WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 166: Old Soldiers Never Die

──────

Even though the old general had humbled themself, Captain AB was neither flustered nor overly respectful, just as she had not treated them as a general before. She simply stated what she had to say in a stiff tone.

"I will hear your request and decide. Excessive demands may be refused. Be advised that the fact you made such a demand may also be reported."

Frontine, who would have berated Captain AB for being rude just moments ago, did not blame her this time.

"No country can be free of crime. There is no nation with better public safety than the military state, but even that has its limits. Violence exists everywhere, at all times."

Thirsty, Frontine gulped down the water in their cup before getting to the point.

"As you know, when citizens come of age, they are issued a bio terminal and receive a Citizen Level. Most citizens... spend their entire lives at that level, or have it lowered after a brief mistake or misunderstanding. It is best to think that rising in level does not truly exist. There is no hope of things getting better."

Captain AB pointed this out in a flat voice.

"Warning. Your statement is excessively negative. The military state recognizes private property. If one lives diligently, one can live in sufficient comfort until death."

"People cannot live on canned beans and tap water alone, Captain. Sometimes, people need dreams and hope to live like people."

"One does not die from lacking dreams and hope."

"No, sometimes they do. You will understand if you ever raise a child."

Having never raised a child, Captain AB could not readily refute them. Their cowardly reasoning as an old general made her bristle slightly.

Frontine continued turning the cross in their hand and let out a sigh.

"Rigid. The country, the Citizen Levels, all of it. It is so rigid that there is not a single gap to squeeze through. At the very least, they should not have rejected the Celestial God and the Sanctum."

"Correction. The military state has never rejected the Celestial God or the Sanctum."

"It only imposed a Level 2 luxury tax on religion. If that is not rejection, what is? If even the support that holds up one's heart must be bought with money, can people who struggle just to put food in their mouths afford faith?"

Captain AB replied calmly.

"That is a choice. If faith is that precious, one may spend discretionary funds to obtain it."

"...Hah, your words make sense. But the world does not always work the way words do! How long have you even lived to speak like that?"

Captain AB was about to point out their lack of objectivity and ask whether they were saying this because they were a follower of the Celestial God.

Before Captain AB could, Frontine suddenly shouted.

"Young people with nothing left to lose are bound to become violent. They have neither dreams nor hope. Even the faith that promised them peace and comfort after death surrendered and was taxed! What kind of heaven can only be reached by paying taxes? They have nothing at all to support their hearts!"

Frontine clenched their fist in the air. The aura drawn from their aged body gathered weakly around their fist, then faded away.

"They are the sacrifices gathered by the military state's Shadow. People who lost their dreams and hope, then gambled their lives away. The Shadow used them as sacrifices. So I..."

In that short time, Frontine seemed to have aged greatly. In a voice that sounded ready to break, they made a request of Captain AB.

"I hope... they can be shown even a little mercy. The children only lost their way for a while."

The Shelter.

It managed orphanages across several districts and was entrusted with operating distribution centers. It was a nest created by childless veterans to protect children, as well as a private Veterans Affairs Office that comforted the families of those killed in action.

Yet even an only child did not always grow up as their parents wished. What could be expected of children in an orphanage?

A child's wrongdoing could not be blamed entirely on their parents, but it was only natural for parents to feel responsible.

That was why Frontine, the head of the Shelter, felt such heavy responsibility that they bowed their head and pleaded with a mere captain.

It was something Captain AB could not accept.

"Impossible."

"...Yes. I thought so."

Once someone had committed a crime, there could be no mercy. The military state did not forgive.

That was why.

"However, this officer can ensure they receive, at minimum, a fair judgment."

The information provided by a communications officer carried that much credibility.

If Captain AB clearly observed and reported every detail of these events, the military state would accept it.

"Thank you."

Though Captain AB had not even given her service particulars or affiliation, Frontine willingly bowed their head.

For a moment, the mood grew solemn. It was the sort of atmosphere where, even if they parted ways like this, it could be called a beautiful farewell.

Captain AB broke through that mood with one more question.

"One question remains."

"I am older, I once held a higher rank, and I have even bowed my head, yet there is still more to squeeze out of me? You truly are a soldier of the military state, for better or worse."

Frontine had not grumbled because they expected anything to change. They sighed and waited for Captain AB's question.

"Do you know about the Magician?"

The retired soldier's eyes widened.

"The Magician? That merry criminal?"

Merry criminal?

The combination of words was completely incomprehensible to Captain AB.

"Merry? How can a criminal be merry?"

"There are such things in this world, Captain. I do not know whether someone as inexperienced as you can understand."

"Denied. It is impossible. Crime is something to be avoided and rejected. There can be no merry crime."

"Is that so? Listen to what the Magician has done. Can you still deny it afterward?"

With the smile of an old person telling a child a story, Frontine began.

"You know Seamless Perfection, do you not?"

Captain AB immediately nodded at the name of the military state's most famous holding company.

"Of course. It is one of only five holding companies in the military state, producing Aki Avatars and military equipment."

Everything in the country belonged to the military state, but there were several items the military state could not produce itself.

The most famous among them were Aki Avatars and alchemical fabric.

Alchemical fabric could only be used with the human mold it responded to, an Aki Avatar.

Usually paired with clothing packets, Aki Avatars were high-level magical tools that required extremely special magic, exceptional skill, and delicate senses to create. The military state had tried to mass-produce them time and again, but always failed.

At present, the only place in the military state capable of making Aki Avatars was the holding company Seamless Perfection.

Originally an old Kingdom textile shop, Seamless Perfection had invented Aki Avatars and clothing packets. It was truly a technological mainstay of the military state.

"Did they not nearly go under because of a single Magician?"

That was why Frontine's next words surprised Captain AB.

"How was that possible?"

"Simple. Those bastards wanted to make and sell bags, accessories, wallets, and belts out of leather! Then some crazy bastard went around pickpocketing everywhere, in every district he could find!"

Who could make a great soldier who had once worn a general's stars, an old veteran whose face was filled with scars and wrinkles from a lifetime of hardship, smile so much like a child?

The Magician did something close to magic just by having his name spoken.

"Seamless Perfection really acted like scoundrels back then. They even dragged in forced laborers to make their goods, and mobilized orphanages because children with small hands could make them better... But thanks to every accessory they made being swiped by one pickpocket, those bastards went completely bankrupt!"

"Correction. Seamless Perfection did not go bankrupt."

"Jiknyeo became president and rebuilt the company. What do you think would have happened otherwise?"

After cackling for a while, Frontine soon fell silent as they looked back on the past, lost in memories.

"At the orphanages I oversaw then, being a Magician was the number one dream job, and being a pickpocket was second. They played games of stealing from each other so often that they gave me endless headaches... I am too embarrassed to say it much, but some of them probably became real pickpockets."

"How odd. Did the military authorities not try to capture him?"

The old soldier's memories were as deep as their years, and it took them a while to emerge from them. Only after Captain AB prompted them two or three times did Frontine answer.

"A few police officers investigated, but they only came up empty."

"What did the Military Police say?"

Frontine giggled as though they had heard a funny joke.

"What? Use the Military Police to catch the King of Pickpockets? You know how the military state is. Unless public safety becomes truly ruined, they do not go out of their way to act. Even if he was the King of Pickpockets, he was still just a pickpocket. Would it be worth launching an investigation over one man?"

Captain AB could not agree with someone who laughed merrily about crime. Still, because they were laughing with genuine joy, she found herself acknowledging the feeling.

"So he is a criminal, in any case. Understood. Thank you for your cooperation."

After laughing to their heart's content, Frontine cleared their throat and assumed a serious expression.

"...In any case, be careful. The Magician will not target an officer like you, but those calling themselves the Shadow may be even more likely to target you."

"Thank you for the advice."

Captain AB held her cap to her chest and bowed. She did so because the retired soldier was little different from an ordinary civilian now, and it was simply proper etiquette, but Frontine seemed more pleased than if they had received a salute.

"Hah, there may be no romance, but there are still soldiers. The military state's future is bright."

Watching Captain AB walk through the Shelter's small yard, Frontine muttered with regret.

"Old soldiers can only step aside... It is a shame that I cannot step forward."

They were retired soldiers. People who had grown old or been wounded and could no longer fight.

They had once been soldiers, but now they were observers who viewed the military state from the perspective of ordinary citizens.

A change in one's position changed one's perspective. Having retired and become civilians, they looked at the military state with deeply complicated feelings.

Behind the proud, flawless emblem were huge nails and glue crudely plastered on to preserve its shape. It was an ugly sight that only someone like a retired soldier could recognize.

Still.

"Wanting the country to do well... is that loyalty, or attachment because it is the country I helped build?"

The old general clicked their tongue and stood. Their back, which cried out from the simple act of sitting and rising, felt more spiteful than usual.

"Let us see. I need to order some canned food from Krin... buy some packets too... Ah, and fix the fence."

They had more to do than years to their name.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried