EP.174 My Lady
The shadows of the Military Nation are a motley crew.
Even if ordered to start a riot all at once, they might chicken out when the time actually comes. No, the possibility is high.
A mere thug risking his life to launch a surprise attack on a specific facility? If they could do that, the Military Nation wouldn't have put them through such harsh military training.
What they've done so far is nothing more than crime.
But what they're about to do from now on is tantamount to rebellion. There's a risk of death, or penal servitude until death. No matter how firmly they resolved, would they move so easily?
Far from starting a riot, they might hide even deeper out of fear of disobeying orders.
...However, if Wolfen had anticipated even this.
"...The lawless ones calling themselves the shadows of the Military Nation. They were hidden in various parts of Amitengrad, a kind of wedge to make the Military Nation tear this city apart."
What Wolfen wanted from the beginning was one thing.
Mutual destruction.
"He intends to spread the Military Nation's taboo while inciting a riot! So that the barrels of the Military Nation's guns point at everyone who encounters or hears of that fact!"
The Family and the Market. The few organizations that exist in Amitengrad where the Military Nation's power is strong.
Instigating the thugs, including the orphans from the shelter, to fight against those two organizations, and inducing the gendarmerie to intervene in the sudden commotion.
At that time, he spreads the taboo. Secretly, hiding in the shadows.
A deadly poison that seeps in just by hearing or touching it. A lethal poison in the form of information.
The Military Nation's taboo spreads among them.
Then.
"The Military Nation will eliminate everyone suspected of having come into contact with that taboo...!"
The Family, the Market, even the shelter with the former general, are not safe.
Before the taboo that would shake the foundation of the Military Nation, everyone related to the organizations, big or small, will be swept away.
'In that process, Anna, Smen, or you will surely be hurt!'
When pulling out weeds, the soil holding the roots is bound to come out along with them. Not just me and Anna, but all the lower-class citizens related to them will be pulled out together and thrown into the garbage heap.
Being dragged to the penal labor camp would be a lucky break; they might be sent straight to the incinerator.
In front of the convinced signal officer, I muttered awkwardly.
"It seems like a truly massive taboo."
The captain quickly raised her head and spoke to me urgently.
"Forget it. Do not be curious about the contents. You must never, never learn of that taboo. You must not even show that you know!"
'Please, I beg you. Even encountering that incident is dangerous. No, even the fact that such a taboo exists! I'd rather you just forgot what I just said...!'
The captain's emotions were so desperate and urgent that I wanted to do the same.
But what can I do. I've already read it.
...The incident where as many as 162 middle military academy students were massacred by 'someone', you say.
No, Captain. I wanted to know the conspiracy of the shadows threatening the back alleys. I didn't want to know the terrible information that could get me killed just by knowing it.
I'm a victim too. A victim of telepathy! I'm telling you, telepathy did this on its own!
Haa. Things have gotten incredibly big. I scratched my head and said.
"...Good grief. I just wanted to make some quick cash through marriage fraud, and now I might end up in a grave. The grave of life indeed. It doesn't let you off easily."
As the word marriage came out of my mouth, the captain flinched. I let out another sigh with a different meaning and looked at the captain.
The captain, who had been all excited about the taboo, felt a slightly different kind of heat starting from her heart and avoided my gaze. The neck visible under the straw hat was flushed red.
I said leisurely.
"Alright. I'll try to forget that. By the way, what were we supposed to do that we kept putting off?"
"Uh... Affirmative."
"We agreed to do it while helping with the investigation, if we happened to see a government office. But there haven't been any government offices on our route. Goodness, what a strange coincidence."
"A-affirmative. An amazing coincidence."
Toward the stuttering captain, I asked leisurely, dragging my words.
"You're not feeling shy, are you, Captain? You said it's simply a sham marriage for paying compensation."
"Of course not! It's strictly for legally paying your remuneration, I didn't harbor any selfish motives at all!"
Her voice, rising by about half an octave, held as much heat as when she mentioned the Military Nation's taboo. The captain flinched at her own words and covered her mouth with her hand.
'What do I do...! Actually, I might have harbored some selfish motives regarding this matter...! Danger, danger! This makes it a false report! I've essentially told a lie!'
What's wrong with a lie. I chuckled and pointed across the street with my finger.
"Then shall we drop by the government office first? I'd hate to be cheated out of my pay."
"A-affirmative..."
The captain's voice gradually grew smaller.
As we walked down the street, the captain's heart split in two.
Hostility toward the shadows trying to overturn the peaceful back alleys using the Military Nation's power.
And the excitement from the fact that she would be filing a marriage registration, albeit a simplified one.
Even though she knew this marriage was different from a normal one, her heart was fluttering no differently than a bride's.
'Really, I...?'
The captain, who stole a glance at me for a moment, soon pulled her straw hat down low.
'It's fine. I just need to get consent and sign. That's all... But. Even for a moment, I can call him my spouse, right? I can at least pretend for a short while, can't I? Spouse, he. Hus...band.'
Hiding her burning face, the captain trembled briefly with embarrassment. But as soon as she faced the fluffy feeling of happiness in her chest, as soon as she saw her heart gradually swelling, the captain smiled bitterly.
'Now I understand. Why I needed a room without windows.'
When she was a signal officer, she was locked in a room without windows and saw the world through golems.
The world of a signal officer only appeared through golems. Captain Abby might have seen the color of the sky, but she couldn't fathom its height; she felt the strength of the wind, but she couldn't feel the coolness ruffling her hair. Even while staying with people, she couldn't feel warmth.
The world was right before her eyes, but it was a landscape beyond a glass window. The captain couldn't live in it.
However, having spent the past few days entirely in her own body, the captain's heart underwent a tremendous change.
Taste, smell, empathy, emotion, life and death, joy and sorrow. Pain, and happiness.
The warm sunlight delivered by the moments spent with people bloomed in her chest. The captain felt a warmth like the sun spreading outward from the very center of her heart.
Along with an almost excessive happiness.
'If you wish for something small, you start wishing for something a little bigger. Gradually, you covet even things you shouldn't reach. Eventually, you end up desiring everything in the world. I must not be any greedier. I must kill my emotions and fulfill my duty.'
The Military Nation's taboo and shadows.
The information the captain had just obtained wasn't something to be taken lightly either. If the captain just passed this information to headquarters, the riot would be quelled several times faster.
But failing to find the shadows would only be half a success. They had to be found before the taboo spread.
The way to find the shadows before things happened... was for her, an officer, to become the bait herself. If she was an officer, the shadows would consider her the perfect signal flare for their grand scheme.
'It's enough. Originally, it's something only I can do. The Military Nation's taboo, Hameln. As a signal officer, I know about that story... so there's no problem even if I come into contact with it.'
Having firmly resolved, the captain closed her eyes and clenched her fists. Her heart no longer wavered.
'I've decided. After filing the report and completing the paperwork. I'll hand this information to him. And immediately contact headquarters, and tell them to follow me.'
With her mind made up, all that was left was to find the way. The captain spread her mana again and connected to the golem.
'Window connection.'
Intangible stems flowed into various parts of Amitengrad. Before long, the golem's vision reflected in the captain's eyes.
What reflected now was this street we were standing on. In the narrow alley with few people passing by, only the captain and I were walking side by side. Leaving that street and going to the main road would lead to the government office. There, we would hold the wedding that would decorate her last... very simply.
The captain and I walked down the street.
And a few people cloaked in mantles watched us from afar, and when we walked, they quietly followed behind us.
The captain quickly turned her head. In the golem's vision, the captain made eye contact with herself. Her face was filled with horror.
'A tail?!'
Huh? A tail? I didn't feel any hostility though?
As I was about to look back, the startled captain pulled my face while maintaining the connection. The captain's whisper reached my ear.
"...There's a tail."
"A tail?"
While living in Amitengrad, I don't spread my telepathy widely.
This alley also looks quiet, but even the building right next to it is a medium-sized residential area where over two hundred people live. If I use telepathy recklessly, my mind would be overwhelmed by the pouring thoughts, so I'm suppressing it a bit.
Still, if there was hostility or fear directed at me, I would have detected it right away. Strange.
"Where."
I widely scattered my telepathy. The boundary walls crumbled, and countless thoughts poured in. Filtering out all the miscellaneous ones, I traced the thoughts regarding my existence to find their owners. Telepathy reached the group of mantles watching me.
And I let out a dumbfounded sound.
"Huh. Why are you guys...?"
At that moment, the captain grabbed my wrist and started running frantically.
"This isn't the time! We need to get out of here first!"
"Huh? Y-yeah."
I also ran after the captain without knowing the whole story. Just like fleeing in the middle of the night.
The captain continued to sync with the golem even while running.
Viewing herself in the third person was a very novel feeling. Looking ahead at where the alley continued, she synced with the golem in the next alley. The path continued at the end of her vision. At the end of that path, there were two cloaked pursuers.
The running captain let out a small groan, and soon turned her body to head in the opposite direction. The full view of the opposite street rose in her eyes.
"Tch! They're systematically blocking the paths! This organization...! They're completely different from the ones before!"
Yeah. They would be.
Because they're different people from them.
Still, I don't know their intention in chasing me and the captain though.
The cloaked ones were moving precisely targeting me and the captain. Even looking at their movements visible in the captain's vision, it was so.
Even according to what I briefly read of their thoughts, they were clearly moving with us in their sights.
"Captain, it seems like we're being cornered."
"I'm, sorry...! I let my guard down for a moment...!"
'This is why I shouldn't have hoped for joy! It would be fine if it were just me, but I didn't expect even him to get dragged into this...!'
Only the sound of urgent footsteps echoed loudly in the narrow alley. Running desperately, the captain spoke to me as if making a pledge.
"Leave it to me. No matter what happens, I will save you at least!"
'Even if I have to use the golem, I definitely will!'
Use it to save your own life. Stop trying to use it to save others. Why doesn't her protective instinct apply to herself?
Having roughly guessed the identity of the pursuers, I engaged in the escape with a much more relaxed attitude than the captain.
"Beep. By the way."
I pointed backward with my finger. The cloaked people were only slowly approaching, not running to chase us. As if it didn't matter if the distance widened.
I pointed that out.
"Don't you feel like we're being guided somewhere?"
"...!"
The captain shut her mouth and looked around. The alleys they had passed so far appeared in the captain's eyes.
Just as I said, we were already being forced into only one choice. Like a river flowing only one way when a dam is built. By an invisible hand, we were driven to the main road without even realizing it.
'I noticed too late! Of all places, the place we're being driven to is the main road, not a corner...!'
If we were gradually driven into a corner, the captain would have noticed something strange. Everyone naturally pays attention to corners.
But of all things, we were being driven to a massive main road where four lanes of autocars would be fine.
'But why would the enemies target the main road...! Could it be to make everyone witness this incident? I didn't think they'd take action so soon...!'
But we were already as cornered as we could be. Saying it's a main road also means there are many ways to escape.
The captain clenched her fist and thought.
'Force our way through!'
It was when the captain's eyes, holding the golem's vision, shone as she raised her mana.
I ran out to the main road one step ahead of the captain. The moment the narrow alley ended, and the wide open main road came into view.
The first thing I saw was a real carriage, not an autocar.
Two horses shaking their red manes snorted and stamped the ground. Their spirit was quite fierce, looking as if they would break the ground, but the horseshoes made of high-level special alchemical steel smoothly absorbed the impact along with the sound.
And a huge carriage that looked to be twice the size of a normal autocar. The design was simple, but the luxury was second to none in the world.
As if it had been waiting for me from the start, the carriage door opened as soon as I appeared on the main road. The first thing to come out of the carriage was a clean pair of shoes.
Neat suit pants, a bright red shirt inside, and a dress scarf tied around her neck. It was a young woman with striking sky-blue hair tied down to one side.
"It's dangerous! Step back!"
The captain, who ran after me, shut her mouth when she saw the woman's face. The captain's eyes widened.
"You are...!"
"It's okay. She's an acquaintance."
I waved my hand to reassure the captain.
The oldest connection that started right after I stayed in Amitengrad. And the most successful investment.
Once my disciple, my backer, and an excellent source of money right before my eyes.
With the mindset of a swindler facing a sucker investor, I waved my hand with a fawning smile.
"Hey, long time no see. Seph. Have you been well?"
At the light greeting expressed by waving my hand, Sephier Vakia placed one hand on her chest and bowed deeply.
"Have you been well during this time, Master. I've been looking forward to seeing you again."
'Is someone else's contact like beef jerky to you? Shouldn't you stop chewing on them so much? Do I really have to hear about Master's news through someone else's mouth, you good-for-nothing?'
Wow, her mouth. No, her thoughts have gotten way rougher than before.
Looking at the young boss whose mouth had gotten rougher in the time I hadn't seen her, I smiled ambiguously.