WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 254: The Land of Steel and the Faceless Humans - 3

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‘If you have a strong enough sense of justice, you'll hate this foundry enough to want to tear it down right away.’

I did not particularly hate this foundry. Human hatred was directed only at humans.

Anyone who got angry at an object was an idiot. They poured effort into something meaningless. Anyone who burned with hatred for a country was a fool. They exhausted their emotions without even knowing what a country was.

In truth, they were all looking for the humans beyond it.

Just like me.

‘Destroying the facility and freeing the laborers is the most common choice.’

Regardless of how I felt, I had to follow Zikhrund's script for now. Following his expectations, I made a demand of the regressor and Historia, who had led me here.

"Let's smash this entire place right now! If we destroy this labor prison, which embodies the military state's sins, and free the laborers, the military state will suffer a huge blow!"

‘But anyone who knows the truth about this foundry won't agree with that claim.’

Zikhrund's script continued as smoothly as flowing water. Every stage he chose stirred anger that everyone could sympathize with, and every actor he had brought in moved exactly as he intended.

"Come on! There's no reason to waste time!"

The regressor was uncomfortable in this place, but she still hesitated at my proposal.

"Destroy it? This place? Now?"

"What do you mean, now?"

"At this point, the alchemy steel foundry is where they keep vicious criminals. Everyone here is a criminal."

In the future the regressor had seen, perhaps they imprisoned people besides vicious criminals here. The military state had been pushed to the brink by then.

For now, though, only those who had committed the most horrific crimes were in the alchemy steel foundry. Looking through the memories of the suffering people here, many had committed crimes so grievous that one had to wonder whether even hell could make them pay for them.

There was an officer who had tested a new weapon on innocent civilians. A woman who had kidnapped children and taken their blood because she wanted to become a vampire. There was even a fool who had seized control of a holding company, hired thugs, formed a private organization, and ruled like a king.

It was a legal hell, inflicting terrible suffering on criminals who could not be forgiven and for whom even a chance at redemption would be unjust.

"Still! Even if they're vicious criminals, this isn't right!"

"So what do you suggest? We can't just let them go without doing anything."

Naturally, an opinion opposing mine had emerged. This too was according to Zikhrund's script.

‘The Gunslinger especially cannot simply free them. She must have captured some of them herself. Then her course of action is obvious.’

"There's one way."

While the regressor and I failed to reach a decision and paused to think, Historia, having made up her mind, spoke.

‘A simple method that resolves every concern. Kill them all. They are major criminals already sentenced to death, and the Gunslinger has the authority to execute criminals on the spot.’

"The laborers' movements are controlled by chains piercing their bio terminals. In case the laborers ever revolt, they prepared a device as well."

"A device the military state made in case the laborers revolted? That doesn't sound like a very good device."

"...It's a device for carrying out the death sentences that were postponed."

Put simply, she meant to activate that device and kill everyone here.

While everyone was shocked by the scale of it, Historia left only those words behind and took the lead.

‘The Gunslinger's protectiveness extends only so far. She desperately protects those within the boundaries she sets for herself, but she easily abandons those outside them. The foundry's laborers are clearly outside those boundaries. To the Gunslinger, the laborers of the alchemy steel foundry are not worth saving.’

That was why Historia had decided to kill them all.

Just as I was about to feign outrage according to Zikhrund's script, the regressor showed her discomfort before I could.

"You want to kill them all? This many people?"

"The laborers here are Level 5 major criminals who have already been sentenced to death. There is no chance of redemption, and even if there were, I would not allow it. The military state is only using people who will soon be corpses anyway. Hui, if you knew what they had done, you'd want to tear them apart with your own hands too."

I did not have any particular thoughts about it, but those charges certainly meant they had no chance of surviving. The military state only kept them alive because it could use them. Back in the Kingdom's days, wandering knights called execution knights would have carried out justice by fighting them in broad daylight, killing them in especially brutal ways, then displaying their heads before cheering citizens.

I did not know which was better.

The regressor grumbled.

"Even so, killing all of them feels a little..."

"It's not necessarily bad for someone trying to prevent a war. They can hold out on their stockpiled alchemy steel for now, but without an additional supply, a long war will be impossible. The facility can be restored somehow... Dead humans cannot."

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

‘Whatever conclusion you reach, all of you will eventually head to the control room in the deepest section.’

No clear conclusion emerged. Tyr, who had quietly listened to the conversation, had grown bored with how the discussion was dragging on and stepped in to mediate.

[This discussion is getting nowhere. If you had all the time in the world, I could wait for a thousand years, but aren't you pressed for time? Before worrying over what to do, let us move first.]

Tyr turned around and called for "Carapald."

[Guide!]

When Tyr called him, "Carapald," who had been standing silently while holding his breath, belatedly realized he was the guide and answered.

"Uh, m-me?"

[Lead us. That is your duty.]

"Y-yes! Then I'll guide you to the control room!"

‘They are fine actors. They have made sure the script I revised all night was not wasted.’

Thank you for the compliment. You were pretty good at writing scripts yourself. Your observations of people were quite impressive.

‘Hm, but I cannot join the play if no role is left vacant. That would not be any fun. Shall I split the group up a little?’

"Carapald," who had been about to lead us farther in, paused and looked back at the princess and Siati with concern.

"Um, Your Highness. Please guard the escape route. I'll handle the inside."

The princess, who had been shrinking at the screams echoing from all directions, asked back.

"G-guard the escape route? You want me to stay here alone?"

"No. You can wait outside. The inside is... well. It might be a little much for Your Highness to see."

"Carapald" fumbled because he did not know how to explain it. He did not say it outright, but the meaning was clear enough. More horrific sights lay inside, so the princess should rest outside.

The princess understood perfectly.

"Carapald. Are you trying to leave me behind because you think I'll be shocked...?"

"That's not necessarily it! Someone needs to guard the escape route. If anyone has to do it, Your Highness is the right person for the job..."

‘It would be better to separate the princess, who avoids hostility. A cheating existence that interferes with human emotions themselves does not suit an actor's role. The emotions stirred by the cries of actors giving their all on a well-directed stage, that is what is real. The princess... should be left to the mechanism.’

The princess flared up, about to say that she would follow too. At that moment, though, someone let out a terrible scream, and she shrank back in fear.

The regressor shook her head as well.

"Whether we destroy this place or do something else, there won't be anything for the princess to do. There are no enemies here, so you won't have a reason to use your ability."

Sorry, but she was wrong. There was probably an enemy lurking in the deepest section. That was why Zikhrund was trying to send the princess away.

Still, Zikhrund's entire act was so natural that no one but me suspected him. Even if I stepped forward and exposed his identity, people would not accept it.

It was strange enough that I suspected him at all. Even Siati and the princess, who had been with him until recently, had not noticed. It was far less reasonable for me, separated from him by six years, to notice.

Yet I could not reveal the existence of mind-reading either.

"U-um, I... Then, I'll leave it to you..."

The princess decided to stay behind, and everyone nodded. I put on a miserable expression and spoke as well.

"...Tyr, Shei. I'm sorry. Could I step out for a while too?"

Tyr examined my complexion.

[Hyu. You look pale. Are you all right?]

"Yes. It's only a matter of the heart. No matter what ending we reach... I don't think I can bear to watch it."

My gaze lowered slightly, my fists clenched tight. To anyone watching, I looked furious at the blasphemous sight of the foundry.

Tyr found my changed attitude strange for a moment. Then she let it pass and nodded kindly.

[It is understandable that you are tired. Have you not run without resting even once until now? Unlike an untiring vampire, you may need a little rest.]

"Thank you, Tyr. Then Azzy and I will... Wait, where did Azzy go?"

The princess pointed behind us.

"Miss Azzy is over there... She stopped the moment we entered through the door and hasn't come inside."

"I thought it was strange that I couldn't hear her barking."

When I turned around, Azzy was peering through the crack in the door but could not bring herself to step inside. It was as though an invisible barrier stood in her way. Whenever one of the laborers groaned in pain, Azzy bared her teeth and growled as though something made her uncomfortable.

To Azzy, who was sensitive to human emotions, this place, where countless people were undergoing torture-level punishment in real time, would look something like hell.

"I couldn't leave Azzy alone anyway. This works out well. I'll stay outside and keep watch with the kings."

The regressor readily gave her permission.

"Fine. I didn't feel any unusual presence outside earlier, and we don't need your strength for simple destruction anyway. Wait outside. I'll deal with this quickly and come back."

With the regressor's permission granted, I did not bother hiding my discomfort and strode outside as though I wanted to get away as quickly as possible.

‘For now, I have separated two of them. The princess and the strategist. Fine roles. If I played that role, it would make for quite an entertaining scene.’

I thought so too. If you took my place, it would make for a very entertaining scene.

So I would prepare a stage too. It would not be fair for you to have the stage all to yourself, would it?

Click.

The steel door of the alchemy steel foundry closed. After shutting it tightly enough that no gap remained, I reached out and petted Azzy. She was still in a foul mood and only growled.

"Um... Lord Hui?"

"Yes? What is it?"

I calmed Azzy and smiled brightly. The princess hesitated, glanced at my face, and asked.

"It seemed like your expression suddenly changed just now... Did you think of something pleasant?"

"Something pleasant? How could I be happy after seeing something like that?!"

"S-sorry...! Um, but your eyes are smiling..."

"What do you know about my expression?!"

"Eek!"

Smiling? I should have been angry.

Those people deserved death. Humans had the right to judge other humans for the greater good, so those who had committed sins should be punished in the name of that greater good.

Yet humans possessed dignity. Even criminals, if they wore a human form, deserved respect for that alone. That was what was proper.

How ridiculous.

"Don't you think it's ridiculous, Your Highness? They have to die anyway, and they will die. Yet seeing them bound up and groaning in pain makes us feel sorry for them."

"B-but... If they are to be killed, they should go through proper procedures, have their crimes revealed before everyone, and meet their end. That, that is too much! Being bound in chains and exploited is just like... livestock!"

The princess clenched her fists and trembled. In a life where she had never encountered an emotion like hostility, this must have been the first time she had come into contact with the military state's malice.

"Is it wrong to exploit them like livestock?"

"What are you saying?! Of course it is!"

"Why? The military state needs a facility like this, and it has the ability to operate one."

"Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should! There must always be limits. My parents failed to keep those limits too...!"

I completed the words the princess could not bring herself to say.

"That's right. Your late father ran the Kingdom terribly and ruined the country, didn't he? You did not ruin it yourself, but I suppose it hits differently when you have experience with it."

"Y-yes?! You don't have to put it that harshly!"

"But it's true, isn't it?"

"That may be true! Even if I never got to see them, they were my parents! At least choose your words around me!"

I snorted and climbed into the automatic carriage with Azzy. The princess huffed and naturally followed behind me, taking a seat in the carriage.

‘Honestly, that was too cruel! It isn't like I care about those things, but he has no manners or dignity at all! He is not considerate either...!’

"Some words should not be said. Yet they can be said."

I started the automatic carriage. The thunderwheels rumbled to life, breathing motion into the entire carriage. The carriage that had been still began moving again, its pulse restored.

The princess spoke in surprise.

"Wait, Lord Hui? Didn't you say you were keeping watch? Where are you going?"

"Words are ultimately sounds formed with my mouth and tongue. Depending on what sounds I make and how I arrange them, they become words that should not be said."

Rumble.

The automatic carriage gradually accelerated, soon reaching top speed. I turned the controls and raced along the massive alchemy steel foundry's outer wall. On our left stretched an endless gray concrete wall. The same sight repeated no matter how far we went, until I could no longer tell whether we were moving forward or standing still.

"If something cannot be done, it should be impossible from the start. But we can say such things."

"...For example, if something is possible, you mean it can be done."

She understood quickly. She was sharp and clever enough to be easy to talk to.

"But it is different. Doing everything just because it can be done is barbaric, and it is a sin. The Kingdom fell because it could not distinguish between what it could do and what it should not do."

"You scolded me for criticizing your parents, but you blame them yourself."

"They are my parents, so I'll be the one to criticize them!"

The princess flared up and shouted, then opened her eyes wide and answered clearly.

"Yes! The Kingdom deserved to fall! There are things that may be done and things that must not be done! The execution knights who were once responsible for the Kingdom's public order traveled the world and fought execution duels to punish criminals and uphold the rules. But at some point, execution duels... became execution ceremonies meant to kill people in more horrific and cruel ways! They even began framing innocent people and executing them!"

"Isn't that the fault of corrupt execution knights?"

"It was a kingdom of knights! Because the Kingdom approved of them, the king, my parents, were ultimately dragged down by everyone's hands!"

Contradiction... Or perhaps irony. There was something slightly off in the princess's words. I carefully pointed it out.

"If that is the case, the existence of that foundry must be welcome news to Your Highness. It would be better not to destroy it, right? One day, it will imprison not only vicious criminals but everyone who opposes the military state's will, until it finally reaches ruin. Wow, long live the Resistance!"

Footnotes:

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