WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 89

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Officers of the Military State

The officer's face was twisted into a frown so rude it was offensive on sight. She didn't even return the salute, only glared at the golem.

The golem had missed the timing to lower its hand, so it kept saluting and continued.

『I have heard much about you, Lieutenant Colonel. This office will assist you until you depart this place...』

"Right. Captain. You came late. Later than the laborer, at that."

The sarcasm was razor-sharp. The golem hesitated for a moment at that edge in her tone, then added belatedly,

『I will correct that. There were circumstances here...』

"Are you making excuses right now?"

『...I will correct it.』

As soon as the golem shut its mouth, the officer clicked her tongue and turned away. Without even showing her face to the golem, she spoke.

"I do not care how many of your golems were destroyed, communications officer."

A lie. She cared a lot. Not out of concern, but blame. The kind of blame that meant, where the hell did all those golems go?

"Likewise, I will not make an issue of the fact that this golem's condition is worse than an empty bean can."

No mistake there. She was making a very big issue of it. She'd practically held back from saying, check your appearance before you salute.

Then the officer turned fully and clasped her hands behind her back in a stern pose. Two silver medals on the chest of her uniform swayed with the motion.

Filled with pride, she made sure those medals stood out and lifted her chin high.

"Still, if your duty is to monitor and manage Tantalus, you should at least be faithful to it. I arrived at Tantalus yesterday, yet I heard no report from you at all, not until this very moment, when the laborer brought you here."

『...I will correct it.』

"The person set to become your superior in your assigned sector arrived, and I meet you for the first time after a full day has passed. Is this a lack of ability, or a lack of will? Saying discipline has gone lax is not enough to describe this."

The criticism came nonstop, and I got itchy all over.

Endure it? Should I endure it?

No, I couldn't. How could I leave this atmosphere alone?

『...I will corr-』

Before the golem could finish, I bent down at once, hugged it tight, and shouted.

"Please don't be so harsh on our Captain AB! What did our kid do wrong?!"

Officers were predictable. They chewed out subordinates to save face.

That was about ten percent of it, anyway.

Of course, I wasn't going to let this play out cleanly.

If I just took it as-is, where was the fun in that?

"You're right, it's all my fault! If only I hadn't been mean and torn Captain AB's legs apart! If only I hadn't ripped the speaker out of its mouth! Waaah, I'm sorry, Captain AB!"

『Re, release...』

"There, there. It's okay. Don't cry. They say Santa won't bring presents if you cry."

『....』

After muddying the waters completely, I hoisted the golem up again in one swing. It flailed in a panic, but I turned while patting its back like I was calming a child.

"Lieutenant Colonel Callis! Sorry for making you pick on a golem just to strike a pose while you're busy! Please get back to work!"

"...Tsk."

Once the atmosphere no longer allowed blame, the only thing the officer could do was click her tongue. Before she could say anything else, I quickly waved my hand.

"Goodbye, then!"

Leaving the officer behind, I walked out of the instructor's office. In my arms, the golem had already gone still.

Right when I started wondering if it had cut the connection,

『...It was not your fault in particular. As the Lieutenant Colonel said, only one unit remains because I neglected management.』

A weak voice leaked out from the golem. I answered lightly.

"Still, that was too harsh. I mean, she fell into the Abyss by mistake herself, then asks why you didn't come find her? That's just unfair."

『Please do not worry about it. I am used to this. If one becomes a communications officer without taking any exam, as I did... if one becomes a Level 3 citizen, equal to an officer cadet from the officer academy, without effort or competition. To those cadets, that is close to an insult.』

People who finished civic school were Level 1 citizens.

People who finished military academy were Level 2 citizens.

They made up most of the military state, and they formed its foundation.

But a foundation, by nature, meant what got stepped on from above. They were suppressed, shoved around, and ground down to pack the soil of the military state. The military state grew thick and tall on their blood and sweat.

From Level 3 onward, though, everything changed.

Officers, engineers, scholars, factory heads, and more.

Once someone stood out in a field and became talent that was extremely hard to replace, their situation changed. Facility access widened, income rose, and they gained several priorities lower-level citizens did not have.

An officer who graduated the officer academy became a Level 3 citizen the moment they graduated, and they took enormous pride in that fact.

Enough to despise a communications officer who became Level 3 by pure luck, without any effort at all...

...Or at least that was the act you were putting on, Lieutenant Colonel Callis.

I read other people's thoughts. If I quietly read them long enough, I could hear the wishes they held inside.

A desire they had already judged absolutely impossible, or a shallow conviction born from overflowing confidence.

Those things reached me either wrapped in strange resignation, or charged with excitement.

And the stance I usually took in moments like that was this:

"Was Lieutenant Colonel Callis always like that?"

『Today was my first time meeting her in person as well. She is famous for reaching lieutenant colonel at a young age. Especially the operation where she hunted the beast of Auk Valley in three days, and the story of her locating a Resistance base and suppressing it alone. Those spread among communications officers as urgent news.』

"A person like that talks down to a communications officer? Isn't that suspicious?"

That was it: pushing the situation where nobody expected it to go.

『If she is someone who built merit by her own strength like the Lieutenant Colonel, it is only natural that she would dislike a communications officer who works comfortably without any merit.』

"No, I'm talking about competence, Captain AB. Why would someone that competent do something that hurts herself?"

Officer Callis scolded Captain AB. Well, calling it a scolding was one thing, but acting like that from day one was basically picking a fight.

Whether Captain AB stayed obedient or turned defiant, Captain AB would stop going near Callis after seeing that attitude.

"She came all the way into the Abyss by mistake, rudely mouthed off to a communications officer, complete chaos. Is that really the true face of the famous Lieutenant Colonel Callis?"

That was exactly what Lieutenant Colonel Callis was aiming for.

"Captain AB, as you saw, I recruited the Progenitor. Shei is antisocial and slices up every golem she sees. Among everyone in Tantalus, the only one on her side is Azzy, who is on everyone's side. In other words, no one."

Begin.

Persuasion starts from the same place.

Arm over shoulder, talking through facts both sides already know, walking with our feet pointed the same way.

"Then why did she, on her first day in command, treat Captain AB, the only person in Tantalus friendly to her, so coldly?"

Slowly, slowly.

Bend it naturally, so naturally they don't notice.

Persuasion means turning the direction of thought to a completely different side from where it began.

"Because to Lieutenant Colonel Callis, you are not an ally, Captain AB!"

When I read her thoughts earlier, what I felt was unease.

Her dislike of communications officers was sincere.

Still, in this isolated Abyss, the communications officer was the only means of outside contact, a priceless existence. Was she really lacking even the patience to hide her dislike for a moment?

If she were that stupid, she never would have made lieutenant colonel.

『What do you mean by that?』

"Simply put, the Lieutenant Colonel has a reason to avoid your eyes, Captain AB! Even in this isolated Abyss, she wants to isolate herself again! Could she be a loner on my level, maybe?"

『What are you...』

"Oh, come on. Nasty taste. You already understand everything. Do I really have to spell it out?"

It had probably already clicked. Communications officers handled information, so it must have noticed what felt wrong.

I couldn't read a golem's thoughts, but I was sure my words had landed.

The reason truth had value was simple. Economics.

Because it was unique.

There were countless lies in the world, but only one truth.

So real truth always got through. I told it what I had read from Lieutenant Colonel Callis.

"She's plotting something dirty while dodging the military state's eyes!"

『Do not sow discord!』

The golem pushed back out of duty.

『This office will not fall for your provocation. You, a petty criminal, and the Lieutenant Colonel, an officer of the military state. Whose words carry more weight is obvious! The military state's soldiers are bound by blood and iron! Such groundless slander, such groundless...』

Any one thing could happen. Any one thing could be ignored and passed over.

But when you looked back on all of them together, they were so suspicious it felt impossible not to have noticed.

Usually, people didn't notice. Someone's intent was invisible, and the world held too many events to tie together like that.

But once you knew the answer, everything became evidence.

『But if that is true, then this goes beyond disobeying orders...』

Good. It crossed over.

A communications officer's duty was reporting. Even if it didn't believe me, it would at least report something suspicious.

That was enough. I only had to wait until the military state responded.

And while I was at it, I'd secure my own gain.

『...Then the Lieutenant Colonel scolding me was just an act...』

"No, I think there were real feelings mixed into that part."

The golem shot me a slanted glare. Then it composed itself, faced me straight, and said,

『...This office will now withdraw. Please place this unit somewhere safe.』

"Leave it to me."

Plop. The golem's body went limp. It had released sync.

I set it down carefully in a corner of the cafeteria, then sat in a chair for a while and thought.

I didn't know what she was plotting, but it was time to let that elite officer taste the bitter side of society. A life where everything works out was too boring, wasn't it?

And that outcome suited me better anyway.

If the military state got startled and took the officer away to verify truth and falsehood, then I'd see it clearly.

A way to escape this Abyss.

Hmm. I'd planted suspicion for now. Should I spend the extra time reading that officer's memories? If I at least knew what she was plotting, handling it would be easier.

I left the cafeteria again, turned the corner, and headed toward the instructor's office.

Then I ran straight into the regressor, with Skywarbler raised over her head, right before she smashed the office door.

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