WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 168: Fake News

──────

I was weak.

Mana, qi, other techniques. At best, they barely existed.

A bitter, astringent piece of bark would not taste good, but if someone asked whether it had any flavor, I would have no choice but to say it did. Bitter and astringent were flavors too.

The power I possessed was exactly like that.

It existed, but it was not good.

No matter how desperately I scraped it together, I could never surpass the level of an ordinary person who had trained a little. I had mediocre talent, nothing more.

Still, there was a saying.

The strong did not survive. The survivors were strong.

"Neru. Do you need that information so badly?"

And one way to survive was this.

Pretending I was stronger than anyone else.

I acted as if I had a hidden trump card, as if I were something remarkable. I put on all the airs I could, while my actual work consisted of sowing discord and egging people on through mind reading.

Without using my own hands or revealing my strength, I moved others to get what I wanted. That was how a mind reader survived in the back alleys.

"I'll warn you in advance. Can you handle it?"

Neru grinned at my words.

"Handle it? Darling, should I take that to mean you know this taboo?"

"There's exactly one thing that comes to mind."

Beastfolk had ears and tails, giving them hearing and balance at least twice as good as anyone else's. What did that mean?

They were made for sneaking around and eavesdropping.

Maybe that was why I had trouble understanding their sneaky nature. I obtained information openly through mind reading.

"But are you sure you'll be fine?"

"Hmm? Is there any reason I wouldn't be?"

Neru was an annoying paparazzo who slipped around at all hours, digging up secrets. As the editor of a private magazine, Neru seemed completely incompatible with the military state.

There was one thing to remember, though. Overly curious cats were already dead. Black Cat dug up all kinds of gossip, but it never went against the military state. If anything, it cooperated with the military state by exposing corruption and scandals.

Would those exposed retaliate? That never happened.

Let us not forget. This was the military state. Once accusations of corruption were proven true, anyone below general rank lost their head.

Literally.

Black Cat did not kill someone simply by biting them, but when the hammer of military law fell afterward, nothing remained. It truly was a black cat that brought death.

That was why becoming a soldier did not mean one could rule.

"If you learn this, you and your magazine might be in danger from that moment on."

Could Neru stay calm knowing the hammer of the law hung over her head?

"Danger, coming from the Magician? Oh my, how frightening."

"You shouldn't take this as a joke. You might faint from shock once you hear it. You'd be consumed by worry. Whether you could print it in your magazine, whether someone might suffer because of it. Every time you wrote a letter, your fur would stand on end in fear. I don't know whether the pen is mightier than the sword, but you'll certainly have to wield it more heavily than a sword."

Neru flinched. Her swaying tail stopped for a moment. My threat had frightened her a little.

'Is he bluffing? Or is it really that serious...? What do the Magician and Shadow know?'

It was a bluff.

A taboo? If I knew a taboo capable of controlling the military state, I would have used it already. Why would I hand it to someone else?

'It seems the Magician doesn't want me to know that information. If the military state captures and tortures me, I would naturally expose the Magician, and the military state's attention would turn to him...'

There was not even a trace of intent to protect a secret through torture.

Just wait and see if I ever gave them information again.

'But we can't retreat like this. Uncle Mekkelin is dead, and Shato is unconscious. For our Family's revenge, no, to prevent something like this from happening again... We need to learn their plan.'

Neru gritted her teeth and forced out a smile.

The first people exposed to indiscriminate violence were the weak. Beastfolk, already viewed poorly by others, were especially vulnerable to organized crime.

The Family existed to stop that, but their opponent was a secret organization that had existed since the Old Kingdom. Having been defeated in combat and pushed aside, the Family had prepared for them before any other organization.

'We will survive. No matter what it takes.'

Neru was an information broker, and information brokers had their own way of fighting. Having made up her mind, Neru gave me a false smile.

"Darling, you're being quite cooperative today."

"I've always been cooperative."

"Hmm. Liar. Before I mentioned the captain, you said even a condolence gift was too much."

'Though I don't know the captain's affiliation, the Magician seems quite protective of her, even letting her into his home. Hehe. This could be useful.'

Until now, Black Cat had been a high-performance straw that refined information and brought it straight to my lips.

But perhaps Neru was getting desperate. An instinct inherited from distant ancestors seemed to be breaking loose. I showed the slightest concern, and Neru was already tapping at me with a forepaw.

Humans were at fault. Humans were truly at fault. If humans had not become the dominant species, beastfolk would never have been born.

Sigh. Should I really leak some top-secret information dangerous enough to explode if anyone touched it?

While I was considering it, I spotted a uniformed silhouette in the distance.

It was the captain. In the angular concrete alley, Captain AB walked straight down the middle with precise movements.

Neru recognized her too and casually remarked, "Speak of the tiger. How did she know we were here?"

"Wait a moment."

That was what I wanted to know. We were sitting at a roadside table, but this was a quiet alley with barely any passersby.

Should I read her thoughts?

'Target located. Disconnecting.'

So, let me get this straight.

She had synchronized with the golems scattered across the military state, searched through them one by one, and found me?

...Was this the power of a communications officer?

What was this? Since when had I been under surveillance? An individual could find me without me noticing? From that far away?

In a sense, she was a superior version of me.

While I was having an existential crisis over the purpose of mind readers, the captain approached me directly. She looked between Neru and me, then walked straight over.

"I request your cooperation."

Captain AB was the one abruptly intruding, but a captain was still a captain. Neru could work against her behind the scenes, but could not openly defy her. She hid her discomfort and spoke to the captain.

"Oh my, someone as esteemed as you has come to such a shabby place! Could you wait just a moment? I'll quickly finish our conversation and make room for you."

Flexibility was an information broker's virtue. Neru did not seem flustered by the captain's appearance at all, speaking gently.

Unfortunately, this captain was a captain in name only, yet she followed the book more rigidly than anyone.

"I'm on duty. I apologize, but please postpone your business for now."

Rigidity inevitably caused friction. Neru frowned.

"Wait a moment, Captain. You should respect the order of things. We had an appointment first."

"Duty takes priority over all else."

"Duty? What is it?"

"Confidential."

I had avoided any trouble by reading her thoughts with mind reading, but hearing it again now, it struck me as a remarkably irritating way of speaking.

Because Neru snapped.

"Are you kidding me?"

"I do not joke."

Normally, Neru would have backed down and arranged another meeting for later, but amid the current turmoil, she was blind to everything else.

Ah, that was not meant as an insult to visually impaired people. What would be the point of insulting beastfolk for poor eyesight? It would be praise, if anything.

"He's agreed to sell me information. Please wait until that's finished."

"Information?"

This time, the captain reacted.

"You mean you are buying information from him?"

"That's right. Is there a problem?"

"Negative. There are no laws governing the commercialization of information. Trade is free as long as the item is not a luxury. However..."

Communications officers were top secret by nature. The captain, whose very existence was confidential information, glanced at me.

'He won't sell the information that I am a communications officer, will he? I trust you... Still, I cannot neglect surveillance.'

The captain walked to the seat beside us and sat at the table in immaculate posture. She turned toward us and listened closely as she spoke.

"Then I will observe until the transaction here is complete. Continue your transaction."

"What are you talking about? Darling, that woman is strange."

She was strange. But it somehow felt satisfying, so she was on my side.

"Hey. How can you call strange a captain who works day and night for our sake? Tsk! Paparazzi like you, if you have no conscience, at least have some shame!"

"If the information is not respectable enough to be spoken before me, I have no choice but to suspect that the information itself may be illegal before any sale takes place."

Caught between the captain's authority and my common sense, Neru glared in irritation.

"Look at how perfectly you two work together. Are you dating or something?"

"Negative! Stop making baseless accusations and conclude your business at once!"

Hmm. Regardless of the captain, Neru was cornered in several ways right now. Without information worth the price, she would not move as I wanted.

Still, this was difficult to discuss in front of the captain. I needed to send her home first and finish this conversation.

"Do not think of shaking me off. I will not leave this place until your conversation is over."

How could I send this stubborn captain home?

Ah, right. What had Neru just said? Should I use that method?

"Can't be helped, Bbi. I'll say it now."

"...? Why are you asking for my consent?"

'Does he intend to say that I am a communications officer...? I cannot allow it. The moment he does, I must eliminate the witnesses, even if I have to use every golem I can mobilize.'

Terrifying. If she truly decided to do that, I would not even be able to read her thoughts and respond.

That's not it, so don't worry.

I beckoned to the captain. She tilted her head, but still walked over to me with firm steps.

When she stood beside me, I pulled her toward me. Before she could react, Captain AB ended up sitting on my lap.

'...? Question. What is this action?'

With the bewildered captain on my lap, I gave an awkward smile and said,

"That's right, Neru. Bbi and I are in a serious relationship."

"......?!?!"

'I've never heard of this before?!'

Of course not. I was telling her for the first time today.

Footnotes:

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