Chapter 40: Out of reach

The drive between the Order Organization’s headquarters and the city’s United Hospital was quite long.

The traffic lights flickered.

Ephnel stepped on the accelerator, and the scenery outside the window began to recede once more.

Yukina sat in the passenger seat, her gaze fixed outside.

The cityscape was the same as ever.

Lights were concentrated on the distant high-rises, while other areas were vast patches of darkness.

After the two large-scale Erosion attacks, it seemed that some urban districts had begun implementing timed power supplies.

The city’s reconstruction and the rescue efforts in the disaster areas required a massive amount of electrical support.

In this era, power was already in short supply, so the implementation of such special regulations was unavoidable.

Yukina retracted her gaze and turned to look at Ephnel.

To be honest, she was still very unaccustomed to the title “older sister.”

Her older brother, Yanase Naoto.

The girl she admired, Ephnel.

These two people, who both occupied very important places in Yukina’s life, two completely unrelated people, had today been simultaneously stuffed into this single, beautiful shell.

And had become her “older sister.”

“Onee-…”

Yukina haltingly formed the unfamiliar word.

The girl’s eyes turned to her.

“What is it, Yukina?”

An unfamiliar voice, yet a tone that couldn’t be more familiar.

Looking at Ephnel like this, Yukina felt she could finally find a trace of the person who was once Yanase Naoto.

Yukina didn’t continue the conversation about Agents.

That topic was too heavy for her.

Right now, reeling from the shock of this sudden, immense reality, she wanted to find a sense of balance between her sister and herself.

So, she turned her attention to small talk.

She took a deep breath, trying to make her tone sound less stiff.

“I was wondering about this earlier… Onee-chan… when did you get your driver’s license?”

If it was just casual conversation, perhaps it would bring them a little closer.

Yukina thought.

“This?”

Ephnel answered Yukina while driving.

“Yeah, I guess you could call it a license. Anyway, because of work, to make things more convenient, I got it last year… Same for a motorcycle license and a firearm permit.”

Ephnel held the steering wheel with one hand, tapping the storage compartment with the other.

The compartment popped open, revealing its contents—a gleaming silver handgun.

The cold, black muzzle of the gun drew Yukina’s gaze like a black hole.

“Is that a gun…?”

“If you decide to become an Agent, you will eventually come into contact with all of this.”

Yukina’s gaze flickered, something stirring in her heart.

“Guns are for killing people, right?”

“That’s right, for killing people.”

Ephnel answered without any hesitation.

“But don’t worry, Yukina. This gun is just a precaution for special situations. In any case, I have no intention of casually pulling out something designed specifically for killing.”

Ephnel glanced at the silver handgun with an unreadable expression and closed the storage compartment.

Only then did Yukina notice the small fingerprint scanner.

“And this car, I bought it back then too.”

Yukina said nothing, just made a rough estimate in her head.

She didn’t know much about cars.

But this car, regardless of its exterior, felt “definitely not cheap” just from the interior and the almost silent, comfortable ride.

People who could afford to buy a car were considered part of the elite “minority” with a certain level of financial capability.

Because vehicle manufacturing costs were not low, and the energy to run them was limited in supply, the price was naturally quite high.

And this car, in every aspect, screamed “expensive.”

Her sister was able to single-handedly support the cost of such a car.

“An Agent’s salary is very high, don’t underestimate it. And as a spokesperson, I’ve also received support from many places. After the donated portion is removed, what’s left is still a very large sum of money.”

As if sensing what Yukina was thinking, Ephnel gave a slightly awkward smile.

“As for this car… I was worried you’d be suspicious, so I never told you. I’m sorry… I won’t hide anything from you anymore.”

“I believe you, Onee-chan…”

Yukina said softly, looking away.

Ephnel, in turn, gave a gentle smile.

In truth… at this point, Yukina no longer knew how to describe this sister who was also her brother… she didn’t know how to face her, and she felt more and more that she didn’t know her at all.

Ephnel peeled back the veils that shrouded her, layer by layer, and each layer was a stranger to Yukina.

Ever since Ephnel had confessed her identity, the image of “Yanase Naoto” in Yukina’s mind was filled with a strong sense of incongruity.

It was as if she were meeting this sister for the first time.

Yukina had this illusion.

That’s why she wanted to go to the place where her sister lived as Ephnel.

The Order Organization’s headquarters.

Clunk—

The car suddenly jolted a few times.

Caught off guard, Yukina leaned forward.

She shifted her legs slightly.

“Sorry, it’s a bit bumpy. Are you okay?”

Ephnel shot a concerned glance her way.

Yukina buried her head, clutching the seatbelt in front of her.

“I’m fine…”

“There’s a stretch of road here that’s not very smooth. It was hit by an Erosion attack last month, and the road and the supermarket next to it were destroyed. Because it’s not a main road, they just cleared the rubble and never sent anyone to repair it, so it’s ended up like this…”

Ephnel explained, then paused, letting out an almost imperceptible sigh.

She glanced over at Yukina.

“This stretch of road… has been abandoned…”

Yukina remained silent.

Ephnel pursed her lips and spoke again.

“This kind of thing is very common. Although funds and manpower are still sufficient, the resources gathered from this city and the surrounding towns are nearing their limit, so we have no choice but to abandon some of the less important areas and no longer maintain them. Everything is in short supply now. Clean water, essential oil. Maintaining the ‘Sakahi’ requires a continuous, massive consumption of electricity, but the power transmission facilities left over from ‘that era’ are aging, and are slowly showing signs of being unable to meet demand.”

Ever since the old-generation nuclear power plant had reached the end of its lifespan and was taken off the grid, this city’s energy crisis had grown increasingly severe.

It couldn’t be helped.

Given the current resource situation in Seikyo City, even trying to bring the nuclear power plant back online had become a difficult problem.

“In addition to that, our weapon and material reserves are also running low. This city didn’t inherit the ability to assemble helicopters and fighter jets from ‘that era,’ and the available stock of equipment is dwindling. Yukina, you know what that means, right…”

Ephnel looked towards the end of the road.

It was pitch black there, with only the car’s headlights stubbornly shining in that direction.

“Everything is being compressed. One day, it will erupt as the kindling of unrest… If we can’t make progress in our investigation and reclamation work in the Outer Sakahi soon, this city will one day reach a point where it can no longer repair itself from the repeated Erosion attacks. It will uncontrollably descend into a festering abyss. That will be when this city disappears from the map.”

…

The car drove on, stopping in front of the Order Organization’s headquarters building.

“Ah, we’re here. It really is a bit far from there…”

Ephnel gestured.

“This is the headquarters of the ‘Order Organization.’ Well, although part of it was destroyed in the last attack, it still looks quite magnificent from here… Yukina, your school should have organized an event here, right?”

Every school had similar student-teacher activities, mainly centered around learning about the Order Organization and “White Hole Erosion,” and would also invite Agents to give short lectures to the students in person.

For students, this type of activity happened once or twice every semester.

It was a “course” set up by the school to enhance students’ knowledge of related topics.

“Yeah… the teacher brought us here once… It seems you weren’t here then.”

“Eh? Really…”

“Well, it’s not like Onee-chan ever tells me anything about herself anyway.”

“Ah… that is…”

Ephnel was suddenly at a loss for words, not knowing how to respond to Yukina’s pointed remark.

“I’m sorry, Yukina. Actually, I didn’t plan on hiding it from you forever at the beginning, but back then, I didn’t have the ability to protect you, nor did I have enough courage. After hesitating for a long time, I gradually started to worry about other things, so please forgive me…”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Onee-chan. I don’t want your apology.”

Yukina pouted, said nothing, and glanced away.

It was not long after she had first met Ephnel.

Yukina couldn’t remember which Agent had given the lecture that time.

She only remembered that during the tour, she had wandered around the open areas of the headquarters building by herself, carefully trying to find a chance to catch a glimpse of Ephnel from afar.

In the end… she couldn’t.

She only found out later from the Agent giving the lecture at the time that Ephnel happened to be out on a mission.

The memory of that time was plain and uninteresting.

When she occasionally thought about it later, only a slight regret would linger in her heart.

The figure she pursued was always so far away, with never a chance to get closer.

Although she felt frustrated, she had never imagined what it would be like “if I could get closer to her, stay by her side.”

The Ephnel of that time was completely out of reach for Yukina.

And now, she had become her older sister.

…