Pikrus agreed.
Pikrus struck Opehajos hard. Opehajos retaliated by shooting Pikrus's hand. Using a nearby table, Opehajos slammed it into Pikrus's body. Pikrus fought back with a flurry of punches. But Opehajos smashed Pikrus against a wall, then threw a grenade. The grenade exploded. Pikrus struggled to rise, his body drenched in blood. Opehajos drew his sword.
One slash.
Pikrus's head came off.
Yui arrived at that very moment. She saw everything. Her father—the man she had just fought, the man who had tormented her throughout her childhood—now lay lifeless. And Opehajos, whose son had been killed by her father, stood over the corpse with a bloody sword.
Yui did not cry. Did not scream. She simply ran away. Far from the palace, from death, from everything that had happened.
---
In the middle of her escape, the radio crackled to life. A panicked voice came from the other end. "Commander Opehajos, please respond! There's a rebellion declaring the independence of a New Vanpien. Total casualties have reached thirty thousand soldiers. Please respond. It's being carried out by Earl Theodore and his lackeys."
Opehajos did not answer. He remained standing in his dead son's blood.
Yui kept running. Her goals now were two: retrieve her trade union card—balance 3,500 Pins—and then head to Dism Edizinische City, the number one medical city in the world.
Vanpien was burning. And she would not return.
---
At the trade union office, Yui said, "I'd like to withdraw my savings. 3,500 Pins."
The receptionist replied, "I'm sorry, but we can only process 1,500 Pins here. Due to recent unfortunate news, the trade union will be dissolved within five days because of global issues that no longer support it. Only branches in neutral trading cities will continue functioning normally."
Yui said, "Oh, fine. I admit things are crazy right now."
The receptionist marked her card and handed over the money. Yui immediately rushed off. Forty-seven minutes later, she arrived at Dism Edizinische City and entered the hospital. Right then and there, she collapsed from exhaustion and lost consciousness.
When she woke up, she was in a hospital bed with IVs everywhere. The attending doctor said, "Your condition is extremely critical. I'm amazed you're still alive. Don't worry—this hospital can heal you in two days. But you won't be fully recovered, just patched up."
Treatment there was relatively cheap—1,382 Pins, thanks to a 90-95% discount from Sikharns Academy.
---
Yui was now in critical condition. The Meoksama, Dons, and Forg routes—Hisme-Tyusin, Tyusin-Vius, and Tyusin-Hisme-Vanpien—were all cut off due to the war. Sikharns Academy's current location was on the Dosk route (Tyusin-Tidtimus), which required passing through the Forg and Dons routes first. Yui was isolated.
Sikharns offered pickup services in permitted countries—Vius, Tyusin, Vanpien. The problem was Vanpien was in the middle of a coup, and Vius had no sea access. Like it or not, Yui would have to walk. Dism Edizinische City was inland—no floating ship like Sikharns could reach it. The academy's ship system had stopped refueling; if a request was made, the route would be adjusted to the location or city where the request originate.