Chapter 149: The Path Flows with the Traveler - 5
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 149: The Path Flows with the Traveler - 5
We passed through two terminals on our way. The medic disembarked at the Mining Terminal with a polite salute. The way he kept asking if anyone was hurt made it seem like he was disappointed he didn't get a chance to show off his skills.
Someone had gotten off, but no one new got on. We talked amongst ourselves, gradually growing closer.
Both in a physical and a psychological sense.
Humans form societies. What humans need, other humans tend to have in abundance, and the more such resources are shared, the more efficient they become.
Light, warmth, knowledge, shelter, stories.
The more these things were gathered, the greater the share that returned to each individual, which is why humans have lived in communities for ages.
…Of course, a few who valued utility over efficiency preferred to kill and plunder rather than live together, but I digress.
Gathered around our lamps, we were now listening to the old engineer’s story.
“…My older brother died while we were building this Meta Conveyor Belt. It was a terrible accident. The ground hadn't even fully hardened, but he got confused and took a step, and his body was just torn apart. The sight of him being buried in the torrent of earth… Heh heh. I hope you never have to imagine it. There are no words to describe it.”
I don't know if he intended it, but trailing off like that only spurred the imagination further.
The image of a man being crushed by the flowing land flashed through people’s minds. Blood, red as lava, spreading through the churning earth…
Recalling the past, the old engineer gazed at the Meta Conveyor Belt with moist eyes.
“My brother was a fine carpenter, but not a fine mason, and he didn't truly understand what this flowing land was… He probably understands it well now, being so close to Mother Earth. So in a way, I'm traveling over my brother's corpse.”
“How awful…”
“After he passed, I just couldn't get my head in the game. I was working in a daze and nearly got myself killed, too. Back then, my brother and I were the only carpenters in our unit, so we were always the first to be called whenever a wall needed to be built. When he died, I was the only one left to do the work. It was a two-man job, so of course the stockade collapsed…”
After the coup, those who had grown fat during the kingdom era were taken prisoner and sentenced to hard labor. But no amount of whipping could create skills that weren't there.
The Military State gathered technicians from all over the country, gave them titles, and granted them the authority to manage the laborers.
And the most prominent among them was the Earth Sage.
“Just then, the Earth Sage saved me, but I had this ungrateful thought. Why did she come just then? If only she'd arrived a week earlier, my brother might have lived. Heh heh. I’m a selfish bastard, I am.”
I offered some quiet consolation to the self-deprecating engineer.
“Don't blame yourself. If you were truly selfish, you wouldn't even remember being saved.”
“Hahaha. It’s only because so much time has passed that I can speak of it so calmly. You can't imagine how furious I was back then. After the construction was finished, I did nothing but drink for months… Cursing the Military State and the Earth Sage. Still, if I could just see her one more time, I’d get on my knees and apologize. That’s my wish.”
“Don’t worry about it. The Earth Sage has saved more people than you can count. She probably doesn't even remember you. She’d be more flustered if someone just apologized to her out of the blue.”
“…Now that I think about it, you’re probably right. Unlike me, the Earth Sage was a truly selfless person…”
Well, I'm not so sure about that.
Ignorance is bliss. I told the old engineer to take it easy. It was better than him going to see the Earth Sage only to be shocked by the sight of her missing right arm.
After the somber story ended, I took out the can I’d been warming on the lamp. The General, being a general, poured water into a slightly more luxurious can of meat, but after catching a whiff of my food, he kept glancing over.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a meal I prepared earlier. I put it in an empty can and resealed it.”
“A fully cooked meal in a can? Isn’t that something they only do at canning factories? You’re quite skilled. Here, let me have a taste.”
The General demanded a bite as if it were his right. I quickly did the math in my head.
Honestly, giving him a little of my food wasn't a problem.
But right now, I was playing the part of someone who didn't know the General's identity.
I was speaking to him respectfully and had a feeling he was someone important, but if it meant a tangible loss for me, I wouldn't readily agree. Let's go with the concept of someone who's warm to his family but not so generous to strangers.
The General would prefer that anyway.
I turned my body slightly away, letting my smile fade. I deliberately glanced at the others before moving closer to the Captain.
“…I’m not as good at compressing as a factory, so one can only holds about two servings.”
“Huh?”
Seeing my reaction go beyond refusal to outright wariness, the General looked offended.
“Hey! Little Brother! You think I'd ask for it for free? I meant we should eat it with our cans! This is meat!”
“Meat is no substitute for sincerity. I’m sorry, but this is for me and Bbey.”
His pride preventing him from taking it by force, the General scowled and pushed all his cans forward, shouting.
“Agh! To hell with it! I'll give you five!”
“…Really?”
“I don’t go back on my word! I have no intention of getting a meal made for your sister on the cheap! Take them all!”
Well, in that case, it’s a different story… I thought, changing my demeanor accordingly.
I had more than enough food, but it was all made with generous amounts of celestial grain and spices. If questioned, it would be hard to explain, so I couldn't just pull it out.
As I cheerfully prepared the cans, Colonel Gand quietly interjected.
“Master. Five cans is all we have.”
“Oh, is that right? Little Brother, sorry to take back what I offered, but how about four!”
“I just said five is all we have, so why are you taking one away? What are we supposed to eat the day after tomorrow?”
Being scolded by his student and subordinate, the General snapped.
“You brat! If we don't have cans, you should be thinking of how to get more! You've gotten lazy!”
“How am I supposed to get cans on this belt? Are you telling me to rob someone?”
“Rob someone? Did I teach you to do that?”
“Then what am I supposed to do?!”
In any case, thanks to the General’s grand gesture, our dinner that evening was more lavish than any other.
Even the flowing land couldn't chase the sun setting in the west. The day drew to a close, smoke scattering behind us. Everyone yawned widely and sought out a spot sheltered from the wind to sleep.
“What? You lost your lamp? Can’t be helped. Hey, Gand! Give them your lamp!”
The General pointed at a mother and son huddled together and shouted. Plagued by the General yet again, Colonel Gand pressed his temples and bit his lip.
“Then what am I supposed to use for warmth?”
“Not my problem.”
“…Then it’s not my problem either. Why don’t you give them yours, Master.”
“You little punk, trying to fleece your own master. How about you and I share a lamp, then? Huh? Spend the night staring at each other?”
“My apologies. I’ll just sleep by myself. Please, give them my lamp.”
And so, everyone found a comfortable spot and lay down. Naturally, the Captain and I, who were pretending to be siblings, ended up in the same area.
The Captain took off her uniform packet and, now in her shirt, activated her sleeping bag packet. The compressed alchemic wool puffed up, billowing out and enveloping her body. It was as if she were wrapping herself in a cloud, or like a golden sheep whose fleece was growing at an incredible speed.
Buried in the warm, fluffy sleeping bag packet, the Captain let out a heavy sigh that didn't match her attire.
“…It has been a turbulent and complicated day.”
“Complicated? We met good people and we’re having a good night.”
My nonchalant reply seemed to irk her.
“You could not possibly know the predicament I found myself in today.”
“There you go again. And after you were told to call me your brother. If the General heard you, you’d be in for it.”
Those two over there could control even the fiercest winds with their mastery of Geon Qi Art. They probably weren't petty enough to eavesdrop, but they might overhear by accident.
‘…Tch. Affirmative. General Patraxion is a man who has transcended human strength. He could be hearing my words right now. It would be dangerous for him to see through our act.’
In other words…
The Captain still had to treat me like her older brother.
“…Watch your words, tch, brother.”
“When am I not careful?”
‘I can’t tell if he’s teasing me or just acting! His attitude is completely unreadable!’
It’s both. Both is good.
Light and heat become more efficient the more they are shared. The Captain and I lay facing each other with two lamps between us.
I grunted and struggled with my regular, non-packet sleeping bag. Meanwhile, the Captain, nestled in comfort, stared at me, lost in thought.
‘I am a Signaller. My identity must not be revealed. No matter what.’
The emotion I felt from her was a sense of duty.
And melancholy.
‘If someone were to discover my identity… see my face, learn my status, and connect the two… I would have to commit suicide.’
It was a belief held without a shred of doubt.
Sometime after she’d advanced from elementary citizen school to the secondary military school, her heart full of dreams as she attended class.
Without any warning, someone from the Military State had suddenly appeared and said to her:
—Congratulations. An aptitude has been discovered in you. A very precious aptitude to become a Signaller.
The aptitude to become a Signaller. The young girl’s heart had swelled at those words. A place that was known as the easiest path in the world, one that made you an officer the moment you entered.
Parting with the friends she had already made, the girl followed an instructor from a very special school.
And she synchronized.
Girls who didn't seem to fit in the Military State at all, more sensitive and empathetic than anyone. They relied on each other as pillars of support to endure the harsh training.
Alone, they would never have survived, but their abilities were empathy and synchronization. The relentless pressure shaped them into perfectly interlocking puzzle pieces. They never clashed, never hurt one another. Friction was a luxury only possible when one had room to spare.
Sorted by class, they emerged into the world, commissioned as captains from the very beginning. They would work alone, but they were not lonely.
A magic that was unique, yet not unique.
Because they all possessed a Unique Magic that allowed them to reach one another.
‘However, there is a case where I would not need to commit suicide. In that case, I would not have to.’
It sounded obvious, but it was a truth that was anything but. The Captain looked at me with eyes that tried to be cold.
‘You have not yet divulged the information about me to anyone. Therefore, if you were to die, the need for me to die would disappear.’
It was easier to kill oneself than another, which was why Signallers were forced to commit suicide. But in a situation like this, where we were traveling together in a strange state of unguarded companionship…
Killing a person was one thing, but overcoming the resistance of someone who wanted to live was the truly difficult part.
‘General Patraxion is one of the Six Generals. The Six Generals are Level 5; they have no restrictions. If I were to reveal the truth right now and make a request, he would execute you. In other words, I hold your life in my hands. I could, if I so chose, kill you at any time and save my own life.’
“Phew. All set. This thing doesn't fit right. Ugh. If only I could use a Clothing Packet properly.”
Grunting, I squeezed myself into the sleeping bag and rolled over like a caterpillar. When our eyes met, the Captain wore a frightened expression.
‘…That is why. I do not have to commit suicide.’
But a Signaller’s greatest enemy was that very empathy. The ability to identify with others was what broke the mold of the Signaller that the Military State had created.
Perhaps the Windowless Room was a facility meant not only to protect the information they held, but also to preserve the component known as the Signaller.
Well, not that it was any of my business.
“What are you doing? Not sleeping?”
“…I will sleep. There is no alarm on the Meta Conveyor Belt, so please ensure you wake up on time.”
“If there’s no alarm, can’t I just not wake up?”
“What an absurd… thing to say… The wake-up time is… strictly…”
Her breathing grew fainter, and the Captain began to drift off to sleep. I lay there, waiting for her to fall asleep, and once her consciousness had completely faded, I sat up.
…You asleep? You are, right?
Ah, my back is cold from facing the edge.
I picked up my lamp and placed it behind my back. With lamps warming me from both front and back, I felt much better.
If the sleeping bag is crap, at least the environment should be good. I dozed off, basking in the warmth of the lights in front of me and behind me.
From a distance, I heard the General’s thoughts.
‘…She said he was a hopeless older brother, and it's true. Using lamps on both his front and back just because he's cold.’
So the General wasn't asleep yet.
Exploiting one's little sister is an older brother's right. I wish he'd mind his own business.