WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 173: Taboo

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On the outskirts of District 13 stood a small, filthy restaurant.

Its cold-eyed owner kept a knife sharpened to a bluish gleam, ready to cook at any moment. Yet the dust-caked tables, grease-stained dishes, and mold covering the walls in place of wallpaper were enough to make even Level 0 citizens unconcerned with hygiene turn back at the door.

At that point, it might as well have been a barrier meant to drive customers away.

What exactly did the owner cook here? And why was the blade the only thing in this filthy place kept sharp?

After a long while, customers entered the quiet shop, whose very existence seemed suspicious.

They clearly came from another district. The man wore a neat shirt and tie, and he slightly tipped his expensive hat. A woman in a straw hat followed him inside with light steps.

The relatively well-dressed pair froze the moment they saw the filthy walls and dust-covered tables.

"Um... Bbi, is this the place?"

The woman who had followed him in stiffened her expression as she replied.

"Affirmative... No, it is. This un... I mean, as far as I know, this is said to be a restaurant people flock to."

"Are you sure you heard right? We came because they said it was a restaurant in District 13 where one person could die while two were eating and the other wouldn't notice. This looks like the kind of place where both of us would die of food poisoning."

"That's a bit harsh!"

Since the customers were lingering by the entrance without coming in, the owner irritably slammed his knife down.

The man flinched. The owner glared at him through a curtain of messy hair.

"So, ordering anything?"

The man's spirit wilted as he stammered.

"Um, what's your best-selling dish?"

The owner bared his teeth in a grin. Several were missing, leaving gaps between them.

"Steak. Dripping with blood."

"Eek."

The man seemed to have a better grasp of the situation. With a frightened look on his face, he quickly grabbed the woman's wrist and pulled her away. They cautiously backed off while watching the owner's reaction.

"F-forgive us! W-we'll come another time!"

"Sure."

Though the owner had lost the first customers in a long time, there was no sign of disappointment at all.

That was because this restaurant was not actually a restaurant.

'People actually crawl into places like this. At least they had enough sense to spare me the trouble.'

Restaurants were among the most common businesses in the military state. They were also places where strangers could come and go without arousing much suspicion.

That was why organizations made meeting points disguised as restaurants. Places where members could make contact or gather in an emergency.

'The day of action is close. I can't afford trouble today. Good thing I didn't have to dispose of any bodies...'

The owner opened the storeroom door. Instead of ingredients, there was a pitch-black space and a wooden staircase leading down.

Only a few days remained until the Shadows overturned the military state and took over the back alleys. Merely a low-ranking member, the owner did not even know when the day of action would come, but was ready to help overthrow the country as soon as the order arrived.

A dangerous smile appeared on the owner's lips...

"It was a meeting point after all."

After leaving the shop, I took off my hat and muttered. The captain nodded as well.

"There were suspicious circumstances. An unusual flow of people was observed in an alley that should not have had much traffic. At specific times, groups of people visited that store at regular intervals."

They had probably placed their meeting point in a quiet back alley to avoid suspicion, disguising it as a failing restaurant.

But they had not known.

Military state communications officers could connect to golems hidden throughout the streets and survey the city as if it rested in the palm of their hands. For them, quiet alleys were easier to monitor than crowded main roads.

...Well, the reason they had not opened a restaurant on a main road was probably that they could not afford it.

They were not stupid. I had not known either.

That communications officers existed, or that the military state was this insane.

"Captain Bbi really is amazing. You pinpointed a suspicious place among all the countless alleys in the military state."

I read thoughts. Even ugly secrets people intended to take to their graves bared themselves before me in vulgar nakedness. With the slightest brush of contact, I could uncover the innermost thoughts of a spy who had endured every torture in the world. The depth of a person's mind meant nothing to me.

But if people themselves were shallow, I was not much use.

Yes. For example.

Especially in a military state where people had grown accustomed to acting as parts.

"The Shadow of the Military State is made up of cells whose members do not even know one another, so I was having trouble finding them too. No matter how much I dug, none of them knew anything. There was no satisfaction in digging. I couldn't have found this place without Bbi."

"Negative. Your praise is excessive. This unit only performed its duty."

"You performed your duty well, so I'm praising you. Finding their meeting point on the first try is an achievement."

The captain could not investigate as deeply as I could with mind-reading, but the ability to detect things over such a vast area was clearly a power I did not possess. The captain was impressive for being able to do it.

At my praise, the captain pulled down the brim of her straw hat and muttered.

"...Negative."

'...The praise is excessive. This is the first time this unit has received praise for work... This unit only fulfilled its duty.'

She did not show it outwardly, but the captain was deeply moved. Energized, she strode ahead with renewed enthusiasm.

"We will proceed to the next suspicious location. Follow me."

The next suspicious location the captain found, though, was a restaurant famed even in the back alleys of District 13.

A kind-hearted owner comforted the dejected captain by recommending a special dish. Her eyes lit up at another new flavor, and she emptied two plates.

The Shadow of the Military State was less of a cell network and more like an octopus dangling countless lizard tails as bait.

When a few members of the main body, the Shadow of the Kingdom, displayed their power, street thugs drawn to it gathered around them. Then the Shadows lured them in with sweet words.

Let's join forces.

Let's overturn this terrible country.

Once we rule the back alleys, we'll put you in charge of this district.

The thugs who knew nothing believed those words completely. Any thug who refused to believe and resisted was killed by the Shadows, so they had little choice but to believe.

Thugs, gangsters, drifters, and people at the bottom of society followed them without even knowing who the Shadows were or where to go if they wanted to meet them.

They took pride in belonging to such a dangerous organization.

"Tch. There aren't any notable clues here either. It is a meeting point, but it's only a meeting point."

I used mind-reading at every meeting point we found, but no useful information came up.

Everyone here was a disposable pawn, and at the same time, bait that could be cut off like a lizard's tail whenever necessary.

The captain organized the information we had gathered and muttered.

"More than twenty meeting points alone. Estimated personnel mobilized, around four hundred... If we include the meeting points this unit has not found and the Shadows themselves, the total is expected to exceed one thousand at minimum."

If a thousand gangsters caused trouble all at once, it would be a rebellion, or at least a riot. I made a fuss over the enormous scale.

"A thousand people causing trouble at the same time. If other dissatisfied people join them, that would be more than an ordinary riot, wouldn't it? Isn't this really bad?"

"Negative. The possibility of this situation growing beyond a certain scale appears low."

The captain dismissed it at once. Even the fact that nearly a thousand outlaws might riot throughout the capital did not alarm a communications officer.

I asked her.

"Why? Because the military police could slaughter a thousand people in no time?"

"Your statement itself is affirmative, but that is not the reason. As you said, if one thousand people caused trouble at the same time, it would be different... But they do not have the capability to do so."

"Capability, meaning organization?"

"Affirmative."

After thinking for a moment, the captain explained her thoughts as she organized them.

"Based on this unit's and your investigation, the group calling itself the Shadow of the Military State is scattered in small groups throughout Amitenggrad's districts in the teens. The groups are too fragmented for the military state to detect easily, but that also obstructs the subversives calling themselves Shadows from issuing orders. Their means of communicating with one another must be extremely limited."

"That is true."

If they could easily issue orders to street thugs scattered throughout the capital, why would the military state spend such vast resources training communications officers and creating magic golems?

"Also, based on this unit's direct observations while moving through the area... Most of their meeting points were in poor condition and were not properly maintained. We cannot expect untrained people to carry out a systematic operation."

"They did seem like a disorganized bunch."

In both the Market and the Family, people had gathered because they shared the same concerns. For an organization to come together, it needed a central force to gather around and a shared identity to bind its members tightly.

But nothing like that could be seen among the Shadow of the Military State, a gathering of thugs.

I nodded in agreement.

"It is strange. Riots like this grow stronger the more people gather. Some people might join a riot started by a thousand people because their blood gets boiling, but if they are told to split into groups of ten, they are more likely to hesitate. People are less afraid when there are more of them."

The Shadow of the Military State was a disorganized mob of thugs. Even if the Shadows gave orders, there was little chance those people would follow. Especially if those orders were no different from a suicidal charge.

"Even if their goal is to spread chaos, would they use such a complicated operation with a disorganized mob? It is strange."

Ah, couldn't even one Shadow show up? If I read their thoughts, I would know easily.

This was why mind-reading was not that great. I couldn't read the thoughts of people who kept hiding if they never showed themselves. Seriously, it was so frustrating.

If I could at least read their intentions...

Ah.

"Bbi, do you know anything about taboos?"

The captain had grown used to being called Bbi, so she answered without the slightest awkwardness at the nickname.

"Taboos? There are insufficient components in the sentence. Please elaborate."

"I forgot about it until now because the informant was unreliable, but I thought I should ask just in case."

I had kept it to myself because passing on Neru's information went against professional ethics, but things had come to this.

Sorry, Neru. I was going to give the captain your information.

"Neru said that the Full Shadow, Ulfen, knows the military state's taboo."

"...The military state's taboo?"

"Yes. Neru casually let it slip as if it were important information, but I had no idea what she meant, so I forgot about it. Then I suddenly remembered."

As I spoke casually, I lightly read her thoughts. Just how much did a military state communications officer know about taboos...?

'Incomprehensible. There are too many suspicious items to determine a single one.'

That was what I expected. This insane country.

You have no right to arrest me. At least when I get arrested, I know exactly what crime I am being charged with.

Rather than trying to recall a taboo, the captain became wary of Neru.

"Neru, meaning the cat beastkin who runs a magazine company...? There is a need to investigate her."

Haha. I knew this would happen. Sorry, Neru.

Is it unfair? But it can't be helped. They say married couples are one body, don't they? The moment Neru told me, Neru should have expected me to pass it along.

Anyway.

"Nothing comes to mind at all?"

"Affirmative. The Full Shadow, Ulfen, was imprisoned in Tantalus for twenty years. Ulfen was isolated there from before this unit was assigned and never once left until the escape. There was no opportunity for Ulfen to access high-level classified information such as a military state taboo."

I had heard Ulfen had been captured near the beginning of the military state. Then there was no way Ulfen, trapped in the Abyss, could have learned anything.

No, wait. There was a flaw in that reasoning.

We could not be certain that Ulfen themself had found out about the taboo.

"What if Ulfen heard about the taboo from someone else imprisoned in Tantalus? That could have happened, couldn't it?"

"The possibility of an exchange of information..."

At my words, the captain's expression stiffened.

"...Please wait a moment. There are suspicious circumstances."

A book opened in the captain's mind. A list of those who had passed through the Abyss fluttered by before disappearing.

As she recalled the personal records of each trainee, the captain found one person.

'...Leader of the escape, former Colonel Lankart. The youngest commander of a magic corps, and a traitor who sold mysteries to the Federation.'

That person's records unfurled in a rush. They were information she had only encountered in documents, so they were hard to recall without prompting. But once she thought of them, related information connected one after another.

'The military state's genius mage, its youngest promoted officer. And a survivor of Hamelin.'

Hamelin.

The moment she remembered that word, the captain's expression became more serious than I had ever seen it.

'Level 5 security information. That incident in Hamelin. If Lankart, one of the people involved, revealed the truth hidden behind that incident...'

"...I retract my statement. This unit was wrong."

The captain spoke. Her body trembled with chills.

"The Shadow of the Military State is not their hands and feet. It is a deadly poison meant to make the military state slaughter everyone in the back alleys...!"

Footnotes:

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