EP.229 An Ordinary Life
'I' must live an ordinary life.
However, she who forced an ordinary life upon me could not answer 'me' as to what an ordinary life is.
It's only natural. Life itself is ordinary. All the processes between birth and death are life, so what can be defined as ordinary?
Nevertheless, she had to place a yoke on 'me'. Having reached the end of possibility through repeated questions and answers over an immense span of time, she devised one method.
That is....
Historia poured out her emotions, but her complaints had a clear limit. And what was that?
"I rolled and tumbled in the back alleys to survive..."
The fact that my past was just as unfortunate. Historia closed her mouth.
Whatever her mental anguish, Historia advanced triumphantly and was promoted to General. In the meantime, she had to carry out countless missions such as eliminating kingdom remnants, executing spies, busting secret organizations, and keeping other nations in check, but it was truly the path of a general. A brilliant career followed.
Compared to that, how about me? To survive, I had to work in the back alleys of Gunguk, damaging my body and mind, and even my conscience and law-abiding spirit, through emotional labor, physical labor, mental labor, and illegal labor. I hit the jackpot by successfully latching onto a good patron to leech off, but it still took quite a long time to fully settle down.
"I just wanted to live an ordinary life! Do you know how hard it is for a drifter without even a citizen registration to settle in the capital? It's true I didn't contact you... but originally, a gutter life living ordinarily in the back alleys can't even meet a General, let alone the Six Generals. You just can't meet them through ordinary methods."
Everyone has different reasons for hardship. Trying to compare who lived a harder life between the two of us ultimately turns into ugly whining. Let alone us two, whose power and status are completely different, we can't even understand each other's kinds of hardship.
Historia also knew that fact, so she accepted it without a word.
'...I took out the frustration from my worsened mood because of that kid on Hui. Calm down.'
Piously inhaling the smoke of a mana herb cigarette as a proven way to calm her mind, Historia brought up the business as if nothing had happened.
"...So. What are you going to do from now on? If you say you'll cross the border and flee like this, I'm willing to let you go without a fuss."
"How will you let us go without a fuss?"
"Delay the report, return late, and inflate your forces. Then Gunguk will give up the chase."
"Will Gunguk give up? If they were going to just stand by after losing us, wouldn't they not have blocked us in the first place?"
Gunguk is rational. The Command, the brain of Gunguk, must be the same. If they are chasing us, there will be a justifiable reason for it.
I don't know that reason. Even when three of the Six Generals gathered, I didn't know. Historia chased us due to a personal matter, but as I casually read with telepathy, neither the Absolute Spear nor the Demon General knew the Command's intentions.
They just followed along with the vague notion that there was such a reason.
Well, if you had forces on the level of the Six Generals, they would tell you even if you forcibly demanded it. Everyone carried out their missions within this vague and faint faith, like a fog.
"...Whatever Gunguk's intentions are, nothing changes. As long as Gunguk leads an army, if you flee across the border, they won't be able to catch up."
"Of course. Bringing an army into another country is war. Not a chase, but a war. Unless they're going to start a war just to catch us."
It was when I confidently declared that they absolutely couldn't catch up...
"...War?"
The regressor blinked her eyes wide. It was the attitude of someone who had forgotten something and dramatically reunited with it. A moment later, her eyes narrowed like a beast encountering an unfamiliar light, and she questioned in an even sharper voice.
"Wait. You said the troops are gathering toward the Far East?"
"Yeah."
"Then what happens to the gathered troops? What becomes of them?"
"The main force under the Six Generals... if the target disappears, they'll have to disband."
"A whole legion gathered on the Meta-Conveyor Belt. Are they really going to just disband without gaining anything? Will they really do that?"
Historia stopped mid-sentence and shut her mouth.
Gunguk is rational. They don't accept unnecessary losses. If it's certain to be a loss from the start, they don't move.
It's a nation where strategic disengagement is not a joke but proudly exists in the manual. Although the military wastes power in real-time to prepare for emergencies, scattering so vainly is a very extreme and meaningless loss.
Then a question arises here.
Why did the Command gather a legion, accepting the massive loss it would incur?
'It's war.'
The regressor clearly saw through the fact that even I couldn't predict at all.
'The legion gathered in the first place wasn't to capture us. They gathered the legion pretending to capture us to wage a war...! We were the bait!'
Was the regressor this smart?
I am a mind-reader. I myself am merely a magician who reads the opponent's predictions in advance and slightly surpasses them. I am not a creator who makes something out of zero, nor a pioneer who leads something at the very forefront of this world.
Just an ordinary user who utilizes what exists a little well.
Reading minds, I can only imagine within the bounds of what everyone else imagines. On the other hand, the regressor, perhaps proving her experience of overcoming death several times was not in vain, saw through Gunguk's intentions with only a few pieces of information.
The regressor who seemed so lacking, to show such a high level of intuition...!
To the point of hurting my pride....
'Because, in the previous round, the first war also happened around this time! The Week War, where all battles ended in just a week!'
Hey.
If you came back from the previous round, you should have remembered it beforehand! Don't just revive your memory now!
The operation failed. Gunguk was deceived.
The generals of Gunguk, who had moved in perfect unison according to the orders handed down by the signalers, felt a great sense of defeat.
No matter how mighty the opponent is, there are only three of them, and two beasts. Compared to that, the number of soldiers gathered now is a total of ten thousand. It's a gap where even counting the ratio is meaningless.
On top of that, a level 5 elite unit, one Bernartern unit, is on standby. A mighty force fully capable of carrying out a war even if it broke out now gathered in the Far East.
However... the enemy's figure had disappeared.
The red horse leading the container stopped running as soon as the sun rose from the east. Blood Stallion Rallion, who looked at the sunlight with dissatisfaction, pointlessly scratched the ground, banged its head against a nearby tree a couple of times, and then whinnied mournfully, "Hee-hiiing—" towards the sky before disappearing.
Rallion failed to fulfill its role as bait. Because those chasing it were only three officers accompanying a communication magic golem.
The red horse is bait.
According to the information found by Gunguk's daughter, Inspector Major General Historia, who infiltrated directly, the container pulled by Rallion is bait to divert Gunguk's attention. Therefore, there is no need to invest forces. Just one communication golem is enough.
That information was accurate.
The container was completely empty, with at most one of Historia's uniforms fluttering like a flag. The rattling container, lacking weight, didn't even show a human shadow except for a crude doll. It was such an insincere bait that if one were fooled, their guts would twist in rage.
The officers successfully carried out their mission to verify the authenticity and immediately reported through the signaler.
However... the main force that received the report was in a gloomy mood.
"...This is bad. The little girl was actually kidnapped."
No matter how long they waited at the Far East staging area, even waiting until the main force that departed later than them joined up, the enemy did not appear.
The legion, having finished their experience as day laborers opening each flowing container one by one, awkwardly joined the main force and was waiting for the next order.
Absolute Spear Partakhion, who led them, was quite at a loss.
"Missing them, I can let that slide, but the little girl being kidnapped is a big deal. They wouldn't kill her, right?"
His adjutant, Colonel Gand, answered the question.
"They won't kill her. If it's the Pied Piper of Hamelin, he is a colleague of Major General Historia, the last survivor of Hamelin. Since they are acquaintances, he won't easily take her life. And..."
"And what? Didn't I tell you not to trail off so frustratingly? Are you on a blind date with me or something?"
"...Please stop saying such nonsense! It's creepy!"
"It's your fault for stuttering so much that I had to resort to this method. So, what?"
"Major General Historia... as the Chief of Staff said, there's a possibility she is helping them. Isn't it strange that she left the code saying the red horse is bait, but left no other clues at all? Perhaps."
As a colonel, and as a single martial artist, Colonel Gand couldn't dare to slander a Six General, so he was careful. Instead, he conveyed the message to the only great person who had the right to do so.
Partakhion understood the meaning and nodded his head greatly.
"I thought this side's little girl was somewhat obedient, but she completely fell for the piper playing a tune. Is this why they say the quiet cat climbs the kitchen shelf first!"
"...Even if the metaphor is like that. What will you do now?"
"We'll have to see the result. When she returns, let's see if there are any lipstick marks."
Even Colonel Gand, who could distinguish between real and fake like a ghost, found it difficult to distinguish his damn master's jokes from his real talk. Colonel Gand pondered the words of his unreliable superior and respected master for a moment, then carefully asked.
"...Master. Is that from experience?"
"Hey, hey! Don't say such disastrous things. That was just a woman's unfounded suspicion!"
At that moment, the Demon General kicked open the door of the temporary command post with majestic strides. She must not have been able to sleep properly due to working day and night, but she spoke to the Absolute Spear with an attitude not much different from when she first flew in.
"Commander Partakhion. An order has come down from the Command."
"What did they say? Where did they find the runaway little girl?"
"Listen to the end. According to the Command's judgment, they have passed through the Inner Circle and gotten ahead of us. It's an order to immediately assemble in the north via the Meta-Conveyor Belt."
"North?"
"Yes. As the Northern Commander, you will take charge of the legion for now."
Absolute Spear tilted his head.
He wasn't surprised by the fact that they had gotten ahead by way of the Inner Circle. It was something the staff officers had already mentioned. Absolute Spear also agreed with this prediction. He even clapped loudly, saying it was a move that exactly struck at the weak point.
The question wasn't that, but about Gunguk, which issued an assembly order even in this situation.
"If they got ahead, isn't it already too late? On top of that, if a large army assembles in the north, the bordering nations will surely react, right? Ah."
Absolute Spear spoke and realized Gunguk's intention himself.
To track down a small number of strong individuals, one must scatter, not concentrate. Like that Empire's Heavenly Net, the basics are to release scouts prepared for death in all directions and slowly narrow the encirclement using their lives as bait.
However, Gunguk concentrated overly, even considering the characteristic of the Meta-Conveyor Belt. What good is a concentrated legion on a narrow road? The number of people who can fight will be small anyway.
But this question was also resolved in an instant.
If the reason for gathering the legion was to gather the legion... it means this chase itself is a play.
Partakhion smiled fiercely.
"Understood. Command, these guys. They're doing something fun... Anyway, they use their heads well."
If this chase was actually a chase play, Partakhion didn't need to feel burdened. Because he had performed his mission excellently. Now he had to prepare for the real battle.
However, the Demon General, who hadn't grasped the situation yet, frowned even more and asked.
"Hmm? Understood? What do you mean?"
"...Are you sure you're a magician, old lady? You seem to be ruining the prejudice that magicians are smart."
"It's not a prejudice, but a bias. Fix it."
"If it's a bias that they're smart, keep it. It's a good thing."
It took a little time to explain to the Demon General, but anyway, war was decided.
Now the fugitives had escaped Gunguk's interest....
The troops gathered in the Far East. Gunguk preparing for war. And us, who escaped the surveillance net.
The empty Command. The signalers, the true identity of the Command.
The regressor, after thinking repeatedly, proposed.
"Let's strike the Command."
I also answered as if I had been waiting for it.
"Sounds good!"