WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 257: The Land of Steel and the Faceless Humans - 6

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

I meant it. I had planned to finish all the preparations before they arrived, then greet them.

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

After entering the empty control room, I ran into a huge problem.

I had no idea what anything was.

With no one around whose mind I could read, I couldn't figure out the structure of the countless machines before me.

Damn mind-reading. It could only read actual human minds. It could read human minds, but not a measly machine?

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

So I had no choice but to wait for Carapald. Once he arrived, I could read his thoughts and find out which one was the annihilation device.

And Carapald arrived.

"You said you couldn't take it anymore. Why did you come back?"

"I was worried you might not reach a decision about what to do with the refinery. Shei, you still haven't decided, have you?"

The regressor flinched at the direct hit. I openly clicked my tongue.

How embarrassing. Even if Carapald had been manipulating her from behind the scenes, how could she really let herself be led around by the nose? Could she even call herself a regressor like this?

"...Y-yeah. But I've almost decided. Just wait a little longer, and I can settle everyth-"

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

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

'This is the worst. The stage has slipped from my hands. The flow has passed over to that side.'

Carapald's way of dealing with an unfamiliar turn was to react predictably, erase his own presence, and go with the flow.

Partly because we would become suspicious if he forcibly made his presence known, but that wasn't all.

He was an actor and director by nature. A well-made stage sometimes slipped free of its creator's hands. As a born actor, he instinctively recoiled from interfering at the very moment a play tried to surpass its script.

The Halberdier was the same, and so was the Shadow Casket. None of the Six Generals were normal. How had the military state gathered people like this?

Still, it bought me time. As long as this flow didn't end, as long as my lines remained meaningful, he would watch.

Good. I'd play along.

As I walked slowly, I rested a hand on a towering steel rod and spoke.

"Shei, you possess power that could shake Heaven and Earth. You could easily kill everyone here without borrowing the annihilation device's power. If you simply swung Skywarbler and Jizan, you could bury this entire building beneath the ground."

"I won't do that!"

"Yes, I know. Precisely because you can do it, you hesitate to kill them. Whether you use the device or your own strength, it all comes down to a decision. You fear that once you cross that line, you'll keep crossing it without hesitation."

Historia flinched at those words. She understood the regressor's feelings, if only a little.

Historia didn't know that the regressor could return through time, but power that could shake Heaven and Earth literally slept in both the regressor's hands. What if the regressor crossed that line and used that power recklessly? What if she gave no thought to the aftermath?

A horrific slaughter would leave its mark on history.

"It's a precious sense of justice. A little inconvenient to hold, but impossible to regain once you throw it away. To be honest, I think that part of you is very precious, Shei."

By the way, wasn't this steel rod the annihilation device? I had touched it, yet Carapald showed no reaction.

That persona was a little annoying to read. It felt like reading a book full of malicious narrative tricks.

In any case, this didn't seem to be the annihilation device, so I continued sweet-talking them as I moved toward a lever with a red handle.

"But Shei, Ria's circumstances are different now. Ria has already crossed the line. She grew up in the military state and gained strength and authority there, but she's decided to give up everything she gained in the military state and join our side."

I naturally placed a hand over the red handle and continued.

"Ria is one of the military state's Six Generals. She desperately honed her talents to reach that position. Still, Ria didn't become one of the Six Generals out of loyalty to the military state."

"Hui. Stop..."

Hey, don't interrupt me. If my lines stopped, Carapald might return to being Zikhrund.

I raised my voice and drowned out Historia's words.

"Friends who went astray. Classmates we once lived and suffered alongside. The children of Hamelin, cast aside by the military state and driven into the Resistance. Even me, whose fate became unknown. There was no place for us in the military state. That's why Ria became a general. Only a general could appoint an aide."

"You..."

"But because her friends were all so selfish, Ria ended up throwing away the position among the Six Generals that she had worked so hard to attain and joining this side. She's already crossed every line. So Ria needs to achieve meaningful results in every operation. This is the last thing she can do."

Only then did the regressor seem to understand a little. She looked at Historia again with fresh eyes.

"Ah. So that's why you were like that. I was wondering."

'Whether the war was lost and a new kingdom arose, or the Resistance succeeded in an uprising and founded a republic, she always secured a position for herself. So claiming a position itself was the goal... Good. I can use this in the next loop.'

"Shut up! You're one to talk. Don't ruin this with your half-hearted resolve. If things go wrong, I'll take only Hui and Siati and run at full speed!"

Sorry for exposing your thoughts, Historia. But unless I said something meaningful, Carapald wouldn't wait for me. I had no choice.

Still, this red handle wasn't it either. What exactly was the annihilation device? Was it this? Let me take one more step to the side...

'...This flow is dangerous. This stage, these lines, and even what he is standing on now. What he intends is!'

Bingo. This was it.

Smiling, I stomped down hard. A square panel opened, and an unnaturally enormous gear slowly rose from within. It was so large that it looked like the wheel used to steer a massive ship.

Of course, something as vicious as an annihilation device couldn't be placed where someone might touch it by accident.

"In the end, neither Shei nor Ria is at fault. Neither of them has done enough wrong to deserve this much worry or responsibility. But how could they not feel responsible? No matter how guilty these people are, the lives of so many people are at stake."

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

'Tch. He helped me again. I don't know why, but having him around is convenient. The Gunslinger's matter, Tyrkanzyaka's matter... I should bring him along in the next loop too.'

The regressor seemed to think I had come to mediate their fight. Sorry, but she was only half right.

I hadn't come to stop their fight.

"Still, isn't it unfair when you think about it? The military state made a device to kill every human in this refinery. Why should we be the ones worrying about it?"

After saying that much, I gripped the ridges of the gear with both hands. It felt heavy, as though it were part of this enormous factory itself.

The gear, the device, and my words.

The regressor instinctively realized what I was about to do and shouted.

"Wait! You can't be..."

"Creating an extreme situation and forcing a decision on someone, then calling it a dilemma. Pretty arrogant, isn't it? When the military state creates it, it's just the environment, but when we do it, it becomes a dilemma? Ridiculous! Isn't the military state a country made up of humans? Even if you treat it simply as a country, the same applies!"

My final words became a cry filled with fury. I put every ounce of strength I could muster into turning the gear. The device, which had never been used since it was built, slowly began to move.

The annihilation device, which would lead every laborer in this refinery to death.

"Will you save heinous criminals to wage war, or carry out their executions in the name of justice? Military state, it's your turn to agonize over the choice!"

Somewhere in the refinery.

A laborer walking with hooks piercing their body heard a loud clattering sound. They weakly raised their head.

They had just finished the task assigned to them and were completely exhausted. The chains moving along the rails should have taken them to the break room. There, they would enjoy a sweet rest until their mana recovered.

For some reason, though, the chains were leading them somewhere unfamiliar instead of the break room.

At first, they didn't understand what was happening. After confirming dozens of times that the rails were moving in a different direction than usual, they became certain.

Something was different from usual. To an ordinary person, that strange feeling would have been ominous. To them, it was hope.

From the top of a mountain, every direction led downhill.

Likewise, life in the Alchemical Steel Refinery was the most horrible thing in the world. So escaping that routine had to mean things would improve.

Could there have been some kind of malfunction? Strangers had entered this place earlier. Had they touched something they shouldn't have? Would the overseers come running at any moment and drag them back?

Afraid that this hard-won peace would disappear, they hid their joy and followed the chains as though nothing was wrong.

But they didn't know.

The chains were dragging them toward a furnace that melted alchemical steel, into the heart of an inferno where magical flames melted steel.

Living humans were needed to use mana.

In other words, mana could be gained by using living humans.

Steel forged by melting humans would surely produce a more beautiful sound than ordinary steel.

Footnotes:

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