Fairy, shut up! I'm really not blondie.

Fortunately.

The drainage system of Levi City is so advanced that it is second only to military equipment.

The endless torrential rains often gather on the ground into small puddles, which then disappear without a trace through the well-developed underground system.

The state of combat readiness has not been lifted.

But today...

It was a rare moment of peace during the war.

The people who stayed at home were neither happy about this nor did they feel a great sense of crisis.

Fear has long since turned into numbness.

Although every time a war with the Voice of Doom ends, the media repeatedly reports shocking casualty figures.

Most of the time.

Those numbers are all heartbreaking.

in the past.

It may take decades for the barrier to break once.

A war is about to begin.

The casualties in a peaceful context are all the more shocking.

however.

Over the past decade.

This situation has changed.

There is a war almost every year.

This year it's even more outrageous.

This is already the second war.

When war becomes the norm.

Those casualty figures.

It really is just a number.

after all.

Nobody knows if they'll be the one dying tomorrow.

Even fear has become numb and indifferent.

A person who feels the same way.

They would also place a small bouquet of white flowers in front of them to express their condolences when the war situation was reported on television.

Most people go to bed early on time.

after all.

Until the war ends.

We'll have to continue working like oxen and horses.

Maybe.

He was accidentally drawn into the battlefield, and now he's gone, dust to dust.

I wonder if it's because the wind and rain are particularly strong tonight.

The sound of knocking on doors and windows seemed to have a hypnotic effect.

Whether you have good sleep quality or are prone to insomnia.

It was all around 10 PM.

They all drifted off to sleep.

Before Meng Chuze went to sleep.

I glanced at the photo on the bedside table.

The photo shows a man and a woman.

The man looked middle-aged.

Wearing a neat military uniform.

His hair was neatly combed, and his posture was aloof and stiff.

Even though the background of the photo is a cluster of blooming pink cherry blossoms, with sunlight shining down and the sky a clear blue.

This did not diminish the coldness in his expression at all.

It's like a habit of frowning.

It seems like I can't change it.

But at the moment.

It's probably due to the limitations of the occasion.

The cold, hardened soldier's lips curled up only halfway.

He revealed a smile that could scare a few timid children to death.

The person taking the photo was probably startled by the smile, as the image is a bit blurry and the subject is slightly skewed.

It seemed rather hasty.

Beside the man was a girl as pretty as an elf.

She looked about fifteen or sixteen years old.

She had long, soft black hair, which she carefully tied into a small braid by her ear with a tiny, soft bow.

She looks even more delicate and pretty.

The girl smiled exceptionally brightly.

Wearing a school uniform.

He was holding a graduation certificate in his hands.

Red background with gold lettering.

It reads "Outstanding Graduate of Levy University".

Meng Chuze turned the photo away blankly.

I looked up.

In the mirror.

It's a face just like the girl in the photo.

They've just matured a bit.

She is eighteen years old this year.

The man in the photo.

He was her father, a soldier.

He died in the war two years ago.

Well.

It was something that had already happened two years ago.

Meng Chuze even thought he had forgotten about it.

after all.

The monotonous work every day is so exhausting.

But tonight, I don't know why.

Meng Chuze suddenly remembered this thing from a long time ago.

When Meng Chuze was sixteen years old.

He skipped several grades with outstanding results.

She graduated from Levy University with people who were on average six or seven years older than her, majoring in military equipment.

The future is boundless.

Everyone thinks so.

She will be the future weapons master of Levi City.

Oh.

She herself thinks so too.

Graduation day.

Meng Chuze's father, whom he rarely saw throughout the year, took a special annual leave to visit him.

It gave her a huge surprise.

As a result, this person also looked like they were in a coffin when taking the photo.

The classmate who was helping to take the photo was quite frightened.

The photos that were taken were really not good enough to be considered "graduation photos".

Meng Chuze insisted on taking another picture.

Just as that student calmed down.

Just as I was about to press the shutter.

The sirens shattered the tranquility of Levi City.

war.

coming.

Her father didn't even have time for a single photo.

He got into the car and left.

The battle lasted four days.

Meng Chuze received the news while he was interning at the Military Equipment Institute.

She was a girl who had just turned sixteen.

They became the children of martyrs.

Also sent along were videos of people being killed in action.

Taking advantage of their superior numbers, the Voice of Doom picked up a Type 327 long gun that hadn't been destroyed during the army's brief retreat.

That was a weapon that was still in the experimental stage.

There is almost no recoil.

It can be held in someone's hand like a spear.

Then aim and fire.

It is extremely powerful and has a longer range than the longest-range weapon currently used by the Levi military.

It was during an increasingly tense war.

The idea was proposed by a brilliant student, and a batch of experimental weapons were just produced on the eve of the outbreak of war.

original.

Meng Chuze's father's military vehicle had already retreated to outside the enemy's artillery range in time.

According to common sense...

He is safe now—as one would expect.