EP.261 The Nation of Steel and the Faceless Humans - 10
The secret to seeing through Ziegfrund's true identity? Needless to say, it's mind reading. As a Six-Star General who personally led by example and participated in the operation, Ziegfrund was no different from an operations officer sticking close to me and kindly explaining the plan.
But a problem arose.
I couldn't reveal his identity without explaining my mind reading.
Ziegfrund's transformation wasn't a Mystery. It was a combination of transformation arts that altered physical structure using qi, the intelligence network of the Military Nation, and wholehearted acting. Though he might have borrowed a few means from Mysteries, it was a feat wrought purely from human skill.
Therefore, neither the Returner nor Tir noticed anything strange about him. The biggest reason being they didn't know who Carapald was in the first place, though.
The same went for me. I hadn't even met Carapald until a few years ago. If I stubbornly insisted that guy was actually a disguised Six-Star General, they'd humor me, but eventually that suspicion would circle right back to me.
But there's no need to unnecessarily invite danger, right? I just had to lure him.
As planned, he bit the bait. The moment Tir was sent out, Ziegfrund targeted me and launched the gamble of his life. Prepared for his disguise to be exposed, he transformed into Historia and attacked us.
Good. Up to this point, it's been a success. Now it's time to bare his true face.
"How did I know? You've got it backwards. We're the ones who are bewildered. Who exactly are you to wear Historia's face and body?"
True to the words, his appearance was identical to Historia. So much so that even Historia herself couldn't find a difference.
Historia, standing as if to protect me, instinctively probed for the enemy while feeling a peculiar sense of unpleasantness.
"It's not just the face and body. Combat techniques, qi too. They're very similar to mine. I can't say there's no difference, but..."
"On the outside, you can't tell them apart, right?"
Having someone perfectly imitate you is quite a blow to your pride. Because it means a substitute for yourself exists.
'Historia' smiled as if mocking herself and spoke with confidence.
"There's nothing I can't tell you. But before that. I'll have an answer to one thing."
Ziegfrund spun around once while wearing Historia's face and body. With a languid expression, soft body lines, yet with disciplined movements unbefitting of them, Ziegfrund rotated lightly and asked me.
"My transformation should have been perfect. So how did you distinguish me?"
"You looked quite similar. But friends as close as me and Historia have a certain atmosphere we sense, you know? I found you through that..."
"No. You didn't waver for even a moment. The gap in reaction between someone who knows and someone who doesn't. Your response clearly transcended that momentary gap."
'Historia' walked over leisurely. Each light step was airy yet unwavering. It seems like Historia's gait... but to me, it looked somewhat bizarre.
"My transformation was perfect. Face, hair, height, bone structure, and even expressions and tone of voice. I imitated every single thing one by one. The inside might be different, but from the outside, you can't tell at all. Yet you figured it out."
"Your confidence is remarkable. Then the inside must be different. We could have set up codes or left marks between us, right?"
"Even if you left marks only you could recognize, you'd at least need time to confirm them. But your eyes didn't linger anywhere. If you don't have something hidden, that's impossible."
I do—mind reading. Plus, as luck would have it, I distinguished you immediately because I read the mind of the person acting.
Ordinary people don't live consciously aware of even their breathing. They walk where their body takes them; they don't calculate how wide their next stride should be or how to shift their weight. That's not a goal to pursue but a result of the body acting naturally.
However, Ziegfrund calculates and reproduces all of that. Gestures, footsteps, vocalization, movement paths, even the surrounding environment. He reproduces everything by microscopically using every muscle that exists. His skill reaches the point of touching upon principles, so ordinary people can't distinguish between acting and reality and end up accepting it as genuine.
But from my perspective, it felt like a script with the title "Historia" blatantly attached and detailed stage directions was walking around.
The face is Historia. But he himself, more than anyone, is conscious that all of this is acting, that his original name is Ziegfrund. Therefore, I don't see him as Historia.
"Something hidden? Of course there is."
But I can't reveal that I use mind reading. I'd rather reveal something else.
Then how should I explain this...? Right, at times like this.
"It's love."
"...?!"
Let me brush it off with a word that's easy to slap on anywhere. Historia was looking at me like I was a crazy person from up front, but I ignored it and shamelessly continued.
"Love is lacking, love. If there's sufficient love, a clear difference would be visible. At the level of intimacy between me and Ria, you'd naturally be able to sense something off from just a trivial gesture."
"That's a lie."
Caught!
Wait. How can you be so sure? You don't have mind reading. Don't be so certain of the truth of my words when you're not a mind reader! I pushed forward shamelessly.
"Prove it."
"Love is an emotion, not a method. It can't be an answer to 'how.' And above all, you..."
Trailing off, Ziegfrund gathered his emotions again. He sets up a virtual Historia in his mind and immerses himself in it.
'The last survivor of Hameln. Advanced triumphantly to become a Six-Star General, but that wasn't the continuation of success—it was the continuation of failure. Operated alone without a deputy and never formed a family. It means her heart still remains in the past. Enough to abandon the position of Six-Star General and head toward the ghosts of the past...'
He creates a personality similar to the current Historia and incorporates it into himself. He changes his voice and overlays it with the subtle gestures and intonations of Historia he's observed thus far.
'But he never came looking for Historia. Even though he must have known she became a Six-Star General. The weight of emotion is different. It tilts toward that side. In that case, the action Historia would take here is...'
It's not perfectly identical, but it's enough to appear so. That is Ziegfrund's way.
Ziegfrund became 'Historia' again.
"Lies! You've never taken me seriously at all! Huey, you haven't come looking for me even once in the past six years!"
Those were clearly words 'Historia' said, but the Historia standing before me empathized intensely and clutched her chest. While standing silently as if to protect me, she was relieved that 'Historia' was voicing her own feelings.
What's the point of her acknowledging it? Everything is exposed.
"Love, you say? Stop spouting nonsense! You've never even thought of me all this time!"
"It's not nonsense. I'm saying if you look with love, the difference is clearly visible."
"What's that difference!"
Tch. If this turns into a fight where I have to present evidence, I'm at a disadvantage since I rely mostly on mind reading for clues. Isn't there some excuse?
It doesn't have to be the truth. If I can make the opponent unable to think of a rebuttal, it's my victory. Hmm, is there anything among the visible characteristics...?
Huh? Wait a minute. Couldn't that work as a reason?
"The swaying is different."
"...Swaying? Of what?"
"Here, this."
I tapped my chest.
At my answer that defied common sense, neither Historia nor 'Historia' could understand immediately and tilted their heads.
They don't know. Let's call it privacy and brush it off as impolite if pointed out.
"The real Historia was tied up for days. Because she was bound so tightly—enough to restrain a Six-Star General—her upper body and chest were tightly compressed. So the swaying feels somewhat suppressed somewhere. Compared to that, the fake side, meaning yours, swayed too normally. The difference was so obvious I couldn't help but notice."
Perhaps because my answer was so out of the blue, even 'Historia,' who would normally have matched my lines, hesitated and trailed off. After pondering for a moment, he soon realized the blind spot in his thinking.
"...Certainly, I didn't consider that point."
"Of course. As I've said repeatedly, you can only see it when there's love."
"So that's what love meant... I couldn't reflect Historia's recent state."
"Even if you had reflected it, could you really have pinpointed that minute difference like a ghost? That's only possible for someone with that level of perception."
"Both of you shut up!"
Historia immediately turned and kicked my legs. Her boot dug into my legs, and I felt a shock as if a heavy rope was yanking me. I swung both arms up and fell ungracefully.
Historia stood with one arm covering her chest, looking down at me with a face mixing shame and contempt.
"You pervert, as a prisoner I felt uncomfortable reacting sensitively, so I was deliberately not paying attention...!"
But my lie deceived my ally before my enemy. Ouch. The flow got cut off. I might have been able to keep deceiving them if I continued like this.
"...That was plausible. But it's a well-crafted lie."
Emotions are relative, just as dipping your hand in hot water and then putting it in lukewarm water makes it feel cold. Thanks to our ally Historia panicking more than necessary, 'Historia' regained composure instead.
"Historia used constricting qi to align her body to the极限 in order to withstand the aftermath of qi. Her body wouldn't deteriorate just from being tied up for a few days."
"You figured it out. Actually, it would have been hard to distinguish with just that."
"Still, it was a blind spot. The information that she was recently captured and kept tightly bound... I hadn't acquired that yet. More importantly, you stayed still remarkably well while tied up."
"You couldn't deny the possibility I mentioned either, could you? Ria and I have been together for the past few days. We might have created traces during that time that we could recognize. Not codes or marks, but something only the two of us could notice."
"Of course, I can't deny that possibility. But the likelihood is very low."
"Why is that? You don't know what happened during the days Ria was captured by us."
Even with my sharp point, 'Historia' didn't get drawn in and answered clearly.
"If you had shared something secret between you, Historia wouldn't have reacted so defensively."
This isn't going to be easy. I continued my argument.
"That's only a possibility at best. It doesn't serve as evidence."
"Just like what you claimed."
Hah. I guess he's a Six-Star General who served as the Director of Public Security of the Military Nation even if he's rotten. He doesn't get deceived easily like other people. Is there any other explanation...
"Huey! How long are you two just going to talk? There's no time for friendly conversation!"
Historia, who unintentionally ended up hearing herself being talked about behind her back in the meantime, forcibly interrupted the conversation.
"I'll handle me—no, that thing, so you get out of here for now."
"Are you sure you don't need my help?"
"I'm confident in 1-on-1. I rarely lose. And Huey, you're powerless. Even if you're here, you don't really help in combat..."
"You're wrong, Historia. I can't possibly entrust intelligence warfare to someone so naive."
'Historia' cut off Historia's words.
"I asked you. How did you recognize me? He couldn't give a proper reason. Naturally. Because there probably isn't one."
"What does that matter?"
"Conviction given without reason. Fate that always wins in gambles. Mysteries."
With a peculiar smile, 'Historia' spread her fingers like a teacher instructing a child and began to explain kindly.
"Seeing the future. Or reading the past. Following the fate of humans or the chain of karma. Seeing and hearing beyond a thousand miles. Drawing miracles from faith and belief. Powers that don't originate from humans, powers that fall like miracles, transcending the ordinary—these we call Mysteries."
"...I know."
"If you know, why don't you doubt?"
Tapping her boots, 'Historia' stepped back slightly. Half-buried in the darkness of the control room, she folded her fingers one by one.
"He played the pipe in Hameln. Many children died, and those who witnessed that sight came to distrust the Military Nation. He lurked in the capital and then fell into Tantalus. He joined forces with the monsters sleeping there and rose up to bring down the Military Nation. And now, he's on the verge of nearly succeeding."
"Those aren't things Huey did. He just got swept up in..."
"Do you really think so?"
'Historia' covered her face with her hand. As she swiped down from forehead to chin, what was clearly Historia's face instantly transformed.
Cheekbones protruded, and muscles changed shape. The skin shrank, taking on a sickly complexion of someone who hadn't seen sunlight for a long time. Historia's expression disappeared. Instead, bravado that seemed to compensate for inadequate ability relative to high self-esteem filled the void.
"Carapald... So it was you in disguise after all."
It was Carapald's face.
'Carapald' muttered darkly and inserted a clothing packet into the bio-terminal.
"Now. Let's assume he has a Mystery. Then everything is explained. The piper knew from the beginning that I wasn't Carapald. No, he also saw through the fact that there's a trap in this refinery."
At the same time, the firm and healthy female body gradually changed into a frail male one. The inflated shirt gradually settled, and the powerfully raised shoulders hunched. The clothing packet moved, and what was Historia's shirt changed into a labor camp overseer's uniform.
It wasn't that the skeleton or flesh completely changed. It was merely arranged to appear so on the outside.
When the constricting qi infused into the body reaches the realm of mastery, one can freely compress or expand muscles, bones, flesh, and even internal organs.
"It's impossible for an ordinary scholar with no power to pull off something like this. He has a Mystery. A Mystery close to omniscience, or perhaps prescience."
Having gone through a process close to transformation, Ziegfrund's appearance was... unmistakably Carapald's.
Of course, Ziegfrund's true form still flickered in my mind.
"That's my conclusion. Well, piper?"