WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 179: Wishes Come True

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Night had fallen.

The faint night-light, dim enough not to disturb sleep, brushed Captain AB's bangs before fading away. As naturally as night had come, AB woke from sleep.

She slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times before suddenly shooting upright in bed as though struck by lightning.

"Huh?! When did I fall asleep...?"

AB had been speaking privately with the Weaver Girl in the dining room when she dozed off while listening to her story.

For the past few days, AB had pushed her magic too hard while searching each district of the military state. The strain had caught up with her, physically and mentally.

Even without that, anyone would drift off while listening to a gentle story with a full stomach and the scent of warm tea in the air.

"Careless...!"

Sephier, dressed in a suit, sat leisurely beside AB, who had leapt from bed in the middle of the night.

"You're awake, Captain?"

As though she had expected all of this, Sephier was perfectly calm.

AB hurriedly rose and looked around.

"Question. Where did he go?"

"He left first. He said he'd be waiting for you."

"...I see..."

AB's voice sank.

Only that afternoon, she had been filled with anticipation for a happiness she thought she would only feel at the end of her life.

An ordinary marriage, followed by a sorrowful farewell.

It was only a formality, but enough of an ornament for her final moments.

Yet he was a figure beyond her imagination, someone who would have no regrets over losing someone like AB. Backed by a holding company, he operated in the back alleys and wielded influence everywhere.

Perhaps... he...

AB squeezed her eyes shut and pushed the stray thoughts away. This was not the time.

"I have a duty to fulfill. Could you lend me a carriage for official business?"

"Of course I can lend you a carriage. But can you go dressed like that?"

"Clothes?"

Only then did AB realize that her clothes had changed.

Instead of her usual uniform, a yellow, fluffy outfit covered her from head to toe. It was a bizarre garment made of soft fur from her shoulders to her legs, difficult to describe.

Still, the feel of the fur was superb. Simply wearing it made AB feel as warm and comfortable as though she were lying in bed.

"W-What is this abnormal outfit?"

"I made it myself. Special chick pajamas. I spent a long time thinking about how much of the texture of fur clothing I could recreate with an Aki Avatar, and this was the masterpiece that came of it."

"That is not what I meant! I am asking why I am wearing this!"

"I thought it would suit you, so I put it on you. It really does suit you quite well. I'll pack it for you, so take it with you."

"Refused!"

The captain hurriedly released the packet, but the pajamas, made by adding fine fur to every alchemical thread, took quite a while to return to their packet form.

Sephier murmured, "It's the middle of the night. Why not rest a little longer? Are you really leaving now?"

"I have work to do. I do not have time to waste any longer!"

"What work is it, Captain?"

"Classified!"

Sephier seemed accustomed to military answers and replied naturally.

"Then tell me only the parts that aren't classified. At least tell me your destination, so I can know how far my carriage needs to go."

It was not quite a threat, but she was telling AB to reveal something unless she wanted to be thrown out of the carriage halfway there.

AB wanted to point out Sephier's attitude, but held herself back. The Weaver Girl's citizen level was Level 5, higher than AB's, and she was an extraordinary person with access to various military secrets.

As long as she did not reveal top-secret information about communications officers, it would not count as leaking classified information. Regardless of AB's affiliation, what she intended to do now was meant to protect the military state's public safety.

After finishing her calculations, AB answered.

"I must investigate and monitor 'Shadow' and 'Magician,' the two operating in Districts 10 through 19. I have nearly uncovered their conspiracy. I will observe their movements and intervene at the proper moment."

"Magician?"

Sephier asked with faint curiosity at this unexpected information.

"Why is a captain of the military state looking for them?"

"...I do not understand why you are asking that. It is the duty of a soldier to eliminate reactionaries and protect the military state's public safety."

"Hmm. 'Shadow' and 'Magician.' Shadow has been a vicious organization that has endured since the kingdom era, but why Magician?"

Why was Sephier Bakia, who lived in District 1, so knowledgeable about the affairs of irrelevant back alleys?

Normally, her clothing packet would have changed in an instant, but its transformation was slow today. It seemed it would take a little longer before the packet was completely released.

AB said what she had been thinking.

"Shadow is a group of vicious criminals seeking to commit heinous crimes. Magician is a breeding ground for every kind of petty crime."

"Yes. Compared to Shadow, you could call what Magician has done rather cute."

"Affirmative. That is precisely the problem."

AB spoke stiffly. Magician, who had survived like a weed for so long, was far more dangerous than Shadow, which ran wild openly.

"Magician dulls the aversion people should feel toward illegal acts. He is a criminal who engages in gambling, blackmail, extortion, sowing discord, pickpocketing, and more. Yet despite committing crimes in ways beyond imagination, no one has shunned or reported him. They only either revere him or fear him."

Sephier nodded softly, as though she had been the same.

Her smile carried many meanings. AB continued speaking, gradually feeling a chill run down the back of her neck.

"Even as citizens see him, someone who is practically a breeding ground for petty crimes... they stand by or look the other way. That must not happen. Laws must be obeyed, and punishment must be strict. Only then can a society built on law and order endure."

"So you intend to arrest Magician too."

"...Affirmative. But."

AB's lips had gone dry without her noticing.

"If Magician actively cooperates with me and helps eliminate Shadow... then, depending on the circumstances, I may overlook the suspicions against him without pursuing them."

"Can a captain who must obey the law do that?"

"He has not been caught in the act, so there is no basis to prove his crimes. It is all circumstantial evidence. So..."

Please, let it not be true.

AB wished with all her heart.

But Sephier shattered that hope.

"It seems you had a rough idea. That's a relief. It saves me the trouble of explaining."

Sephier welcomed AB, who had crossed over to the side that knew, with open arms. At that moment, AB's pajamas completely came apart, revealing her bare white body.

Looking at AB, who had been left completely defenseless, Sephier told her the truth.

She wore a smile filled with the superiority of someone who knew the secret before someone who did not.

"Yes, that's right. The person who came with you is Magician, and he is also my teacher."

AB shut her mouth tightly, picked up the uniform packet on the table, and plugged it into her bio-terminal. Alchemical threads settled over the soft curves of her body. Then tens of thousands of threads formed one after another, weaving a pitch-black uniform over AB's body.

It took only a few seconds for AB to become a captain of the military state again. She picked up her officer's cap and stood.

Captain AB passed Sephier and left the room.

Sephier followed alongside AB as she strode away.

"I'll cooperate, Captain. I'll lend you my carriage."

As though she had prepared everything in advance, a coachman with thick sideburns immediately brought the carriage around. Sephier put AB in the back seat, then quickly sat beside her.

AB glanced at Sephier, seated next to her.

"...I am in the middle of an operation. I cannot guarantee your safety against forces lurking in the dark."

"That's all right. I can protect myself."

"Also, every military operation carried out by the military state is classified. I cannot tell a mere civilian like you the details of the operation."

"But you need to tell me how far this carriage has to go, don't you? That's more efficient."

It was the sort of speaking style that forced the other person to agree through undeniable logic. AB could see his shadow in Sephier's words. Apparently, he had taught her more than knowledge.

Once again, AB realized that she knew nothing about him. She murmured sadly.

"...Where did the act begin? From where was it part of his plan?"

He was Magician, the criminal who ruled the military state's back alleys, backed by the holding company Seamless Perfection.

Even what had already been revealed made him a figure beyond imagination. It was strange that someone like him had been trapped in the Abyss as a simple laborer.

"What did Magician possibly want by approaching me...?"

He had not tried to extract information from her or use her. He had fulfilled every request and even shown consideration for her in various ways.

Even the reward AB had thought up after racking her brains meant nothing to him. Yet he had readily accepted her demand.

The easiest answer to the question of why was that he liked AB.

But what kind of affection was it?

"I don't know either. No one other than Teacher probably knows."

AB felt confusion and doubt in the face of his vague goodwill.

Watching AB feel emotions she had thought she had long ago moved past, Sephier delighted at the birth of a comrade.

"But one thing is certain. Teacher will grant your wish in a way no one could ever expect."

"Impossible. I do not have a wish like yours."

She had been born in the military state and raised as a communications officer, living in a dark room while receiving all of the military state's information.

AB had no wish she wanted to fulfill for herself. There was only duty...

"Ah."

Sephier let out a small sigh, realizing something from AB's words.

"I understand now. Teacher intends to give you a wish. A wish of your own, more precious than duty."

A hideout somewhere in District 14.

Having gathered Shadow before their great undertaking, Ulfenn finally spoke after a long wait.

"...The operation will be carried out tomorrow."

Half-submerged in shadow, Ulfenn made the solemn declaration.

"Tomorrow, the military state will become a cauldron of chaos. The shadow of flames will cover this city. We will eliminate the jackals that held power for a brief time, and we, the true darkness, will operate from the shadows."

The members of Shadow cheered as they imagined the world that would soon arrive. Their soundless cheers filled the meeting room with quiet fervor.

Ulfenn raised a sword. Though no drawing motion was visible, a small blade painted black was suddenly there like a ghost.

"A system... only has meaning when it is used. Military state, nation of soil and iron born upon the corpse of the kingdom. I shall use your system for my own purpose."

From now on, the military state's shadows would become their domain.

After hearing Ulfenn's plan, the Half Shadows quietly gathered their trusted subordinates. They were middle managers of a sort, and the field commanders who would actually move.

"The operation is tomorrow. Be ready."

"We've been waiting. It's been hard enough holding everyone back."

"Keep them restrained until tomorrow. There can be no disruption to the plan. Tomorrow, like a bursting dam. We need to move all at once to overturn the country."

Highly trained Shadow members were one thing, but it was easier to give advance notice if they wanted to move a rabble quickly. The Half Shadows relayed the word to their trusted subordinates across the city.

Like waves spreading through the dark night, Shadow's plan quietly and secretly spread...

"Today is the day of the operation!"

"Whoaa!"

"All right, let's go in!"

"It's a revolution! We're turning this damned country upside down!"

"Market? Family? You're all the same trash, acting so high and mighty! Get them!"

"Police officers are people too! Don't get scared!"

Before enough fuel had even been poured, flames rose throughout Amitenggrad.

Footnotes:

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