WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 270

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The Land of Steel and the Faceless Humans - 11

Headquarters was bustling before the battle. Along with the usual war preparations, they now had to respond to hostile entities that had pushed all the way to the alchemic steel refinery. Even in the middle of the night, the whole base moved like a beehive a bear had torn into.

What gave them the biggest headache, especially, was the escaped laborers.

The laborers I had set loose caused more than enough chaos. Unknown workers openly roaming the operations zone made the communications officers and staff scream on the inside. It would have been easier if they had just killed everyone, but there were too many, and some were refinery workers they could not easily replace, so they could not do that either.

In the middle of all that, a military motor carriage arrived at the gate. The soldiers asked for the password, and a light pink-haired girl in a female officer’s uniform answered and stepped out.

The princess in that stiff uniform moved just as stiffly as the clothes themselves. The rank epaulets and medal on her chest both looked painfully out of place. With her soft, round features and pastel pink hair, the uniform created a strange mismatch I could hardly describe.

The princess snapped into a rigid salute.

“S-salute. I am Lieutenant Natalia of the Public Safety Bureau! I am carrying out a top-secret mission!”

She stuttered, and her salute was clumsy. She looked like a child desperately copying adults. Enough that the guard could have detained her while still feeling a little guilty about it.

But he could not bring himself to do that. After checking her epaulet and rank, the officer narrowed his eyes and asked,

“Public Safety Bureau... You have an alchemic seal, I assume?”

“Y-yes, here.”

“Check, Ri... Hmm. Verification complete. Lieutenant. This is just procedure on our side, so do not take offense...”

First, the fact that she belonged to the Public Safety Bureau, said to be able to pull even stars out of the sky, chipped away at his resolve.

“I am not trying to pry into top secrets... We are in a quasi-wartime state, so these procedures are unavoidable... Where are you headed, Lieutenant, and who are those in back?”

“They are laborers who made contact with hostile entities. Director Zikhrund ordered us to escort them to the Public Safety Bureau for more detailed interrogation!”

“Director, you say...?”

Second, she was a scion of House Grandiomor.

Even looking right at her face, the officer felt no real suspicion or danger. Doubt begins with hostility toward the unfamiliar. Royal authority erased even that tiny spark of suspicion.

It began in the distant past. It was not the strongest sovereign authority, but it had survived the longest, and it still worked in places like this.

“Sorry to hold you up. Move along. Next... Hey, stop. State your affiliation before entering.”

That was how we passed through safely. The princess started to bow, then hurriedly switched it to a salute and scrambled back into the motor carriage.

The soldiers stepped aside, and the military carriage rolled deeper into the base. The princess sat down, pressing a hand to her chest.

I, at the wheel, greeted her brightly.

“Great work. That was perfect!”

Still dripping cold sweat, the princess took off her cap and let out a deep sigh.

“Whew... I thought my heart would burst...”

“You fooled one of those famously strict military-state officers that smoothly. Not bad. I’ll be asking for your help again.”

“No... I can’t do that again. It only worked because he didn’t suspect me much in the first place...”

“That was inevitable. We had the Public Safety alchemic seal Hilde left behind. And your ability too.”

And we had the password I got by reading thoughts. Procedurally, there was nothing to trip us up.

Of course, that was not the whole story.

“But that wasn’t all, right? Headquarters must have wanted to let us through.”

“Headquarters’ will? You mean they turned a blind eye to us?”

“Yes. If communications had announced that hostile entities were heading for headquarters and warned every officer with our descriptions, we would’ve been caught one way or another.”

If Tyr and the regressor had been with us, they never would have responded this mildly. Those two were too famous, and the military state feared their power enough to warn everyone in advance and prepare countermeasures.

But we were different. Historia was powerful, yes, but still only one person. On top of that, until a few days ago she had been a loyal soldier of the military state. If headquarters understood what happened in Hameln, they would know she was following Siati and me, not acting out of hatred for the state.

I could not fully predict what they would do, but I knew their ideology well.

The military state was rational.

This was not a war between nations, yet the country was being shaken by a raid from just a few subversive individuals. And now Historia had switched sides and Hilde had dropped out of their strength entirely; the military state was weaker than it had been in a long time.

If there was no reason for them to meet us, we could make one. As always, even when you want to settle things with words, you start with force.

I steered us toward roads with as little foot traffic as possible and told everyone to keep it tight.

“Alright. We’re headed the right way for now, but stay alert. This is military-state headquarters. Generals you almost never see outside are everywhere here. Even one of the Six Generals could pop out anywhere, so be caref...”

『Control observation complete. Manifestation rate 97.4%.』

“Speak of the tiger and it appears. Thinks it’s the tiger itself.”

A cluster of light in the darkness compressed into a single point. Holy radiance that washed out the base’s dim headlights took human form. It looked like a shadow made of light.

A low-pulled helmet. A body impossible to size because it glowed. A long, thin sword of light.

Heavenlink Eimeder. The military state’s guardian angel.

And maybe... a being that might be headquarters itself, made flesh.

“Everyone, back!”

Historia noticed that presence before anyone else and turned fully toward it, ready for Eimeder to attack at any second.

But Eimeder did not point its light sword at us. It only stared.

A black mouth opened on that blinding face.

『I will guide you. Follow.』

Then, without another word, it began gliding across the ground as if we would obviously follow.

Looks like angels do not understand the human heart. We were raised from childhood never to follow strangers, so we refused Eimeder’s order.

Still on edge, Historia asked,

“Guide us? Where?”

Eimeder’s body creaked to a stop. It seemed not to have expected that response. The pure white angel turned back and conveyed its intent.

『Did you not come this far for negotiations?』

“Not exactly negotiations. More like a talk?”

『I will comply. However, this chassis lacks sufficient means for communication. Therefore.』

That concise delivery, as if it existed only to transmit information, and that body like a replaceable shell. No matter how I looked at it, it strongly resembled the communications officers.

If it resembled them that much, there had to be a reason. My guess was solidifying into something real.

“So in short, you’re guiding us to the meeting place. Nice and direct. Let’s go.”

『Since you have accepted, I will guide you again. Follow.』

Eimeder turned again and headed off.

Until now, Eimeder had been closer to a monster that swung its sword without discussion. No trace of life, no mercy in its hand, and enough power to stand against Tyr, if only briefly. So seeing that monstrous angel calmly guide us felt deeply unnatural. The princess, Siati, and Historia all looked at each other, unsure what to do.

Only one creature was an exception.

“Nyaaa...”

Nabi, eyes gleaming, stalked after Eimeder.

What was that lunatic doing? This would fall apart before talks even started. Stop her now... no, dangerous if I grab her myself.

“Azzy, catch her! Hold her tight so she can’t move!”

“Woof!”

“Nyahk!”

Not yet, not yet. I brought her in case they attacked first, sure, but still.

With flailing Nabi shoved into the back seat, we drove the motor carriage after the angel.

The angel gliding along the ground was incredibly fast and agile. Maybe because it was made of light, it seemed to have no concept of inertia, changing direction at full speed without slowing. If we looked away for even a moment, it felt like it would vanish from sight.

We scrambled after it past an armory stacked with shells, turned right at containers packed with food supplies, then took a wide loop around the outskirts piled with engineering equipment. Watching an angel, symbol of the sacred, stride through a landscape of steel and concrete felt like two mismatched images forced into one frame.

“...Something is strange.”

Midway through, the princess suddenly looked around and muttered,

“Why is no one in the headquarters base?”

It felt like half a day had passed, but we had only been following Eimeder for around ten minutes.

Still, this was headquarters base. The military capital where, they said, there were more officers than pebbles underfoot, where most of the military state’s power was stationed.

That also meant it was managed so thoroughly you could barely find even a loose stone. No matter how good our disguise, we should never have moved this easily...

Unless someone planned it.

Scanning our surroundings from the corner of my eye, I said,

“Looks like headquarters doesn’t want anyone to see them meeting us. They’re pulling people away. Listen. Even just over there, you can hear soldiers working. It’s noisy.”

“Why? We’re only a small group. Wouldn’t it be better for them to gather in force and pressure us?”

“Not necessarily. Right now, the military state is about to negotiate with terrorists. From the state’s perspective, showing humiliating negotiations with a handful of people could hurt morale.”

The military state was rational, but that did not mean they believed everyone was. So they restricted information and controlled behavior, officers and generals alike.

Nodding, the princess raised another question.

“How could they clear people only from our exact route?”

“They used the communications officers.”

Historia answered that.

“Soldiers obey headquarters orders absolutely, and communications officers relay those orders. Along this path we’re taking... they’re probably giving direct instructions to every soldier approaching this area to stay away.”

“Ah, right. The communications officers... Then are the communications officers headquarters?”

“Just because priests carry a god’s words doesn’t mean priests are gods.”

“But headquarters isn’t a god. Someone could seize control of the communications officers, or the communications officers could twist headquarters’ intent out of greed. Why does no one suspect that?”

It was a question that struck the blind spot perfectly. But Historia had an answer.

“Communications officers don’t do that. Or rather, they can’t. Because they don’t exist.”

“What? But communications officers do exist.”

“No one has ever seen them. Some people claim they escorted communications officers on dispatch once in a while, but no one knows where they are or what they do. If they never even appear before people, what greed would they have?”

There were too many examples of corrupted priests to count. Priests dealt with believers every day and drew faith and offerings from them, so if they wanted to do harm, there were endless ways to do it.

But communications officers contacted no one. In a world completely cut off from the human realm, they used only golems for limited communication.

At that point, they were not priests. They were just divine trumpets. Tools that existed only to carry a voice.

“No one knows what communications officers do? Not even you, Gunslinger, one of the Six Generals?”

At the princess’s question, Historia hesitated for a moment, then answered.

“Yes... Not even me, one of the Six Generals.”

As if her mood had suddenly soured, Historia snapped her head away and closed her mouth.

‘Right. I know nothing. I stayed loyal to the military state to help my friend, but I understood neither my friend nor the military state. Am I... just a sharp tool, used while knowing nothing.’

Historia, who had once belonged to headquarters, watched the passing scenery in silence, steeped in doubt.

The motor carriage rolled on in uneasy silence.

『We have arrived.』

Before long, Eimeder stopped beneath a massive wall.

It was smooth and seamless. No windows, no doors, not even a tiny vent. It looked more like a box than a building.

I had seen something like it before. When Tantalus overturned the ground, a crumpled steel box had popped up from underground. This looked similar, just several times larger.

Eimeder raised its white sword and thrust it at the wall without hesitation.

Historia watched quietly.

‘There was a gap. Tiny. It inserted the blade into it with no margin at all.’

It had been my mistake to think the wall had no seams. The pure white blade slid into an invisible slit. To me, it looked like the sword pierced the wall itself, but Historia’s sharp eyes caught the gap.

Thanks to that, I learned it too by reading thoughts. Whew, that would have been embarrassing if I’d pretended to know.

“It’s cutting the wall! A steel wall like tofu!”

Oh, here we go, another one with weak eyes. Tsk tsk. Let me enlighten you.

“Look, there’s a tiny gap between the wall sections. It stabbed the light sword into that gap.”

“Huh? A gap? Uh, maybe I can see it...?”

There was only one reason to stick a sword into the seam of a box. To pick the lock.

Historia only saw the gap, but I’d cracked enough safes to roughly predict the structure of this building.

“A gap narrow enough that only light could slip in. There’s probably a lock in there. It’ll open the door by releasing the inner lock with that light sword.”

Just as I said, Eimeder raised the sword inside the seam. Click, something released.

Right after that, light poured from the fine slit in the wall.

Grrrk.

The sealed wall split. The sound of turning gears echoed along the surface, and a square door slid inward.

Eimeder, done serving as the key, stood still. Not even the slightest movement a living creature should have, like an inanimate object that had guarded that spot for centuries.

Right. Eimeder was the key. A windowless room no one could enter without breaking it. I had wondered how the communications officers got in and locked it...

“And there probably isn’t any being besides Eimeder that uses a sword of light. A door only Eimeder, the military state’s angel, can open. What does that mean?”

“It means the ones inside are the ones who summon or control Eimeder...?”

Exactly right. The princess was someone worth asking questions.

Eimeder’s resonant voice spoke.

『Enter.』

“Can all of us go in?”

『It does not matter.』

Then, as if it had become the door itself, it angled its body to make a passage for us. I sent Azzy in first, holding Nabi tight as she still reached for Eimeder, then gestured to the princess and Siati.

After sending in the two beasts who could cause trouble at any second, I strode in as well. One of the military state’s greatest secrets was showing me its insides of its own accord.

Passing through that narrow opening, I came face-to-face with a bizarre space.

There was a large round table buried in paper. Endless sheets sprawled across it, and the walls on all sides looked wallpapered with torn pages from books. Countless tiny letters covered everything, and every single one was a confidential military-state document.

Stacks of records. Mountains of information inside them. On their own, just chaotic text. But in the hands of someone with the right knowledge, priceless.

And the ones creating that value were:

『A-call. Supply volume adjustment requested due to destruction of the alchemic steel refinery.』

『Stock volume: 89,400 units. Estimated sustainment period: 38 days. Full depletion afterward.』

『Required output increase: 3,200. Probability of achievement under current state: 0.72%.』

『A value judgment is required on this matter. Add to meeting agenda.』

Dozens of communication-type arcane golems.

It felt like stepping into a toy kingdom. Maybe to maximize space efficiency, every arcane golem here was small or miniature. Some were palm-sized, and even the largest only came up to my waist.

All kinds of small golems bustled in every direction, reading and transcribing text. Some deftly moved finger-like parts to write by hand, some typed away line by line on golem typewriters, some pressed their heads against speakers and shouted reports. None of them looked human, and that made them feel all the more storybook-like and quaint.

Nabi spotted the toys and tried to lunge, and Azzy desperately held her back. Right. We needed two Beast Kings after all. Nabi to start chaos, and Azzy to stop her when she got excited.

While the two beasts rolled around on the floor, I noticed doors set into the far wall.

Steel doors, evenly spaced. The gaps were narrow. If I spread both arms, I could reach from one door to the next. One, two... twenty-six.

Those doors were clearly not used often. Otherwise there would not be papers piled in front of them.

I read the words on the small plaque above the row.

『Inner Circle Headquarters Communications Bureau. Module I.』

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