Chapter 173: Taboo
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 173: Taboo
On the outskirts of District 13, there was a small, filthy restaurant.
Its owner, a man with a cold glint in his eyes, kept his knives honed to a razor’s edge, ready to cook at a moment’s notice. However, the dust-caked tables, grease-stained plates, and the mold that served as wallpaper were enough to make even the most hygiene-indifferent level 0 citizen turn away. It was less a restaurant and more a barrier designed to repel customers.
What did the owner cook? And why, in this grimy place, were the blades alone kept so sharp?
For the first time in a long while, a customer entered the desolate establishment whose very existence was a mystery.
They clearly came from another district. The man wore a proper shirt and tie, and he tipped a fine-looking hat. A woman in a straw hat followed him, stepping lightly inside.
The relatively well-dressed man and woman froze the moment they entered, taken aback by the dirty walls and dusty tables.
“Uh… B, is this the right place?”
The woman who had followed him in answered, her expression stiff.
“Affirmative… No, that is correct. To my… to my knowledge, I was informed this was a popular restaurant.”
“Are you sure you didn't get it wrong? I heard it was a restaurant in District 13 so good it was to die for. This looks more like a place where you’d die of food poisoning.”
“Hey, watch your mouth!”
Seeing the potential customers just loitering by the entrance, the owner slammed a knife down on the counter with a loud thwack.
The man flinched. The owner glared at him from under a mess of greasy hair.
“Well? You gonna order somethin’?”
His bravado gone, the man stammered, “Um, what’s your most popular dish here?”
The owner grinned, revealing a sparse set of teeth with several missing.
“Steak. Dripping with blood.”
“Eek.”
The man seemed better at reading the room. With a frightened look, he quickly grabbed the woman’s wrist and pulled her back. They retreated cautiously, keeping an eye on the owner.
“S-Sorry to have bothered you! We’ll, uh, we’ll come back next time!”
“Suit yourself.”
Despite losing his first customers in a long time, the owner didn’t look the least bit disappointed.
Because this restaurant wasn’t actually a restaurant.
‘So people still manage to crawl into a place like this. At least they’ve got some sense, saved me some trouble.’
Restaurants were the most common type of storefront in the Military State. They were also places where strangers could visit without arousing much suspicion.
For that reason, organizations often used them as fronts for their contact points—places for members to meet or gather when needed.
‘The day of action is near. I can’t afford any trouble today. Good thing I didn’t clean up the bodies…’
The owner opened the door to the storeroom. Inside, instead of food supplies, there was only a dark space and a wooden staircase leading down.
Only a few days remained until the Shadow would overturn the Military State and seize control of the back alleys. A mere grunt like him didn't even know the exact date, but he was ready to help topple this nation the moment the order came down.
A dangerous smile crept onto the owner’s lips….
“Yep. This is the place.”
I muttered, taking off my hat as we left the restaurant. The Captain nodded as well.
“There were suspicious circumstances. A strange flow of people was observed in an alley that should not have much foot traffic. At specific times, groups of people would visit this shop at regular intervals.”
They must have set up their contact point in a quiet back alley to avoid suspicion, pretending to be a failing restaurant.
But there was something they didn't know.
The Military State had its Signallers—beings who could connect to the hidden golems scattered throughout the streets and view the city as if looking at the palm of their hand. For them, a quiet alley was far easier to monitor than a bustling main street.
…Of course, the real reason they couldn’t set up shop on a main street was probably that they didn’t have the money.
It wasn't that they were foolish. I hadn't known either.
I didn't know about the existence of Signallers, nor that the Military State was this insane of a country.
“Captain Bbey, you’re really amazing. To pinpoint a suspicious location among the countless alleys in the Military State.”
I read minds. The ugliest secrets meant to be taken to the grave are laid bare before me like a vulgar, naked body. Even a spy who could withstand any torture in the world would have their innermost thoughts unraveled with a simple brush past. The depths of the human heart mean nothing to me.
But if the humans themselves are shallow, my usefulness diminishes.
Yes. For example.
Especially in this Military State, where people have grown accustomed to being cogs in a machine.
“These guys, ‘The Shadow of the Military State,’ are a cell-based organization where no one knows each other, so I was having a hard time tracking them down. No matter who I interrogated, they knew nothing. It takes all the fun out of it. I never would have found this place if it weren't for you, Bbey.”
“Negative. Your praise is excessive. This officer was merely performing her duties.”
“I’m praising you because you did your duty well. Finding a contact point on the first try is a huge success, isn’t it?”
Seriously, she might not be able to delve as deep as I can, but this ability to scan such a wide area is definitely a power I don't have. And the Captain, who pulls it off, is pretty incredible.
At my praise, the Captain grabbed the brim of her straw hat, pulling it down as she muttered.
“…Negative.”
‘…The praise is… excessive. This is the first time this officer has been praised for her work…. This officer was only fulfilling her duty.’
Though she didn't show it, the Captain was deeply moved. Elated, she strode forward with steps full of newfound motivation.
“Proceeding to the next suspicious location. Follow me.”
However, the next suspicious location the Captain found turned out to be a restaurant in the back alleys of District 13 that was famous for being delicious.
What consoled the dejected Captain was the special menu recommended by the good-natured owner. Her eyes lit up at the taste of another new dish, and she polished off two plates.
The Shadow of the Military State was less a cell-based organization… and more like an octopus dangling countless lizard tails as bait.
A few members of the core group, ‘The Shadow of the Kingdom,’ would show off their power, attracting street thugs who were dazzled by it. Then, the Shadows would entice the thugs with sweet words.
Let’s join forces.
Let’s overturn this wretched country.
Once we control the back alleys, we’ll put you in charge of this district.
The clueless thugs believed every word. And any thug who didn't believe and resisted was killed by a ‘Shadow,’ so they didn't really have a choice.
The thugs, delinquents, loafers, and dregs of society believed in and followed the Shadows without even knowing who they were or where to meet them.
They were proud to be part of such a dangerous organization.
“Tsk. No real clues here either. It’s a contact point, but that’s all it is.”
I used my mind-reading at every contact point we found, but no useful information came up.
Everyone here was a pawn to be used and discarded, nothing more than bait that could be cut off at any time, like a lizard’s tail.
The Captain organized the information she had gathered and muttered.
“Over twenty contact points. Estimated personnel mobilization, approximately four hundred… Factoring in the contact points this officer has not yet discovered and their core group, the ‘Shadows,’ the number is expected to exceed one thousand.”
A disturbance caused simultaneously by a thousand gangsters would be a rebellion, or at the very least, a riot. I feigned shock at the enormous scale of it all.
“A thousand people causing a disturbance at the same time? If other disgruntled people join in, that’s bigger than a simple riot, isn’t it? This could get really serious, couldn't it?”
“Negative. The probability of this situation escalating beyond a certain point appears to be low.”
But the Captain dismissed it flatly. Even the fact that a thousand outlaws were about to riot across the capital didn't seem to alarm the Signaller.
I asked, “Why? Because the Military Police could slaughter a thousand men in an instant?”
“I affirm the content of your statement, but that is not the reason. As you said, if a thousand men were to cause a disturbance simultaneously, it would be a different story… but they lack the capability to do so.”
“Capability? You mean organization?”
“Affirmative.”
After a moment of thought, the Captain explained her reasoning to me as she organized her thoughts.
“Based on our investigation, the group calling itself The Shadow of the Military State is organized into small clusters within District 10 of Amitengrad. They are too small for the State to easily detect, but this also creates an obstacle for the subversive elements calling themselves the Shadow to issue commands. Their means of communication with each other must be extremely limited.”
“That’s true.”
If they could so easily issue commands to street thugs scattered across the capital, why would the Military State spend enormous resources training Signallers and building magic golems?
“Furthermore, based on this officer’s direct observation… most of their contact points were in poor condition and not properly managed. One cannot expect systematic operational capability from untrained individuals.”
“Yeah, they did seem like a disorganized mob.”
Market, the Family… it wasn't for nothing that people with the same concerns gathered together. For an organization to form, it needs a central point to rally around and a sense of camaraderie to bind its members.
But The Shadow of the Military State, this gathering of thugs, showed no signs of either.
I nodded in agreement.
“It is strange. Riots of this kind grow larger the more people gather. A thousand-person riot might inspire others to join in with boiling blood, but if you tell them to split into groups of ten, they’re more likely to hesitate. There’s less fear in a larger crowd.”
The Shadow of the Military State was a disorganized mob of thugs. It was highly unlikely they would follow orders, especially if those orders were tantamount to a suicide mission.
“Even if their goal is to spread chaos, would they really attempt such a complex operation with a disorganized mob? It’s a mystery.”
Ah, if only a real ‘Shadow’ would show up. I could find out everything just by reading their mind.
This is why mind-reading sucks sometimes. If the Shadows and whatever else just keep hiding, I can’t read their thoughts. God, this is so frustrating.
If only I could at least read their intentions…
Ah.
“Bbey. Do you happen to know anything about a taboo?”
The Captain, who had grown used to being called Bbey, answered without a hint of awkwardness.
“Taboo? The sentence component is insufficient. Please elaborate.”
“My source wasn't very reliable, so I’d forgotten about it until now, but I thought I’d ask just in case.”
I had been hiding it because it was a breach of professional ethics, but at this point, I had no choice.
Sorry, Nehru. I’m passing your info to the Captain.
“Nehru said that Umbra Wolfen knows about the Military State’s taboo.”
“…The Military State’s… taboo, you say?”
“Yeah. She dropped it like it was some huge piece of information, but I had no idea what she was talking about, so I forgot. It just came to mind.”
I spoke casually while subtly reading her thoughts. Let’s see just how much a Signaller of the Military State knows about this taboo…
‘Inconclusive. There are too many suspicious items to specify just one.’
I knew it. This crazy country.
You people have no right to arrest me. At least when I get arrested, I know exactly what my crime is.
Instead of trying to recall the taboo, the Captain grew wary of Nehru.
“Nehru, as in the catkin who runs the magazine… A background check may be necessary.”
Haha. I knew this would happen. Sorry, Nehru.
Feel wronged? Can’t be helped. They say a husband and wife are one body, right? The moment you told me, you should have known it would be passed on.
Anyway.
“You really have no idea?”
“Affirmative. Umbra Wolfen was imprisoned in Tantalus for twenty years. He was isolated even before this officer was dispatched and never once left that place until his escape. The opportunity for him to access high-level security information such as a State taboo is nonexistent.”
She said he was captured in the early days of the Military State. Then there was no way Wolfen could have found out anything while locked in the Abyss.
No, wait. There was a flaw in that logic.
Who said Wolfen had to be the one to find out about the taboo?
“What if Wolfen heard about the taboo from someone else who was imprisoned in Tantalus with him? That’s possible, isn’t it?”
“The possibility of information exchange…”
At my words, the Captain’s expression hardened.
“…One moment, please. A suspicious circumstance has been identified.”
Fwip. A book opened in the Captain’s mind. A list of those who had passed through the Abyss flipped by and vanished.
Recalling the personal details of each trainee one by one, the Captain found a single person of interest.
‘…Escape ringleader, former Colonel Lankart. The youngest commander of the Magic Corps, and a traitor who sold an Arcane to the Federation in a deal.’
The personal file of one man unfolded. Since it was information she had only encountered in documents, it was hard to recall until it was mentioned, but once her thoughts touched upon it, related information linked together in a chain reaction.
‘Genius mage of the Military State, the youngest to be promoted. And, a survivor of Hamelin.’
Hamelin.
The moment she thought of that word, the Captain’s expression became more serious than I had ever seen it.
‘Level 5 security information, that event in Hamelin. If Lankart, one of the parties involved, revealed the hidden truth of that event.’
“…I retract my statement. This officer’s assessment was incorrect.”
The Captain spoke. Her body was trembling from a sudden chill.
“The Shadow of the Military State is not their disposable force. It was a potent poison, meant to make the Military State kill everyone in the back alleys…!”