WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 274

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The Land of Steel and the Faceless Humans - 15

Captain AB, whom I was seeing again after a long time, looked worse than before. She looked at me with a hard, lifeless face, less alive than any golem I had ever seen.

Captain AB replied dryly.

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

‘Yes. I am also... truly happy to meet you again.’

Her spoken words were stiff, but the voice in her thoughts said something else. It was probably because of her innate arcane.

Of course, for someone like me who could read thoughts, it was not much of a problem. I half-ignored what came out of her mouth and kept talking.

“IB? What happened to you?”

『I was summoned to Inner Circle Headquarters for a mental contamination inspection. During transit, your terrorist attack occurred. You, called Hughes, the Pied Piper of Hameln. During that process, my judgment as a communications officer was deemed obstructed, my name was taken, and I was temporarily reassigned to Inner Circle Headquarters Communications Bureau.』

‘I would like to ask you. I was already prepared for this, but what were you thinking when you came all the way here? You caused the Hameln Incident, yet instead of fleeing, you came back into the Inner Circle? Were you hurt while escaping?’

“A lot happened while I was gone. You turned out to be more important than I thought, Captain AB... no, Captain IB? You were the one who spoke to me then too, right?”

『Affirmative.』

“I thought so. Why did you change your name?”

‘I did not want to. I did not want to lose AB. Because you remember me as AB.’

I heard the captain’s thoughts first, and her voice followed like an echo.

『As you inferred, a communications officer’s title is an identifier. My name has no meaning beyond distinction.』

‘I remain AB in your memory. If I speak to you through a golem, then I must be AB. Otherwise, you would not know who I am.’

“But it is fine if I call you Captain Bbi, right? It depends on what I decide to call you.”

『...!』

The military state tried to control all humans. If you only followed its orders, you might not be happy, but you could live without guilt or responsibility.

Even so, the military state still had criminals. Compared to other countries they were almost harmless, but for how harsh the military state was, there were many of them. Most were petty offenders. They took pleasure in misbehaving as a group, and even knowing how terrifying the military state was, they committed crimes they did not even need to commit.

In short, the military state was not perfect either.

Of course it was not. The people who built it were human too.

The communications officer in front of me, Captain AB, who had grown attached to her name, proved it.

“Captain Bbi.”

『This officer is....』

Captain AB stuttered like a machine with a fault. I reached out.

No one else could see them, but I could: morning glory vines. Pretending I could not see them, I gently rested my hand on her shoulder.

“Your shoulders are stiff. You have not been exercising, have you?”

The moment my hand touched the morning glory vines wrapped around her shoulders, they began to crumble like dead leaves dried for decades. Captain AB stammered.

『Th-that is correct.』

“How long are you going to live like that? If you are going to stay shut in and work, at least take care of your body.”

『I perform duties through golems. There is no reason for such maintenance.』

“It is bio-synchronization type, right? Taking care of your body is taking care of your golem. The more flexible your body gets, the more your golem can do.”

『...There is no reason for me to accept such criticism from you, and no duty to follow it!』

To synchronize, you had to be the same as everyone else. In other words, once you gained difference, synchronization broke. During the few days I spent with Captain AB, I had prepared every kind of stimulus so she could feel life.

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

And the thing that caused the most fatal damage in the smallest dose was nerve toxin.

“This is a useless attempt. She is a communications officer and a soldier loyal to the military state. Also, she is currently under this module’s control. Communication with you is limited.”

IA cut in.

She said that, but she still felt a vague anxiety. Could she instinctively sense that I was dripping poison in?

I scoffed and said,

“Do not interrupt. I will break the communications officer my own way.”

“Is this revenge against the military state? Still, as you said yourself, attacking communications officers is meaningless. She was commissioned after the Hameln Incident, and communications officers were never involved in that incident beyond information control!”

Ignoring IA, I brushed Captain AB’s hair. The vines woven around her blonde hair like decoration caught on my fingers. Of course, my fingers passed through like fog. Matter could not interfere with mental imagery.

‘To break synchronization? But innate arcane is the manifestation of mental imagery. Affecting another’s mental image is impossible without shared synchronization, and even then, that only allows memories or information to be passed....’

Right. Matter could not interfere with mental imagery.

But my hand could still reach Captain AB’s heart.

The vines snapped. Leaves dried. Flowers withered.

Each time we talked, each time our bodies touched even a little, the morning glories crumbled. The petals that had once shown off delicate violet beauty wilted and drooped, and the fragile stems that could only rise by leaning on something snapped one after another.

‘Her innate arcane?!’

IA jolted in shock.

‘From the memories I received, IB had contact with the Pied Piper for only one week! And he is breaking her innate arcane in that time?!’

Realizing my actions were loosening Captain AB’s restraints, IA shouted urgently.

“Is this the revenge you had in mind? It is meaningless!”

“So what? Nothing in this world has meaning anyway.”

Any meaning is assigned by humans.

So you could do anything. What meaning to attach to it was up to you.

Now then, was the audience all here?

Almost all the communications officers locked in their rooms had come out. Their faces were different, but their sunken eyes, awkward steps like people who had been bedridden too long, and pale skin like they had never seen sunlight were all the same.

They had gained freedom, but they were not grateful. Instead, they glared defiantly, as if accusing us of dragging them outside.

Because communications officers were supposed to stay confined. Because they were not supposed to show their faces to anyone. Because that was their duty.

As all of them shared the same thought, IA synchronized with it and shouted even more sharply.

“If you intend to mentally contaminate communications officers, abandon the attempt. This is a warning. If a communications officer cannot perform duties due to mental contamination or any other reason, that officer will be disposed of! Your actions only place her in greater danger....”

“I have heard enough!”

I strode up to IA and slapped her across the face. Smack. A clear sound rang out, and IA’s head snapped to the side.

A blow meant to hurt like hell without damaging her face: open palm, widest contact possible. I also caught her off guard, so the effect doubled.

The easiest way to inflict psychological shock was physical shock.

“How can you... say something like disposal?!”

Once more. I had hit the left side before, so I hit the left side again.

I eventually knocked IA down with slaps alone, stood over her, and shouted, breathing hard.

“She is your comrade, right?! It has only been a few days, but she is your comrade, around your age, similar rank, same situation! Stop ordering disposal whenever you want!”

“...?! What are you talking about?”

Do not let them think. IA was speaking for them, but she had 25 others with her, and backing from nearly 500 communications officers.

I was alone.

If I wanted to mentally contaminate all of them....

“Do you want Captain AB to die?! Is that what you want?!”

IA staggered to her feet and answered.

“No. Her talent is extremely rare even among communications officers. Disposing of her would be a major loss for the military state.”

“That is it? She is your comrade! In the end, they can dispose of your comrade whenever they want, and you think that is fine? Grief, loss, sorrow! Do you not feel any of that?”

“Such emotions are not permitted to communications officers.”

“Permitted or not...!”

Right as I shouted in rage, Historia, who had broken into the last room, called me with a rigid face.

“Hui. Here....”

“What?”

“A communications officer....”

Whatever she had seen, Historia could not finish. I hardened my expression and walked over.

“What happened?”

“...A communications officer collapsed.”

“What? Get her out first!”

Historia nodded and dragged an entire cot out with one hand. The metal frame scraped the wall with a harsh screech.

Uh, this was not what I expected. I thought Historia would carry the communications officer out looking cool.

Still, she got her out. I walked to the communications officer lying on the cot, breathing shallow and fast. Z, the communications officer from the last room, had fully blacked out.

Looking at her condition, Historia said,

“She has a fever and rapid breathing. Is it a cold?”

“No. Judging by the symptoms, this is spirit descent. She got sick after becoming a sacrifice to summon the military state’s angel.”

“Spirit descent? A sacrifice...?”

“Yeah. Eimeder. The military state’s guardian angel. A being as powerful as one of the Six Generals would not come for free. Of course it needs a sacrifice.”

As I said that, I glanced at X and Y. Unlike the other communications officers, their complexions were especially pale. Anyone could tell they looked sick.

“Wait. If she was a sacrifice, then she tried to take her own life...?”

“That is how it usually goes, but the military state seems to have developed another efficient method. One that does not require death.”

Hmm. Time to use this, I guess. It was precious enough to feel wasteful even on myself, but I had no choice.

I flicked my hand and spread my cards. This time, the card I pulled was Hearts.

Unlike Clovers, which held magic, and Diamonds, which turned into weapons, Hearts were strictly one-time use. Precious items you should never use unless it was an emergency.

But what was the point of hoarding? This was the time to spend. I slotted the Hearts I needed between my fingers.

“Looks like they spread the risk through synchronization magic. Many as one. They even distributed the cost of summoning the angel... though even so, it was heavy.”

Hearts acted directly on the human body. Drugs that temporarily altered the flesh.

Heart 1 was blood... but Z was not anemic, so that was unnecessary. Hmm. Right now, better to use this.

I pulled out a 9, held one end, and shook it side to side. At first it moved like an ordinary card, but as I kept shaking with patience, it gradually reacted.

A red heart shaped like a real heart. The red paint that should have remained part of the drawing began to ripple under my touch. It looked less like paint and more like liquid in a tiny vial.

Well, because that was what it was.

I folded Heart 9 so the middle creased slightly. Along that vertical line, red liquid seeped out from the split heart. I bent the tip slightly to pool it, then showed it to everyone.

“This medicine can save her. Well? Tempting, is it not?”

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

Y, standing closest to Z, asked sharply.

“Communications Officer IZ is currently incapacitated. If you have business with her, this officer will assume it in her place.”

“I am trying to treat her. How are you going to do that in my place?”

“Treat her, you say? Is there any guarantee that medicine can treat IZ?”

“No guarantees. But I can guarantee this: every medicine here is something I use myself. If not, why would I bother making and carrying them in such a troublesome form?”

Flutter, flutter. Y’s eyes tracked the card from side to side. Unlike the other communications officers watching me, Y could not take her eyes off the medicine.

“Now decide. As things look, if you do not use medicine, she probably will not survive today. Will you leave her to die, or take a small risk and give her this?”

The communications officers looked at one another, then nodded. They also recognized Z was in danger.

If she would die anyway without medicine, then rationally there was no reason not to use it. That was their shared conclusion.

...Except for two. Only X and Y genuinely wanted to save Z.

Because those two, the lowest-ranked here, were also sacrifices who had been used to summon Eimeder. They had taken less damage than Z, but they had felt the same pain, and as fellow sacrifices, they felt kinship.

“Perfect timing. I needed one person. You, could you hold this medicine in your mouth and feed it to the patient?”

“...Me?”

“Yes. She is fully unconscious, so if we are careless it might go into her airway. It is stickier than it looks, so if you are not careful, it could block her airway.”

Her hesitation was brief. If that was the method, there was no reason not to follow it.

Communications Officer Y nodded and took the card from me. I watched her, then added one more thing.

“Oh, right. We met that angel three times in total. Who were the other two sacrifices?”

Y flinched, then answered hesitantly.

“...This officer and Communications Officer IX.”

“What a curious coincidence. The last three in line just happened to become sacrifices together.”

I said it casually, but I was quietly pressing on the cracks between them.

Communications officers had ranks too. The higher the synchronization compatibility, the closer the identifier to A. If you fell short, you were assigned progressively lower identifiers. The more valuable communications officers were consumed last.

Of course, there was a rational reason. Higher-ranked communications officers had stronger synchronization ability, so they could shoulder the cost of lower-ranked officers.

But knowing and accepting were different things. Even more so when pain was part of the price.

“There is a rational reason for that....”

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

“There is a patient here! Quiet!”

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