WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 149: The Road Flows with the Traveler - 5

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We made two stops along the way. The medical officer got off at the mining outpost with a polite salute. The way they kept asking whether anyone was injured made it seem as though they regretted missing the chance to show off their skills.

People got off, but no one boarded. As we talked, we gradually grew closer.

Both physically and emotionally.

Humans form societies. What people need is usually possessed in greatest abundance by other people, and the more such resources are shared, the more efficiently they can be used.

Light, warmth, knowledge, shelter, stories.

The more these things gathered in one place, the greater everyone's share became. That was why humans had lived in communities for so long.

...Of course, some valued personal gain over efficiency and preferred killing and taking to living together, but still.

As we gathered around the lamps and talked, we listened to the old engineer.

"...My older brother died building this meta-conveyor belt. It was a terrible accident. The ground hadn't even fully hardened yet, but he got confused and stepped forward. His body was ground to pieces. Watching him get buried in that current of earth... Heh heh. I hope you don't imagine it. I can't even put it into words."

I didn't know whether it was intentional, but trailing off only made it easier to picture.

The image of someone being crushed by the flowing earth passed through everyone's minds. Blood spread through the moving ground, red as lava...

The old engineer stared at the meta-conveyor belt with wet eyes as he recalled the past.

"My brother was a fine carpenter, but not much of a mason, and he didn't properly understand what flowing earth was... He probably understands now. He's closer to the Earth Mother than anyone. In a way, I'm moving atop my brother's corpse."

"That's awful..."

"After my brother died, I couldn't focus on my work. I nearly died myself, working in a daze. Back then, the two of us were the only carpenters in that unit, so we were always called in first when it was time to build walls. Once he died, I was the only one left to do the work. Of course the palisades collapsed when one man had to do the work of two..."

After the coup, those who had prospered during the kingdom's days became prisoners and were ordered into forced labor. But no amount of whipping could give people skills they never had.

The military state gathered technicians from across the country, gave them official posts, and granted them authority over the laborers.

Jiseon stood out above all the rest.

"Jiseon saved me around then, but ungrateful as I was, I still thought this. Why had Jiseon come only then? If Jiseon had arrived just one week earlier, could my brother have lived? Heh heh. I really was selfish."

I offered the self-mocking engineer a little comfort.

"Don't blame yourself. If you were truly selfish, you wouldn't even remember being saved."

"Heh heh heh. I can say that calmly now because so much time has passed. Back then, I was filled with resentment. After the construction was finished, I drank for months... I blamed the military state and Jiseon. Still, if I could meet Jiseon just once more, I'd like to kneel and apologize. That's my wish."

"Don't worry about that. Jiseon saved more than one or two people. You probably wouldn't even be remembered. Jiseon would be even more confused if someone suddenly came up and apologized."

"...Now that I think about it, that's probably true. Unlike me, Jiseon was truly selfless..."

Was that really so? Probably not.

Ignorance was bliss. I comforted the old engineer and told him to take it easy. It was better than having him seek out Jiseon, only to be shocked by the missing right arm.

Once the bitter story was over, I took out the canned food I'd placed on top of the lamp. The general had poured water into a slightly fancier can of meat, befitting a general, but after catching the scent from my can, kept glancing over.

"What's that?"

"I put a dish I prepared beforehand into an empty can and sealed it again."

"You canned already cooked food? Isn't that something only canneries do? You've got talent. Let me taste it."

The general demanded it as though it were only natural. I quickly calculated things in my head.

Honestly, giving away a little canned food wasn't a problem.

But right now, I was supposed to not know who the general was.

I was speaking politely and sensed some unusual status, but I wouldn't readily agree if it meant a real loss for me. Warm toward family but not especially generous to outsiders. That was the character I should play.

The general would probably prefer that too.

I drew back a little and let my smile fade. After glancing around at the others for no reason, I moved closer to the captain.

"...I can't compress things as well as a cannery, so each can only holds two servings."

"Huh?"

When I went beyond refusing and showed wariness, the general acted as though wounded pride had been struck.

"Hey, kid brother. Do you think I'd ask for it for free? Let's eat it with our cans! This is meat!"

"Meat can't replace care. I'm sorry, but this is for Bbi and me."

Perhaps the general couldn't bring himself to take it by force for the sake of appearances. Frowning, he held out every can he had and shouted.

"Damn it! Fine, then! I'll give you five!"

"...Really?"

"I don't go back on my word! I have no intention of getting a cheap meal made for your little sister! Take all of these!"

I should act as though that changed things...

Food was overflowing anyway, but things made with generous amounts of fresh rice or spices were hard to take out right now. I might be questioned about them.

As I brightened up and prepared the canned food, Colonel Gand quietly pointed something out.

"Master. Five is everything we have."

"Oh, is it? Sorry to take back what I gave, kid brother, but then four!"

"If five is everything we have, why would you take one away? What are we supposed to eat the day after tomorrow?"

When Colonel Gand, a disciple and subordinate, scolded the general, the general immediately flew into a rage.

"You brat. If we don't have canned food, you should think about finding some! You're hopeless!"

"How are we supposed to find canned food on a belt? Are you telling us to rob someone?"

"Rob someone? Is that how I taught you?"

"Then what do you want me to do?"

Either way, thanks to the generous general's contribution, that evening's meal was more lavish than ever.

Even flowing earth couldn't chase the sun as it set in the west. The day darkened as smoke scattered behind us. Everyone yawned deeply and found spots sheltered from the wind to sleep.

"What? You lost your lamp? Can't be helped. Hey, Gand! Give them your lamp!"

The general shouted, pointing at a mother and son huddled together. Colonel Gand, tormented by the general once again, pressed hard between the brows and bit their lip.

"Then what am I supposed to warm myself with?"

"How should I know?"

"...Then I don't need to know either. Give them yours, Master."

"You little brat, trying to strip your master who stands as high as the heavens. Then should you and I share a lamp? Huh? Spend the night staring right at each other?"

"I'm sorry. I'll sleep alone, so please give them my lamp."

Everyone settled down in the places they liked and lay down. Naturally, the captain and I, acting as siblings, ended up in nearby spots.

The captain took off her uniform packet and changed into only a shirt, then put on a sleeping bag packet. The compressed alchemical wool puffed up in soft clouds and wrapped around her body. She looked as though she were draped in clouds, or like a golden sheep whose wool had suddenly grown all at once.

Buried in the warm, soft sleeping bag packet, the captain let out a heavy sigh that didn't suit her outfit.

"...It has been an eventful and complicated day."

"What was complicated about it? We met good people and are spending a good night together."

At my calm answer, the captain inwardly bristled.

"You would not know what sort of predicament I faced today."

"There you go again. You were told to call me older brother earlier. If our big brother heard you, he'd raise hell."

Those people had mastered Heaven Qi Art to the point that they could command even fierce winds. They wouldn't eavesdrop on other people's conversations like petty fools, but they might hear us by accident.

'...Tch. Agreed. General Partlaxion has surpassed human strength. He may be able to hear what I am saying even now. It would be dangerous if he saw through a role I have already played.'

Which meant, in other words.

The captain still had to treat me as her older brother.

"...Watch your words, tch, older brother."

"I'm always careful."

'I can't tell whether you're teasing me or acting!'

Both, both.

The usefulness of light and warmth increased when shared. The captain and I placed our two lamps between us and lay facing one another.

I struggled to put on an ordinary sleeping bag instead of a packet. While the captain was buried in comfort, she stared at me and fell into thought.

'I am a communications officer. My identity must not be exposed. No matter what happens.'

What I felt from her was duty.

And melancholy.

'If someone learns my identity... If they see my face, learn my position, and connect the two, I must kill myself.'

She believed that without the slightest doubt.

Soon after advancing from elementary citizens' school to secondary military school, she attended classes filled with dreams for the future.

Then, without any warning, someone from the military state came to see her.

"Congratulations. An aptitude has been found in you. A very valuable aptitude that will allow you to become a communications officer."

An aptitude for becoming a communications officer. At those words, the girl's heart swelled. It was known as the most comfortable path in the world, a place where entering meant becoming an officer immediately.

After parting from the friends she had already made, the girl followed an instructor from a highly specialized school.

And she synchronized.

Girls who didn't suit the military state at all, girls more sensitive and empathetic than anyone else. They endured harsh training by becoming one another's support.

They could never have endured alone, but their abilities were empathy and synchronization. The constant pressure shaped them into puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly. They didn't clash or hurt one another. Friction was a luxury possible only when there was room to spare.

Divided by class, they entered the world as captains from the start. They would work alone, but they weren't lonely.

Unique, yet not unique magic.

Because they possessed innate magic that allowed each of them to reach the others.

'There is one circumstance in which I would no longer need to kill myself. In that case, I would not have to do it.'

It sounded obvious, but it wasn't. The captain looked at me with eyes trying to remain cold.

'You have not revealed any information about me to anyone. Therefore, if you die, I will no longer have any need to die.'

Communications officers were forced to kill themselves because killing oneself was easier than killing another person. Yet if both sides let down their guard during an unusual journey like this...

Overcoming the resistance of someone who wanted to live was harder than killing itself.

'General Partlaxion is one of the Six Generals. The Six Generals are Level 5, and no restrictions apply to them. If I reveal the truth and ask even now, the general will eliminate you. In other words, I hold your life in my hands. If I wish, I can kill you at any time and preserve my own life.'

"Whew. Finally done. This thing doesn't fit very well. Ugh. If only I could wear a clothing packet properly too."

After cramming myself into the sleeping bag with a struggle, I rolled over like a caterpillar. When our eyes met, the captain looked frightened.

'...Therefore, I do not need to kill myself.'

Yet a communications officer's greatest enemy was that very empathy. The ability to identify others with oneself damaged the military state's design for a communications officer.

Perhaps the windowless rooms existed not only to protect the information held by the communications officers, but also to preserve those officers as intact components.

Well, none of my business.

"What are you doing? Aren't you sleeping?"

"...I will sleep. There is no alarm on the meta-conveyor belt, so please wake up on time."

"If there's no alarm, can't we just not wake up?"

"What a ridiculous... thing to say... Wake-up time must be... strictly..."

As her breathing gradually quieted, the captain began to fall asleep. I lay there and waited until she had fully lost consciousness, then raised only my upper body.

...You asleep? You are, right?

Ah, my back is cold because my back is toward the edge.

I picked up my lamp and set it behind my back. With lamps warming me from both sides, I felt much better.

If the sleeping bag was lousy, at least the environment had to be good. I dozed in the warmth, lit from both front and back.

From far away, I heard the general's thoughts.

'...They said he was a hopeless older brother, and they were right. He's using lamps on both sides just because he's cold.'

The general was still awake.

Exploiting your little sister is an older brother's right. I'd appreciate it if you didn't interfere.

Footnotes:

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