EP.236 I Have Witnessed
Initially, the Resistance was a kingdom restoration army centered around local lords. Back then, they had the spare capacity, courage, and morale. They also had the ambition to become the saviors of the kingdom, so they didn't even need royal blood to fight back.
However, too much time had passed. The Military Nation solidified its power based on a systematic framework. They won consecutive victories in the ensuing civil wars. The Resistance, unable to break free from the outdated mindset of the kingdom, was inevitably pushed back, completely routed and driven into a corner.
It was around that time that the Resistance brought the princess. Since they would collapse on their own without a focal point, they tried to rally around her.
The princess accepted her destiny, but just as they did not respect her, she did not trust the Resistance either. Since the princess couldn't coexist with the Military Nation anyway, following her duty was the only path left.
That doesn't mean the Resistance simply collapsed. There was a positive factor as well.
Triggered by the Hameln incident, young people abandoned by the Military Nation joined the Resistance in droves. Thanks to them, a new wind was blowing within the Resistance, but... it was a terminally ill life forcefully stitched together from mismatched limbs.
The knights, the powerholders of the old era, and the youths resisting unjust authority couldn't possibly get along.
The knights view the youths as their vassals or private soldiers. They think that if they tear down this nation and take them under their command, that alone would be sufficient compensation.
In contrast, the youths have never even dreamed of restoring the monarchy. Their goal is the realization of a better ideal, or endless revenge and struggle. To reform the Military Nation, or completely destroy it. They are only aiming for one of the two.
They cannot understand each other. They are merely gathered under the immediate goal of overthrowing the Military Nation. Their origins, their innate natures, and their perspectives are polar opposites.
Amidst all this chaos, the princess, who was nominally the representative of the Resistance... did not hate the Military Nation.
Ciatie watched the conversation between the princess and the regressor with satisfaction. She was genuinely enjoying herself; the first reason was that it was admirable to see the princess, whom she was somewhat close to, speaking courageously. The second reason was that she obtained important information as a result.
Ciatie quietly listened to the conversation and organized the necessary information.
Command and control center. A corner of the headquarters. Twenty-six communications soldiers.
'If they are communications soldiers, they will surely be with those detestable surveillance golems. Communications soldiers who relay the headquarters' orders wouldn't be exposed to the outside frequently. It's more efficient to communicate through golems. Therefore, it's rational to assume they are in a sparsely populated outer area rather than the central district.'
Ciatie's thought process, filled with hatred, was abnormally developed in areas related to hunting the Military Nation. Like a predator assessing the state of its prey by smelling blood, she pinpointed their weakness almost perfectly with only a few pieces of information.
'Since they use golems, there shouldn't be anything particularly special about their combat capabilities. The number of golems is large, but one person controls dozens. The total number of communications soldiers must be quite small. Twenty-six is by no means a number to be ignored... If I kill them all, would it deal a blow to the Military Nation?'
And she exuded a sinister killing intent.
Historia, who read that killing intent from the closest distance, hardened her face.
"...Ciatie. Stop it."
"Stop what?"
"Don't increase the number of innocent victims. Even if the communications soldiers are pitiful, they aren't any better people."
Ciatie blinked. Unable to believe such words came from a Yukjangseong, Ciatie grabbed her stomach and burst into laughter.
"Aha! Ahaha! The great saintess has graced us! No way, no way! I never thought you'd say such a thing!"
Even in the face of that madness-laced laughter, Historia did not avert her gaze. While laughing to her heart's content, Ciatie continuously shook her head.
"No, Historia. Whether the communications soldiers are pitiful or not doesn't matter at all. Absolutely, not one bit. It doesn't matter! How important they are to the Military Nation, how big of a blow it would be, and whether I can do it—that's what matters!"
"The princess seems to intend to negotiate with them. Are you going to ignore your lord's will?"
"Princess Yellien is not my lord. She's a friend. Just like you and me, a friend with a huge difference in standing!"
Ciatie sat beside Historia and pointed her finger at the princess. At the girl with light pink hair that warmed the heart just by looking at her.
However, contrary to her fragile appearance, the princess's eyes held an unwavering resolve. Ciatie looked at her as if envious.
"Our princess is quite something, right? She really grew up sturdy. She's not a greenhouse flower, but she's not a weed like me either. Hehe. Sometimes I truly feel that her stock is different!"
Historia also inwardly sympathized with those words. Even though neither of them experienced the kingdom, if elegance and nobility were oozing out of her, it meant that aura was innate.
The exact opposite of her, who was rough and violent.
Even considering her position as the representative of the Resistance while doubting the Resistance, how contrasting she was to Historia, who was a Yukjangseong yet harbored doubts about the Military Nation.
If there were polar opposite existences in the world, it would be the princess and Historia....
"You two are really alike. Both born with your respective burdens, and having had the chance to cast them aside, yet unable to do so because you were swept away by sentiment.... How ironic is that?"
"What?"
Ciatie didn't explain further. She just looked at the princess with slightly sunken eyes.
"But the princess is the princess, and I am me. We walk toward the same place, but the goals we want to achieve are different. Maybe we won't get in each other's way. We can just kill them all after the conversation through the communications soldiers is over, right? I can wait that long!"
"Don't repeat the tragedy. A tragedy like Hameln's once was enough."
"Once? Aha, ahahahahahaha! Historia."
Ciatie smiled with twisted lips. At the same time, a prosthetic arm suddenly shot out without any warning and grabbed and twisted Historia's jaw. The two glared at each other from a distance close enough for their noses to touch.
"The tragedy isn't over yet. So, I still have to do it once. That is currently in full swing."
"...It's about time you gave up. I've turned a blind eye to you so many times. That should be enough."
"You should have killed me back then. This is the result of not killing me."
Hehe. Ciatie, who coughed out dry laughter, said with a faint smile.
"I won't die until I ruin the Military Nation, but I'll be satisfied if you kill me. Leaving the biggest scar on your heart means ruining the Military Nation in a way."
"Do you think I'll listen to you?"
"You won't kill me? Keke, then come to the Resistance! A Yukjangseong was actually part of the Resistance, that would give several times greater shock to all the citizens of the Military Nation who respect the daughter of the Military Nation! It's the best scenario!"
"I have no intention of becoming a terrorist like you."
"Who said you'd follow me? Forget the weed, follow the princess whose ideals are at least lofty! Wouldn't an idealist be best beside another idealist? You're not loyal to the Military Nation anyway...!"
"Shut up!"
Historia shouted, but Ciatie was still beaming. Historia, who had been glaring at her as if trying to pierce through her, shook off Ciatie even while tied up and stood up abruptly. With glaring eyes, she strode toward me.
"Huey. Take me with you. To the place where the princess will meet the headquarters in private."
Flustered by the sudden demand, I blinked my eyes.
Historia is a Yukjangseong. She is one of the few valuable hostages to the Military Nation. Originally, I planned to drag her around pretending she was a hostage and then toss her in a corner, but the plan kept getting delayed and was now in danger of being scrapped.
This is why I should have executed the plan when I first made it.
"I'll willingly follow you up to there. I'll swear not to resist, so you can untie me, or no, even tied up is fine, so please take me with you."
I asked cautiously.
"Why? To face the headquarters directly, and if you don't like what you see, you'll betray us?"
"It's not betrayal. I will act. This time, of my own will."
Ciatie's sneering laughter came from behind. The result of the tragedy that occurred because she was late once was still clinging to Historia's back.
To shake that off, Historia begged me with firm resolve.
"I won't regret it like back then. I won't be late. I will see everything with my own two eyes, and judge it myself."
[...You keep gathering more and more baggage. Sigh, what are we going to do about this.]
Tir, who had gone into the coffin to conserve his strength, sighed and muttered thus. I shrugged my shoulders and answered.
"I agree with that, but the more firepower, the better. It won't be much of a problem."
[Why is it only girls that are increasing? The space is already cramped, I'm worried we'll end up just living shoulder-to-shoulder at this rate.]
"You were worried about indecency?!"
Worrying about moral corruption while fighting a nation without caring at all. Is this the mindset of a vampire who has been in conflict with the Holy Empire for over a thousand years? Conflict with a nation is just daily life, how amazing.
Tir didn't even show a hint of tension for the upcoming battle. It seemed he was more concerned about something else.
[Moreover, look at that. Honey is dripping from the princess's eyes as she looks at Shay. In contrast, Shay's eyes are completely indifferent.]
Where Tir clicked his tongue and pointed, the princess was glancing at the regressor and constantly chattering about something.
"I feel strange. Perhaps it's because I was strictly educated, but I actually find men a bit difficult. But with you, sir, my heart is just at ease."
"Ah, well... yeah."
'I'm actually cross-dressing right now. Right. Ugh. I don't want to change my impression now and make her wary...'
That much is an original sin. From the moment you decided to cross-dress from the beginning, you buttoned the first button wrong. Just live as a man this loop.
Tir murmured with a distant look.
[Sigh. Every time I see that, my chest tightens and my throat chokes up. Shay likes men, so how could a child like the princess harbor unrequited feelings...]
...Certainly. Liking men is correct, and having unrequited feelings is also correct.
Misunderstanding or not, that misunderstanding is the regressor's fault. What a bad man—no, what a bad woman.
"Wait. I feel like someone is slandering me somewhere."
Only her useless senses are sharp.
Tir, who had cloaked his surroundings in darkness so the conversation wouldn't be overheard, spoke as if he suddenly remembered something.
[Anyway, that's unexpected. From what I've observed, Shay tends to avoid taking on troublesome tasks, so I thought she would refuse the princess's offer.]
"I agree, but... Shay is strangely kind to certain people."
The regressor possesses such fearsome social skills that she takes everything crookedly and speaks as abrasively as striking flint, but she tends to be infinitely generous to those who became her friends in previous loops.
In fact, in the Abyss, she approached Tirkanjaka, the strongest vampire, without any vigilance from the start. She was also the first to step up when something happened to her.
The princess would be even more so, if anything.
[Sigh, didn't she overly doubt every single one of your actions?]
"Perhaps to compensate for the total amount of patience she uses, she acts even colder to a select few. I guess I was one of those few. It's unfair, so unfair. What's wrong with me."
[Indeed. What part of you is so suspicious that she would do that when you are this trustworthy.]
Huh? Didn't Tir also say I was suspicious when he first saw me?
[You are more fickle than a new bride. How did your attitude change so much?]
"If I had known, I would have taken advantage of it first. I have no idea."
Actually, I do know. I just can't follow through even if I know. To do that, I would have to go back to a previous loop and build a relationship of trust.
Well, I said it as if complaining, but it must be a natural action from the regressor's perspective. It's just because I can't read the memories of the previous loops, but the regressor must have experienced various events and gained all sorts of experiences in the past loops.
No matter how a new loop started, the memories and experiences from back then still remain, so the level of intimacy is bound to be different.
"Anyway, is it really okay for you, Tir, to help us? The Military Nation is a country in conflict with the Holy Empire; aren't you losing an ally?"
[Since when was a human nation an ally of vampires? I have seen nations that fought the Holy Empire while I was alive, but I have never seen a nation that formed an alliance with us. At best, a non-aggression pact was all there was.]
"Still, isn't it a bit burdensome to fight a nation all by yourself?"
[Shay is working hard to save the world, and you are doing the same, are you not? It wouldn't hurt for me to lend a hand.]
Tir, who spoke kindly, slightly opened the lid of the coffin. I made eye contact with the vampire, who was wearing a soft smile through the narrow gap.
[I am cheering for you. Even if the world forsakes you, I alone will help you.]
The sincere declaration of the Progenitor Tirkanjaka. It's reassuring. There was no need to doubt, but to better understand those feelings, I read his thoughts with telepathy.
'If you end up making a huge enemy of the nation and being chased... we will become each other's only place to lean on. From then on, whether you like it or not, we'll keep staying together. Isn't that romantic?'
Huh? What does that mean? What romance is there in the life of a fugitive? It's just barbarism.
Wait a minute. The reason Tir keeps cheering for my or the regressor's catastrophic paths, and the reason he helps me do whatever I want... could it be...?
"Tir. In this attack on the headquarters, are you planning to obliterate them entirely, or are you thinking of just teaching them a lesson and pulling out?"
Tir answered as if it were obvious.
[How would destruction and chaos help the world? Let's just give them a stern warning and flee. Recklessly playing with a nation and its fate is an irresponsible act.]
"But won't the ones left behind chase me?"
[Do not worry. I will protect you.]
'Enough, for a long time.'
I broke out in a cold sweat on my back. Perhaps, without anyone noticing, I was the one who fell into a trap.