WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 146

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The Road Flows with the Traveler - 2

The captain grabbed me and shouted.

"What kind of confidence made you file a false report like that?!"

Backed against the wall in an instant, I raised both hands and defended myself.

"It was to clear suspicion. Think about it. Someone on a classified mission is walking around with some suspicious person beside them. You'd want to verify it, right? That's what the colonel did too."

"That still doesn't justify filing a false report the suspect can't handle. Filing a false report to a superior is itself a violation of military law!"

"Even during a classified operation?"

The captain added, displeased.

"...If it is not during a classified operation, that is."

"Then there's no problem."

I shrugged, then decided to teach this blank-eyed captain how scary the real world can be.

"Does that colonel look like a joker to you? He was just testing the waters."

"Testing... the waters?"

"Yep. Whether what I said was true or false didn't matter. If I really was a thoughtless oppa, then it was a serious scolding. If I lied, then he'd think, 'Ah, fake identity for a classified operation,' and play along. He asked first, then got mad when I answered? How does that make sense?"

It was a test from a seasoned old-fox colonel. I only slithered past it because I read his thoughts. Otherwise, he would have looked at the captain with suspicion.

Not that he would break orders. But he could at least keep watch. He had that much discretion.

"Why would he do that?"

"Either he didn't like the captain, or maybe you looked too naive for someone entrusted with a classified mission."

"...Mgh."

The captain lost ground to my logic and couldn't respond. On top of that, I muttered with a hint of pity.

"And honestly, I didn't even lie, did I?"

"Didn't lie? I cannot understand what you mean."

"Looks like you don't even remember.... When our little Bbi was only knee-high, I carried her myself and raised her.... I can still vividly remember you calling me oppa...."

"...! Negative! Was that not forced on me by you?! If I had not been subjected to some kind of threat, I would never! Have done that!"

'Disgrace...! A disgrace I may never face again in my life!'

Huh. I only made that joke to lighten the mood, but the reaction was stronger than I expected. What was that?

I poked again.

"Forced? You were always begging for piggybacks. Don't remember? You were so cute back when you toddled around with your arms open."

"...! That was infiltration camouflage during operations! In the first place! If you had cooperated obediently!"

'Climbing onto this man's back, being held in his arms, moving around while clinging like a baby! If I could, I would tear out those memories entirely!'

...I've been thinking this for a while, but maybe this captain is mixing up the golem's memories and her own memories.

Wait. Hold on. This level of over-immersion.

No way?

"Captain AB."

"...What is it this time? I am starting to feel uneasy."

"When you control golems, are you staying synced the whole time?"

Mages controlling golems synced their movements with the puppet's to handle fine actions.

Voodoo curse casters synced a doll's senses with a target's senses to inflict horrific pain.

Sync-type arcane golems combined the strengths of both. They mirrored the controller's movements and even transmitted senses and information. They were practically the controller's avatar.

Communications officers were the military state's greatest puppeteers, handling dozens of those golems.

But if what I read was true,

these communications officers weren't elite among elites freely commanding expensive golems at their own discretion....

'Affirmative, but question. Why ask that?'

"...Classified."

No, seriously? You were still fully synced the whole time?

"How is that classified? Sounds like an affirmative to me. No, wait. You can turn off one of the two syncs, right? Movement sync or sensory sync. Don't you ever turn one off normally?"

'Partially affirmative. You know one and not the other. The amount of information gained with full sync versus partial sync differs enormously. To avoid missing even minor information, I deliberately keep movement and senses synced at maximum at all times. And....'

Mid-thought, the captain's expression dimmed bitterly as she mocked herself.

'...In any case, even if I break sync... all that appears is an empty dark room. There is no reason not to sync.... Even if it hurts, feeling sensations is much better.'

"...Classified...."

The mood suddenly turned solemn.

Now I really felt bad. I told her not to sync, then split her legs apart and tied her into weird poses.

Ah, no way. She's not an idiot. She wouldn't keep trying full sync even in that situation, right? Haha....

Haha.

Wow....

"...Question. What kind of look are you giving me?"

The captain asked with a sickened look. Pretending to be sad, I dabbed my eyes with a handkerchief and answered.

"Sob. Our poor little Bbi.... Oppa will make lots of money and make you happy from now on."

"Stop saying nonsense!"

I felt a little bad, no, very bad.

I only treated her that way because she was a golem. If I'd known a person would feel all of that exactly the same, I wouldn't have done it. It's not like I'm some empathy-deficient sociopath.

Not being able to read thoughts really could turn even a kind citizen like me into a devil. Man shall seek the devil within himself....

Right then, the clock struck 10 p.m. The captain checked it and stood up.

"My shift has ended. Within the next hour, I must wash, do laundry, and prepare for bed."

"We're outside. What do you mean, your shift ended? You sleep when you're tired and wake when you wake."

"A regular lifestyle and neat attire are the basics of duty. No matter where you are or what the situation is, you must act on schedule. Even if no one is watching."

"Come on. It's not like you spent every day in that little cell wearing an uncomfortable officer uniform."

"...?"

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

No one was watching, so I was telling you to relax a little. You can control golems even with no clothes on. So rigid.

The mood got solemn again for no reason. I wiped under my nose and muttered,

"You wash first. I'll let you go ahead."

"...I predict that if you wash later, you will miss bedtime. Please go first. I will organize the room in advance."

If you say so. I set down my bag and headed for the bathroom.

It was exactly what you'd expect from military-state housing. The space was just big enough to barely fit three beds, and it looked like they'd taken one out and pretended they were being generous.

Bed, light, stand. That was all the furniture in this room.

No closet needed with clothing packets, meals in the cafeteria. This place existed only for sleep.

Even having a tiny cramped bathroom attached was a luxury.

"Could be worse."

The colonel had done me a favor and given me a genuinely good room.

In group lodgings, two-tier bunks were lined up in rows, and the mattress firmness was barely different from a steel desk.

I went into the bathroom first.

The water ran fine, but it was cold only. I waved my hand in rejection. This cold... yeah, it's coming back to me. This was the military state, all right.

If I could cast standard spells, I could make warm water all I wanted, but my pathetic mana would clearly hit bottom. Couldn't be helped.

I turned on the tap. Maybe because it was a decent room, there didn't seem to be a daily water ration limit. I took off my clothing packet and dumped cold water over my whole body.

"Aaaagh!"

My bones are freezing! Help! The Abyss was warmer than this...!

I had no choice but to wash in a timid, half-hearted way. Then I heard the captain's voice from outside the door.

"How much longer will you be washing?"

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

"Bedtime must not be delayed. Please hurry."

What's wrong with sleeping late? Missing a little sleep happens. Seriously, what a fascinating creature.

I'd been scrubbing myself under running water for a while when

'Morning Glory... no, I must not use it. Until I return to base, communication magic is not permitted to me.'

thoughts drifted out from the room. I cleaned every corner of my body with those thoughts as background music.

'...In truth, now that he knows I am a communications officer, I should eliminate him to silence him. There is no guarantee he will keep this secret forever. If he starts spreading my identity everywhere....'

Communications officers communicated only through golems. They were never to reveal their real bodies.

All information passed through them, from trivial to critical. If someone captured one and extracted information through torture or interrogation, that alone could shake the military state.

The windowless room existed to protect communications officers, and also protect the military state from them. So did sync-type arcane golems.

'The exposure of the windowless room... and my identity being discovered. It was a deeply painful blunder....'

Communications officers had to live only in windowless rooms. Their lives had to continue inside boxes.

Nothing should ever come outside except golem bodies that could be abandoned at any time.

Only consciousness could be sent out.

Of course, communications officers weren't born inside boxes, so there were times when movement was inevitable. Portability was their main advantage, after all.

So when a communications officer moved around in person, they were given classified operation papers so their affiliation and name stayed hidden. Papers with security levels so high even a colonel couldn't open them.

'By principle, I should... kill him....'

"All right, done washing!"

Now clean, I put my clothing packet back on and flung the door open.

The bedding had been neatly arranged before I knew it. The squared pillow and blanket greeted me, and the light had been dimmed to a soft glow.

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

"Now I will wash."

I shook water from my hair and said,

"The water was warm, you know. You can just pour it over yourself."

"Confirmed."

Then the captain walked stiffly into the bathroom. Click, the door closed.

Leaning her back against the bathroom door, she sank into thought for a moment.

'...But humiliatingly, he saved me.'

Inside that steel box found by chance near Tantalus, there had been the captain, bleeding from the head.

When Tantalus flipped and settled onto the surface, that massive impact spread everywhere. The shock was strong enough to crack the nearby ground, so it seemed the captain inside the underground box lost consciousness.

I happened to find it and opened it because I thought it was a treasure chest.

But inside was only a bleeding captain.

A military-state captain had nothing to loot. If anything, I should've worried about getting looted by her.

I was just going to wrap a bandage around her head and move on.

If the awakened captain hadn't asked me.

'...Please... move... me there....'

'Where is "there" in this cramped place?'

With her eyes barely open, she asked in a dying voice to be moved. I was about to ignore her and leave.

'...Please.... Oppa....'

They say you should grant even a dead person's wish, so could I refuse a wounded person's wish? I supported the fading captain and moved her to the desk.

Then, fumbling through a drawer, she pulled something out and put it in her mouth.

It was suicide poison.

'Damn, you scared me!'

I panicked and drove my knee into her stomach. She spat out the poison and fainted.

That left only me in an awkward spot.

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

First, shoot an elephant that's already about to die.

Second, shoot the elephant, then keep running until it dies.

What? You think an elephant dies if it's shot? Come on. A gun that barely works on people won't work on an elephant.

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

Anyway, I'd punched a captain who was already half dead, so if I left things there, it'd somehow count as me killing her. After deep thought, I brought her with me in the spirit of saving one life.

I'm moderately satisfied now. The military state is too annoying to move around in without any ID.

"Finished."

"Huh? Already?"

The captain burst out of the bathroom.

She had taken off her stiff uniform, and in just her shirt she dried her wet hair, looking exactly like someone who had poured water all over herself.

What? No way she used that water. Unless the faucet recognized officers and gave warm water?

No, this was the military state. It gifted cold water even to officers. If you wanted warmth, you had to heat it with standard magic.

I glanced around.

"How was the water temperature?"

"As you said, it was warm."

That? Warm? Weird. Did the words for relative temperature change these days?

"It was slightly warmer than average supply water. I assume this is a large facility, so the collected water temperature is slightly higher."

The captain shook out her hair and looked completely unfazed. If anything, she seemed a little excited.

With the happiest face she'd shown all day, she said,

"Being able to pour water over my whole body... this is truly heaven. Big facilities really are the best...."

Is this a captain or a hardship case.

More like Captain Hardship.

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