Episode 28: Resistance - 3
The Resistance members left for their assigned places, and while Aji and I stood there blankly, Delta, who remained alone, gripped his gun tightly and kept his distance from us. With his hand clenched firmly, he spoke to Aji and me.
"...Please wait here. The captain will return once everything is finished."
"Ah, yes."
Now. They've all scattered. This is a very good situation. Kanisen and Gamma left for the control room, and Alpha and Beta headed to the hells prepared for each of them.
Now, if I just take care of Delta, no one will be left to interfere with me.
Alright, let's get to work.
I changed my expression and put on an awkward smile. Trying to look as harmless as possible, I naturally started a conversation with Delta.
"Oh dear. My legs are all wobbly. I just had a conversation, but I feel completely drained as if I'd exercised."
"...The captain has a strong presence, so it's not unreasonable to feel drained."
"You guys are amazing. It must not be easy to follow someone like that."
"...We have to. Still, the captain leads us well. This operation would have been impossible without the captain's resourcefulness."
Let's see.
He's answering me diligently, but his wariness is entirely focused on Aji. That's natural. Aji, who can even catch bullets with his teeth, is scarier than me, who looks weak and has no special equipment.
But that mindset will be his biggest weakness.
"Hey, can't you put the gun down now? Aji isn't going to hurt anyone."
"...But."
"But nothing. You just saw it. He's got the crazy ability to catch bullets with his teeth even if you shoot. Pointing a gun is meaningless."
I subtly pointed at Aji. Aji, who had seemed excited when many people came by just earlier, was now sitting quietly with a somewhat gloomy face.
I don't know why. Probably some dog-like reason.
Of course, even so, he didn't seem afraid of guns at all. Well, why would he be scared if he can catch them with his mouth even when fired? It's a relief he doesn't mistake bullets for slightly faster balls and just play with them.
"I've spent a few days with Aji and I know, he's strong but not very dangerous. At first, I was scared and ran away too, but at some point I got used to it. Here, watch."
I picked up the leather ball I had set aside earlier. Holding it high and shaking it left and right, before anything else, Aji's tail started wagging. Then Aji turned his head, stared at me blankly, then raised his head swiftly and got up.
I shouted and hurled the leather ball.
"Here! Fetch!"
"Woof!"
Aji dashed after the ball. Delta, unable to keep up with the situation, was alarmed and raised his gun half a beat late.
"What are you doing!"
"Woof!"
But contrary to Delta's worries, Aji returned directly to me with the ball in his mouth. He dropped the ball at my feet and looked up with a proud expression. I reached down and petted Aji. Aji half-closed his eyes and savored my touch.
It was a sight that just couldn't arouse any caution. Even Delta, who was quite thorough and principled, muttered in disbelief.
"...Is this really okay?"
The gun muzzle lowered. It was because some tension had been released.
I vigorously petted Aji, trying my best to look harmless.
"Actually, I don't really know either. It just ended up like this at some point."
"No matter how much of a dog beastkin he is, he's still human... Even if it's instinct, still..."
"But I'm not forcing him with strength, right? Rather, I'm the one serving. I throw the ball, he brings it back, and I throw again. The one enjoying it is Aji."
"That is true, but."
"Well, I think it's similar to your relationship with the captain. If you only consider strength, there's a world of difference. But regardless of strength, you've just gotten used to each other."
"Hmm."
Delta now seemed to realize how foolish it was to be wary of Aji. Because from the way Aji was happily rubbing against my every touch, one couldn't feel a single ounce of threat.
I continued petting Aji, creating an idyllic scene.
"When I first arrived here after being arrested by the military, I was so scared and terrified. But looking back, I think I'm lucky it's this place. Apart from the fact that I might be killed by the trainees at any moment, it's peaceful."
"Peace. That's not a word befitting Tantalos, though."
"Well, that's how I actually feel. Maybe it's because everyone who would break out has already escaped."
I paused briefly, then murmured with a slightly melancholic look.
"If this place were really the hell rumored, the military wouldn't have sent a common petty criminal like me, no matter what."
I emphasize 'petty criminal.' I'm appealing that I'm powerless, while subtly showing an attitude that I'm a very rational person.
Take the bait. Fall for it.
As expected, Delta showed curiosity.
"What crime were you arrested for?"
He took the bait.
Having drawn the desired question, I deliberately stared into empty space and murmured.
"I was originally a magician. My job was entertaining people with magic in back alleys. The income was meager, but seeing the amazed faces of people made me reasonably satisfied. But then."
Pretending to think deeply, I paused for a beat before speaking.
"Uh, about a week ago. Suddenly soldiers came swarming and rounded up people arbitrarily. I happened to be playing a card game with friends and was inspected..."
"So that's when. You were also unjustly captured."
As I trailed off, Delta misinterpreted on his own. He too fell into thought like me.
*'Using innocent people as laborers. Indeed, the military is not right. It should be toppled. But, are we, who end up driving innocent people to death for that... right?'*
It's a good flow. I scratched my head vaguely and added.
"Ahaha. Well, it's not completely unjust. I used a bit of magic in the card game too. Haha."
"...Oh dear."
*'So he was a gambler.'*
His expression darkened a little. Being the dutiful type by nature, his perception of gambling was rock bottom.
A spoonful of remorseful demeanor here. The emotion appropriately added to a solid background makes me a three-dimensional person.
"I got too cocky, trustin' my trivial skills. Magic is most valuable when it's just magic, after all."
Saying so, I subtly raised a card. Delta noticed the existence of the pure white card and his eyes lit up with curiosity.
"Where did you get that?"
"Maybe because I'm a born magician, I get uneasy without a card hidden in my hand. So I somehow managed to get one."
Flick. A single card danced under my fingers. Left hand, right hand, palm, back of hand. The card moved around like a bug crawling over the hand.
When I spread both hands at a certain moment, it vanished in an instant as if it had never been there.
In reality, I could clearly see the card stuck to the back of my hand, but well, if it disappeared in Delta's eyes, then it disappeared.
Delta was truly amazed.
"No, you don't even have sleeves to hide it, how is the card..."
"Haha. You have to do at least this much to be called a magician."
I flipped my palm, nudged the card stuck to the back with my thumb and moved it to the palm. While showing Delta the back of my hand, I hid the card in my palm. When I extended the palm again and returned the card, to Delta, it looked like the card had completely vanished.
"Ooh."
I had sufficiently piqued his curiosity. I raised my left index finger, then slowly took out the card from the back of my right hand and showed it with a grin. Delta clapped without realizing it.
A decent reaction. I scratched my head as if embarrassed by his gaze and smiled.
"But it was more useless than I thought when playing card games. No matter how amazing my sleight of hand is, it can't stop people's suspicion."
"It's seamless. If it were me, I wouldn't have suspected a thing."
"When they lose a few coins, suspicion arises even if it wasn't there. When they just lose a few dozen, they grab my wrist. Their eyes were stained with anger and suspicion. I let my judgment get clouded for a moment, and I lost sight of the essence of magic, which is to entertain people."
I shrugged as I put the card away.
"That's how I lost my initial resolve and ended up caught. But how did you, Mr. Delta, become a Resistance member?"
"I am..."
My question precisely pierced his psychological weakness. Delta fell into reminiscence without any particular suspicion.
"My real name is Elsi. I was a diligent student from childhood. I entered a secondary military academy according to my parents' wishes, but even there, I kept questioning. Whether what I was doing was right, whether the military's policies were correct. But the military doesn't allow that kind of debate. I felt it wasn't right that we couldn't discuss right and wrong for the sake of order..."
"So you joined the Resistance?"
"That's right. At least in the Resistance, I could express my thoughts on the direction the country should take. And I could find many like-minded comrades. However..."
*'Though I still don't know if resistance that risks the sacrifice of ordinary people is right.'*
Delta, whose code name was Delta and real name Elsi, was a thoughtful type. I waited until he could sufficiently calm his mind, then spoke.
"This is work that could cost your life."
"I'm not afraid of death. I only worry whether the path I'm walking is right."
"It's probably the right direction. You've agonized enough, haven't you?"
"Just because one agonizes doesn't mean it's always right."
"The possibility of being right is higher than if you didn't agonize at all. Humans can't be perfect, so isn't it better to at least chase possibilities?"
"...Thank you, even if it's just words."
"That's all I can offer, after all. A street magician has nothing to boast about besides words, apart from sleight of hand."
Having comforted Delta, I smiled gently and took out the card again.
"Alright, alright. Enough with the heavy talk. I'll show you something interesting. I usually don't reveal this, but since we have this connection, I'll make a special reveal."
Delta, emerging from his reminiscence, looked at my card with anticipation. Having drawn his gaze, I put on a magician's smile and flipped a single card this way and that.
"This is a trick related to a magic tool, so normally I must never reveal it."
"Because it's your livelihood?"
"Haha. That too, but the moment you reveal it, suspicion, rather than wonder, takes root in people's minds. They perceive magic not as something to enjoy, but as something to dissect and dismantle. From then on, magic ceases to be magic and becomes a cheap trick. There's no respect or enjoyment in that gaze. Only a fierce battle remains between the audience and the magician."
I gathered magic power at my fingertips. The magic power seeped through my fingertips into the card. The back of the card, engraved with strange patterns, sparkled with a faint light along those lines.
"But people who know a secret inevitably look for a bamboo grove. And conveniently, this place is an abyss. Since it's fate, I'll tell only you."
I slid the card pinched between my index and middle fingers onto my left wrist. At the same time, I spread my palm to momentarily block the view.
Immediately after, I flipped my left wrist and right hand simultaneously - and showed what used to be the card.
The card that was clearly the Ace of Diamonds. In its place - a sharp skewer with a dark red glow was there.
"Ta-da!"
"Ooh!"
I swished the created skewer around. Each time, the sound of cutting wind could be heard. It showed that it was a clearly formed skewer, not a trick of the eye or an illusion.
I made a show of tipping an invisible hat and bowed. Delta clapped in admiration.
"Is that, perhaps, alchemy?"
"You have a good eye. I was planning to reveal it slowly."
"No, it's a remarkably swift and covert alchemy. I wouldn't have known if I hadn't seen it this close."
"It's not ordinary alchemy. This card is an alchemically crafted item modeled after a clothing packet. So like this. When you channel magic power through a biological terminal."
I rubbed the stick against my left wrist, where the biological terminal was, again. Then the skewer disappeared as if it had never been there. When I raised my palm again, there was the Ace of Diamonds, back to being a card.
An admiring gasp burst out. I spoke proudly.
"It can become a card or a stick. Originally, I would attach a seasonal flower to the tip of the stick and present it, but no matter how much of a magician I am, I couldn't get my hands on a letter from the Earth Mother Goddess in the Abyss."
Delta looked down at my card with wonder. In his eyes, bewitched by the card magic, not a trace of wariness remained.
He muttered.
"What a pity. It would have been much better if I had seen it outside."
"Haha. If you saw it outside, I wouldn't have revealed the secret. Oh! Oops. The card disappeared? Where did it go? Hey, wait. What's that on your head, Mr. Delta?"
Of course, this too must be part of the magic.
If one had experienced the series of events, one would naturally think that way. Thus, Delta didn't feel any need to be cautious. I casually reached out my hand. Delta remained still even as I approached.
*'What other magic could this be?'*
Seeing him expectant, I grinned.
Changed the card into a skewer.
And rammed it into his temple.
His head was pushed to the side with a thud. Confusion surfaced on his face, which had been full of interest. Then, with his head barely moving, he realized what had happened a beat late.
That a sharp stick was stabbed through his temple. His damaged head frantically sent warnings.
I spread both arms wide toward him and shouted.
"Ta-da! It's a disappearing magic trick!"