Separate Exiles

You have to remember, we're not guerillas. The empire will not protect us, so we must form a fortress together.

Do you understand?

Yes, ma'am!

Hey, General! Still training?

You just got back?

What's the sitch?

Good news, the cannons and heavy weapons they were showing off yesterday are gone.

Nika saw the thugs moving a bunch of stuff out. Looked like weapons.

Natalya got it done, Sonya.

...I knew we could count on them.

Also, like we were talking about, Gromov sleeps in a camp inside the quarantine zone each night. Only Pavlovich lives on top of the walls.

We can smash the thugs' main force before we assault the wall.

We need more food and other supplies. Did you see their warehouse?

No... How much longer can we stretch these rations?

Three days, max. The Unbound are running short also. We owe Antosha too much already.

I got a bad history with food supplies... I can't—

Hold my hand! It'll be okay, General. We'll get through this.

We need to keep training. I got a feeling the next few days are gonna decide our fate.

Just how many are willing to fight...?

Surprisingly many. They've seen our training these last few days pay off. And the rest are willing to do first aid and logistics.

There's nothing young people hate more than injustice, is there?

You've done a good job, that's all.

What about that Fedya? He's not a student. Is he willing to join?

Hm... I'm still not sure if we can trust him.

We really don't know anything about him. But he is determined.

Fedya! I found a can of meat. Want some?

...No, thank you.

Don't push it. You haven't known him that long, you don't know he likes to be alone.

Come on, it's been a few days, we're not exactly strangers anymore.

Say, Fedya, you don't look like a student, but you don't look like a worker either.

How did you ever end up in this hellhole?

...I'm sorry, but I can't divulge that, under any circumstances.

Whuh?

Just who the hell...?

Time is short, Your Imperial Majesty. I beg you to consider it one last time.

Consider, yes—I'm considering feeding all these obese geriatrics to flesh buthidas.

That way, we'd get a windfall for the treasury by confiscating their assets, and a bunch of well-fed, succulent flesh buthidas.

Your Majesty... I completely understand your fury.

But you must understand that these old nobles are more willing to stand with you than the industrial nobles, who put clear price tags on their loyalty.

You need as many voices on your side as you can at a time like this, when you need to impress the Armies that continue to encroach upon the far shores of Lake Neva.

And that's their leverage to bargain with me?

Even my palace can barely afford heating this winter, and they want me to give them Originium to supply that unproductive Katorga Raion?

Is it those morsels of profit that they're after? No! They simply seek to emphasize their presence to me and make me bow to them. They will not get their wish!

The Grand Duchess of Far North, the Armies, and these old nobles...

When did we allow these leeches to our empire? They suck the blood of Ursus, and all it takes is the slightest opportunity for them to proclaim our weakness and claim Grypherburg for themselves!

Tell me, Witte... tell me that we can still demand their respect, that my assent to their ridiculous demands will not be seen as weakness.

Tell me you can make those old aristocrats go to war, risk life and limb in battle, and chase the Fourth Army back to where they belong—otherwise, do NOT trouble me with this matter again!

Your Imperial Majesty...

You know, Witte, sometimes, I can't help but think that there is too much rot growing on Ursus, like that Katorga they're so obsessed with protecting, and those people themselves.

Your Majesty is certainly correct. The Empire of Ursus is sick. But any doctor can tell you that one must be careful about what medicine to give the very ill.

Our Originium reserves are on the brink. You must do everything in your power to stop the forces of sedition from growing within Ursus, until we can come up with a material solution.

Otherwise, our internal conflicts will destroy us before any external foe or force of nature.

Fantastic. Great Ursus is as fragile as a Gaulish omelette, falling apart at the slightest touch.

You need not do much.

Simply placate them as usual, tell them that Ursus needs their loyalty, and that you intend to protect their interests.

I will handle the rest.

Do whatever you want, Witte.

I'm used to it. Those bemedaled skeletons and perfumed parasites stand in the way of everything I try to do... they don't care about Ursus, and they certainly don't care about me.

You can explain it to them when you attend tonight's ball.

Can't you and the Vice Chairman go for me? I'm tired.

It would be improper, Majesty.

You cannot refuse to attend the Winter Ball two years in a row. At a time like this, when people's hearts are unsettled, your subjects look to you to offer some degree of comfort—

Alright, alright, I'll go, just give me some time, please! That's enough talk. We've had too many vexations this winter already.

Leave me, Witte... please. And, I'm sorry.

Blyat! Blyat! Blyat...

Such a cold winter... it could really use a fire.

What's this...? A power outage?

Death to the mudak tsar! Death to the mudak tsar! Death to the mudak tsar!

Bring out the bloodsucker Witte! Bring out the imbecile Fyodor!

You're looking for me? Here I am.

My, what a commotion.

Please! Stop! No more!

Shut up! How dare you insult His Imperial Majesty! Traitor!

Enough, enough! He's not resisting. No need to beat him so hard.

Another traitor to the empire!

Traitor to the empire? Hah! Whose empire?

Insolent mudak! You need a beating too!

Such impudence!

How dare you hit me!

Indeed, I hit you. You may boast to your children that the tsar—

*Bzz*... target... escape... capture, complete! Over!

In the name of... *bzz*... His Imperial Majesty! Over!

......

............

...Blyat.

*bzz*...

Mayday! Mayday! Anyone hear me?

All Student Assembly members, evacuate immediately! The lead vehicle is driving towards the outskirts!

If you can hear me, answer ASAP! Botani out!

Wait—

And so... we were all captured.

No explanations, no promises, no food, no tents.

We were tossed into Katorga like garbage.

Don't worry! I'll help you!

Stay behind me! I've hunted in the Far North with my father! I can handle these beasts! Trust me!

Look out!

Phew... they're gone. That was close.

Your arm. It's hurt.

Huh? Argh... you wouldn't happen to have alcohol and bandages on you, would you?

No. But I'll find you the finest doctors in Grypherburg once we are free of this place.

Don't worry about it. It's cold here, maybe it won't get infected.

What's your name?

...Fyodor.

Let me call you Fedya, since I've helped you. You can call me Shorty. That's what my friends call me.

You don't mind?

Minding doesn't change anything... If you're not hurt, I'll go on ahead.

Wait, you're going to the wall?

Yes, my friend told me that the one in charge here lets you go if you pay up.

I put together some money. Not sure if it's enough, but I figured I might as well take the chance.

Here, you can have this ration bar. If you need a place to start a fire, the students have a camp down on the south side.

Bye, Fedya—

...Wait.

Take these chervontsy. This should be enough to bribe the guards.

Please, hear me out—!

......

*Bzz*... this is Botani calling anyone who can hear me. Anyone?

Please, do you copy...?

The Council of Sixteen thugs are killing students! We need help!

Can anyone hear me? Come in, please?

Have we been abandoned? Are our cries and screams soundless?

It's a wall, not the great tundra! Why...?

(Sobs) Why doesn't anyone hear us...?

What should I...?

...Botani out.

(Rasping call) Attempt No. 373. Calling anyone who can hear me...

......

We are trapped in Grypherburg's Katorga Raion, unable to contact anyone on the outside...

Yesterday alone, five students died from blunt force trauma and hypothermia... there may have been more. We find ourselves on the brink of death, here in the glorious capital of Ursus.

The people who murdered my friends now sit in a room above me...

...!

Attempt No. 374. Come in, come in...

...Maybe you'll never be like that voice from the Far North, Botani. You'll never change anything.

How could I make people hear my voice, so that all these lives can be saved?

(Sound of pained vomiting)

(Sobs)

Three hundred and seventy-four... you have shown more spirit than any bureaucrat in the palaces of Deity Grypherburg.

Maybe you don't realize it, but you are doing great deeds.

...Huh?

Y-You can hear me? Who is this...?

I... I'm Fedya. I'm from Sonya's camp.

Sonya's camp... I know of it, but I couldn't go, no, I didn't dare...

I sneaked into the last truck that came here... I wanted to tell the people of Grypherburg the truth of what I saw, the cruelty and brutality that's being inflicted upon the young people here.

But nobody answered, nobody heard me... this room I'm hiding in is right in the middle of the thugs' camp...

They came in today, and they stabbed the wardrobe that I'm hiding in with a freshly-honed knife... I think I can still hear its blade trembling...

I can't come out. They'll get me for sure.

(Sobs) I can't do anything—

In that case...

Why do you keep talking?

...Why?

There are thugs all around you. The wise would remain silent and cover their eyes and ears, the wise would ignore everything going on around them...

What is happening in Katorga had nothing to do with you... you could have remained silent. You live in danger and in pain. No one would blame you.

Yet you entered the quarantine zone and risked exposure to publicize the tragedies, even though no one is listening. You believe every call you make offers hope to the students.

I can... offer hope... the students need...

Unless you have a better explanation... I've really had quite enough, listening to a brave soul lament her cowardice. I come out here just once and I seem to keep running into this sort of thing.

How many hostiles on your end?

Two.

Good. Just the two of them won't catch you. Can you hear their movements from your location? Like what they're saying, what shape they're in?

...I can hear, if I listen carefully. They keep complaining about work and yawning. They seem tired.

Excellent. The tired are less alert. They are people too; they can grow weak or careless. Even you should be able to kill someone who is badly fatigued.

That's too—

Well, it's up to you whether you do it or not. But you can run, can't you?

Tonight, once they're asleep and you can hear them snoring, run, and don't look back.

If you don't know the way, I'll guide you. I walked all the way from the wall to the camp. I remember the buildings you'll pass.

If you try, you'll find that it's not so hard after all.

...Will I continue to hear your voice?

If it gives you the courage to move...

—What?

...I'll try.

Can I ask who you are? You're not a student, are you?

...That is correct, but Sonya permits my presence.

I see... I've been providing communications support for the Student Assembly. Any student who hears my voice recognizes me and the code name 'Botani'.

Take a break, Pavalo. Even I'm tired after hauling all those crates today, you must be exhausted.

It-It's an honor to carry Master Gromov's burdens.

Come on, you got a barony from your dad, you could grovel a little bit less.

He's long gone, and our family is...

Can you tell Gromov, I just want to leave, you guys kidnapped me—

Shut it. Yeah, I kidnapped you, big deal. Boss needed someone who was good with numbers. It's not like you've been treated badly.

You want to get out, talk less and work harder.

......

What is it, Botani?

No, it's nothing.

It's just that when I get a chance to actually listen to them talk... they don't seem so scary anymore.

Hmph. I know exactly how many good-for-nothings there are in Ursus.

Hehe...

Thank you, Fedya.

Thank you for hearing my voice.

How come I haven't seen a shadow of any of the supplies that Gromov requested...?

No, the purchase price is much higher than the market price, and the Sixteen Warriors' nominal wages are far higher than what they actually are.

Hmph. A tale as old as Grypherburg itself.

Dreaming about meat again? Mudak sounds like he fell into a soup pot.

...A leak?

Ahh—

Hush... your life is in my hands, Baron.

Wh-Who are you?

Th-That's not important. What's important is that I need your help.

...Your voice is trembling, and your hand's trembling even worse. Are you nervous?

Put down the knife, devushka, and we can talk about this—

No...

I-If you shout, or try to stall for time, I'll have to kill you.

Like you said, my hand's trembling. I can't promise you it won't accidentally slip...

P-Please, I have a family back home. Spare me, and I'll do anything—

...Put on this headset.

What...?

I won't keep holding you up with a knife, but if you make one wrong move... this headset represents the latest research from the Third Bureau. It can blow your head off your shoulders at any time.

The Third Bureau?! N-No, how did I get on their bad side—

Quiet... someone will tell you where to go through the headset. You will lead me there, avoiding all Sixteen Warriors positions along the way. Do you understand?

Y-Yes...

Tell me where your camp is, I'll head there...

Ha, haha—

...What's so funny?

No, it's nothing. First, tell me the buildings you see around your position—