WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 176

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A Story of the Past, military-run host bar

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"Captain. What is it you want?"

It was the first thing Sephier said after arranging a private meeting with AB. She was, without question, the richest person in the military state.

The question came out of nowhere, but AB sat stiffly and answered faithfully.

"Query. I do not understand what you mean."

"Ah, I'm asking what you asked of Master. What in the world did you ask for, for Master to try to help you so much in every way?"

Sephier spoke leisurely as she poured black tea into a cup. A sweet fragrance spread through the narrow dining room from the flowing tea, along with the soft sound of liquid swirling into porcelain.

The captain hesitated, then answered.

"...A marriage registration."

Drip.

The tea filled the cup, then spilled over in a stream. The captain spoke in a rush.

"Seamless Perfection, the tea is overflowing."

Sephier replied.

"No. I am not flustered at all."

"Denial. This officer did not ask whether you were flustered. This officer only asked about the tea overflowing."

The stream of tea was stopped by neither AB nor Sephier, but by time itself. Sephier remained frozen in the same expression as before, then set the empty teapot upright again.

"For a marriage registration, Master... he didn't answer yes, right?"

It was a voice desperately hoping AB would deny it. But AB neither caught that hope nor had any intention of indulging it. AB answered honestly.

"...I did receive a positive indication."

Bang. A gloved hand slammed into the puddle on the table. Tea splashed in every direction and scattered its sweet scent, but neither AB nor Sephier paid it any mind.

"Why?! Why would Master do that for you when you've barely known each other?!"

AB took that emotional outburst as a sincere question, thought for a moment, and answered.

"It is to receive this officer's death compensation if this officer dies."

"What?"

If the captain died, she would receive the payout.

In other words, this captain was currently under threat.

Sephier grasped the whole situation at once and looked at it much more calmly. After half-rising, she sat back down and tapped the table with her fingers.

"I see. Master did not grant your wish, but... huh."

Sephier narrowed her eyes and clicked her tongue at AB, who sat there with innocent, blank eyes.

Those eyes looked truly dazed and vacant, but Sephier had probably worn a similar expression herself once. Blaming AB would have been like spitting in her own face.

Sephier let out a small sigh and spoke.

"Captain, listen carefully. I'm saying this for my master's honor. Master did not accept your proposal for money."

"..."

AB nodded. It was what she had expected.

The greatest holding company in the military state, Seamless Perfection. Even a sliver of that fortune easily surpassed a captain's death compensation. And Sephier was willing to hand over nearly all of it, keeping only that sliver.

"Master even refused money from me when it came with no conditions at all. There's no way Master would file a marriage registration over that kind of pocket change."

"...Pocket change. Then why did he..."

Because he pitied AB? Because he was moved? Or maybe he simply did not refuse?

Or...

Sephier's voice caught those runaway thoughts and pulled them back.

"It's hard to explain in one sentence. Instead, I'll tell you a story that may help you understand Master."

Sephier handed AB a cup of black tea. AB accepted the swaying cup with both hands, and Sephier poured her own and offered:

"It'll be a long story. Would you like to hear it?"

Coldly speaking, AB had no reason and no need to listen. She needed to go stop Shadow's conspiracy right away.

But curiosity rose in one corner of her heart.

Who was he?

What exactly was he?

Why had he accepted her proposal when he had no need for money?

She was already at Seamless Perfection's residence anyway. With help from Seamless Perfection and Jiknyeo, suppressing this situation would be easier...

Telling herself that, lying to herself as she did,

AB could not hold back her curiosity and nodded.

Six years ago, Amitenggrad.

A dark-skinned man with thick sideburns came storming in, fuming. His name was Peto. Aside from those sideburns, he was a very handsome man, and to anyone who didn't mind them, even more appealing.

In any case, the man whose sideburns were as striking as his face kicked open the annex office door and shouted.

"Hughes, you bastard! Do your job properly!"

"Ugh."

A boy who looked barely out of secondary school, or maybe a young man who had just come of age, let out a small groan.

The young man called Hughes answered with a weary expression.

"Ah, why. I did do the work properly."

Peto's neck veins bulged.

"Are you kidding me?! While you were gone, Madam Birencia cried her lungs out asking us to hand you over! Do you know how hard it was to calm her down?!"

"I don't. I wasn't there."

"Yeah, figures!"

It couldn't be helped. He was a fill-in. Unlike Peto, who had to show up every day, Hughes only came by once in a while when he had time.

And that was exactly what had caused this mess.

After taking a breath, Peto put on a serious air and said,

"Now, let me emphasize this again. What are we?"

"A host bar."

Peto shouted at Hughes's instant answer.

"Public affairs corpsman, punk! Public affairs corpsman! Aren't we public affairs and morale corpsman, the ones who make sure the families left behind are looked after so they don't get anxious while loyal soldiers work hard in distant postings for this country's safety?!"

"Yes, right. Main duty being comforting lonely madams whose husbands got sent far away."

Peto, completely fired up, yelled.

"Hey!"

"Why?"

Peto paused to find a rebuttal. In other words, he had to rack his brain to argue with Hughes.

Public affairs and morale corpsman. They handled high-ranking officers' household matters and events, and helped them maintain stable family lives.

Which meant their main duty was keeping the madams pleased.

After thinking for a long time, Peto finally spat out a weak excuse.

"It's not only comforting madams! We look after their children too!"

"So basically high-command domestic helpers, with host bar service on the side."

"Watch your mouth! Even if it's true, some things can be said out loud and some things can't!"

Right then, a sound came from outside. Peto flinched, lowered his voice, and spoke to Hughes.

"Madam Birencia is the wife of Lieutenant Colonel Birencia, a key figure in the military command. You think you'd survive a visit from an enraged lieutenant colonel?"

"No."

"Then you should have done better!"

"I did try. You know how careful I was with every conversation to avoid creating pointless scandals."

Hughes grumbled. Peto, who had watched that effort up close, shut his mouth.

Lieutenant Colonel Birencia was a strict officer with a fine mustache, but gentle only with his wife. Living under that doting care, Mrs. Birencia had become even more difficult than her husband.

When they were together, they were a perfect couple, sickeningly affectionate. But when Lieutenant Colonel Birencia was reassigned, a crack formed in that perfection.

Both were anxious without each other, but neither wanted to keep a beautiful wife near the front lines. Not the colonel, and not the wife.

Left alone in the capital, Mrs. Birencia stormed into the Veterans Affairs Office every day and threw hysterical fits. The public affairs corpsman could neither seduce her nor turn her away, so they endured and prayed for the colonel's posting to end...

Then, like a comet, Hughes appeared, newly arrived in the capital right after graduating secondary school, and calmed her down.

Remembering when he first brought Hughes here, Peto pressed a hand to his forehead and muttered.

"Seriously, you should be grateful you're young. If you didn't look so boyish, Madam Birencia would've seen you as a man, not a son."

"That's not good luck, that's bad luck. If I didn't look young enough to trigger those madams' tiny scraps of guilt, I would've gotten way more gifts."

"If that happened, you couldn't work here! Know your place. You're just a pinpoint match for Madam Birencia, nothing more!"

"What if I apply to be a public affairs corpsman after my citizen registration is complete? You gonna fail me? Me, with this much talent?"

"Th...!"

The two always argued, but Peto had only beaten him a handful of times. Peto muttered.

"...One day that mouth of yours is going to land you in serious trouble."

"How can you curse me just because you can't beat me with words, sunbae."

"I can't beat you with words, so I end it with curses!"

Still, the outcome itself wasn't bad. Mrs. Birencia kept coming to the host bar, and even without having a child, she had awakened maternal instincts. If the lieutenant colonel returned, their marriage would probably improve even more.

Her obsession with Hughes... time would solve it. Probably.

Peto sighed, sank into old memories, and muttered.

"Still, this ending as just an affair is way better. Back when knights ran wild... ugh. Forget it."

Hughes answered as if something had just occurred to him.

"Ah. Come to think of it, didn't you say you were a former pretty boy, sunbae?"

"Argh! Watch your mouth! Just remembering that time gives me chills!"

In the kingdom era, a knight's marriage was a kind of contract.

Even if their personal martial power was great, and their descendants might grow weaker over generations, it was still close to a blood oath to protect each other with everything they had.

That made chastity and clean lines of succession essential. Of course, almost none of that was actually kept, but at least it had to look that way on the surface.

Maybe because of that, at some point knights started keeping pretty boys around.

"Wow. Hard to believe the sunbae who used to be a pretty boy turned into this. Time is scary."

"Say one more word and I swear!"

Hughes smirked at the former pretty boy. Peto trembled all over.

"They called it a pretty boy, but in truth... ugh! If the country hadn't been overturned, who knows what would've happened. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps!"

In the kingdom era, Peto had been a squire from a commoner background.

A commoner squire? Nice title, but in reality it was no different from being a slave attending a knight. If the master got drunk and started swinging a sword, the squire was the first emotional trash can to die.

Even among them, Peto stood out for his looks, and he was about to be moved from squire to pretty boy.

If the coup had not happened.

"Long live the military state...! I will remain loyal forever!"

Suddenly overflowing with loyalty, Peto saluted the military state's flag. Then he clenched his fist and looked at Hughes again.

"Don't try to guess someone else's line. Stay on your own line. What do you know that makes you keep trying to match yourself to others? You're not a prophet, and you're not a mind reader."

At that point, Hughes's smile deepened. Peto took it as a reaction to his joke and continued.

"It worked on Madam Birencia, but you can't do that with other madams. They might get overly obsessed with you."

"Wouldn't that be good? Sounds like I'd get a lot of gifts."

"If a cold blade piercing through your body counts as a gift, you'll receive plenty."

"Is that from your experience in your pretty boy days?"

"Hiiik."

Shuddering, Peto twisted his face into a vicious glare at Hughes. Hughes only kept smiling, confidence and mischief all over his face.

He really needed a harsh lesson, but the problem was that a funeral might come before the lesson. The other guy had that much talent. Peto shook his head.

"Nope. For now, you're going to child-care duty."

"What? You're demoting me over personal feelings?"

"Yeah. If you don't like it, you be the sunbae."

Peto crushed him with rank.

They left the annex office and stepped into the reception room with a long bar and small tables. Young men in the flashiest, most decorated uniforms entertained visitors with charming smiles.

To anyone watching, it looked exactly like a host bar.

In the middle of that, another host... public affairs corpsman, floundering alone, spotted them and brightened.

"Peto! Hughes! Good timing. Handle this girl for me!"

"The person assigned should handle the guest. Why are you dumping her on us?"

Peto started striding over, then suddenly remembered something and jerked his chin at Hughes. Hughes nodded and stepped in front of the girl to receive her.

She had blue hair and wore luxurious clothes. A small girl, young enough that she might not even have graduated lower civic school yet, faced Hughes boldly.

"What brings you here, little lady?"

Hughes asked, and the girl answered.

"I heard I can get help if I come here."

Hughes asked no further questions. He only studied the girl's expression with a strange look.

The girl met Hughes's gaze without changing her expression at all.

As the silent standoff dragged on, Peto grew uneasy and nudged Hughes's knee.

"Hey, Hughes. I get that this puts you in a tough spot, but you can't just keep staring..."

Hughes still did not move. In the end, Peto asked the girl instead.

"Kid. What's your name?"

The girl whipped her head toward him. Her clear voice rang through the reception room.

"Sephier Bakia!"

"Sephier Bakia?"

Several people reacted to that name. Even in the military state, where inheritance had been abolished, Bakia was still one of the rare famous surnames.

"Bakia, as in Seamless Perfection?"

"Yes! Dangpir Bakia, the second Seamless Perfection, is my grandmother!"

Peto let out a groan.

Bakia.

Patron of soldiers, and their closest friend. The richest family in the military state.

Still young, but the heir who would soon inherit Seamless Perfection. That alone made her a major figure.

Peto had met many children and many major figures, but never a child who was both. His expression turned awkward. He kept talking only out of sheer professional spirit.

"Welcome, Bakia. What kind of help do you need?"

The girl raised her clear voice so everyone present could hear.

"Please make me the company's successor!"

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