EP.256 The Nation of Steel and the Faceless Humans - 5
Right up until the moment they entered the deepest control room, the Returnee and Historia could not reach a conclusion. Anyone else, not just them, would have fallen into a similar dilemma.
The Returnee shouted a line she had likely repeated countless times by now.
"I'm telling you, just killing them all recklessly isn't the answer!"
Historia countered with a similar tone.
"There's no other way. What, can't you kill a helpless opponent? Do they have to stand up and duel you before you can kill them? Look at you, acting like some knight."
"No, it's basically a delayed execution either way. There's no way something like that will end well. If we wipe out the Alchemic Steel Refinery entirely, eventually they'll end up dragging in innocent people too, you know?"
"Not a knight, but a prophet now? Did you see the future or something?"
"Yeah... No! I'm saying you can't solve anything with such a simple method!"
Because it didn't lead to a fight, it was an endless dispute. Faced with a problem that had neither justice nor a right answer, the two engaged in all sorts of arguments, but a conclusion was not easily reached.
'Carapald' panicked and pointed to the iron door at the end of the long hallway.
"Um, that is the deepest control room, but..."
Xiati pulled his arm and stopped Carapald, who was trying to intervene between the two who were growling at each other.
"Carapald. Step back for now."
"It doesn't seem like there's room for me to step in. What should we do? Should the Princess have been here?"
"...Even if she were, it probably wouldn't have made much difference. They aren't people who listen to the Princess's orders."
"This is troublesome."
'Carapald' smiled inwardly while making a troubled face.
The Alchemic Steel Refinery was a facility so cruel that even the military nation's soldiers clicked their tongues at its brutality. One could guess its horrors from the fact that those moving while chained were considered to be receiving relatively good treatment.
What they saw in the next building were prisoners screaming while trapped in small cages. Their left arms were stretched outside, and funnels were attached to their bio-terminals.
Molten alchemic steel drops onto the funnel. It falls in drops, but the sound is as dull as a falling stone. Then, the molten iron spreads through the body, absorbs a massive amount of mana, makes a full circuit, and returns to the bio-terminal. The Fruit of Steel forms on his wrist.
The sinners must pluck it off quickly, even if just to survive. Otherwise, their arms will snap under the gradually increasing weight.
The alchemic steel that falls onto the rails is then carried off somewhere.
The above process is mechanically repeated until the day's forced labor shift is over.
'Over there! Save me! Please, I'll do anything!'
'R-release me! I'll never commit a crime again! I'll live a good life!'
Cries for salvation swept over them, but the party, unable to reach a conclusion, ignored them and passed by. Then, the pleas for help turned into pouring curses. The Returnee and Historia left all that hell behind and reached the deepest control room.
They were not weak enough to suffer mental wounds from just that. However, it was reason enough to agonize over.
"Above all. They're people who have already paid for their crimes once in this manner. It feels a bit wrong for us to just kill them on a whim here."
"You're committing terrorism against a military nation, yet you need all these reasons. It's obvious how much Huey suffered trying to accommodate your stubbornness."
"Why is that guy coming up all of a sudden? It has nothing to do with this!"
Would they know?
That all the scenes shown to them were, in fact, exquisitely designed by Siegdrund, who was playing the role of 'Carapald'.
He secretly gauges their reactions. Reading emotions without looking directly at them is his specialty. After distinguishing between positive and negative reactions, if one side's reaction seems to weaken, he weaves a new route to compensate for it.
Eventually, the two's opinions completely split, leading to a clash against each other.
'Conflict, confrontation, and agony. A perfect story. As expected, no luxurious stage, no theater with a grand audience, can compare to a stage set against the backdrop of this vast world.'
'Carapald' briefly recalled his very old self.
The vassal states of the Empire were vassal states in name only; in reality, they were no different from colonies. Food, property, culture, even people. The vassal states had to offer tribute to the Empire to maintain their survival.
Among the tributes offered to the Empire, cultural assets received the most attention. Requiring no particular cost, fully satisfying the vanity of the Empire's high-ranking officials, culture with unique characteristics was the foremost tribute of the vassal states.
Especially recently, the most talked-about was the theater. To win the tribute competition, the vassal states often ran theater troupes directly from the state.
The most important thing in a theater troupe was, naturally, the actors.
To pull off all kinds of roles, one needed the corresponding ability. Outstanding memory, persistent observation that digs into the subject, physical ability capable of reenacting heroic tales on stage, the adaptability to utilize learned knowledge, and so on.
Before he was called Yingui, he was an actor who wouldn't be outshined anywhere.
'However, in a vassal state that had to watch the Empire's mood, I couldn't actually reflect reality. I was a half-corpse who only lived on stage.'
The official from the Empire openly took bribes. But no one could criticize him for it. Rather, they were in a position where they had to package the bribe as not a bribe, lest they offend him.
Siegdrund found that fact 'absurd'.
Unfairness, or grievance. There wasn't a single ounce of rebellious spirit that swallowed indignation before power.
It was just absurd, that's all.
If he were ashamed, he shouldn't take bribes. If he was greedy for wealth, he could just gladly take it.
However, his appearance of acting aloof and superior on the outside while receiving all sorts of entertainment behind the scenes was so absurd that Siegdrund ridiculed him to the fullest. Hanging a petty mustache and with ridiculous acting, he made him the laughingstock of the masses.
It was an expression of the witty nature that every artist possesses, but the result was disastrous.
'Ahahaha! I didn't know back then! That thanks to that, I would be doomed to wander the world.'
His long life as an actor was of great help. By acting calmly even in front of the terrifying pursuers sent by the Empire, he managed to overcome several crises.
Changing his face. Moving his residence. Altering his clothes. Changing his attitude. Even uprooting all his connections.
Around the time he was forgetting who his real self was.
Somehow knowing, 'She' came looking for him.
'Saying she wanted to eradicate injustice in a newly born nation and asked for my help! Ahahaha! What nonsense. I don't particularly like incorruptibility, you know!'
But Siegdrund accepted the offer. It was an inevitable choice for him, who was exhausted after a long period of being pursued.
The threat to his life was a threat, but above all, it was to protect his ego. Because Siegdrund was a born actor, he had dozens of personas and overwrote himself again and again. Thanks to his incredibly great acting, he escaped crises, but as a result of changing his identity so often, he reached a point where he could barely remember what his original self was.
However, 'She', who came looking for 'himself'—not as one of his dozens of personalities, but as the collective term for all of them—was an anchor that defined himself.
'Oops! Almost forgot again. Let's focus. I'm focusing. I won't forget. I am Yingui Siegdrund, disguised as Carapald.'
'Carapald', having reined in his mind, once again pictured an image in his heart. Average build, average bone structure. The face of a man like a blank canvas, with no distinctive features or special impressions. The body of Siegdrund he must return to once his performance as 'Carapald' ends.
The anchor of his ego, created to protect himself among countless personalities and identities.
Siegdrund, having started his act again, joyfully observed the actors before him. The conflict he had created was gradually reaching a climax.
Normally, a third party's mediation would be necessary at times like this, but unfortunately, there was no one here to mediate between them.
Tir, who was at least relatively rational, urged the two.
[Decide on a direction soon. Otherwise, I'll bring Huey myself. Without Huey, the conversation just won't settle.]
"Tch. Got it. Either way, we're going to destroy this facility itself, right? Before deciding what to do with the forced laborers, let's just smash everything first and then think..."
Just as the Returnee was about to reach a simple and violent conclusion, she sensed a presence from across the way and frowned. Changing her expression in an instant, the Returnee glared beyond the sharp iron door and asked 'Carapald'.
"Wait. I sense a presence inside. Hey, is there a guard force inside?"
"...W-well. Since it's an emergency, there might be. I'm not entirely sure either."
'Guard force? There shouldn't be any. Even if the military nation's forces were hiding in here, it wouldn't be of much help, and would rather be noise interfering with the conflict between the roles. The scene where ambushing forces appear is much later.'
Everyone's minds became urgent. Now that an unknown interferer had appeared, there was no time to be fighting amongst themselves.
Though it was unwelcome to Siegdrund.
"Let's go in! I'm entering first!"
The Returnee thrust her twin swords forward and bolted. Reaching the opposite corridor in just two strides, the Returnee kicked the iron door with the same momentum she had built up while running. The kick, imbued with plenty of qi, mercilessly dented the Level 3 Alchemic Steel iron door.
"Who's there...! Huh?"
The Returnee was about to swing her swords immediately but came to a halt.
It was a space filled with complex machinery and unfamiliar noise. The sound of iron clashing against iron rang out loudly. Perhaps because machines, unlike humans, do not need light to move, the entity standing in the middle of the deepest control room, dimly lit by faint illumination, was...
None other than me.
I, who had run outside earlier saying I couldn't bear this tragedy anymore, revealed myself in the deepest part.
"Huey? How are you here... Did you get ahead of us?"
[Huey? You came at the right time.]
Soon after, Tir, Historia, Xiati, and 'Carapald' appeared one after another. Everyone was surprised by my entrance, but only to that extent. Since I was an ally from the start, there was no need to be on guard at all.
However, only 'Carapald' felt an ominous flow and shuddered.
"Why... are you coming out of there?"
'Why is a role that exited once over there? This isn't in the script...!'
Receiving everyone's gazes all at once, in the space where the dim illumination wrapped around me.
I put force into my voice and spoke heavily.
"You came earlier than I expected. I wanted to finish this before you all arrived."