Free Web Novel"Damn it, those useless trash in the Military Police!"
"General Margaret has only been gone for a few days, and they didn't even fucking know a bomb was planted right under their feet!"
Katya floored the accelerator, cursing loudly.
The steam car's engine let out a death-rattle roar, and the chassis vibrated violently as if it might fall apart at any moment.
They had "borrowed" this car from outside the warehouse ten minutes ago—or rather, snatched it from a member of the Children of Dawn who was trying to escape.
That guy was just about to start the engine.
Katya jumped onto the car and knocked him off the driver's seat with a punch.
"Can't you drive a bit more steadily?"
Natasha sat in the passenger seat, one hand death-gripping the door handle and the other clutching the overhead grab bar, her face somewhat ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ pale.
She got carsick.
"You want to drive?" Katya asked without looking back.
"I don't know how to drive."
"Then shut up."
The steam car sped through the narrow streets, its wheels screeching as they rolled over the pitted cobblestone road.
The buildings on both sides flew backward, turning into blurred streaks of gray.
Wind poured in through the open windows, carrying the scent of scorching and burning.
Behind them.
The sky was orange-red.
It was the light of fire.
It was the fire of the entire Old City.
Massive flames soared into the sky, carving hideous curves into the night.
Thick black smoke billowed, obscuring the stars and the moon, turning the entire sky into a nightmare of interwoven charred black and orange-red.
The explosions were still continuing.
One.
Two.
Three.
Like someone tolling a funeral bell.
"Fuck."
Katya's voice was hoarse.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck."
She pressed the accelerator even deeper.
The engine's roar turned into a wail.
The needle on the dashboard jumped frantically, long since exceeding the redline.
"Katya, the engine is going to overheat—"
"I know!"
Katya gritted her teeth. "Let it explode, I don't care. Enough things have exploded tonight anyway; one more won't make a difference."
"Explode and kill me if you can."
About ten minutes ago, Frederick and Reinhardt found a document in the Children of Dawn's archive room.
The good news was that it was exactly what Pavela was looking for: the Children of Dawn's operational plan.
It recorded the instructions from the Children of Dawn's financial backers—certain pro-war nobles—regarding their next steps.
They had received intelligence help from someone and planted incendiary bombs throughout the Old City, intending to cause chaos in Eisenburg to turn the tide of the Pro-war faction's terrible public opinion situation and prepare for their next phase.
The bad news was that the scheduled time for the operation recorded on it was right now.
Pavela immediately made deployments and terminated the original plan.
Frederick, Reinhardt, and Alicia headed to the Old City immediately to save as many people as possible after the explosions.
Katya and Natasha went to contact the Dawn Brigade and other students of the Royal Knights Academy to mobilize personnel and request support.
As for Pavela herself, she was going to personally stop them from achieving their true objective.
...
"Damn it, what about the Eisenburg Garrison?"
Natasha was jolted, her head hitting the car's roof, and she couldn't help but swear.
"Doesn't Eisenburg supposedly station a third of the Empire's Standing Army? Even if some were moved in the last few days, why hasn't anyone—"
"There won't be anyone."
Katya interrupted Natasha, her voice cold.
"There won't be any."
"What?"
"Did you not finish reading that document?"
Katya jerked the steering wheel, avoiding a lamppost that had fallen into the middle of the road.
"The bosses behind the Children of Dawn are the pro-war nobles; this operation was authorized by them. And the Standing Army in Eisenburg is also made up of Pro-war faction people. Do you think they're going to stop their own plan?"
Natasha's face grew even paler.
"Then they... they're just going to watch?"
"They'd like nothing more than to burn down the entire Old City."
A twisted smile tugged at the corner of Katya's mouth.
"That's the Old City. It's separated from the Main City of Eisenburg by an entire canal. No matter how it burns, it won't affect the Main City."
"The residents of the Old City are only workers, vagrants, orphans, fugitives—those who lost everything in the war."
"The Empire doesn't care about them."
"The nobles don't care about them either."
"They are kindling, a necessary cost!"
"As long as they burn, it's one more point won in that goddamn political game."
...
When their car burst through the gates of the Royal Knights Academy, the guard happened to be dozing off.
He was jolted awake by the roar of the engine and jumped up to intercept, but the car had already whistled past, leaving him with a face full of steam and dust.
"Stop! You—"
His voice was drowned out by the engine.
Katya parked the car in the central square of the dormitory area.
The tires left a long black mark on the stone ground.
The engine let out a moan and then stalled.
White steam billowed from the gaps in the hood; the car, tortured all night, finally breathed its last.
"It's totaled," Natasha said.
"Doesn't matter."
Katya jumped out of the car and looked around.
Most of the dormitory windows were dark, with only a few scattered ones showing faint light.
It was late at night.
Most people were asleep.
She took a deep breath.
Then, she began to shout.
"People of the Dawn Brigade!"
Her voice exploded in the night sky like a signal flare.
"All Commoner Scholarship Students!"
"Everyone who still has a conscience!"
"Now! Come out!"
Windows began to light up one by one.
People pushed open windows, looking out with sleepy eyes.
Some were swearing.
"It's the middle of the fucking night—"
"Who's screaming out there—"
"Are you crazy—"
Katya ignored those voices.
She continued to shout.
"The Old City is on fire!"
"Someone planted bombs there!"
"Right now, the entire Old City is burning!"
The cursing gradually stopped.
It was replaced by whispers.
People opened their windows and leaned out, looking toward the distant sky.
The orange-red glow on the horizon was clearly visible now.
Even across half the city, the towering black smoke could be seen.
"Do you see it?"
Katya's voice was a bit hoarse.
"That's not some steam pipe explosion."
"Those are bombs."
"Someone deliberately planted bombs."
More people began to walk out of the dormitories.
Some were in pajamas, some in coats, some barefoot.
They gathered in the square with various expressions.
Some were shocked, some angry, some confused, some indifferent.
Natasha also walked to Katya's side.
"Do you know how many people are in the Old City?"
Natasha spoke.
"Thirty thousand?"
"Forty thousand?"
"I don't know, and no one can know!"
"Because no one cares."
The crowd quieted down a bit.
"The people living there are workers. Vagrants. Orphans. People who lost everything because of the war."
Her gaze swept over the crowd in front of her, then she pointed to herself.
"People like us."
Silence.
More and more people came out of the dormitories.
The crowd in the square grew.
"Right now, they are burning."
"The Eisenburg Garrison won't go to save them."
"The Military Police won't go to save them."
"Because they are 'necessary costs'."
"Because their deaths can help some people win a bit more in their political games."
She paused.
She took a deep breath.
"I come from Usar."
When she said this, her voice began to tremble slightly.
"My hometown, Lyubertsy Town, was burned down just like this."
The crowd became even quieter.
"I was seven years old that year."
"I watched with my own eyes as my neighbor was burned to death in their own house."
"I watched with my own eyes as my friend was pinned under a collapsed beam and burned to a crisp."
"I watched with my own eyes as my teacher, holding her three-year-old son, jumped from a window—"
Her voice began to tighten.
But she didn't stop.
"At that time, I thought, why isn't anyone coming to save us?"
"Why?"
"What did we do wrong?"
"We just wanted to live. We just wanted to live well."
"Why did no one come?"
Her hands clenched into fists.
"Later, I understood."
Her voice began to rise.
"Because no one thought we were worth saving!"
"Because we were just a number on a ledger!"
"A number that could be crossed out!"
"A number that no one cared if it died!"
The crowd began to stir.
Some were talking in low voices.
Some people's expressions changed.
"Tonight!"
Natasha's voice suddenly soared, as if something suppressed for years had finally found an outlet.
"The people of the Old City are also such numbers!"
"Their children are also asking—"
"Why isn't anyone coming to save us?"
"What did we do wrong?"
"Why?"
She took a step forward.
Her eyes shone brightly in the reflection of the firelight.
"So I ask you—"
"Are we going to let them die silently like numbers?"
"Are we going to let their children ask the same questions I did?"
"Are we going to let those bastards sitting in high places have their way?!"
"No!"
Someone in the crowd shouted.
"I don't accept it either!"
Natasha's voice had turned into a roar.
"I didn't get any help back then! But tonight—"
"Tonight, they will!"
"Because we are here!"
"Because we are still alive!"
"Because we know what it feels like to be abandoned!"
Katya took over.
"We don't have time to wait for approval!"
"We have no mechs, no weapons, no any official support!"
"We only have two legs and two hands!"
"But we can run! We can lift! We can drag people out of the ruins!"
"Saving one is one!"
"Saving ten is ten!"
"It's better than standing here doing nothing!"
Silence.
A silence that lasted about three seconds.
Then, it was as if a floodgate had been opened.
"I'll go!"
A young man was the first to step forward.
Brown hair, dark skin, calloused hands.
"My brother lives in the Old City!"
"I'll go too!"
Another person.
"I grew up there!"
"Count me in!"
"Me too!"
"My house is right by the canal—"
"Stop talking nonsense, let's go!" freewebnovёl.ƈom
The crowd began to split.
Some ran to the warehouse to find tools.
Some ran to the water room to find containers.
Some began to organize teams and count heads.
The members of the Dawn Brigade acted the fastest.
They seemed long accustomed to such emergencies.
In less than three minutes, the first group had already set off.
They had no cars.
They ran on foot.
Ten people, twenty people, thirty people.
To a hundred, then hundreds.
The sound of footsteps echoed in the night.
Heading toward the direction of that fire.
Natasha stood there, watching those running figures.
Her chest was heaving violently.
The speech just now had drained her strength.
But her eyes were bright.
"Let's go."
Katya patted her shoulder.
"We have to go too."
Natasha nodded.
She started walking, ready to join the running crowd.
But Natasha also noticed that not everyone had started moving.
On the other side of the dormitory building, a group of people stood still.
Their clothes were more refined.
Even their pajamas were silk.
Even their slippers were leather.
Noble students.
The members of the Iron Cross Society.
They just seemed to be standing there.
Some seemed to be watching the spectacle.
Some seemed to be sneering.
Some didn't even come out of the dormitory building, just standing by the windows, looking down at the chaos in the square.
A girl with a brown ponytail ran past Natasha, pulling her along.
She had freckles on her face; she was a classmate Natasha knew, Anna.
"Natasha, don't count on those noble lords."
She said.
"Make them risk their lives to save commoners?"
"Impossible."
"They won't even get their hands dirty."
Natasha didn't look back.
She indeed didn't know what those noble students were doing.
But she didn't have time to care anymore.
Every second now, someone was struggling in the sea of fire.
Every second, someone in the Old City was waiting for rescue.
Every second—
So, she also began to run.
Along with the countless comrades beside her, she began to run.
Toward that fire.
Toward that hell.
