EP.146 The Road Flows with the Traveler - 2
The captain grabbed me and shouted.
"With what confidence did you make such a false report!"
Driven against the wall in a single breath, I raised both arms and made an excuse.
"It was to dispel suspicion. Think about it: a person on a covert operation keeping a suspicious person by their side. You'd want to confirm it, right? The Colonel did the same thing."
"Even so, making a false report that the suspect can't handle. A false report to a superior is itself a violation of military law!"
"Even during a covert operation?"
The captain added with a displeased look.
"...If it weren't a covert operation, that is."
"Then there's no problem."
I shrugged my shoulders. And for the naive captain who seemed to have water for brains, I decided to teach her the fears of society.
"Does the Colonel look like she's joking? She was just probing."
"Probing... you say?"
"Yes. Whether my words are true or false isn't important. If I really were a thoughtless older brother, she seriously reprimanded me; if I lied, she played along thinking, 'Ah, it's a covert operation, so she must have made a fake identity.' In the first place, does it make sense for her to get angry when I answered a question she herself asked?"
It was a test from the crafty Colonel. Thanks to me reading her thoughts, I slipped through like an eel; otherwise, she would have looked at the captain with slightly suspicious eyes.
Not that she would disobey the order. But she could place me under surveillance. She has that much discretion.
"Why, such a thing?"
"Perhaps she was dissatisfied with the Captain, or maybe you looked too naive to be put in charge of a covert operation."
"...Mmph."
Pushed back by my logic, the captain couldn't say a word. On top of that, I muttered with pity.
"And actually, I didn't lie, did I?"
"Didn't lie? I cannot understand what you mean."
"Looks like you don't remember... When our Ppi was only up to my knees, I personally carried you on my back and raised you... The memory of you calling me 'Older Brother' back then is so clear..."
"...! Denial! That, didn't you force it upon me! If I hadn't been subjected to some sort of threat, I absolutely! Would not have done it!"
'Shame...! The greatest shame of my life!'
Huh? It was a joke to lighten the mood, but the reaction is more intense than I thought. What's going on?
I poked once more.
"Forced, you say. You begged me to carry you every time you did something. Don't you remember? When you toddled with both arms spread out, you were so cute."
"...! That was a disguise during the operation! In the first place! If you had cooperated obediently!"
'To ride on a mere man's back, or be held in his arms, or move around clinging like a baby! If it were up to my heart, I want to carve out the memories of that time entirely!'
...I've been thinking this for a while, but could this captain be slightly confusing her memories as a golem with her own memories?
Uh. Wait a minute. This over-immersion.
Could it be?
"Captain Aibi."
"...What is it again? I'm slowly starting to get anxious."
"Are you perhaps continuously syncing when controlling the golem?"
Mages who handle golems sync the doll's movements with the controller for the doll's delicate motions.
Voodoo priests who cast curses sync the doll's senses with the curse target to inflict terrible pain upon them.
The sync-type magic golem, created by exquisitely combining only the advantages of those two, mimics the controller's movements while simultaneously transmitting even senses and information. It is literally a doll no different from one's own avatar.
Signalmen are the military nation's greatest puppeteers, handling dozens of such golems.
However, if what I had read was true.
These signalmen aren't the elite of elites who handle dozens of expensive golems at their own discretion, but...
'Affirmative, however, query. Why such a question?'
"...It's classified."
No, really? She was continuously syncing even in that situation?
"What's classified about that. It definitely sounds like an affirmative to me. No. You can turn off one of the two syncs, right? Either movement sync or sensory sync. Do you usually keep them on?"
'Partial affirmative. You only know one, but you don't know the other two. There is an enormous difference in the amount of information obtainable when perfectly synced versus not. In order not to miss such trivial information, I deliberately sync movement and senses to the maximum at all times. And...'
Mid-thought, with a bitter expression, the captain mocked herself.
'...Anyway. Even if I release the sync... only a dark room with nothing in it appears. There's no reason not to sync... Even if it is pain, feeling the senses is far better.'
"...Classified... it is..."
The atmosphere suddenly turned solemn.
This, suddenly makes me feel a bit sorry. I tore off its legs or tied it in weird positions to stop it from syncing.
Nah, no way. She's not an idiot. Would she try to keep fully syncing even in that situation? Haha...
Haha.
Wow...
"...Query. Just what kind of look are you giving me?"
The captain asked with a drained expression. Pretending to be sad, I dabbed my eyes with a handkerchief and answered.
"Boohoo. Our poor Ppi... In the future, your older brother will make lots of money and make you happy."
"Stop with the nonsense!"
I feel a little, no, very sorry.
I treated her roughly because she was a golem too; if I had known a person felt the same way, I wouldn't have done that. It's not like I'm a sociopath lacking empathy.
Because I couldn't read thoughts, even a virtuous citizen like me can become a devil. Humans should find the devil within themselves...
Just then, the clock struck 10 PM. Seeing the clock, the captain stood up.
"It is the end of duty hours. Within the next hour, I must finish washing and laundry and prepare for bed."
"We're out in the field, where is there an end of duty hours? You sleep when you sleep and wake when you wake."
"A regular lifestyle and proper attire are the basics of duty. No matter where you are or what situation you're in, you must act according to the time. Even if no one is watching."
"Come on. Even you, Captain, wouldn't have lived in that windowless room wearing an uncomfortable officer uniform every day."
"...?"
'Query. How could one not wear an officer uniform while on duty?'
No. I'm saying if no one is watching, live a bit comfortably, come on. You can control a golem even if it wears nothing. She's so rigid.
For no reason, I feel solemn again. I wiped under my nose and muttered.
"Wash first. I'll yield it to you."
"...If you wash late, it is expected you will not be able to meet bedtime. Please wash first. I will organize the room in advance."
If you insist. I put down my bag and headed to the bathroom.
It was typical of lodgings built by the military nation. In a space that could barely fit three beds, it seemed they took one out as if making a display of generosity to create some leeway.
Bed, lighting, nightstand. That was all the furniture this room had.
With clothing packets, a wardrobe was unnecessary, and meals were in the mess hall. This place was strictly a space for oneself.
It was a luxury just to have an incredibly narrow bathroom attached.
"Where else would you find this."
The Colonel accommodated me and gave me a genuinely good room.
In the case of group dormitories, bunk beds with mattress firmness no different from steel desks are lined up in rows.
I entered the bathroom first.
The water ran well, but only cold water. I waved my hands. This coldness, I'm slowly remembering it. This is indeed the military nation.
If I could use standard magic, I could produce as much warm water as I wanted, but if I did, my insignificant mana would clearly hit rock bottom. It can't be helped.
I opened the faucet. Perhaps because it was a fairly good room, there seemed to be no daily water rationing limit. I took off my clothing packet and splashed cold water all over my body.
"Aaaargh!"
My bones are freezing! Save me! The water in the Abyss was actually warmer...!
It was while I was washing my body passively out of necessity. The captain's voice came from outside the door.
"How long are you going to wash?"
"Ah, wait a bit! I'm almost done washing!"
"Bedtime must not be delayed. Please hurry."
What's wrong with sleeping in. You can lack a little sleep. She's truly a strange creature.
It was while I was wiping my body with the running water for a while.
'Morning glory... No, I must not use it. Until I return to the unit, communication magic is not permitted for me.'
I heard thoughts flowing from the direction of the room. Using the heard thoughts as background music, I wiped every nook and cranny of my body.
'...Actually, as long as he knows I am a signalman. I must kill him and destroy his corpse. There is no guarantee he will take this secret to the grave. If he were to broadcast my identity everywhere...'
Signalmen communicate only through golems. They must not reveal their true selves.
All information, from trivial to important, passes through them. If those who get their hands on a signalman extract information through torture or interrogation, that alone would make the military nation stagger.
What exists to protect the signalmen, the relay points of all information, or to protect the military nation from them, is the windowless room. And the sync-type golem.
'That the windowless room was revealed... and that my identity was discovered. It was too painful a blunder...'
Signalmen must only stay in windowless rooms. Their lives must continue inside a box.
Nothing other than the golem's body, which can be abandoned at any time, must come out.
What can be sent out is only consciousness.
Of course, since signalmen aren't born inside boxes, there are inevitably moments when they must move. The advantage of a signalman is convenient portability.
Therefore, when signalmen go out in their true bodies, they are given covert operation documents so their affiliation and name are not revealed. Documents with a security level so high that even a Colonel cannot open them.
'According to principles, I... must kill him...'
"Alright, I'm done washing!"
Cleaned up, I put on the clothing packet again and threw the door open.
The bedding was already neatly arranged. Square pillows and blankets greeted me, and the lighting emitted a soft glow, having dimmed a little.
The captain, who had been sitting neatly on the bed, stood up when she saw me.
"Now I will wash."
I shook my head dry and said.
"The water was warm? I think you can just splash it on."
"Confirmed."
And the captain stiffly went into the bathroom. Click, the door closed.
The captain leaned her back against the bathroom door and fell into thought for a moment.
'...However, disgracefully, he saved me.'
Inside the steel box I happened to find near Tartarus was the captain. Bleeding from the head.
When Tartarus flipped over and landed on the ground, that tremendous impact spread in all directions. With an impact intense enough to split the nearby ground, the captain inside the underground box seemed to have lost consciousness.
I coincidentally found it, and opened it thinking it was a treasure chest.
But inside was only a bleeding captain.
If she's a military nation captain, there's nothing to fleece. Rather, I should worry about being fleeced.
I was just going to wrap a bandage around her head and go my way.
If the awakened captain hadn't asked me.
'...Me... to that place...'
'Where is that place in this narrow space.'
Opening her eyes narrowly, she asked me to move her with a dying voice. I was going to just ignore her and leave her there.
'...I beseech... you... Older brother...'
If I grant the wishes of the dead, why not grant the wish of the injured. I supported the faintly conscious captain and moved her in front of the desk.
Like that, fumbling through the drawer, the captain took something out and put it in her mouth.
It was suicide poison.
'Ah, startled!'
Startled, I struck her stomach with my knee, and the captain vomited the poison and fainted.
Thanks to that, only I became awkward.
There are two ways to catch an elephant with a gun.
First is to shoot and hit an elephant that is about to die,
Second is to shoot and hit an elephant and run around until it dies.
What? You ask if an elephant doesn't die when shot by a gun? Come on. A gun that barely works on people won't work on an elephant.
It would be more realistic to catch it with a toothpick. At least with a toothpick, you could use Qigong.
Anyway, I struck the dying captain with my fist, so if this continued, it felt like I would be the one who killed the captain. After deep consideration, with the mindset of saving at least one person, I brought her out.
Right now, I'm moderately satisfied. The military nation is too annoying a land to wander without a single ID.
"I'm done."
"Huh? Already?"
The captain popped out of the bathroom.
With her stiff uniform off, drying her wet hair in just a shirt, she looked exactly like someone who had just splashed water all over her body no matter how you looked at it.
What? No way she splashed that water. Don't tell me the faucet recognizes officers and gives warm water?
No, the military nation gifts cold water even to officers. If you want warm water, you have to heat it with standard magic.
I looked around.
"How was the water temperature?"
"It was warm, as you said."
That? Warm? Strange. Did the adjective denoting the relative height of temperature change recently?
"The water temperature was slightly higher than the average supply water. I think the collected water temperature is a bit high because it's a large facility."
The captain shaking her hair dry looked completely nonchalant. Rather, she even looked slightly elated.
The captain said with the happiest expression she had shown today.
"To be able to splash water all over my body. This is truly heaven. As expected, bigger facilities are the best..."
Is this a captain or an underprivileged neighbor?
An underprivileged captain, indeed.