Indeed.

This squadron were the few defectors of Scarlet Logic led by none other than Manager Cara from Scarlet Logic’s Dawn Collection Team.

“You will not speak to us like we’re equals.” The man who had spoken earlier using [Amplification] magic was Fran – the Tamer of the red-coated Scarlet Wolves present.

“Pay that one no heed, Vice-Captain.” The voice of a woman spoke from behind the line of giant wolves that surrounded the mercenaries.

They parted in an instant, with all members riding atop them saluting with dignified postures. Even after leaving Scarlet Logic their discipline hadn’t faltered.

As matter of fact, it had improved ever since they were absorbed into the Nexus.

Whilst the mercenaries stumbled where they stood like children, the two women who approached them, one being a human with long, red, and black hair – and the other being a Demi-human bunny with a single ear, approached them with absolute majesty.

“Captain Usa.” The woman spoke to her teal-haired bunny-eared partner.

“Yes Manager!”

“Have your squad search the caravans. Let the Black Wings treat their injuries. Bring the most troubled to the Lunar Haruspex.” Cara commanded, a hand pressing against a small, compact firearm that sat by her hip.

“You heard the Manager! Start freeing the Demi-humans!”

Accompanying Cara’s team were two Black Wings and a single Lunar Haruspex and a handful of their Lunas – their chosen Aspiring Moons.

Usa left without a hitch, her eyes never even considering the mercenaries as if they weren’t there at all.

A tall humanoid entity grabbed the top of a caravan with their colossal, slender hands. It was the Lunar Haruspex, whose presence instantly caused the mercenaries to tremble as if in the presence of a beast.

“Poor things. Hey there. We’ll get your arm and ears back no problem.” The Black Wings made swift work, the sound of explosions riddling the air.

“You – intend to kill them!?” A slaver roared but was immediately shot in the arm for speaking out of line.

“I’ll be the one to ask the questions. Know your place, insect.” Cara didn’t even see them eye to eye.

They were both humans, but Cara considered them as no better than the dirt beneath her feet. Her crimson eyes drilled into their skulls, as did her squad members and the Scarlet Wolves.

“If you want to live then you’ll do precisely as we say. You will head over there.” Cara glanced into a bubbling bog nearby. “And walk through as if we never saw each other.”

“W-We’ll die –!”

*Bang*

Cara’s weapon was drawn seemingly even before the contesting mercenary’s head exploded.

“You’ll die here too. But I’m a generous person. Like you, you didn’t let the Demi-humans die when you could’ve taken their lives so easily. So, I’m offering you an avenue to escape.”

“By suicide…?” One uttered in disbelief, clutching a pendant that carried the picture of a loved one.

Usa returned to Cara’s side and whispered:

“Manager, they have signs of starvation. It’s been eight days at least. Ten at most. The Black Wings have given the verdict.”

“Being?” Cara asked.

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“An eye for an eye.”

Cara grinned in response and raised a hand to dismiss Usa. She holstered her weapon and ran a hand through her hair, revealing scars from her imperfect, final iteration that she considered her truest self.

“You can hold your breath. All that’s being depraved from you is air. I’m not taking away your food, your water, your freedom. It’s all in your hands.”

“What kind of twisted logic is that supposed to be!?”

“Is that how you humans out there are taught!? To betray your own kind in favor of those bastards!”

The treated children, who were brought to the new caravans, shivered in fear. They were guilty for something they never committed. They were guilty for simply wanting their suffering to end.

Cara and all members of her Recovery Team deeply empathized with the slaves.

Because they were once in that position as well. To have their hearts belong to someone else. A piece of their soul taken away, and their bodies to conform to their master’s whims.

And as a result, they and even the wolves stared with glowing, crimson eyes. One by one, the wolves marched forward, their fangs pried wide as they snapped the air, forcing the mercenaries and slavers to retreat towards the very edge of the bog.

“Hey – HEY! You can’t –!”

“MY FINGERS! MY ARM! I’M BEGGING YOU!”

“I- I have children – I’m doing this because I need to support them!”

It always ended with someone rationalizing their sin with family.

Such a thing was not a valid reason in their eyes. In fact, it was an even more aggravating factor that caused Cara to reprimand them as they jumped into the bog and slowly began to sink.

“Did it never cross your mind that they had families too? Even we know the price that must be paid for playing with lives like you have. Because we…”

Cara’s eyes burned into theirs, as slashes on her wrist appeared due to her Heightened Emotions.

“… have also committed the same sins.”

Blood trickled down her fingertips from those manifested scars. But before her emotions could Heighten further, the voice of her Vice-Captain brought her back.

“Manager! You cannot manifest your Corrupted Persona here.”

“… Correct. It would be a waste on those already damned to death. Thank you. That was unsightly of me. I began hearing our benefactor’s voice for a moment.”

Cara was one of the few who were given a Corrupted Persona to wear as her own. The name of it was Solemn Regret; a Corrupted born from someone who lived lamenting their irredeemable sins.

That person was once a Scarlet Logic Collection Team personnel, who broke down after realizing that the people they had once saved were churned into living clumps of meat.

Who she wore was essentially the living ego of her friend.

“Are we still on track?” Cara asked, raising a hand to dismiss the rest as she coldly observed the bog’s surface.

By now their lungs would have been filled with infested water and mud. They’d be food for whatever lurked down there.

“We are. We’re due to rendezvous with the Amalgam in exactly ten days near where Infernis was believed to have disappeared.” Her blonde-haired Vice-Captain answered.

“We’ll bring these ones back to our last checkpoint and have them sent to Brandar. The Golden Index is always looking to adopt new members. They’ll need it after the last mass purge.”

“The Amalgam has a fondness for Beholder Carpalis, no?”

“It’s because Carpalis is nice. We even got to meet her too. To think Scarlet Logic wanted to kill someone like her. We live in a fucked-up world. But we’re lucky we have people with goods heads and hearts to make our wrongs into right.”

“Manager! It’s done! We have everyone on board!” Usa returned; her half-coat drenched with teardrops. “You were cool today, Manager!”

Usu hopped in place, hoping to be praised by Cara.

“… Hah. Shut up and get back already. You’re embarrassing me.” Cara scratched the side of her face.

Long ago Cara would outright roar at Usa, but now she was laxer with her. Usa, despite her air-headedness, shared the same burden as them all. And Cara regretted that it took her this long to realize that Usa was one of the reasons why the morale of her team was abnormally high compared to others back in the day.

It was because of her smile.

That damned, carefree smile.

“The other Recovery Teams are sweeping along Grandis as we speak. It won’t be long before we’ll send Scarlet Logic Remnants to seize strategic parts of Grandis as soon as possible. The Amalgam’s serious about wanting to get a foothold into Grandis.” Cara reminded them of the Head’s plan.

Frost was here for reasons of her own, but collectively as the Head, there was more to it than just finding evidence, Corrupted and a potential Advent. It was a massive endeavor that involved nearly every ounce of manpower.

This was the reason why Jury needed to remain within the Nexus as well.

“Of course she is. Just who do you think gave us a second chance~?” Usa hummed, hugging Cara’s arm.

“The same person who’s giving everyone else a second chance. So let’s do our job well. No half-measures. Fran. Please continue to keep my condition in check. I heard the voice again.” Cara kindly asked.

“The ticking? I shall write it –” Fran was suddenly interrupted by Cara who made a complex expression.

“… oddly no. It wasn’t a ticking.”

“Oh? Care to describe it to us?” Usa was curious.

Cara wondered whether it was good idea to tell them. No, more than that, she felt embarrassed to admit it since it’d look like she was obsessed with Frost.

Regardless, she revealed it to them since she trusted them more than anyone else in this world.

“Don’t laugh at me when I tell you this…”

She began in a solemn whisper.

“… but I could have sworn I heard Frost’s voice.”