The prologue of Ashen Valkyrie is built around three major events.
The first was a train derailment.
Here, the player's life is saved by Leila, and afterward—
—they fight alongside her against the Erosion Species, learning the combat system.
A combat tutorial, in other words. The difficulty was low.
The second was becoming the Commander of the Lumia Branch.
Wandering the branch with Leila, the player learns the purpose and function of each facility.
So if the train incident was the combat tutorial, this was the growth tutorial.
It was more important than it sounds. You could even do gacha pulls.
And the third was precisely the current incident — a missing Valkyrie.
Compared to the two tutorials before it, this felt like the story's true opening.
The relatively peaceful atmosphere shattered in an instant.
*Starting with Leila's death right from the beginning, and all that. That game had a certain… bleak, worn-down sensibility to it. Would've been even better with some inner monologue from the protagonist.*
Well, there's no point lamenting it now.
Lost in those thoughts as I walked, I found myself already at the destination.
This was the command-and-control room — used whenever an operation was underway.
I pushed the door open and stepped inside. The room was already full.
There was Yubina, today's duty officer, her signature bun rolls in place and an armband on her sleeve.
The Commander, his hair still damp like he'd only just washed it.
Dahlia, straightening her uniform, and Promina, carrying Anje on her back.
Beyond them, squad leaders from various units were scattered around the room.
Hmm. Looks like I'm the last one.
As I quietly scanned the room, Yubina raised her voice.
"Oh, Lady Leila! You've finally arrived-sawa!"
"I'm sorry for being late. Especially when the situation is this urgent…."
I hadn't expected hiding the wound on my thigh to cost me this much time.
A dull, throbbing ache pulsed from where the garter was cinched tight around my thigh.
I immediately dipped my head in a bow — the universal gesture of apology.
I wasn't actually sorry, but I was hoping that would be enough to smooth things over.
"It's fine. We only just arrived ourselves."
"That's right. Please don't be so hard on yourself."
A week of diligently building goodwill, and it showed.
No one blamed me. If anything, they were warm about it.
Ah, yes. The perks of inhabiting a beautiful girl's body.
Reading the room, I turned to Yubina and asked directly.
"Yubina. Could you brief me on the situation?"
"Of course-sawa. I'll tell you what's happened."
Whatever happened to that usual scatterbrained energy of hers.
Her mouth was set in a hard line as she laid out the situation with complete seriousness.
The Valkyrie who had gone missing was Morka — D-rank.
Roughly an hour ago, she had been on patrol duty at the city's outskirts.
When the shift change came, neither she nor her assistant gunner had returned.
The next shift, puzzled by their absence, reported the anomaly to Yubina.
Yubina had immediately gone out to search along the patrol route.
But only Morka's assistant gunner was found — unconscious, in a nearby alley.
"Is there any possibility she simply took a different route?"
"I'd love it if it were just a brief detour-sawa…. But there are no eyewitness accounts whatsoever. Her movement doesn't appear on any CCTV footage either…. It's as if she became a ghost-sawa!"
"Yubina. What about the tracking device on her Combat Suit?"
"The last signal we received was from inside the city-sawa…."
"The tracker malfunctioned…?"
Morka's disappearance was nothing short of bizarre.
No witnesses. No CCTV footage. She had simply vanished.
Even the tracker sewn into her uniform had gone dark.
Just hearing it was enough to feel the weight of the situation.
The other squad leaders' expressions had all turned grave.
"This… definitely smells like foul play."
"Strange. Morka can be a bit scatterbrained, but she's not the type to abandon her post mid-duty."
"Then who on earth would…."
"Don't tell me it's happening again…."
Murmur, murmur.
A ripple of unease spread through the command room.
In particular, more and more eyes were sliding toward the Commander with suspicion.
They might have been considering him a suspect.
It wasn't entirely without logic.
Valkyries were in no position to defy humans.
And the Commander, above all, held the authority to issue orders to Valkyries.
Perhaps a previous Commander had done something similar.
*Completely framing an innocent person. And if that were the case, how would they even explain the CCTV showing nothing.*
The Lumia Branch was a small unit — barely fifty personnel in total.
And now, one of their own had vanished without a trace.
In every sense, it was impossible for them to stay calm.
Of course, left alone, the misunderstanding would resolve itself eventually.
But even so, letting the Commander's reputation take a hit wasn't ideal.
Unlikely as it was, a panicked soldier might attempt to harm a superior officer.
And if discord broke out… it would become an obstacle to my immediate plans.
*If the opportunity comes, it might be worth putting in a word for the Commander.*
Something like: *I, for one, believe in you.* Not bad at all.
With that thought, I glanced over at the Commander.
I was curious what was going through his head right now.
But he hadn't noticed my gaze at all.
He simply kept his expression serious and spoke to Yubina.
"There is one possibility."
"A possibility… of what-sawa?"
"I think the Erosion Species might be responsible."
"That can't be right! If an Erosion Species had entered the city, we would have detected it long before now!"
"Commander. Are you perhaps taking us for fools?"
"That's…."
The squad leaders pushed back against the Commander's sudden claim.
An Erosion Species entering the city and attacking a Valkyrie — it wasn't unheard of, but…
If that had happened, there should have been clear evidence left behind.
He surely knew that too.
And yet, faced with their resistance, the Commander fell silent.
Was he struggling to find the right words?
I pressed my fingers to my forehead, exasperated beyond what I'd anticipated.
*Just… explain it properly.*
If you stop there, it just sounds like nonsense.
I let out a silent sigh and raised my hand lightly.
When all eyes turned to me, I spoke calmly.
"I think what the Commander is trying to say… is the newly discovered variant. The one we haven't seen before."
"A new variant?"
"Yes. On our way to Lumia, we encountered an Erosion Species that had never been documented before. And that Erosion Species… had the ability to interfere with radio signals."
"That's…."
"It can interfere with… radio signals?!"
"The Commander is likely considering a similar possibility — that a new type of Erosion Species may be involved this time as well."
*That's what you were trying to say, right?*
I asked with my eyes. The Commander gave a small nod.
*Haah… you, stop opening your mouth. You absolute disaster of a speaker.*
But even my argument had a gap in it, apparently.
A squad leader with braided hair and glasses offered a timid rebuttal.
Wait, what was her name again? It's slipping my mind.
"W-well… I don't think we can be certain of that yet…. There's no evidence pointing to an undiscovered Erosion Species either…."
"I was only raising it as one possibility. But let me ask you this in return: kidnapping a Valkyrie without leaving a single trace. Who besides an Erosion Species could do that?"
"That's…."
"And this isn't the time to be arguing over theories. Morka's life is on the line. I thought it best to reach a conclusion quickly."
*So stop nitpicking and sit down. Or I'll tear you a new one.*
I fixed the glasses-wearer with a sharp, pointed look.
She flinched visibly, then lowered her head.
That shut down the one person who'd been objecting without offering any alternative.
Time to push a little further.
I composed my expression and turned to face the Commander with a serious look.
"Commander. If this truly is the work of an Erosion Species, there must be a reason it hasn't shown itself."
"A reason… you say?"
"Erosion Species fundamentally operate on instinct. They attack what they can see, and flee when they sense danger. So the fact that it targeted only Morka — just one person — means… it's likely limited in what it can do."
"You're saying its combat capability is low?"
"Yes. It may be specialized entirely in abducting targets without leaving a trace. If we're lucky… Morka might still be alive."
It's not time to give up hope yet.
I held the Commander's gaze as I said it, as if making a declaration.
He stared at me for a moment, then gave a slow nod.
Good. That's the justification to go in, established.
Now I just needed the one thing left to arrive….
Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep.
At that moment, a sharp alarm tone cut through the room.
Every head turned instinctively toward the source of the sound.
Dahlia was staring at something, visibly startled.
"It — it appeared…!"
"What appeared?"
"Morka's signal — the one that went dark — it just came back!"
…Ah. So that's how it is.
Well, it's already been this long. It was only a matter of time.
I smiled bitterly to myself and turned to Dahlia with an urgent expression.
"What's the location?"
"Current position: Malicion! She's stationary at the mountain's summit!"
"Malicion, that means…."
"That's dozens of kilometers from here?!"
This part was identical to the original.
Malicion — where the missing Valkyrie's signal had reappeared.
It was a mountain range far outside the city.
Why had her signal, which vanished from within the city, reappeared all the way out there?
Most of the room was thrown into confusion by the inexplicable development.
But regardless of their reactions, I looked directly at the Commander.
And with a face full of resolve, I spoke.
"Commander. Please give the order to deploy."
"Right now…."
"I want to save Morka. We haven't known each other long, but she's a genuinely good person."
He would never refuse. I was certain of it.
I had already said she might still be alive.
Refusing my request here would be tantamount to leaving her to die.
The Commander furrowed his brow for a moment, as if weighing it.
Then, at last, he met my eyes directly and answered.
"…Understood. But I'm coming with you."
"C-Commander? There's no need for you to take on something so dangerous…."
I widened my eyes in feigned surprise.
Of course, that reaction was entirely manufactured.
It would have been a problem if he hadn't offered to come.
The fact that he volunteered on his own — that was a welcome development.
"A Valkyrie's power is maximized when her Commander is nearby. So I want to be of help to Leila as well."
"That's…."
"And wasn't Leila supposed to be protecting me?"
I made a show of sputtering for a moment, at a loss for words.
Then, as if I had no choice, I averted my eyes and gave a small nod.
I did suggest, however, that we form a squad with the Rabbit Hole Squad.
They were central to this plan. I couldn't leave them behind.
Myself and five Valkyries from the Rabbit Hole Squad.
Plus one Commander. That was the squad for this operation.
Each of us gathered our gear, then assembled in the command room for a final check.
"Lady Leila. It's an honor to fight alongside you-sawa!"
"Likewise. I'm counting on you, Yubina."
"I-I'll do my best not to hold anyone back…."
"Getting to see Leila in action. I'm really looking forward to it."
"Mm-hm."
"Ha… I'll give it everything I have so I don't disappoint."
After exchanging words with the Rabbit Hole Squad, brimming with enthusiasm—
I approached the Commander, who was gathering his personal equipment.
I caught the edge of his sleeve and tugged lightly, drawing his gaze to me.
Then, as if sharing a secret meant only for him, I raised a hand to my lips and spoke.
"Commander. I will protect you. Even if it costs me my life."
"I… yes. I believe you."
"Hehe. Please do."
The Commander started to say something, then stopped himself.
He probably wanted to tell me I didn't need to throw my life away.
Hmm. That's not bad at all. A genuine smile rose to my lips.
After that, we left the city behind.
Our destination: the mountain range dozens of kilometers away — Malicion.
Beneath a dark night sky, a small truck raced down the road.
I murmured, just barely loud enough for the person beside me to catch.
"Morka…. Please be safe."
Did that carry?
I stole a sideways glance at the Commander's face.
It seemed to have reached him — his gaze was turned toward me.
But in the darkness, I couldn't make out what emotion it held.
Not that it mattered much. I pretended not to notice and fixed my eyes on the darkness beyond the window.
The stage, the lead, the direction — all perfect.
My heart was fluttering, as if I were on my way to a picnic.