All Alone (3)

As Balmung had asked, the group headed to the plaza, where they joined one of the Resistance's units—the supply team—and set out from Noa to gather food.

Unlike the recovery team, whose goal was to wipe out the enemy and secure areas where Resistance members could operate, the supply team's main job was to gather supplies within those secured areas.

At first glance, it might seem like a safe job that let them avoid fighting the enemy, but that wasn't the case. If the recovery team had failed to deal with any members of the other races or monsters, they were likely hiding somewhere out of sight, and supply teams were often ambushed while searching for supplies.

For that reason, members of the supply team needed the physical ability to respond to sudden ambushes. Aside from those who supported communications, the team was made up entirely of people from Earthclear.

Supplies were often hidden inside buildings left behind by the ancient civilization. Menou and the others were searching the houses along the way as they headed toward the area once called Ikebukuro, in the former Toshima Ward, several kilometers from Noa's underground facility.

During their search, Menou, Alice, Rex, and Yuki took a short break on the roof of an abandoned high-rise apartment building, having reached a good stopping point for the time being. They sat and gazed out at the city below.

“...It's amazing. To think a world with so many buildings packed together once thrived. There must have been so many people, too. And now, there's no one...”

Before them lay a lost world, its abandoned city buildings overgrown with moss and plants that shimmered in the sunlight, lending the scene a mystical beauty. Alice murmured, overcome with emotion.

“Balmung-dono said this world was taken from us by the other races and the monsters. But when we look into it, we find someone created those other races and monsters—and kept creating them even after the world was destroyed. And what's more, there's a strong chance that person is inside the Resistance, among the very people desperately trying to reclaim this world... What a cruel irony.”

Feeling appalled that humanity itself had ultimately caused the ruin of the world spread out before them, Menou sighed...