WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 146: The Road Flows with the Traveler - 2

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The captain grabbed me and shouted.

"What made you confident enough to file such a false report?!"

Pinned against the wall in an instant, I raised both hands in defense.

"To clear up suspicion. Think about it. Someone on a classified operation is traveling with some strange guy. Wouldn't you want to find out why? That's what the colonel did."

"Even so, for a suspect to make a false report he cannot take responsibility for. Filing a false report to a superior is itself a violation of military law!"

"Even during a classified operation?"

The captain reluctantly added,

"...That is, if it were not during a classified operation."

"Then there's no problem."

I shrugged. Then, for the captain who seemed so clueless, I decided to show her how harsh the world could be.

"Do you think the colonel was joking? He was just testing the waters."

"Testing the waters...?"

"Yes. It didn't matter whether what I said was true or false. If I really was a thoughtless older brother, he had seriously reprimanded me. If I was lying, he was playing along, thinking we must have made up a fake identity for a classified operation. Does it make sense for him to get angry after asking a question and receiving an answer?"

It had been a test from an experienced colonel. I had slithered through it like a snake because I could read his thoughts. Otherwise, he would have looked at the captain with some suspicion.

Not that he would disobey the orders. Still, he could have someone watch us. He had that much discretion.

"Why would he do such a thing?"

"Maybe he disliked you. Or maybe you looked too clueless for someone entrusted with a classified operation."

"...Mm."

The captain had been defeated by my logic and couldn't say a word. I added in a pitying murmur.

"And besides, I didn't lie."

"You did not lie? I do not understand what you mean."

"You don't remember.... I raised our little Bbi myself when she was only up to my knee, carrying her on my back.... I can still vividly remember you calling me big brother back then...."

"...! Negative! Did you not force this officer to say that?! This officer would never have done so if I had not been threatened in some manner!"

'The humiliation...! Humiliation I may never suffer again in my life!'

Huh. It had been a joke to lighten the mood, but her reaction was fiercer than I expected. What was that about?

I poked at her again.

"Force you? You begged me to carry you around whenever you could. Don't you remember? You were so cute back then, toddling around with both arms out."

"...! That was a disguise during the operation! To begin with, if you had cooperated willingly!"

'Climbing onto this man's back, being held in his arms, moving around while clinging to him like a baby! If I could, I would erase those memories completely!'

...Come to think of it, was this captain confusing her memories as a golem with her own memories?

Ah. Wait a second. This excessive immersion.

Could it be?

"Captain AB."

"...What is it now? This officer is starting to feel uneasy."

"Do you stay synchronized whenever you're controlling a golem?"

Mages who handled golems synchronized their movements with their dolls to make their actions more precise.

Voodooists who cast curses synchronized a doll's senses with their target to inflict terrible pain.

A synchronization-type magic golem combined the strengths of both. It copied its controller's movements while transmitting sensations and information as well. It was practically a doll that served as the controller's own avatar.

Communications officers were the military state's finest puppeteers, handling dozens of such golems.

But if what I had read was true, these communications officers were not elite among elites freely controlling dozens of expensive golems at their own discretion....

'Affirmative, but question. Why do you ask?'

"...It's classified."

No, really? She had remained synchronized the entire time?

"Why is that classified? Sounds like an affirmative to me. No, you can turn off one of the two synchronizations, can't you? Either movement synchronization or sensory synchronization. Don't you normally turn one off?"

'Partial affirmative. You know one thing but not the other. The amount of information obtainable through complete synchronization and incomplete synchronization differs enormously. This officer deliberately keeps movement and sensory synchronization at maximum at all times so as not to miss even trivial information. And....'

Mid-thought, the captain's expression turned bitter as she mocked herself.

'...In any case, even if this officer disengages synchronization... all that will appear is a dark room with nothing in it. There is no reason not to synchronize.... Even if it hurts, feeling something is far better.'

"...Classified...."

The mood suddenly grew solemn.

This made me feel a little sorry. I had spread her legs apart or tied her into strange positions to keep her from synchronizing.

No, come on. She wasn't an idiot. She couldn't have been trying to stay fully synchronized even then, right? Hahaha....

Hahaha.

Wow....

"...Question. What kind of look is that?"

The captain asked with an exhausted expression. Pretending to be sad, I dabbed at my eyes with a handkerchief.

"Sniff. Our poor Bbi.... Big brother will make lots of money and make you happy from now on."

"Do not say such pointless things!"

I felt a little sorry. No, very sorry.

I had treated her that way because I thought she was a golem. If I'd known a person felt all the same things, I wouldn't have done it. It wasn't like I was some sociopath with no empathy.

Without the ability to read thoughts, even a good citizen like me could become a demon. Humans would find demons within themselves....

Just then, the clock announced ten at night. The captain looked at it and rose.

"It is the end of working hours. Within the next hour, this officer must finish washing and laundry, then prepare for bed."

"What end of working hours when we're out here? You sleep when you're tired and wake up when you wake up."

"A regular lifestyle and neat attire are the basics of duty. Wherever one is and whatever the situation, one must act according to schedule, even when no one is watching."

"Come on. You didn't spend every day in that little room wearing an uncomfortable officer's uniform, did you?"

"...?"

'Question. How could this officer not wear an officer's uniform while on duty?'

No. If no one was watching, she should relax a little. She could control her golems even if they wore nothing. What a stiff person.

I felt solemn again for no reason. Wiping beneath my nose, I muttered,

"Wash up first. I'll let you go ahead."

"...If you wash later, it is expected that you will not meet bedtime. Please wash first. This officer will prepare the room in advance."

If she insisted. I put down my bag and headed for the bathroom.

It was fitting lodging for the military state. The room seemed to have been just large enough for three beds, but they had removed one as though generously giving us extra space.

Beds, lights, and stands. That was all the furniture this room had.

With clothing packets, there was no need for wardrobes, and meals were eaten in the cafeteria. This was a space meant only for sleeping.

Even having a cramped bathroom attached was a luxury.

"Could be worse."

The colonel must have given us a genuinely good room as a favor.

In group lodgings, rows of bunk beds waited, their mattresses barely any softer than metal desks.

I entered the bathroom first.

The water ran well, but it was entirely cold. I waved my hands.

This cold was starting to feel familiar. This really was the military state.

If I could use standardized magic, I could make warm water whenever I wanted, but my pathetic magic power would surely run dry. It couldn't be helped.

I turned on the tap. Maybe because this was a relatively good room, there didn't seem to be a daily water ration limit. I removed my clothing packet and poured cold water over my entire body.

"Aaaah!"

My bones are freezing! Save me! Even the water in the Abyss had been warmer...!

I had no choice but to wash myself cautiously. Then the captain's voice came from outside the door.

"How much longer will you be washing?"

"Ah, just wait a little! I'm almost done!"

"Bedtime must not be delayed. Please hurry."

What was wrong with sleeping late? I might toss and turn a little. She really was a fascinating creature.

I kept washing with the running water for a while.

'Morning Glory... No, I must not use it. This officer is not permitted to use communication magic until returning to the unit.'

Thoughts flowed from the room. I used them as background music while scrubbing every corner of my body.

'...Now that he knows this officer is a communications officer, this officer should kill him to silence him. There is no guarantee he will keep this secret forever. If he were to spread this officer's identity everywhere....'

Communications officers communicated only through golems. They could not reveal their real bodies.

The information that passed through them ranged from trivial details to critical intelligence. If someone captured a communications officer and extracted information through torture or interrogation, the military state would be shaken by that alone.

The windowless rooms and synchronization-type magic golems existed to protect communications officers, the relay points for all information, or to protect the military state from them.

'The fact that the windowless room was exposed... and that this officer's identity was discovered. They were grievous mistakes....'

Communications officers had to remain only within windowless rooms. Their lives had to continue inside a box.

Nothing could leave except the bodies of golems that could be discarded at any time.

Only their consciousness could be sent out.

Of course, communications officers were not born inside boxes, so they inevitably had to move at certain times. The strength of communications officers was their ease of transport.

That was why, when communications officers traveled in their real bodies, they were issued classified operation orders so their affiliation and names would not be revealed. Orders with such a high security level that even a colonel could not open them.

'By procedure, this officer should... kill him....'

"There, I'm done washing!"

Clean again, I put on my clothing packet and flung the door open.

The bedding had been neatly arranged before I knew it. Square pillows and blankets greeted me, while the lights cast a soft glow after being dimmed.

The captain, who had been sitting neatly on the bed, saw me and stood.

"This officer will wash now."

I shook out my hair and said,

"The water's warm. You can just pour it over yourself."

"Understood."

The captain stiffly entered the bathroom. The door clicked shut.

Leaning her back against the bathroom door, the captain fell into thought for a moment.

'...But humiliatingly, he saved this officer.'

The captain had been inside the steel box I had found by chance near Tantalus. Her head had been bleeding.

When Tantalus overturned and landed on the ground, the tremendous impact had spread in every direction. The captain, who had been inside a box underground, must have lost consciousness from an impact strong enough to crack the nearby ground.

I had stumbled across it and opened it, thinking it was a treasure chest.

But there had only been a bleeding captain inside.

A captain of the military state had nothing worth stealing. If anything, I should have worried about being robbed by her.

I had only intended to bandage her head and go on my way.

If the awakened captain had not asked me for something.

'...This officer... over there....'

'Where is over there in this cramped space?'

She had barely opened her eyes, asking me in a dying voice to move her. I had been about to ignore her and leave her there.

'...Please.... Big brother....'

They said one should grant even a dead person's last wish. How could I refuse an injured person's wish? I helped the barely conscious captain over to the desk.

She fumbled through a drawer, took something out, and put it in her mouth.

It was suicide poison.

'That scared me!'

I panicked and drove my knee into her stomach. She vomited the poison and passed out.

That only left me in a difficult position.

There were two ways to kill an elephant with a gun.

The first was to shoot an elephant that was about to die and hit it.

The second was to shoot an elephant, hit it, then keep running away until it died.

What? Wouldn't an elephant die if it got shot? Please. A gun that barely worked on people would never work on an elephant.

It would be more realistic to kill one with a toothpick. At least I could use energy arts with a toothpick.

Anyway, I had struck a captain who was about to die with my fist. If I left like that, it somehow felt like I had killed the captain myself. After much consideration, I brought her along because I wanted to save a life.

I was moderately satisfied with that choice now. The military state was far too troublesome to get around without identification.

"I'm finished."

"Huh? Already?"

The captain came out of the bathroom.

Having taken off her stiff uniform, she stood in shirtsleeves, drying her wet hair. She looked exactly like someone who had poured water all over herself.

What? She couldn't have actually used that water. Did the tap recognize officers and give them warm water?

No, this was the military state, a place that gifted even officers with cold water. If she wanted warm water, she had to heat it with standardized magic.

I looked around.

"How was the water temperature?"

"It was warm, as you said."

That was warm? Strange. Had the modifiers for relative temperature somehow changed recently?

"The water temperature was slightly higher than the average supplied water. As this is a large facility, I believe the collected water was a little warmer."

The captain shook out her hair, looking completely unbothered. If anything, she seemed a little excited.

With a happier expression than at any other time that day, the captain said,

"To be able to pour water over my entire body. It is truly heaven. Large facilities really are the best...."

Was she a captain or a person in need?

An underprivileged captain.

Footnotes:

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