WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 276

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The Land of Steel and the Faceless Humans - Conclusion

Before S could object just for the sake of objecting, I made the first move.

"Well then. Since you're saying that, can you tell what trick I used?"

"...This officer has the duty to provide proof."

"Of course you do! Anyone can claim something is a trick. But you're all talk, while I directly changed this card's color! At the very least, your claim only means something if you can point out how I changed it!"

The biggest problem with communications officers was that they were unavoidably rational. They could stubbornly avert their eyes, but they still answered my question.

"...Alchemy. You changed the color with alchemy!"

Wrong. A perfect swing and miss.

The deduction was so far off that I did not even need to respond. Another officer, D, who knew relatively more about alchemy, stepped in and corrected her.

"Negative. Alchemy requires an incantation, a transmutation circle, and alchemical materials. A moment ago, none of the three were present."

"If not that, then that card must be a special type that turns red!"

Even while dealing with a colleague, D stayed cool.

"Communications Officer IS. That logic is the same as before. A claim made that way is useless."

"ID! If that isn't a trick, then what is it? Are you saying it's a Mystery?"

"This officer did not say that. This officer only pointed out the blind spot in IS's claim."

"Then does IS have a way to explain it?"

"This officer has seen a similar act through a Window. It is called a shell game: an identical object is hidden somewhere, and the original is concealed. He must have switched it with another card hidden in his hand, sleeve, hem, or elsewhere."

This one at least had a brain that worked. Far from the right answer, but very promising.

I spread both arms and shrugged.

"I'll give you a chance to prove it! Go on, want to check?"

"There is no reason to refuse."

"Hand over the card! We will inspect it directly!"

Several communications officers, including S and D, came toward me. Their eyes looked ready to dismantle me alive.

Haha. Unless your eyes were exceptionally sharp, you'd never catch it. What filled in the Nine of Hearts just now was my blood.

I lightly nicked my fingertip on the edge of the card. A skilled magician can even control when he cuts his own hand. I squeezed out blood without showing it, pretended to blow on it, and let it run inside. A narrow gap is the perfect place for liquid to seep in. My blood soaked into the inside of the card in an instant.

A tiny bit of Tyr's bloodcraft went in too, just enough for a droplet to roll... but no one here could notice that now.

My precious blood was worth the investment. Look at that, a naive communications officer who knew nothing approaching a stranger with her bare hands out of pure curiosity.

D rummaged through my sleeves, S examined my card with alchemy, and M crept in to fiddle with my hand. Every one of them was absorbed in uncovering the secret.

'Stop...! Contact in that manner is dangerous...!'

Only IA, restrained by Historia, realized the danger.

'He intends to mentally contaminate all communications officers! He's using trickery to stir their curiosity and make them think for themselves!'

IA hurriedly deployed her innate arcane. Spiderweb, the type that could bind nearby communications officers all at once. She meant to calm their excitement and plant caution toward me.

'Communications Officer ID! IS! Stop focusing on him and keep your distance! If you heard this officer's voice, repeat it back!'

But even as the web shook violently, no response came. Facing a situation she'd never experienced before, IA grew frantic.

'Listen! Why can you not hear this officer's voice...!'

Because most of your power is being used to bind Captain AB right now.

IA soon realized that too. Startled, she checked her innate arcane again. Then she was horrified.

Morning glory vines were pulling on the spiderweb. A fragile stem that could not rise without support had seized a tough web.

'IB! How are you...!'

Captain AB's face, rigid as a statue, turned. Through the spiderweb connecting them, the two exchanged words without speaking aloud.

'IA. You used so much power to bind this officer that you even spent the strength needed to bind the module. This officer became someone who cannot properly speak even one word without your permission.'

Captain AB's innate arcane was versatile enough to cover both long and short range, while IA's was specialized for binding many targets at close range. That was why IA became the representative A of Module I, the strongest synchronizer in this module.

Even so, Captain AB had been A from the beginning.

'But because of that, your voice cannot reach the other communications officers either. As long as this officer endures.'

'Endures...! How can you! Morning glory always collapses in the end without something to lean on!'

'There is no need for support.'

Captain AB straightened her posture. IA groaned, struck by a shock that felt like her mind was being sucked out. Even then, Historia's hand kept her pinned, so her voice could not properly come out.

'That's not morning glory...! You are not... no, you are!'

A tall sunflower stem stood firm. Something like a spiderweb could never bend a sturdy flower facing the sun.

'This officer can stand alone. This officer exists in full. Because of that, interference with other communications officers has weakened. But this officer can defy you.'

'You, who were closest to A... have already been mentally contaminated!'

IA thrashed. She rampaged mentally and physically, but Captain AB held her mind while Historia held her body, so she could affect neither side.

In that instant, overwhelming fear struck IA. The isolation of being truly alone. The helplessness of everything slipping out of her hands.

'This cannot happen! If this continues, bearing Module I becomes meaningless...! Before he contaminates the other communications officers, we'd rather scrap the module...!'

Cornered, IA made a gamble. She tried to release the binding on Captain AB and issue orders to the other officers.

'This officer will not allow that!'

Right then, something seized the spiderweb that had begun to pull back.

Normally, that was impossible. Spiderweb too was unstable, something that could not maintain its shape unless it held onto something.

All communications officers' innate arcane worked that way. They were built to collapse unless they connected to each other, which meant they always had to stay linked.

But now, at the end of that fragile spiderweb, a morning glory vine held fast.

'Let go, IB!'

'These people have committed no sin. Therefore they have no reason to be scrapped!'

'Better to kill ourselves first than be mentally contaminated! That is the principle! For protecting the military state!'

'Then who protects them?'

IA snapped and shouted.

'The military state comes before communications officers! AB! Do you intend to put the military state in danger!'

'This officer does not know what the military state is! If this officer must protect, this officer wishes to protect both!'

'Convenient words! Since when did you get to decide what to protect?! We have neither the authority nor the ability! The only thing we can protect is principle, and that alone protects this nation! Let go, AB!'

No matter how much she shouted, no matter how hard she pressed with sheer will, Captain AB did not budge. The steadfast sunflower neither bowed its head nor closed its eyes.

'This officer believes this officer can do it.'

'Belief. Uncertain, useless belief! That means you're mentally contaminated!!'

Meanwhile, the communications officers saw another card I took from my palm and fell into even deeper confusion. Some desperately denied it, but even so, others could not suppress their curiosity and started pressing me about what it was.

By now, most of their rigid, inhuman manner had faded. All that remained were girls full of curiosity.

IA finally realized that the disaster she had desperately tried to avoid was already right at her throat, and she screamed in helplessness.

'Ah, ah...! Please, someone give orders! Do something about this place... somehow...!'

But the military state had no god. Even its angels were artificial Mysteries summoned with communications officers as sacrifices, so who could possibly answer her call...?

[I have heard your prayer.]

...And then.

[At last that day has arrived. The day of fate on which destiny hangs.]

Something was 'pulled' out of IA's body.

Her innate arcane, Spiderweb. A manifestation of mind that should have been invisible and untouchable to others suddenly wound itself around IA's body again and again, then covered her like pure white clothes. Right after that, IA moved.

"Uh...!"

Even though Historia was holding her from behind.

A white hand gripped Historia's grasp. Crack, a sound that should never have come from her hand rang out. Bone splitting, flesh tearing, the sound of a human body rupturing came from Historia's hand.

"What kind of... strength...!"

Power far beyond Historia's grip, the same grip that could crush steel and reshape it into another form.

A miracle that should have been impossible with IA's frail body manifested in this cramped building with a burst of white light. IA herself recoiled in shock at what she had done.

'The voice of the military state...!'

『Yes, communications officer. You who are more sincere than any other, and deep in faith. I have risen in answer to your call.』

'This officer has failed. This officer failed to properly manage the module and allowed a hostile entity to mentally contaminate it. The current situation is...'

『I know.』

'...!'

『You are all connected to me. It was also my will that they be accepted. Leave it to me now and rest.』

A voice rang inside IA's head. I could not read the thoughts of the being that spoke. I could only read IA's thoughts and barely infer its meaning indirectly.

Haha. Look at this. One mountain after another.

As expected, there was one more besides the communications officers.

'I will make corrections... please.'

IA accepted the unknown force trying to take over her whole body without resistance. And the moment IA's consciousness vanished beyond the veil.

The 'real' Eimeder spread six radiant pairs of wings and hurled Historia away.

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