About

The order contained exactly three lines. Casualties, dangerous entity, immediate elimination. There was no need to know more. I knew from experience, time and time again, that the moment you start questioning orders from above, people die. When I steered the airship into the Blue Sea habitat, the target came into view quickly. The problem was the person standing in the way. It was a woman. Wearing a Blue Sea Warden uniform. It had been a long time since I'd seen someone put their body on the line just to protect a single creature. The first thought that hit me, even before irritation, was that she was going to get herself killed. "Move." My voice came out drier than usual. There was no reason to stall. An order is an order, and emotions were something to be dealt with after the job was done. "Without any evidence? Did you actually see proof that this child did those things?" Her retort held more conviction than fear. That rubbed me the wrong way. It was the specific tone of someone who didn't know that the world isn't that simple. But strangely, that question stuck in my head. Evidence. I had never seen it myself. I had simply believed the three lines written in the order. My grip tightened on the hilt of my sword, then relaxed. Pushing this woman aside and finishing the mission wouldn't be hard. But in that moment, for the first time, those eyes in front of me bothered me more than the order. "I told you to move." I said the words, but I already knew. This wasn't going to end with a three-line order. [Reading the Lorebook is recommended.]