WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 235

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I Came

"Huh? How did this turn into a full-scale war with the Military State? I only reached out to scout them...?"

The full-scale war, decided almost on the spot, threw everyone into confusion. The regressor who had handed crucial intel to the Resistance was one thing, but even the princess, who had firmly ordered everyone to prepare an attack, still looked stunned herself.

Still, someone had to do what needed doing. There was no other choice. The princess gave an order to the Guardian Knight.

"Sir. This is an order. We need someone to bring this news to the Resistance and mobilize them at full strength."

"Yes. We do.... But why are you saying that to me?"

Obviously, she meant for him to do it. The moment he realized what she was implying, the Guardian Knight's expression changed completely.

Sir Randemeyer, the Guardian Knight, was the youngest and strongest knight in the Resistance. Moving the Resistance was his job. There was no issue there.

The problem was that he was not only a commander, but also the princess's Guardian Knight.

Even the strongest Guardian Knight in the Resistance had only one body. If he devoted himself to one duty, the other would inevitably be neglected.

"Do it."

The princess, the one he was supposed to protect, was ordering him to stop guarding her and go back to lead troops. The Guardian Knight spoke urgently.

"No, Princess!"

"I've thought it over several times. This is the only way."

"One of the Six Generals is here too!"

"She's the last Hameln graduate who got herself captured. Look at her. She can't do a thing against Siati, right? If Siati is safe, then I'm safe too."

"Siati isn't safe even if she's alone on a wide plain! If there's nothing else to burn, she'll burn herself! I'd rather stay here, so please lead the Resistance yourself! Aren't you their liege?"

The princess gave an awkward smile.

That was not true at all. She had no sense of ownership over them, and she did not rule over them.

She had taken that role out of duty, and her role itself was nothing more than a symbol, a face and bloodline used to gather people.

The princess was a sacrifice. A sacrifice the remnants had found as firewood, because they refused to admit their era was over.

The princess spoke with self-mockery.

"I'm a figurehead. A symbol of the kingdom, and an expensive sacrifice too. In any case, my only role is negotiating with other forces, so I need to be where I can do that role."

"Sacrifice?! Which insolent bastard dared spout that nonsense?! Just tell me who. I'll execute them immediately!"

"Me. What kind of execution will you give me?"

"I take back what I said earlier! Princess, please reconsider!"

The Guardian Knight was stubborn. Of course he was. Leave the princess, the last heir of the royal house he had cherished and protected, in the middle of history's worst criminals and walk away?

Other Resistance members might have been worn down and exhausted, but his loyalty to the royal house was real. He could never allow it.

"No matter what, I cannot leave you alone! Especially not on the very front line where battle may break out at any moment!"

Even if this alliance was temporary, that did not change things. Through their spy, they had heard the group was less dangerous than expected, but that had been before the plan to attack Headquarters.

Anyone trying to attack Headquarters with only five people was extremely dangerous.

Not because they were evil, but because they had abnormal power and the will to make abnormal choices.

After his repeated objections, the princess let out a sigh.

"Whew. Looks like nice words won't work."

"I'm sorry, but even if you use harsh words, my decision will not change."

The Guardian Knight steeled himself to take all her complaints and anger.

At least until she said one line.

"Oppa. Are you kidding me?"

He had not heard that form of address in years, and what he felt first was not warmth, but fear. As the Guardian Knight flinched, the princess drew on memories from when she had lived under a false identity and shouted.

"Then what should we do? At least one person has to stay here. We're not the Military State. We don't have communications officers. If we leave the base and can't even use the Great White Wall, who's going to handle contact and negotiations?"

"Th-that, Siati is here, so you don't have to do it yourself, Princess...."

"Wouldn't that be great! If we leave negotiations to Siati, next thing you know we'll be charging Headquarters with our entire force!"

"That's true, but...."

"Then should oppa stay here while I go back to base? A clueless figurehead leading people there? I'm sure they'll listen beautifully."

"Wait, please hold on."

"You said time is tight! Why aren't you moving already?!"

The princess suddenly shouted, and the Guardian Knight shrank back at that razor-sharp force. He might have been loyal as a knight, but he could not beat the princess once she switched into little-sister mode.

Pressed back by her momentum, he was pushed all the way to the container entrance. Even now, the Meta-Conveyor Belt was moving by the second. If he was going to move, sooner was better.

Right before opening the entrance and stepping out, he hesitated and emphasized one last thing.

"...I'll leave Selphy behind, so if something happens, get on Selphy and retreat. Selphy is a white horse that can run a thousand ri, so no one will catch you. Have Siati handle your appearance, and the spare clothing packets are here...."

"Go!"

The Guardian Knight looked at the princess with eyes full of worry, then had no choice but to turn and step out of the container. He quickly checked his surroundings, then threw himself off the belt. He would probably gather troops and catch up soon.

"...He's gone, right? Whew, thank goodness."

The princess had kept up an angry expression until his presence disappeared. Then she exhaled and relaxed her face. At that moment, the regressor strode up behind her.

"Wait. Princess. Are you coming with us?"

The sudden approach, with no sense of personal space, made the princess tense up and straighten her back.

"Y-yes!"

"We're not going out for fun."

At the regressor's cold remark, the princess was visibly flustered. She stammered as she spoke.

"You said you needed a spy, right? Then it's better if I'm there. I've handled all kinds of petty negotiations that knights are too proud to do."

"You could die."

"I'm Resistance too. I'm prepared. And... I want something as well."

"What do you want?"

The princess hesitated for a moment. But now that the attack on Headquarters was certain, the only one here who could help her was the regressor.

'Sir Knight gave us precious information. Hiding my true feelings now would be ungrateful. I never meant to interfere, but it's better to tell the truth...!'

"I... want to meet Headquarters. I want to meet them and talk."

The princess clasped both hands before her chest and confessed calmly.

"I'm only saying this here, but I don't think the Military State is evil. House Grandiomor was a bloodline blessed by heavenly fortune. We were born with that fortune, yet dragged down by the people... the kingdom was already a failed nation."

A Resistance member, a princess of the kingdom, and one blessed by heavenly fortune, she voiced feelings she had never dared to speak inside the Resistance. Why she chose the regressor of all people was unexpected, but still an excellent choice.

Maybe because they had ties in a previous turn, the regressor could deeply empathize with the princess's hidden feelings.

The regressor thought similarly too.

The regressor gave a short laugh.

"Not something a princess should say."

"It's something only I can say. Isn't that the duty of royalty?"

"So what now? Planning to surrender to Headquarters?"

"...I can't do that. They probably wouldn't accept it anyway. In my case, just being alive is a threat to the Military State... regardless of what I think, the Military State and I can never be on the same side."

Murmuring self-mockingly, the princess swallowed down her loneliness and continued.

"But even if not me, the Military State can become a better country. Instead of suppressing, persecuting, and exploiting, it can become an ideal nation where everyone moves forward together. But Headquarters is either forcing itself to look away, or truly doesn't know... I want to ask."

"If you meet them, you'll probably die."

"Ehehe. The moment I was born a princess, I was already as good as dead anyway."

She gave an awkward smile. It was a smile of resignation.

"You can do it as payment for cooperation. Or just use me as a spy and send me in first. Before we attack Headquarters... could I talk with them for a moment?"

She clasped both hands and pleaded desperately. She looked so pitiful that any man with even a speck of romance in him would have no choice but to nod.

But the regressor had long since worn out whatever romance she had left, and she was not even a man. Even before a gesture meant to stir a man's heart, she remained calm.

"I don't know where Headquarters is either."

'Even when I brought down the Military State in the past, I couldn't find Headquarters or the Supreme Commander issuing orders from within. Not until that turn ended. Whenever the Military State collapsed, they just evaporated.'

Huh? She didn't know?

That caught me off guard too. I assumed she was charging in because she knew the location, but after wrecking the Military State for thirteen turns, she still couldn't find it? If she didn't know, then how was she going to find it?

Fortunately, the regressor wasn't that reckless.

"But I do know where their orders are relayed from. If we go there... you might be able to have the conversation you want. Whether they'll agree to talk is another matter."

"Where is that place?"

"The Command and Control Center."

The regressor recalled memories from a previous turn. Beyond a time and space I couldn't read clearly, a vague image slowly took shape.

In one corner of Headquarters' massive base, inside part of a storage section, there was a space with almost no soldier traffic. Officially, it was said communications officers lived there, yet no one actually knew who those officers were, making it a veiled area wrapped in secrecy.

A structure similar to the windowless room we had seen during the collapse of Tantalus.

As the regressor thought of it, she overlaid the princess in front of her with a slightly older, more worn princess. It seemed to be the princess she had met in the past.

'In the last turn, you had less room to breathe than this. You wanted to talk... but you didn't aim for it at the cost of your comrades or your own death. Let's see, this time....'

"In a small facility inside Headquarters' huge base, there are twenty-six communications officers who relay Headquarters' orders. It's the only direct channel connected to Headquarters. It's a strategic target anyway... if we seize that place, you'll be able to have the conversation you want."

The regressor was endlessly generous to someone who had been a comrade in a previous turn. When she explained in a comparatively gentle tone, the princess bowed deeply and clenched her fist.

"Yes...! Thank you!"

'He really is a good person...!'

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