

Charlotte then removed her luxurious revolver from its holster at her waist and tossed it to him.

“It seems you do not have a gun. That may be the policy of your unit, but this is an emergency. I will lend you this on my authority.”

“Um…Thanks.”

“It is not so you can fight. It is for suicide.” Charlotte’s words made the revolver suddenly feel much heavier. “It may be likely that the workers are civilians, but that means they may not have any smart weapons that can kill in a single shot. Having your body slowly smashed by construction tools rather than receiving a quick death is quite horrible. For that reason, you should be prepared.”

“…”

“This is the risk you must take on now that you have let that worker escape. This is what decisions on the battlefield are like. Remember that.”

Quenser nodded repeatedly, removed a bullet from the revolver to eliminate the risk of misfire, and stuck the gun in the gap between his boot and his foot.

The two quickly headed through the tunnel.

They wanted to move as fast as possible so as to get as far away as they could, but they had to be on the lookout for surprise attacks from other soldiers or workers.

Quenser looked up at the shiny ceiling covered in plastic.

“200 meters, hm? We might be below the sea that lies between those cliffs.”

“Let us hope that their mining project was based on proper theory. If they did anything wrong, this area could become submerged.”

“But…”

Quenser took a breath of surprisingly well-ventilated and non-humid air.

He wanted to distract himself from the possibility that they could be surrounded at any second.

“This is a joint operation between the 24th and the 37th. And the Faith Organization has the Wing Balancer here. Doesn’t all that seem a bit much for an attack or defense of a coal mine?”

“Weren’t you told that taking control of this military mine will allow us to lower the supply of Object fuel and therefore help limit the movements of the enemy?”

“But they have plenty of coal mines, right?”

“And damaging them one by one can lead to the lessening of a nation’s overall power.”

“But using 3 Objects if you take both sides into account? And if Nutley really was a Faith Organization spy, they used up a spy who had successfully infiltrated us. Once a spy reveals his true colors, he has to leave no matter how deeply he had infiltrated.” Quenser frowned. “If just one of their many coal mines has this much value, wouldn’t we normally target an easier mine instead? To be blunt, I do not think the resources here are worth deploying all the forces both sides have deployed.”

As he made that comment, they exited into a different tunnel.

Simple rails were installed on the ground and some sort of electric panel was installed on the wall nearby. A small vehicle about the size of a bathtub sat stopped on the rails.

“This must be a type of electric slide lift. And it is meant for coal, not people.”

“…”

“What is it?”

“It might not be coal.”

With that comment, Quenser leaned over the edge of the slide lift and reached for a black rock left in the bottom. The mass looked like a large rock broken down to softball size.

Charlotte simply imagined coal as a black rock, so she did not understand what Quenser was getting at as he held it towards her.

Quenser gently stroked a spot on the rough mass and said, “Do you see these clear grains?”

“What is it?”

“A hunk of carbon,” said Quenser at first before rewording his response. “A diamond.”

Charlotte’s shoulders jumped slightly.

However, Quenser was not able to explain further.

A hand shot out from the nearby opening of a narrow tunnel. It grabbed Quenser and slammed his back against the wall.

It took some time for Quenser to realize what had happened.

Charlotte immediately started to bring up her rifle, but she stopped partway through. The attacker pressed a handgun barrel against Quenser such that it pushed his jaw up, but that was not why.

It was because she recognized the attacker.

“Hey, Quenser. What are you doing here?”

“Heivia…?”

“We went through a lot because you fucked up. Cookman and Westy are dead. I won’t blow your brains out here, but I might have to open a few holes in your arms and legs depending on your answer here.”

“It was Nutley.”

It was Charlotte that responded, not Quenser.

In truth, Quenser had been unable to speak with Heivia’s unusually ghastly face that close.

Charlotte’s calm voice continued the explanation.

“There was a Faith Organization spy in your unit. We lost a student named Charles. He may bear some responsibility for not seeing through it beforehand, but it would be an error to blame him and him alone. Someone else is much more responsible.”

“…Are you saying I should laugh and make up just because of that?”

“If you will not change your mind, I have no choice.”

Charlotte held her assault rifle up once more.

This time, she did not hesitate.

“I have barrier duty. My job is to eliminate any elements that break military regulations and threaten the operation as a whole.”

Heivia clicked his tongue.

With an annoyed look, he removed the handgun from Quenser’s jaw and bowed his head towards Charlotte.

“Sorry. I forced the dirty job on you in order to give myself a chance to draw back.”

“I do not think you actually intended to fire.”

Charlotte removed her rifle’s sight from his face and gave a very slight smile.

Upon seeing that, the Asian girl named Myonri finally poked her head out from behind the corner.

Quenser sighed heavily.

“…So only the four of us survived.”

“There’s five if you count the traitor.” Heivia returned his handgun to its holster. “Things must be getting bad up above. They said the princess could not win in a straight fight against the Wing Balancer. Who knows how long she can last. We should probably decide what we plan to do now. Let’s have a strategy meeting, Quenser. Tell me everything you know.”

“Um,” cut in Myonri from the side. “What is that in your hand, Quenser?”

“This?” Quenser held the black softball-sized rock up and repeated the word he had said before. “A diamond.”