WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 163

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Welcome to the Back Alley

AB put on her uniform for the first time in a while.

She packed away the casual clothes she liked and inserted the uniform she had washed and carefully stored into her biometric terminal. A sense of pressure her casual wear could never imitate wrapped around her whole body, leaving her with a slightly unfamiliar feeling.

Still, she had worn this outfit every day for years. AB adjusted quickly.

She had been told to take care of Anna, but a captain of the military state was not a caregiver.

AB was a communications officer. Besides using her innate arcane to relay information across the military state, collecting information was also part of a communications officer’s duty.

She could do nothing at Anna’s bedside, but Captain AB, communications officer, still had work she could do.

“I will track down whoever disturbed public order.”

She pulled her stiff service cap down low and left the room.

“Anna said she went to the market in District 13. Then she must have headed to the citizen market there.”

The District 13 citizen market sold packets, food, and all kinds of small tools needed by low-level citizens.

Since sales there were permitted up to level-two luxury goods, commoners with money would visit from time to time.

That also meant there were pickpockets and robbers preying on citizens’ money, but this was the military state. The risk of getting caught was enormous, so few would even try without resolve, and unless they were meticulous, they would quickly be traced and dragged off to labor sites.

“Since this officer discovered an illegal act, this officer has a duty to gather information on this case.”

She could not leave this to the police or military police. Even when a level-zero citizen was victimized, they did not investigate. They only filed records so they could pin those crimes on someone caught later.

So AB decided to move as a captain. She would gather undeniable evidence and hand it to the military police.

She could not reveal her status as a communications officer, but a captain was still a captain. She had the authority.

“Either way, I’m dying soon...”

The moment she said it out loud, her body went rigid for an instant. Even so, AB steeled herself and stepped forward.

Was it because she had gone through so many joyful things before death.

Was it because she had experienced so many new things.

AB was no longer afraid of dying. If she could die with memories like these, she felt that alone would be enough.

“Before I go, I will gather information for Anna.”

With that firm resolve, AB walked the streets of the military state.

It was deep into the night, with only a few laborers returning from night shifts. After arriving in District 13, AB stood with her back against the wall of a large building.

She pressed both palms to the wall and spread magical energy in all directions. A faint magical glow flowed out through her hands.

Partial awakening of innate arcane, Morning Glory Vines.

Using her fingers as roots, an invisible force coiled around the wall and ground. The morning glory vines, searching for something to wrap around and climb, instinctively sensed the direction of magical flow and rode it.

The vines climbed using magical conduction metal as supports, and eventually reached their destination. Magical energy searching for a gap seeped into it. Then,

Kikik, kik.

Somewhere in the military state, a “Window” prepared only for communications officers lifted its head with a rough metallic screech.

This was not remote access through a biometric terminal, but close-range synchronization by unfolding innate arcane nearby.

AB’s innate arcane was morning glory, synchronization magic specialized for short-range infiltration.

The military state had assigned her nearly fifty sync-type arcane golems called “Windows” because of that trait.

All the Windows assigned to her had been destroyed, so she had never had a chance to use this until now...

“This is part of information gathering. Communications officers have authority to handle arcane golems placed throughout the military state.”

Synchronization magic left no trace. So this was not an act of exposing her identity.

In the first place, AB used golems only for gathering information. The golems would not act directly, nor would they be seen by people.

So this was not a violation of the rules. After convincing herself, AB raised her head.

All the golems wrapped in vines opened their eyes at once.

“I invoke this officer’s authority.”

So rigidly principled, she forced her way in through principle itself.

Invisible vines wrapped around a tiny golem housed at the top of a clock tower, a golem standing on a rooftop looking down, and a head-only golem hidden beneath searchlight(s).

Golems stationed all over opened their eyes at once and responded to the communications officer’s synchronization. With control of them in hand, AB unleashed her magical energy.

Parallel Window Connection, Kaleidoscope.

Dozens of viewpoints from different places split into fragments like shattered glass and poured into AB’s vision.

Though it was a dim night, the sheer flood of information drove straight into her mind and made her dizzy. AB staggered and leaned harder against the wall.

But AB was a specialist in handling information, one of the few communications officers capable of parallel connections. The single unified root greedily drank up the information transmitted through every vine. Dozens of lights flickered in her blue eyes.

“Search, begin.”

Her pupils moved rapidly. She compared and analyzed scenes across her vision: the flow of people, unnatural movement speeds, strange sounds, sights that should not exist.

She was the military state’s eyes, ears, and mouth.

Communications officers were the military state’s head, the nerves through which fragmented information flowed.

That was why information on their identities was accessible only to those around general rank, and even one of the Six Generals could not use it for private matters.

“Search, search, search.”

If they had entered a sealed building, there would be no way to find them, but AB expected they would move under cover of night. If they had stolen goods, they would want to fence them before morning.

“Search, search, search, search, search, search...”

As she scanned the streets all over District 13 from where she stood, AB spotted a suspicious man. Blood ran from his shoulder as he limped while clutching his abdomen.

He looked more like a victim than a perpetrator, but either way, it was clearly a scene that suggested crime.

“Search, end.”

AB cut her connection to the other golems and headed toward where the suspect had been seen.

Given the escape route, he would pass the next block. After making the calculation, AB moved there first.

Right on cue, she came face-to-face with the suspect as he ran toward her in terror. He saw her outfit and his eyes flew wide.

“An officer?!”

If he was the robber who committed the crime, he would run from AB or fear her. If he was a victim being chased by robbers, he would ask for help.

Even if he was not the robber AB sought, that was fine. There could not be many people bold enough to commit crimes in the military state. If she kept tracking, she would eventually find the robber who attacked Anna.

AB was preparing responses for those two scenarios.

“I-I did wrong! Arrest me! I’m No.1!”

But his reaction matched neither.

The man calling himself No.1 dropped to his knees in front of AB, breathing hard.

“I committed robbery! With No.1, No.2, and No.3! No.2 is Milsen, and No.3 is Gallen! Please, arrest me!”

This was outside her expectations, but a communications officer could not afford to panic. AB replied stiffly.

“...Explain what happened clearly and in order.”

“There’s no time for that!”

The suspect looked out of his mind. Or in desperate physical need. Or both. AB could explain it no other way.

Because he was clutching his stomach and confessing his crime with a face twisted by pain and fear.

“No.2, no, that bastard Milsen told the whole organization. That there’s gold in my belly...! They’re all coming to cut open my stomach...!”

“I find it difficult to understand the full circumstances, but I assume your safety is under threat. Are you requesting personal protection?”

“Yes! Yes! P-protect me!”

The suspect nodded like a madman. Even so, AB asked, hoping to gather information.

“Accepted. But first, I request information. To understand the full story, I need to know what you stole, from whom, and what was done to you, and by whom.”

“I don’t know who she was. Some old woman at the market trying to sell poison, no, spices.... I snatched it and was celebrating, then he, he... put it in my mouth.”

From the circumstances, he clearly seemed to be the one who attacked Anna. She had not expected to find the culprit this easily.

But finding him and arresting him were separate matters. His face was filled with fear and pain beyond anything else.

“He... the one with the weird hat. A glass bottle with poison. To me.”

Muttering, No.1 suddenly grabbed his face.

AB revised her assessment. Compared to his contorted face now, the expression he had shown until then had not contained even a fragment of fear.

“Ahhh. Magician. Right. Magician...! It was him! Why, why couldn’t I remember...!”

Babbling like a madman, No.1 burst into tears and grabbed the captain’s pant leg. His other hand still clutched his stomach, as if he believed it would split open the moment he let go.

“Please. I don’t want to die like this. Dying with my belly cut open by comrades I trusted, what is this...! I, I... this isn’t, this isn’t what I did this for, hngh. Ah, ah.”

Begging, No.1 suddenly opened his eyes wide. In air cold enough to make the body curl inward, beads of cold sweat formed across his face.

As if something had seized his head and legs and twisted them, he made a gut-wrenching sound through a twisted tongue.

“Ahhuh. Won’t... do.”

Then, in an instant,

“Kuaaahhh! Aaagh, kraaaahhh!”

No.1 collapsed to the ground. As if he alone had absorbed all the pain in the world, he kicked both legs wildly and slammed the ground. His fists split and his whole body bruised, yet he did not stop.

Then, suddenly, his eyes rolled back and he went limp. Soap-like foam spilled from his mouth, along with his life.

Through all of it, there was nothing AB could do.

Because AB was a communications officer, not a military doctor.

“...Death confirmed. This is a homicide.”

No matter the military state, it did not ignore murder. Murder was a grave crime that removed valuable labor needed to sustain the labor system, so killers were made to repay that cost through labor.

Because of that, even criminals had no choice but to be careful. One mistake and they would be caught in the military state’s security net.

That should have been the case...

“...Why were you chasing him in a group this late at night?”

The captain spoke as she looked at the approaching crowd. Beyond the shadows of the dark street, a gaunt man with cold eyes appeared, a longsword slung over his shoulder.

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