Editing HEAVY OBJECT:EX Chapter 5 (section)

===Part 1===

It was evening as the Faith Organization military truck carrying Quenser drove across Experimental Battlefield Madagascar’s wasteland. They crossed a large river on a giant hovercraft and continued driving. At first, Quenser tried to remember how far they had gone, but his sense of distance faded as time passed.

Giant baobab trees stood up from the flat wasteland.

As they continued on, he started seeing abandoned giant seesaw-like machines measuring over 10 meters tall. He guessed they were left over from oil mining.

The Faith Organization maintenance base zone was on the wasteland, not in the jungle.

It looked like ancient ruins buried in sand.

The buildings of white stone did not look at all like a military facility. And surprisingly, they were a lot like the ones from Quenser’s homeland. They had grand stained glass windows and giant crosses on the roof. Some of them had a tall bell tower.

This was likely a remnant of the old Age of Exploration.

They were cathedrals and monasteries. And that small village of buildings had several giant circus-like tents set up between them. Those structures of thick blast-resistant sheets were the maintenance base zone made from Faith Organization technology.

At first, Quenser thought that religious organization had simply wanted a location that provided moral support.

But he was wrong.

Norn, Dvergr, Berserkers, and Draupnir were all aspects of Norse Mythology. This was not an organization that decorated things in giant crosses. And the Faith Organization would be more sensitive to such differences than anyone else.

Which meant…

(The shape of the crosses is a little different. Oh, weren’t there some that used existing tree and sun symbols to help spread the Bible? I think in Norse regions, they even interpreted Thor’s hammer as a cross.)

That may have been the Faith Organization style, but there was no guarantee that the area would be safe from damage in a battle. From an outsider’s perspective, it was hard to tell whether they were treating it carefully or carelessly.

The military truck finally stopped in a parking space.

Someone spoke with a rifle in hand.

“Get out.”

“…”

Quenser obediently placed his hands behind his head and did as he was told. He was so badly outnumbered that they had not even bothered handcuffing or otherwise restraining him. Or – since they were only taking him prisoner at the request of a Pilot Elite – perhaps they were actually giving him a chance to resist so they would have an excuse to shoot him.

The area was inundated with voices speaking a Faith Organization language.

Quenser’s heart was assaulted by the hopelessness of being left behind in a strange land.

After hearing that the POW had arrived, the Pilot Elite approached with several bodyguards around her. The 18-year-old girl wore a green special suit that freely showed off her sexy bodylines. Quenser did not know if this was Urd or Verdandi.

“The first 24 hours will soon be up, but we have yet to find Skuld. He will be our crucial insurance. Handle him with care and make sure you do not go too far and kill him.”

The Elite smiled thinly and seemed to be warning the soldiers.

But an unpleasant sweat covered Quenser’s face when he heard it.

By saying “make sure you do not go too far”, she was saying that level of cruelty was standard. Plus, she had made sure to speak in a language Quenser understood. She was letting him understand her in order to shake him.

War treaties and the rules on POW treatment were meaningless if no one ensured they were upheld.

A new battle was already beginning. And it was a horribly unfair battle that would unilaterally wear down his soul.

The sexy Elite moved her face in close and spoke with the confidence of a predator.

“We wish to know where Skuld is no matter what. We wish to know where she is likely to hide. We will likely get to know each other much better before long, but keep that in mind. We are not sadists; we have a goal. As long as we achieve that, we have no reason to harm you.”

“…”

“We can discuss the details in the interrogation room, but do you have any questions?”

That was likely meant as a light jab.

By initially working up his fear and then hinting at a chance for negotiation, she left him unsure whether to go in for an attack or to fortify his defenses. It left him unsure which direction to raise his shield in.

That was why Quenser played dumb.

“I’ve got one: When will I get a change of clothes?”

He was raising his hands in just his underwear.

As soon as the sexy Elite looked down at his body, he gave an honest thrust of his hips.

The Pilot Elite’s face grew red and she screamed. To punish him for slighting their saint, the surrounding soldiers subjected him to concentrated fire from their military boots.