Chapter 161
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 161
I recalled what I had learned in the Imperial Guard and assessed my mental state.
Sitting on the floor, I peered deep into my own mind through meditation. I sank so deep that several hours passed in what felt like a mere instant.
Tracing the continuity of my consciousness. Verifying the coherence of my memories.
If my personality or memories had been corrupted, I would have felt a jarring sense of dissonance.
No corruption so far.
Of course, I couldn't be absolutely certain. No matter how meticulous the self-examination, it was inherently biased. I had to constantly doubt myself.
The reason my rationality shut down.
I delved even deeper into my inner self.
...My brain learned that pushing past its limits leads to fatal damage.
The moment I confirmed the news of Giselle's disappearance, my brain had kicked into overdrive. Coupled with a surge of intense emotion, the cognitive load must have been immense.
It was like taking a machine that hadn't been operated in decades and running it at maximum output without a single drop of oil.
That's why the light of my consciousness went out.
It was the exact same principle as a device shutting down to prevent fatal overheating.
Once a limit is learned, it's difficult to consciously break through it. The survival instinct is incredibly powerful. Having experienced a near-death state, my brain was terrified of pushing itself to that brink again.
It learned a troublesome thing.
My brain was defying my will. Just because I understood it logically didn't mean I could fix it overnight.
I would have to monitor the issue closely.
If it's temporary, that's fine. But if this happens during combat, I'll need a countermeasure.
I calmly retraced my memories of Giselle. I opened my emotions slowly, trickling them out like water from a faucet. I didn't want to get worked up and lose consciousness again.
Missing while on a business trip in Border City.
My thoughts branched out, spreading rapidly.
There were far too many possibilities.
The Imperial Family, Barbara, rival corporations within the Empire, those hostile to the Custoria family, local enterprises in Border City...
And for five years, no one had known Giselle's whereabouts.
In the worst-case scenario... Giselle was dead. After missing for this long, the probability of her death was extremely high.
My emotions began to boil red-hot. I wanted to rush to Akbaran this very instant and tear the place apart for clues.
I am an unwelcome existence to the Empire and the Imperial Family. If they find out I've regained consciousness, they'll try to kill me.
If Fransek were still around, I might have had a reason to seek him out. But Ivan wasn't a man to be trusted.
Giselle smuggled me into Border City under the alias Keisa Tres. She was trying to evade the Empire's surveillance.
To put it nicely, I was free now. I had finally slipped the Empire's leash.
To what extent, and whom, can I trust? Even my past friends won't be the same.
I didn't believe that even the people who once helped me would remain unchanged. That was just wishful thinking.
Just as my own values had shifted during my days as an Imperial Guard Cadet, they too were constantly evolving human beings. The self and the will are not fixed substances, but fluctuating phenomena.
In the past, I made a mistake because I couldn't trust Heilas. But that didn't mean I had to become a fool who blindly trusted everyone else. Only spineless idiots swung wildly from one extreme to another.
...Right now, I was no different from an abandoned dog. I wanted to rely on someone, to lean on anyone. If I just surrendered my sense of self to whoever approached me with a scrap of goodwill, the world would be so comfortable.
But I couldn't trust anyone that easily. There was no such thing as free goodwill in this world. Everything had a reason and a purpose.
I anchored my sense of self, reaffirming exactly who I was.
"Phew..."
Luka. Lucaus Custoria.
Right now, I knew nothing. What had happened after the Storm Era, why I was here... it all lingered in the realm of speculation and hypothesis.
But my purpose was clear. I had been trained as a soldier; as long as I had a mission, I could move forward.
Find the missing Giselle Custoria. And track down Kinuan to secure Japa's support.
Now, let my second life begin.
* * *
I slept and woke up.
Right now, every little detail was a variable to verify. My sleep duration was one of them. I had slept for exactly six hours.
The inside of my head felt stiff. Despite getting a decent amount of rest, an underlying fatigue still lingered. This, too, was something to monitor.
Shhhhh.
Stepping into the bathroom, I stared into the mirror. Even excluding the five years of cryosleep, I had a seven-year gap—three years incapacitated and four years of treatment. The ravages of time had surely rusted me.
My own appearance, having aged seven years, was still unfamiliar to me. A young man with sharp, fierce eyes and a disheveled look stared back. Below the neck, his body was a canvas of old scars.
Scritch.
Once I finished shaving, my face was at least presentable.
I ran my fingers through my wet, tangled hair. Since I couldn't properly trim it myself, I'd just have to tie it back for the time being.
"...Hmm."
Opening the wardrobe, I felt a strange sensation upon seeing the suit and coat hanging inside. Old-style human attire had been prepared for me.
I'd heard that the Bellato Federation best preserved the styles of the Earth era, and now I was experiencing it firsthand. Suits and coats existed in the Empire as well, but they were stiff, sharp variations adapted for modern Imperial fashion.
The clothes before me were the kind of attire a 20th-century retro-enthusiast might wear. Those fanatics considered the mid-20th to early 21st century to be humanity's golden age and constantly yearned for it. Pining for an era they had never even lived through—what a bunch of idiots.
Click.
I put on the black shirt and buttoned it up. Not knowing how to tie a necktie, I tossed it onto the floor, slipped on the jacket, and threw on the navy coat. The boots they provided were made of a non-functional material, leaving them stiff and uncomfortable.
Whir.
Once fully dressed, the only parts of my prosthetic body exposed to the air were my hands. At a glance, they just looked like mechanical gloves. Since I wouldn't be stripping in public, I figured I didn't need to apply any artificial skin.
Beep.
I checked my schedule on the terminal. The timetable had automatically adjusted itself based on the time I woke up.
Still feeling awkward in the retro clothes, I rolled my shoulders and stepped out of the room. Since it was early morning, the hallway was dead quiet.
The walls of the corridor were plastered with advertising posters for Japa Trading's sub-brands. Most of them were in the food service industry. Their one common feature? They all utilized snake meat.
"That outfit looks much better than those white rags," En said.
He was waiting for me by the elevators. It seemed he had stepped out the moment I left my room.
"I don't know much about the Tajirun race... but isn't it unusual for a Tajirun to be in the food industry? Who would want to eat food advertised by a snake?"
I tapped the advertising poster inside the elevator as I asked. En merely shifted his eyes behind his combat helmet and nodded.
"Japa is probably the only Tajirun in Border City to dip his toes into the food industry. Tajiruns usually prefer businesses where they can rip people off."
I recalled my old memories. Giselle had also described the Tajiruns as money-grubbing bastards.
"Since the race itself has such a terrible reputation, service industries like food must be tough. Japa is an eccentric in many ways."
"You'd better not betray Japa," En warned. "I'm not saying this just because he's my employer. He has immense influence and popularity in Border City. He possesses both the shrewdness of a Tajirun and a character that is completely un-Tajirun-like."
The high-speed elevator arrived at the Upper District. From here on, access was strictly restricted; it seemed only Japa's close associates were permitted entry.
"Great or not... in the end, he couldn't even find a single missing person, which is exactly why he woke me up. Or maybe his underlings are just useless idiots who aren't worth their pay."
I sneered as I stepped out of the elevator.
"With that mouth of yours, you won't live long," En replied.
"I don't plan on living long anyway."
We headed straight for the armory inside the building. Japa was already standing in front of it, flanked by two Equesian mercenaries holding bags behind him.
"Hoyot! Good morning, everyone! I have low blood pressure, so mornings are tough for me, but I woke up early especially for you, Mr. Luka. Since neither of you have eaten yet, please have some of this."
At Japa's gesture, the two Equesians handed us the bags.
...I stared blankly at the packaging. The logo on the front depicted a snake sandwiched between two buns. It also bore the advertising slogan for Japa Burger, which started with: Snake, snake, snake.
Rustle.
En pulled out a burger, lifted his combat helmet just enough to expose his mouth, and stuffed the whole thing in one bite.
"Delicious as always. If only the nutritional balance were better, I'd want to eat this every day."
"Hoyooot! I knew you'd say that, which is why I'm developing a nutrition-enhanced stamina burger! We dry snake intestines and mix them directly into the dough..."
"I look forward to it."
His voice was already a dry, mechanical drone. Even I couldn't tell if En was being sarcastic or completely genuine.
"Mr. Luka? You are forbidden from entering the armory until you finish that."
Japa stared at me with an uncomfortably intense gaze. He rubbed his hands together, looking entirely too expectant.
En's gaze locked onto me as well. Japa's two Equesian bodyguards were also staring. Yielding to the silent pressure, I opened the bag.
Rustle.
A pungent smell wafted out along with a wisp of steam. The first impression wasn't great. While I wasn't a picky eater, I could still distinguish a good smell from a bad one.
Chomp.
I pulled out the burger and took a bite. It felt as though tiny grains of pungent spices were detonating in my mouth. The flavor was incredibly rich, complex, and subtle.
Chew, chew.
As I chewed, my eyes darted around in deep thought. It was a taste that truly made one ponder.
This is surprisingly good.
It was a highly suspicious burger. But to skip straight to the conclusion...
"...It's good."
It was hard to immediately explain why it tasted good. It wasn't just simple deliciousness. There was an underlying unpleasant, gamey odor, but a greasy richness carrying an inexplicably stimulating flavor masked it, melting the gaminess away smoothly. It was a perfect synergistic effect, like a masterful balance of bitter and sweet.
A complex, addictive taste.
That was the best way to describe it in a single phrase.
"Ah, compliments are always so thrilling to hear! It seems I've made another regular customer today, hoyot!" Japa cheered, wriggling his long fingers.
While I finished the burger, he unlocked the armory doors.
Click.
The heavy doors parted. I lightly licked the savory sauce off my fingers and stepped inside.
The interior was so massive it was hard to believe this armory was housed inside a standard building. The weapons were arranged so meticulously that it felt more like a museum.
"A collector's vault," I remarked, offering my first impression.
"But none of these are merely decorative. They are all highly lethal. I heard that Imperial Guardsmen prefer a combination of a close-quarters weapon and a pistol."
Japa guided me to a wall lined with close-quarters weapons.
They ranged from the simply and exceptionally sturdy, to weapons laced with monomolecular coatings or high-voltage electric shock functions. There were also weapons featuring unique mechanisms, such as gun barrels seamlessly integrated into blades or spear shafts.
I browsed through the selection, picking a few up and testing their balance with light swings.
"This is a high-compression heavy weapon. It was crafted by an artisan from the Empire. I believe you will like it."
Japa pointed to a sword resting on a display pedestal. Like Crucis, it was single-edged, though the blade was slightly wider.
Whoosh!
I swung the sword a few times. The output of my prosthetic body surged, making my internal motors hum.
It's different from Crucis.
The quality was vastly inferior. The weight distribution was subtly off. Because of the poor craftsmanship, the uneven balance of the blade caused its trajectory to wobble slightly with every swing.
"A self-proclaimed artisan, I see. It probably didn't even go through a proper manufacturing process." I clicked my tongue, unsatisfied. It felt like it would shatter the moment it clashed against a high-compression heavy weapon of equal caliber.
"I-is that so? Hmm, he boasted that it was on par with the Imperial Workshop's standards, so he must have lied to me. I'll have to deal with him later," Japa said, flicking his tongue. His pupils narrowed into dangerous vertical slits.
I stared quietly at the clumsy sword. I absolutely didn't want to entrust my life to this thing. I wondered if I should just settle for a monomolecular blade instead.
But monomolecular coating was a consumable resource. The edge had to be reapplied after every single battle. For someone like me, who fought with blades day in and day out, maintaining it would be far too tedious.
"You look like you don't like any of them. Why not give him that? The man-eating demonic sword. It's the perfect weapon for someone who doesn't plan on living long," En chimed in from behind me.
Japa frantically waved his hands in a panic.
"N-no, absolutely not! Mr. Luka is a precious asset. Such a dangerous sword..."
I smirked at Japa's reaction. Hearing that it was 'dangerous' only piqued my curiosity further.
"Just show it to me. I'm used to putting my life on the line."
Japa kept flicking his tongue reluctantly before pressing his palm flat against the wall. Recognizing his biometrics, a hidden panel in the wall flipped over with a heavy thud.
"Only fifty-two of these swords were custom-made in the first batch before the workshop went completely bankrupt, and the creators were beaten to death by the bereaved families..." Japa rattled off his explanation before the wall had even finished rotating.
"...The model name is Hwagwang Yedo. It's a weapon with ultra-high-temperature thermal wires embedded directly into the blade."