EP.289 The Blessed Nation, The Cursed Humans - 12
"Why, Captain Abby?"
I sense a faint sense of rejection from Captain Abby. It's strange. Until now, no matter what I did, Captain Abby never felt any rejection toward me.
"Your Excellency. If things go according to your will. What happens to the other signal soldiers?"
"They'll find freedom. Like Captain Abby."
I said it casually, but Captain Abby heard it as if it mattered. She spoke earnestly.
"From what I understand, your plan seems... like abandoning the signal soldiers."
"Abandon? Who's abandoning who? The signal soldiers have better specs than me? They received officer training, and can use unique magic circles. They're even the power behind the throne manipulating the Military Nation."
"That is precisely why. Signal soldiers have extremely high strategic value. Signal soldiers possess numerous Military Nation secrets and have access to various Military Nation facilities. If you reveal the signal soldiers' true nature and cause chaos, the signal soldiers will be the first to face danger."
That makes sense. If they're enemies of the Military Nation, they'd target the signal soldiers first. They need to obtain information and destroy the Military Nation's communication network.
What if they're on the Military Nation's side? What if they're loyal to the Military Nation? Would they protect the signal soldiers? Probably not.
When they learn that mere signal soldiers have been giving them orders all along, could they really continue to accept that? It won't be easy. Rationally or emotionally. They might even try to eliminate the signal soldiers.
I conceded to Captain Abby's words.
"What Captain Abby says makes sense."
"Then..."
"But I can't find a reason why I should care."
Captain Abby stopped breathing. I spoke while still binding Yuel.
"Signal soldiers are an indulgence created by the Military Nation for their own country. Since they're used as tools after having their lives completely taken away, no one can hold them accountable. No, they don't even know about them in the first place. Thanks to that, even though the Military Nation is clearly a country made by humans, it's becoming something greater than humans. A nation that dominates the human species."
Until now, kingdoms were ruled by kings. There has been much historical discussion about the division of roles between king and country, but anyway, the king is human. Until now, humans have been ruled by humans.
But the Military Nation is ruled by no one.
"Among them, the signal soldiers' situation stands out even more. They have access to various Military Nation facilities, yet they themselves are rotting away in rooms where not a single drop of warm water comes out! Because the signal soldiers do that, all humans are dominated by a Military Nation that doesn't even actually exist! Rather than being consumed and dying in such a dark room, isn't it better to walk on your own two feet and die?"
"...Affirmative. I too think that is better. Because I also know what joy is, how precious it is."
That's right. Even when her life was in danger, Captain Abby tried to sing the song of life. It was quite rewarding. Having realized what it means to be able to do something, Captain Abby would definitely...
"However, I believe there is a better way."
"Huh? A better way?"
Why does she have a different opinion? Having seen the fierce lives of ordinary people right before her eyes, she should definitely think similarly to me.
"I had you. Thanks to being with you, I joyfully accepted everything I newly encountered. However, the other signal soldiers don't have you. As I once faced, in a harsh world, new things will come as threats rather than joys. And there is a high possibility that the other signal soldiers won't be able to overcome that. I think that's..."
Captain Abby stopped mid-sentence and chose her words.
There's no particular reason to give. For a signal soldier who had only made objective judgments through the Military Nation's eyes until now, an argument not bound by rules or gains and losses was too unfamiliar. Captain Abby barely found words that matched her heart.
"I don't like it. Even if it's irrational."
If she doesn't like it, it can't be helped. That alone can be a reason. The world flows within rules set by gods, but what moves humans is the heart.
I nodded.
"I understand. But that doesn't mean I'll change my mind just because Captain Abby doesn't like it. Like Captain Abby, I still have at least a sense of duty to defeat the enemy of humanity."
"The target you wish to overthrow. You're attacking it because it's not human. Is my guess correct?"
"Yes. The enemy of humans might be human, but no matter how vicious a murderer is, they can't become the enemy of humanity. They're the same humans, right? Just as the stomach doesn't become my enemy when my belly aches, and I can't fight my right hand just because it accidentally hit my head while moving."
When I answered with a shrug, Captain Abby spoke with a slight stammer.
"...I am your ally. Am I not?"
I read the flow of her thoughts. Until just a moment ago, Captain Abby's mind was a blank slate without any picture, but now one image has been drawn.
The wish of the first signal soldier to rebel against the Military Nation.
"The Military Nation is a country that moves according to the 'Headquarters' Command' delivered through signal soldiers. Everyone believes in the existence of a headquarters somewhere."
"It's essentially the same thing, isn't it? The headquarters' command is just information processed by those signal soldiers."
"It's different."
"Huh?"
Even though I roughly knew how this would flow, I pretended not to notice and asked. Along with firm resolve, Captain Abby told a lie that a signal soldier must never tell.
A lie that would become truth from now on.
"I am Abby. The first among signal soldiers."
Captain Abby placed her hand on her chest and spoke.
"There is no hierarchy among signal soldiers, but their identification names are arranged in order of the signal soldiers' abilities. I am the signal soldier who received the name Abby, which had been vacant for a long time. Excluding A, known as the original signal soldier, I can be said to have the most powerful ability... But A was not a signal soldier."
Well, of course. That's a saintess.
Divine power that runs on a different track from unique magic circles. The anecdote of the first saintess answering the call of believers even from a distant place.
Yuel used that to converse with signal soldiers who wished to communicate. The only difference was that it was not synchronization, but mere conversation. Saintess Yuel and the signal soldiers were too different to synchronize.
That's why the Military Nation became a country without a king.
But Captain Abby denied Yuel's very action itself.
"Therefore, I am the most powerful signal soldier. I possess unmatched power even among other signal soldiers, and can dominate them. Accordingly, my will has the greatest influence on the collective will of the signal soldiers."
Words that narrowly avoid lies. Truth or falsehood. That's unknown. Signal soldiers are all engaging in organic communication, and even if they're at the lowest level, the will conveyed by one signal soldier spreads, mixes, and dilutes into the whole.
Just as human nerves do.
Depending on the standard, it could be a lie, or it could be truth. However, Abby herself, as the person involved, spoke with firm resolve.
"The will that the Military Nation's headquarters conveyed all originated from me and spread out. I am the headquarters."
"...In a word, Captain Abby was the king of the Military Nation?"
"Affirmative."
Captain Abby bowed her head deeply with disciplined movements. She's trying to speak solemnly, but perhaps because of her gentle appearance, it doesn't suit her at all.
"For someone saying that, it seemed like you were being controlled just a moment ago."
"I-It was possible because I accepted it!"
"Well, let's say that's true. There's more than one puppet in the world."
Now you're going to say the Military Nation is actually another form of kingdom ruled by humans?
That's right. Captain Abby might become someone's enemy. But she can never become the enemy of humanity. Because Captain Abby is also human.
"That's wordplay."
"But it's the truth."
"Indeed, it's possible for Captain Abby. With life and desire, Captain Abby can take on that responsibility and sin..."
Muttering as if flowing along, I released my hand that was pulling the wire. The wire loosened feebly, and Saintess Yuel regained her freedom.
Even with bruises pressed by the wire, Yuel quickly clasped both hands together and looked at me with suspicious eyes. If the saintess used her power, if she summoned even an angel here, I'd be as good as dead.
Normally I would never do this, but right now I have no options. I shrugged and said.
"Yuel. Try killing Captain Abby."
"...What?!"
Everyone in this space gasped. Especially Yuel was shaken as if hit by an unexpected blow.
Why so surprised? It's what you've been trying to do all along.
"Why are you acting like it's new? It's what you're supposed to do. Eliminating deviant signal soldiers. If a signal soldier becomes mentally contaminated, I mean, if they lose their purity and become an ordinary human... wasn't that what you were worried would happen?"
"...If I were to kill someone, I'd kill you before that child."
"Ah, do as you please. You won't be able to touch the Military Nation before Captain Abby dies anyway."
I rolled up the wire with my fingers. After weaving a skein like thread-play and pulling it to both sides, the flat knots gathered in one place and instantly returned to cards. I shuffled the changed cards into the deck and sighed.
"Humans can't be the enemy of humanity. Captain Abby declared herself as the headquarters, and she'll probably make it happen. The other signal soldiers can't stop Captain Abby, who has her own desires. Except for one person—you, who maintains this system."
"...You didn't mean for me to kill her instead. It's the opposite."
"How you take it is your freedom."
Captain Abby is human. Not the enemy of humanity. But by declaring so of her own will, and by actually having the ability to do so, she's qualified.
So with Captain Abby around, the Military Nation won't become my enemy. For me, it's an ambiguous conclusion.
I can't stop someone who wants to become king in my place. At most, I can only test them.
Yuel's eyes trembled as she realized something.
"You chose a king? In this Military Nation...?"
Captain Abby approached Yuel. Kneeling on one knee and meeting Yuel's eyes, Captain Abby spoke clearly with a straight gaze.
"Yuel. Please cooperate with me."
Yuel should clearly be stronger, but it was Yuel who averted her gaze.
"No... I can't do that."
"Think rationally. Any case is better than the signal soldiers' secret being revealed. Your evaluation results are the same, aren't they?"
"It's different! Signal soldiers must not have desires. If they do, the signal soldier—no, you—will move this country according to your desires. Because you'll become a king. Because his dream... the wish to create a country that doesn't need a king will be defiled."
Captain Abby glanced at the corpse and spoke.
"He is dead."
"Even though he's dead, the dream doesn't disappear!"
As if desperately denying it, Yuel hugged the corpse tightly again. Covering the cold corpse with her whole body, Yuel cried out as if sobbing.
"The Military Nation is a masterpiece created by his ideals. It's a child I and he made together! And yet, and yet. You're telling me to give up like this? No! Rather, let's all die here! Be buried with all the secrets! Then...!"
"Then everything he created will disappear. Probably the Military Nation will disappear too. Is that alright with you?"
Yuel gasped.
The reason Yuel kept asking, asking but couldn't bring herself to actually carry it out. The reason we were given enough time. It's because his traces, including the corpse of Gunung, remain here.
She's someone with such lingering attachments that she's been clutching a single man's corpse for nearly 20 years, so her decision couldn't be firm. Yuel's anguish deepened.