EP.227 Hello? I am the Sleep Fairy
Tyr, who had been getting teased by me, readily accepted the proposal as soon as an excuse arose.
[Yes. It's been a long time anyway. Let's switch places!]
Instantly, darkness covered my eyes. When I regained my vision, Azi was blinking.
With this, the order was Ria, Tyr, Azi, me, and the Regressor. Stuck right in the middle, Azi seemed uncomfortable and struggled as he shouted.
"Woof! Me, outside! I want out!"
"Azi. Don't say ridiculous things. Even with Tyr's darkness, the Military State's searchlights are ghostly at catching human figures."
To think the biggest reason they developed ultra-high-performance lighting was to catch deserters. There's no comedy quite like it.
The Inner Circle is the most developed part of the Military State, yet simultaneously the Military State's darkness teeming with exploited humans. A secret land gathering only the essence of the Military State.
Because of that, we must move secretly. Outside, whether day or night, it's full of people struggling under harsh forced labor, and searchlights monitoring them in case they try to escape.
However.
"Woof woof! It's cramped! Awoooo! Guarantee my spatial rights!"
"Phew. Being active is good because there's no relocation stress, but at times like this, it'd be more convenient if you liked tight spaces like a cat."
What do I do with this.
The King of Beasts is a conceptual existence and does not lose its generality. Dogs act like dogs, and cats act like cats.
Just as Nabi throws a fit but ultimately loves dog-peppermint magic tobacco, burrows into tight spaces, and converses with humans but shows no mercy if things go wrong. Azi has his own personality too.
In the meantime, Nabi must have woken up too, as a satisfied purring voice came from the box at my feet.
"Meow. A stupid woof-woof who can't keep it together unless moving... How pitiful. How sad. Keep your dignity like meow."
"Woof! Only she's comfortable!"
That's a relief, at least. If Nabi had thrown a fit too, we wouldn't have been able to move so smoothly. It's better for Azi to feel cramped than for you to throw a tantrum. At least there's no bloodshed.
Nabi's attitude is too sharp to be called friendly... but actually, it's Azi who's weird for not harming humans. If a beast approaches without hesitation and immediately tries to commune, they're practically a best friend.
If it were a normal beast, it would run far away to the point of being completely invisible... or, the moment it reveals itself, its death is decided in most cases.
Why would the lords of all creation bother gathering dogs and cats for no reason? Or maybe they do it because there's no other answer.
"Woof! Violent cat, comfortable! Good me, uncomfortable! Unfair! Awooooo!"
"Just bear with it a little. It's only one night."
"Awoo! Violence, consideration! Non-violence, neglect! Woof woof!"
"Sigh. Just throwing a tantrum. So what?"
"Two eyes, two ears! Answer, show of force!"
"Wait. The conclusion is weird, isn't it?"
This dog only exercised every day and now he's turned into an activist! This won't do. Time for a convenient tool!
"Alright! Take your shares or whatever and calm down!"
"Woof! 10%!"
"Yeah, take it!"
"Woof, got it!"
And then Azi meekly folded his ears and clamped his mouth shut as if nothing had happened. I tilted my head.
"I feel like I just got outmaneuvered by a pressure group."
"Woof! No! Just compensation!"
"For you to say just compensation for what you did... you actually did do a lot of this and that. Hmm."
Come to think of it, when we used Nabi to subdue Historia, we utilized Azi's nature too. Just getting him to side with me over Historia at that time was practically a huge deed.
Right, give the useless shares to the dog. Azi is the one who just threw a tantrum when the Military State declared default despite having a pact with them. Even if I come out acting like I'll slit my belly, he wouldn't actually slit his. He'd die if he did.
Cheering Azi up wasn't that difficult from the start, but it feels good to get a free carrot!
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Unaware of my inner thoughts, Azi moved vigorously. Ah, wait. Moving like that in a tight space hurts....
[...King of Dogs. Stop wagging your tail. The fluttering is annoying.]
"Woof woof?"
[No, it's fine. I'll just use a trick.]
Swish.
Darkness obscured my front. I felt my body being swept away somewhere for an instant. When my vision returned, what I saw before my eyes now was... the wall of the coffin.
The current order is Azi, Tyr, Ria, Regressor, me. Azi's tail faced the edge of the coffin.
[I should have sent the King of Dogs to the edge from the start. So noisy...]
It was a valid choice, but as a result, the Regressor and Historia ended up lying face-to-face. Of all combinations, it had to be this. Mixing them up randomly really brings out all sorts of situations.
Historia spoke while chewing hard on her cigarette.
"Ancestor. Thanks for moving me, but this is a bit much. Isn't this too stimulating for a kid?"
"What stimulation!"
As the saying goes. Historia's arms are still tied. She's bound in a coffin with no room to move, wearing only a shirt. We only stripped her outer clothes because we had to put them on the dummy to use as bait.
However, the clothing packet could be taken off even while tied up, but couldn't be put on. So she was left without any clothes over it.
She doesn't look comfortable. She's learned Qigong, so her body won't break down or anything, but even for Historia, being tied this tightly must hurt.
But the Regressor immediately crushed such complaints.
"Hmph, then you should have left when I offered to send you back earlier. You asked to come along just because I said I'd return your body safe and sound."
"Better to be a prisoner than bait. At least I won't drag our allies down."
"Red words are bait. The cipher you used. Didn't that drag us down?"
Historia closed her mouth.
Red words are bait. The military braille cipher she personally typed with her fingers.
It was a clue, but it was demonic information that restricted the opponent's thinking. It was obvious how the Military State, which considered it a decisive clue, would react. Yet Historia typed it without a single moment of hesitation.
Thinking he had cornered her, the Regressor provocatively goaded Historia.
"Right. You didn't lie. Because it was actually bait. But... as you know. The Military State, having read that, would naturally think we're still in the Belt, right?"
"...Right. I didn't know."
"Aha, you didn't know. Is that your excuse?"
Historia couldn't even answer and averted her eyes. Ooh. Regressor. Season 1 argument victory?
"What could it be? A Military State Six-Star General following us, and being so passive about it?"
"...What do you think?"
"Shall I guess?"
'As expected, it's certain. This guy isn't loyal to the Military State. The other Six-Star Generals, except for Juechang, are mostly in a position to be loyal, but this guy pretends to be more sincere than anyone else, yet could abandon the Military State at any time...'
Glance. The Regressor slightly tilted his head and glanced toward me.
'Probably, the Hameln incident and this guy had an influence? Hameln is a huge incident, but it's probably not just that. What kind of influence? I know they were close, but... could it be?'
Uh, wait. I feel like the thoughts are running wild again. Regressor, stop thinking for a sec....
Before my thoughts could turn into action, the Regressor lowered his voice at his sudden thought and asked subtly.
"By any chance, were you... in a relationship with this guy?"
If this was a talent, it was a talent. A talent to change the atmosphere with a single word.
Silence visited the coffin. Originally, a coffin is a place that holds the dead, and since the dead speak no words, perhaps it was only natural.
Historia, having heard an out-of-nowhere question, only blinked her eyes, gauging his intent as to what he was even talking about.
But the Regressor's eyes only held pure curiosity. Well, it was closer to the Regressor's unique information gathering for the next cycle.
'Is it true? Even when the Resistance revolted and created the Republic, only this guy was strangely passive. It was similar even when the Military State was destroyed by another nation and the New Kingdom was established... Geez, could it really be because of a man?'
Actually, it's not entirely because of me. I did provide the catalyst, though.
But Historia's personality wasn't exactly great either. With an inscrutable smile, she spoke while casting her gaze slightly downward.
"...Right. My lingering attachments dropped away completely, so I went and sold out my country and came."
"Uh, really? For real?"
"Would I have a reason to lie?"
It's a rhetorical technique of "It's not a lie." I've used it a lot, so I know.
It's true that her lingering attachments dropped away, but not because we dated! The kind of lingering attachment Historia had is not that kind!
'Uh? Really? It was real? W, wow! Come to think of it, I've never heard a story about the Commander being involved with anyone! That?!'
The Regressor, who asked himself but still thought "no way," asked with sparkling curiosity.
"Did you date? Since Hameln? What grade?"
"Well. It's hard to say for sure. We were so close, and for so long, that I can't gauge when we became like that."
"Wow, ah."
That's enough of the insinuation, Historia. I intervened before the situation got out of hand.
"Hey! Stop making a normal person sound weird! We never had that kind of relationship in the first place, so of course I can't gauge it!"
When I shouted, the Regressor turned his head back and yelled.
"The coffin is ringing! It's loud, so irrelevant people should stay quiet!"
"Excuse me? It's my story we're talking about, and I'm irrelevant?"
Anyway. The Regressor lost interest in me and focused solely on Historia. What is this? It feels like he doesn't trust my words... Did I tease him so much until now that it doesn't work anymore?
To do that and then listen to Historia's story. You've made the wrong choice.
"S, so? How did you get to know each other?"
"We were cadets who enrolled at the same time. We knew each other from the start. Plus, Lankart, Hui, and I were all famous as geniuses from the moment we enrolled... So we secretly saw each other as rivals."
Rivals my foot. I was the overwhelming 1st place. Who 2nd place was changed depending on the national situation and judgment criteria, but there was no debate about 1st place.
"Who was 1st place?"
"It was close, but 1st was always Hui. I was always 2nd."
"Tch, was that real?"
'I hoped it was a bluff!'
Impure thoughts, you grade-schooler. I don't deceive your judgment, but I don't deceive the information. I don't even need false information to deceive you.
"I tried to beat Hui, putting in effort, focusing, and exploring... and then, I suppose I got tainted."
"W, wow."
See. It's useless. He just believes it and falls into the story. This won't do. I don't know if it'll work, but let's try to stop it.
"Um, Mr. Shay."
"I told you it's loud!"
"I was talking quietly..."
Tsk. Fine. Chew on it all you want. However you get tricked, I won't care...
'Ahem. A story about Hui's past... Well, for someone like Hui, they must have been courted by many... The feeling is subtle, but let's hear it for now.'
Are you sure I don't need to care? It's already hard to act in this narrow coffin, and if weird rumors spread, it'll be troublesome!
No one acknowledged my anxiety, and the Regressor kept prying.
"...B, but that's the Intermediate Military Academy? You all stay in the same place and the instructors are monitoring you, so how can you date?"
"If you want to, there are many ways. Like during free sparring, designating each other as opponents and sparring. Getting to know each other while fighting until we're drenched in sweat."
"Wow..."
'That's... quite romantic.'
Romantic? Is your brain made of muscles too? Did the meaning of romantic change to a one-sided beating relationship these days?
"We also shared a magic tobacco that one of us was smoking..."
"Uh? You put magic tobacco in your mouth and smoke it, right?"
"Phew. Right, how did we do it?"
"Th, that. Indirect..."
'Waaa. That gives me a slightly fluttering feeling...'
This is bad. The Regressor fell for his own trap and his mode slightly shifted. Where did the Regressor mode that was trying to ruthlessly extract information for the next cycle go? Have you fallen for a fabricated story?
'Is that really true...! Sharing a magic tobacco you were smoking!'
In the meantime, a dark aura rolled in from over there. It was Tyr.
Ah, there's one more person here who fell for the fabricated story. But what's the big deal with sharing magic tobacco...
'When in front of me, you were stingy with even a single drop of blood. You made a fuss over even the slightest injury, and yet! You have such a cheap mouth!'
Tyr, who had been pretending not to care but only perking up his ears to listen closely to this conversation, shot his hurt feelings at me.
No, what does that have to do with this? Not all bodily fluids are blood, okay? I don't use blood like saliva like a vampire. And why use the expression "cheap mouth" here?
Besides! She just unilaterally snatched my magic tobacco and smoked it, so I couldn't resist! This is unjust!
In the meantime, wherever did the Regressor's thought of getting information about his opponent go, he was now asking questions with genuine immersion.
"They said at the Military Academy, from the moment you open your eyes until you go to sleep, you have to follow a set schedule, so aren't there times you can't meet?"
"Hui and I had a special curriculum. We were exempt from a few subjects, and had plenty of free time. We shared that time."
"Wow..."
Shared?
When I tried to make free time in the morning to sleep in, she immediately jumped in, arbitrarily changing it saying we need to exercise after meals! I suffered from stomachaches every day because I had to exercise right after eating!
Regressor, don't just take that at face value!
'If I had also gone to the intermediate academy... Heh. Once, in the distant past that I can't even remember, I used to yearn for the intermediate academy, and I used to marvel at the news that a Commander only a few years older than me became a Six-Star General... But look. Now she's my prisoner, tied up right before my eyes. And she's even telling a story about a normal school life.'
This is bad. He's now reached the point of comparing it to his own memories. If it gets like this, he can't escape on his own...! From this black hole-like pajama talk!
Smiling self-deprecatingly as he recalled memories that wouldn't return, the Regressor suddenly had a question.
"Huh? Wait. Then why were you trying to catch this guy?"
"Why, you ask. Because of lingering attachment, I said."
"No, there was no need to bring an army."
Reaching that question, even Historia pondered for a moment. Because the question had reached her true feelings.
But in the end, recalling that I was also listening in this coffin, Historia spoke to me through the Regressor.
"...At Hameln, Hui leisurely ran away alone then too. If I were alone, I might miss him again, and also... he had to be questioned."
"Falling into the river with the students? That's terrible, but didn't you just hear it? Effectively, the Military State killed them, so why are you trying to question this guy about it?"
"That's..."
Stopping mid-sentence, Historia chewed hard on the magic tobacco. From the unlit herb, she could only feel a charred bitter taste.
But taste is memory. One searches for tastes in memories, and reminisces about memories within tastes. To Historia, magic tobacco meant that time.
"162 people disappeared at once. Except for a few who dropped out along the way or chose a different path, my entire class evaporated. Graduation became an occasion to recall the empty seats. The kids who shared memories and painted the future sank to the bottom of the river. Sometimes when I turn my head and look at the river flowing far away, I feel like I'm sinking deep as well."
Even without smoking the magic tobacco, Historia's focus became hazy for a moment. As if looking at a distant place that wasn't here.
"Dying like that, it's wrong. It wasn't just one or two. For so many children... to die without even trying to survive, it's weird. If the Military State had killed them instead... I might have felt disillusioned by it. But that kind of method shouldn't exist."
Historia didn't wish for her peers to die. She was different from Nicholas or Lankart.
Nicholas saw students as a part of the Military State, believing he could 'process' them like trimming hair or nails. He took it for granted to use students as materials on his own arbitrary decisions.
Lankart put no value on them at all. Was it his business if a pebble by the lake washed down the river? Whether they lived, died, or struggled, it was outside his interest.
However, since I was with them, and he couldn't bring himself to dismiss me—who appeared smarter than him—as a fool, he merely tried to test me in his own unique way.
"But... I'm not sure. Even thinking like this now might be because I felt something from that sight."
In contrast, Historia searched for a being she could share her heart with.
In other words, she was lonely. She wanted those inferior to her to follow her to her side. Even if they lacked talent and had little stamina, she wanted them to desperately catch up.
...It's just that her expectations were too high, and she was continuously disappointed.
"Still, that wasn't it. It must be a plan that shouldn't even be recalled. If only you had told me before that..."
She couldn't even declare that something would have been different. Because right before that incident, Historia had received a request for help from me, and had come right up to my nose.
She turned back because she didn't want to ruin her peers, or this graduation exercise, something.
A terrible regret where one can't even assume the 'what ifs'.
'If I had known all the before and after. If I had known that... would I. Would I still have helped them? Would I, born and raised in the Military State, have made the same choice as I do now?'
While such poignant words filled with genuine emotion were exchanged, the Regressor noticed something and made a strange face.
"Huh? You speak as if you saw that scene yourself?"
"Ah."
At those words, Historia snapped out of her reverie. With the magic tobacco still in her mouth, she muttered while somehow managing to roll over despite her uncomfortable posture.
"...Enough. I'm just a prisoner. Think whatever you want about the rest."
"Uh? Wait! Still...!"
The questions keep getting longer. This won't do. Special measures. I have to end this conversation.
I leaned close to the Regressor's ear and whispered as creepily as possible.
"Good night, Mr. Shay."
"Heugh?!"
Wow. I only transmitted my voice, but he arched his back and shuddered. Is this the sensitivity of a stimulated Regressor?
"W, what are you!"
"What am I? I'm the Sleep Fairy. Since another tough day awaits us tomorrow, you should say good job to me today. Now, everyone go to sleep. Meeting adjourned!"
[...I don't necessarily need to sleep.]
"Tyr, you're the elder, so what were you doing while the kids stayed up until this hour? Reflect on yourself! You should take care of the kids' sleep! Just because you don't sleep at night, does that mean you should wake the kids up?"
I abruptly scolded him and forcefully ended the conversation. Grumblings popped up here and there, from the Regressor here and Tyr over there, but I ignored them and forced a lights-out. When I covered the small light source attached to the head of the coffin with my finger, darkness arrived.
'You keep recycling the lines you used when you were class president... You don't seem to have changed much, Hui.'
Now even I'm starting to feel weird. Historia, were you really my ex-girlfriend?