A Frozen City

Briar Churchill wore a black dress. For a moment, I felt strange for thinking her attire might be too flashy.

Her outfit was ordinary. A simple chestnut-colored bun tied back neatly, and a modest dress that only revealed her arms, maintaining dignity. The hem of the skirt reached her ankles, adding to its modesty, and while her armpits might show if she raised her arms, it wouldn’t be impolite assuming she wore a cardigan.

Even the pin holding her hair was a simple black one that didn’t stand out, and she wore no sparkling accessories. The color was dark and her makeup wasn’t heavy, leaving no room to call it flashy.

Nevertheless, I felt she was too glamorous to attend a memorial or funeral service, to the point of being disrespectful. It had been a while since I felt such dissonance with my own thoughts.

“Why are you staring like that?”

Just before leaving the dorm room, Bri raised an eyebrow and grinned.

“Do I look that strange?”

“No, there’s nothing strange. Rather, I see you can wear such proper clothes well.”

“What do you think I am? I used to perform in orchestras, you know? Do you think I’d wear punk-style jeans for those?”

“Come to think of it, you were a woman who properly engaged in musical activities even without awakening…”

“It’s not ‘come to think of it’, but from the beginning… Ah, whatever. I guess you can be indifferent since I haven’t really achieved anything as a composer, huh? Even robots can perform, and conducting robots can conduct too, so it’s nothing special, right?”

Of course, I don’t think those things are nothing special. It’s just that I’m embarrassed to openly say that my eyes seem to be covered with rose-colored glasses for thinking her neat appearance is glamorous.

She seemed to finally understand the meaning behind my gaze as I looked her over, despite my fumbling words. Briar Churchill brought her face close to mine and said:

“Don’t do it in this outfit. Understand?”

“Uh, what?”

“You want to violate not Briar Churchill the Huangpu student, but Maestro Briar Churchill on stage, properly dressed in formal attire. Yes, you want to violate not just the essence of that person, but their persona too. Why wouldn’t I understand your heart? I know that’s the kind of ‘play’ that a lecher like you loves most.”

“Well, I hadn’t thought that far yet.”

It was an honest answer. I just hadn’t thought of it yet. I couldn’t deny the possibility that if I had stared blankly a little longer, I might have had exactly the same thoughts Bri pointed out.

“I’m sure you did it with Zhou or Duey in their uniforms too? Someone like you is completely absorbed in coloring even your partner’s identity with your own hue.”

“No, not particularly with Duey.”

“So you did it with Zhou.”

“…Quite often.”

I answered honestly since there was no need to deflect. Churchill finished her preparations without complaining much, though she puffed up her cheeks in apparent dissatisfaction. She packed almost no luggage. It was in stark contrast to me, who had packed water, simple preserved food, and clothes just in case.

“Is it okay to be that light? We’re crossing the continent by train, after all. For such a long-distance journey, to not pack any travel luggage…”

“Can’t I just buy things? I’m taking my wallet. It’s full of Chinese currency, and if I need clothes, I can buy them, and if I’m short on food, I can buy it. Unless Chinese currency suddenly becomes worthless, there shouldn’t be any problem.”

How carefree. But I couldn’t say she was wrong. I wore a suit and carried a large hiking backpack, while Churchill left the dormitory building wearing a black cardigan over her dress. Zhou Lizhi was waiting for us, dressed in a full National Revolutionary Army uniform with a military sword at her waist.

The Major looked at us two and asked first:

“The swords?”

“I packed both of them. My roommate said she didn’t want to wear a sword with her dress.”

I answered, patting the backpack I was carrying. Zhou nodded, seeing the two swords tied to the bag.

“Be careful not to lose them. Those swords are connected to this school’s barrier, so you need to be especially careful in handling them.”

“Understood. I’ll be careful. Bri, you answer too.”

“I’m not carrying a sword, so what do I need to be careful about?”

Let it go. Briar Churchill was originally sharp towards Zhou Lizhi, but lately, it had gotten even worse. I feel somewhat responsible for that issue. Zhou Lizhi, perhaps knowing she wasn’t in a completely innocent position herself, cleared her throat and lightly moved past this issue.

“We’ll go to Guangzhou Station and take the high-speed train to Nanjing Station. We’ll stay in Nanjing for a day, and tomorrow, on the 30th, we’ll take the train departing for Beiping and arrive in Beiping in the afternoon of the same day. After sleeping at the accommodation, we’ll officially attend the memorial service on the 31st, the Generalissimo’s birthday.”

“Yes, yes, I know. I’ve heard it several times already. My qualification is as a member of the British delegation, you’re the Generalissimo’s security detail, and Eun-young here is a member of the student delegation.”

Briar grumbled. That’s how things actually turned out. Somehow, just yesterday, Zhou Lizhi succeeded in unilaterally notifying about my and Churchill’s participation in the event, and before any objections or requests for reconsideration could come from Nanjing, she preemptively contacted the British government and obtained confirmation to have Churchill participate in the Beiping event.

Additionally, she sneakily included my name, a foreign student, in the ‘All-China Student Delegation’, successfully adding us two to the entourage before the Presidential Office officials could notice anything suspicious.

Therefore, when we get to Beiping, Zhou, who is a direct bodyguard of the Generalissimo, and us two, who belong to different groups, will be separated. But Zhou Lizhi’s explanation was that this wouldn’t be a distance that would prevent us from responding if Zhou faced a threat to her safety.

There’s an uneasy feeling somewhere, but if this is the only way to follow to Beiping for now, we have no choice but to comply.

The three of us left Huangpu after a very long time and walked out into the bushes outside the school barrier. After walking for about 30 minutes, the mysterious jungle hiding the school disappeared, and finally, the Guangzhou city we had only heard about in news appeared before our eyes.

…It was a brutal sight.

The Blue Sky with a White Sun flag was flying at half-mast on what appeared to be the city hall building. Not just the city hall, but countless street lamps, and even shops and houses that seemed to be privately owned, all had the flag of the Republic of China hung halfway up the flagpole, expressing condolences for the horrific incident that had occurred recently.

But it wasn’t just these flags at half-mast that made the atmosphere of this city cold. The city was frozen. There were hardly any people walking around on foot. This southern Chinese port city, which in size alone could rival any global metropolis, was quiet to a serious degree.

Occasionally, when you thought you heard the sound of a vehicle moving and turned your head, you’d see an IFV with a machine gun strutting through the city. The rare civilian cars that could be seen would become disoriented and give way, stopping in place, as soon as a National Revolutionary Army armored vehicle appeared.

It seemed as if they were afraid that soldiers might get out of the armored vehicles and confiscate their cars.

There were workers in buildings that looked like company offices, and smoke was rising from the factory area, so the city’s production industry hadn’t stopped. But beauty salons, restaurants, real estate agencies, and even cafes – businesses not considered essential for the productivity of the Chinese state – were mostly closed.

Pharmacies barely managed to continue business as if they had been granted permission to operate, but with no one walking the streets, it was just an empty waste of electricity. Even Churchill seemed surprised that the huge city of Guangzhou had turned into a ghost town. Zhou shrugged.

“Even the red-light districts have closed shop. Except for places like Shanghai.”

“…What?”

“You understand what I mean. The guys who run the red-light districts are lawless ones like the Triads. I mean they’re outlaws who operate outside the law, even involving corrupt awakened ones. Even those guys have closed their shops and sent the women home in most major cities now. Of course, I heard the Shanghai faction is still brazenly operating brothels even in this situation, those guys…”

“…Because they were crucial contributors to the Generalissimo’s rise to power?”

“Even the Presidential Office finds it difficult to touch the Shanghai faction, that’s what it means. Conversely, unless you’re of that caliber, even organized crime groups have to be prepared to be beaten to death by the National Revolutionary Army now. Move around quietly. Nothing too serious should happen since I’m with you, but there’s no need to create unnecessary trouble, right?”

I certainly thought it was fortunate that Zhou Lizhi was with us. A lieutenant patrolling the city in a light tank stopped his vehicle as soon as he saw Zhou Lizhi, stood up on the tank, and saluted her stiffly. Zhou perfunctorily acknowledged the lieutenant’s salute and continued walking towards the station.

An armored vehicle driver, seeing the three of us, cautiously gauged Zhou’s reaction and offered to give us a ride, but Zhou Lizhi refused that offer as well.

The treatment of Zhou Lizhi by the Revolutionary Army officers was definitely not like that of a regular major. Rather, while ordinary soldiers of lower ranks didn’t pay much attention to Zhou Lizhi, numerous officers from lieutenants to colonels immediately took a subservient attitude, as if their bodies naturally lowered themselves upon seeing Zhou Lizhi.