Gaen Volunteer Army.
The terrorist organization was known despite their unclear activities, due to them coming from an organization with a long history.
They used to be a semi-governmental organization meant to support the military.
Shortly after the birth of the Garestonian Army – that hasn’t changed much – problems kept popping up left and right, and they found it too hard to deal with everything by themselves.
They had to mobilize more frequently than they’d expected, and because of that the fatigue of the soldiers just kept adding up.
There were just simply too few organizations and personnel other than the Garestonian Army that could deal with the raybeasts that the normal people couldn’t deal with.
Of course, there were organizations that were similar to Earth’s police, but for organizations like those that are meant to deal with crimes, fighting raybeasts was simply far beyond their pay grade.
Hence, the military support organization, the Gaen Volunteer Army, was established.
This organization – that was put together by gathering the people whose Status weren’t good enough to join the army or have retired due to the degradation of their Status – were meant to deal with situations that cops and normal people couldn’t deal with, and at the same time were too trivial for the army to mobilize. They were also tasked with buying time for the army to arrive and to help bring people away from danger.
In order to distinguish them from the military family that endeavored to establish them and the official army, they were given the code(title), Volunteer Army.
Although the title and the shape of their organization has changed over time, they continued to be recognized as a support organization and was widely recognized and supported by many as a second army. Moreover, because they were closer to the people than the official army, many young men and women yearned to join them.
The turning point came when Earth and Garesto secretly started interacting 38 years ago.
The interaction between Earth and Garesto was treated by the former as top secret information, but the latter publicized their talks to some extent to their people much earlier.
Then roughly 15 years ago, there was a heated debate in Garesto about revealing the talks between the two worlds to the masses of Earth as well, and becoming more involved with each other.
The Volunteer Army was against it.
They feared the Earthlings and did not trust them. They also feared the confusion that would arise because of the difference in technology.
A large-scale movement against a more serious interaction with Earth took place, but in the end, the decision to interact more earnestly with Earth went through.
Most people had no choice but to give up then, but some of the youth, who held more extreme stances, gathered around the descendants of the Gaen Family.
And so, the Gaen Volunteer Army went into hiding and started performing anti-government activities with their old name.
Because of their history, they had already been marked early on, but because they had many former soldiers and paramilitary personnel among their ranks, who knew the movements of the military and the police well, and had a wealth of combat experience, they’ve been able to outwit their investigators and keep running all this time.
Meanwhile, they calmly put together an army under strict leadership.
Unwilling to recognize the cultural invasion of Earth and fearful of the threat of the Earthlings, they claimed their cause to be just and declared that they would put an end to the interaction between the two worlds and restore Garesto to its rightful state. After 8 years of preparation, it was time to make their move, not knowing that there was a huge contradiction in their way of thinking.
One could say that the reason the woman was running right now was because of the worthlessness of her comrades.
Originally, she was ordered to stand by at the school and move according to how the situation changed, but who would’ve thought that their comrades would actually struggle against some students and be forced to rely on their treasured trump card for help.
The woman, who was never in the staff room, sneaked away from the school building at the behest of the main force. She did not enter through the official entrance that everyone was aiming for, and instead broke through the barrier. As one might expect, she was in a bad mood.
“I can’t believe they’re having such a hard time fighting some kids just because she’s there. But then again they’re nothing more than a bunch of blockheads that the army couldn’t use. I suppose this is all they amount to.”
As she ran through the forest while trying not to stand out, she grit her teeth at how weak the rabble they’ve gathered was.
But in order to realize their wish, they needed an organization, and to that end, they needed to meet a condition called number.
They were an illegal organization anyway, so at least the rabble they’ve gathered was still better than some amateur picked up from the street.
Which is why she could also understand the order her Omega Team’s commander gave her.
They couldn’t afford to lose in their first operation, and neither could they afford to lose too many people.
“…Commander Loen, can we really fulfill our goal here(in the volunteer army)?”
But she still wanted to give her honest opinion to her superior.
Even if the only people they trusted within the volunteer army were the members of Omega Team.
The moment they first acted, she knew that they would have a lot problems.
All this time she’s been doing nothing but sigh, but before long, she stopped.
Her destination was within sight. It was a tent right at the center of the fields.
This was the place where some of the inspectors were stationed while the exam was ongoing.
“Anyone here!? We have an emergency—!?”
She entered the tent with her usual(・・・・) voice, acting as though she was flustered, but…
When she entered the tent, she realized there was no one in, and stopped out of shock.
“…I-Is there no one here?”
The equipment was still here, but there was no one left.
It was unlikely that they had all gone out to deal with the guard robots.
If they wanted to deal with the guard robots, they could have kept this place as an HQ, and at the very least, leave someone to keep in touch.
Maybe the situation was urgent, but in such cases, the first thing they’d do is to check on the students.
And they could bring the students that have realized the gravity of the situation to take refuge here.
which is why, this situation, where the former HQ was completely void of people, was strange.
“I gotta hand it to you, you guys really thought this through, didn’t you?” A voice said.
“W-Who’s there!?” She said.
When she heard a voice, she immediately left the tent and went outside.
But the moment she saw who the person was, a wave of indescribable anxiety washed over her.
Her intuition was screaming at her, telling her that something was wrong.
Something that they hadn’t noticed was taking place.
After all, the white-haired swordsman dressed in her usual unfashionable jersey was standing calmly right here.
“Teacher…. Frire!?”
In the face of the one person she didn’t want to meet the most, she couldn’t help but let out a shrill voice.
But she immediately remembered her current standing and a look of relief surfaced on her face.
“Ahh, thank goodness! Teacher Doneju, I am Lesca Frozen, the office staff in charge of the Technology Class.”
Then she feigned a flustered look and introduced herself quickly.
Teachers of the Normal Class and the Technology Class staff rarely met.
In fact, unless they had an errand that required each other’s presence, because of the difference in their work and department, they would never really have a chance to talk.
So she introduced herself first. That way she could acquire the necessary position to act out this one-woman play.
“Teacher, the academy is in a really bad—”
“—Shut up.”
But try as she might to explain the urgency of the situation, the moment she approached Frire, that sword that was ever on her person was suddenly drawn at her.
As a beautiful half-circle was drawn by that sharp stroke, she immediately jumped back.
“KU!”
But the fact that she’d ended up dodging caused a bitter expression to surface on her face.
After all, if she were truly Lesca, that attack would have been fatal.
Lesca was also a Garestonian, but she didn’t have the Status needed for combat.
As such, Lesca couldn’t have possibly dodged the sword of the Sword Saint, not even by coincidence.
“You dodged that just now, so… You really are a fake.”
“Why, how!?”
But she still couldn’t understand it. Why did Frire point her sword at her in the first place?
That attack just now wasn’t just a probing attack. Frire had really intended to do damage to her.
It was as though she understood everything and acted accordingly. Because of that the fake Lesca couldn’t hide her agitation.
“Hmph, you guys really pulled a fast one on us. Since its establishment, the academy has always been wary of intruders. Employment examinations for the faculty and staff were also carried out with the utmost care. Who would’ve thought that someone would actually try to take the place of those who’ve passed?”
“…”
That wasn’t a question. She was merely telling the truth(・・), so it was not possible for her to fool her.
Where had she gone wrong? At which point, was she found out? But try as she might to rack her head, she couldn’t find the answer.
But that was a given. After all, if she truly could understand, then she would have run away a long time ago.
“That’s not your real face, is it? I suspected you personally, so I thoroughly investigated you, and caught a powerful photon reaction from your entire face. That then brought to mind something an acquaintance told me once. Those in intelligence gathering and infiltration missions apparently use 3D Imaging to fake their appearance.”
Garesto had the technology to fool the eyes of humans and machines alike just by projecting an image.
They could use it to make it look as if something that didn’t exist existed, and they could also use it to hide one’s original appearance.
It was useless against raybeasts, so it wasn’t that well known, but it was precisely because it wasn’t well known that it worked well for disguises.
“…Why would you suspect me?”
“You shouldn’t have laid a hand on Safina and Shinguuji. Had it only been the Technology Class of 3 – B and the Normal Classes of 2 – C and 2 – D, then you wouldn’t have been the only candidate. But you just had to target those two, and unfortunately for you, no one else has come into contact with both of them other than you,” Frire said.
‘So that’s what,’ Fake Lesca clicked her tongue.
Due to some reasons, she had a good understanding of Frire’s Mind skills.
That’s why she underestimated Frire and believed that she wouldn’t be found out.
Besides, even if she was found out, it wasn’t like she could do something about it.
Moreover, her efforts had already failed to produce any decent results within the fields. The Technology Class students did go on a rampage, but they have already calmed down and have been brought to the hospital.
So she figured that her Mind skill had simply failed.
But that was only natural, after all, it was a bit much to demand her to imagine that a Mind skill that not even the military knew about would be so easily seen through and even be dispelled.
“Lesca Frozen, the oldest staff of the academy who’s been working here for the past 8 years, huh. Well, it’s about time you dropped the act and returned that identity to its owner! Infiltrator from the Gaen Volunteer Army!”
Tl Note: Added the letter to ’04-29-A’ to distinguish this ’04-29′ from the others, as it will be repeated several times like 02-21.