WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 274: The Land of Steel and the Faceless Humans - 15

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Captain AB, whom I had not seen in a long time, looked worse than before. Her face was so stiff and devoid of humanity that it had less life than any golem I had seen.

Captain AB answered dryly.

『This officer is Captain IB, a communications officer of the military state.』

‘Yes. I'm also... very glad to see you again.’

Her spoken words were stiff, but the words I heard in her thoughts were different. It was probably because of her innate arcane.

Of course, that was not much of a problem for someone who could read thoughts. I let her spoken words roll off me and continued the conversation.

"IB? What happened for things to turn out like this?"

『I was summoned to Inner Circle Command for an examination of possible mental contamination. During that time, a terrorist incident caused by Hughes, the individual known as the Pied Piper of Hamelin, occurred. In the process, I interfered with the communications officers' judgment, had my name taken from me, and was temporarily assigned to Inner Circle Communications Headquarters.』

‘I'm the one who should be asking. This officer had already prepared herself for this, but why did you come all the way here? You caused the Hamelin incident, yet instead of escaping, you entered the Inner Circle again? Were you hurt while fleeing?’

"Quite a lot happened while I was gone. You were more impressive than I thought, Captain AB... No, was it Captain IB now? You were the captain who spoke to me back then too, right?"

『Affirmative.』

"I knew you seemed familiar. Why did you change your name?"

‘I didn't want to change it. I didn't want AB taken from me. Because you remember me as AB.’

The captain's thoughts reached me first, and her voice followed like an echo.

『As you have guessed, a communications officer's designation is an identifier. This officer's name holds no meaning beyond distinction.』

‘You remember me as AB. If I speak with you through a golem, I must be AB then. Otherwise, you would not know who I am.’

"But it's fine if I call you Captain Bbi, right? It depends on what I choose to call you."

『...!』

The military state tried to control every human being. If everyone followed only the military state's orders, they would not necessarily be happy, but they could live without sin or responsibility.

Yet criminals still existed in the military state. Compared to other countries, they were harmless, but there were many considering how harsh the military state was. Most were petty criminals. They took pleasure in gathering together to misbehave, committing crimes they did not need to commit even while knowing how frightening the military state was.

In short, the military state was not perfect either.

Naturally. The people who created this military state must have been human too.

The communications officer before me, Captain AB, who had grown attached to her own name, proved it.

"Captain Bbi."

『This officer is...』

Captain AB stuttered as if she had broken down. I reached out.

No one else could see them, but I could see the morning glory vines. Pretending I could not see them, I gently placed a hand on the captain's shoulder.

"Look how stiff your shoulders are. You haven't been exercising, have you?"

When my hand touched the morning glory vines wrapped around her shoulders, they began crumbling like dead leaves that had dried out for decades. Captain AB stammered.

『Th-that is affirmative.』

"How long are you going to live like that? If you're going to stay shut in a room and work, you should at least take proper care of your body."

『This officer performs her duties through golems. There is no reason for such maintenance.』

"You're biologically synchronized. Maintaining your body means maintaining your golems too. The more flexible Captain Bbi's body becomes, the more things your golems can do."

『...There is no reason for this officer to accept such criticism from you, nor any obligation to follow it!』

Everyone had to be the same to achieve synchronization. Put another way, once they gained differences, synchronization broke down. During the few days I had spent with Captain AB, I had prepared every kind of stimulus so she could feel alive.

If the military state was one body, communications officers were its nerves.

And the thing that caused the most fatal damage with the smallest dose was nerve poison.

"Your attempt is futile. She is a communications officer and a soldier loyal to the military state. She is also under the control of the current module. Her ability to communicate with you is limited."

IA cut in.

IA said that, yet felt an inexplicable anxiety. Could IA instinctively tell that I was introducing poison?

I snorted.

"Don't interrupt. I'm going to break the communications officer my way."

"Is this revenge against the military state? As you stated yourself, attacking a communications officer is meaningless. She was commissioned after the Hamelin incident, and communications officers were never involved in the Hamelin incident beyond information control!"

Ignoring IA, I brushed Captain AB's hair aside. A vine decorating her blond hair caught around my fingers. Naturally, my fingers passed through it like fog. Matter could not interfere with a mental image.

‘To break synchronization? But innate arcane is a manifestation of the mind. Affecting another person's mental image is impossible without mutual synchronization, and even then, all one can do is exchange memories or information...’

That was right. Matter could not interfere with a mental image.

But my hand could reach Captain AB's heart.

The vines snapped. The leaves dried up. The flowers withered.

Each time we spoke, each time our bodies touched even slightly, the morning glories crumbled. Their petals, once proudly violet, withered and bowed their heads. The delicate stems, which could only face upward by leaning on something else, broke with soft snaps.

‘Her innate arcane?!’

IA recoiled in shock.

‘According to the memories I received, IB was in contact with the Pied Piper for only a week! He broke her innate arcane in that time?!’

Realizing that my actions were releasing Captain AB from her shackles, IA shouted urgently.

"Is this the revenge you had in mind? It's meaningless!"

"So what? Nothing in the world has any meaning anyway."

Humans simply assigned meaning to every action.

That meant I could do anything. It was up to me what meaning I gave it.

Now then, had the audience gathered?

Nearly all the communications officers trapped in the rooms had come out. Their appearances differed, but their hollow eyes, awkward gait like people who had been lying down too long, and pale skin as though they had never seen sunlight were all the same.

They had gained freedom, but they were not grateful. Instead, they looked at me with defiant eyes, as though accusing me of calling them outside for no reason.

Communications officers were supposed to be confined. They were not meant to show their faces to anyone. That was their duty.

As everyone shared the same thought, IA synchronized with them, grew more confident, and shouted even more sharply.

"If you intend to mentally contaminate the communications officers, give up. This is a warning. If a communications officer becomes unable to perform their duties due to mental contamination or any other reason, that officer will be disposed of! Your actions will only put her in greater danger..."

"I've heard enough!"

I strode up to IA and slapped her across the cheek. A crisp smack echoed through the room as IA's face snapped to the side.

I had spread my palm wide to maximize the contact area, hitting hard enough to hurt terribly without damaging her face. Since it was a surprise attack on top of that, the effect was doubled.

The easiest way to give someone a psychological shock was to give them a physical one.

"How can you...! How can you talk about disposing of her?!"

One more time. I had hit the left cheek before, so I hit it again.

I managed to knock IA down with slaps alone, then stood over her and shouted furiously.

"She's your comrade, isn't she?! It may have only been a few days, but she's a comrade of a similar age and rank, in a similar situation to you! Don't you dare order her disposal whenever you feel like it!"

"...?! What do you mean?"

Don't let them think. IA spoke for the others, but there were twenty-five of them together, supported by nearly five hundred communications officers.

I was alone.

To mentally contaminate all of them...

"You want Captain AB to die?! Is that what you want?"

IA staggered to her feet and answered.

"No. Her talent is exceptionally rare even among communications officers. Disposing of her would be a considerable loss to the military state."

"Is that all? She's your comrade! Your comrade could be disposed of on your whim, and you think that's fine? Don't you feel sadness, loss, or regret? Don't you have feelings like that?"

"Communications officers are not permitted such emotions."

"Permitted, my ass...!"

Just as I shouted as though enraged, Historia, who had broken into the final room, called to me with a stiff expression.

"Hui. Here..."

"What is it?"

"The communications officer..."

Historia could not bring herself to continue after seeing whatever was inside. I put on a grave expression and approached.

"Is something wrong?"

"...The communications officer collapsed."

"What? Get her out first!"

Historia nodded and pulled the entire cot out with one hand. The metal frame scraped against the wall with a harsh sound.

Uh, that was not what I had imagined. I thought Historia would come out carrying the communications officer in her arms like a hero.

Still, she had gotten the officer out. I approached the communications officer lying on the cot and breathing heavily. The last communications officer, Z, had fainted unconscious.

Historia examined Z's condition.

"She has a fever and is breathing heavily. Is it a cold?"

"No. Judging by the symptoms, this is divine possession. She fell ill because she became a sacrifice used to summon the military state's angel."

"Divine possession? A sacrifice...?"

"Yes. Eimeder, the military state's guardian angel. A being as powerful as one of the Six Generals wouldn't be summoned without any cost, right? Naturally, it would require a sacrifice."

As I said that, I glanced at X and Y. Unlike the other communications officers, their complexions were especially pale. They looked visibly ill.

"Wait. If she's a sacrifice, does that mean she took her own life...?"

"That's usually how it goes, but it looks like the military state developed a very efficient method. One that doesn't require anyone to die."

Hmm. Was it time to use this? It was precious enough that using it on myself felt wasteful, but it couldn't be helped.

I flicked my hand and fanned out the cards. The card I would take out this time was a Heart.

Unlike Clubs, which held magic, and Diamonds, which transformed into weapons, Hearts were strictly single-use. They were precious items that should never be used except in an emergency.

But what good was saving them if they turned to shit? It was time to splurge. I slipped the Heart cards I needed between my fingers.

"It looks like they distributed the risk through synchronization magic. They are many, yet one. Even the price for summoning the angel was distributed among them... Though it was still considerable."

Hearts directly affected the human body. They were medicines that temporarily altered the flesh.

Heart 1 was blood, but Z was not anemic, so there was no need for that. Hmm. Right now, what I needed was...

I took out a 9, held one end, and shook it from side to side. At first, it simply waved back and forth, but as I patiently continued, it gradually responded.

A red heart shaped like an actual heart. The red paint that should have remained part of the picture slowly began to ripple under my touch. It looked less like an illustration and more like liquid in a small bottle.

Well, that was what it was.

I folded Heart 9 so that its center crumpled slightly. Red liquid flowed from the split heart along the crease. I folded the tip slightly to collect the liquid, then showed it to everyone.

"This medicine can save this person. What do you think? Doesn't it tempt you?"

Naturally, no one would accept medicine handed over by a suspicious person. Even less so when that person had just declared that he would destroy the military state.

Y, who stood closest to Z, asked sharply.

"Communications Officer IZ is currently incapacitated. If you have business with her, this officer will take responsibility in her place."

"I'm trying to treat her. How are you going to take her place?"

"Treat her? Is there any guarantee that medicine can treat IZ?"

"There's no guarantee, but I can promise you this. Every medicine here is something I use myself. Otherwise, why would I make and carry it around in such an inconvenient form?"

Flutter, flutter. Y's eyes followed the card back and forth. Unlike the other communications officers, who were observing me, Y could not take her eyes off the medicine.

"Go on, decide. From what I can see, she will have a hard time surviving the day without medicine. Will you let her die like this, or take a small risk and give her the medicine?"

The communications officers looked at one another, then nodded. They understood that Z was in critical condition.

Without medicine, Z would die anyway. Rationally speaking, there was no reason not to use it. That was the shared judgment of the communications officers.

...But two of them, X and Y, simply wanted to save Z.

They were the two lowest-ranked officers here, and they had also been ‘used’ as sacrifices to summon Eimeder. The harm they had suffered was less severe than Z's, but as sacrifices who had experienced the same pain, they felt a kinship with her.

"Good timing. I needed one person. You, would you hold this medicine in your mouth and feed it to the patient?"

"...This officer?"

"Yes. She's completely unconscious, and it could enter her airway if you aren't careful. It's stickier than you think, so it could block her airway."

Y did not hesitate for long. If that was the method, there was no reason not to follow it.

Communications Officer Y nodded and took the card I offered. As I watched, I added something.

"Oh, right. We've met the angel three times in total. Who were the other two sacrifices?"

Y flinched briefly before answering hesitantly.

"...This officer, and Communications Officer IX."

"What an interesting coincidence. The last three officers just happened to become sacrifices one after another."

I said it casually, but I had quietly pressed on the cracks between them.

Communications officers had ranks too. The greater their synchronization compatibility, the closer their designation was to A. Those who fell short received progressively lower identifying letters. The more valuable communications officers were consumed last.

Naturally, there was a rational reason for that. Higher-ranked communications officers had stronger synchronization abilities, allowing them to bear the costs of lower-ranked officers.

But knowing something and accepting it were different matters. Even more so when it involved pain.

"There is a rational reason for that..."

The moment IA tried to interrupt, I whipped my head around and cut her off in a terrifying voice.

"There's a patient here! Be quiet!"

Footnotes:

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