WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 317: Never Again War

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After the golem's warning, the regressor reflexively leaped out and stood atop the cataphract, opening her Seven-Colored Eyes. She scanned the ridgeline with her sixth pupil, the far-seeing Blue Eye, then muttered,

"...I don't see anything."

Just as she said, there was no sign of the enemy anywhere along the cataphract's route. Communications golem DG answered.

[We believe they have not arrived yet!]

"I know. I can't see them. If even I can't see them, what are we preparing for? More importantly, how do you know there's going to be an attack?"

[We received a corresponding warning from another communications officer! An attack is expected shortly!]

I had no doubt the report was genuine. That was the communications officers' network. Their defining trait, and greatest strength, was a transparency so complete that the very concept of suspicion did not exist.

Still, the golem grumbled quietly while gripping the controls.

[However, it was far too early for a warning issued under the rules of engagement. According to the warning, they should have appeared by now.... The temporary bridge was the same. AB seems utterly incapable of properly calculating estimated arrival times. Perhaps driving is not AB's strong suit.]

It was even complaining about AB in the middle of all this. Had expressing personal feelings over communications come from AB's influence...?

No, it had always been capable of that. It simply had not shown it until now. In any case, it was a good sign. I replied casually.

"Well, mistakes can happen."

[Why such an easy matter would result in a mistake... It is difficult, but I will try to understand.... Wait, receiving an alert! They are coming!]

This time, the regressor saw them too. Brown dust rose beyond the hill, steadily thickening.

We did not have to wait long. The first thing we heard was hooves pounding against the ground. Then someone shouted.

"Yahoo! Found them!"

Their appearance was extremely distinctive.

Every one of them wore patched-together clothes. There was no sense of design to them, nor any visible pattern. They must have simply added pieces or patched holes whenever needed. From head to toe, there was not the slightest unity to their clothing.

They did have one thing in common.

Every one of them was riding something.

"Didn't I tell you? I said a supply unit would come after them! If we wait for them and steal it, we'll make a killing!"

A human riding a large two-wheeled vehicle shouted. With only one wheel in front and one behind, it looked terribly unstable, yet the rider somehow kept balanced with long iron bars extending from either side.

A human on horseback spurred their mount and followed behind.

"Money is just sitting there, nicely wrapped! We only have to pick it up!"

"It doesn't even need wheels! It's already got huge ones attached!"

"Kahahahaha! How much do you think that thing is worth? Picking up scraps is pointless. You have to go for one big score!"

"If we'd been a little faster, I'd be riding it around myself!"

The cataphract I was riding was one of the military state's strategic weapons, a steel fortress weighing dozens of tons. Leaving aside how they intended to seize it, I doubted they could even take it home, but that did not concern them in the slightest.

The cataphract's weight was exactly what they wanted.

The Lesser States had a slightly different concept of money.

The Gold Nation, a land of technology and metallurgy ruled by a blessed king descended from the Five Lords, had been brought down by a single person.

The Golden Mirror, Demo. A genius known as the monster of understanding.

An absolute being who destroyed the Gold Nation with gold and plunged the continent into chaos.

With the Golden Mirror reigning over the Lesser States, gold had lost its value. The saying that one should regard gold as stone was accepted there as common sense, not as a moral lesson, but in an economic sense.

Perhaps because of that... the Lesser States had developed a unique economic system.

"That's high-grade alchemical steel. It must weigh dozens of tons at least! With that much, we can eat and drink for the rest of our lives!"

Weight, of all things.

Unless something was an extraordinarily special material, weight and value were generally proportional in the Lesser States. That made transport capable of carrying great weight essential. Combined with the traits of the Lesser States, this system had turned the entire nation into a massive nomadic state.

They might have been a nation of alchemy, but even alchemy coins, which contained alchemical value, had lost their shine in the Lesser States.

The Golden Mirror was the world's greatest alchemist. It could manufacture even alchemical cost itself.

"Tch. Greedy as ever, charging right in. Those jackals...."

Their rides all differed, but the jackals rushed toward us with the same ferocity. Not a trace of hesitation showed in their eyes, gleaming with greed.

The cataphract was not slow, but it was not fast enough to shake off starving jackals. I said,

"What should we do? Are we letting them get this close?"

The regressor answered as though it were nothing.

"Let's let them come for now. We need to get some information."

"What information? They're just rabble sent deep into the military state to disrupt the rear. It's not like they could know anything useful. Can't we just clear them out?"

"Then how will we get the information?"

"Shei, have you forgotten what's driving this cataphract? It's a communications golem. How long are you going to gather information in such a primitive way? Let's use a more sophisticated method."

Convinced, the regressor drew Skywarbler and aimed her at the enemies racing toward us at an angle. Winds that had been rushing past us atop the cataphract at full speed suddenly drew toward Skywarbler. The humming gradually grew louder.

"Heavenly Sword Technique, Fourth Day."

Then the regressor thrust Skywarbler forward.

Thoom.

Something faint stretched out along the path of her thrust. It looked less like an arrow or bullet and more like warped space. When the distortion, which seemed as though it might reach the end of the earth, touched the foremost jackal, the rider sprang into the air as though caught on a hook before crashing into the ground.

The two-wheeled vehicle had barely remained upright, but with its rider gone, it lost balance. Rider and vehicle rolled across the ground as one.

The leader became an obstacle, crashing into the humans following behind. One rider hastily changed direction and cried out in shock.

"Did anyone see that?"

"I didn't see anything!"

Those who did not know their own limits neither believed nor acknowledged what they failed to see. If they had been ordinary fools, they might have thought the rider had skidded and kept charging forward.

The Lesser States' jackals were a little different. Ambushes were their daily life, and escape was their livelihood. They instinctively recognized the caliber of their opponent.

"From this distance, and no one saw the attack? Then it's a monster!"

"They weren't rabble!"

"Run!"

The jackals immediately turned their rides around. Wheels violently scraped the ground, and horses that had reared up turned at once. The moment the Lesser States' jackals became certain their opponent was strong, they fled as fast as they could.

"Ah, right! We need to pick this up too!"

Even then, the one furthest behind collected the fallen comrade before leaving. I was not sure whether dragging someone away by a chain counted as collecting them, but still. Leaving the lumbering cataphract behind, they vanished into the distance like arrows.

Tyr watched them quietly and muttered,

"They do not abandon their comrades. Their appearance may be like that, but they must possess comradeship."

"Comradeship? Not at all. They probably hoped that person was dead."

"Why?"

"If they aren't dead, they can't sell them. They'll run off on their own."

There was only one reason they collected the remains of their comrades. Heavy steel, just like the cataphract they had targeted, was worth quite a bit of money. If it was a vehicle, it was worth even more.

Their own comrades were no exception. The scales did not weigh any less because they were a comrade's remains.

"They all ride mounts like bandits. I understand now why the flowing land can serve as a moat against them."

I nodded at Tyr's words.

"That's right. They're raiders who invade, load up on goods, and run away. The Meta-Conveyor Belt is a pretty troublesome obstacle for them. Even getting onto it requires dangerous acrobatics, while the military state uses the Meta-Conveyor Belt to move troops quickly."

"Bandits obsessed with theft. You have troublesome neighbors."

"Yes. From a national perspective, raids that small are only annoying, but being annoying is enough for rear-area disruption."

In any case, the Lesser States' first attack ended pathetically. Our combat strength was far too overwhelming to be troubled by a handful of jackals.

On top of that, the regressor's Skywarbler was a versatile weapon that could cover both mid-range and long-range combat. She could wipe out even jackals who feared neither bullets nor arrows in a single blow.

Hilde, however, let out a deep sigh after seeing them.

"This is troubling~. How long has the war even been going on for them to come all the way down here and skulk around? If we can meet them without crossing the Meta-Conveyor Belt, some cities must have already been looted."

It was almost a mutter to herself, but one word caught the regressor's attention. She asked,

"The war has already started?"

Hilde answered as casually as if discussing a snack from the previous night.

"Yes~. Well, it's more of a battle than a war, but it has already started, hasn't it?"

"When? No, how? The military state's forces were riding the Meta-Conveyor Belt until just recently."

"Are you underestimating the military state too much? No matter how large it is, with the military state's system, it wouldn't take even two days to prepare and send troops to the Abyss Wasteland."

"Exactly! Only two days. How could a war have already started?"

When I met Yuel, I had heard that scattered battles were already breaking out. A full day had passed since then, so it would not have been strange for war to begin.

It was still the first the regressor had heard of it.

'A war isn't child's play. It's a grave matter that puts the fate of nations on the line! How long has it been since the Abyss disappeared? How could they have started a war already?'

From a common-sense perspective, that was true.

But regressor, you knew it too. Both the military state and the Lesser States were strange nations beyond common sense.

"The military state wasn't the only side that sent forces to the Abyss Wasteland~."

"What?"

"We could ask the communications officer, but I don't want to distract the driver, so I'll explain it. Ahem. Listen carefully."

Before beginning the long story, Hilde softly cleared their throat. Like an actor preparing for a one-person performance, Hilde steadied their breathing, then began the world's heaviest story in the lightest voice.

"When the advance party arrived at the Abyss Wasteland, the Lesser States were already trying to occupy Tantalus!"

Footnotes:

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