WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 257

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The Land of Steel and the Faceless Humans - 6

"You got here earlier than I expected. I wanted to finish before you arrived."

I meant it. I had planned to finish all preparations before they got here, then welcome them.

I had successfully infiltrated by breaking through the outer wall. I had already checked inside with mind reading and confirmed no one was there, so I moved without hesitation.

After slipping into the empty control room, I ran into a major problem.

I had no idea what anything did.

There was no one to read, so even with all these machines right in front of me, I couldn't make sense of their structure.

Damn mind reading. So it really can only read human minds. It can read people, but not this kind of machinery? Seriously?

I looked for someone who could help, but the princess was just as useless here. I even considered using Azzy and Nabi to smash everything indiscriminately, but that was a last resort.

So I had no choice but to wait for Kerafald. If he got here, I could read his thoughts and figure out which one was the eradication device.

And Kerafald arrived.

"You said you couldn't hold out, so why did you come back?"

"I was worried you might fail to reach a conclusion about what to do with the refinery. Mr. Shei, you still haven't decided, right?"

The regressor flinched, hit right where it hurt. I clicked my tongue openly.

Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. Sure, Kerafald was pulling strings from behind, but if you're really going to get tossed around like this, what are you even doing calling yourself a regressor?

"...Y-Yeah. But I'm almost there. Just a little more time and I can solve everyth-"

"That's okay. That's why I came."

With my hands behind my back, I slowly crossed the control room. While everyone held back in the unfamiliar atmosphere, I quickly read Kerafald's thoughts.

'This is the worst. The stage has slipped out of my hands. The flow has shifted to their side.'

When the flow turned unfamiliar, Kerafald dealt with it by fading into the background with a bland response and riding along with it.

Partly because if he forced his presence, we'd get suspicious... but that wasn't all.

He was an actor by nature, and a director too. A well-built stage sometimes slips from its creator's control. As a born actor, he instinctively resisted interfering in the exact moment a play tried to transcend its script.

Gwabyeong was like that, and Yeonggwe too. None of these Six Generals were normal. How did the military state even gather freaks like this?

Anyway, that bought me time. As long as this flow didn't end, in other words, as long as my lines remained meaningful, he'd keep watching, right?

Good. I'll play along.

I moved slowly, lightly resting a hand on a towering steel rod, and said,

"Mr. Shei has world-shaking power. He can easily kill everyone here without borrowing the eradication device's power. If he swings Skywarbler and Jizan, he can bury this entire building underground."

"I won't do that!"

"Yeah. I know. Precisely because Mr. Shei can do it, he's hesitant to kill them. Whether he uses the device or his own power, in the end it comes down to a decision. He's afraid that once he crosses that line, he'll keep crossing it without hesitation."

Historia twitched at that. She understood the regressor's state of mind, at least a little.

She didn't know the regressor literally regressed, but either way, truly world-shaking power slept in those two hands. What if a regressor who crossed the line started using that power recklessly? What if she didn't consider the fallout at all?

A horrific massacre, the kind that leaves a scar in history, would unfold.

"It's a kind of justice that's a little inconvenient to keep, but once you throw it away, you can never get it back. To be honest, I think what Mr. Shei has is precious."

By the way, this steel rod wasn't the eradication device? I was touching it, but Kerafald showed no reaction at all.

That persona was a pain to read. It felt like reading a book packed with malicious narrative tricks.

Still, this didn't seem to be the eradication device. So while continuing the smooth talk, I moved toward the lever with the red handle.

"But Mr. Shei, Ria's position is different now. Ria has already crossed the line. Ria grew up in the military state, gained power and authority there, and now she has decided to throw all of it away and stand with us."

I naturally placed my hand on the red handle and continued,

"Ria is one of the Six Generals of the military state. She desperately honed her talent to reach that position. But Ria didn't become one of the Six Generals to be loyal to the military state."

"Hui. Stop...."

Hey, hey, don't interrupt. If my lines stop, Kerafald might go back to being Zikhrund.

I raised my voice and drowned out Historia.

"Friends who went astray. Former classmates who once lived and fought together. The children of Hameln, abandoned by the military state and thrown into the Resistance. Even me, with my life or death unknown. The military state has no place for us. That's why Ria became a general. Because only at that rank could she appoint an adjutant."

"You..."

"But because her friends were all impossible in their own ways, Ria ended up throwing away the Six Generals seat she fought so hard for and joining this side. She's already crossed every line. So she has to produce meaningful results in every operation. This is the last thing she can do."

The regressor seemed to finally understand a little, and looked at Historia again with fresh realization.

"Ah. So that's why you were like that. I had a feeling."

'Whether we lost the war and a new kingdom rose, or the Resistance succeeded and a republic rose, she always took a position. So taking a position itself was the goal.... Nice. I can use this in the next cycle.'

"Shut up! You of all people better not ruin this with half-baked resolve. If this goes wrong, just watch. I'll take only Hui and Siati and run at full speed!"

Sorry for exposing what you were really thinking, Historia. But if I didn't keep feeding meaningful lines, Kerafald wouldn't wait for me. I had no choice.

Anyway, so this red handle wasn't it either. Then what the hell is the eradication device? Maybe this? Let's see, one more step to the side...

'...This flow is dangerous. This stage right now, these lines. Even what he's standing on right now. What he's aiming for is!'

Bingo. So this was it.

Smiling, I stomped hard. A square panel opened, and from inside it, an unnaturally massive gear slowly rose. It was so large it looked like the helm of a giant ship.

Well, obviously. Something as vicious as an eradication device couldn't be placed where someone might trigger it by accident.

"In the end, neither Mr. Shei nor Ria is in the wrong. This situation isn't so twisted that they deserve this much guilt and responsibility. But how can they not feel responsible? No matter how guilty people may be, this many lives are on the line."

"You're right. We don't need to fight each other."

'Tch. Helped again. I don't really know why, but having that bastard around is convenient. The Gunslinger matter, the Tyrkanzyaka matter too. I should keep him with me in the next cycle as well.'

The regressor seemed to think I'd come to mediate their conflict. Sorry, but that's only half right.

I didn't come here to stop your fight.

"But if you think about it, isn't this unfair? The military state built the device that kills every human in this refinery. So why are we the ones agonizing over it?"

At that point, I gripped the ridges of the gear with both hands. It felt heavy, like I was gripping part of this massive factory itself.

The gear, the device, and what I had just said.

The regressor instantly realized what I was about to do and shouted,

"Wait! You, no way!"

"You create an extreme situation and force judgment, then call it a dilemma? That's pretty arrogant, isn't it? When the military state does it, it's just 'the environment,' but when we do it, it's a dilemma? What a joke! Isn't the military state made of humans too? Country or not, it's the same thing!"

That last line came out as a furious shout. I wrung out every last ounce of strength and turned the gear with all my might. The device, never once used since it was built, began to move slowly.

The device called the eradication device, the one that would lead every laborer in this refinery to death.

"To wage war, will you save violent criminals, or carry out righteous executions? Military state, now it's your turn to agonize!"

Somewhere in the refinery.

A laborer, walking while skewered on a hook, heard a loud clunking noise. He weakly raised his head.

He had just finished the task assigned to him and was exhausted. The chain moving along the rail should have guided him to the break room. There, he would have enjoyed precious rest until his magical energy recovered.

But for some reason, the chain was leading him somewhere unfamiliar, not the break room.

At first, he couldn't understand what was happening. Only after checking dozens of times that the rail was moving in a different direction than usual did he become certain.

Something was different. To an ordinary person, that strangeness might have felt ominous. To him, it was hope.

On a mountain peak, every direction is downhill.

Likewise, daily life in the alchemic steel refinery was the most horrific thing in the world. So if he was being pulled out of that routine, didn't that mean things would get better by that much?

Could there have been some kind of error? Strangers had entered earlier; maybe they touched something they shouldn't have? Would the overseers come running and drag him back any second?

Afraid this hard-won peace might vanish, he hid any sign of happiness and casually followed where the chain led.

But he did not know.

The place the chain was hauling him toward... was the blast furnace that melted alchemic steel. The center of that inferno where magical flames melted steel.

To use magical energy, living humans were needed.

In other words, using living humans produced magical energy.

Steel forged by melting humans would likely ring more beautifully than ordinary steel.

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