EP.185 Say You Want to Live - 1
A teacher's grace is as vast as the heavens, but making a disciple accept such a maxim as truth is the role of a true teacher. In that sense, I was truly a true teacher.
Looking at Sepi, who came personally to help her master who had set out alone, I shed tears, overwhelmed with emotion.
"Wow. I raised a good disciple. Look at her running here like lightning when her master is in danger."
There's a reward for raising her, having dedicated my youth.
To survive in the back alleys, you need at least one connection. Because the world wasn't easy enough to live relying solely on mind-reading, I entered a host bar as soon as I arrived at Amitengrad, thinking of gaining connections.
Meeting the heir of the holding company there was truly a stroke of luck. Pretending to be Sepi's tutor, I moved back and forth between Sepi and her godfather Alexei, reaping sweet benefits.
Then, when signs appeared that Alexei was going to fall into the abyss, I quickly cut my losses and latched onto Sepi.
Kya, thinking about it now, I really did well. Mind-reading is useful when you use it like this.
Anyway. Should I at least say some lip service to the disciple who came to me now?
"I'm touched right now. I didn't know your consideration for your master was this deep... As expected, there's a reward for raising you with effort."
"Does it only match Master's consideration for me?"
'What consideration? You ran off first without a word, thinking I'd follow if you just went. You never give a single speck of thought to the people left behind.'
The discrepancy between her words and thoughts is still severe.
But in the end, words are also part of thought. Saying things nicely means that, for now, I still have points saved up.
Anyway, if she brought the full force of Cheonuimubong, there's no way I'd be in danger...
Huh?
"But I don't see anyone behind you. Where's the rest of the troops?"
"Troops? We are a holding company. What we can hire are only special workers for specialized labor. The only one here who can at least pretend to fight is Feto."
Sepi said calmly, pointing at senior Feto. I was so dumbfounded that I asked back.
"Your full force is just a clothes hanger on a horse?"
The senior, who had suddenly become a clothes hanger, retorted.
"Why do you call someone a clothes hanger to their face..."
"Yes. That clothes hanger is all there is."
"President... no. I am a clothes hanger."
That is truly nothing more than a clothes hanger. It's a case where the tool is stronger than the person, as long as they don't fall off the horse and have the ability to swing a weapon while wearing armor, anyone will do.
"What, then. That's not very helpful."
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help. If there were even mercenaries in the military state, I would have brought them."
'After Alexei's downfall, the holding company was changed so it couldn't hire employees who were essentially private soldiers. He tore it to pieces himself. And he pretends not to know.'
I thought you were a girl who could even break the law for the sake of your precious self and your respected master. Like hiring mercenaries or short-term employing strong soldiers. I guess it doesn't go that far. The master is disappointed in the disciple.
Tch. Then it's not perfectly safe. One senior is unreliable against a threat called the Shadow.
But it's okay. Because I have one slightly different line for emergencies.
The military state's captain.
"Ah, Sepi. I have something to say to the captain for a moment, could you step away?"
Sepi, who would have normally agreed right away, gave a delayed answer this time, as if something had caught the tail of her words.
"...After milking it so much, wielding it as you pleased, and now keeping secrets openly? Does Master have no conscience? I didn't expect a fair trade of getting back as much as I gave. Still, if I gave something, shouldn't Master also give something for the form of a transaction to be maintained?"
'I will step away, so please converse quietly. I'll have to wait lonely outside in the meantime, though.'
Something is strange. It feels like her thoughts and words are swapped?
"Sepi. Did some of your true feelings slip out?"
"It's not true feelings, but a justified demand. I followed Master's will to keep the captain here and even supported the necessary equipment, but both the captain and Master. You don't say a single word about yourselves to me. Is this how you're going to play this?"
'Not at all. I have never lied to Master.'
The points I had saved up were scraped away in real-time. From her expression, resentment and doubt about whether she should keep following flowed out.
Before the Sepi-points ran out, I spoke urgently.
"It's not because of me, it's because of the captain. That person is carrying out a secret operation."
"So what does that have to do with me?"
"If the secret is leaked, they die."
The word 'die' clearly gave her a slight shock. Sepi flinched and glanced sideways into the carriage.
Not long after, Sepi returned to her cold demeanor and answered.
"...Understood. I'm sorry for raising my voice, Master. I will step away, so please converse quietly, just the two of you. I'll have to wait lonely outside in the meantime, though."
Saying that, Sepi leaned against one side of the automatic carriage. I bowed slightly and entered through the open door.
There, the captain in uniform was waiting for me in a stiff posture, with both hands placed on her knees.
I closed the door. Along with that, I also closed the small window towards the coachman's seat. It was a quiet night, but when all the doors and windows were closed, an even more oppressive silence descended.
The captain just stared at me silently without saying a word, even after seeing me.
'Actually, it was strange from the beginning. An affluent life, a relaxed attitude, a wide network, and various coping abilities to the extent that one wouldn't think they were from District 15. Why didn't I doubt it from the start?'
Now.
'Or maybe, I just didn't want to doubt. Because he was an ordinary person, perhaps I wanted to savor that daily life even a little more. I'm also disqualified as a soldier.'
I must face the captain.
'But, that is now over too.'
I finished my thoughts, and I've also chosen my words.
The captain opened her mouth first.
"Are you the one known as the Magician?"
"Ah, that. It's just a trivial nickname."
I smiled ambiguously, affirming her guess. Having come this far, there's nothing I can do. It's better to pretend to be someone somewhat capable than to make the excuse that the person who committed all these acts was an insignificant petty criminal.
Even if it's an alias full of bluff.
The captain swallowed hard and pressed me.
"Your actions are clearly illegal. After a few days of investigation, I have captured criminal circumstances suspected to be your actions."
Her words are still stiff. This is why principleists are like this.
Principleists must be dealt with using principles. I shrugged and said.
"Do you have evidence?"
Even though asking confidently if there's evidence might make her hesitate a little, the captain still kept her blade sharp.
"Magician. There are plenty of circumstances to specify your actions. Even if only one-tenth of the rumors about the Magician is true, the day you finish serving your sentence will never come."
"A military state captain throwing people in prison just based on rumors? Come on, even for the military state, that's not right."
"There is also testimony. Three days ago, there are circumstances where you privately sanctioned the criminal who attacked Anna."
"I said bring evidence, not circumstances."
When I said it shamelessly, picking my ear, the captain furrowed her brow and pressed me.
"My testimony as a captain immediately becomes evidence. I witnessed a death incident right before my eyes. That person mentioned the Magician right until the moment before they died, with spices in their stomach. If you are the Magician, there is a strong connection suspected of leading that person to death."
"Huh? I simply retrieved the spices that were taken from me."
There's no way I'd pour something that expensive into a stomach. I took out the golden spices from my pocket and shook them. Seeing my spices, the captain was at a loss for words.
"That is...?"
'Clearly, they spoke as if there were spices in their stomachs...'
What nonsense. There's no way all of that went down the throat of a resisting person. It's just the result of me playing around by slightly intimidating them with a perfectly round card.
What he swallowed down his throat was nothing but a beer bottle cap.
"By any chance, did that person slit his own stomach because he felt sorry for the spices? Surely he's not that much of an idiot."
"..."
"Whoa. What. Did someone slit his stomach by any chance?"
Wait a minute. Really? How could someone think of slitting a person's stomach? Truly without blood or tears.
'Recalling my memory, he was clutching his stomach... That action was not because he ate spices, but because his stomach was stabbed...'
Ugh, how gruesome. For a person with sensitive sensibilities like me, it's a horrific scene I don't even want to imagine. A person isn't packaging, how could they think of cutting them open to take it out.
'A simple... prank...? Or, did you induce that to create the situation itself? What on earth is the true intention...?'
"Oh right, Captain, there's something much more important than that sort of thing."
Let's stop the talk disadvantageous to me and start with the advantageous talk.
Towards the captain who was asking with doubtful eyes, I said confidently.
"You should say thank you to me. Because I took care of what the military state couldn't solve."
The captain was speechless. It seemed she still hadn't understood, so I kindly explained.
"Thanks to you going around trying to block the shadows, I also roughly figured out the enemy's identity and goal. But oh my. The people who were connected to me were in danger, right? So I had no choice but to act first. I infiltrated their ranks, made them mistake the execution date to be today, and while the unprepared raid was proceeding, I warned my acquaintances."
When a surprise attack is no longer a surprise attack, the effect is greatly reduced. If there is no force intentionally trying to intervene like the shadows, their attack will end at the level of a simple commotion. Like other normal incidents.
My prediction hit the mark. More than half of the groups gathered after being incited were annihilated without even achieving half of their goal.
"The result is exactly this! Thanks to this, the peace of the back alleys is protected! What happens today will only be recorded as a simple happening! This is all thanks to my efforts!"
The captain roughly grasped all those situations with the surveillance golems while riding the automatic carriage. The military state's back alleys were noisy, rowdy, and chaotic today, but a commotion as big as expected didn't occur.
A commotion that was noisy but not that big, enough to be glossed over if it passed like this.
"...However. The situation is not over."
Yet, the captain's complexion did not soften.