Chapter 86: Can't Leave Behind
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Alvin couldn't hold himself anymore. "What is happening here? How did you get to do all of this?"
"Hum?" Linfel pondered a bit about the past. "I told you I considered a few patterns of how this war could turn out to be, right? One of them would be the one we just talked about. I knew that you would absolutely want to go back and take your father with you, so I couldn't really leave him behind."
He continued. "That said, I met senior Lucau alone and told him about the scenario of a bigger alliance. If everything went as I expected, the borders would open between Heffal and Binnan. Senior Lucau only had to take a bus or whatever and cross the border. From Binnan, who wasn't at war yet, he only had to take an airship and go to Clondure further north and out of the influence of the alliances."
-It was quite expensive for the airship ticket, you know?- Lucau complained. -I had to use quite a bit of my savings. I'm only a fisher, so things aren't that easy.-
Alvin felt helpless. "Fine... If my father is safe, then I truly don't have to worry about him. But..." Alvin looked in the direction of Heffal Country. "What about Connor?"
Milia joined. "And the Floating Blades Faction? I can't simply leave them behind."
Linfel turned serious. "I can't do much for Connor, sorry. However, the guys from the Floating Blades Faction still have a chance... as long as they take me seriously."
"What do you mean?" Milia and Alvin asked at the same time.
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Meanwhile, back in the Wateva Region, Pamil and the other members were having a conversation inside their regiment. They went to a corner where no one could hear them because they got a message from Linfel.
"When did he leave this message?" Pamil couldn't help but ask.
Natalie knew how. "Do you remember when I distributed the MCOMs that my uncle prepared for us?" Everyone nodded and waited for her to continue. "I also gave Alvin and Milia one. Those MCOMs use the military server, so as long as we aren't inside Xanzion's jamming influence, we could receive a message from them. Look at the time Linfel wrote the message."
Everyone paid attention to their MCOMs. Sure enough, Linfel had prepared that message weeks ago when they were still together. It's just that the message had been scheduled to be delivered today. As long as Pamil and the others were within the communication system's range, they would receive it.
"Alright, he scheduled the message, which means he predicted all of this before we even separated," William commented. "The problem here is only one. All he is saying here looks like madness. Would there truly be an alliance of another extra six countries?"
Their group went silent. They had been fighting for a while while Natalie's uncle covered for their identity like she said he would. They experienced their own challenges, not to mention that Pamil and Natalie brushed death twice. None of them regretted this decision to join the war instead of using their backgrounds to avoid it. But...
if what Linfel described in his message was true, then this wasn't a war that could be salvaged anymore. Heffal would fall. There was nothing that could be done.
It's just that it was too hard to believe. This message, in particular, was even harder to believe. Linfel was now a lot more certain he was right, but that's because he saw the borders between Xanzion and Lergen, where almost no protection existed. When he scheduled this message, he obviously hadn't seen that yet. So, at the moment, his message only spoke about it as if it was a remote possibility.
He obviously couldn't contact them anymore from where he was.
Natalie finally made a decision. "I'm going to see my uncle and pass him this message."
"I think it is meaningless," William interjected. "No one would believe such a thing could happen. To be honest, I don't believe it can. I say we just ignore this message and continue with our plans. We gained a lot by fighting in this war. I can feel my core's color changing slightly, even though I entered Level Three not long ago.
With the alliance Heffal made with Binnan and the others, reinforcements will come, and it will give us a better opportunity to force Xanzion and the others back. Are we truly losing that opportunity to participate?"
"I think we should consider it," Qanda, Pamil's Familiar, decided to give his opinion. "Master, Linfel is very weird. The few interactions we had with him and the reports of his achievements were even weirder. However, he is anything but an idiot. If he went to such extent to leave us this message, there might truly be some truth behind it."
"I agree," Vigrus, Natalie's Familiar, quickly followed. The Familiars seemed to be of the same mind on this topic. They were independent, so there was no need to think their words were biased toward their masters. "The main point here is whether Linfel is right or wrong. And so far, everything happened as he described.
I would say the most glaring event is the alliance between Binnan, Tinfal, Goruto, and our country. He got it perfectly correct."
"Hmph!" William's Familiar, Mongis, was definitely the one who didn't like Linfel the most. Yet... "As much as I hate to admit, Linfel did help my master find out about his hidden potential. No one had seen it before. I have no idea if he was right or wrong, and I don't want him to be right. However, if he is, then only death awaits us.
At the very least, we will have to surrender once this hidden alliance of nine countries happens and Heffal falls. I would rather bring William away before that happens."
Pamil, William, and Natalie looked at their Familiars. They trust their Familiars more than anything. "Let's pretend we believe Linfel is right. We all have families left behind. Can we really flee and leave them behind?"
"Ha!" William heard that as if it was a joke. "Perhaps you two have families that you care about. But I'm different. It is not like you don't know what my family thinks about me because of my dwarfism. I couldn't care less about those guys who think I would be better dead than alive."
"Sorry..." Pamil scratched the back of his head. He forgot for a moment that William's situation was a lot more complicated.
"Pamil," Natalia patted his shoulder. "There is no need for you to worry about our families either. Did you forget who we are? Do you think the elders of my Family or the higher-ups of your Organization haven't prepared escape routes in case things go south? We are talking about those shred geezers here."
"Oh..." Pamil had to admit Natalie was right. "Now that you said that... Yes, they definitely prepared ahead of time, no doubt. In that case, we don't really need to worry about our families... Hum..."
Pamil looked at the others. "Let's vote. Those who think we should use this chance to leave Heffal, please raise your hands."
William was basically the only one who raised his hand. He still found it hard to believe Linfel's scenario was correct. However, he was the only one. Even his Familiar thought Linfel might truly be right.
"Do you want to stay, Master?" Mongis asked with a concerned expression. "If you stay, then so will I."
William looked at everyone's raised hands and sighed. "Fine. Let's get out of here. I hate the idea of abandoning our country to its fate, but if Linfel is right, staying behind is basically suicide."
Natalie quickly began to type a few things in her MCOM and sent a message right after. "In any case, I sent this message to my Uncle. I hope he takes it seriously. Now then, William, do you think you can get your friend to bring us back to the academy."
Let's not forget they paid a cargo airship to hide them so that they could come here to fight.
William nodded. "As long as the price is right, she will give us a lift. It will not be cheap, though."
"No problem," Pamil didn't care. "We still have some Universal Credits saved. Let's gather them together. It should be enough. Alright, everyone. We are leaving this place."
"Yes!" Everyone agreed.
Willian then asked one more thing. "By the way... should I bring that guy as well?"
They all looked in the direction of the tents in their regiment. If Alvin had been here, he would have immediately identified the guy. It was none other than Connor, who wasn't supposed to be in this regiment.