WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Cyberpunk Chivalry ◈
Chapter 11: A Mysterious Companionship
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There is a word: fate (因緣).
A bond formed between people.
Or a connection to something.
That might be its dictionary meaning, but in practice, it is closer to something more mysterious.
Perhaps it is an encounter that comes to us among countless passing moments, as though arranged long ago.
That is why fate sometimes leaves a strange taste.
Someone you want to hold on to may leave without a care, while someone you would rather not meet keeps crossing your path.
This was a case of the latter.
"..."
"Huh...?"
It was a narrow passage.
Barely wide enough for one person.
Ash and Akina came face-to-face with Ifrit, who was walking toward them from the other end.
Both Ash and Ifrit had their weapons drawn. They had only just seen each other, but each had sensed the other's presence some time ago.
Ifrit put away her pistol and frowned. That frown carried an unspoken message: You two again?
"We meet again, lady warrior."
Seeing her put away her weapon, Ash sheathed his sword as well. He looked no happier to see her.
"Hello!"
Akina greeted her from behind Ash's large body, with only one eye showing. At the sound of her voice, Ifrit gave an awkward wave.
"Uh, um... hi?"
After that, all three fell silent.
They stood there for at least ten seconds.
In truth, they had nothing much to say.
Scratching her head in the suffocating awkwardness, Ifrit spoke first.
"So, is the mapping going well?"
"It is."
"Right..."
A little more time passed.
This time, Ash spoke.
"Are you enjoying your hobby?"
"No. I can't find where they've hidden."
"I see."
"...Oh, forget it! We've both got places to be, so let's just split up. I can't stand how awkward this is."
Ash nodded at her words.
"I agree. Especially about the awkwardness."
"Good. Then back up."
It was a narrow passage.
Just wide enough for one person.
What Ifrit meant was that she intended to pass, so they should back out of her way.
Ash shook his head.
"We have walked a long way. You should step back, lady warrior."
"Ha! So have I!"
"I cannot believe that."
"Same here!"
A battle of wills began.
The two Pathfinders stood at opposite ends of the narrow passage, glaring at each other without giving an inch.
Ash stood like a stone statue with his arms folded. Not to be outdone, Ifrit leaned to one side and whistled.
Neither showed the slightest sign of yielding.
"Just so you know, I'm unbelievably stubborn."
"How interesting. I am very patient."
"Stop wasting your energy and make way. You've got mapping to do, don't you?"
"Will you ever catch REST-MAN at such a leisurely pace?"
"Damn it, move!"
"The human spirit loves clarity, yet the mind disturbs it; the human mind loves stillness, yet desire draws it away."
"What are you even saying?"
"It means you should calm your mind and step aside."
"You really want to do this?"
"U-um!"
Unable to watch any longer, Akina stepped in.
"Can't we stop fighting and just squeeze past each other against opposite walls? I think there's enough room for that..."
Ash shook his head.
"Out of the question. That would bring me far too close to this lady warrior..."
"But we're the ones short on time."
"..."
Akina was right.
As a famous idol, Ifrit was bound to have her own vehicle. Ash and Akina did not.
Their time was limited.
If they wanted to finish the mapping job and reach the agreed rendezvous point on time, they could not waste it on a pointless battle of wills.
Unexpected problems could arise anywhere, at any time.
They had a little time to spare, but that was no reason to waste it.
Time was also the reason Ash had stubbornly refused to move aside. He simply had not expected to waste it in an unforeseen way like this.
Ash looked at Ifrit.
"What are you looking at? I told you, I'm not moving! Not a chance!"
She seemed to have no intention of backing down. Watching the defiant, heart-shaped gleam in her eyes, Ash let out a low sigh.
He had to end this ridiculous standoff.
Ash turned toward Akina.
"Miss Akina."
"Right? Now that you've thought about it, my idea's better, isn't it?"
Without answering, Ash wrapped his steel arms firmly around Akina. Her small body fit snugly in his embrace.
"Huh? Mister, why..."
"Hold on tight."
"What do you mean all of a sudden, aaah!"
Before Akina could finish her short scream, Ash's body spiraled up into the air.
The Gore-Tex cloak around him spread out like black wings.
Flying Shadow over a Sea of Clouds (雲海飛影).
It was an explosive leap that seemed to defy gravity.
"Whaaat!?"
Ifrit, who had been holding her ground in a thoroughly insolent pose, looked up with her mouth hanging open.
The scrap-metal humanoid who had been locked in a battle of wills with her moments earlier was flying through the air, right over her head.
With Akina in his arms, no less!
Before she could react, Ash had already cleared Ifrit and landed on the floor. Strangely, despite his heavy body having leaped several meters through the air, there was not the slightest noise or impact.
Ash carefully set Akina down.
"Are you unharmed?"
Looking dazed, Akina merely nodded without a word. Ash then turned to Ifrit.
"We shall be on our way. You should go as well, lady warrior. And let us never meet again."
The sight had been too shocking for an immediate reply.
While Ifrit stood there opening and closing her mouth, the mysterious humanoid and the girl vanished into the darkness of the narrow passage.
"...I should've caught that on stream."
Ifrit's belated mutter lingered in the air.
* * *
The mapping was nearing its end.
They had completed 95% of their quota.
Just as they began calculating when to return to the pickup point and planning their withdrawal, Ash and Akina reached a place with a very different atmosphere from anywhere they had been so far.
At the heart of that difference was a stone gate.
It looked easily ten meters tall, its surface packed with geometric patterns and unknown writing.
It certainly felt unlike anything else they had encountered while exploring the ruins.
Yet Ash and Akina paid the stone gate no attention at all.
"Well, now."
Because they had found Ifrit sitting in front of it, chewing on an energy stick.
"Hi!"
Surprisingly, her greeting was quite friendly.
That only made her seem more suspicious.
Ash hid Akina behind his back.
"Are you following us, by any chance?"
"What are you talking about? I got here first."
"Then is this an ambush?"
"If it were, I would've started shooting."
Ifrit stood, brushed off her backside a couple of times, and grinned.
"But I was waiting for you. I had a feeling you two would come this way. No, I guess it's more accurate to say all the passages lead here."
"...Why would you be waiting for us?"
"Because I need the kid."
"Huh? Me?"
Akina peeked out.
"Come to think of it, I never asked your name. What is it?"
Ash stopped Akina just as she was about to answer.
"State your business first."
"You really commit to the character, huh?"
Shrugging, Ifrit jerked her chin toward the gate behind her.
"This gate. Can you open it?"
She was pointing to the stone gate.
Her interest apparently stirred, Akina stepped forward.
"Of course I can!"
"Oh, really? Then could you open it..."
"As long as you pay me enough credits!"
"...Wow. You two really commit to your characters."
Ifrit looked up at the ceiling and thought for a moment, then held up one hand with all five fingers spread. Akina frowned.
"Fifty thousand credits? Isn't that a bit cheap?"
"You don't think very big for a little kid, do you? Does this look like fifty thousand to you?"
"Huh? Then, don't tell me...!"
"That's right. Five hundred thousand."
Five hundred thousand credits?
They had spent two whole days exploring and scraping together everything they could, and it still came to less than two hundred thousand. Five hundred thousand?
"Nice to meet you, sis! My name's Akina Greenwood! I'm a promising young technomancer! You want that gate open? Leave it to Akina!"
After firing off those words, Akina tied back her thick blond hair and all but ran to the stone gate.
"...She is not always like this. We have simply had a great many expenses lately..."
"You don't have to explain."
"Very well."
"Aren't you going to ask, though?"
"Ask what?"
"Why I want the gate open."
"Is it not because of REST-MAN? Perhaps they fled through that gate."
"...You're right, but somehow it annoys me that you guessed exactly."
With their short conversation over, Ash and Ifrit joined Akina. She was already connecting a cable to the port at the back of her neck.
The sight of a cable plugged into a body that looked entirely human felt deeply strange.
Having finished her preparations, Akina turned to Ash.
"Mister. You know, right?"
Her eyes were very serious.
Ash nodded in response.
"Of course."
There was good reason for their solemn attitude.
Deep Dive.
The act of entering the ancient civilization's cyberspace through a cyberbrain module.
It was also the most fundamental reason technomancers, who had next to no fighting ability, ventured through the ruins.
Once a dive began, the technomancer's consciousness transferred into the vast expanse of cyberspace. The body left behind in reality was nothing more than a living shell.
At that moment, protecting the technomancer's body became the Assault's most important duty.
While the Assault's sword and gun held off threats in the real world, the technomancer swam through cyberspace, taking control of systems, breaking codes, or securing priceless lost technology.
This was the very foundation of the Pathfinders, an iron rule none dared break.
How, then, could the relationship between a technomancer and an Assault be described as mere partnership? They entrusted their lives to each other, sharing a single fate.
"Go safely. I shall remain here the entire time."
Akina smiled faintly at Ash's words and connected the other end of the cable to the data port beside the stone gate. Then she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
A moment later, the girl's small body trembled slightly and began to rise very slowly into the air, as though defying gravity. She stopped exactly one handspan above the floor.
Levitation (浮揚現象).
A distinctive phenomenon that occurred when a technomancer's consciousness left the body and entered cyberspace.
A faint blue haze rose around Akina's body. Her Deep Dive appeared to have succeeded.
Ash stood in front of her as though forming a barrier and drew the steel blade from his back. Then he spoke in a low, firm voice.
"Stand back. From this moment on, I shall consider anything that approaches an enemy."
Even Ifrit, who had been unpredictable at every turn, made no jokes and played no tricks during a Deep Dive.
That was only natural.
She was a Pathfinder, too.
Ifrit also understood how deadly serious a Deep Dive was. Without another word, she stepped back, raising both hands to show that she would not draw a weapon.
A brief silence followed.
Having withdrawn farther than was really necessary, Ifrit spoke in an almost murmuring voice.
"Ash Blade... was it?"
Ash did not answer.
As though she had expected as much, Ifrit continued.
"Looks like you mainly use a sword, but you should still have at least one way to attack at range. You can't move around much during a Deep Dive."
Still, Ash did not answer.
"You two look good together. I hope you both survive for a long time. I'm not being sarcastic. I mean it."
It happened then.
Rrrrrumble...!
With a deep rumble, the huge stone gate began to open noisily.
"Got it!"
Akina opened her eyes at the same time, gasping for breath. Her face looked somewhat pale, but her eyes shone brightly with the joy of success.
Ash immediately sheathed his sword and supported the unsteady Akina.
"Miss Akina. Are you all right?"
"Hehe! Mister! Did you see? I opened it! Hah! Cyberspace isn't such a big deal!"
For a while, Ash could say nothing as he watched Akina laugh so brightly. Meanwhile, Ifrit came over and whistled.
"That was fast. You're pretty good, huh?"
"Was I fast?"
"Yeah. Really fast."
Ifrit reached out to pat Akina's head, but withdrew her hand when she saw Ash.
"Come to Halloween Entertainment when you're done exploring. I'll transfer the five hundred thousand credits right away."
"Great! Shall we go, then?"
"Sure, sure. Wait, huh?"
Ifrit, who had been about to head through the gate, turned around.
"Where are you going?"
"Through the gate."
"Uh... why?"
"We haven't finished mapping yet."
"So what, you want us to go together?"
This time, Ash answered.
"We said no such thing. Please go ahead."
"Ha!"
Ifrit snorted.
The heart-shaped glow in her eyes flashed.
"Are you saying you're going to walk right behind me?"
"That is not our intention, but I suppose that is how it will look."
"What kind of insane idea is that? How am I supposed to walk with you breathing down my neck? If that's how it is, you two go first. I'll follow."
This time, Ash's optical sensors flashed.
"What an absurd suggestion. Can you guarantee you will not attack us, lady warrior? I have already experienced your unpredictable behavior, so do not talk nonsense."
"Oh, just go first!"
"You should go first, lady warrior."
"Oh, come on!"
Akina stepped between them.
"Then let's just walk side by side, okay?"
There is a word: fate (因緣).
A bond formed between people.
Or a connection to something.
That might be its dictionary meaning, but in practice, it is closer to something more mysterious.
Perhaps it is an encounter that comes to us among countless passing moments, as though arranged long ago.
That is why fate sometimes leaves a strange taste.
A very strange taste.
Footnotes:
Ash's quotation about clarity and stillness comes from the Taoist Classic of Purity and Stillness. It says nothing about stepping aside.
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