WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 156

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The Military State's Cinderella

I strode down the street.

I had only stepped a little off the main road, but a dark, tangled district opened up, as if evening had already fallen.

Toy-like buildings, made by pouring concrete and then pouring more, stood jammed together, windows crammed all over them. Every so often, a grimy face appeared at one, then vanished the moment our eyes met.

Lines that might have been laundry lines stretched between buildings like spiderwebs. They looked like shoes before the laces were pulled tight. If someone yanked those lines from both sides, it felt like the flimsy buildings would tilt and cinch inward.

Shouting came from a few homes. One person yelled, irritated by the noise, then someone else shouted back. It only grew louder as it bounced off the walls, like an echo that never died. Then,

Trriiiiiiiiiii-.

At the alarm someone rang, everyone flinched and hunched up in fear.

That wake-up bell smothered every other sound.

Ah, this chaos. Good to hear it again.

Even louder than that was the noise and screaming coming through my mind-reading.

Now that I'd come somewhere crowded, it finally felt real.

"This is District 15. A place with only administrative zoning and no real facilities, land abandoned by the military state."

Right in the middle of that racket, the captain and I walked along without a care. People glanced at us when they saw strangers, then noticed the captain's uniform and either bolted or hid.

I spoke to the captain, who kept twitching.

"Captain Bbi. I think we need to do something about that uniform first. People are scared just from seeing it... or they hate it."

"...Fear and hatred are not illegal."

"Haha. Sure, but shouldn't we still reduce unnecessary friction?"

I pushed through the crowd and entered what counted as one of the few busy streets in District 15.

Countless people were trying to trade with filthy coins and broken alchemy coin fragments.

It hadn't originally been a commercial area. By chance, one day the outer wall of a first floor collapsed, people started selling things from the exposed wall, and a market street naturally formed from that.

From there, I led the captain into a darker alley. She followed me without a trace of suspicion.

Huh. Isn't she being a little too compliant?

"Still, shouldn't you be more careful? Is it really okay to follow someone this deep into an alley?"

The captain asked back, puzzled.

"This officer is a captain of the military state. Surely no criminal would risk summary execution to attack a military state captain."

Summary execution. Scary words.

For someone at her rank, she wasn't wrong, though.

"Usually no. Still, be careful."

I smirked, then hooked a leg and grabbed the wrist of a kid passing beside me.

Crash. The kid went down in a ridiculous tumble. Whistling, I twisted his arm before he could stand and whispered,

"Hey, kid."

"Ow! Let go!"

"Your hands aren't your only problem, your head is too. Didn't they teach you not to touch people in uniform? If you learned that, you shouldn't touch the person next to them either. Idiot."

"I didn't do anything! I didn't do anything!"

The kid kept shouting and denying it. People started glancing over and gathering.

Oh? He knew how to draw attention. I smiled and spoke to him.

"So you never learned. Then you're not from Shelter. Your ears aren't attached, so not Family either. Ahh. Market, huh?"

"N-no!"

"Manager Krin teaches people like that these days? I should give him a warning."

The moment I said his boss's name, fear flashed across the kid's face. Clever little bastard. He switched attitudes like flipping a hand and dropped to his knees.

"S-sorry. I was hungry. Please forgive me."

'Tch! He knows the manager? I'm screwed. Just beg till my palms wear out! I'm a kid, so if I play this right, he'll let me go!'

No matter how harsh the military state was, they didn't punish kids. They just dragged them to the orphanage.

So every kid who committed a crime was an orphan, was that the idea? That said plenty about the military state's educational mindset. Still better than being a laborer, though.

"I-I'll return it. Here..."

The kid politely held out what he'd stolen from me. Then he flinched when he saw what was in his hand.

Ta-da, you brat.

"Return what? This filthy handkerchief? You little punk, where'd you hide my wallet, trying to pass this off instead?"

"Huh?"

The kid stared back and forth between me and the filthy handkerchief in his hand, confused.

"It was a wallet..."

"Are you making excuses? I saw you pull my wallet out of my pocket with my own eyes!"

I grabbed his collar immediately, and his face turned pale.

"You giving it back or not?"

"I-I'm telling the truth!"

"Why are you shouting at me? Fine, then. I'll drag you to Market headquarters like this. I'll shove your face in front of Krin and sort this out. Ah, and I'll bring this soldier beside us too. That way that bastard Krin will feel the pressure."

"P-please! Anything but that!"

"Kya-haha. No way! Time for a lesson! Kids like you need a proper beating!"

The captain, standing behind me while I grinned like a villain, tapped my shoulder. I turned, and she pointed at my pocket.

"...You. What is currently in your pocket?"

"This? My wallet."

"Why is that there?"

What kind of obvious question was that?

"It's my wallet, so it's in my pocket. Where else would it be?"

"Didn't you just say you clearly saw him take it from your pocket?"

"Of course. That was a lie to put the brat in a bind. Do I look like I'd get pickpocketed by a snot-nosed kid?"

Only then did the kid realize he'd been had. He spat and shook off my hand.

"Tch! Bad luck's stuck to me!"

Where did he learn to talk like that? Should I really go pick a fight over it?

The kid bolted down the street. I shouted at once.

"Ah! The pickpocket's running! Captain, what are you doing? Hurry and catch him!"

"...Negative. This officer is not military police. Also, that boy did not actually steal anything, so it is difficult to charge him."

"Aw, what a shame. That was my chance to fix that brat's attitude."

By then, the people who had gathered were already gone. Once the kid ran, they deliberately looked away. Looks like they were still too scared of getting marked by a captain.

Grumbling, I tossed up the wallet I'd lifted from the kid's pocket and caught it. The captain, who had been about to keep walking, stopped and asked,

"...What is that?"

"His wallet."

"Why is that in your hand?"

"Because I pickpocketed him?"

Trying to pickpocket in front of me, the nerve. As his senior in the craft, I had to teach him a harsh lesson.

"No matter how I think about it, you seem like the most dangerous person on this street."

"Excuse me? What are you saying? I'm harmless. Like a snake with no venom!"

The kid's wallet was completely empty. Well, with wallet packets so common now, hardly anyone got pickpocketed anymore.

Still, I'll keep this as spoils. I tucked the kid's wallet into my pocket and gave advice.

"Anyway, look. He still targeted my wallet even after seeing a captain in uniform, right? That's how often crime happens here."

"Pickpocketing is a crime, but the sentence is not very heavy. They can compensate fifty times the loss amount, or repay it through labor."

"Right. Petty crime. But this place runs on petty crimes like that. All the more because the punishment is light."

This place was ruled by a strange logic of public order.

Even in a half-abandoned district where people could die and no one would notice, a thrill killer couldn't roam the streets freely. If things went sideways, military police showed up, swept everyone up, and threw them into labor.

Don't forget, this was the military state.

A shadowy ruler of the back alleys? No way that existed. The second something like that entered the military state's perimeter, a general would flip this whole district upside down.

And if something stronger than a general appeared? Then the army, Six Generals included, would turn the place into rubble. Never happened yet, though.

A land where strong and weak were sharply divided. No hidden ruler could be born here. Maybe on the dark side of the state itself, sure. But these filthy back alleys were wild ground, where weaklings of the matching kind each fought to survive.

"This place is heaven for small-time criminals. All kinds of bizarre situations happen. And... if you're wearing a captain's uniform, you can become a target for the truly dangerous bastards hiding among the petty ones. So."

Around the corner, stairs led straight down. I guided the captain there. She came down the dark stairwell with me.

At the bottom, I opened an old-fashioned door and said,

"Let's change clothes first."

As soon as we stepped in, a cozy, warm smell greeted me. The scent of tea from a boiling kettle drifted through the air.

Everywhere I looked, bolts of fabric in all kinds of colors were rolled up and stacked.

After packets became commercialized, this new material had risen above other cloth: alchemy fabric.

There, an elderly man in a neat suit looked at us through a monocle.

"A customer... ah, it is Mr. Hughes. You've come."

He was all skin and bones, and that made his clothes stand out even more. He looked like someone who stayed thin on purpose to make garments look better.

I greeted him back.

"It's been a while, Smen."

"Has it? Heh heh. Perhaps this old man is too old now. It still feels like yesterday that I was making your clothes, Mr. Hughes."

Smen poured tea into cups and set them down on the table with elegance. I dropped into a seat like it was my own place and sipped. The captain awkwardly sat across from me.

Smen set tea in front of the captain too.

"Please, drink. This old man can at least brew tea decently. One of my few talents."

"A-accepted."

Was this what it felt like at a dance in the old kingdom days? Probably similar. Smen had been one of the people who ran those dances.

Swept up by the atmosphere, the captain timidly sipped her tea. She seemed to like it, wetting her lips again and again with bright eyes.

I leaned back and said,

"I went on a little trip and just got back. Make one outfit each for us."

"One each, you say. You mean clothes for this lovely lady as well?"

"Yes."

The captain, carefully savoring her tea, immediately waved both hands.

"Refusal. This officer is a soldier of the military state and cannot receive monetary compensation from you."

Anyway, I glanced at the captain and discussed it with Smen.

"I'll leave the color to you. Give it as free a vibe as possible."

"I already had a rough idea. Still, I cannot ignore the customer's tastes. Now then, miss. Do you have a favorite color?"

"Refusal! I refuse! That is a bribe! Accepting a bribe is a major crime punishable by labor, and not just for the one who receives it, but also the one who gives it!"

Ugh, so rigid.

"Captain Bbi."

'I'm thankful you don't call me by this officer's full designation, but the name Captain Bbi may negatively affect a captain's dignity...'

"...Speak."

"Do I look like I'm trying to win your favor with a bribe?"

Bang. I slammed the table hard enough not to spill tea, then shouted at her.

"Captain Bbi. Are you kidding me right now? You said you wanted to stay with me for a week!"

"N-negative... I... never said... that."

"Either way, whether you're trying to enjoy a short leave or monitor me! Does it make any sense to work in that outfit!"

I pointed at her stiff uniform. The uniform was clearly old, but because it went through cleaning every three days, it was still spotless.

"At minimum, you should make an effort to wear clothes that fit the situation and disguise yourself!"

"...E-effort, you say."

"Yes! Whether you're enjoying leave or doing surveillance! Wearing your uniform will go so well, obviously! Why not just advertise in every direction that a captain on a secret mission is here! Want me to do it for you? People of the world, look! Captain Bbi was right here-!"

"Stop!"

'This officer is a communications officer... there is nothing to gain from being exposed in public!'

Good. She was almost there. I drove in the final nail and shouted with more confidence.

"If you don't want to get caught, wear regular clothes!"

"B-but this officer is a soldier of the military state. If I do not wear a uniform..."

"You said it's allowed during secret operations!"

"Ugh. B-but this officer already has everyday clothes..."

"A single shirt is everyday clothes? Smen. Does that make sense? She calls a shirt you should only wear to sleep everyday clothes!"

Smen shook his head and sighed.

"Goodness. Ridiculous. Clothes have clear purposes, so how can anyone live with only one outfit? It is an insult to clothing, and abuse as well. If clothes had hands and feet, they would rise up in revolt immediately."

"You heard him, right? Smen here is a master tailor who even worked in the old kingdom. He got pushed out of the mainstream a bit after clothing packet development, but he hardened his resolve, learned packet technology too, and kept up with the times as an expert! Are you going to ignore his advice too!"

Now the captain couldn't even say "negative." She only shook her head side to side.

"Alright. Then put on regular clothes at least! Got it?"

"...Accepted."

In the end, the captain accepted my persuasion, took the packet Smen handed her, and went into the fitting room.

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