episode_0308

A kid suddenly appeared. The moment we saw the girl emerge on the tank’s turret, we felt a sense of déjà vu.

The small girl had a very familiar appearance.

While we pondered where we’d seen her, Unit 2312 exclaimed as if realizing something.

“That kid! She looks like the Iron Fist of Ruzilin!”

“The Iron Fist of Ruzilin? Now that you mention it, she does.”

The girl’s appearance was similar to the specter we had encountered in the Red Zone.

In other words, she resembled what we had imagined ‘if the Iron Fist of Ruzilin were a person.’

“Doesn’t she look a bit like us too? Except for her hair and clothes!”

The small, black-haired girl resembled us as well.

Perhaps it wasn’t just my thought, as Director Morgan quietly approached and whispered into my ear.

“…Did you have a younger sister?”

“No.”

“If not, then there’s no explaining why that kid is so similar to you, popping up out of nowhere, and that unnecessarily confident and brazen attitude.”

“You think we’re brazen?”

“Of course you are! In my 20 years as a hunter, I’ve never seen anyone carry out mountains of food from the headquarters cafeteria while declaring it ‘Emergency requisition of supplies.’”

Ugh, of all things to point out. I hadn’t expected him to dig into our weaknesses.

To harp on our supply issues of all things.

It was nothing short of a serious insult regarding the Violet’s food problem.

“Should I ask Irene to fire that kid?”

“Jeez! That’s not what’s important right now! Anyway, I’ve never seen her before.”

“Hey, you guys! What are you whispering about?! Suspicious! Don’t move!”

The girl, perched on the tank, cried out sharply.

It seemed my conversation with Director Morgan somehow looked suspicious and displeased her.

“You there! Hunters. Put down your weapons! Otherwise, I’ll consider you hostile!”

Now that I thought about it, it was quite understandable.

Heavily armed men in camouflage coats were holding large guns and crossbows, standing guard as if ready to pounce.

The Director attempted to converse.

“As I said before. We are the Helios Frontier Service! I am Director Morgan of the Relic Excavation Department. State your rank and name!”

“Lies! Helios? I’ve never heard of a clan with that name! I don’t know what kind of unknown clan you are, but as far as I know, there are no clans with that name participating in this Third Expedition. Reveal your identities! Are you smugglers? Or are you Circle Cliff’s gang members? You there, don’t try to sneak closer!”

“See? Kid. I’ve been trying to talk to her, but she’s just spouting nonsense. The Third Expedition, bringing up things from decades ago when I was young, what a mess. We’ll have to pull her down.”

“Wait, just a moment!”

I quickly restrained the Director and the team members.

Hearing the phrase ‘Third Expedition’ reminded me of what happened a few days ago when we caught the Fusion.

I had to ask about this directly.

“You there, you keep asking about our affiliation, but what’s your affiliation?”

“Huh? Me?”

The kid immediately answered my question.

“I’m a proud member of the 07th Guard Armored Division… Huh?”

“What, you don’t even know your affiliation and name?”

She clutched her head with a flustered expression. At the same time, an intense static passed through my mind.

“Wait a moment! I’ll answer!”

“What is this, why can’t I remember? It’s strange. Who was I again…”

Her thoughts gradually became clearer, like a phone call increasing in volume.

It felt like the strength of a disconnected Wi-Fi signal was slowly increasing.

Perhaps sensing the connection to the Violet Network, she startled and snapped her head around.

“Someone’s whispering in my head…”

She muttered, her face suddenly struck by realization.

“Right, yes! I am the Iron Fist of Ruzilin…”

“The Iron Fist of Ruzilin?”

“Huh? No! That’s not my strange name! What are you?! What did you do to me?!”

“I don’t know!”

The turret suddenly shook. As the turret moved, the Helios team members flinched and aimed their weapons.

“Get out of my head right now!”

“Hey, calm down. Just stay still!”

No sooner had I finished speaking than the kid slumped down as if all her strength had left her.

“Okay, I’ll calm down… Ugh… My head… I’m losing strength in my body…”

With those words, the girl instantly fell into a deep sleep.

**

After the situation had strangely concluded, the kid remained in a deep sleep for a while.

If she really was the Iron Fist of Ruzilin, she shouldn’t be exposed to the outside.

To block the curious gazes of onlookers, we covered her with a giant tent and further strengthened security.

Director Morgan and I discussed her identity, and Irene, who had rushed over from the academy, joined us.

“…The Fusion ghoul spoke like a person? That’s truly bizarre. I’ve never heard of such a thing happening.”

The Director exclaimed in awe as I explained what had happened after the battle with the Fusion.

Even I found it hard to readily accept, but what I had witnessed with my own eyes was an undeniable fact.

It would surely be perfectly recorded in Sophieel Noona’s black box as well.

And upon defeating her, a girl in military uniform, spouting similar words to the ghoul, suddenly appeared.

Regarding her identity, there was currently one most plausible conjecture.

“Although it’s a possibility, she is clearly…”

“You mean she’s likely that ghoul?”

Irene, who knew I had absorbed the Apostle, quickly reached the same conclusion as me.

“It’s hard to understand even after pondering it repeatedly. That damned Apostle, or Fusion… Anyway, kid from Special Operations. That ‘Third Expedition’ phrase bothers me a bit.”

Now that I thought about it, she had mentioned that repeatedly.

The Third Expedition, what on earth could that mean?

Sophieel Noona and Irene seemed to know something, but I couldn’t grasp it at all.

“It happened decades ago, before you were even born. You know that the Federation guys, hand-in-hand with several large clans, conduct various Red Zone expeditions, both big and small, right?”

“Of course I do!”

I had learned some things in history class at the academy, and also researched while preparing for the Karnak Archipelago exploration, so I had a general overview.

“Among them, there was one expedition that failed most disastrously, and that was the Third Expedition. It was so severe that equipment, vehicles, and even personnel who turned into ghouls from that time are often seen inside dungeons. If my guess is correct, that kid might be a specter from that era. And that tank too.”

Oh, if that’s true, then I need to talk to her more.

“Director-nim, if she really is from that time, couldn’t we find out the girl’s exact affiliation? Super-heavy tanks are few in number. I think we can quickly figure it out if we investigate.”

“That’s right. She said her affiliation was the 07th Armored Division. The Golden Division. It was one of the Federation’s elite units that has now disappeared. Since its reputation was high, finding related information shouldn’t be difficult.”

I fell into deep thought. If she was indeed a soldier from that time, then her reactions and words when she mistook me for a magic beast before she died finally made sense.

“But it’s different from when we absorbed the Apostle. She hasn’t completely become one of us Violets, has she?”

“Her hair color is different from ours too!”

The other Violets presented opposing opinions.

“But she just called herself the Iron Fist of Ruzilin! It’s clear our thoughts influenced her!”

And whatever her original form might have been, she had now become a beautiful girl who couldn’t even remember her own name.

It would be difficult to consider her completely identical to her previous existence.

Not long after, I felt a sign of the girl waking up again.

I quickly attempted to communicate through the network.

“Alright, can you hear me?”

“What?! I’m hearing strange noises in my head!”

“It’s me, it’s me! My name is Violet!”

As I slowly raised both hands and approached, she sent me a wary gaze, still perched on the main turret.

“Why are clan-affiliated Awakened so rude?! Don’t carelessly send thought waves into my head! If you keep doing it, I’ll report you!”

“Now, calm down. Calm down and look at yourself!”

I took out a mirror and handed it to her. As soon as I finished speaking, she meekly accepted it like a dog with its tail tucked.

“Let’s see…”

Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of me pulling an object out of thin air.

Carefully peering into the mirror, she leaped up as if a frog struck by lightning.

“Gasp! Me! I became a girl! Eek!”

The sight of the small, beautiful girl in military uniform making such a fuss was quite amusing.

If Adela Noona saw her now, she’d absolutely love her.

“Listen to me carefully. This isn’t the time of the Third Expedition. And this isn’t the Red Zone.”

“What?! Then where is this place? What year is it now?”

I explained the approximate year and location.

Her bright red eyes were filled with doubt, as if she couldn’t comprehend it.

“…Then where did everyone else go? Why did I become like this? Do you know why I became a girl?”

“That’s a bit long to explain! To summarize simply…”

Ah, my words caught in my throat there. Irene, who was watching from the side, shook her head and poked my waist. It must have meant not to explain everything.

It would be better to gloss over this part appropriately.

“For now, it’s not important, so I’ll explain it slowly later. Anyway, you are now a subordinate of us Violets! Now, tell me your name!”

“Subordinate? What do you mean… Uh, I am the Iron Fist of Ruzilin.”

“That’s right! You’ve become the Iron Fist of Ruzilin.”

And a suitable word to explain her condition came to mind.

Because I couldn’t attach eerie words like Apostle or Fusion to a beautiful girl.

“You’ve become the fairy of the super-heavy tank!”

“A fairy?”

“Yes, why don’t you try moving the tank’s turret?”

Cheolkwon, though puzzled, did as she was told. The damaged turret clanked and moved slowly.

“Huh? I really moved the turret!”

“See? I told you, you’ve become a fairy.”

The Iron Fist of Ruzilin fell into thought for a while, as if she didn’t understand.

After a moment, although she hadn’t fully understood, she nodded with an accepting attitude.

“Okay, I think I’ve… become a fairy.”

“Exactly! Then, do you remember the battles you experienced before?”

A flicker of agitation crossed Cheolkwon’s expressionless face as she blinked, and then she blankly blinked her eyes a few times. Her body trembled.

It was like a computer rebooting.

“Hmm, I think I vaguely remember…”

“Excellent!”

We Violets rushed towards her, cheering and tossing her into the air.

“Eek! What are you doing?!”

“Welcome to the Violet Regiment!”

“You’re now a member of the Ariel Group too!”

We Violets rejoiced at the new comrade’s arrival and checked her condition.

“How’s your physical condition?”

“…I feel a bit stifled, and fatigue seems to be accumulating. It must be because of this tank’s condition. My whole body is starting to ache.”

She tried to move the hull, rotating the main turret with its siege cannon and the secondary turrets equipped with autocannons left and right.

The pitch-black hull, having lost power, only moved weakly.

A grunt of dissatisfaction escaped Cheolkwon’s lips.

“So you can feel sensations?”

“It seems so. It will need maintenance.”

“Leave that to us!”

Tank maintenance was something that could be entrusted to those skilled in that field.

“Anyway, we sincerely welcome your joining the Violet Regiment!”

“Let’s defeat and crush our enemies together!”

At my words, the Iron Fist of Ruzilin gave a small, hollow laugh, then firmly grasped my outstretched hand.

“Alright. Let’s trample the magic beasts together.”

Even as she spoke bravely, Cheolkwon’s face looked somewhat empty and lonely.

“Are you hurting somewhere?”

“Oh, no. It’s just… I think it’s because the tank’s condition isn’t good. I’ll be alone for a bit…”

She lowered her head and entered the tank.

Had a bad memory resurfaced? She didn’t look well.

“Let’s re-equip her with a truly magnificent tank!”

Alright, for our tank fairy, we must successfully repair it.