WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 152: A Distant Tale: Sword and Spear - 1

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"Haha! I really like people these days. That old engineer, and you two as well. Hey, little sister! You were about to step forward before the engineer did, weren't you?"

Now that the General had revealed their identity, the Captain hurriedly saluted when singled out. The General nodded in satisfaction.

"As a Captain, you've got some fighting ability, but you still need to be careful when you're surrounded by gun barrels! It's dangerous if your energy arts aren't fully developed!"

"...It's an honor."

After reading her mind, I knew she had not actually stepped forward to fight, but the Captain nodded anyway. The General watched her fondly, rubbed their chin, then looked at me.

"And little brother! It takes courage to stop someone, just as it takes courage to step forward! Well done! Hey, if you were ten years younger, I'd take you as my disciple!"

The General seemed to think quite highly of me.

Good. I should flatter them more while I had the chance. Praise from someone they acknowledged would feel far more genuine than praise from a complete stranger.

"If I went back ten years, I'd find you somehow and ask you to teach me."

"Now that's someone who knows how to make a person feel good! Hahaha!"

The General smiled like a carefree child and thumped my shoulder several times. Then they turned to the old engineer.

"Your spirit is impressive! Of course, those so-called knights don't have half your guts. What a shame!"

"Ah, ah. It's an honor, General. It's a tremendous honor to meet you..."

The old engineer looked as though they might die of heart failure at any moment. Too overwhelmed to even breathe, they praised the General in a broken voice.

"I can only feel sorry that I have nothing to offer the one who passed judgment on the kingdom..."

"What are you talking about? Forget it!"

The General waved their hands as if burdened by the praise.

"Passing judgment? I never had some grand cause. You know? I just didn't like how those who claimed to be strong only went after the weak. I wanted to show them what a real duel tasted like... Honestly, I was planning to charge in and die. Then a coup broke out, and I somehow ended up becoming a General."

They had not conspired with the military state.

The military state had simply ridden the wave of their duel.

If anything, that was why the kingdom had fallen before it could respond. The coup had erupted as suddenly and irrationally as one person's whim.

Of course, Partlaxion's achievement in waging an urban battle alone, one unfavorable to soldiers, had played the largest role.

"That doesn't diminish your duel, General. You marched alone from the outskirts to the inner castle and fought a hundred duels. That's an undeniable fact."

"You're making being a General feel like a burden. Someone listening would think I brought down the kingdom all by myself. Anyway! Now that my identity has been exposed!"

With that, the General leaped down. Colonel Gande shook out their spear and followed.

"Well! It was a pleasant journey, but it's about time we parted ways. I have something to do."

"Ah, you said you were on leave?"

"It's leave in name only. It's basically volunteer work. Something I threw away came back much bigger than I expected. Shouldn't I be the one to clean up the trash I threw out?"

After saying that much, the General clicked their tongue and muttered.

"Tch. I thought they had enough talent and the right mindset. You never really know what a person will become."

After reading General Partlaxion's memories, I learned that those they were going to stop were vicious criminals with wildly disproportionate strength.

One man, one woman, and two beastkin. They were monsters so strong that even the army could not stop them. Fighting them would cause such tremendous losses that the military state had issued an order for active avoidance of engagement, which was practically an order to run away.

By now, anyone could guess who they were.

They were definitely the people I knew.

But why were they here?

"Anyway, I should get off around here. From here... Hey, Gande. Where are we supposed to go?"

Colonel Gande, who had taken out and unfolded a map, answered.

"We should visit the garrison near Palkaris, gather information, and obtain equipment."

"Good. Anyway, it's somewhere around here. Time for us to part ways."

Before we could even say goodbye, the General leaped down without a trace of hesitation. Colonel Gande followed.

The Meta Conveyor Belt had clearly been moving at a considerable speed, but when the General landed on the ground from the belt, it looked as if all momentum had vanished. There was no awkward rolling or stumbling. The General and their adjutant walked away as casually as if they had jumped down from a small hill.

"Ah... General."

The old engineer stared wistfully at the General's retreating back.

The distance widened in an instant, and they were soon almost out of sight. I spoke to the Captain.

"Whew. I can't believe I met General Partlaxion in my lifetime. They're a better person than I expected."

The Captain answered slowly.

"...Affirmative. Still, I am concerned about a minor violation of regulations. The General used their leave at their own discretion."

"What can anyone do? They're the person who overturned a country because things didn't go their way. Maybe they're actually holding back these days."

"Affirmative."

Our meeting had been as fleeting as the wind. The General was a decent person, and thanks to them, things had gone smoothly. I had even learned what my old friends had been up to.

Still, was the regressor trying to destroy the military state this time around? Why was she wandering through the military state while making her presence so obvious?

Well, if she had any sense, she wouldn't march openly all the way to the capital. We wouldn't run into each other.

If I kept going for another half day, I'd reach Amitenggrad. Once I got there, I could probably hear where she had gone next.

Now I was suddenly curious. What was she doing?

* * *

The people of the stronghold city of Palkaris learned that fear and curiosity could coexist.

A few hours earlier, an alarm had sounded. A flat voice announced the horrifying news that vicious criminals who had crawled out of Tantalus were moving in a straight line toward Amitenggrad, and Palkaris lay directly in their path.

A few quick-witted people fled immediately. Those without the means to run hid in their rooms with their heads down.

They prayed that the criminals were not thrill killers.

We were not.

"Give us your largest room. We're resting."

"Y-Yes, sir!"

"How much?"

"Pardon? For travelers who are not soldiers on duty, a large room costs 1,500 Alke per night..."

"Here."

The supply officer, who had prepared for death while holding their post, received an alchemical coin worth 10,000 Alke. As the supply officer stood there blankly without even thinking of giving change, Shei held out her hand.

"That's an advance. Use it to cover anything we break."

Whether they liked it or not, the supply officer faithfully fulfilled their duty. The key to the large room landed in Shei's palm.

After Shei unpacked, Nabi demanded her offering.

"Meow. Give me today's offering already, meow!"

"..."

Without a word, Shei took out Nabi's daily magic herb and placed it in her mouth. Tyrkanzyaka watched closely before speaking.

"You are becoming less sincere about serving the King of Cats. Has it become tiresome?"

"...No, not yet. It's just."

"Just?"

Shei watched Nabi purr happily as she greedily sucked up the magic herb.

"I can't take care of Nabi forever. Someday, I'll have to part ways with her. I was wondering what I should do when that happens."

"What a pointless concern."

Tyrkanzyaka clicked her tongue, straightened her posture, and offered Shei heartfelt advice.

"What do you think you can take responsibility for? Any creature with its own feet walks its own path. The path it takes after leaving is not your responsibility. You must learn to let things go..."

It was clearly advice born from experience, but Tyrkanzyaka thought of someone in the middle of speaking and lowered her head gloomily. She herself was chasing someone who had walked their own path.

This time, Shei offered her a brief consolation.

"It's okay. They say people never see their own flaws."

"...How very comforting! And how long do you intend to remain in a room occupied only by women? If you are done with your business, leave!"

Tyrkanzyaka snapped sharply. Shei let out a small groan and looked around at everyone in the room.

There was no real reason for Shei to stay here. No one present was an easy opponent, and unless someone was at the level of one of the Six Generals, they would not even be able to scratch them.

With Tyrkanzyaka as a reliable fighting force, Shei was not worried about where everyone might run off to either.

Still, being treated as a man was becoming tiresome. Shei wondered if she should reveal her gender soon. It was a little extreme, but if she showed them her naked body, the misunderstanding would surely be cleared up.

The problem was how to show bare skin naturally...

Tyrkanzyaka was so conservative that it was difficult to find an opportunity. Shei was wondering if she should find a hot spring sometime when Tyrkanzyaka sensed an unfamiliar presence and turned her head.

"A guest has arrived, Shei... Hmm? They came all the way to the door, then simply left."

"Ah. I think I know who it is."

When Shei opened the door, a neatly placed letter waited for her instead of a guest. She snorted and picked it up.

"It's from the Resistance."

"When you say Resistance, do you mean people like restoration armies?"

"Exactly. It looks like they heard about us and tried to make contact."

"Heard about us? Did we not emerge from the Abyss?"

"On the way here, we subdued five companies and destroyed two Lords of All Creation bases. I guess word got around."

Rashy, the immortal, and former Lieutenant Colonel Callis had decided to take a route far from the military state. Rashy had told Shei to give Teacher his regards before leaving.

Finding Hughes was their primary objective, but Shei valued efficiency as well. Whenever they spotted a Lords of All Creation base along the way, they would stop by, smash it to pieces, and continue on their journey.

"News travels quickly. It hasn't even been long since we arrived here."

"The military state has communications officers and communication devices. Other places have their own means as well."

Shei gave a short laugh and tore the letter apart. Tyrkanzyaka was puzzled by her firm attitude, which held not the slightest hesitation.

"Strange. I thought you hated the military state greatly."

"That's right. I hate the military state."

Shei snapped her fingers. Flames rose and wrapped around the letter.

As Shei watched it burn away without even leaving ashes behind, she muttered.

"More than anything else, I hate that there is no alternative."

Shei had once tried to bring down the military state. That damned country had always been the first enemy she faced, and she had thought overcoming it would let her move forward.

And Shei succeeded.

After thorough preparation and effort across several iterations, Shei had destroyed the military state once. Like Absolute Sonata Partlaxion, she became a hero of the newly established Free Republic.

Then Shei left the country, swallowing a bitter aftertaste.

After that, Shei never set foot in the Free Republic again.

Not in any iteration.

"Hopeless romantics, remnants of an old era, and people who simply hate the military state. The Resistance is a collection of those three groups. People with different origins and dreams come together to imagine a country... a world where everyone is equal and happy."

The moment Tyrkanzyaka heard Shei's words, she understood their true nature and nodded.

Human beings did not change, even after hundreds of years.

"An impossible ideal."

"Right. They all have goals, but none of them have prepared a path to reach them. People like that could never even maintain the status quo..."

More accurately, Shei had seen it herself.

Shei had liberated the laborers who had been worked to the bone, then decided to pay them and employ them as workers instead.

The most important of all was the Meta Conveyor Belt. At the very least, that key facility of the military state had to remain operational. It was the minimum condition for running a country.

Yet it took less than a month for the belt to stop.

The Meta Conveyor Belt was a convenient, useful, and indispensable facility, but it had one flaw. If cargo was missed at a stop, it could disappear for over a week. Even the slightest mistake placed that much strain on the nation.

A week of missing cargo. Delayed schedules because of it, mounting costs, and trust hitting rock bottom.

Once the workers realized how important this was, they took the belt hostage and demanded better treatment. It would have been difficult to blame them. No matter how much they were paid, the labor was truly murderous.

The gentle country that had emerged after rejecting the military state was dragged around by them.

Its veins clogged with fat. The entire country creaked.

A year later, Shei saw the changed country, the country she had ultimately ruined. Heartbroken, she left it behind.

"...Rather than entrusting things to those fools, I can just pick off the Lords of All Creation and leave everything else alone. Besides, once you understand the military state's principles of operation, it isn't all that troublesome."

"Are you saying you understand their principles of operation?"

"Of course. Look. We're openly heading for the capital, but the country isn't throwing all its strength into stopping us."

"Now that you mention it, it is unusual. If an enemy marches toward the royal castle, one should concentrate every available force to stop them."

The reason was too simple, and that was what made it so empty. When Shei learned that fact in the previous iteration, she had felt so hollow.

That was why Shei came to hate the military state even more.

"We crushed five companies, but we didn't kill a single person. The military state reached a conclusion from that. We're too strong to subdue, but the four of us are too insignificant to justify concentrating all their forces. The numbers don't add up, so they're actively leaving us alone."

Active avoidance of engagement. Since fighting did not pay off, do not fight at all.

It was exactly the sort of decision one would expect from a country obsessed with efficiency.

"If they truly wanted to fight to the death, they'd gather at least three of the Six Generals and come after us. If they deployed their forces poorly and suffered losses, it would be a national loss. But they can't casually pull forces like the Six Generals from their positions, so unless one of them has absolutely nothing better to do, nobody will come after us..."

That was when Shei muttered those words.

Azzy perked up her ears. Nabi frowned and raised her fur.

Like the beasts, Tyrkanzyaka and Shei felt that blatant presence as well and rose from their seats.

Shei muttered with the expression of someone who knew this was coming.

"They're here. One of the Six Generals with absolutely nothing better to do."

Footnotes:

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