EP.150 The Road Flows with the Traveler - 6
Humans are creatures that sleep.
Sleep is inevitably required if one is alive. It can be delayed, but never permanently refused. Even if that place is the middle of a flowing road, it is the same.
Being able to sleep while moving is both a blessing and a curse in itself. Humans are bound by the duty of sleep even in such situations.
I was groaning from the rough vibrations felt throughout my body when—
"Wake up. Please wake up..."
An urgent voice, a hand anxiously touching my shoulder. And a voice whispering in my ear.
Ah, what the hell. Don't interrupt my sweet sleep. Poor sleep quality can only be compensated for with quantity.
I twisted my body and muttered.
"Just ten more minutes..."
However, the following words were enough to jolt even me wide awake.
"...It's bandits. Wake up."
"Huh? Bandits?"
Meta-Conveyor Belt and highway robbery.
There was an enormous gap between those two words.
In the past, a futile invention called railways and trains appeared. Two lines heading toward a paradise of pure intentions, claiming to build roads of steel and run vehicles upon them.
A beast passing by biting the tracks out of curiosity, or an enemy spy disguised as a beast committing terrorism, or a highway robber with plenty of time but no money attacking—because of such things, it quickly disappeared into the back alleys of history.
Compared to that sort of thing, this Meta-Conveyor Belt could be said to be an invention close to perfection.
Even those with malice cannot damage the Meta-Conveyor Belt. If you try to destroy the road in the middle, it will just flow over it or fill it back up. If you truly want to stop this flow, you must be prepared to dig up all the earth.
It is a synonym for impossible.
It is also difficult to board the belt. Unlike a train that stops moving and just spins its wheels if you block the tracks, the majestically flowing land goes its own way without caring about whatever you do.
Even if you collapse a cliff, rather than the road being blocked, it just flows while carrying the cliff on top of it, so humans must somehow move to match the land.
It is also hard to find a target. Loaded on the Meta-Conveyor Belt are countless goods moving to and from all over the Military Nation. Unlike a railway where a passing train is a treasure chest, without eyes that can see through, there is no way to know what cargo is in which container.
Furthermore, the people using this road are usually soldiers.
Somehow overcame all these difficulties and stole the goods? Congratulations. Now you just have to drag your exhausted body and jump off with a heavy backpack on your back.
By then, the horse or carriage you rode will be pushed far behind. Instead, the Military Nation's troops will be waiting, though.
Therefore, highway robbery on the Meta-Conveyor Belt became something only an organization with enough power to dream of overthrowing the state could pull off....
For example. Like the Resistance.
Huh?
"Resistance?"
"Assumed, affirmative! Right, now, they are dropping from above...!"
When the Captain said that.
"Yaaah!"
A spirit shout came from above.
It was a time when the sky was not yet fully bright. Because we were passing through a valley, morning arrived late, and the half-awake people rubbed their eyes and looked around at the dusky fog.
However, the intruders came from above.
In the distance, ten people poured down, hanging from ropes.
They must have practiced beforehand. The ropes traced precisely calculated trajectories, barely changing direction right before hitting the ground, running along with the belt. Landing as if grazing the belt, they all let go of the ropes at once and rolled on the ground.
And in the hands of those who stood up, each held a bayonet.
Only one person, instead of a gun, gently landed while scraping the ground with a long spear.
The Resistance members, who lightly rode the ropes down like monkeys, aimed their muzzles in all directions and shouted.
"Everyone, stop!"
Good grief. Every little thing is raiding us nowadays.
I quietly observed the puppies blocking my way.
"Hands up and get on your knees!"
I obediently followed their orders. Guns have no heart, after all. Yep.
As their gaze reached her, a terrified mother hugged her son tightly. The mother was trembling so much with fear that she was almost sobbing.
The man with the spear, who appeared to be the leader, smiled at the mother and child as if to reassure them and said.
"We are the Resistance. Friends of the people. We have no intention of harming you who are not soldiers."
Meanwhile, behind him, other Resistance members were tearing into the cargo using large axes and tools. The tightly sealed containers broke, revealing several neatly packaged boxes inside. Most of the Resistance members, except the leader, took lamps and went inside.
Meanwhile, the leader counted the number of people while aiming his spear.
"Two civilians. One combat engineer. Here is..."
"We are civilians! Civilians! We are on our way back to our home in Amitengrad!"
I preempted the Captain before she could say anything. Wearing shabby clothes and the Captain still in just a shirt, we looked like perfect civilians.
The Resistance leader looked around and muttered.
"No soldiers? Well, there wouldn't be any soldiers going in this direction right now."
'That's why we aimed for this gap too. We were lucky.'
The leader slightly lowered his guard and, throwing sharp glances in all directions, said.
"Stay still. We are the Resistance. We are reclaiming the Kingdom's rightful assets."
The old combat engineer who had been victimized asked back.
"Kingdom?"
"That's right. Originally, everything in the Military Nation is the Kingdom's assets. We are taking back what the Military Nation has unjustly occupied."
The Resistance trying to overthrow the Military Nation is a gathering of various human figures.
Knights from the old Kingdom era, spirited youths, and dregs driven out by the Military Nation. Each has different reasons, but ultimately, those who cannot live under the same sky as the Military Nation gathered to form a force.
Among them, the one with the largest force is, naturally, the knights who were the vested interests of the old era.
The King's Spearmen.
It was only natural that the knights who possessed wealth, power, influence, and military force became the center.
"The Military Nation cowardly moved to overthrow the country while the provincial knights were keeping their posts. If all the provincial knights had gathered at the royal castle, the mutiny of the rabble would have ended as a simple riot. How is it different from having the country stolen?"
Knights were the ruling class of the country, and at the same time, lords of their fiefs.
At the time of the coup, many knights were in other provinces, and when the Military Nation took power, they either resisted or hid themselves with money and retainers. That power directly became the spearhead aimed at the Military Nation, and in the early days of its rule, the Military Nation staggered greatly both internally and externally.
Nowadays, it is only the Resistance that is staggering, though.
Anyway, the Resistance leader who muttered in displeasure, Sir Voltzroi, exuded a sharp momentum.
"What would ignorant villagers know if you tell them? Just stay quiet and still as you are now, just like when the Kingdom fell. Villagers who know neither honor nor glory..."
Sir Voltzroi, cloaked in knightly arrogance, watched us while staying still without lifting a finger as the other Resistance members looted the containers.
As if to say that a noble like himself couldn't possibly do such menial labor.
It was around then that the inside of the container gradually became noisy. The Captain standing beside me flinched.
'Even though she is a signalman, her main title is Captain of the Military Nation. She must fulfill her duty.'
Huh? Why all of a sudden?
Wait. No? It's not what I'm thinking, right?
'Although I am a signalman, I am still a Captain. I cannot overlook the rebels trying to smuggle out the Military Nation's assets.'
Contrary to my wishes, the Captain, having made a firm resolution, stood up. And she tried to insert a clothing packet into her bio-terminal.
Right before Sir Voltzroi, who noticed the sign, tried to move his hand.
"Waaaagh!"
I quickly hugged the Captain and rolled on the ground. Grabbing her fist so she couldn't open her hand, and covering her mouth with my other hand, I pinned her down with my weight.
The Captain, subdued by me, twisted her body and shouted.
"Let g—mph!"
"I'm sorry! She has a severe instability disorder!"
No, seriously, is she crazy?
The opponent is a knight who was once the ruling class of the Kingdom. Even if she were a properly promoted Captain, the odds of winning would be slim, so how is a signalman—a water captain among captains—trying to fight them? By screaming 'Waaaaah' into their eardrums? That would actually give us a better chance of winning!
As I wrestled with the Captain, Sir Voltzroi pointed his spear this way and said.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't mind us! She has seizure symptoms! I'm holding her down for times like this! Ouch!"
Damn it, she bit me. But I gritted my teeth and kept covering the Captain's mouth.
The Captain pinned beneath me let out an inaudible cry.
'Let go of me! I am a soldier of the Military Nation! I must fulfill my duty!'
Duty is one thing, but this is just throwing your life away! Why are you stepping up when you can't even fight? Do you want to die?
'Upon being discovered, I must either take my own life, or kill you who found and saved me. That is the duty of a signalman handling the most important secrets!'
Wait. Why would you do that here?
...Ah. Don't tell me.
'However, until now, I have not been faithful to my duty. Elated by coming out into the world, I kept putting off the moment of choice I must eventually make. I turned a blind eye to my duty. But, I cannot do that even now.'
Tsk.
Damn Military Nation. What did they do to make a person like this?
'If. I die while resisting the Resistance. That too would be me fulfilling my duty. If so, I no longer need to agonize over it. This is the only chance for you to live. So let me go!'
Just as the Captain, having made that resolution, tried to shake me off and stand up.
Before that, the old combat engineer stood up. With an expression tired of the world's hardships, the engineer took in the Resistance members dismantling the container and Sir Voltzroi.
"...Did you say ignorant?"
The combat engineer moved, making the aimed muzzles meaningless.
The difference between the Captain and the combat engineer was simply that the Captain had me to stop her from doing something crazy. Facing the Resistance, the combat engineer muttered with the sorrow of life.
"My older brother died during the construction of the Meta-Conveyor Belt. He was caught in the flowing land and his whole body was crushed. Seeing a person getting ground up alive... I can still see that sight before my eyes. On days when I have time, I walk on this belt under the pretext of maintenance, reminiscing about my brother. I still... resent the Military Nation. The Military Nation that took my brother and my colleagues away with their reckless construction."
"Oh ho. They say even weeds grow in mud. It seems there is finally one who has awakened."
Hearing negative words about the Military Nation, Sir Voltzroi was greatly pleased. Indeed, there is nothing better than cursing something together to get close to someone.
"Would you perhaps join the Resistance? The Resistance always welcomes technicians like you..."
"Even so. No matter how much I resent the Military Nation."
The combat engineer's wrinkled face distorted ruthlessly. Every trace of hardship on his face was engraved with crimson rage.
Filled with unparalleled hatred and contempt, the combat engineer gritted his teeth and answered.
"It's a hundred times better than the Kingdom of you bastard scum."
"...What?"
A crack appeared in Sir Voltzroi's expression.
Facing the killing intent emanating from the knight, the combat engineer spat out a scream condensed from a lifetime of grief. It was a fading cry from one who remembered the past before the times changed, the era of hatred and duels.
"That's right, you bastard scum. Still, my brother died working as a carpenter. He died horribly, but at least it wasn't miserable! But you dog scum acting all high and mighty as knights! It's better than you killing people like toys!"
Sir Voltzroi's face, having been cursed at, turned beet red. He gripped his spear shaft until it seemed it would break and strode toward the combat engineer.
"...It seems you want to die."
Even facing the knight brimming with murderous intent, the combat engineer shouted at the top of his lungs with veins bulging from his neck.
"Yeah! Kill me! You Kingdom bastards who sucked up to those scum! Like you killed my father and mother! Try and kill me too!"
"If that is your wish."
Sir Voltzroi took off his glove and threw it in front of the combat engineer. There was a slapping sound of leather gloves hitting the ground.
In the era of knights during the Kingdom. A time when power was national strength and authority.
Even then, there were laws, but they were rarely enforced. Instead, trials called duels prevailed.
They would pit their strength against each other, and the winner took everything. The victor was the truth and justice, and this was done in the name of God.
Sir Voltzroi, who threw the glove, grasped his spear with bare hands and pointed it at the combat engineer.
"It is a duel, worm. Take up your weapon."
The Military Nation prohibits personal duels. Therefore, citizens born after the military rule do not know well what a duel is or what meaning it holds.
However, those who have lived since the Kingdom era instinctively trembled upon seeing the system that took the most lives in the Kingdom.
Sir Voltzroi recited the dueling oath in an abbreviated form to the combat engineer who flinched as if frightened.
"Challenge. Victory is justice, and the victor shall surely be protected by the Celestial God."
"What celestial god! If thugs running wild is the will of God! Then what else would that god be but a thug god!"
The combat engineer steadied his mind and shouted.
"...An ignorant wretch who doesn't even know the etiquette of duels. If you had at least accepted, I would have killed you cleanly."
Whoosh. The spear cut through the wind. Sir Voltzroi fixed his stance like a beast of prey and glared at the combat engineer as if to devour him.
"I will break off your limbs one by one. Die while rolling on the ground like an insect, begging for mercy."
The spear gradually approaches. Faced with the fear of death, the combat engineer backed away hesitantly with trembling eyes.
But the combat engineer did not regret it.
The Military Nation that brought down the Kingdom, which he wanted to tear apart with his teeth. Therefore, even though the combat engineer had suffered a great tragedy due to the Military Nation, he could not hate it. He just walked on the Meta-Conveyor Belt for nearly 20 years with pent-up resentment.
And at the end of his life, the combat engineer finally unleashed this hatred and grudge. Having lost the direction in which its target disappeared, the fire that had been swirling in his stomach was finally spewed out.
The old combat engineer had no regrets even if he died like this.
Not that he was going to die, though.
'It must not happen! With the General absent right now, there is no one to stop the rebels!'
Ah, and you too, Captain. Same goes for you. Even if you stepped up, you wouldn't have died.
Why on earth do you think the General would be absent?
"I'll start with the right arm."
Sir Voltzroi's spear moved. I thought the tip vibrated slightly, but at some point, the spearhead that shot up like a snake had already reached the combat engineer's body.
A covert and swift thrust where neither the beginning nor the end could be gauged.
"Hah."
And. The spear bounced back heavily.
Sir Voltzroi, whose grip was torn, backed away unsteadily. He looked down at his hand in disbelief, then glared and aimed his spear in the direction the attack came from.
"Who is it!"
"Me, you bastard."
A presence emerged. As the Qi barrier that had been covering his existence disappeared, he appeared as if a curtain had been pulled back.
The Military Nation's greatest fighting force, the Six Great Generals.
Among them, the treacherous knight who had killed the most knights, Patrakion, stood before the Resistance.