EP.161 Evening in Gunguk
Following the flow, before long, a massive factory on the outskirts of District 15 appeared. It was a clothing packet factory, of which there were a couple in every city.
The massive factory ceaselessly swallowed people up. It was already an unstoppable tide. Caught in the flow of people, we too were sucked into the factory as if pulled by a current.
A clothing factory that processes alchemical fabric into clothing packets.
It is an extremely labor-intensive facility. Countless people had to toil to process the alchemical fabric, and even a slight delay in one step would cause setbacks in subsequent steps, so no amount of labor was ever enough.
In other words, it was a place that would welcome even day laborers.
"...So. Are you saying you want to do manual labor just for today?"
The operations supervisor overseeing the laborers frowned, looking back and forth between me and the Captain. I replied with a beaming smile.
"That's right."
"Good grief. To come here leisurely with a woman by your side and say that..."
Dissatisfied and grumbling with the intent to somehow dock our pay, the supervisor nevertheless showed great interest in the Captain, who was at least decently dressed.
Trying to act nonchalant, the supervisor kept glancing at the Captain and said.
"You can't be expecting normal pay for day labor. Your daily wage will be 70% of the usual. Hey, you go to Rail 7 and follow instructions. And woman, you'd be perfect as a model. Go to the fitting room and try on the clothing packet samples."
It shouldn't really matter who he uses. No, actually, using an Aki Avatar would be better than a person. From him deliberately singling out the Captain, I could sense a private desire.
Now, how should I respond? While I was momentarily lost in thought, the Captain shook her head without a sliver of hesitation.
"I refuse."
"Refuse? Did you say refuse, just now?"
"Affirmative. I must manage, or supervise equivalently, that man. Therefore, I cannot be separated from him for a long time."
The Captain spoke as if it were an undeniable truth she was bound to follow.
The blatant refusal offended the supervisor, who considered himself a powerful figure in this district.
'A lowly commoner who came just to do a day's labor is holding his head up high in front of me, a Level 2 citizen whose abilities were recognized and was granted the role of supervisor? It seems they have no fear of the world... Wait. No fear?'
And the person in charge who put this man in the supervisor's seat proved his ability right there.
'This stiff attitude. Unique way of speaking. Could it be? A military officer?'
Sensing a crisis, the supervisor's mind spun rapidly.
Even though it was a factory, a tech officer dispatched from Gunguk was in charge. Because it was a large-scale factory in the suburbs, the rank of the dispatched tech officer was quite high, but... they were still just a tech officer, at best a commissioned officer rank.
Compared to a commissioned officer-ranked tech officer, a field-grade officer of Gunguk, directly thrown into war, was literally a strategic asset.
Much less he, a supervisor appointed by a tech officer. He was merely a steward who had been delegated authority.
He was a being that a mere Level 2 citizen, not even a tech officer, could never dare oppose.
'No, don't think "surely not"! You madman, someone who suddenly comes at a time like this and makes an outlandish request can't be a normal person! Always assume the worst and act!'
The supervisor, suddenly snapping back to his senses, put on a much more austere expression and said.
"Then it can't be helped. I will assign you two together. Go to Rail 7."
Since Gunguk is also a place where people live, there might be foolish individuals who don't know their place and squander the power given to them.
However, such people were usually the first to be dragged off to the labor camps.
"If by any chance you possess the mana to operate an Aki Avatar, I will assign you to that task. Laborers with mana are precious. Would that be possible?"
"I have never done it, but I can use magic."
"Then it will be possible. Here, pour your mana into this Aki Avatar."
The supervisor politely requested, pointing to the Aki Avatar, a human base that looked like a mannequin.
The Captain was a Captain for a reason, and a mage who could use not only standard magic but also unique magic. There was no way she couldn't operate an Aki Avatar.
As soon as the Captain touched it, blue lines sprouted along the Aki Avatar of the mannequin. Following the center line, the alchemical fabric covering the mannequin unraveled thread by thread and shrank.
Soon, the alchemical fabric that had covered the whole body wove and compressed itself, transforming into a single small packet.
A rapid and swift transformation that only someone with sufficient mana could display.
The supervisor swallowed dryly.
'Fuck. This mana level is on par with a proper mage.'
The supervisor raised the documents up to his face and pretended to jot something down. Because he didn't want to show his face to the Captain, even now.
"With this level, you can be entrusted with a whole rail. You two go to Rail 11 together. If you say you'll take the avatar, they'll understand."
'Almost fucked. Someone using magic of this level can't be a commoner. No, even if they are a commoner, with talent like this, they could reach a higher level than me. Thank god I laid the groundwork by calling her a model, if I had slipped up...'
The supervisor was breaking out in a cold sweat on his back.
What a smart fellow. If only my friend Anton had been even half like him.
Approaching him as he desperately avoided my gaze, I leaned in slightly and whispered in his ear.
"You're quite lucky, Mr. Supervisor. That was the correct answer."
Even knowing he had guessed the correct answer, he couldn't be happy at all. He only desperately wished for us to pass by quickly.
As I left the room and closed the door, his thoughts leaked through the gap.
'...I need to be careful from now on.'
The labor was simply hard.
Countless people stood on either side of an ordinary conveyor belt. When the alchemical fabric was placed before them, the laborers cut or folded the fabric according to their assigned roles and passed it to the next person.
When the alchemical fabric, having gradually taken the shape of clothes as it passed through people's hands, was placed in front of me and the Captain, I dressed the avatar in it and sent a signal.
Then the Captain used her mana to transform the clothes into a packet and placed it in a box.
Before long, it was the hundredth clothing packet.
Closing the lid of the box full of packets, I wiped the sweat from my forehead.
Who am I. Why am I here.
I surely wasn't born to do this kind of work. I graduated from playing with dolls a long, long time ago. So why do I still have to dress dolls.
But the conveyor belt kept turning, and the work showed no signs of ending. New fabric kept surging toward us.
Eventually unable to bear it, I secretly called out to the Captain.
"Phew. It's a bit tough, right? How about we do just enough and bolt?"
"Negative, it is perfectly bearable."
However, the Captain didn't look tired at all.
No, even if she was tired, her eyes were sparkling as she threw herself even more into the task.
'It is rewarding. It is far better than sitting still in a windowless room connecting to a golem. Every time I complete my task and fill a box, the meaning of this work is gradually rekindled.'
Ah, I didn't think of that.
The Captain was a signalman who had endured harsher labor alone than any factory.
She had never shown it, but she possessed enough mana to continuously synchronize with a sync-type golem for about a full day. It was just that Gunguk treated her strangely, but she was an elite in her own right.
'One hundred! I have stacked one hundred, what else is there besides canned beans! I am a person who can make one hundred of something!'
Gunguk, I don't know if you were trying to protect the Captain or exploit her, but I know one thing.
You guys are awful.
Sighing, I went back to work.
Like that, the boring time, which felt like dragging out and clinging to a clock, passed.
"Avatar Team, work is done. You can clock out now!"
When the supervisor shouted, the laborers handling the avatars looked puzzled and asked the supervisor.
"Isn't it an hour earlier than usual? We can still squeeze out a little more..."
'If I tell you to leave early, just go, why are you arguing! There's an officer here, an officer! I need to send the officer away first!'
Despite his inner thoughts being entirely different, the supervisor answered nonchalantly.
"Today is a day where mana is thin. Thanks to the new guy, we've filled the quota, and it would be troublesome if you mana-handlers collapsed. Let's shift change a little early today."
"Since when did you care about that?"
"Shut up!"
"Even so, if we leave now, our daily wage..."
"I'll pay it all!"
"Thank you! Goodbye!"
The laborers, having gained a precious hour of free time, filed out like an ebbing tide.
The supervisor has good intuition.
Contrary to his assumption, we were just here to play around, but there was no need to tell him that.
I called out to the Captain, who was still entirely devoted to compressing packets. The Captain glanced regretfully at the unfilled box.
"It is regrettable. It was a chance to fill five hundred. An unparalleled achievement in my life..."
I'll say it again, Gunguk, you guys are awful.
The sun hung high in the sky, about to dip beyond the horizon. Having gained some free time, we received our wages and left the factory.
Considering that day laborers were usually severely underpaid, the supervisor paid the wages quite generously. It was double that of a normal laborer, but since they had actually exceeded the quota thanks to the Captain, it wasn't an excessive amount.
Feeling newly proud of the money she earned with her own strength, the Captain walked with light steps, clutching the alchemical coins to her chest. Though she didn't realize it, her golden hair and skirt lightly fluttered with every step.
"Is this your first time earning money? Why are you so happy?"
"It is the first time I have received my salary like this. So this is the weight of money..."
"Ah, right. The military pays out monthly salaries in bulk from the Veterans Affairs Office, right?"
"Affirmative. Because there is no occasion to spend salary separately while serving in the military..."
Because of the existence of alchemy, no currency other than alchemical coins could exist in this world.
It was because banknotes or promissory notes could not hold value in the face of alchemy, which could even mimic gold.
It was only because Gunguk, which held the entire nation's administration in its hands, could pay salaries in the form of promissory notes or pensions through the Veterans Affairs Office; the neighboring nation, Yeolguk, even after killing all the alchemists in the country, suffered economic ruin and was torn to shreds.
"Now that I think about it, you were quite the 'Beep' Captain."
"Negative. Not somewhat, I am a definitive Captain."
"If you haven't spent it and saved it, you must have quite a bit left."
"Affirmative."
"What do you want to do with that money? Is there nothing you want to achieve?"
Perhaps because it felt real, having earned it with her own sweat.
The Captain, holding today's wages tightly to her chest, seriously pondered my question.
'I am a Level 3 citizen. I have the right of inheritance but no property to receive, and I cannot leave property to my descendants. In the first place, I have no one to leave property to. When I die, all that property will be incinerated.'
Ooh. She finally reached that thought.
Are you showing it now?
Life is resistance. A fight to protect and maintain my small, fragile microcosm against a fierce and threatening outside world.
When one truly loses something, the living have no choice but to resist.
'It is money the military authorities gave me anyway, so even if it is incinerated and returns to Gunguk, I will have no regrets. If that money could achieve something better, if it goes back to others who rejoiced in trivial fortunes.'
But the signalman didn't seem to realize such things.
You guys were seriously, seriously awful.
They say even chance comes three times, but if you're this bad, isn't it about time you perished?
'At the very least, it's a relief that I have left a record at the facility where I grew up. If I die on a mission, a compensation will be paid. It can hardly be called an inheritance, but it will be the... final gift I give to my younger siblings.'
Soldiers are encouraged to marry.
The reason for this, simply put, is property.
If you don't spend it, property accumulates. And then you die? It gets incinerated just like that.
Even so, you can't go to the Veterans Affairs Office, request a bulk payout, and hoard it somewhere. If you get caught, it's off to the labor camps.
Even just to consume the salary you earn right away, a family is essential. The Veterans Affairs Office doesn't stop family members from withdrawing the salary on their behalf either.
That was why many among the military started families at a young age.
What if they easily start a family and then die, unable to take responsibility? Even then, there's no need to worry.
There may be no inheritance, but a death compensation is paid.
An amount far greater than any typical inheritance.
Soldiers, who have no choice but to think about after their death, put all their effort into leaving a family behind.
'Because of this, it is a bit regrettable. If I had married, could I have left a little more behind?'
Still, at least I drew out a positive change.
Leaving something behind.
The minimum desire of one who has accepted the death that will come someday.
Tasting the earnest desire that bloomed in her heart without realizing it, the Captain hugged the small amount of money in the envelope tightly and answered.
"...Classified."
I didn't ask any further. This was enough for today.
Like that, it was the walk back down the streets as they slowly faded into dusk.
A corner of the market was noisy. The corner of the market, where various boisterous voices should have mixed, was today filled only with chaotic commotion.
The gathered people looked around as if asking for help, then suddenly spotted me and immediately shouted.
"Hey! Hughes! Big trouble!"
Having read their thoughts, I figured out what had happened a half-beat faster, but for once, telepathy wasn't much help.
"Anna got beaten black and blue...!"
Because it was quickly revealed even without reading their thoughts.
Pushing through the crowd, what we found was Anna, collapsed with bruises all over her face and arms.
Anna, who usually stood out for her tenacity, was lying with a face as pale as a critically ill patient.
Letting the Captain dash out with a changed expression, I scratched my head looking at Anna, who had collapsed as if fainted.
Wow.
It became a total mess while I was gone.
Anyway, who's going to make the meal.
I was looking forward to dinner.