WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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◈ Cyberpunk Chivalry ◈
Chapter 7: The Cloud Dragon Sets Forth 4
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Santa Claude kept his promise.
He even threw in a fairly generous extra.
He gave them a temporary place to stay: a small space on the second floor of the rest stop.
"I'm not giving it to you for free! It's on credit! You little brat, why do you keep grinning? I said I'm charging you!"
And so, Santa's Rest Stop gained two new lodgers.
A letter of recommendation and a temporary home.
With those needs met, Ash and Akina spent the following days keeping busy.
Naturally, their first task was to apply for Pathfinder licenses.
Perhaps thanks to the letter of recommendation, the application went through without any trouble.
The licenses would take some time to arrive, however. While they waited, Akina put all her efforts into attaching Ash's final part: his left arm.
Ash did not sit idle, either.
He charged his body with the electricity Santa provided while building the foundations of his Neuro Mind Art.
The power was clean and stable, nothing like the unreliable electricity at the waste disposal site.
To think even electricity could differ.
That was another lesson learned.
Dedicated repairs worked in harmony with the Neuro Mind Art.
The assembly and synchronization of his left arm advanced by the day. Even Santa, who watched from the sidelines, was surprised by the speed.
Getting their licenses.
Repairs and assembly.
The Neuro Mind Art.
Their days were busy.
Time passed, and today, at last, Ash had all four limbs.
True, his arms were different models, and his legs were different lengths, forcing him to stand at a slight tilt. But what did that matter?
Compared to those days when he had been nothing but a floating head, this was a whole new level.
Swish!
Behind Santa's Rest Stop, Ash swung his sword, using the junk-filled lot as a training ground.
He was trying to close the subtle gap between the self he remembered and the self he was now.
The sword's forms traced patterns through the air.
It was Kunlun swordsmanship.
The sword dance looked somewhat awkward and creaked as he performed it with a mechanical body. Yet its force and grandeur were no different from before.
This was swordsmanship that Kunlun's Taoist disciples had originally practiced to cultivate the Way within their minds. A lofty, boundless air naturally flowed through the dance.
So much so that it hardly mattered that the one performing it was a humanoid patched together from mismatched parts.
Clap, clap, clap!
As the sword dance drew to a close, he heard applause.
He turned to find Akina sitting on the edge of the rest stop's roof, clapping as she watched him.
"Woo-hoo! Looking good, mister!"
Ash activated his voice module at a higher volume than usual.
"Miss Akina. When did you return?"
"Just now!"
"And the licenses?"
"Hehe!"
Grinning, she pulled two shining cards from the pocket at her chest. They were their Pathfinder licenses.
"Ta-da! Pretty cool, right? Wait there. I'll come down and show you!"
At her words, Ash put away his sword.
"No. I shall come up."
"Really? Then hurry!"
Watching Akina smile brightly and wave him over, Ash moved a little faster than usual.
When he reached the roof, Sanctum's dazzling nightscape spread out before him.
An endless sea of light.
Akina sat perched at its edge.
"You're here?"
Without a word, Ash went over and sat upright beside her. Apparently amused by his posture, Akina laughed for quite a while.
"Here."
Akina held out a small card.
It was the Pathfinder license she had shown him a moment ago.
Ash took it carefully and turned it over to examine both sides.
//*
[Pathfinder License]
Name: Ash Blade
Type: Humanoid (Custom)
Model Year: Cannot Be Analyzed
Affiliation: None
Rank: F
Serial Number: 4157-8651-0359-9031
This certifies that the individual named above is an officially recognized Pathfinder of the Sanctum Administration.
*//
"You need this to pass through the gates, use Pathfinder-only services, and access things like the job board. Oh, it also works as a credit wallet. It's basically your ID and wallet in one, so don't lose it, okay?"
Ash had been listening quietly. Now he spoke.
"But what is this 'Blade'?"
Caught off guard, Akina flinched.
"Oh, that? The name field had separate spaces for a first and last name, so I just put something down. They said the application might get rejected if I left it blank, or something. You're good with a sword, so I wrote 'Blade.' Don't you like it? Should I change it?"
Ash shook his head.
"There is no need."
Then, after a short pause, he added,
"...I like it very much."
Ash Blade.
Ash and a sword.
Was that not rather poetic?
"Really? Hehe! I knew you'd like it!"
Akina smiled brightly, seemingly relieved by his unexpected response. Choosing his surname without asking must have been bothering her.
She chatted about the licenses' features for a little while, then tucked her card away and turned toward the nightscape.
"The ion storm should settle down soon. That'll probably be when we head out for the first time."
"You mean the 'active period'?"
"That's right. The active period."
Ash put away his license as well and turned toward the city lights.
"When will it begin?"
"Hmm. I'd have to check the forecast to be sure, but tomorrow or the day after, at the earliest? You're ready for the Outer, right, mister?"
"I am ready whenever it may be."
"Ooh. That's reassuring!"
With that, they gazed at Sanctum's nightscape in silence for a while.
How much time had passed?
Suddenly, Ash spoke.
"Miss Akina."
"Yes?"
"Do you remember the day you awakened me?"
"Of course. A lot's changed since then."
"Is that so?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Did you not ask for my help?"
Akina turned her head.
Ash turned to face her as well.
"I did."
"Then what is it you wish me to help with? Your work as a Pathfinder?"
"No. That's part of the process. Just a means to an end."
"Then what is it?"
"If I tell you, will you help?"
"I will."
His firm answer seemed to surprise Akina instead.
"You clearly said that you would repair my body, and that you wanted my help once the repairs were complete. Today, those repairs are finished. I have two arms and two legs. So tell me how I am to repay you for saving my life."
Akina gave him an awkward smile.
"...But mister, you couldn't understand me on that first day, could you?"
"Indeed. So after downloading the integrated language pack, I applied it to my memories of that day."
"Why would you go that far? You're such a weird humanoid. And you're way too good with words..."
"Miss Akina."
Ash's optical sensors gazed into Akina's blue eyes.
"Do you not wish to tell me?"
Akina gave a small flinch.
"Or is it something you must not speak of? Something illegal, for instance. A contract to kill someone, or perhaps..."
"Revenge."
Revenge.
That single word cut through the stillness of the night.
The false emotions faded from Akina's face, which had held only an awkward expression until then. What rose in their place was a cold, fierce hatred.
"I want revenge."
"..."
Memories of the past overlapped with the girl's cold face.
"Heavenly Demon! I swear I'll tear you apart! With these hands! With this sword! I'll destroy everything you have! I'll bring peace to the souls of my fallen sect!"
His younger self, who had declared his revenge to the heavens, overlapped with the girl before him. In his past life, he had staked everything on pursuing that single goal.
The two of them were alike.
Terribly alike.
'Was this it?'
Ash felt something powerful.
Something inevitable.
In his past life, he had abandoned everything for revenge. As a result, he had killed countless people, only to meet his own death in emptiness.
What punishment would suit someone like him?
Was he meant to remain beside this girl who resembled him and watch the entire process unfold again? To watch her reach ruin in the end? Worse still, to help her along that path?
His main core filled with tangled thoughts. He did not even notice Akina get to her feet.
"Up we go!"
Snapping back to his senses, Ash turned toward the girl. Instead of the icy face she had shown him a moment earlier, a somewhat awkward smile greeted him.
"I should head inside now. Who knows? The active period might start tomorrow, right? I've got to be in good shape."
Akina stretched with exaggerated movements, then waved.
"See you tomorrow!"
With that brief farewell, she left the roof before Ash could say anything.
Ash was left alone on the rooftop.
Without a word, he looked up at Sanctum's dazzling lights, which remained bright even at this hour.
The city's lights shone across his blue-green optical sensors, appearing and fading again and again.
A humanoid sat upright, gazing at the city.
No one could have known what thoughts occupied his mind.
* * *
Akina's prediction proved exactly right.
The time when the ion storm settled down had come.
The active period had begun.
The next day, the Gateway District's central hub bustled with a huge crowd.
Every one of them was a Pathfinder.
As a result, the atmosphere was quite different from the rest of Sanctum.
Some were armed with every kind of cyberware. Others covered themselves in worn combat gear. Still others had turned up with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a single cheap gun.
Their appearances varied wildly, but their eyes were all sharp and dangerous.
A sense of tightly controlled violence hung over the central hub, as though it might break loose at any moment.
"Mister! This way!"
Ash and Akina were among the crowd.
They, too, looked quite different from before.
Akina wore an exploration backpack as large as she was. A low-recoil pistol was tucked into her waistband as well. She had obtained both items "on credit" by pestering Grandpa Santa relentlessly.
Ash's appearance had also changed considerably.
He wore what was commonly called an exploration suit: a black Gore-Tex cloak that reached his ankles. A steel blade was strapped to his back.
He looked much like a wandering hero of the martial world.
Naturally, these were also items they had wrung out of Grandpa Santa "on credit."
"Next!"
An indifferent voice came from a booth behind bulletproof glass in front of the enormous steel gate. Inside was a government official in a uniform marked [T.I.M.E.], commonly known as a "Timeman."
Ash and Akina stepped forward.
"Akina Greenwood. Ash Blade. A team of two. Your exploration area is Level 1, Sector Gamma 7. Is that correct?"
Akina answered the mechanical question with enthusiasm.
"Yes!"
At her energetic reply, the Timeman glanced up.
"Do you have a private vehicle?"
"No!"
"Would you like to use the public ground limousine service provided by Sanctum?"
"Yes!"
"That's 7,000 per person, for a total of 14,000 credits."
Without a word, Akina held her license card to the terminal. A moment later, its light turned green.
"Yes, your payment's gone through. Please take public limousine number 302. Wishing all you Pathfinders the best of luck, this has been Timeman James..."
It was a miraculous vocal technique: the longer the official spoke, the quieter the voice became. By the end, it was almost inaudible.
"Next!"
After passing through the gate, Ash and Akina looked around for a moment, searching for public limousine number 302.
"Miss Akina. This way."
Ash led Akina farther into the hub, which resembled an enormous hangar. In the distance, he could see "limousine" number 302.
It was called a limousine, but in truth, it was closer to a bulky armored bus. The bars over every window and the steel-reinforced wheels were especially noticeable.
Several Pathfinders were already seated inside.
A battle-hardened Assault.
A combat fanatic covered from head to toe in cyberware.
A man who kept muttering to himself.
They glanced at Ash and Akina as the pair boarded, then turned away, apparently losing interest.
Shortly after they found suitable seats and sat down, an automated announcement came through the limousine's speakers.
"Attention, Pathfinders. Limousine number 302, bound for Sector Gamma 7 of the Outer, will depart shortly. Please check all safety equipment. Once again, this limousine is bound for Sector Gamma 7 of the Outer..."
A moment later, the vehicle began to shake violently with a deep rumble from its engine.
"I-I think we're leaving!"
With a quiet exclamation, Akina looked out the window. Ash turned his head to follow her gaze.
Countless armored limousines and private exploration vehicles began pulling off the main street, their engines roaring.
Ash watched Sanctum's scenery rush past the window. At some point, the view outside was no longer a city.
Unknown ruins where the ion storm had settled.
They had entered the Outer.
Ash and Akina turned to look at each other at the same time.
"I'm counting on you, mister."
"And I on you, Miss Akina."
Two rookie Pathfinders.
Their first expedition had finally begun upon this land of death.
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