EP.292 The Enemy of an Enemy is an Ally, the Ally of an Ally is an Enemy
"Sigh. It's always like this. Going down is easy, but climbing back up is twice as hard."
I grumbled as I scrambled up the ladder.
In the darkness where I couldn't even see what was ahead of me, I climbed rung by rung relying solely on touch. As I fumbled around for a while, I lost all sense of reality—how far I had climbed, or where exactly I was. It felt like I was climbing a ladder that went on forever.
It might have been a bit different if my senses were intact, but of all things, the drugs I took earlier left them impaired. If I lost my focus even for a moment, I might let go of the ladder and attempt to fly.
Huh, wait? Why aren't I flying? Why am I bothering to grab each rung and climb up?
Alright, I'll let go of this hand, flap my wings, and fly away. On the count of one, two, three...
"Waaaaaait!"
My voice filled the dark passageway. It rang a warning bell to myself through my eardrums. My head, startled by its own voice, barely managed to regain its reason.
I deliberately spoke out loud.
"Phew, that was close. I almost committed suicide by jumping in some sewer-like place. How uncool."
Even though I was drugged up, I had been able to observe myself objectively while reading other people's thoughts. Reading different perspectives through telepathy makes me objective. Therefore, the drugs couldn't destroy my reason. I suppose that's one of the few advantages of telepathy.
But right now, with no one around me, I am extremely subjective.
What does that mean? It means that right now, with the drug's effects still in full swing, I am a drugged-up madman.
"It would have been a bit better if there was at least one normal person next to me. But of all times, there's no one here right now. I wonder if there will be anyone once I get up there."
When I came down, I came with quite a few people. But right now, I'm alone.
Because the others decided to stay down there.
Abby and Uel were one thing, but Siati's choice was unexpected.
Siati openly declared that she couldn't trust Uel and Abby. She argued that becoming a king wouldn't erase the karma they had accumulated until now, and that she couldn't trust them without a guarantee. Throwing cold water on that atmosphere—that was a performance only Siati could pull off.
However, Siati didn't throw a fit and try to kill the two like she used to. Instead, she decided to stay behind so she could execute them at any time should they stray. Though she had no special powers, she held an excellent thumb for killing a single person.
But from what I read, Siati's thoughts at that time were peculiar. I recalled Siati and muttered.
"You wanted to become a stern judge, didn't you, Siati? Because a being who can judge the king would be the highest person in the Military Nation. Perhaps you might be the most successful person among us."
A judge. What a magnificent position. Instead of ruling or creating, one simply watches, and if they don't like something, they 'judge' them—a position that wields power without responsibility. Siati volunteered for that role.
The Princess was horrified and tried to stop Siati, but without understanding Siati, she couldn't stop her. In the first place, if she understood her, she wouldn't even think of stopping her.
Anyway, Siati's will was so firm that even the Princess couldn't change her mind. After hesitating in conflict, the Princess ended up choosing to stay behind and follow Siati. Though, unlike Siati, she emphasized several times that it was 'only for a while.'
"Even so, I didn't expect myself to be the only one who wanted to go outside. Falling is easy, but climbing back up is hard. So everyone is staying cozy down there."
Unlike Uel or Abby, I don't have the ability to see the outside while sitting in one place. I can't live like that, you see.
Climbing with a firm resolve, I eventually reached the point where there was no more ladder. Who the hell builds a ladder and leaves it unfinished? Should I just jump... No, that's not it. Shaking my head at my increasingly extreme thoughts, I denied them.
The fact that there was no more ladder meant I had reached the surface. Gathering my wits, I reached my hand above my head and felt something hard. Instead of headbutting it... I just needed to open this and step outside.
Resting my foot on the very top rung of the ladder, I pushed the lid with all my might.
"Nnnngh."
Opening the lid with all my strength, the first thing that caught my eye was a half-destroyed, collapsed building. It was the communications headquarters that had been destroyed as a result of the fight between the Angel and Historia. While I poked my eyes out like a mole and surveyed the surroundings, a wind mixed with dirt and dust hit my face. The dirt tastes bitter.
The outside air isn't much better than underground. Perhaps down there is a better place to live than the dirty and dangerous outside. After pushing the lid wide open with all my strength, I clumsily crawled up on my belly.
Nice to see you, surface where dirt and dust swirl. I have returned. Leaving the secret buried in the underground of the Military Nation...
Wait. Sand and dust? Wind?
This was definitely indoors, but even if it was half-destroyed earlier, had it collapsed to the point where the wind could blow in...?
A chill ran down my spine. Not because the wind was blowing, but because my instinct realized something.
I caught a thought. Not Historia's, but a completely different person's.
I slowly turned my head. I locked eyes with someone. That someone, as if they had only been waiting for me to notice their existence, shouted out a beat after our faces met.
"Welcome! I've been waiting for you so eagerly I thought my neck would snap off!"
He was a man wearing a smile full on his face, a monocle with a gear rim, and his entire body wrapped in a heavy-looking cloak.
Someone close to me? No. We've only faced each other once before.
Any good memories? No. We fought then, too. I punched him in the face.
We're clearly not on terms to be exchanging friendly greetings, but the other side was feeling a one-sided affection for me and approaching.
An unwelcome situation. But I couldn't show it.
Because the opponent was one of the Yukjangseong, said to be the strongest in the Military Nation. I awkwardly returned the greeting.
"Mr. Maximilien? It's been a while. Have you been well?"
"Well, my foot! I've been waiting for the day to meet you again so much I thought my neck would snap off! Though I didn't know we'd reunite this easily!"
He hadn't shown a hair until now, but of all times, he visited at my most defenseless moment. He laughed cheerfully and said.
"It's truly baffling! I made plans on how to meet you, bypassing the young man who uses the power of the Shijo or the Demon God. But to think you'd come right in front of me yourself like this! This makes it meaningless to have called for backup!"
"I didn't come here specifically to meet you, though."
"You must have come to see Cheontong. I know! But what does it matter! Isn't the fact that we've met without any obstacles the most important thing right now!"
Wow, if I heard that from a woman, my heart would have fluttered. But of course it's a crazy old man, so my heart pounds for a different reason. I recoiled in distaste, backing away slowly.
It's not a good situation.
The two insurances I had relied on. One was Historia, and the other was the Princess. I placed greater faith in the stable Historia than the Princess, who was full of variables as expected of an insurance.
I felt I relied on her a bit too much, but if it was Historia, a Yukjangseong, she could overcome most crises... or so I thought.
What does it mean that another Yukjangseong, Maximilien, was waiting for me?
"Are you perhaps looking for this?"
Maximilien snapped his fingers.
Then, a roar resounded, as if a giant was gripping and crushing the world whole.
The collapsed building moves. No, something that had collapsed the building moves, and the concrete debris crumbles like a wave.
Would it feel like this if I were inside a sandcastle watching it break? The pillars supporting the building, and the rebar that acted as the concrete's framework, are crushed as easily as dry sand.
Appearing by grandly overturning the building, it was a giant carriage made of gears.
Just looking at the outside, it seemed like an auto-carriage reduced to its frame and then enlarged several times. But the way it moved resembled an insect rather than a carriage.
Gears do not turn alone. They always move in tandem with their neighbors.
Because of that, every time that massive body moved, hundreds of gears moved like a wave. It was more gruesome than a carriage rolling, looking like a caterpillar crawling.
The monster that approached while crushing the building stopped a few steps away from me. A majesty so grand I had to look up to see it.
Swallowing hard, I calmly retorted.
"I'm not a scrap dealer, you know?"
"It's not junk. This is the 'Steel Beetle'. A masterpiece I devoted half my life to creating!"
"Wouldn't you feel aggrieved to have devoted half your life to something like a toy?"
"Hmm, is that so? We have different perspectives. A life that cannot be used for enjoyment would be far more aggrieving, wouldn't it!"
Even though I scratched at him a bit as a provocation, Maximilien just laughed it off. For some reason, his fondness for me inside his heart is too high. Why are all the people who like me at first sight men? I suddenly feel sad.
Maximilien spoke with an attitude as if he was making a generous offer.
"I'll give you a chance to examine it closely. If it's you, you'll probably understand the Steel Beetle's structure in no time!"
"I don't really want to understand it. I mean your hobby, not the structure."
"You must. Even if you may not be looking for it, the one you're looking for will be there."
Now it's practically coercion. I couldn't pretend not to know anymore. I watched his complexion and slowly moved my steps.
Hanging from the front of the gear-made carriage was something like a figurehead. It was the figure of an ominous woman, with black hair falling powerlessly and her whole body stained with blood, who would only suit a ghost ship.
Her arms and legs were buried and invisible. Her limbs were crushed between the uneven surfaces of the interlocking gears.
It was a terrible imagination, but if those gears were to turn...
"Haa..."
Historia's arms and legs would be crushed between the massive gears.
What happened in the brief time we were apart? Standing in front of Historia in her miserable state, I fiddled with the gears binding her.
"You even learned a new ultimate technique, didn't you? How did you get caught?"
"...Ugh. I wasn't perfectly prepared. If only my body had been a bit more intact..."
"You still have pride to spare in this situation? Hold on a second. I'll try to untie you."
I grabbed the gear and tried to pull it, but it didn't budge. It seemed I couldn't untie it with my physical strength. I would need at least Historia's level of strength to somehow pry it off...
'It's a useless effort. That's a gear knot I devised. As much as you apply force, that force will be transmitted directly and constrict Director Historia. Of course, if it's you, you'll easily figure out its structure!'
So it was made uselessly complicated. He set up a vicious device.
Even if a weakling like me applied force, the burden Historia felt wouldn't increase much, but there was no need to waste energy on a futile task. I let go of the gear and said.
"It won't work with force. The gears are intricately interlocked. If I use force carelessly, you'll get hurt."
"...This is no time to worry about me."
"Is that so?"
True, I'm in no position to worry about others, am I?
I faced a Yukjangseong while being weak, having no special abilities, and being unprepared. I can confidently say that I am more powerless than Historia, who is stuck between the gears.
It seemed Historia thought so too, aside from me.
"Run. No, at least buy some time. Until your comrades arrive. The gears he handles are pure physical force. If it's the Shijo, they'd have an advantage against Director Maximilien's gears. So... cater to his whims, or do whatever, it doesn't matter. Fortunately, he seems to like you..."
"Hey. No matter how bad things are, do I really need to get advice from someone who's tied up?"
"Do you have a plan? You won't even be able to run away against Director Maximilien. I know because I clashed with him once. That person is... weird."
Historia spoke with a face as serious as if she were leaking a military secret. I pondered over Historia's words and said.
"I know too. He looks weird at a glance. Do you really have to clash with him to figure that out?"
"I'm serious! The Director's Qigong is different... Ugh!"
"Don't move. The gear is turning."
Pressure enough to fold even steel was being applied to her arm. It was only because Historia reinforced her body with Qigong that she could endure it; a normal person's limbs would have been severed.
I thought it was too much, but to restrain a strong person like Historia with all her limbs intact, this was the only way. In a way, it was rational, and in another way, it was a friendly act. At the very least, it meant he didn't want to kill her or hurt her more than necessary.
"The Director must be after something. Even if I don't know why he didn't kill me... If we can just figure that out..."
"I'll tell you."
Unlike the past where I tried to solve everything with force, I was now even pondering this and that. It seemed I had developed the ability to read the big picture, like a proper general. As always, circumstances make the man.
Naturally, my response also changes depending on the situation.
"What?"
"Gwabyeong knows, and I know. If my ally, you, doesn't know in the midst of all this, the math doesn't add up."
Historia's judgment befits a general. So, if I can let Historia reach a faster judgment with a trivial truth, that directly becomes my gain.
So I said.
"Gwabyeong is not my enemy."
Of course, this assumes that Historia, even after knowing this, will remain my ally.
If I can't even trust the cards in my hand, I can't call myself a gambler.
"...Not, an enemy?"
I nodded and began my explanation.
"There are six Yukjangseong, and if I exclude you, who is on my side, three remain in the Inner Circle: Yeonggwae, Gwabyeong, and Cheontong. At the point when Yeonggwae defected, only Gwabyeong and Cheontong were at the headquarters. Then, a very simple math problem remains. An inequality comparing 1 and 2, which even a child could solve."
I raised my hand and unfolded my fingers. One on my side, two on theirs. Naturally, two is more advantageous than one. Even if there is a difference between the Yukjangseong, that is ultimately a difference in nature.
When power reaches a certain level, it becomes a single number. Anything below the standard is discarded below the decimal point, and it reigns as an integer.
"But if Mr. Shay isn't in this space, the direction of the inequality sign changes. Like this."
Saying so, I slowly folded my fingers, and then unfolded them again. Now two on my side, one on theirs. Now I had the advantage.
Naturally, 'their side' was Cheontong. Cheontong, who created and protected the Military Nation, and wished for it to continue in the future, would not tolerate change.
However, Gwabyeong, who created the Military Nation but only considered it an interesting toy to the end...
"That is correct!"
Maximilien, with a full smile on his face, affirmed my words.