Editing HEAVY OBJECT:EX Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 11===

“Freeze!!”

“Put your hands up!!”

Quenser felt his lifespan shrinking as several flashlights shined on him. He knew each of those lights was a gun barrel aimed his way.

But he played dumb in only his underwear.

“Wow, wow, wow!! I was napping off duty and I’m still half asleep, so can you explain this nice and simple so even an idiot could understand? What’s going on? Was my unit with the Faith Organization???”

He received a blow in lieu of an answer.

An assault rifle stock struck him in the bridge of the nose and he collapsed to the dry dirt.

Then some relative of a large radio was passed over his entire body.

A high-pitched beep sounded.

One Faith Organization soldier contacted someone by radio.

“I picked up the ‘scent’ of the Pilot Elite rescue locator on him. Saint Skuld should be nearby.”

“Then search the area,” replied the radio.

“Wait a second. Dammit!”

A soldier who had circled behind the collapsed control tower clicked his tongue and returned.

He held a special suit in his hand.

“It’s only the Elite’s special suit! Some of the scent will remain on Saint Skuld herself, but it won’t be enough to track her if she changed clothes. We might not be able to track her down even if we release the dogs!!”

“Well, then. I wonder what Skuld might look like after her makeover. Legitimacy Kingdom? Faith Organization? Or perhaps a civilian medical volunteer? She would have had a number of options.”

Everyone turned toward Quenser who was holding his nose.

As soon as he shook his head, a storm of kicks rained down on him.

Once he was covered in bruises and coughing up blood, the voice on the radio stopped them.

“Wait.”

“But, Saint Urd!”

“You found Skuld’s scent on a boy in only his underwear, right? He might be someone Skuld befriended after betraying us. If he assisted her escape, he might know where she is hiding, how she intends to escape Experimental Battlefield Madagascar, or what route she will use.”

“Then…?”

“Bring him to our temple. We can have a professional interrogator handle the rest. At the very least, that should provide more information than beating him to death here.”

“But Saint Skuld might be escaping as we speak…”

“I know that. This is second best. Capturing Skuld here and now would of course be best. Search the entire base zone and then widen the search area. Assume the next 24 hours will decide everything.”

The transmission ended there.

The Faith Organization soldiers looked down at Quenser who was covered in sand and blood and could not move properly.

After one more kick to the boy’s side to vent his frustration over the extra work, one of the soldiers spoke.

“Stand up.”

“…”

“We will guide you to our temple. Some enjoyable recreation awaits you.”